Susan Boyle, Rabbi Joshua and Pirkei Avot
D'var
Torah: Shemini
April 17, 2009
Do you know the name Susan Boyle? A couple of weeks ago nobody did. Today, millions do and they are the better for it. Literally, millions have viewed the YouTube featuring Ms. Boyle. The first time I saw it, I couldn't help but smile broadly while I wanted to stand up and cheer.
Ms. Boyle appeared on the first episode of the new season of Britain’s Got Talent. Like American Idol, there was Simon Cowell part of the panel of judges. Ms. Boyle came out on stage to sing her song for the judges and the audience which filled a large and beautiful concert hall. She has been described as a rather frumpy looking spinster. They showed a clip where she described herself as 47 years old and never been kissed. Mark Blankenship, writing on the Huffington Post commented that the opening episodes of these reality performance shows often portray the biggest losers. His theory is that viewers like this because in seeing their apparent embarrassment “viewers are encouraged to feel superior and so feel better about themselves.” I think there’s something to it. It's not dissimilar to disparaging gossip. By putting another down, some people think they are raising themselves up while in reality only lowering themselves even further.
In response to the judges question of what her goals are, Ms. Boyle said she hopes to be a singer like Elaine Paige, the glamorous first lady of British musical theater. Seeing the frumpy Ms. Boyle and thinking of Ms. Paige, this brought laughs of derision from the audience and judges alike and then she started to sing. She began to sing “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables and it took only a matter of a few bars to realize what an exceptional voice this woman obsesses. You have to see this on YouTube if you aren’t part of the thirty million who have. Just google Susan Boyle. Out of the mouth of this apparently frumpy spinster comes this rich, beautiful voice. One might wonder how she had not been discovered until now. This amazing gift has been well hidden inside a shell where no one would have looked too hard for anything of particular value on the inside. If it sounds like I am being unkind to Ms. Boyle, it is only to make the following point.
Between Pesach and Shavuot, we traditionally study the Rabbinic text Pirkei Avot, Ethics of Our Teachers. A teaching in Chapter Four by Rabbi Meir, reads “Do not look at a flask but rather at that which it contains. There are new flasks containing old wine and there are old flasks that don’t even have new wine in them. Ms. Boyle’s flask would never let on what spectacular wine is contained inside.
This teaching of Pirkei Avot makes me think of Rabbi Joshua who lived during the first century of the common era. While known as one of the greatest scholars of his time and head of the Sanhedrin, he might also have been described as frumpy at best. Because of his brilliance, he was frequently invited to the home of the Roman Governor. The Governor’s daughter once had the temerity to ask Rabbi Joshua how G-d could place such great wisdom within such an ugly individual. How does one respond to such a question? Rabbi Joshua replied to the young woman by asking her in what kind of vessels her father stores his wine. She replied by saying “earthen vessels.” Rabbi Joshua said why should a king keep his finest wines in these earthen vessels. Wouldn't it be more proper for him to store the wine in vessels made of gold and silver?” The princess, convinced, ordered all of the wine to be poured and stored in beautiful gold and silver vessels. It took only a short time for all of the wine to turn sour and poured out of the exquisite containers. The princess then understood the Rabbi’s answer wrapped in a question. The qualities contained inside, in Rabbi Joshua’s case, his great wisdom, are not always matched by what one sees on the outside.
We surely live in a society much more focused on the outside to say the least. By just looking at her on stage, the audience was ready to dismiss her after laughing at her and as was noted above, thereby feeling superior. Something else happened in the hall, in the homes and in the hearts of viewers that night. With a wisdom comparable to Rabbi Joshua, Mark Blankenship of the Huffington Post continues writing “No matter how much we mock those we consider beneath us, it's much more satisfying to be reminded that everyone has dignity. That's because when we laugh at someone for being a freak, we're laughing out of fear. We're laughing because we want to prove that we are not like that loser over there. If we can shame the people who don't belong, then we can prove that we do. When we embrace an outsider, though, we're paving the way for our own acceptance in the future. Eventually, we'll all feel like outcasts, and none of us wants to be laughed at. The Susan Boyle Story suggests we won't be. Instead of fearing for our own eventual shame, we can count on society to hear what's beautiful in us. We can trust that if we just show our true selves, we will be embraced.”
Ms. Susan Boyle might be the one to remind us to be willing to take a moment to look beyond the most superficial outward appearances to the qualities contained within the vessel.
I have returned to view this short clip a few more times and a few times more while writing this. As I do, I find myself thinking about gifts we have within us that have, to date, gone undiscovered. We may have a voice that will bring the house down and maybe we don’t but I bet we each have some sort of gift within us yet to be expressed. What is your gift waiting still to be voiced by you and appreciated by others?
Shabbat Shalom,
