Are you the same person at work as you are at home? Are your principles and values such that they influence your decisions equally, notwithstanding the people that you are with?
Are you an at-home Jew? I know many people who are comfortable with their Jewishness at home or in the Synagogue but they check it at the door when they are with non-Jewish friends or when it comes to their work. They find it difficult to take off time to observe a Jewish holiday. They don’t feel comfortable taking their children out of school for the Jewish holidays.
In describing the effect of G-d’s voice in communicating the Ten Commandments, as described in this week’s Torah portion, an unfamiliar term is used. G-d’s voice is described as being “a great voice, which – lo yosof” (Deut. 5:12). The Hebrew words “lo yosof” is simply translated “did not cease,” but it’s an uncommon term and various commentaries have other interpretations.
One interpretation is that the sound of G-d’s voice had no echo. Nature dictates that a loud sound will have an echo, but this time the sound of G-d’s voice had no echo. Isn’t strange that such a loud and powerful voice wouldn’t have an echo? Isn’t odd that G-d would engineer a seemingly pointless miracle?
The Rebbe points out that this is not necessarily unordinary and miraculous, rather it is the very purpose of G-d’s voice and guidance for life as communicated in the Torah. The function of the Torah is to affect every part of the world; to infuse the world with holiness and G-dly purpose. Therefore, the sound of G-d’s voice didn’t echo; it didn’t bounce off the surface, rather it permeated and positively influenced the world.
In our lives too, Judaism isn’t meant to be a nice tradition that we celebrate at home once in a while. It should be what guides our daily interactions and choices. It should be so much part of our psyche that it would be impossible to compartmentalize and leave at home and not bring it to work.
The truth is, as anyone who has tried this will tell you, it feels really good to be proud and publicly Jewish. Try it, you’ll like it too!