Soccer-mania reaches our shul

My beloved home country of South Africa has gone crazy. Soccer – mania has hit the streets. Blacks, Whites, Jews and gentiles are all united in this incredible game. For months the country has been building new stadiums and railway lines in anticipation of the international guests. Soccer mania has even extended into outerspace with astronauts living on the International Space Station tuning in to watch. About one in ten humans are estimated to watch the finals on July 11th – that is 600 million people. As "Soccernomics" author Simon Kuper put it, "It's the moment when the planet becomes a family, when we're all doing the same thing whether we are in California or Nigeria or Shanghai."

An Argentian Rabbi told me that during a class about the future redemption, when he mentioned the word Messiah somebody in the audience said, "oh yeah! I see him on TV all the time – Lionel Messi…." The excitement bubbled over even to our shul in NYC when an Argentinean congregant declared that if his country won, he’d sponsor a Kiddush that would resemble a bar-mitzvah. Not to be outdone, an Italian supporter planned a Kiddush the size of a wedding to celebrate Italy’s triumph. Well, we are still hoping Argentina will win – we want our Kiddush!

When France suffered an embarrassing defeat against Mexico, the nation was so shattered that President Sarkozy demanded an independent investigation into why his beloved country lost. I began thinking how fascinating it is that the entire world watches with bated breath as two teams kick a ball around a field aiming for a net. And the funniest thing is how seriously it's all taken- I mean, who would want to cross the path of an angry fan?

While some might argue that soccer is definitely the ultimate in thrillers, the truth is that there is another similar game that tops even FIFA's record of 600 million supporters. Only this time, it's the real deal.  Maimonides teaches that each person ought to see the world as an enormous scale of good and evil deeds. Every single good deed performed by every single person from all previous generations is on one side while on the other side lies every single sin performed by every single person from all previous generations. Both sides are equal. The scale is about to tip depending on YOUR next move. The two teams are your evil inclination vs your good inclination. According to Maimonides this is the finals. All eyes are on your next move - not only every single one of the fifteen billion people alive right now, but also every single person who has ever lived. Your next move will determine history. So what will it be? A Mitzvah will tip the scale in favor of the good leading to Moshiach- the climax of all creation, a sin will lead to the eventual triumph of evil. The ball is at your feet. Are you going to score the goal?