Is just showing up enough?

 Photo credit: Stencil Archive

“Showing up is 80 percent of life,” Allen Stewart Konigsberg (otherwise known as Woody Allen) is quoted as saying. There may be some truth to that statement, but living with that mindset is definitely not going to bring you much success or satisfaction. (Actually, supervisors have it better than anyone – they can cause cheerfulness, excitement and downright delight just by NOT showing up!)

This week we learn about the Ten Plagues that, well, plagued the Egyptians all those years ago. As with everything that we learn in the Torah, there is practical and personal relevance in the story of the plagues.

Let’s take a look at the first one: Blood. The Torah relates how all the water in Egypt turned to blood. The Egyptians, we're told, worshiped the Nile; after all, it was their primary source of irrigation. Water is calm and cool, representing indifference and apathy toward holiness; blood is warm and represents enthusiasm and passion in holy matters.

The reason that the Torah recounts the entire story of the Exodus for us to study, over 3000 years later, is for us to gain insight into our own struggles. The first thing that needs to be spiritually accomplished is to change our attitude towards Judaism. We have to shift from a mindset of coldness, “I’ll fit it in when/if I can,” to one of passion and excitement.

This is also the answer to the age-old question of how to transfer Judaism to the next generation. Unlike some people think, it’s not enough to just show up! When children see that living a Jewish life is a priority, they automatically place a priority on it too!

The great scholar Rabbi Moshe Feinstein was asked what has caused the decline of Judaism in America. He responded that it’s the expression, “Oy, s’shver tzu zayn a yid! (How difficult it is to be a Jew).” When children grow up hearing that expression from their parents, even if not actually articulated, inevitably they will be uninterested to participate themselves. When children see that Jewish observance is important to their parents, they will take it seriously too!