Think Again - Sport, Sport and Shule

Mr Herman (Harry) Gutman was wont to say (and I paraphrase for those who remember Herman):

"Rabbi, if only you would change up the Shabbat morning services somewhat, we would attract many more congregants to shule. Every week you put on the same show. Nothing seems to change. Imagine paying to watch the same movie at the Ritz every Saturday morning. If only you would put on a new movie, people would surely come."

Mr Gutman was right... but he was also wrong. He was right because, granted, I can understand that shule is not always viewed as the most exciting place to spend a Saturday morning. After all, we're competing with Crystal Car Wash, Westfield Shopping Centre and countless other attractions. Yet he was also wrong. Quietly, he knew it too, because Herman himself never missed a Shabbat morning. Week after week he arrived smiling, greeting everyone and enjoying every minute.

There is something profoundly human about repetition. There is something healing and cathartic in doing things again and again. It is natural for a finite human being to find comfort in routine. There is something therapeutic in what many people call "boring." My mother always used to say, "Boring is beautiful."

I often say that you don't even have to believe in Hashem to come to shule. That sounds strange. But you don't come to shule simply to find God. You come to find yourself. You come to rediscover purpose. You come to find perspective. You come to quiet the noise of another busy week. You come to recharge your soul.

Perhaps what our bodies and our souls really long for is not more excitement... but less. Perhaps less really is more.

This past week has been all about the great heights of Australian sport. The State of Origin decider is almost the Yom Kippur of Australian sport. It is the game that stops a nation. Every true-blue New South Welshman watches. Every passionate Queenslander watches. I certainly wasn't going to miss it. I found myself at the Coogee Bay Hotel watching the match. Kovi watched from Florida. Mendel probably introduced his new wife to Rugby League from Boston. Mottel and Shuie have become Melburnians and now watch AFL.

Yet sport, in many ways, is remarkably similar to shule. It is about repetition. Practice. Discipline. Doing the basics again and again. Three hit-ups. Fourth tackle. Fifth tackle. Kick for field position. Over and over. The great teams aren't successful because they invent something new every week. They master the same fundamentals. Again. Again. Again.

These elite athletes are, on paper, evenly matched. What separates them is not talent. It is mentality. Focus. Passion. Belief. Who turns up mentally on the day.

Soccer is no different. Think about it. How many World Cup matches have been decided by a penalty shoot-out? I swear I could kick a penalty into the back of the net… ...and so could you. Yet how often do the greatest footballers in the world miss from twelve yards? It isn't ability. It is the mind. Pressure. Focus. Belief. Apparently Lionel Messi is a god. Yet even Messi has missed penalties. A god doesn't miss. Perhaps he simply needed to spend a Shabbat morning in shule.

So I reckon sport and shule are remarkably similar. Both are about the mind. Both are about emotion. Both require commitment. Both require discipline. Both require practice. Practice. Practice. And then even more practice.

Both require teamwork. A rugby team cannot function without every player doing their job. A synagogue cannot function without a minyan. Sport requires loyalty. Shule requires devotion. Sport demands passion. Shule demands faithfulness. Sport has tunnel vision. Shule has a tallit. Both help us focus on what really matters.

There is an old saying that you can never get enough sport. Well, I think exactly the same can be said about shule. You simply can't get enough. Upon reflection, shule really is the best part of the week. Yes, it may appear repetitive. Yes, it may appear to be the same every week. But human beings were never designed to live on novelty alone. We were designed to live with rhythm. Routine. Community. Meaning. That is why shule is never truly repetitive. It is deeply rewarding. It is fulfilling. It is satisfying. Sport may be a Formula One ride... ...but shule is a magic carpet ride. Take it from Herman Gutman. He never missed a Shabbat. And just like Messi... he couldn't have been wrong.

As always, L'chaim.

See you in shule.

Praying for a decisive victory and an end to the war in Israel and throughout the Middle East.

Shabbat Shalom

THEY ARE ALL HOME

Elozer Gestetner

rabbi@coogeesynagogue.org