Home Shalom Monday Message #19

Home Shalom promotes healthy relationships and facilitates the creation of judgement free, safe spaces in the Jewish community. Home Shalom is a program of The Advot Project.

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“There is no person who does not have his hour and nothing that does not have its place.”–Mishnah Avot 4:3

The synagogue in a small town was looking to engage a new rabbi. They finally found a candidate that they liked, so they called a town meeting to vote approval of the new rabbi. When the secret ballot was counted they discovered that the entire town had voted “yes” except for one person. So, wanting to make it unanimous they called another town meeting and asked everyone to vote by writing their names on the ballots. When they counted all the ballots they discovered that the one individual who had voted “no” was someone named Moshe Cohen. The leaders of the town decided to call on Moshe Cohen but when they asked each other if anyone knew him they realized that no one was exactly sure who Moshe Cohen was. No one seemed to know him or where he lived, or what he did for a living. After a week of asking all over town, they finally found a shoemaker who said Moshe Cohen was one of his customers, and that he lived in a house on the end of the last street in town.

Once they learned where he lived, a delegation of town elders was sent to visit Moshe to try and convince him to change his vote in favor of the new rabbi. The group of elders went to the last street in town, marched down to the last house on the street and knocked on the door. When a man opened the door and invited them in for tea they asked, “Are you Moshe Cohen?” “I am,” he said, and so they went in for tea. They explained at length why they had come and why it was important for them that Moshe change his vote to “yes” so that the town’s vote would be unanimous. “Sure,” replied Moshe, “I’m happy to vote yes for the new rabbi.” The chairperson of the selection committee was immediately irritated at how easily Moshe had agreed to change his vote and demanded to know why he had voted “no” in the first place.  “Well,” smiled Moshe, “if I had simply voted ‘yes’ on the first secret ballot, would any of you know who Moshe Cohen is today?”

Everyone wants to be someone in the eyes of others. Perhaps the greatest miracle of all is that each of us is a one of a kind person that has never existed before and will never exist again. Our uniqueness is a precious spiritual gift that only we can share with the world. That is why we constantly remind every child and adult with whom we work that what they say matters, what they do matters and who they are matters. It is also why our Talmudic sages taught us that “There is no person who does not have his hour and nothing that does not have its place.” Today may be your day, so take every opportunity to make this hour your hour as well.

Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben Home Shalom; Naomi Ackerman The Advot Project