Overnight sensations are often just that. They don’t necessarily last. Slow and steady, step by step, the gradual approach usually has longevity and more enduring success.
In this week’s reading, the Almighty tells the Jewish people that they won’t inherit the land of Canaan immediately. It will be to their benefit that the conquest of the Promised Land be gradual and deliberate. To settle the land successfully would take time, and they were cautioned to be patient. The process would unfold at a slow but steady pace so that there should be a smooth transition.
Every Jew has a share in the Promised Land, not only geographically but spiritually. There’s a piece of Jerusalem inside each of us. We all have the capacity for sanctity and spirituality. But sometimes we may be discouraged from beginning the journey to our own personal Promised Land. The road seems too far, the trip too long and arduous. Here, G-d is giving us wise words of encouragement. Don’t expect overnight miracles. Don’t say, “I have a whole country to conquer, how will I do it?” Rather say, “Where should I start today?”
If you were just starting your first business venture, and I asked you if you were a millionaire, would you say “no”, “not yet”, or “I’m working on it?” It should be the same in our Jewish journeys.
Franz Rosenzweig (1886-1929) was a German-Jewish philosopher who as a young man considered opting out of Judaism completely. But his intellectual bent compelled him to at least do a proper examination of Judaism first. So he went to shul and, as it happened, experienced a spiritual transformation. He went on to become a serious student of Judaism.
It seems that when Rosenzweig was once asked, “Do you put on tefillin?”, his answer was, “Not yet”. Not “no”, but “not yet”. There is a critical difference between the two. “No” implies that I’m not doing it now nor do I have any plans to do it anytime soon. “Not yet” means that while presently I may not be there, I’m open to suggestion. Hopefully, the time will soon come when I will be ready to make tefillin part of my daily observance.
The “not yet” approach is a good one. No one does it all. We should all want to aspire to greater things. If we don’t practice a particular good deed at the moment, there’s no reason why we can’t begin to do it in the near future. Don’t be discouraged by the length of the journey. Take the first step and keep moving. It may be slow, but if there’s steady growth, you’ll get there.
So, if someone asks, “Do you put on tefillin?”, “Do you keep kosher?” or “Do you observe Shabbos?” and you don’t, please don’t say, “No”. Say, “Not yet”.
