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Friday February 2, 2007

There is something new under the sun, if we renew our souls

by rabbi karen s. citrin

Beshalach
Exodus 13:17-17:16
Judges 4:4-5:31

The biblical author known as Kohelet is often viewed as having put a damper on life. Thousands of years ago he coined the now well-known perspective, “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). On the one hand, Kohelet gave voice to the power of tradition, familiarity, consistency. On the other hand, Kohelet was missing a vital part of existence — the potential to continually discover something new.

The Torah affirms the need to find something new each day. This week we read the portion Beshalach, the segment that contains the “Song of the Sea,” which sings of Israel’s journey to freedom. After the Israelites crossed through the Sea of Reeds, they set out on their travels through the wilderness. They must have soon run out of matzah, because after having just escaped from bitter slavery, they began to complain before Moses and Aaron about the lack of food and water.

At this point, God said to Moses, “I will rain down bread for you from the sky and the people will go out and gather each day that day’s portion” (Ex. 16:4). Except for the sixth day, when they received a double portion for Shabbat, the Israelites were instructed to gather the manna each day as it appeared from heaven. They could not save what was left after 24 hours because if they did, “it became infested with maggots and stank” (Ex. 16:20). Not only did they collect the manna each day, but our tradition also teaches that the Israelites could discover new flavors with each taste of this mystery food depending on their desire.

Just as the manna was given anew every day, the Torah teaches us to find novelty in each day. We read every morning in the siddur, in the Yotzer prayer, that God “renews daily the works of creation.” The prayer speaks of the perpetual renewal of nature. It teaches that in the light of a new day, we can continually seek out new meaning and insight. Another morning prayer, “Elohai neshama,” posits that we awaken each morning with a renewed soul. We awake each day with a clean slate, with new eyes to discover the world.

In his book “Man Is Not Alone,” Abraham Joshua Heschel speaks about our ability to look at the world with “radical amazement.” He writes, “Wonder is a state of mind in which we do not look at reality through the latticework of our memorized knowledge; in which nothing is taken for granted … Each thing is a surprise, being is unbelievable. We are amazed at seeing anything at all; amazed not only at particular values and things but at the unexpectedness of being as such, as the fact that there is being at all.”

Heschel encourages us to discover newness and creativity by looking at the world with eyes of wonder. Radical amazement often comes more naturally to children. My 2-month-old sons are fascinated by the spin of the mobile, the shake of a rattle, the sound of music. As adults, we have to work harder to look at the world with wonder and to discover something new in each day.

These days we speak about renewable energy, sources of energy that can be constantly renewed like sun or wind. We, too, must find our own sources of renewable energy. What keeps things fresh and alive? What inhibits our days from being infested with maggots and rotting from staleness? In what ways do we continue to receive new manna every day?

On this Shabbat Shira, the Sabbath of Song, let us live by the words of the Psalms, “Shiru l’Adonai shir chadash” – “Sing unto God a new song.”

Rabbi Karen S. Citrin is the associate rabbi at Reform Peninsula Temple Beth El in San Mateo.

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