7 Elul 5784

Rabbi Jacqueline Ninio OAM

Emanuel Synagogue

Moments of wonder

Recently, I was visiting a preschool for Shabbat and all the students wanted to tell me about their up-coming holiday plans.

“I am going to America!” said one.
“I am going to Israel!” said another.
Then a little boy, full of delight and excitement jumped up and said “I am going to Big W!”

That little boy was as thrilled about a trip to the local department store as his friends were about their overseas travel. I started to remember the wonder of childhood, when adventures could be discovered anywhere, when delight and joy could come from the most simple of moments: when I went to my grandmother’s house, sat on her Persian carpet and flew to magical destinations, or sat by her window, watching the K-Mart car park across the street and imagining what all the people were doing, counting coloured cars … when wonder and delight could appear anywhere, anytime. It just took imagination and a willingness to open my eyes to possibilities.

We all still have the ability to find those magical moments, to experience delight in the everyday, if only we would open our eyes.

There is a passage in our siddur:

“Days pass and the years vanish and we walk sightless among miracles. God, fill our eyes with seeing and our minds with knowing. Let there be moments when Your Presence, like lightning, illumines the darkness in which we walk. Help us to see, wherever we gaze, that the bush burns, unconsumed. And we, clay, touched by God, will reach out for holiness and exclaim in wonder, “How filled with awe is this place and we did not know it” (Mishkan T’filah, page 171).

Our world is filled with awe, there are wonders just waiting for us to capture them, there are limitless possibilities for delight, all we need is to stop, look with child-like eyes and embrace the moments.