Force of habit
I'm in the middle of the book The Power of Habit, and it struck me that this is what the Midrash about Dovid HaMelech [Thanks to my husband for finding me the source, which he quoted in where your feet may take you].
It's Midrash Rabbah on Bechukosai
אמר דוד רבש"ע בכל יום ויום הייתי מחשב ואומר למקום פלוני ולבית דירה פלונית אני הולך והיו רגלי מביאות אותי לבתי כנסיות ולבתי מדרשות הה"ד ואשיבה רגלי אל עדותיך
David said to the Holy One Blessed Be He that every day he thought of going to a particular place and would set out to go there, but his legs, inevitably, carried him to the bais knesses or bais medrash.
In light of The Power of Habit, that actually makes perfect sense. Once you've programmed yourself to follow a certain route, you can do so without thinking about it. In fact, I've sometimes headed in the wrong direction when driving because I headed out in the way I was used to from my standard routine. That's what Dovid's observation means: he had trod the path to the bais medrash so many times that it became his default route, and he would end up there even if he had another destination in mind.
An observation about Dovid is appropriate now because on Shavuoth, we read Megillas Ruth, which tells the story of his illustrious ancestor to demonstrate his fitness as a monarch of Israel. He also is said to have been born on the holiday that marked our receiving the Torah.
The mitzvos we received at Mattan Torah are what mold our behavior and habits.
Ha'adam nifal lefi peulathav. Man is shaped by his deeds. Scientific observation is catching up to what Chazal observed many centuries back.
Related posts:
http://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-anti-hero-and-heroine-in-book-of.html
http://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2008/06/taking-spiritual-advantage-rather-than.html
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אמר דוד רבש"ע בכל יום ויום הייתי מחשב ואומר למקום פלוני ולבית דירה פלונית אני הולך והיו רגלי מביאות אותי לבתי כנסיות ולבתי מדרשות הה"ד ואשיבה רגלי אל עדותיך
David said to the Holy One Blessed Be He that every day he thought of going to a particular place and would set out to go there, but his legs, inevitably, carried him to the bais knesses or bais medrash.
In light of The Power of Habit, that actually makes perfect sense. Once you've programmed yourself to follow a certain route, you can do so without thinking about it. In fact, I've sometimes headed in the wrong direction when driving because I headed out in the way I was used to from my standard routine. That's what Dovid's observation means: he had trod the path to the bais medrash so many times that it became his default route, and he would end up there even if he had another destination in mind.
An observation about Dovid is appropriate now because on Shavuoth, we read Megillas Ruth, which tells the story of his illustrious ancestor to demonstrate his fitness as a monarch of Israel. He also is said to have been born on the holiday that marked our receiving the Torah.
The mitzvos we received at Mattan Torah are what mold our behavior and habits.
Ha'adam nifal lefi peulathav. Man is shaped by his deeds. Scientific observation is catching up to what Chazal observed many centuries back.
Related posts:
http://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-anti-hero-and-heroine-in-book-of.html
http://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2008/06/taking-spiritual-advantage-rather-than.html
Like and follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/KallahMagazine/
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