What the Rush?

When leaving the synagogue, it is forbidden to run or walk with long strides, because this would make it appear as if your stay in the synagogue was like a burden to you. This only applies when you have to go to work, but if you leave the synagogue to go to a Beit Midrash then it is considered a mitzvah if you rush.(Shulchan Aruch 25:8)

For today’s world, this is one of the most difficult mitzvot to perform.

The cornerstone of emuna is the unflagging confidence that Hashem provides for our every needs. Because He provides for our needs, we don’t have to work sixteen hours a day for our daily sustenance. There is no need to worry about our needs because Hashem is watching over us at every moment. He knows our thoughts, our desires, and our lacks. When we need something, we need not ask ourselves, “What can I do at work, with my business, or with a friend to better my prospects,” but rather, “What can I say during hitbodedut? Where can I improve my conduct? Are there specific sins which I have to atone for? What is Hashem is asking of me right now that He sends me this lack so He can show how much He loves me by fulfilling it?”

This is the attitude that inspires us to spend extra time in prayer, and not at the office.

Try contemplating that when the Dow Jones takes another 500 point swoon, your department is laying off half the staff, or the bank is considering calling in your mortgage.

When times become difficult, it’s hard to think about anything else. We live in a physical world. We occupy physical bodies. In crisis mode, we act and react to what is immediately staring us in the face. It is a gut instinct to try to solve our problems ourselves by our own devices.

When we are considering physical solutions for physical problems, davening can become burdensome. Learning can feel “counterproductive.” Shabbat can become an unwanted respite from our efforts to fix these problems.

It’s hard to get past the “rat race” and realize that beyond these problems lie the true solutions.

We cry out to G-d and demand: “Hashem! Why are You doing this to me? What is the point of this suffering?”

Once we realize that Hashem sent this tribulation our way, we discover that there IS something He wants from us. We uncover a TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITY for spiritual growth that Hashem is giving us.

He IS doing this to you for a reason. There IS a purpose to our suffering. Things WILL work out. They will work out because Hashem is so concerned about us at this very moment, He made sure to send us this tribulation in the first place. He did it because He knows that we WILL be better people for it. We WILL enjoy a greater salvation and happiness.

The key is to focus on going beyond what we can do in our professional life to better our situation. Let’s be honest, we will do this no matter what. We will seek “real” solutions to our “real” problems – as we should. We must make every effort to grow within the Shul and at the company. The question is which solution will take priority: the one that focuses on spiritual growth or the one directed towards career advancement?

When we are burdened with life’s travails, do we pray faster and bolt out the Synagogue’s exit doors to attack these problems on the world’s terms?

Or do we stay longer, asking Hashem for guidance through hitbodedut, more Psalms, added Torah learning, generous charity, and approach life’s dilemma’s from Hashem’s foundations?

If we can take a moment to realize that the Divine solutions cover the physical issues as well – we realize that we don’t have to run at all.