Walking 'Without' Purpose
Take a walk outdoors, alone with no ear buds or phone, and 'listen' to nature. Remember, the 'King/Queen' is in the field!
Before I began my walk, I realized something; I rarely walk just for the sake of walking. I have a watch that I wear during the week that tracks my steps and heart rate. I credit it with improving my health and instances of exercise, but it's also done the following: I'm walking like a New Yorker! Let me explain - when I first moved to New York City for rabbinical school, I was walking with my aunt, uncle and cousins. It was a nice day outside, and I was strolling along, enjoying the world. My cousin yelled at me, "David, pick up the pace, you're not in Florida anymore!" In New York, you walk fast, with purpose! If you want to walk slow, go to Central Park (Maybe that's where the term actually comes from, 'a stroll in the park'?). So I learned how to walk fast, to look ahead to see the obstacles in front of me. But I was missing something: the surprise gifts of the world that you may miss when you are singularly focused on moving forward in a fast way.
On Shabbat though, that wasn’t the case. Alissa and I would often stroll down the sidewalks of the city, letting people pass us by, and moving at our own pace. We noticed things on Shabbat about the world and people that we never would have seen during the week when we were walking with purpose.
I do not where my electronic watch on Shabbat. Before the pandemic, our Shabbat walks were primarily for a certain purpose - going to and from shul. They weren’t the most relaxing walks - I had a place to go, and people to see! But, with online services, my walks have been significantly shorter. I exercise, I count my steps, we go for walks as a family, but I was missing my walks where I would just walk for the sake of walking.
During this Shabbat’s challenge, I noticed the following:
I took my Shabbat walk at a different time due to the weather. It was close to 8 pm, a time where we were in between the day and evening (in Hebrew we call this Bein Ha’Arbaim).
I noticed the moon - how it was a sliver as we are just days into the new month. I thought about how often we are looking down at glowing screens, and how we rarely look up! I listened to the sounds of the world around me. The insects making their noises, and quiet of he neighborhood, the footsteps of neighbors taking walks. It was quiet, there weren’t any cars that I encountered. I didn’t walk to get my heart rate up, but I walked to fill my heart. I walked for walking sake.
As I walked, I fully engaged in the message of our prayers- everyday, G!d renews creation. It’s not just an event that happened long ago, but an event that happens at every moment if we are there to truly experience it.
In Judaism, our Sages asked us to engage in Torah Lishmah, learning Torah just for the sake of learning Torah.
The term for Jewish law is Halacha - which is a version of the Hebrew word, Holech, to walk.
Maybe we need to walk more just for the sake of walking? Maybe it will bring us a little closer to G!d, each other, and ourselves.
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