"Unlimited Limits" - Dvar Torah - Parshat Bo 2012/5772

Dvar Torah

Parshat Bo

“Unlimited limits”

Rabbi Neil A. Tow©

Shylock:
I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands,
organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same
food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases,
heal'd by the same means, warm'd and cool'd by the same winter
and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If
you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die?
And if you wrong us, do we not revenge? If we are like you in the
rest, we will resemble you in that.

(The Merchant Of Venice Act 3, scene 1, 58–68

Shylock argues  in “The Merchant of Venice” that all people are the same under the skin and even in our feelings, our flaws, and struggles.

But when we look at issues that are invisible to the eye, or microscope, when we see the amazing diversity of personalities and perspectives, we recognize that there is a fantastic level of variety and differences between us both noticeable and subtle.

A particular area of individuality is the area of our ‘limits’:  How patient can we be? How much pain can we withstand? Can we function on 4 hours of sleep a night or do we need 8?  How long does it take us to forgive?  Can we recover quickly from loss, failure, and rejection or do we slide into self-pity and doubt for a long time?

These limits are not written on the stone of ourselves forever.  With growth comes learning, and new perspectives on the world and our place within it.

As we approach the end of the 10 plagues saga it is clear that we are at a litmus test point for Pharaoh with regard to his limits.  Pharaoh (and the Egyptians) have endured 9 plagues that have devastated their water, land, crops, and bodies.  God knows that the 10^th plague will break Pharaoh’s resolve, but does Pharaoh know?  God says, “Pharaoh will not listen.” 

Moses leaves the presence of Pharaoh in anger – perhaps Moses is at the end of his patience and endurance as well.

How do we know when we’ve reached our limits?  There is the frustrated and exasperated response, “I can’t take it anymore.”  Others may shut down, internalize the circumstances and withdraw.  We might get angry, keep ourselves up at night, become physically sick – all this is the worst-case scenario.

The other way to respond to the moment when we reach our limit is to reflect on how we got to that point, how we may have given up our initiative or how we may have suffered an injustice.  We can seek forgiveness and reconciliation, let go of grudges and hurt, make room in our lives for ourselves to grow – giving others a wide berth, and perhaps even redefine our limits.

As a tennis player, as a fan of the game, I watch the pros recover from the brink of defeat, energy sapped, one stroke at a time, breathing, swinging, and positive. 

Shabbat itself is a lesson on limits – a Divinely imposed lesson in both recognizing and potentially redefining our limits.  Even God steps back from creation and inspect it, evaluate it, make room for us, God’s image-carriers, to step back and appreciate our existence as well.  And Shabbat can redefine our limits, too, as we scan our minds and bodies to discover their status in time; as we intentionally take time to review what we have done, and not done, during the past week so that we can enter the new week as a new person, with renewed hope, renewed energy, and most fundamental of all, a new perspective – since in relationships with others, in a tennis match that is not going our way, after a week that is awful and seemingly endless, perspective is the one key element that can re-focus and re-channel our energy into more positive pathways.

Let’s conclude with hope and optimisim for the week ahead with a lyric from an Israeli hip-hop band, Mishpact Takt, whose singer Sivan belts out in a full-fledged fist pump of positive energy, “Ayn gvulot milvad ha’dimyon,” there are no limits except the imagination.

Shabbat Shalom.