Jumping to Conclusions Can Wear You Out

As the year draws to an end, we often think of the New Year’s resolutions people make and usually break. Many people make resolutions based on mistaken or false assumptions. But jumping to the wrong conclusion can happen anytime, as I’ve recently experienced.

Not long ago, I was driving through the Holland Tunnel in New York City when I had the strangest experience. The cars in front of me began to drop their speed, and traffic soon came to a standstill. With an hour left until Shabbos and being an orthodox Shabbos observer, I was really a mess. Driving after sunset is forbidden. What could I do?

Suddenly I felt a sharp movement, a shuddering in my chest. Could I be having a heart attack? I thought. I began to pray and in a short while things quieted down and I felt better. Then it happened again; this time I really became frightened.

What’s happening? I wondered. Am I just having an anxiety attack? Once again I said my prayer, promising God that if I made it through this I’d be good.

As I prayed I put my hands on my chest and that was when I realized I wasn’t experiencing any medical emergency. It was the new Treo telephone in my shirt pocket! I had received the phone as a holiday gift and placed it on vibrator mode. My son was calling me, setting the telephone off. What a frightening experience.

A second incident occurred when I was back in California. I took advantage of a beautiful sunny day, which was perfect weather for a walk on the beach. Children were running everywhere, and friendly people were walking or jogging on the sand. What a serene moment in my busy life.

Suddenly, a black Mercedes passed me and stopped. Two Middle Eastern-looking men stepped out; one carried a bag while the other approached me. My mind began to run in overdrive. They conversed in a foreign language, which sounded like Arabic. They may be part of a radical Islamic group, I thought. Then one asked in English, “Are you Jewish?” I was scared out of my wits, but I answered, “Yes.”

The man holding the bag took out a worn Jewish prayer book and said to me, “I come from Iran and have just moved into the area. Where can I find a synagogue?”

To say the least, I was relieved. It made the rest of my walk very rewarding.

These two stories got me thinking about my life. How I jumped to conclusions without thinking. How irrational my fears were. In a peculiar way, my recent experiences have been a wake-up call to make an honest New Year’s resolution to thank God for all the good things and to adopt an attitude of gratitude for the happy and simple things.

A happy new year. Amen.