Saturday, January 7, 2012

Hischadshus - Finding The New In The Old

You are at a wedding and the dancing is spirited and lively. "VI'LEEERUSHALAYIM E-E-ERCHA OYYY BIRACHAMI-IM TASHUV VISISHKON BOSOCHA VISISHKON BISOCHA KA-ASHER DIBARTAAAAA". This continues for about 2 minutes but as time progresses the excitement starts dying down so suddenly the band changes the song, "VA-ANI BI-ROIV CHASDECHA AVO AVO BEISECHA, AH AH AH, ESHTACHAVE BEHEICHAL KODSHECHA OY YOY YOY YOY YOY BIYIRASE-ECHAAAA". People start going nuts and the dancing picks up. But yet again a very short time after the new song starts the enthusiasm starts waning so the band starts a new song. This is how every simcha looks.

Why??

People like new. The moment a new song is introduced it is new, fresh and exciting. After a few moments it's oooold news. In Yeshivas Torah Vadaas in the earlier half of the previous century, Rav Shraga Feivel Mendolevitz insisted that songs be sung for 45 minutes until every last bit of "juice" is squeezed from it.

The songs that they were playing at weddings 10 years ago or even less are passe. People like NEW hits.

A man gets married. She is young, beautiful and exciting. But after ten-fifteen years she is not as young, not as beautiful and not as exciting. So the "minhag" [which in hebrew has the same letters as "gehenom"] of the world is to look elsewhere. People like new. [They don't realize that the next one will soon become older and less exciting too, after a while]. He should have realized that this would happen when at his wedding when they changed the music so frequently.

I was once in a 80,000 dollar car [which incidentally was so small I was sitting sideways in the back seat - but the owner told me he liked the car because it flies] and was told that a new car is purchased every two years!! People like new.

This applies to contraptions and everything else in life. New. People like new.

In our Avodas Hashem we are also supposed to feel novelty and excitement but by finding the התחדשות [newness] in the OLD. אשר אנכי מצוך היום - That I command you today. Every day must be completely new [בכל יום יהיו בעיניך כחדשים - Rashi on the pasuk]. Today should be like the first time you ever davened. Today should be like the first day you ever saw this gemara - even if you have seen it 20 times. We say this pasuk in shma which is the most oft repeated tfila in our lives but even there we must feel התחדשות [Rav Hutner].

The Heilige Chiddushei HaRim says [based on the medrash] on the pasuk of ויקם מלך חדש על מצרים - a NEW king arose over Egypt. The Egyptians stole התחדשות from the Jews. That was our downfall. We need reJEWvenation, otherwise we're doomed.

When my son put on tefillin for the first time we went to the kotel and after davening we approached Rav Moshe Schapiro for a bracha. He gave my son an affectionate pat on the face [yikes! Charedi violence!! If you go to Rav Ovadia Yosef Shlita and he gives you a pat on the face you know he likes you. MORE charedi violence:-)] and said "You should be as excited every day to put on tefillin as you are today".

Your wife/husband - try to constantly find the novelty and excitement in the relationship. That requires work because naturally things get stale.

Love and blessings!