It’s the season of road trips. On a long drive, we found ourselves at an intersection publicizing both Mount Whitney and Death Valley. The two locations are roughly two hours from each other: Two short hours between the highest peak and the lowest national park in the United States and very little distance between low to high and high to low.
Such is the challenge in our daily lives: Very little distance between short and long tempers; a small measure between highly patient and angrily reactive; the briefest of spaces between showing compassion and the hardening of one’s heart.
Our constant battle is teetering from low to high, high to low, and back to high again.
Wherever we travel, let us challenge ourselves to maalin bakodesh, to rise towards holiness: To ascend in our communication with others, to expand our hearts, to gain a stronger understanding of our own weaknesses and misgivings. And because we know it is so easy to slide back down, it becomes our constant task to climb higher, be better, and live a more sacred, meaningful existence.
We didn’t end up at Mount Whitney or Death Valley, but the lesson continues to hold true.
May we choose to rise, higher and higher and higher.
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.
