The Other Side (genesis: toldot)

This week with what we can learn from Jim Morrision & Annie Hall, & of course some wisdom and inspiration that we can tap into via the holy tzaddikim – Rebbe Nachman, Rashi, & The Rebbe!

It seems that in almost every moment of our lives we are caught between two choices: the easier or more selfish choice & something a bit harder, a selfless choice. Sometimes safek blurs the lines between the two, but often, if we tap into emunah & our gut, we know which is the one for us. Every action affects every other action. The fact that it takes so long to break a habit shows that every single action has ramifications beyond it. That’s why it says in Pirkei Avot, the reward for a mitzvah is a mitzvah, because if doing good begets doing good, one can take action to stay in perpetual goodness, or God forbid, struggle steeped in the opposite.

The story of Yakov & Esav puts one side far to one corner & the other far to the other, but since one represents the yetzer tov (good and spirituality) & the other the yetzer hara (evil and materialism), & because both exist within us, it makes it that much tougher to see them clearly. Even with Yitzchak, their father, we see that he wanted to give the blessings to Esav, because when something is so close to you, it’s hard to see it clearly.

Even in my own life, I struggle to decipher what is best at any moment. Do I continue to learn Torah, exist in the space of spirituality, & write insights/dvars? Or do I put some more of my time into materialism, & work, since that is a reality of the physical world we exist in? Do I say yes to everything someone asks of me, or do I set a boundary so I can help as much as I can, but not at the expense of things I need to take care of for myself/my kids? Do I take more time to heal a broken heart, or jump back into risking a break once again?

There’s a Native American parable, Tsalagi Tale, that teaches that everyone has two wolves within us – a good & a bad wolf. The question is which wolf is stronger.. & the answer is, the one that we feed.