On The Journey Toward Celebrating Life

In the Torah portion that is read during the Passover season, the question "Who is like You, O Lord?" appears. This year as I looked at that question, I saw something I had not seen in previous readings. I saw the question "Who is like you, Albert?" Or "Who is like you, dear reader?" I began to think that we spend so much of our time looking at other people and sometimes saying we wished we were more like them, we often do not recognize or celebrate our own uniqueness. Nor do we recognize that someone is looking at us and wondering: "How can I be more like him or her?" Unless we allow ourselves to be vulnerable and open, we show only, what we feel, the other will accept. And when we look at others, we see only what they have acquired or accomplished, the façade of their being.
Sometimes I think we are afraid to celebrate our uniqueness because by its very definition it's "just who I am," talented in some areas and unskilled in others, capable of great compassion and able to cause unusual hurt. Recognizing our specialness is not about erecting images of ego, but it is about accepting the invitation to delight in those aspects of our lives - our inner lives - that make us unique. It is in doing this that we become more able to celebrate life.
A story is told about a man who was visited by the angel of death. The angel told him he would die in a few days. "Answer one question for me," the man begged. "What will they ask me when I appear before the heavenly tribunal?" "I can't tell you what they will ask, but I can tell you what they will not ask! They will not ask: 'Why weren't you more like your neighbor or your co-worker or your brother...' " From this, the rabbis tell us, we are to understand that the eternal question is "Why are we not more like our authentic selves?" How will you acknowledge and celebrate your uniqueness?

- Albert M. Lewis