This morning, I plugged in my phone into the charger and checked back thirty minutes later and realized that the battery level had gone up just 3%. I quickly checked what is going on and shut down all running apps, but it didn’t seem to be the problem. I then discovered that somehow I wasn’t using the factory issued charger that came with my Galaxy phone, but rather was using a cheaper version that I had once bought as an extra, that looked almost like the original. I also realized that the cable I was using was not the original cable, so I quickly switched and puff, five minutes later the phone was filling up with juice ten times faster than it had been.
While so much of our lives are run from our phones, life is infinitely more than what a smartphone contains or can do. Yet in life too, we need to know how to plug in with the right chargers and cables, and make sure we are recharging with the right juice.
Abraham, the first Jew was perhaps the first person who identified how to connect to the energy source of the world in the best possible manner, so that he could recharge and be a source of positive energy for the world around him. As we are told in Jewish teachings, despite having very little support, Abraham was determined to be faithfully dedicated to G-d, who he saw as being the creator and sustainer of the universe. It was his unwavering loyalty and commitment to G-d, that caused G-d to choose him to start the Jewish people, and later on gift them with the ultimate battery pack, the Torah.
If we leave our phone unplugged for too long, it will simply stop working once the battery drains. As humans we are not much different, just like we need to sleep each day to recharge our body and we cannot simply keep going, likewise, our soul needs nurturing and sustaining so that it can be our inner anchor, guiding force, and voice of moral clarity and reason.
How do we charge our soul?
There are several ways we can charge our soul and inner core. One way, is through the study of Torah, the Divine Wisdom we have been gifted with, which provides us with an intellectual and spiritual stimulant that sharpens our minds, hones our thinking skills, and cultivates our moral thought processes to reflect a higher purpose.
Other ways, we can nurture our soul and inner core, are through making the time to do Mitzvos on behalf of others or the world around us. While in doing so, we may be exerting ourselves physically, at the same time, we are nurturing ourselves spiritually, to maintain a deeper perspective and value to life.
Of course, one of the ultimate ways of nurturing our inner core, is by tapping into some of the uniqueness of the peace and spirituality of Shabbat for as much as we are able to. As we do so, we remember who we are at our core, and reflect on how our lives reflect that deeper dimension, and recharge our inner self to reflect the true purpose and goals of how we can live a life of meaning and depth.
As we prepare to welcome in another Shabbat, I will be unplugging my phone, but will be plugging in my inner core, for a super recharge and reset.
Shabbat Shalom
Yisroel