Awareness of the World Around Us

By Rabbi Shalom Kantor
KOACH Rabbi, Binghamton University

How aware are we of the world around us? How much attention do we pay to our immediate surroundings at any given moment? And finally, on the flip side, to what lengths do we go to insulate ourselves from the pieces of our world that we would rather not have to deal with? Each day, in our busy lives, we encounter hundreds or thousands of events; so many that we can not possibly take account of them all: the ticking of a clock in a room, the whirring of the computer fan, the smells that surround us, or the little pieces of crumbs and dirt that my 1 year old boy finds in every nook and cranny and put in his mouth to "test" if they taste good or not.

Day in and day out we encounter thousands of these little things that we simply walk by, run by, or drive by and don’t even notice. And this is a good thing, for if we ever attempted to observe everything, we might not ever get out of bed. Yet, how often do we pass over things that we should notice; things that God created for our appreciation and the beautification of the world. How aware are we of our surroundings; the people we live, work and eat with; the food we eat, the air we breathe, the clothes we wear and the earth upon which we walk.

The Rabbis of old realized how easy it was for us to become accustomed to our surroundings and simply overlook the miracles that surround us or even appreciate that which sustains us. Thus, in Judaism, we have a very simple system of speed bumps that help us slow down, pay attention, and hopefully appreciate and value all of these things in our lives. In the Talmud, Rabbi Meir suggests reciting 100 blessings each day (Menachot 43b) -- one every ten minutes of our waking lives. In other words, Jews should be constantly aware of the world around us and should respond through gratitude and prayer.

Not only do brakhot (blessings) provide us an opportunity to show our gratitude for the things that we appreciate and enjoy, but they also cause us to slow down. When I have to decide what blessing is required over a certain food, I am forced to think about where it comes from and how it was grown or created. Hence I must in that thought process acknowledge, to some degree or another, that God is directly involved in my life through whatever it is that I am eating or enjoying.

As we go through our day, more and more aware of all that we encounter, we can begin to take note of how our actions might be impacting the world in which we live. We can see the relationship between all the moving parts of the world and appreciate the miracles that surround us. Also very important, we can see the way that our actions can impact that world. So, as we move into the month of Shevat, the month of trees blooming in Israel, the month of Jewish environmental awareness and the month during which many of us in the northern latitudes long for warmer days, let us all take the time to notice and appreciate our surroundings and the world that we live in.

[Posted 1/15/10]