- Commander-in-Chief Briefs
- Posts
- A Downpour in the Desert
Whether it’s the first time, or if it’s just been a while, let’s connect and get to know each other (better) as humans.
If we haven’t connected yet, connect with me on LinkedIN. I post some super useful stuff there, as well :)
Put 30 minutes on my calendar to chat. No strings attached, whatsoever.
Let’s get to know each other (in many cases after not chatting for a long time) as humans, friends.
Of course, if there’s something I can help you with, just ask and I’ll do whatever I can to ask.
Don’t be a stranger, friend.
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In this issue: A Downpour in the Desert
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Rain, Rain, Thanks Again
It’s raining cats and dogs here, for the first time in 6 months.
A colleague sends a video of a water spout down at the seashore.
I go outside as it’s letting up, coffee cup in hand.
The air is incredible.
The lungs fill thirstily, gratefully with the scent of flowers, shrubs and rain itself.
The impossible has happened.
It’s raining, positively pouring down in late summer.
People are energized, babbling, gathering by the entrance to look with open eyes, to breathe the air.
Something’s definitely in the air.
Yesterday, my superstar friend, Hillel Fuld, came up to Haifa to talk business, but also to catch up with some quality time.
He blew away my colleagues, a cross between roman candle and cyclone.
A few days ago, my sister-in-law gave birth to a baby boy (MAZAL TOV!!)
I caught up with my oldest friend in the U.S. over text last night, wishing him a happy 41st.
We just hosted dear friends of ours from Detroit, another great friend and her son from Petah Tikvah the Shabbat before.
There’s a new friend of my exact background (Russian Jewish from New York) I’ve made friends with in synagogue.
Another new friend who just moved to Haifa from Shilo, originally from Mississippi.
There’s something special in the air.
Given the late summer lethargy, it’s definitely unusual - and most certainly welcome.
I spend a lot of time at the library these days.
It’s almost all students in here, full of vim and vigor and smiles and motion.
It’s a big contrast with the department floor, where we’re all twice (or thrice) this age.
It’s a good reminder that:
There’s always a LOT happening under the surface, much more than we realize.
Other friends are hosting his parents and brother and his family (whom I know well from New York from my law school days).
At the reception on Shabbat, it was incredible just how many connections people had from before meeting each other there.
The friend from Michigan had lived at the same time in the same small Washington town as the host’s father for a few months decades ago, when the father was training in aviation there.
The friend’s wife, whom I knew even before him in Manhattan, knew the brother and his wife from there, as well.
Another guest was from Detroit.
Realizing all these connections, I toasted the occasion and wished for all of us to read the signals better.
We’re ALL constantly bombarded by signals sent by G-d/the Universe, which sit RIGHT ON OUR (proverbial) NOSE, while we look for answers out there, ANYWHERE ELSE in the world.
The more you learn to pay attention and listen to those signals, the more the world opens up to you.
This needn’t happen only during times of turbulence, dislocation, dispute and other forced dynamism in our lives.
In fact, the whole point is to recognize those signals - and act on them - as soon as you detect them.
This lets one be much more pro-active in all areas of life.
If you think of the 4 Conversations (which I wrote about in the 4 volumes of my “Be Your Own Commander-in-Chief” books):
with your body
in your mind
with other people
with G-d / The Universe
… you will learn to listen to understand, not just to react automatically.
We talked a lot this Shabbat with my Detroit friend about that magical distance between input or action and reaction that Victor Frankel described so eloquently.
When you master those conversations, what you’re really mastering is the stretch or distance between action and reaction, in which you can learn to insert patience, planning, and ultimately self-control.
Change the conversation, change your life.
Master the conversation, become truly free.
For those of you screaming, “but it ain’t no F-U money,” you’re right.
It’s even much more powerful than that.
When you free your mind from robotic reactions, you free yourself from the intense and growing mind automation exercised by society.
You can learn to control your behavior in a mall, where you’re bombarded by carefully orchestrated smells, sights and other strong signals.
All meant to subvert your common sense, your better judgment and your self-control.
Same as your social media feeds, your media intake, the food and drinks you consume, the cultural dogmas you internalize.
Which bring me back to this incredible rainstorm in late summer in Haifa.
It’s more than just a spectacle that comes and goes, more than a cute poetic metaphor.
Rain is blessing.
Literal and figurative.
Maybe even more than when you’ve “worked hard for it” and expect it as part of the season.
In summer (effectively the 8-9 months between rainy seasons), we pray for dew, NOT rain.
So when we get rain, which is so much more than just dew, it’s a true marvel.
It’s a reminder that even in a totally dry land and dry season, miracles DO happen (not just can).
And not only do they happen once in a very long and impossible while, but they actually occur EVERY DAY and EVERY MOMENT.
We talk all about dancing in the rain, but when do we actually do it?
And frankly, why even wait for rain at all?
If every moment is a true miracle, why wait for rain to dance?
Go out and dance like nobody’s watching!
Just open that door and run outside.
And may you be blessed with plentiful rain, both literal and figurative, now and to 120!