For close to two weeks, we've been watching the news about missing Malaysian Airlines flight 370 with bated breath. Despite many theories, from pilot suicide to hijacking, we still have no concrete idea what happened to the airplane, and its passengers. It seems to have simply vanished.
Twenty-six countries are involved in the massive international search. It is the largest search in aviation history, costing hundreds of millions of dollars. Air-travel is considered the safest mode of transport, and this was a Boeing 777 - the safest passenger aircraft! So, understandably, this incident has been highly unsettling. For a plane this size to disappear without a trace is virtually unprecedented.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the 239 individuals on board the aircraft.
What can we learn from the massive search?
Chassidic masters liken the ocean to the “hidden worlds.” Inside its murky depths is an entire world: mountains and canyons, rivers and weather systems, and living organisms of every type and form imaginable. But everything is submerged within its watery depths, almost completely hidden from inquisitive eyes
This is a parable for spirituality and G-dliness. When we look around at our physical and mundane world, we do not see G-d. In fact, often His involvement is so hidden that we even question His existence. When something goes wrong in our lives we think that G-d does not truly exist. We see the sun rising every morning and the moon taking its place at night. We see tall mountains, majestic rivers and beautiful buildings, but what's missing from the picture is G-d. He is lost in this beautiful natural world. This is like looking at the surface of the sea and not seeing anything beyond.
But just as we discover an entire world and ecosystem if we look beneath the ocean's surface, so will we find an additional dimension to the physical world if we probe deeply enough. This is our mission in life - to search for and uncover G-d's involvement in the physical world.
Millions of dollars are being poured into the search for flight 370. Over 25 countries have contributed ships, planes and satellite imaging to assist with the search. The search area is enormous - millions of miles.
This is what we ought to be doing on a daily basis. Search! Search! Search! Searching for the G-dliness and spirituality in our lives, and finding ways to reveal it.
When we make a blessing over food, we are drawing G-dliness into the steak that we are eating. When we give a dollar to charity, we plant a spark of G-dliness inside that dollar bill. When we visit someone in the hospital, we are bringing G-d along for the ride.
The name of this week's Torah portion, Shemini, means "eight." Seven represents the natural cycle of the world. There are seven days in the week. A mourner mourns for seven days. When a person gets married there are seven days of festivity. Eight, however, represents the supra-natural; the G-dly. Our role, our mission in life, is to search for the "eight," identify it and uncover it.
So let's get to work and start searching!