e-geress* Vol. 1, No. 3 Dec 17th, 1999
Publisher: Rabbi Yechezkel Fox
Editor: Rabbi Yisrael Rutman
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In the movie, Annie Hall, the school-age Woody Allen is brought by his mother to the family physician with the complaint that the boy refuses to do his homework. When asked why, the reason given is: that all the planets and stars in the universe are hurtling outward into trackless space at incredible speeds, and that all is destined to be destroyed in the process. What is the point of doing homework, the little hero asks, when the world is anyway doomed? The affable, cigarette-smoking Doc assures them that doom, however, certain, is yet millions, if not billions, of years away. Nothing to stop a good Jewish boy from doing his homework. Who knows but that the more immediate threat of global warming is not today deterring yet other little Woody Allen's from doing their homework? Nor does one have to be a precocious schoolboy for such concerns "to put a crimp in his universe." Adults are also perturbed. As the polar ice-caps shrink, so does hope in the future, and the level of despair seems to parallel the rising level of the oceans. What, indeed, is the point of homework, college degrees, a good job, or anything, for that matter, when all is doomed? And not only by environmental catastrophe, but by ethnic cleansing, nuclear proliferation, drug addiction, AIDS, and, for Republicans, at least, Bill Clinton. What is the view of that people which has survived the rise and fall of great empires, of vast technological and climatic changes over three millennia and more? What is the Jewish view of such things? Well, at first glance it would seem to be contradictory. In one place in the Torah (Isaiah Chapter 33) it states that "those who fear are sinners;" while in another verse (Proverbs 28) it says that "he is happy who is always afraid." The Talmud (Brochos 60), never missing a trick, itself asks the question. The answer given is that there is worrying and there is worrying, and not all worrying is equal. Some worrying is good and some worrying is bad. Good worrying is when you can take measures to prevent bad things from occurring, when the worry leads to constructive action. Bad worrying is worrying for its own sake, when there is nothing to be done about it. So, for example, a person who worries about the imminent destruction of what is left of planet Earth, and then does something about it, such as buying National Geographic and other ozone-friendly commodities, is a good worrier; and he can do his homework and go to sleep contentedly. But just worrying about what's going to be, and giving in to despair, drugs and wasting time, is a bad attitude. Nobody survives three and a half thousand years of persecution that way, my friend! Still, the question persists. Even after one has done his bit for saving the world, the dire forecasts do not abate. On the contrary, once involved in doing something about it, the increased awareness of the dimensions of the problems facing us may cause one to fall into despair all over again. What, then, is it that can stop the worrying even after we know it won't help to worry anymore? For those who don't believe in G-d, and in a G-d that remains in control of his universe and is watching over it, the question begs an answer. But for those who believe that not everything is in our control, and that we are not expected to solve all the problems, that there is, instead, a Creator, and that, ultimately, that is His job, it makes it easier to sleep at night. Once we've done our bit, let Him worry about saving the world. In fact, that is basically what little Woody Allen's mother says when he voices his complaint about cosmic doom: "What is that your business?!" she scolds him. And she's right. His business is doing his homework, not worrying about the stars exploding. Our business, likewise, is living our lives the best we can, and not worrying purposelessly about planetary meltdown. The traditional Jewish attitude actually goes a step further. The Midrash says that even if the sword of death is being held over your head, don't give up hope. Moses was saved by a miracle in just that situation, from under the sword of Pharaoh's executioner.In the recent earthquake in Turkey, a 9-year-old Israeli girl was rescued after being buried alive for 98 hours without food or water. The rescue teams had just about given up hope of finding anyone alive at that point. Even the doctors admitted that her survival was a miracle. The truth is, that is the situation in which the Jewish people in exile has always found itself---"like a lamb straying among seventy wolves"---with persecution always more or less a threat, with doom hanging over us, more real and lethal than any global warming, we have survived and prospered. Our very existence is reason for hope. 
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