Standing on Your Tip Toes
by Encounter Director Rabbi Yisroel Roll
There is a story told of a Chassidic Rabbi who was about to blow the shofar (the ram's horn) on Rosh Hashanah-the Jewish New Year. Everyone in the synagogue readied themselves for this solemn moment when we hear the sounds of the shofar which act as a spiritual alarm clock to wake us up and in order to "get our act together" and become more active in our spiritual lives. The rabbi stepped forward, put the shofar to his lips...but stepped back. He did not sound the shofar. He tried again. He stepped forward, put the shofar to his lips...the people leaned closer...but the rabbi stepped back. He tried one more time but simply could not bring himself to conduct the ceremony.
"I cannot blow the shofar until our good friend Jacob comes forward and tells us his story."
Jacob, a six foot five, 22 year old Rabbinical student, stepped forward awkwardly.
"Jacob", said the Rabbi, you recently got married to Hannah, is that right?"
Yes, Rabbi", answered Jacob shyly.
I cannot blow the shofar on this holy day until you tell us a very important thing. Tell us, when you speak to your new wife, Hannah, how do you speak to her?"
"Well," said Jacob , " I am six feet five inches tall and my dear wife Hannah is four feet eleven inches tall. When I speak to Hannah I have to bend down to speak to her."
"Don't leave out the most important part," pleaded the Chassidic Rabbi. "If you don't tell us what Hannah does when you bend down to speak to her then I cannot proceed to blow the shofar".
"The people of the congregation strained and moved closer to hear Jacob's words. He said: "Since I am so tall and Hannah is so short, when I bend down to speak to Hannah she stands on her tiptoes to speak to me."
"That's it!" cried the Rabbi with delight. "Now I can blow the shofar. When I stepped forward to blow the ram's horn I thought to myself...God is so tall. He, like Jacob, is "six foot five inches tall." And I am so small, like Hannah, only "four foot eleven inches tall". I couldn't imagine that God Whois so big and mighty and omniscient could possibly care about my small insignificant act of blowing the shofar. Could He actually care about my tiny deeds? And so I could not bring myself to blow the shofar. But then I heard Jacob say that even though he is so tall when he bends down to speak to Hannah, Hannah stands on her tiptoes to speak to Jacob. She may not reach Jacob's full height, but since she tries and he bends to hear, they connect."
The Rabbi explained: "God is six foot five and we are four feet eleven. He bends down and is interested in what we do. We are significant to Him. We cannot reach all the way to God for He is so Great. But all He asks of us is to make an effort. We have to stand on our tiptoes and try to reach Him. If we try to reach up to Him He will bend down to listen to what we have to say." When I realized this I decided to "stand on my tiptoes" by blowing the shofar.
The first step in our relationship with God, then, is to recognize and to acknowledge that God as King, cares about our actions, deeds , words and even our thoughts. He is the Royal Provider. The next step in the process is to recognize the royalty in ourselves-in you and me. How? By acting like a King. If I act in a King-like fashion by providing, caring for, encouraging, in effect "being there" for my spouse, kids, parents, neighbors, friends and community then I will be acting like God, in his capacity as King or Provider. It is not enough to have relationships. I must nurture and grow these relationships. As I think of ways to act towards those around me with a giving nature then not only will I be developing my character and growing as a person but I will become more like God. By emulating and acting like God, as Provider, I will be developing my relationship with God.
