September -- Z'rizut / Enthusiasm

Since the advent of the DVR and the ability to pause live TV, I rarely watch a commercial. Sometimes, I am simply eager to get to the next scene in the show. At other times, I see my time as a precious commodity and would rather watch the show than the filler commercials. (I’m continually amazed that so many "30 minute" shows are actually no more than 22 minutes.) My remote control has an option for fast forwarding at varying speeds or jumping 30 seconds with the touch of a button. More often than not, I misjudge how quickly I need to fast forward or how many times I need to push the quick jump button and I miss the opening of the show’s scene. In my enthusiasm, I miss out on potentially important dialogue and then need to rewind. In the end, the time I save by pushing the fast forward button "one more time" may be lost in the time it takes to rewind. Luckily, rewinding is possible with my TV. In life, however, we do not get the chance to rewind. We can try things again. We can even get "do-overs". However, once time has been spent, it cannot be retrieved. Sometimes in our enthusiasm, we miss out on life.

Of course, the other side of the spectrum can be equally as destructive. If we cannot stir up our z’rizut/enthusiasm, we may want to spend our entire day in front of the TV, perhaps even watching the commercials.

The Mussar tradition teaches us that we are to both study and exercise our values. For z’rizut/enthusiasm, this might mean identifying where in life we need more or less of this trait. In our zeal, do we run over other people (either physically or metaphorically) or miss out on important experiences or relationships? In our lack of enthusiasm, do we fail to follow through on commitments and let ourselves and others down? If either scenario sounds familiar, the next step is to identify areas in our daily lives where we can work on the opposite of our ingrained patterns. For instance, I might commit to pausing for two minutes every hour to do a simple self check-in and to be present to the moment. On the other hand, I might make a simple list everyday of the projects, phone calls, errands or chores that I would like to complete. Often times in mussar practice, we will even add a mantra to our daily routine or write key words on a post-it note to "slow down" or "light a fire."

I hope that you will join me in working on z’rizut/enthusiasm this month. If you are inspired to delve deeper into this spiritual practice, please register for one of our Seasons of Mussar courses that are beginning Tuesday morning September 20th or Monday night October 24th. We would be enthused to welcome you to either group. For more information, please contact the Temple office or visit our website: www.adatelohim.org/education/adulteducation/souljourneys.

May we all have a month of balanced z’rizut,

Rabbi Ted Riter