The sun-bathing, snorkeling and scuba diving of Teshuvah
The lifelong process and stages of Teshuvah can be compared to sun-bathing, snorkeling and scuba diving:
Sunbathing is a relaxing way to spoil oneself under the warm embrace of the sun. Tension melts away, you can get a good tan and show off your good looks….
However, as anyone who’s “laid out†before knows – sun-bathing isn’t all that it’s cracked-up to be:
It gets hot after a while and if you aren’t careful – instead of a “golden tone†– you’ll be “peeling†away after a nice, red and stinging sunburn! So, what’s the solution? Cool off by the water of course!
At the beach you have a few ways to enjoy the water – you can frolic while kicking your feet in the water, splashing around or taking a stroll where the waves meet the sand along the edge of the shore.
Another alternative is to go snorkeling. With goggles, fins and a snorkel – you can be refreshed by the ocean blue and yet be marveled by peeking into the wondrous, underwater world of sea life.
With the wonders you just viewed, you may be inspired to go scuba diving. As a scuba diver – you are no longer a spectator to the sea world but a participant. The beach and its lifestyle are literally different worlds as you experience the freedom of being completely ensconced within the ocean. There’s so much to explore – coral reefs, underwater caverns, swimming through schools of fish, brilliant and vibrantly colored sea anemone, etc.
Deeper and deeper beneath the ocean you are drawn – it’s only with reluctance and a waning oxygen supply that you realize you have to go back to the surface. However, you eagerly anticipate your next venture and exploration to where the ocean can take you!
Sunbathing, snorkeling and scuba diving are the stages that the Teshuvah process offers us:
Sunbathing is an analogy for the complete immersion in the secular world – its powerful magnetism for self-gratification and self-orientation. While many seem to enjoy a “golden tan†– like prolonged exposure to the sun over many years, even without getting sunburned – eventually one finds out all too late the spiritual health risk and damage of such a materiality for the sake of materiality lifestyle. Others get an unintended and scorching sunburn – financial, health, midlife or some other crisis that sends a person seeking the water:
A Torah life – as Torah is likened to water……
“Frolicking, splashing, strolling around the waters†edge is the initial exploration of a Torah lifestyle – maybe its going to a few classes, listening to a few tapes, going to a seminar or committing a short time period to a Yeshivah or seminary program. The point is – the person is still trying to reconcile a Torah life with the secular world.
“Snorkeling†is actually living a Torah lifestyle but there’s one catch:
While one maybe “wet†i.e. be immersed in and living a Torah lifestyle – one remains stagnant and on a single plateau – and therefore ultimately, just “a spectatorâ€. Just as one who snorkels can only travel horizontally along with only a superficial immersion into the water – so too does such a person remain in their Torah lifestyle – technically frum, but no growth, no depth, no exploration and perhaps even an attachment/conflict with the secular world.
This is a critical point in the teshuvah process – one can stay here and “plateau out†or worse – gradually slide backwards. It is here that the BT must ask himself:
“I did decide to become a baal Teshuvah, didn’t I?â€
If so, the secular world is not our home, our base, our point of orientation – a true Torah lifestyle of continual growth is. That perspective will allow us to become a “scuba diverâ€:
“Scuba diving†is a level not only for Baalei Teshuvah, but for FFB’s as well. Just as a BT can “plateau out†so can a FFB become what Rabbi Ezriel Tauber describes as “FFH – Frum From Habitâ€.
To be totally immersed in a Torah lifestyle IS another world – its beauty becoming more and more breath taking the deeper one goes……
However, even a scuba diver must go back to shore – and so do we – with a longing and anticipation to return to the ocean’s depths. Most importantly – not to live as a sun-bather, frolicker or one who snorkels – but to share our underwater adventures and awe with all whom we come into contact – to encourage them to join us as the Rambam states:
“[During the Era of the Redemption -] The whole Earth will be filled with knowledge of G-d as the ocean covers the world.â€.
B”H
Whoa………..
1) The sources from Mishlei & BB have been listed – view them & the commentaries there for there proper understanding…..
2) Rather than get into the whole “judgmental/non-judgmental” thing (which was never my intension, esp. considering the concept of a Gentile who observes the Sheva Mitzvahs (like Bob mentioned))…perhaps the discussion should focus on secular VALUES vs. Torah VALUES (which was why I capped them to give that emphasis rather than people….)
Hope that helps….
“they do it for their own self-interest” is actually a rejected opinion. Look it up. It was just popularized by the Tanya’s endorsement of it as a mish‘enet qaneh ratzutz to hang its claim that they have purely evil souls on.
Of course, some people read the ‘winning’ opinion as even more negative, but that isn’t necessary.
If you’re talking about anti-semitic policies, of course, we should speak out on that for sure. I don’t know if you were directing your post @ my post, but I was just addressing individuals who may or may not be “on our side”. Judge each person favorably, and then, if they don’t see your side, try to explain why you think the way you do, and, if they still don’t agree, then, you can agree to disagree, but never to give in to what you believe in. But to judge all non-Jews in a bad light is wrong.
If the generality had been meant to be all-inclusive, we never would have heard of chassidei umot haolam (loosely, the righteous gentiles). I think we’re talking about a tendency, which has been carried out in practice all too often. Let’s consider what the nations, even friendly ones, are attempting to do to Israel, and the reasons why.
Are ALL Gentiles (& all non-Jews, for that matter) being painted with the same brush? That would not be right. Judge ghe person, not the people whom that person is from.
Is that the only explanation offered? For the explanation of “the kindness done by nations of the world [i.e. Gentiles] is a sinâ€.
I mean, do we really say that their motives are always purely self-centric? And wouldn’t saying that there is “some level of self-interest” suggest that it may not, in fact, be “purely self-centric?”
And what part of this excerpt demonstrates that there is any differentiation between secular and religious gentile values?
Mishlei is correct 14:34 to be precise
Bava Basra 10B
Sephardilady:
If I’m not mistaken, the source is somwhere in Mishlei with the explanation in a Gemorah (I want to say Baba Basra, but I could be completely wrong on that).
Chazal state “the kindness done by nations of the world [i.e. Gentiles] is a sinâ€. Why? Because everything they do is with some level of self-interest.
Source please? I’m pretty sure this is from Tanya, but I might be mistaken and the Tanya is only quoting an earlier source.
Chaim Grossferstant: regarding your source quote “Onus Rachmana Patrei” – thanks for providing the loophole needed for lateral Quixotic communication ;-). I always knew I could be counting on you for the actual linear sources. I appreciate you expounding on this all encompassing halachic principle.There is nothing like a loophole to tie a knot and hang on tight with. ure welcome for the linear thinking /thank you for your profound elucidation of that loophole quote.Seriously though I love your perspective- its an awesome attempt at making things understandable & accepting the unexplainable.
Avrohom-Moishe : I wasn’t taking your analogy too literally I was just getting stuck on the inherent disability/inability sidetrack angle that was overriding your = sharing the awe and initial under sea discovering focus .
B”H
Bob & Jaded –
Pls see what I commented #13 above:
“Perhaps the moshol is being taken too literally”
Bob – if you look at the OVERALL msg/idea of the article and the reply/comments in #13 – I think we are saying the same thing….
Jaded – I think ChaimG said it well…..
Jaded
Onus Rachmana Patrei= the Merciful One (G-d/the Torah) exempts those who’s non-performance or transgression is beyond their control.
This is an all-embracing Halachic principle. There are amputees who will never fulfill the Mitzvah of T’filin. Deaf who will never fulfill the Mitzvah of hearing the Shofar or Megilah. Even something as basic and central to human fulfillment and happiness as Pru U’rvu…well I’m sure you know about the shiduchim/infertility crisis. Even assuming for a moment that the people you describe are shut-out from the sharing/teaching aspect of Torah… Onus Rachmana Patrei! As to why a Benevolent Creator creates servants /circumstances who lack /that impede the full range of opportunities to serve him that is the Great Unknown and IMO the Great Unknowable.
PS thanks for sticking to liner thinking/ COMMUNICATING!
Moishe Avrohom Erlewein – regarding your closing statement:
“However, even a scuba diver must go back to shore – and so do we – with a longing and anticipation to return to the ocean’s depths. Most importantly – not to live as a sun-bather, frolicker or one who snorkels – but to share our underwater adventures and awe with all whom we come into contact – to encourage them to join us.â€
Upon processing your insightful / creative analogy, I encountered an error message before proper integration and processing , and was just sidetracking / questioning how Scuba Divers with communication issues such as Aspergers , how did g-d expect them to communicate/ connect and subsequently share the awe & encourage others among other communication tasks required and expected of a torah observant person. Communication does seem to play a major role in the discovering /integrating/ processing and living a Jewish Lifestyle.What if your Scuba Diver Character had inherent communication issues like Aspergers or even regular run of the mill learning disabilities this is the kind of stuff that would definitely be impediments for you Scuba diver hero, from actual figurative swimming and connecting with others – he would probally not have initially discovered the beneath the surface sea life ,forget about actual encouraging others to join him .Just something to think about.
Avrahom-Moishe said,
“Bob – I’m confused – if the article stresses immersing oneself in the ocean i.e. Torah & R. Akiva stresses fish in the water i.e. Torah – where is the contradiction?”
Water is the safest environment for a fish, and Rabbi Akiva compares the water to Torah and the fish to the Jew. His Jew should always remain in the water. As Rabbi Schwartz pointed out (Comment #12 above), even everyday existence can be a continuous Torah existence.
But your Jew is not a fish! Water in your moshol, although you also compare it to Torah, is NOT the safest environment for your Jew—seeing as that your Jew, as a non-fish, needs protective gear to survive in the water and can’t stay in it permanently. You segment the Jew’s life into a learning phase (in the water) and an application phase (on the dry land), but Rabbi Akiva considers both phases, properly done, to fall into the one category.
Bâ€H
Iâ€mJewish – it’s not the secular world that this article is against – it’s secular VALUES and orientation. Secular VALUES are purely self-centric as the Chazal state “the kindness done by nations of the world [i.e. Gentiles] is a sinâ€. Why? Because everything they do is with some level of self-interest.
Being/striving to be a Chabad chosid, obviously I am not advocating an abandonment or to disparage anything that is not kodesh. On the contrary, as the Midrash Tanchuma states – Hashem desired that this lowly world be transformed into a dwelling place for Himâ€. Therefore – we go to work, we marry, have children, eat, sleep, exercise, etc etc but all in a manner that reflects “in all your ways – know Himâ€.
Secular VALUES and the orientation that secular society promotes is the exact opposite of this. That’s why the analogy of sun-bathing vs. scuba diving…..
Yaakov, David, Neil, – thanks for rounding out the analogy – I enjoyed and agree with your embellishments – there is only so much I was able to convey with a 500-600 word limit!
JadedT – I’m not sure what you are referring to – could you pls clarify?
Bob – I’m confused – if the article stresses immersing oneself in the ocean i.e. Torah & R. Akiva stresses fish in the water i.e. Torah – where is the contradiction?
Rabbi Schwartz [& Bob] – every moshol is limited and eventually breaks down when compared to the nemshal.
Perhaps the moshol is being taken too literally or perhaps I didn’t adequately convey that our orientation needs to be a PURE and total immersion into Torah and bring that into elevating the “secular†world. Too often, there is a struggle between secular values and Torah values – trying to be “Frum†yet “hip & with it†– you can’t mix the two – its like trying to marry a fish and a bear – secular VALUES will never [nor needs to] mesh with Torah VALUES.
As Pikei Avos states “…bring the creatures closer to Torah†i.e. the Torah is meant to be applied to every situation, place, circumstance, time, generation, etc etc and through Torah VALUES – we uplift the world and bring it closer to the state that the Rambam says the world will achieve with the imminent arrival of Moshiach:
“The whole Earth will be filled with knowledge of G-d as the ocean covers the world.â€.
I agree with Bob. If the Torah is an ocean then we Jews are, as per Rebee Akiva’s Moshol, fish not scuba divers. When we are on dry land we are fish out of water requiring some artificial “reverse” scuba gear to pump water to our gills. There is a very revealing Halacha that teaches us that for birchats HaTorah “once in the morning does it”. Unlike the rule with other Mitzvahs, there’s no need to repeat the blessing when interrupted from learning b/c we are deemed to be involved in Torah at all (waking) times.
>â€E.g. Scuba diving is fine, but humans weren’t meant to live only in the water. Sooner or later you have to come back to shore. Hopefully, you’re invigorated and changed, and your experience on land is now altered for the good. But especially for BT’s there usually needs to be a balance — i.e. some time in the water of the spirit and some time in the land of the world. The Torah calls this Torah im derech eretz (Torah == water; derech eretz = way of the land).â€
WODR I think that Rabee Akiva’s teaching leads us to a different conclusion. We are not meant for invigorating dips into Torah but for total immersion. For fish (v’yidgu L’rov B’kerev Ha’aretz) ventures onto dry land are odysseys into forbidding terrain which cannot sustain life but must, paradoxically be braved to enhance and complement life. I always found Richard Wright’s portrayal of the Black experience in American culture “in it but not of it†to be a very apt description of the Jews place in this world in general. This is not to contradict the need for derech eretz only to realign its relative position to/relationship with Torah.
I’m Jewish:
One of the things cited was television, which, when broadcasting the Rebbe, brought Judiasm to the masses.
Our “natural” environment is the air over dry land, whereas all other environments (water, outer space, atmospheres on other planets…) are decidedly “unnatural”, and our survival in these requires all sorts of special measures.
On the other hand, we have this famous moshol from Rabbi Akiva (taken from an article by Rabbi Shraga Simmons at http://www.aish.com/shavuottorah/shavuottorahdefault/All_Nite_Tora-thon.asp ):
[LIKE A FISH OUT OF WATER
In the first century, the Romans tried to obliterate Judaism and made the study of Torah illegal. Rebbe Akiva could not bear the idea of abandoning Torah, so he gathered together his disciples and taught them Torah. Pappus ben Yehuda came and found Rebbe Akiva teaching Torah publicly. He asked: “Akiva, are you not afraid of the government
Rebbe Akiva replied: “I will explain to you with a parable:”
A fox was once walking alongside a river, and he saw the fish going in swarms from one place to another. The fox said to them: “From what are you fleeing?”
The fish replied: “From the fishermen’s nets.”
The fox said: “Would you like to come onto dry land?”
The fish replied: “Are you the one that they call the cleverest of animals? You are foolish! If we are afraid in the element where we live, how much more so in the element where we would die!”
Rebbe Akiva explained: “So too with Jews. It is written: ‘[The Torah] is your life and the length of your days.’ If we neglect it, how much worse off will we be]
Rabbi Akiva’s moshol is to tell us that Torah is the Jew’s “natural” environment, the least hazardous environment. This appears to go opposite to the moshol in the article above by Avrahom-Moishe Erlenwein.
Yaakov Astor , great multifaceted and visuo spatial approach to the Scuba Diving analogy .One quick jaded facet – just wanted to point out that one has to have the correct literal and figuretive protective head/ body and breathing gear ,In case one would be running into sea creatures of questionable character among other possibilities ,in addition to avoiding the potential pain of backstabbing/ stinging/hurt generally associated with questionable and Smooth Jazz sea characters.
Which brings me to my next jaded point – the Autism sea creature spectrum sequential thought process: the possibility of a pre-existing inherent inability for said Scuba diver to swim and subsequent hampering of survival attempts of said individuals should the protective gear wear thin and fall off – which would then translate into lack of communication skills for the land creature and figuretive and literal sinking issues .I guess the jaded conclusion would be, Such are the vicissitudes generally associated with Autistic scuba divers with Asbperger tendencies and leanings.As they cant be sharing their experiences with others nor encouraging others to join them in their breathcatching experience as Avrohom Moishe Eherlewein suggests cuz they dont have the proper connection cables for communication. I guess now would be a good time to listen to the shmuze #24 “Understanding Lifes Settings” .
Can you please give an example, Martin?
We just received a book about the Lubavitcher Rebbe, A’H’, from Queens College Chabad, and in it is mentioned that the Rebbe said that EVERYTHING on earth can be used to serve Hashem. That would include things in the secular “world” that some would think have no place in the spiritual world.
Nice analogy. About 70% of the Earth is covered by water (I just googled the info).
By remembering that the Torah is compared to water, we can spend 70% of our day surrounded by Torah (mitzvah) opportunities. How we relate to our family and co-workers, being polite, do chessed for others, listen to Torah tapes in the car, etc. There are countless ways to attach ourselves to Hashem during the day.
“You are wherever your thoughts are, make sure your thought are where you want them to be.”
-Reb Nachman of Breslov
Nice moshol and application.
I always liked to use the analogy of snorkeling for “bekius” learning, where you cover a lot of ground and see an overview of the topics, and scuba diving for “iyun,” where you plunge into the depths in a limited area.
I think I came up too quickly. I’m getting the bends!
I like the analogy (once used something like it myself), but think the application is a little too one-dimensional. The truth is that if scube-diving is full immersion in the Torah observant world the analogy should include the dangers too.
E.g. Scube diving is fine, but humans weren’t meant to live only in the water. Sooner or later you have to come back to shore. Hopefully, you’re invigorated and changed, and your experience on land is now altered for the good. But especially for BT’s there usually needs to be a balance — i.e. some time in the water of the spirit and some time in the land of the world. The Torah calls this Torah im derech eretz (Torah == water; derech eretz = way of the land).
Some BTs are so captivated by the underwater sights then may risk swimming out too far and forgetting where they are. They may even begin to think of themselves as a fish, and forget that they are land-based creatures, and that their purpose is to operate on land but with the wonders they observed in the water always fresh on their mind.
Another part of the analogy not mentioned is that amidst the beauty there are also things like sharks and barracudas in the water. Yes, and some of the sharks wear yarmulkes, and even blacks hats with beards.
There are all types of dangers for the scuba-diver. Of course, there is great beauty too. I just thought it would be important to balance out the picture a little better.
I’mJewish, I think that what many of the authors mean when they refer to secular is a primary material and self-centric focus as opposed to a spiritual and G-d centric focus.
And I don’t think they’re condemning every non-observant person, just like I don’t think you’re really condemning all the writers on this blog (although a non-generous reading of your comment might lead someone to that conclusion).
Basically we’re here to help each other increase our spiritual focus and relationship with G-d and improve our relationship with others. Included in that is judging people favorably, which is clearly something *all* of us need to work on. Thanks for making your point and helping to move us in a spiritual direction.
Sunbathing is an analogy for the complete immersion in the secular world – its powerful magnetism for self-gratification and self-orientation. >>
I really am very bothered by the continued insistence that everything in the secular world is about mindless and meaningless hedonism. It is quite possible to lead a goodly life, do charity, and have good values while being secular. Many BT’s did just that, and then decided they wanted to go deeper into Judaism. To listen to this blog, you’d think every BT lived a life of debauchery prior.