When less is more.

This Simchat Torah our shul had a black out. They made Hakafas by the light of the emergency escape lights. It was dramatically beautiful. The lack of "proper" light caused a dramatic focus that will stay with me for a long time. The crowd was small and spirited, and it felt like we were transported back in time to the days before electricity.

My einekle told my son she wanted the lights to go back on, he told her that Hashem would make the lights go on soon. She told him that. "Hashem can't make the lights go on, only a goy can turn the lights on on Yom Tov" A few minutes later, the emergency repair crew outside the shul got the electricity up and running. The brights lights went on, the overhead fans and the air conditioners went back on, but the intimacy left.

This got me thinking about the way that abundance in our lives can often mask small things that really count. When we pare down our needs and desires we often enrich our lives.