Two Pockets

Shortly after I moved to Naperville in 2008, a knowing magazine proclaimed Naperville as "The best place to live in America". 

Oh, I said to myself, my moving here just tipped the scales! It is because of me! 

Now that I am retiring from my pulpit and leaving Naperville, the Chicago Tribune declares in an editorial that "Dupage County is Not Boring Anymore." 

That, of course, has nothing to do with me. 

In his book, "Tales of the Hassidim, Martin Buber relates the teaching of Rabbi Simcha Bunem of Pershyscha who taught his students:

"Everyone must have two pockets, so that he can reach into the one or the other, according to his needs. In his right pocket are the words: ‘For my sake was the world created,’ and in his left: ‘I am but dust and ashes.’”

When we are very young, we indeed experience the world as if it was created for our sake. Everybody hovers around the newborn and, if we are fortunate, our parents do make us feel like they exist solely to meet our needs. As we mature, we begin to realize that other people have needs as well, and that the world does not revolve around us. Yet, understanding this does not mean that we are "nothing". Healthy self-esteem and a realistic sense of ourselves and our place in the world lie somewhere between "For my sake the world was created" and "I am but dust and ashes".

Naperville did not become "The best place to live in America" because I moved here. And it has not become an exciting place to live because I am leaving. I know that.

As part of my transition to retirement, I am starting a new website <www.rabbirudolph.online> From here on I will be posting from there. You can subscribe to my blog and receive my posts in your inbox. You will also be able to comment on the posts. I will not be posting sermons, but rather short pieces like this one. The website will have other resources, such as my past sermons, prayers, translations, and whatever else strikes my fancy. Right now, the website is a work in progress. But it is live and online.

I also have a new email address <rabbimarcrudolph@gmail.com

Thank you for being a reader and/or subscriber to this blog. And please, keep in touch.

Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph