October 23, 2021
Author(s): Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz,
Parshat Vayera
October 23, 2021 — 17 Cheshvan 5782
Momentum That Comes and Goes vs. Momentum That Grows and Grows
by Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz
Temple Emanuel, Newton, MA
It is the best of times, it is the worst of times.
It is the best of times: David Rosemberg’s Bar Mitzvah. David radiates joy, and that joy fills our congregation.
It is the worst of Times. The Red Sox. The Red Sox’s utter collapse. We win games 2 and 3 in historic fashion, and then lose the next three games. What is that?
These two events, the joy of David’s Bar Mitzvah, and the anguish of the Red Sox collapse, have something very important in common, and it is something that we don’t talk about enough: momentum. Momentum is the strength or force that gathers and grows when something is moving in the right direction.
In baseball, the ultimate momentum creator is the grand slam. In games 2 and 3, the Red Sox had 3 grand slams. That is epoch. Historic. More grand slams than have ever been hit in two games in the history of Major League Baseball. That is momentum. They had it. But then they lost it.
And at David’s Bar Mitzvah, we have momentum. This place has not been so full of people, of love, of energy, in two years. We have it. How do we not lose it?
To state the obvious, we could all use some positive momentum just about now. It’s been a long pandemic. In our shul life, in our school life, in our work life, in our social life, how do we change the course of the game? How do we shift the energy from a slog to a celebration, from worry to joy, from disconnection to reconnection?
When it comes to momentum, there are two questions. How to get it? And once we get it, how to keep it? We don’t want our momentum to come and go. We want our momentum to grow and grow.
In Pirkei Avot Ben Azzai observed: mitzvah goreret mitzvah. One mitzvah leads to another mitzvah. One positive act leads to the next positive act. That is how to get momentum. But how do we keep it once we get it?
Momentum is not self-sustaining because we are not machines, we are flawed human beings. We hit homers and then we can’t hit. So Ben Azzai needs a booster shot: once we get momentum going, how do we keep it growing?
The answer, in a word, is accountability. Momentum accountability, some support that keeps your noblest impulses going.
Somebody wants to stop their addiction to alcohol. AA is all about momentum accountability. It’s not just about will power. It’s about weekly AA meetings, regular check ins with a mentor, being a mentor to somebody else.
I want to get in better shape. So I could get up early in the morning and run when I feel so moved, which is nice. Or I could take a class which meets every week, or I could develop a relationship with an exercise partner who is counting on my being there every week. Momentum accountability.
I want to read more. I could pick up a book that strikes my fancy, or I could join a book group that meets monthly. My book group is expecting me to be there, and to have read the book. Momentum accountability.
The easiest thing in the world, once you get momentum going, is to lose it. If we want our momentum to grow and grow, not to come and go, we need someone to hold us accountable for growing our momentum.
A woman named Eleanor Love understood this very well. Eleanor Love is a medical student in Virginia. She wanted to treat people, not pathologies, but how could she do that, especially as the most junior part of the medical team, especially in this surreal season when there were so many patients, so much anxiety, and so little time?
One day she is attending a wedding of a friend, and a light goes off in her head. She observed the beautiful flowers that were all around. Roses, roses everywhere. What happens to all these flowers when the wedding is over? She started reaching out to wedding planners, and to the couples themselves, to let them know that she is a medical student, she makes rounds on patients who have been hospitalized, and she wanted to make their day, to brighten their room, by personally delivering flowers that were left over from a wedding. May I take the flowers from your wedding and repurpose them as a gesture of love for patients in the hospital?
Who could say no to that? So Eleanor Love started delivering wedding flowers to patients in hospital rooms. She felt good doing it. Her patients felt blessed to receive it. All good. Call it a day. But no, she did not call it a day.
It was not enough for her to deliver flowers to hospital patients. That is not a sustainable model. She intuitively understood that for this idea to grow and grow, and not come and go, she needed momentum infrastructure. So she started an organization called The Simple Sunflower dedicated to keeping the momentum going. The Simple Sunflower has recruited hundreds of volunteers who have delivered thousands of flowers. Momentum accountability. The Simple Sunflower has inspired similar efforts at other hospitals in other cities, where wedding bouquets now decorate the rooms of hospital patients throughout our country.
What would momentum accountability look like here? In honor of David’s Bar Mitzvah, let me offer two practical ideas. First, do one more Jewish thing a week. It could be anything in the Seven Gates. It could be anything in the 613 mitzvot. It could be baking a challah. Or taking a class. Or coming to shul. Or listening to a podcast about Israel. Or reading a Jewish book. Or visiting somebody who is sick. Or making a shiva visit. Or working on a social justice cause you care passionately about. Or helping resettle a family from Afghanistan. You pick one thing a week that is meaningful to you. Whatever you pick will be a blessing. Mitzvah goreret mitzvah, one mitzvah leads to another. That is getting momentum.
Second, find a friend or partner or shul buddy who can help you be accountable for this one more thing a week. If you bake a challah, bake an extra challah to give to a friend. If you take a class, take it with a friend and continue the conversation in person or online. If you come to shul, come with a friend. If you listen to a podcast about Israel, join one of our TE Connects groups that is going to be discussing the ideas. If you read a Jewish book, do it in the context of our Jewish book groups. If you visit somebody who is sick, do it as part of our chesed committee. If you help an Afghan family resettle, you will be working with 170 volunteers. Doing your one more thing with accountability will help our momentum grow and grow, not come and go.
Or, in the alternative, I do have a single idea that is better than all the above.
Next week, we are going to do David Rosemberg’s Bar Mitzvah again. In fact, we are going to do David Rosemberg’s Bar Mitzvah every week. Think about it. It’s a no brainer. Elias is here, anyway. David loves to sing, anyway. We have plenty of Temple Emanuel bags, chumashim, and Havdalah candles to give David as gifts. All that is required is for David and Elias to go to Milton’s and buy new suits every week. And all that is required is that we all come back.
One more Jewish thing per week, with a friend. Or see you next Shabbat at David’s re-Bar Mitzvah. David, just wear your new, new suit! Shabbat shalom.