Rabbi Moss: Is G-d Picking on Me?

JOIN NEFESH FOR HIGH HOLYDAYS www.nefesh.org.au/membership

Question of the Week:

Does G-d pick on some people? I think he is picking on me because I have suffered one loss after another for much of my life. It seems that as soon as I have survived one tragedy, another one comes crashing down on me. I always bounce back but I am starting to take it personally...

Answer:

There was once a tow-truck driver who lived near a muddy old country road. Every day he would jump into his truck and drive a mile or so to a particularly sludgy bend in the road, and every day his truck would get stuck in the mud. But it was a trusty old truck, and its chunky tires and growling engine would always be able to beat the mud and climb up onto solid ground.

Most days, as he drove along he would encounter other motorists who had unknowingly ventured onto the muddy road and got stuck in the bog. Some of them had been trapped there for hours, haplessly revving their engines and watching their wheels spin aimlessly in the muck. The truck driver would appear like a savior and offer them a tow, drag them out and set them back on the road.

The truck driver's son once asked him, "Why do you always drive down this muddy road. You always get stuck in it. Why don't you take your truck somewhere smoother, where the road is clear and dry?"

"That's the whole point," said the truckie to his son. "My tow-truck has the power to get through that mud. The only reason I go pass by there every day is to find others who are stuck and can't get out themselves. That's what a tow truck is for."

Some souls are like tow-trucks. They somehow have the strength to burst through the thickest and muddiest roads of life. No matter what life throws at these people, they muster the inner fortitude to get through. And so they keep getting thrown into the abyss, over and over again.

What these souls probably don't even realize is that they are helping others. When you face a tough time and beat it, you bring light into that dark place, which can shine a path for others who are stuck in their own darkness. It could even be that the only reason you had to pass through that dark roadway is to help drag other souls out of their darkness.

Sometimes we help others directly, by sharing our experiences and teaching a new way to those who can't see a way out. Or it may happen indirectly. The mere fact that you went through it and survived blazes a pathway, opens a door, and other suffering souls whom you may never meet suddenly find a way out of their quagmire and are set free.

So perhaps you are a tow-truck soul. Perhaps sometimes you are being towed. We all experience both. But if we would realize that every time we conquer our own darkness we may be helping someone who can't help themselves, we would be inspired to keep on trucking.

Good Shabbos,

Rabbi Moss

Sources:

See Maggid of Mezritch Ohr Torah 451

To subscribe CLICK HERE or email rabbimoss@nefesh.com.au

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ALL SERVICES AT NEFESH

1 FRANCIS ST BONDI BEACH

(OFF CAMPBELL PDE, BEHIND NOAH'S BACKPACKERS)

SHABBOS SERVICE TIMES & COMMUNITY INFO: SHOFTIM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday, 6 September 2019| 6 Elul 5779

Candle Lighting.................................. 5:22pm

Shabbos Service ................................ 6:00-6:50pm

Kids Program .................................... 6:00pm

Kiddush sponsored by David Stern, Justin Stern and Danielle Lechem in honour of their wife and mother Linda Stern on the 12th anniversary of her passing- Long Life.

Shabbos Day, 7 September 2019 | 7 Elul 5779

In depth Parsha class.................... 9:00am

Shabbos Service......................... 10:00am-12:20pm

Kids Program ............................. 10:30am

Followed by Kiddush.

Mincha after Kiddush............ Pirkei Avos Ch.1

No Shiurim or Maariv services this week

Shabbos ends................................ 6:18pm

WEEKDAY SERVICES

Sunday........................................ 8:00am

Latest Shema this week................. 8:59am

MAZEL TOV

Ronny Haughton & Michelle Hassin for their wedding on Sunday!

HAPPY JEWISH BIRTHDAY

Vitali Broyda............... 8 Elul/ Sunday 8 September

Yossi Segre................. 8 Elul/ Sunday 8 September

Paloma Rochat............ 9 Elul/ Monday 9 September

Hania Skimin............. 10 Elul/ Tuesday 10 September

Deborah Graham........ 10 Elul/ Tuesday 10 September

LONG LIFE

Tauba Tanchum for her late father Tevia Kaplan,

Tevia ben Eliezer... 8 Elul/ Sunday 8 September

Beth Lipovic for her late mother

Ruth bat Avraham... 11 Elul/ Wednesday 11 September

If you would like Nefesh to include your Birthday, Anniversary or Yortzheit in our newsletter and send you an email reminder, just fill in this quick ONLINE FORM.