January 2010

Yesterday, I shared in a grand American ritual, particularly common to Southern Californians - I went to Disneyland; quite truly, the happiest place on earth! It was a wonderful day with my family, the kind that generates pictures and memories that will last a lifetime.

Seeing Jacob's unbridled happiness and wonder at the sight and hugs of his favorite characters and throughout a day of rides and attractions, all rich with fantasy and imagination, was a blessing for Arianna and me (as was my in-law's willingness to take Judah for the day!). For all three of us, the day was an escape from life’s challenges and opportunities, from the relativity of options, choices, and consequences - each and all better or worse, to an alternative reality of absolute happiness and fun. Rejuvenated by yesterday's unadulterated smiles and laughter, yesterday's escape from reality, the realities of the “real” world feel slightly lighter today, even while we re-engage them.

As Jews, we are blessed with rituals that help us specifically to engage and even confront the challenges that life presents and to avail ourselves of opportunities for joy, purpose, and meaning. Few, if any, of our rituals are designed to have us escape reality, as Disney does. And, the most compelling among our rituals help us to clarify, whether spiritually or practically, what our struggles in life are truly about and how we might each and all approach them toward achieving the greatest good possible. Whereas Disneyland offers a vacation from reality, prayer offers us a spiritual approach to engaging it.

First among our rituals is the opportunity for prayer afforded us by Services at synagogue. While some Services are more entertaining than others (our First Shabbat Service, to wit), the common thread of experience that runs through all of our Services is not fun, but, rather meaning. Whereas Disneyland can afford us entertainment with a taste of meaning, Services can provide for us awareness, understanding, and purpose, all framed by the enriching and uplifting aesthetic of music and sacred verse.

It strikes me that, in an era in which we seek so often to be entertained and to escape reality, we may often confuse Disneyland and Services, mistaking each for the other. We may, at times, imagine that Services are an escape from reality, denying ourselves what can be the safest and most reflective time and place in our lives to face and even confront our realities. Likewise, we may sometimes forget that the joy of Disneyland is not duplicable in our daily lives, leaving us with unrealistic expectations of an ease and pleasure in life that could never be met in reality. This is not to say that Services should not be enjoyable or that there is no enduring value to a day at Disneyland. Rather, it is a question of emphasis and purpose, and each is quite unlike the other.

The escape that Disneyland provides for us is a blessing. Prayerful contemplation during our Services is likewise a blessing. We are uniquely fortunate to have both within our reach and we are most fortunate when we engage each, without confusing one for the other.

B'Shalom - With Blessings of Peace and Wholeness,

Rabbi Isaac Jeret
Spiritual Leader