avanot on Creation and Courage

The DJC theme for these High Holy Days is creation. I have decided to speak with you about the connection between creation, faith and courage.

On Yom Kippur we will be atoning for our sins. But on Rosh Hashana we celebrate the new year. And so I will speak with you about virtues tonight, rather than sins, and in particular I want to talk about the virtue of having faith in ourselves and being courageous – that is, having faith and being courageous in the context of creativity.

I want to share a story with you that starts with an idea that turns into a vision. A story where the application of having faith in oneself and then courage was able to move that vision into a reality.

A reality that has had an impact on every single person sitting in this room.

So, I’ll start by telling you about my father. He died about 8 years ago. He was a scientist, researcher and the consummate respiratory medical physician.

My father focused on the chest – asthma, bronchitis, lung disease.

In the 1950’s many men were heavy smokers and women were seriously getting into the act. In the early 60’s my father embarked on an unprecedented study of the effects of smoking and lung disease on women.

I want to repeat: he embarked on a research project that looked at the effects of smoking and lung disease on women.

This was crazy. This was ridiculous – and for a couple of reasons.

First, the idea (back then) that smoking impacted lung disease was laughable.

And second, why any self-respecting doctor would embark on a serious research study, unrelated to the female anatomy, which used women patients instead of men was positively eccentric.

In the fullness of time, this study on women smokers catapulted my father into the position of one of the world’s most renowned experts in respiratory disease.

In this work, he pioneered and validated two key concepts:

First, that smoking was bad for a person’s health and was a cause of lung disease; and

Second, that a woman’s response to smoking was the same as a man – thereby validating medical research that included women. (It was only after my father’s research that the medical community started to take a serious look at heart disease in women).

At the time of the study, my father was considered by many of his colleagues to be a crank, an oddball and definitely eccentric.

Here’s a little example - but you really need to go back in time with me to fully appreciate it.

In the early 60’s during an adult dinner party it wouldn’t be surprising to see some of the guests unconsciously light up with no concern whatsoever to the smoke that was being generated.

But in our house – if you came over for dinner and wanted to smoke – you were asked to go outside (regardless of the weather) and if that didn’t get the message across loudly enough – my father would happily supply you with an ashtray (the only one in our house) that was clear glass that had a huge bright read stop sign on the bottom that screamed out STOP!

This might not seem eccentric by today’s standards – but that kind of behaviour back then was considered very eccentric indeed.

But really my father wasn’t so much an eccentric as a creative visionary. He saw the potential health hazards inherent in smoking and believed that women would be excellent research candidates. He was right on both counts. He translated his vision into something tangible and of value. He did this despite the scoffing and despite the ridicule.

He had the courage to bring his creative thinking related to smoking and women to light.

So where did my father’s courage come from. What made him unique? Why did he see what no one else saw?

I think with the answer to these questions, I can now circle back to our being Jewish. And I think it can circle back to these High Holy days.

Having a strong belief in yourself is a virtue. Living your life with originality is a good thing. Giving yourself permission to deviate from the norm and then having a strong faith in what you yourself think and believe is crucial.

As adults there are many of us who allow our creativity to remain suppressed. My father taught me that there is a strong connection between being creative and having the courage to make that creativity a reality. And the magic that makes this connection possible is having faith in yourself.

To all of you on this erev Rosh Hashana – I bid you all
Shana Tova.

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