NTAG Never take Anything for Granted

NTAG (NTAG = Never Take Anything for Granted)
NTAG = the essence of Jewish Wisdom

In my Shemoneh Esreh work I have stated that I have found the NTAG concept central to that prayer. I tried to make the point that we are asked to recite the Shemoneh Esreh prayer thrice daily to remind ourselves not take anything for granted.
Prayers 3 – 16 – the middle portion of Shemoneh Esreh – make up what’s called the petitionary portion (Bekashah) of the prayer, while the first three prayers are called Shevach (praise) and the last three Hoda’ah (thanksgiving).

We are asked to repeat the recitation because humans otherwise have a tendency to be complacent and think that the gifts that they receive every day always will be there. We are not configured for change and we are not wired to anticipate change. Therefore we tend to “think” that all that we have now, material wealth, health, friends, family, will always be there and thus we start taking them for granted.
Jewish Wisdom said: We need to build a flashing road sign that will remind us that these things don’t last forever stave off conceit.

But the concept of NTAG pervades more than just our daily prayer. NTAG is a central concept in many other areas and the following is an outline of some of them.

1. NTAG in Kosher – Why we choose what we eat;
2. NTAG in Shabbat – the blessings of the Seventh Day;
3. NTAG in Ritual – Brith Mila, Mikvah, Bar & Bat Mitzvah, Chupah, and Chevra Kadisha;
4. NTAG in History – the story of the People and Never Take Israel for Granted;
5. NTAG in Nature – why Jewish Wisdom treasures the earth;
6. NTAG in Charity – Jewish wisdom and loving-kindness;
7. NTAG in Shemoneh Esreh – the center piece of acknowledgment ;


1. NTAG in kosher -
For those of us who have enough food to eat every day, having this privilege can easily be taken for granted. Thinking about what we eat, choosing what we eat and don’t eat, is one way to prevent us from taking that “right” for granted.

2. NTAG in Shabbat -
Once upon a time, most people were slaves. A slave’s life could easily be painted in eight short sentences; once the slave baby was born, he was immediately the property of the slave-owner. When he was old enough to work, 4, maybe 5, maybe 10 in some cultures, he started his miserable “professional” life. He worked until he died. Some were stronger and were able to work until they were 20, 30, some even 40. But most died young, very young. The slave didn’t know weeks, months, seasons or years. He worked until he died.

Out of the blue, or more precisely, out of the desert, comes this tribe of former slaves and states something astonishing: There is more to life than work! Even if the Israelites never suggested sick-leave, vacation packages, or retirement plans, they claimed this one thing: Divide the time into seven day periods and out of each period set aside ONE, just one day for rest. Do whatever else you want, but at least, at the very minimum, reserve one day for “other-than-work”. And, they said, apply this rule to everybody equally: Rich, poor, property owner, slave and even animal;
No wonder then, that this tribe was hated, hunted, heckled, and harassed.
No wonder then, that later incarnations turned into:
o “On the Sabbath, you are not allowed to …….”
o “On the Sabbath, you may not drive….”
o “On the Sabbath, you mustn’t watch TV”
o “On the Sabbath, you cannot do business….”
o “This and This and that are forbidden on the Sabbath….”

Talk about missing the point here!
These modern perversions of the original thought so totally miss the point!


3. NTAG in Ritual -
Brith Mila, Mikvah, Bar & Bat Mitzvah, Chupah, and Chevra Kadisha;
Brith Mila = Circumcision. Mikvah = ritual bath, Bar/Bat Mitzvah = confirmation ritual, Chupah = A Jewsih wedding, and Chevra Kadisha = burial ritual.

What do these rituals have in common? They represent a journey from birth to death; from Egypt/Mitzrayim (Heb Mitzrayim = Egypt but also “a narrow place”) to the Promised Land;

We acknowledge that we should not take every step of this journey for granted; How many people rush through life without stopping to think, to appreciate, to smell the roses, to stop in awe of the wonders we pass along the way.
With wonders, I don’t refer to super-natural phenomenon; wonders are just awe-some, in its literal meaning: The sight of a sunrise, the birth of a baby, the colors of a butterfly, the taste of fresh fruit, the smell of lilacs in the spring, the sound of a choir work by Mozart, none of these things are strictly super-natural, they are very much “in nature” – but just the same awesome, and therefore, wonders.

So, the birth of a baby is the first wonder.
How many cultures take this for granted? Not many – actually. Most cultures celebrate the birth of a child and all have their own rituals for doing so. The baptism of a newborn baby in a Christian church leaves no permanent marks on the child.
The Brith Mila - circumcision - makes sure that the birth is never ever forgotten. Modern explanations for this ritual, such as health aspects (which have been used both to argue for and against the practice) and other contemporary outlooks may have a place, but the original intent was – among others – to make sure that the event of your birth was never forgotten and that one needs to be reminded of this wonder on a daily basis. One can argue that the Brith Mila is there to ensure that we Never take Life for Granted.

The Mikvah.
This (ritual bath) is the place primarily used by women in childbearing age. Never take the monthly cycle for granted. The practice of Mikvah acknowledges that this process is volatile and one should be grateful for each completed cycle.

Bar/Bat Mitzvah.
Just like the Israelite tribe that was leaving Egypt, soon after its birth, received the Torah at Mount Sinai, so should the young boy and girl receive the Torah on his or her 13th birthday.
Torah here, in both examples, means learning, teaching, wisdom in these concepts’ widest meanings.
So, the gift of Bar and Bat Mitzvah is an acknowledgment that learning and wisdom should not be taken lightly and certainly not for granted.

Chupah. Wedding canopy
The love between two people is cherished in Jewish wisdom. It is understood that it is something unique, something irreplaceable, and therefore creates rituals to ensure that we don’t take this lightly. So, you may ask, is divorce frowned upon in Jewish wisdom? Frowned, yes, but not outlawed. In fact, Jewish wisdom realizes that if a marriage ends, which can happen, a set of rituals (called “get”) for handling that situation is also required. So, that we may never take neither marriage nor divorce for granted, we acknowledge our human need for love and our realistic expectation that love may not last, anticipate them and build tools to handle them.

Chevrah Kadisha
Burial rituals. Making a person’s death a dignified event is the one truly altruistic act we do in life: We know that the deceased person will never ever be able to “pay” you back. Here is an opportunity to show kindness without expectation of reciprocity.
The words Chevra Kadisha can be translated as “the holy gang” – they are the selfless souls who wash, dress and carry the body and prepare it for burial. Because they never expect “payback”, they can be called a “holy gang”.

One could argue that one could/should take death for granted because it comes to us all. But that is not the point: So many millions die in an unholy way: murdered, bombed, nuked, killed, starved, killed by AIDS, malaria, malnutrition, poison, chemicals, drugs, burned, gassed, butchered, trampled and knifed. That is certainly not dignified. That is not a human death.
So dying in a honorable way, being buried, missed, prayed for, and remembered on the anniversary (Yahrzeit) of your death is certainly not anything we can take for granted.
Jewish wisdom understands this. And therefore creates rituals around death and remembering the dead to ensure we never forget.

To be continued