There are many famous and not so famous quotations that have moved me over the years. But, every so often, I come across a quotation which moves me so deeply that I regret that I had not heard it many years before. It would have fit so nicely into sermons and articles I have written. I don’t know I missed it.

This morning, I was preparing for a class that I am going to teach and came across a reference to the statement implied by the Talmud that one of the questions we will be asked at the final judgment after our physical death will be: “Did you take advantage of the pleasures that were permitted to you during your life?”

I’ve heard that idea and taught it so many times and I also know that the Talmud never specifically says this. So, I decided to do a bit of research to see what the actual statement is in the Talmud and, at least according to one online source, it is derived from a statement in the Jerusalem Talmud attributed to the Rabbi referred to as Rav that God would judge us for all that our eyes saw and didn’t eat.

So, God’s question about permitted pleasures is only implied. Still, it makes an important statement about the responsibility that we have to live our physical lives to the fullest within the limitations that our ethics and our traditions place upon us.

I made a note of the actual quotation but before I closed that webpage, I noticed a reply from one of the readers that included a story which I found so moving that I wondered how I had missed it over so many years.

The story is told about Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, the 19th century Rabbi who was, in many ways, the inspiration behind contemporary Orthodox Judaism. Late in life, he made a trip to Switzerland and when asked why, he replied: “Soon, I will stand before the Almighty. I will be held answerable to many questions. But, what will I say when I am asked, ‘Shimson, my son, it is true you did many mitzvot, but did you see My Alps?”

Did you see my Alps? Such a simple question. But, one with tremendous implications.

I have not seen the Alps except from an airplane, which I suppose counts to some degree, but I have had the privilege and taken the time to see many, many other places in this world which reflect the beauty and splendor of God’s creation and I have always found those to be moments of deep, spiritual meaning. In so many ways, these moments complement my observance of our spiritual ritual traditions and the study of Torah. From the New England coastline to Bryce Canyon to Denali to the Sinai Peninsula and so many places in between, they have played such an important part in my personal theology. They speak to me of God’s presence and remind me of our responsibility to appreciate and respect the beauty of the world around us and the sanctity of life.

How sad it is that some see religious inspiration from books or religious rituals alone. How important it is that we realize, appreciate and experience the beauty and grandeur that surrounds us.

Have you seen my Alps?

I wish I had read that story many years ago. I have always felt it but to see it put into words in this way was, in many ways, are a revelation.