Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome and thank you for joining me. I'm Rabbi David
Lyon from Congregation Meoth Israel in Houston. The Holiday of
Passover is over. It is ended. The tour tells us
to observe it for seven days with a number of
different ways. To observe it with services and worship on
the first and last days, with a satyr meal around
(00:22):
the table with family and friends. To respond to the commandment,
let all who are hungry come and eat, to take
their place at the table. Tell the story of the Exodus,
the liberation and freedom of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt,
where they lingered for four hundred and thirty years until
God heard their cry and Moses led them out with
(00:44):
God's outstretched arm and benevolence. Then we reach the end
of the Holiday of Passover, and when we do, we
open the prayer book and we open the Torah to
read and to sing a very special song. In Exodus
chapter fifteen, we come to what is called in Hebrew
(01:04):
shirat Hayam, the song of the Sea. If you look
at Exodus chapter fifteen, you'll see in the Hebrew that
it's laid out in a very particular way, as if
the waters had parted and the Israelites were walking through
on the dry river bed. It is said in such
a way that it truly stands out from the rest
(01:25):
of the Torah writing and script. In Exodus fifteen, we
also come to the verse mirhram Ocha, who is like
you God, among all the gods that are worshiped, doing
wonders exceptional miracles for the Israelite people. And all of
(01:45):
this is part of the prayer book worship service, in
which we retell on a regular basis how God created, redeemed, freed,
and revealed. This pattern and this rubric is a part
of our rhythm of worship and life every day. To
appreciate God's acts of freedom to liberate each human life
(02:10):
and soul to be all that it was created to
be is a meaningful part of how we see ourselves
in God's company. But standing at the shore of the
sea and the water's roiling, before Moses raised his arms
and the water split, it took one individual to put
his foot in the water first and to let everybody
(02:34):
know that they can trust Moses, they can trust God.
And while the waters were still full and beginning to part,
one individual led the way. His name is Noch Shown.
Knoch Shown was an early adopter, you might say, But
in his day he was the one who put his
toe his foot in the water, and then other people
(02:55):
followed his example. Very often we take the example of
Ah and use it to explain how many times we
have to part the way to be sure that we
arrive where we're intended to go? Too, How do we
do it? Very often we do look to God and say, God,
show me the way, or we pray in our own
(03:17):
particular way to hear God's answer, or to deliver our
prayer and wait to see what happens. Many people pray
in many different ways, but it still takes one other
person to take the first step. We have mentors, we
have leaders, we have faith leaders, gods. Ultimately, we look
(03:39):
around and see if we're not the early adopter ourselves,
who has already done it? Who has been the nach
shown so to speak, and done it first? Can we follow?
Can we trust? Can we do it too? But sometimes
that responsibility is our own. Let's consider our own personal life,
(04:01):
our family circle, where sometimes we have to undo trouble
or make something happen that needs to be done we
might point fingers or assigned tasks, but sometimes it isn't
that easy to tell a spouse or a child go
do It isn't always easily received. More often we have
(04:22):
to model behavior, set an example, and demonstrate how important
something is to the collective family. You and I need
to be nach shown to say to somebody, look how
I do it, Look how you can do it. Look
how helpful this can be. It isn't difficult at all.
It's easier than you might think. Such words such lessons
(04:46):
are helpful way to guide people to do something They
might otherwise be stuck in doing, unsure how to accomplish,
and may even suffer from a fear of failure. But
our example, like knock shoens, leads people to believe that
they can do it too, and not just alone, but
(05:07):
they can do it in the company of others and
feel confident about it. If you're a parent or a grandparent,
or a strong sibling in the family, you know exactly
what I'm talking about and can remember examples too. I'm
one of the youngest in my family, and growing up
I often looked to my older siblings to see how
(05:28):
it was done and how could I do it too.
In fact, I had great interest in being able to
do it just like they did, maybe even better secretly.
But my parents were good examples as well. And as
we learn in our Jewish texts, the person who was
wise who learns from everybody. There were things that I
learned from my parents how to do, and also from
(05:50):
my parents' example how not to do it when it
was my turn to make my decision for myself. And
so we have to be discerning to see that we're
following people who set a good example, and even to
learn from those who don't so that we don't create
or duplicate the same mistake. In our opinion, So who's
nach shown in your life? But it isn't just at
(06:14):
home at work, we can also be the person who
takes the first step and sets the example. And if
we're not sure, we're certainly taught to ask questions and
to be sure that we're in the right place at
the right time. Likewise, there are many people who are
our mentors and guides. I find that a mentor is
(06:34):
a marvelous person to have in one's life at the
early stage of one's career or academic studies and throughout
one's life, because a mentor loves to see one's men
tee do even better than he or she. Really, we're
taught that we shouldn't be jealous of anybody, especially our
(06:56):
children or those we mentor. Our children should far exceed
what we've accomplished, and so should those we mentor. They
are the ones who we are guiding to help to
go beyond where we were able to go in our
time and with our ability, and so we can be
the enoch shown that takes the first step and sets
(07:18):
the example for others to follow. Whether they are our
children or those whom we mentor, they're looking for our support,
They're looking for our pleasure and also our appolades, not
only to praise them, but to praise them properly. It's
been taught that when you offer praise to somebody, it
(07:40):
isn't appropriate to offer all the praise to their face,
only about half. Why because we don't want to lay
it on thick and perhaps appear insincere. But also we
don't want to create an unnecessary ego that gets in
the way of our mentee or our children's ability to
(08:01):
find their own way to full satisfaction to self respect
and self validation. The worst thing we can do is
to create in others, or even in ourselves that need
to seek validation constantly. How am I doing? Did I
do it wrong? Are you happy with me? Those are
children's questions, But as we emerge and mature, we need
(08:25):
to be sure that if we were behaving as Knock shown,
or even following somebody else who behaved like Knoch shown,
that we found our own step in our own way
and felt rather secure in it. Even if we felt insecure,
we were aware of it and were able to do
better next time to accomplish what needed to be done.
(08:45):
The same can be true even if we extend that
circle beyond home and work. In all the places we go,
have a keen eye, a discerning way of determining. Who
is the leader that we need to follow? Who is
the nach shown that takes the first step towards a
path that is holy and sacred. Moses led the people
(09:09):
to a place where God intended them to be, not
only at Mountsane, but ultimately in the Promised Land. And
we have our own journeys and destinations to reach two.
But who will we follow? Who will be our guide
and when will we take the first step that we
need to take. Oh, I wish I could tell you
(09:30):
that every step we took was the right one, And
I wish I could tell you that every decision we
made was always the right one. But the truth is,
as I've guided many people to know, to have two
options is terrific. Three is even better. Any more than
three is sometimes too much to bear. Which road to take,
(09:51):
and it isn't like the poets said, to take the
road leavest traveled. It is to be sure that when
you make a decision that you feel rather confident in it.
And if you feel that you've made the wrong decision
at some point along the way, to know that there
are few roads that you take that don't have a
way back, take a detour, turn around, make a turn,
(10:14):
and try another path. This is a world filled with opportunity,
and so we don't have to feel that we're putting
all of our eggs in the proverbial basket all at once.
We do have choices to change career midlife. I know
many people who have started a career right after college
only to find that it wasn't really suited to them,
(10:35):
or life changed around them and they decided to do
something else, they had a second career, and because many
people have the good fortune to live in good health
for many, many years, people who live to be eighty ninety,
even near one hundred, Sometimes that you hadn't have a
third career, and sometimes a third career turns out to
(10:55):
be one where they are mentors, advisors, and guides no
longer not shown, but rather to let people know how
to find their own way based on the example and
the experience that they had. What a privilege that would
be to have a long life and long career, many
life experiences that you accumulate and prepare to share with
(11:19):
others who are ready to listen. Not always teenagers and
not even grandchildren, but those who want to learn how
to do it well will seek out those who have
already done it, and learning from mistakes is a key
part of finding the success that you seek. Even for myself,
although I've been a settled rabbi as we call it
(11:40):
for many years, I did have one turn my rabbinical
journey that wasn't so pleasant, And while I extricated myself
from it to be sure that I landed where I
needed to be, I learn so much from those years
when my work was more difficult than it needed to be,
and by learning from it, not only did I improve
(12:01):
my skills, but I also learned where my limit was
and what I would no longer tolerate from people who
wanted to treat me badly or wanted to behave badly
despite my guidance. I can't help people if they want
to make a bad choice. One time, somebody came in
to see me and said, Rabbi, I just don't want
to do the wrong thing. What I really wanted to
(12:23):
say was, then don't. But it isn't that easy, because
we do question ourselves, We question our abilities and skills,
So we need to look for those who might guide
us and show the way and set a good example.
It might be a mentor or teacher or parent. It
might be a person we identify as our own nach show.
(12:45):
And if it isn't somebody else, maybe it truly is
us for ourselves and for others who count on us.
I'm Rabbi David Lyon from Congregation Abouth Israel in Houston.
To listen again or to share this message, you can
find it at my post podcast called Heart to Heart
with Rabbi David Lyon at Sunny ninety nine dot com
(13:06):
are on the iHeartRadio app. It is a holy season.
I know that there are those not only wrapping a
passover but also observing Easter. And so as spring comes
and new growth blooms and blossoms, we have hope that
we can find what we need. We can count on others,
(13:26):
and even in periods of faithfulness and prayer, we can
pray for what we need. But more importantly, we can
pray to find within ourselves what God has already implanted
within us, the courage and hope and strength that we
need to accomplish our God given tasks. And if we
find that we've simply found ourselves in the wrong place,
(13:48):
then we just need to turn around, try again another career.
In good health and God's blessing, we can accomplish so
much more than we think that we're able to do.
But we need those people to prompt us, to inspire
us and show us the way. And sometimes we all
need a knaf shown in our life. I know that
(14:10):
I have to. And when somebody puts his or her
toe or foot in the water first and shows us
how to take those first difficult steps, It makes each
successive step that much easier and more profound to take,
and eventually we do get closer to where we need
to be. And when we do get there, it's time
(14:32):
to say thank you and express gratitude for the way
we've come, what we've learned, and how to pass on
the lessons to others who'll come to count on us. So,
as the week unfolds, please look towards the future with
hope and optimism and find those who can walk with
you to the place where you need to be as well.
(14:52):
Thank you for joining me. I look forward to being
with you again next time.
Welcome and thank you for joining me. I'm Rabbi David
Lyon from Congregation Meoth Israel in Houston. The Holiday of
Passover is over. It is ended. The tour tells us
to observe it for seven days with a number of
different ways. To observe it with services and worship on
the first and last days, with a satyr meal around
(00:22):
the table with family and friends. To respond to the commandment,
let all who are hungry come and eat, to take
their place at the table. Tell the story of the Exodus,
the liberation and freedom of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt,
where they lingered for four hundred and thirty years until
God heard their cry and Moses led them out with
(00:44):
God's outstretched arm and benevolence. Then we reach the end
of the Holiday of Passover, and when we do, we
open the prayer book and we open the Torah to
read and to sing a very special song. In Exodus
chapter fifteen, we come to what is called in Hebrew
(01:04):
shirat Hayam, the song of the Sea. If you look
at Exodus chapter fifteen, you'll see in the Hebrew that
it's laid out in a very particular way, as if
the waters had parted and the Israelites were walking through
on the dry river bed. It is said in such
a way that it truly stands out from the rest
(01:25):
of the Torah writing and script. In Exodus fifteen, we
also come to the verse mirhram Ocha, who is like
you God, among all the gods that are worshiped, doing
wonders exceptional miracles for the Israelite people. And all of
(01:45):
this is part of the prayer book worship service, in
which we retell on a regular basis how God created, redeemed, freed,
and revealed. This pattern and this rubric is a part
of our rhythm of worship and life every day. To
appreciate God's acts of freedom to liberate each human life
(02:10):
and soul to be all that it was created to
be is a meaningful part of how we see ourselves
in God's company. But standing at the shore of the
sea and the water's roiling, before Moses raised his arms
and the water split, it took one individual to put
his foot in the water first and to let everybody
(02:34):
know that they can trust Moses, they can trust God.
And while the waters were still full and beginning to part,
one individual led the way. His name is Noch Shown.
Knoch Shown was an early adopter, you might say, But
in his day he was the one who put his
toe his foot in the water, and then other people
(02:55):
followed his example. Very often we take the example of
Ah and use it to explain how many times we
have to part the way to be sure that we
arrive where we're intended to go? Too, How do we
do it? Very often we do look to God and say, God,
show me the way, or we pray in our own
(03:17):
particular way to hear God's answer, or to deliver our
prayer and wait to see what happens. Many people pray
in many different ways, but it still takes one other
person to take the first step. We have mentors, we
have leaders, we have faith leaders, gods. Ultimately, we look
(03:39):
around and see if we're not the early adopter ourselves,
who has already done it? Who has been the nach
shown so to speak, and done it first? Can we follow?
Can we trust? Can we do it too? But sometimes
that responsibility is our own. Let's consider our own personal life,
(04:01):
our family circle, where sometimes we have to undo trouble
or make something happen that needs to be done we
might point fingers or assigned tasks, but sometimes it isn't
that easy to tell a spouse or a child go
do It isn't always easily received. More often we have
(04:22):
to model behavior, set an example, and demonstrate how important
something is to the collective family. You and I need
to be nach shown to say to somebody, look how
I do it, Look how you can do it. Look
how helpful this can be. It isn't difficult at all.
It's easier than you might think. Such words such lessons
(04:46):
are helpful way to guide people to do something They
might otherwise be stuck in doing, unsure how to accomplish,
and may even suffer from a fear of failure. But
our example, like knock shoens, leads people to believe that
they can do it too, and not just alone, but
(05:07):
they can do it in the company of others and
feel confident about it. If you're a parent or a grandparent,
or a strong sibling in the family, you know exactly
what I'm talking about and can remember examples too. I'm
one of the youngest in my family, and growing up
I often looked to my older siblings to see how
(05:28):
it was done and how could I do it too.
In fact, I had great interest in being able to
do it just like they did, maybe even better secretly.
But my parents were good examples as well. And as
we learn in our Jewish texts, the person who was
wise who learns from everybody. There were things that I
learned from my parents how to do, and also from
(05:50):
my parents' example how not to do it when it
was my turn to make my decision for myself. And
so we have to be discerning to see that we're
following people who set a good example, and even to
learn from those who don't so that we don't create
or duplicate the same mistake. In our opinion, So who's
nach shown in your life? But it isn't just at
(06:14):
home at work, we can also be the person who
takes the first step and sets the example. And if
we're not sure, we're certainly taught to ask questions and
to be sure that we're in the right place at
the right time. Likewise, there are many people who are
our mentors and guides. I find that a mentor is
(06:34):
a marvelous person to have in one's life at the
early stage of one's career or academic studies and throughout
one's life, because a mentor loves to see one's men
tee do even better than he or she. Really, we're
taught that we shouldn't be jealous of anybody, especially our
(06:56):
children or those we mentor. Our children should far exceed
what we've accomplished, and so should those we mentor. They
are the ones who we are guiding to help to
go beyond where we were able to go in our
time and with our ability, and so we can be
the enoch shown that takes the first step and sets
(07:18):
the example for others to follow. Whether they are our
children or those whom we mentor, they're looking for our support,
They're looking for our pleasure and also our appolades, not
only to praise them, but to praise them properly. It's
been taught that when you offer praise to somebody, it
(07:40):
isn't appropriate to offer all the praise to their face,
only about half. Why because we don't want to lay
it on thick and perhaps appear insincere. But also we
don't want to create an unnecessary ego that gets in
the way of our mentee or our children's ability to
(08:01):
find their own way to full satisfaction to self respect
and self validation. The worst thing we can do is
to create in others, or even in ourselves that need
to seek validation constantly. How am I doing? Did I
do it wrong? Are you happy with me? Those are
children's questions, But as we emerge and mature, we need
(08:25):
to be sure that if we were behaving as Knock shown,
or even following somebody else who behaved like Knoch shown,
that we found our own step in our own way
and felt rather secure in it. Even if we felt insecure,
we were aware of it and were able to do
better next time to accomplish what needed to be done.
(08:45):
The same can be true even if we extend that
circle beyond home and work. In all the places we go,
have a keen eye, a discerning way of determining. Who
is the leader that we need to follow? Who is
the nach shown that takes the first step towards a
path that is holy and sacred. Moses led the people
(09:09):
to a place where God intended them to be, not
only at Mountsane, but ultimately in the Promised Land. And
we have our own journeys and destinations to reach two.
But who will we follow? Who will be our guide
and when will we take the first step that we
need to take. Oh, I wish I could tell you
(09:30):
that every step we took was the right one, And
I wish I could tell you that every decision we
made was always the right one. But the truth is,
as I've guided many people to know, to have two
options is terrific. Three is even better. Any more than
three is sometimes too much to bear. Which road to take,
(09:51):
and it isn't like the poets said, to take the
road leavest traveled. It is to be sure that when
you make a decision that you feel rather confident in it.
And if you feel that you've made the wrong decision
at some point along the way, to know that there
are few roads that you take that don't have a
way back, take a detour, turn around, make a turn,
(10:14):
and try another path. This is a world filled with opportunity,
and so we don't have to feel that we're putting
all of our eggs in the proverbial basket all at once.
We do have choices to change career midlife. I know
many people who have started a career right after college
only to find that it wasn't really suited to them,
(10:35):
or life changed around them and they decided to do
something else, they had a second career, and because many
people have the good fortune to live in good health
for many, many years, people who live to be eighty ninety,
even near one hundred, Sometimes that you hadn't have a
third career, and sometimes a third career turns out to
(10:55):
be one where they are mentors, advisors, and guides no
longer not shown, but rather to let people know how
to find their own way based on the example and
the experience that they had. What a privilege that would
be to have a long life and long career, many
life experiences that you accumulate and prepare to share with
(11:19):
others who are ready to listen. Not always teenagers and
not even grandchildren, but those who want to learn how
to do it well will seek out those who have
already done it, and learning from mistakes is a key
part of finding the success that you seek. Even for myself,
although I've been a settled rabbi as we call it
(11:40):
for many years, I did have one turn my rabbinical
journey that wasn't so pleasant, And while I extricated myself
from it to be sure that I landed where I
needed to be, I learn so much from those years
when my work was more difficult than it needed to be,
and by learning from it, not only did I improve
(12:01):
my skills, but I also learned where my limit was
and what I would no longer tolerate from people who
wanted to treat me badly or wanted to behave badly
despite my guidance. I can't help people if they want
to make a bad choice. One time, somebody came in
to see me and said, Rabbi, I just don't want
to do the wrong thing. What I really wanted to
(12:23):
say was, then don't. But it isn't that easy, because
we do question ourselves, We question our abilities and skills,
So we need to look for those who might guide
us and show the way and set a good example.
It might be a mentor or teacher or parent. It
might be a person we identify as our own nach show.
(12:45):
And if it isn't somebody else, maybe it truly is
us for ourselves and for others who count on us.
I'm Rabbi David Lyon from Congregation Abouth Israel in Houston.
To listen again or to share this message, you can
find it at my post podcast called Heart to Heart
with Rabbi David Lyon at Sunny ninety nine dot com
(13:06):
are on the iHeartRadio app. It is a holy season.
I know that there are those not only wrapping a
passover but also observing Easter. And so as spring comes
and new growth blooms and blossoms, we have hope that
we can find what we need. We can count on others,
(13:26):
and even in periods of faithfulness and prayer, we can
pray for what we need. But more importantly, we can
pray to find within ourselves what God has already implanted
within us, the courage and hope and strength that we
need to accomplish our God given tasks. And if we
find that we've simply found ourselves in the wrong place,
(13:48):
then we just need to turn around, try again another career.
In good health and God's blessing, we can accomplish so
much more than we think that we're able to do.
But we need those people to prompt us, to inspire
us and show us the way. And sometimes we all
need a knaf shown in our life. I know that
(14:10):
I have to. And when somebody puts his or her
toe or foot in the water first and shows us
how to take those first difficult steps, It makes each
successive step that much easier and more profound to take,
and eventually we do get closer to where we need
to be. And when we do get there, it's time
(14:32):
to say thank you and express gratitude for the way
we've come, what we've learned, and how to pass on
the lessons to others who'll come to count on us. So,
as the week unfolds, please look towards the future with
hope and optimism and find those who can walk with
you to the place where you need to be as well.
(14:52):
Thank you for joining me. I look forward to being
with you again next time.
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