Long ago, a famous teacher was asked what she would do if she knew she had one day to live. She said she would cook a big pot of vegetable soup for her family. Her point being, she would nurture her family which is her primary role.
A famous rav and teacher was asked what he would do if he knew he had one day to live. He said he would do whatever he was up to in his daily schedule. In other words, he would do nothing different. He was a disciplined person with every hour of his day accounted for, and if in his schedule it was time to give a shiur, he would teach; if it was time to eat lunch, he would eat lunch.
A wonderful young bachur became a chassan and on the day of his wedding he was in the beis medrash, learning as he usually did.
Each of these people sounds special and yet each story bothers me. I will try to articulate why. I think it's because it seems to me that under extraordinay circumstances, you do the extraordinary, not the ordinary, as special and important as the ordinary is.
What do you think?
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I would think that if a Jew knew that his time on earth was almost up, he or she would spend that time apologizing to anyone that he had hurt and repaying all debts. To me, it would be important to clear up any unfinished business with my fellow man before coming before my Creator. It would be similar to erev Yom Kippur where one Jew asks forgiveness of another before entering the Holy day.
ReplyDeleteI do however, admire someone who spends his wedding day learning rather than being endlessly photographed in ridiculous poses. Somewhere along the line, weddings have become mass-produced events where the photographers, rather than rabbonim, run the show.