I was only a cub scout for a few years, and of all the things I learned as a scout, the following tidbit of wisdom has remained with me every time I go camping. Every time we went on an outing in the wilderness our troop leader would remind us that, “We should always leave things better than the way we found it.”
In our Torah portion this week, our ancestors receive a very similar message as they conclude their wanderings in the wilderness. In Deuteronomy 28:6, our ancestors are blessed with the following words, “Blessed may you be in your comings and blessed may you be in your goings.”
In our daily lives, these two versions of the same message remain central in our efforts to maintain a sense of balance and respect between us and the world around us. If we can try to enter situations with a mindset of entering and leaving situations with the blessings of our hearts and minds, we ultimately leave a positive footprint in the world.
As this week continues to unfold, let us consider some of the many ways that we can be a blessing in our homes or our places of work; with friends or strangers; to ourselves and to the world into which we have been born.
L’Shalom–Steve