I was tracking my steps one day and was feeling quite accomplished as I hit the 10,000 steps mark.
It occurred to me that compared to the speed of light or even the speed of sound — walking 10k steps in a day is hardly a feat.
In this week’s Parsha we read of the founding parents of Judaism, Abraham and Sarah. We aren’t told how many steps they walked in a particular day — we are told however, the direction in which they walked.
Skip forward. An infinite amount of steps have been tread, plod and run in the very direction beat out by by our illustrious lineage and here we are, powerfully, still at it.
One would think that it would get easier as we walk in the same footsteps beat out by our ancestors but as life shows us — nothing ever gets easier — the challenge merely shifts.
Indeed, from the very advancements that continue to evolve in life, arise the very challenges. Yet it’s the deliberate step by step in the prescribed direction that puts us squarely on our journey.
Gd says of Abraham, “for I have known and cherished him because he instructs his sons and his household after him to keep the way of Gd — acting with charity and justice”.
The direction is very clear. After all, we have the roadmap of life right at our fingertips in the Torah. Whether it’s a few step or many steps; fast or slow; long strides or forced timid steps — ultimately it comes down to the direction of the steps.
No, it doesn’t get easier — but the deep satisfaction and the ultimate goal of adding another link to the illustrious chain of Jewish life ensuring Dor L’dor, keeps the number on Abraham and Sarah’s step counter leaping forward one deliberate step after another.
Onwards and upwards — Am Yisrael Chai!