Fidget Spinner Musings

So there’s this new toy that has taken the nation by storm. The fidget spinner. A small 3-pronged spinning device that seems to be a hybrid between a hamantash and a dreidel. After decades of teacher’s trying to dissuade their students from fidgeting and doodling, this contraption embraces it. The "fidget" welcomes the child - or adult - to mindlessly spin away, allowing access to a sort of peaceful focus.

As the academic experts debate the merits of allowing a possible distraction into the classroom, I’d like to focus on the source of the fidgeting symptom. The need to constantly move, not sitting still for a moment. It’s actually a profound concept, and is the origin of the “shuckel” - the swaying movement so synonymous with Jewish prayer. You walk into Shul, put on a Talit, and as you murmur the words of prayer, you find yourself “shuckeling”. Why? 

Have you ever noticed that a flame constantly dances on its wick, quivering, flickering, yearning to ascend? The fire wishes to be free from the constraints of the candle. Yet if that were to happen, the fire would cease to exist, no longer illuminating its surroundings, no longer warming its environment. Its mission aborted. 

Each of us has a fire inside. Our Neshama, Hebrew for the soul, burns within, glowing with lofty passions and aspirations. It cannot sit idle, it has got to be active, journeying, exploring, moving. If the soul were to have its way, it would float right on up to the celestial spheres and dance with the stars, singing with the angels.

But, like the candle, our mission can only be accomplished while we are firmly rooted to the ground. Channeling our energies and passions to do a Mitzvah, a good deed, in this world, positively affecting our circle of impact.

This was the gift at Mount Sinai, when Heaven met Earth. It was the introduction of this unique ability to fuse the spiritual with the physical, the flame with the candle, bringing light into darkness and transforming it into a place of warmth and vitality. 

The lesson: Let your inner fidget spin. Keep that fire burning. Yet all the while, channel that inextinguishable spark of life into doing amazing things. For yourself, for your family, and for your community. Fulfill your mission by burning bright in your assigned position. Keep on spinning!

This Wednesday, join us as we fuse the 10 commandments with Ice Cream and Cheesecake and celebrate the giving of the Torah. Oh, and of course, we have custom "Proud 2 be Jewish" Fidget Spinners for all the kids!