Am I sending too many emails? Why we bless G-d all day long.

How was your week?  Mine was great.  I visited my parents this week and spoke with my father almost every day.  I also went on two walks almost every day, one with Natanya and one with the whole family.

Which brings to mind a question that someone once asked me.  This fellow believed in G-d, but couldn't imagine that this all powerful G-d needs my blessings and prayers all day.  "Leave Him alone and let Him be!  My philosophy is that I don't mess with His golf game, and He doesn't mess with mine."  This fellow didn't like the idea of praying three times a day, making a blessing before and after eating, going to the bathroom, and countless other brochas that we make each day on mitzvahs & experiences. 

These kinds of questions, if asked from in a humble way (not like his question) are exactly what we're about at Chabad of Temecula.  We are a community of humans on the journey of working to have deeper and more meaningful relationships with our family, co-workers, and G-d.  All of these relationships take work and can easily be brushed under the rug or soured without adequate attention and guidance.

Back to the question:  Two ladies were discussing their families.  One would speak with her mother every day for hours, and the other would call twice a year for ten minutes, on (1) mother's day and (2) her birthday.  The one who would only speak twice a year, explained that she has nothing to talk about!  Even the twice a year that I call, we catch up on the family news, talk about the weather, and then there's that awkward silence, so we say goodbye and hang up.  The other gal turns to her and says, "I can't imagine that!  I call my mother every day for hours and we still can't get through everything!"

Which relationship do you think is better?  Obviously, if you only speak twice a year (Yom Kippur & Passover) and you run out of things to say after ten minutes, the joke is on you!  The general rule is that when we're close to someone, no amount of detail is too much, and when we're distant, any detail is too much!

It's high time that we all embark on this journey and make these relationships so much a priority that we're talking with our parents, children, spouses & especially G-d, every day and all day!

Yes, all day.  You know what I mean.  At some point in your life you were so close to someone that you were communicating with them at every opportunity! 

It's not that simple though.  If you find yourself running out of things to say with those who you want to be close with, you might need someone to teach you how to talk with them.  This principle applies to your children, parents and spouse, and G-d too.  If you find yourself coming to services (even once or twice a year) or try making these blessings throughout the day, and they seem meaningless to you and too much, it might be time for you ask someone to teach you about communicating with G-d.   G-d doesn't want to be left alone to "play his golf game".  He wants to be in communication with us all day long, and this relationship with G-d takes work too.  If you feel that I'm sending too many emails, it means we need to work on our relationship.  We can talk more about this next week.

In the meantime, I'll give you a little bit of homework for the week.  Choose one person whom you're close to (or should be closer to) and call them at least three times this week (better every day).  If they are your spouse, make sure to talk every day, not just in passing.  What happens?  Are you running out of things to say or is everything flowing naturally?  Are you finding the conversation shallow, or is it deeply satisfying and meaningful?

If you'd like, you can respond and tell me how it's going.

Shabbat Shalom, 
Rabbi Abrams

Remember, we're a community of humans on the journey of working to have deeper and more meaningful relationships with our family, co-workers, and G-d.