Fly Through Life Without Fear

A very wise man, whose name, strangely enough, no one remembers, once said that life is like a free buffet. All you have to do is take a little from everything, fill your plate, and eat as much as you can. When children set out on their own after playing in kindergarten and go off to school, they think the whole world is their playground, and no one will take them off the swing because there is no line and everyone finds the game they want.

A wise Israeli singer, Shlomo Artzi, whose name is definitely remembered, and to his credit still fills halls and attaches the words “SOLD OUT” to his summer shows to this day, sang in one of his famous songs with Dudu Tassa that a person “needs to have a word, a place in the world, unforgettable love. And a true voice for prayer and a perfect moment to give and take. And not to be afraid of fear.” So said the wise Shlomo. Very wise, very, very wise. But sometimes when children grow up and innocence is replaced by cynicism, the judgmental and critical society begins to place difficult challenges even before those trailing behind in the race of life, and sometimes it is easiest to be afraid and to have no desire to cope or rebel.

Rabbi Nachman of Breslov said many wise things in his life that founded a sweeping Hasidic movement of dancing at intersections around Transits, but דווקא the saying that was set to music and became a required song at conferences of organizations bridging gaps, “The whole world is a very narrow bridge, and the main thing is not to fear at all,” is not understood properly by many people, and those who do can change their lives for the better. Have you ever stopped in the middle of a pedestrian bridge over a road and looked down? If not, I warmly recommend doing so. If a bus or truck happens to pass under the bridge, you will feel for a moment as though you are “flying” over them at super speed on your way to the next destination, and as if someone were trying to stop you.

That is exactly what I used to do as a dreamy, somewhat nerdy child on the bridge near my grandfather’s house, and for one moment I felt like Superman or Peter Pan. The first was not of this world and flew to save everyone. The second decided never to grow up and flew from Neverland to kidnap lost children and become their commander before the pirate corporations drowned all their dreams.

It is not easy to be a child here in recent years. First a pandemic, then a war that lasted two years, and after that three rounds, for now, of war with a distant country and mad rulers who are fighting with a much stronger country led by a sometimes weak leader who decides like an Israeli not to decide. If we are talking about children who live in the north of the country, then their lives over the past year have been like a horror film with a bit of comedy.

Between books and football, between the opening of Book Week and the start of the World Cup this week, it is important to emphasize the main message for children and dreamers from these two events, everyone can tell their own story and score a goal if they want to. Unlike matriculation in mathematics, in stories and on the pitch the result matters no less than the path, but to reach the desired result one must constantly maintain a positive approach and use self-persuasion to reach the goal.

The journalist and stand-up comedian Hanoch Daum, whom you may not see at Book Week stalls but who has published two ridiculously funny books, wrote to me in his own handwriting on the first page of his book “Life Is a Hard Period”: “Fly through life without fear.” Every now and then, when I need to laugh and lift my spirits, I open that book and understand what Rabbi Nachman meant. It is narrow and sometimes frightening to walk on a bridge, but one must remember that not being afraid at all is the most important rule in life. So in life, do not let anyone scare you on the way to realizing your dreams. Because as Akiva sang, and rightly so: “Just don’t be afraid to fall, just don’t be afraid to grow, as long as you haven’t stopped dreaming, you are winning. Because you have everything.” And that is all.