Rabbi's Blog - Chabad of Malibu

The Gift of Life

Friday, October 28, 2011 - 11:20 AM

Life is the greatest treasure we possess.

"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give." —Sir Winston Churchill

The teacher entered the classroom with a little black velvet bag. He showed the bag to his students and slowly retrieved a magnificent beautiful diamond.

The teacher said to his students, “Whoever would like to have this precious stone, please raise your hand."

All hands went up.

The teacher then asked one of his students to fetch a cup of water and fill it with dirt. After dipping the diamond into the dirty water, he again asked, "Whoever would like to have this precious stone, please raise your hand."

None of the students seemed to care that the diamond was filthy. In fact, even placing it in a pile of dung with a horrible smell did not deter any of them. Each student recognized that this is a very precious gem, and desired to possess this beautiful treasure.

He then asked his students to close their eyes and take in a long, deep breath of fresh air.

"Can you feel that?" asked the teacher. "Like the diamond, life itself, is the greatest treasure we possess!"

Sure, there are times that, like the diamond, the precious gift of life is surrounded with muck. Even so, at our center, at all times, there is the most precious gift that we have, the gift given to us by G-d—the gift of life.

This week's tragic story about must send shock waves through our midst. Although we do not know the full circumstances of why he killed himself, it was reported he was upset about bad grades.

It is a very sad that our greatest national treasure—our youth—are not being properly educated morally and ethically. When a young person measures their status and self-worth by their grades, it is definitely time that we seriously revaluate how our children are being taught to perceive and measure their "true value."

Many good-hearted, compassionate parents and educators are unaware of the social pressures placed on our youth. Living up to an image of "perfection" dictates to them whether they should be feeling good about themselves. Kids who have a strong and good sense of their self-worth have a much better chance at living a healthy, meaningful and vibrant life.

So what steps can we take to equip our children with a strong healthy sense of self?

"A sound and healthy body is dependent on a sound and healthy soul" —The Rebbe

I was taught that a child's character education must take priority over academic education. All educational efforts are basically meaningless unless built on the solid foundation of good character. In Yiddish, we call it being a "mentch!" And the good news is, everyone can achieve "mentchood!"

I join all the heartfelt prayers for the Feinberg family. I could not imagine the deep pain that they are experiencing; my heart goes out to them. I pray that G-d gives them the strength to go forward and to find true peace and light in their lives.

A Deeper Look at Water

Wednesday, October 12, 2011 - 10:25 PM

The nature of water has certain qualities that are uncommon among its colleagues in the mineral world.

Living in Malibu, in such close proximity to the water, and in keeping with my teacher's guidance that everything we see can serve as a lesson, I decided to take an intellectual journey to learn more about water. And since tonight marks the beginning of the holiday Sukkot, the holiday where we show our gratitude for the gift of water, I am sharing with you some of my findings.

"As in water, face answers to face, so is the heart of a man to a man." —Proverbs 27:19

The simple understanding of the above verse is that just as when you look into the water and smile, the reflection on the water reciprocates by smiling back at you. The heart of another human being is the same. When we are truly joyous toward another human being, the nature of the other's heart is to reflect the joy right back at us.

One need not be a scientist to accept this truth. Surly, we all have personal stories where someone else's joy toward us was so infectious that it was capable of drawing out from us—even at a time of pain and anxiety—the hidden joy that always exists within the inner chambers of our hearts.

Certainly, there are many ways to understand why this is the case. In my quest to understanding more about water, I have come across teachings that observe a deeper connection between the human psyche and water.

To begin with, everything in nature has its unique qualities. And when we peek at the vast world of minerals, the nature of water has certain qualities that are uncommon among its colleagues in the mineral world and on a certain level are somewhat superior.

The ancient sages of Judaism take note of the fact that water is the source of life. It is flexible, for example, in how it is distributed. Water will adopt to work with you. Bring it a cup, it will offer you a cup. Bring a large bowl, it will adopt to the large bowl. Because water has no color, it adopts to that color that you place it in. There are so many other facts about water, and when we observe them up close, there seems to be an ever flowing narrative of the beauty of the quality of "water."

Our journey from a seminal drop to a full-blown body is one where we are always surrounded by water, and even as we emerge into developed beings, a significant fraction of the human body is made up of water.

This is the reason why in the teachings of the Torah, water plays such a vital role as in the spiritual cleansing process known as the Mikvah, which literally means "gathering of waters." The immersing in fresh waters is used as a way of bringing us back to the drawing board, to our very beginning—when like a fetus in the birthing process, life was still fluid and flexible.

How can even the most unhappy person become a vessel for joy

When we surrender from our rigid ways and become humble, we naturally become more available to the positive energy that is already in our midst.

In this introspective humility, we share the amazing qualities that exist in water, and we begin to emit and thus reflect our own joy.

In 2007, a 10-year-old boy from our community, Moshe P., won his school's science fair by showing the deep connection between our thoughts and words and the ever fluid molecular structure of water.

On Sukkot, we take note of the special qualities of water, and we give our gratitude to G-d for giving us the gift of water on our planet. Happy Sukkot!

Remembering Burt Sperber

Friday, October 7, 2011 - 12:00 AM

He helped others on a daily basis. It was his greatest pleasure.

Malibu is truly a special place, and not simply because of its beautiful majestic setting along the Pacific Ocean, just below the Santa Monica Mountains, but especially and specifically because this city is home to many kind and compassionate people. I feel blessed to be part of this wonderful community.

Consider Burt Sperber, a man of grace and dignity who was extraordinarily considerate and truly empathetic. I would say that he went overboard in his desire to help others. But can we say "overboard" when a giving man was doing what made him happy? Going above and beyond just came naturally to him.

I speak of Burt in the past tense. He died this past Friday.

More than a half century ago, Burt founded ValleyCrest, one of the world's great landscape companies. But he was more than a visionary and pioneering businessman with a feel for aesthetics. Burt had an inner beauty that enabled him to be a vessel for goodness.

As we prepare for Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, this Friday evening and all day Saturday (ending the 10-day period that began with Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year), I distinctly recall the time four years ago when we were celebrating another new year, the one for the trees, when together with volunteers, we at were making plans to replant some of the burned areas at.

When I called Burt for advice, he asked, "What do you know about trees?"

It was a rhetorical question, to which he quickly (and accurately) replied, "Nothing."

Of course, he was right. Tree cultivation was not even an elective at rabbinical school.

So, Burt took over. He contacted the to see the kinds of trees they wanted. He secured the trees, had them transported and made certain to place each one in the most appropriate location. Burt was our fearless leader, as you can see him define our mission at the outset. There are healthy products made by a company called "Burt's Bees." When it came to this project, all the volunteers became Burt's bees, energized by his energy.

Burt was an example of a "mensch"—which, like many Yiddish terms, loses something in translation. Let's just say, he was a special person, or we would say, a "true," "genuine" or "real" human being. Together with his wife Charlene, may she live and be well, Burt helped others on a daily basis. It was his greatest pleasure.

After coming home from the funeral, where people stood in the rain to pay their respects, I was moved before the holiest day of Judaism, the Day of Atonement, to speak about the bottom line: We can stand day and night seeking to absolve our guilt; we can even mean it sincerely from deep within our hearts, but until we pick up a shovel and get busy with the hard work, we have not brought the light to others.

Burt lived by my teacher's favorite words: "The essential thing is the deed" —Avot 1-17

May G-d bless Burt, Charlene and the whole Sperber family. May they be comforted by Burt's light that continues to inspire others.

I welcome you to join me at Chabad of Malibu for Yom Kippur at our "no tickets/no charge" High Holiday services. We just want to know that you will be there. Please let me know you're coming by making a reservation at www.jewishmalibu.com

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