The Inspiration of Mifrasim

Over the past few months as I met with Mr. Abramovitz and began planning for next year, the song Shiri Li Kinneret kept on playing my mind.  It is a song I remember singing and dancing to at summer camp, but I had never really thought that much about its lyrics until this summer. One day, after finding myself humming the tune for the 100th time, I decided to look up the words.

I found out that Shiri Li Kinneret is an ode to the Kinneret, the Sea of Galilee. It was written in 1982 following the Israeli government’s annexation of the

Golan Heights the year before. The lyrics paint a majestic scene. There are images of the beautiful horizon, flocks of birds singing, and soldiers standing

guard. Yet, the image that had the greatest impact on me was that of the sailboat on the water.

הדוגית עודנה שטה, מפרשה מלבין בחוף

The little boat sails with its white sail

As I thought about the image of the sailboat, I understood why it was so meaningful to me. Sails, mifrasim, represent the tools at our disposal to navigate our place in the world. The sail is the part of the boat that must work with human initiative and planning, but also must work in sync with the conditions of the wind and the sea around it, in order to achieve its goals.

So with a quick Google search, I found some amazing quotes about sails, mifrasim, that teach important lessons.

“The pessimist complains about the wind.  The optimist expects it to change. The realist adjusts the sail.”

This quote, by author and poet William Ward, teaches that it is how we react to our environment that truly defines who we are. When things are challenging, it is natural to be pessimistic, and just sit and bemoan our lot. It is so tempting to blame setbacks and disappointments on other people or outside forces

rather than looking for ways that we could ameliorate the situation. Being an optimist is not much better, however. Just like the pessimist, the optimist sits on the sideline, hoping against hope that he or she can wait out the storm for a brighter day when all of the conditions will be perfect. Neither of these is the path forward. Like the wind, our lives are always changing. There is no day in which every aspect of our lives is the same as the day before. There are always new challenges facing us as Jews, as family members and as parents. We need to push ourselves to gauge the winds, to strategize with those around us to keep on adjusting our sails. We need to do so always showing resilience and flexibility, always open to a new dynamic in order to be the best we can be.

“Raise your sail one foot and you get ten feet of wind.”

This Chinese proverb builds upon the idea of adjusting our sails. We cannot abdicate our responsibilities by keeping our sails low. Even when it is difficult, we need to challenge ourselves and encourage others to take the first step, to raise the sail one foot. Sometimes lifting the sail just a little bit is all that is needed to move forward with the wind.

Four times a week, when the Torah is returned, we read the famous line from Eicha:

הֲשִׁיבֵנוּ ה' אֵלֶיךָ וְנָשׁוּבָה, חַדֵּשׁ יָמֵינוּ כְּקֶדֶם.

“Bring us back to you, God, and we will return.”

The Midrash teaches that both God and the Jewish people are waiting for each other to take the first steps toward one another.   When these first steps are taken, they will move forward together. If we are willing to take the first step toward others and toward God, great things can happen. We have to lift the sail and then the wind will take us.

“To reach a port, we must sail, sometimes with the wind, sometimes against it. But we must not drift or lie at anchor.”

Although it could apply to so many of the roles in our lives, in reading this quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes, I primarily thought about our lives as parents and classroom educators. The education and raising of a child is a precious balance. Sometimes we have to work on the child’s terms in order for him or her to succeed. We have to lean in and sail with the wind along with our child’s interests and personality in order to help him or her grow and learn. But there are other times where we have to push against our child’s natural tendencies, to push against the wind to help him or her most. While we have to provide the safety nets of love and support, we sometimes have to prod children to go beyond their comfort zones. There are no easy answers as to when to lean into the wind and when to push against it, but we must still strive to consistently move forward.

I love these three images of mifrasim as metaphors for making our way through life. I hope to use this blog as a catalyst for collaboration and conversation as we all work together to best navigate our paths.