During the storm earlier this week, our power went out. One of my kids asked me to “just turn the lights on”. Being that that is BGE’s department, it took a few hours instead of a few minutes. We were blessed that it was a relatively short period of time. When the power went out again on Wednesday, thank G-d for a short duration as well, my son once again couldn’t understand why I wasn’t just turning the lights back on, although I helped with a flashlight ;). He is young and still doesn’t understand these things.
There is an adage attributed to the Baal Shem Tov; “one should learn something from everything he sees and hears”.
When this happened, I told myself, “I have my weekly email”. Whether it would be for a few minutes or a few days, I needed to stay calm and ensure that the kids were fed and taken care of.
When our spiritual lights are off, we do not feel connected to G-d. When we turn to our regular support team, and they are not able to light our spark, we just need to wait for the lights to turn back on. The question is how we deal with the time when it feels dark. Do we take care of things so that when the lights turn back on there is no long-term damage? Or do we throw a spiritual tantrum?
A couple days later, while studying this week’s Torah portion, the topic of severance pay came up. The Torah discusses whether a slave is required to be compensated when set free. The question then is asked if severance for a regular employee is required by Torah law? A lesson derived was that even if you aren’t required to give severance, it is a good and kind idea. It keeps the goodwill and appreciation for the good work that was done alive.
The spiritual message we can take is that even when someone doesn’t deserve severance, even when they are not involved spiritually, you should still give them something to make sure their connection to spirituality is not severed. Even when the “spiritual” lights are out, and you can’t turn them on, make sure you are a flashlight, lighting up their darkness.
Have a good Shabbos,
Rabbi Kushi Schusterman