Blame it on the Vuvuzelas

It is hard to imagine an occupation that requires much more focus than guarding the goal during a World Cup soccer match.  At any moment the action can switch from standing and waiting to a split second decision of what direction to fling your entire body on behalf of your team, your fans and even your country.  And that's without factoring in those buzzing vuvazelas! Certainly this is not a job for an easily distracted person, let alone someone who has been labeled as having something like Attention Deficit or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  And yet the goalkeeper for the US team, recognized as one of the great players in the world is Tim Howard.  At the age of 10 Howard was diagnosed with Tourette's, a syndrome with a variety of potential effects that include nervous tics, verbal outbursts and the equivalent of an extreme inability to keep focus.

Howard is of course an elite example of overcoming great adversity and achieving astounding results.  What I think he can teach all of us, however, is that while it is important to know your own strengths and weaknesses, there is nothing gained in letting a label define the limit of your potential.  I think about this as a parent, especially on the cusp of Father's Day.  Kids will often refer to themselves by what they are not -- "I am not good at math," "I am not a morning person" "I am not much of an athlete."  I instead try to point them toward "Math has been a challenge for me" "I need to focus in the morning"  or "playing sports is something I have to get the hang of."  

This same lesson is taught in reverse in the Torah portion we read this weekend.  One of the more momentous incidents in this reading is the story of Moses angrilly striking a rock in the desert to miraculously produce water for the people to drink.  Moses is instructed to bring his staff but use his words to speak to the rock. However, tired of being pestered by the thirsty people, he first curses them as ungrateful "rebels" and then pounds the rock twice. For this, in soccer terms, he earns a red card -- the severe punishment of being barred from entering the promised land at the end of the journey.  There are many opinions as to exactly what the nature of Moses' sin was.  For some, hitting the rock with a stick rather than using words showed a penchant for violence.  For others, Moses' mistake was a failure to follow instruction to the letter.  However, the philosopher Maimonides  focuses on how Moses dismisses the people as "rebels" before he raises his staff to strike.

Maimonides approach makes sense when we think of Moses as a kind of father figure to the children of Israel.  His misdeed was not just attacking the rock with a stick, but rather using his words to the people like a stick -- beating them down with the label of being "rebels," defining them as unworthy and incapable of appreciating the miracle that was to come. 
Moses is taught a harsh lesson that can for us reinforce a more inviting one: we have the power to use our words to open new horizons for others, but only if we avoid using them to label. 

Have a wonderful weekend, a Shabbat Shalom, and an inspiring day to celebrate the Father's in our lives

Rabbi Michael