On a recent trip, I learned a bit about our flight attendant’s story. She explained that she commutes back and forth, from Atlanta to the airline’s home base in Chicago. Impressed by her commitment, I asked if she always wanted to be a flight attendant. She laughed and said, “Ask any flight attendant. This job finds you. And I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”
The idea of being found is intriguing. Many go a lifetime and never really find themselves. They search for a purpose, trying to find a sense of ease within constant chaos and hoping to find a place where one belongs instead of feeling unanchored.
Being found sounds like such a gift.
But in a way, perhaps being found is a task that involves another person: Someone actively looking at another and reminding them of where they belong, which purposes they may achieve, and how they fit within a certain puzzle. On the bimah, Rabbi Sherman and I like to think about who should be future rabbis and cantors. But we forget that even in our dialogue, we are helping someone else find their place so that they, too, can say, “My future found me.”
It is a mitzvah to return a lost object. The Torah says we must return any lost object and not remain indifferent or pretend we did not see it. So, too, we may not remain indifferent when we see each other. If someone is lost and we see a path forward in a way they do not, it becomes our obligation to help them find their way.
Being found need not be a solitary task. Let each of us partner with God in helping others find their way.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Nicole Guzik is senior rabbi at Sinai Temple. She can be reached at her Facebook page at Rabbi Nicole Guzik or on Instagram @rabbiguzik. For more writings, visit Rabbi Guzik’s blog section from Sinai Temple’s website.
