Posted on 10/02/24
Recently, our downstairs storage room went dark. All four lights – those long fluorescent tube lights – went out. To try and resolve this, I did what most people would do and headed on over to the local Home Depot store.
I walked straight to the back left of the store where I knew they had electric supplies and lights. I saw so many lights: round lights, square lights, big lights, small lights (sounds like the beginning of a Dr. Seuss book!). Then, excitedly, I found the aisle that carried these fluorescent tub lights. I needed the six-foot (72 inch) lights for my basement and started to look at the various size options in stock. They had two-foot, four-foot, eight-foot, and even sixteen-foot options. I scratched my head, confused. There were no six-foot lights. They had all the options except for the one that I needed.
I finally found a fellow wearing a bright orange Home Depot shirt (which, in and of itself is its own avodah!), and I asked him why they don’t have the six-foot lights which I needed. He told me something that made a lot of sense but still rubbed me the wrong way. He said, “If there’s not 200 people who need your size light bulb, we are not going to carry it. You have to go somewhere else.”
Makes sense, right? From a business perspective, if only a few people need a certain type of item, it doesn’t really make sense for them to carry it. For whatever reason, the six-foot lights are not as common I guess, and therefore Home Depot doesn’t sell it (at least in the store location I went to).
I was thinking about this story, and was reminded about how incredible and amazing Hashem is. You see, Hashem created the entire universe, and He governs every single thing contained inside it. From the celestial bodies in the vastness of space to the tiniest ant that crawls along the dust of the earth, Hashem governs and cares for every single thing, including (and especially) YOU.
Parshas Ha’azinu is comprised of a song, a song that symbolizes the entire history of the universe (see Ramban). No part of a song is more important or less important. The low notes and the flat notes are just as important as the high notes and sharp notes.
Understanding and being more aware of this can actually give a person a certain level of confidence and an inner feeling of joy. When we look at the universe from this “song-like” perspective, we come to the realization that I exist and therefore I matter very much. I am not a glitch in the creation. My existence is intentional.
The natural inclination of someone who feels important, valued, and created with purpose and intention, is to start living life with more importance, value, purpose, and intention. This process of feeling intentional and ergo living with intention is really the essence of Teshuva, returning to Hashem.
Hashem cares about each of us so much. If He made you, that means He carries in stock every single thing that you need to function and be successful over the course of your journey through life. You NEED NOT go anywhere else. You NEED NOT resort to “other” things and locations to get what you want out of life.
All you have to do is return to Hashem and know that everything He has in store for you, is right here.
Have a holy Shabbos and Ksiva Vchasima Tova!