Prepare

Preparation is part of the daily life of a Torah Keeper. We prepare for all sort of things. Everyday we prepare for our day by praying. The 1st day of every week we begin preparing for Shabbat. It seems like as soon as a feast day has ended we start planning and discussing for the next one. What is is all for? Is it really necessary to do all of this planning or would things just work out?

The answer is it depends. If we did not prepare for the day with prayer would it arrive yes of course. Would we be ready for what arrives, maybe not? If we did not start thinking about Shabbat on the 1st day of the week would it still arrive? Thankfully it will, could we enter it with peace and joy? If we just waited to the the week of a feast day to start discussing ideas, could we still enjoy the day? No doubt, but would it be as meaningful as if we anticipated it?

Those of us that are planners might say things do not just happen. That of course is incorrect. Things happen all the time that no human planned. A better phrase might be things do not just happen as consistently or as smoothly or as elegantly or really to be honest the way we would want them to happen if we do not prepare.

Those of us that are non-planners might say everything will be OK just let nature take its course. That is of course incorrect as well. A storm is nature taking its course, scarcity of food is nature taking its course, and not having enough room for guests and others is nature taking its course. A better phrase might be: everything will be OK as long we have each other, and a good attitude and patience and no one expects anything of anyone else.

In both scenarios we have gaps. For the planner not every detail can be anticipated and planned for. We must learn we cannot be specifically prepared for everything. For the non-planner we must accept there is a difference between being flexible or adaptable and being lazy and relying on others to carry your load.

As expected, when one can marry these things together we can have great experiences and effective services in our lives. We will be able to be a blessing to the world around us without being tied down to man made ideas and plans that are really just preferences or desires that we are most comfortable with. If we do not balance these 2 approaches then we will stifle others and miss out on the experiences that HaShem has in store for us.

Let us look at some areas where preparation was balanced with spontaneity in different degrees to produce good results. We will learn from these examples in how we can be approach life.

1st let us look at what might be the most prepared for event. Let us read Bereshit

Holy Scriptures: Tree of Life Version Chapter 6

13Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh is coming before Me, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Behold, I am about to bring ruin upon them along with the land. 14Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood. You shall make the ark with compartments and smear pitch on it, both inside and out. 15Now this is how you shall make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16You shall make a roof for the ark, and you shall finish it to within a cubit from the top. You shall put the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third stories. 17Now I am about to bring the flood—water upon the land—to destroy all flesh in which is the spirit of life from under the sky. Everything that is on the land will perish. 18But I will establish My covenant with you. So you shall come into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19Also of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of everything—male and female—into the ark to keep alive with you. 20Of the flying creatures according to their kind, of the livestock according to their kind, of all the crawling creatures of the ground according to their kind—two of everything will come to you to keep them alive. 21As for you: take for yourself every kind of edible food and gather it to yourself. It will be food for you and for them.”

22So Noah did according to all that God commanded him; he did so exactly.

22So Noah did according to all that God commanded him; he did so exactly.

I do not know if anyone has ever tried to build a boat but imagine building one to hold the animals and people that would repopulate the earth. How huge was this? Consider the effort to be able to separate the animals and provide for their needs and safety. Consider what it would take to just to have pens and corrals for the live stock. To say that this would require precision and careful planning is an understatement. The scriptures tell us that Noah did these things exactly as Adonai commanded. Now we do not know the exact amount of time Noah spent building the Ark but most estimates place it between 75 and 100 years. How would you like to have preparation on that scale? The Ark was not the end or destination it was only the means. It was not the thing planned for it was only part of the plan.

I do not know if anyone has ever tried to build a boat but imagine building one to hold the animals and people that would repopulate the earth. How huge was this? Consider the effort to be able to seperate the animals and provide for their needs and safety. Consider what it would take to just to have pens and corrals for the live stock. To say that this would require precision and careful planning is an understatment. The scriptures tell us that Noah did these things exactly as Adonai commanded. Now we do not know the exact amount of time Noah spent building the Ark but most estimates place it between 75 and 100 years. How would you like to have preparation on that scale? The Ark was not the end or destination it was only the means. It was not the thing planned for it was only part of the plan.

Noah was preparing for the flood. This event was outside of his control entirely yet he planned for it in the exact manner that Adonai instructed. Noah had never seen a flood nor even rain yet he trusted Adonai and prepared for an event he had never experienced. Imagine what it would have been like to have been Noah’s child or spouse. Noah recieved the instruction from Adonai we do not know if they did. The rest of the world did not help Noah, they did not participate in what Noah was building, and they may have even ridiculed him.

Noah had to have help though so imagine being his child. You want to go play with the other children or do things with the other people, instead you are stuck at home building this huge thing with your father instead. When they did get a chance to go places or they had visitors, inevitably they might get questions and comments like “What is that thing your pops is building? Why does your pops think a flood is coming? Have you guys ever considered getting him professional help? My dad says your dad is crazy.” What do you think it was like when Noah was proven right? It must have been one of the most bitter sweet validations in history.

We are all preparing for future events. Some of us are preparing for university or careers. Some of us maybe preparing for retiring or grandchildren. We may even get ridiculed and mocked for our preparations but we stay on the path and make sure we are ready. As a big planner this is always on our mind and what we need from the non-planners is respect and patience. As a non-planner we have the same concerns and what we need is respect and gentle reminders that the day is coming. Regardless of which category we fall in to we must be respectful to each other and be a help and encouragement to each other for the planning and preparations methods we might make.

Now let us consider an event when a non-planner came through. I am most specifically referring to the one who relies on Adonai and the community to make the majority of the plans and not the one who is lazy. A good example of how this can work out is in .

1Now Yeshua entered Jericho and was passing through. 2And here was a man by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3Zacchaeus was trying to see who Yeshua was, but he couldn’t because of the crowd, for he was short in height. 4So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Yeshua, for He was about to pass through that way.

Holy Scriptures: Tree of Life Version Chapter 19

1Now Yeshua entered Jericho and was passing through. 2And here was a man by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3Zacchaeus was trying to see who Yeshua was, but he couldn’t because of the crowd, for he was short in height. 4So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Yeshua, for He was about to pass through that way.

5When Yeshua came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”

6Zacchaeus hurried and came down and welcomed Him joyfully.

5When Yeshua came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”

6Zacchaeus hurried and came down and welcomed Him joyfully.

Think about life as Zacchaeus. He was a tax collector for the oppressor of his own people. He made his own income by what he would keep from his own people in addition to the taxes he collected. Do you think he was loved or well liked? Do you think they would be willing to help him? Was he included in plans?

Think about life as Zacchaeus. He was a tax collector for the oppressor of his own people. He made his own income by what he would keep from his own people in addition to the taxes he collected. Do you think he was loved or well liked? Do you think they would be willing to help him? Was he included in plans?

In this event Zacchaeus new Yeshua was coming and what did he do to prepare? He just showed up. He did nothing else, he just showed up. Yet how blessed is he because he relied on Adonai and Adonai came through for him. Long before Zachaeus needed to see Yeshua the tree he needed was planted. We can choose to see that as a coincidence or we can choose to see it as the father planned to meet the need of Zachaeus. Zachaeus was not just not planning Zachaeus supplemented his lack of planning with hope and faith that his need would be met.

This brings us to our point. Whether we are a planner or a non-planner we need to make sure that in both cases we are supplementing that with faith and hope. Noah trusted or had faith that Adonai was inspiring him to plan and he hoped he was not crazy. Zachaeus had no plan but had faith Adonai was going to lead him to Tashuva and he hoped that Yeshua was a part of it.

Are you a planner or one who relies on others to plan? There is not a wrong answer. We need both. Let us make sure our planning is not taking precedence over our hope and faith. Let us also make sure our non-planning is not laziness disguised as faith and hope.