Elul, Day 26 - כ"ו באלול
Dear Elul Writers,
It is possible that some of us have not accomplished quite as much as we had hoped to in our trip through Elul. It is even possible that twenty-six days into the month we are feeling like we’ve barely started. If that’s the case, I learned some beautiful Torah from Shuly Rubin Schwartz, who is both the Chancellor of The Jewish Theological Seminary and my aunt through marriage. The story comes from the commentary Akeidat Yitzchak by the 15th Century Spanish sage, R’ Isaac ben Moses Arama.
A king commissioned two artists to decorate the walls of his throne room, setting a time limit for completion of the task. The first artist, true to his reputation, set to work immediately and completed beautiful murals in good time. The second artist allowed most of the allotted time to elapse without even commencing the work on his side of the throne room. When he finally realized that time was running out on him, and that he could not hope to match his colleague, he decided to polish and silver the walls he had been commissioned to paint so that they would reflect the images portrayed on the walls that his colleague had decorated. He hung a curtain across the room, and when the king inspected the work of the first artist he was favorably impressed and profuse in his praise. When the second artist took the king to inspect his handiwork,- the curtain still dividing the two halves of the room,- the king became noticeably angry, failing to be impressed by polished blank walls. Thereupon the artist removed the curtain, and suddenly those two walls were filled with the perfect reflection of the murals of the first artist. The king rewarded the second artist even more handsomely, having been impressed by that artist's genius and the circumstances that occasioned it...
Aunt Shuly shared this piece at the beginning of a gallery opening for JTS, demonstrating the dynamic interplay between the creative people in their Artists’ Beit Midrash. But, as soon as I heard it, I knew that I had hit the jackpot for procrastination Torah. The second artist literally dilly dallies until it is too late, then in a moment of desperate genius realizes his best shot is just to polish his wall. Then, remarkably, he is rewarded for his creativity. Perhaps Arama was teaching that cleverness and resourcefulness matter just as much as skill and artistry, but I mainly heard “it’s okay to put things off.”
Prompt
There is hope for those of us who wait until the last moment! Maybe all we need is a mirror and a chance to reflect back the fullness and the holiness of the world around us. We have people in our lives who are doing beautiful work; people who are making this world a more lovely and loving place to reside. On Day 26 of the month, polish yourself up a bit and take advantage of the work that others are doing by appreciating it. Let a few people know that their work is making your life more wonderful and more sublime. It is definitely not too late.
Shabbat shalom,
Jordan