DAY 717: Man Plans and God Laughs

June 17, 2014
By bethmordecai
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DAY 717: Man Plans and God Laughs

(6/17/14),

The wonderful thing about being outside for services, like at Shabbat by the Sea, is experiencing the natural splendor of creation around us. The challenging thing about being outside for services is that sometimes the natural splendor of creation is not so splendid at all. This past Friday, as we made plans to pray outside, the weather had other ideas — a downpour arriving close to the beginning of our service forced us to remain indoors, leading our Shabbat by the Sea to become Shabbat in the Sanctuary.

Yet despite the change of scenery, we not only managed to adapt to our new surroundings but we took full advantage of them, whether that was dancing out the front doors to greet the Shabbat queen or finding a quiet place in the balcony to pray during the Amidah. As one member reflected at the end of the service, we made this inside-service as memorable as our outside-service. Adapting to the natural realities of weather reminds us that life is designed by nature to be adaptable. We may want to plan, program, and organize ahead of time (more on that Thursday), but as the Yiddish proverb teaches us: “Der mentsch trakht un got lakht — Man plans, and God laughs.” So when God laughs, let us be ready to adapt with a proper response.

Kol Tuv,

Rabbi Ari Saks

 

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