Football and Ahavas Yisroel

The Baal Shem Tov famously said that everything we see and encounter in life is - as a matter of hashgocho protis - placed there so that we can learn a lesson. Whether or not the Baal Shem Tov would consider it appropriate that some of us are fervent sports fans is therefore beside the point; there is still a lesson to be learned from all we encounter. So in between exulting over the recent success of my AFL football club, the Richmond Tigers, I must look further and ask: what can their approach as a professional sports club mean for me as a Chassid?

Leverage, Diversity and Unity

I was sitting at the kotel recently on Shabbos morning (OK, very late morning) thinking about saying hareini mekabel. Davening at the kotel is always a treat - besides being as physically close as possible to the holiest place on earth, I love Yerushalayim and just walking around soaking in the atmosphere.

The kotel is magnet for all sorts - sefardim & ashkenazim, chassidim & misnagdim, Jews of every affiliation and plenty of non-Jews too. The person next to me is a tourist - no idea if he's Jewish or not - and approaches the wall with arms outstretched and immerses himself in whatever engagement with God works for him. Next to him is another who is writing a note - again I have no idea if he is Jewish or not. But what they all have in common is a sincerity and respect and a desire to commune with the Divine - with something greater than themselves.