Life is a Wheel

She’s the one who took care of everyone else and now she’s so humbled. So humbled because she needs someone to take care of her.

It was her that they came to when they needed something, when they needed money. Now she finds herself in need. The table turned. She feels so humbled.

She has no choice but to take from the very ones she used to give.

She’s supposed to be the expert on this subject. Now she’s being challenged with the very thing people come to her for advice and she herself doesn’t know what to do. How can it be that the expert needs to humble herself and get advice from someone who is not as expert as she?

She never sat down before in her life. She’s the type that’s so active and always moving. She cries, not from the physical pain, but from the harsh reality that she must relinquish control and give in to her physical state. She has no choice but to accept her limitations and this new reality.

She did everything that she could to stay “strong” and “stable” with her emotions and feelings. “Why?” she asks over and over again. “Why must she resort to taking a drug?” “Why can’t she do it on her own- just snap out of it?” She’s humbled by being human and yes, therefore imperfect.

She’s pregnant and her body isn’t her own. Her legs hurt her so much. She feels heavy and it takes too much energy to move. She sighs in frustration. She can’t even bend down to pick something up. She’s humbled by the miraculous process that took over her body.

When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, "If I have now found favor in your eyes, now place your hand beneath my thigh, and you shall deal with me with lovingkindness and truth; do not bury me now in Egypt. I will lie with my forefathers, and you shall carry me out of Egypt, and you shall bury me in their grave." And he said, "I will do as you say." And he said, "Swear to me. " So he swore to him, and Israel prostrated himself on the head of the bed (Beresheit 47:29-31).

he called his son Joseph: The one who had the ability to do it. - [from Gen. Rabbah] 96:5.

and Israel prostrated himself: [Although the lion is king] when it is the time of the fox, bow down to him. — [from Meg. 16b]

How can a great lion king bow down to a lowly fox? He can do it because life is a wheel. Up and down. Up and down. You are born helpless and dependent and most likely you die helpless and dependent. Whether you like it or not, at least at one time and stage, you are up and you are down. The lion needs the fox as much as the fox needs the lion.

This is called being human (even though the parable takes place in the forest or jungle!). You give and the very thing you gave was initially given to you as a gift.

You take care of and you will need to be taken care of. You are needed and you will be needy. We accept the wheel of life. We bow down to it. We accept it. We relinquish control and know that at any moment when you are down you can rise up and that when you are up it’s your duty to reach out and help those who are down. The wheel of life. It’s so humbling.

***

She throws her hands up in frustration and wants to scream at her husband,

“This can’t be from me. It’s from your side!” Yes, she wants to put the blame on him or her mother-in-law. That trait, that challenge, is it anti-authority? Stubbornness? There are a million things and a million reasons why this child is so so difficult and each one wants to blame the other side and label “it” as “their” problem.

This weakness, where’s it coming from? This thing that is a part of her, but that she denies. She wants to blame it on a past experience, a difficult upbringing, a terrible care-taker…It’s not her fault she cries. It’s a curse, maybe the evil eye?

She looks in the mirror and refuses to see the reflection in front of her. She’s fights it and suffers from the sight of the reality that glares back at her.

And [someone] told Jacob and said, "Behold, your son Joseph is coming to you."

And Israel summoned his strength and sat up on the bed…Then Israel saw Joseph's sons, and he said, "Who are these?" Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom G-d gave me here." So he said, "Now bring them near to me, so that I may bless them." (ibid 48:2-9)

Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons: He attempted to bless them, but the Shechinah (Divine Presence) withdrew from him because of Jeroboam and Ahab, who were destined to be born from Ephraim, and Jehu and his sons, [who were destined to be born] from Manasseh. — [from Tanchuma Vayechi 6] [Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the first king of the Northern Kingdom, and Ahab the son of Omri were notorious idolaters.]

and he said, “Who are these?”: Where did these come from [meaning: From whom were they born], that they are unworthy of a blessing?- [from Tanchuma Vayechi 6]-Rashi

That’s right. Wonderful good things come out of us and difficult ones do too. We have strengths and we have weaknesses. This is a part of you and this is also a part of you.

Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom G-d gave me here."

Our children, our endeavors, our thoughts, our actions-we produce or at least we think we do, and we see that effort in this world does not determine the result. You are put in this world and not judged for the outcome, but for the process and the way you handle each situation as it comes. G-d gave you this and He gave you that and they are all a part of you to build you and make you the best person you can become. We confront the situation, we gain understanding, we acknowledge that “no one” else is to blame, we accept, learn, grow and G-d willing, move on. This, this leads to blessing…

So he said, "Now bring them near to me, so that I may bless them."

May we be strong and healthy and not have to be humbled by weakness or illness or poverty, but may we be humbled by greatness and abundancy that we see and experience all around. May we know that when we are down we can just as easily go up and when we are up we always help those that are down. May we accept and embrace our challenges and imperfections with love and blessing.

Shabbat Shalom,