It was Daniel’s twelfth birthday. He had saved up enough money to buy himself a present. Nickels, dimes and quarters—he went to the neighborhood store, put his change on the counter, and—wonder of wonders—Daniel had exactly the right amount to buy the thing he’d been waiting for, the possession he’d been longing…that big, red beautiful kite. The happiest kid in the world, he went to the park and began to fly his new red kite.

There were great winds blowing that day. Daniel let out some string, and a little more string, and little more, until the kite was so high and so far away you couldn’t even see it anymore. It was so high, there was no trace left behind of the big, red kite. When you looked at the boy, all you could see was a happy kid running with a string in his hand with a great, big smile on his face.

A respectable and rational-looking man in a business suit came upon the boy and stopped the boy in his tracks, “son, what are you doing?” he asked. “What do you mean, sir?” Daniel asked. “I’m flying a kite!” “Flying a kite? What do you mean? I don’t see a kite. You don’t see a kite. How do you know there’s really a kite up there?” Daniel looked at the man and looked up toward the sky, and said, “I may not see the kite, and you might not see the kite. But, I know there’s a kite, sir—because I can feel the tug.”

The High Holy Days are here to give us a tug. That’s a story I learned thanks to Rabbi Alan Lew. The tangible and the visible components of Rosh Hashanna are beautiful and hopefully meaningful: the music, the liturgy, the gathering, the apples and the honey. But, it’s the intangible and invisible component of Rosh Hashanna that is far more valuable than the tangible. Like the businessman, we lives our lives stuck in the tangibles. Here comes the tug.

The “Intangible” Challenge

Ernest Becker wrote a book called the “Denial of Death.” I’ve had it on my bookshelf since college, but I’ve successfully denied its existence, until now. Becker teaches that human beings are the only creatures with the capacity to comprehend our own mortality. We humans have the unique ability to have an extremely accurate awareness of tangible, scientific reality. The problem is that our tangible reality is completely debilitating! Rabbi Alan Lew also points out this quick dose of reality. Here’s some of what we’re all busy denying. We have peaked in every way in our early twenties—physically and mentally. After that, we are all declining. Our muscles are weakening, our blood pressure increasing, our arteries are hardening. Our hormones are slowing, our skin is drying, our bones are become fragile. Our nerve cells are dying, our memory is deteriorating. We are all in the process of dying. I can hear it now, “So, what did the rabbi talk about on Rosh Hashanna? It was a horrible, horrible sermon.” I’m not going to talk about dying; I’m going to talk about living. And by the way, despite the scientific reality, you all look terrific. But in order to let the process of High Holidays work for us, we’re going to have to enter into reality. We have to break through the façade. We have to break our hearts – a little bit. So, here’s the next step from Ernest Becker. Because the horrible reality of our existence is debilitating, we need coping mechanisms to compensate for the awareness of our own mortality. We keep ourselves occupied and pre-occupied, exhilarated, and scheduled. Over the years, we’ve mastered these affirmation systems so well, that we’ve completely wiped out what we’re denying, the awareness of our own mortality. We’ve overcompensated and now we’re over-affirmed and over-stimulated and completely lost in the affirmation and coping mechanism. Those affirmations are the tangibles of our reality. The challenge is that, in the meanwhile, in the process of denial, we’ve lost touch with the intangibles that give meaning and purpose to our lives. That’s why we need our High Holiday Experience! We need Rosh Hashanna and Yom Kippur to bring us back to reality. We need the High Holidays to bring us back to the intangible reality.

The Value of the Intangible

Judaism was founded on the deep truth of the intangible reality. Abraham, our father, looked around at the religious world, and it was physical, tangible idols representing the physical, tangible realities of nature; the sun, the moon, rain and fertility. The midrash tells us that Abraham looked at the tangible reality and said, “The sun can’t be God, the sun sets in the evening. The rain can’t be God, the rain dries up in the summer. God must be intangible! The world thought he was insane—praying to an intangible, invisible God. He felt that tug. And here we are thousands of years later, praying to the God of Abraham, the source of intangible reality—the subtle reality that lies beneath the surface. We, too, feel that tug.

Even in our day, it’s the Jewish concept of the intangible that evolves the world toward enlightenment. Albert Einstein was once asked to name the one person that most influenced him the most. He said that the person that influenced his view the most was Sigmund Freud – a psychiatrist! Both Jews, by the way. Why Sigmund Freud? Sigmund Freud was the first person to teach the modern world about the value of the intangible forces that effect reality. Sigmund Freud taught the world that there are powerful forces at play that can’t be seen. The most powerful influences in this world are intangible. Sigmund Freud discovered the intangible source in the human psyche. Albert Einstein discovered the intangible source in the universe. Here’s the Jewish secret: the intangible is far more valuable than the tangible.

Another Jewish man who discovered this secret: Warren Buffet.

Three decades ago, Warren Buffett made his first billion because he realized the value of intangibles before any one else. Warren Buffet values companies by the intangibles. He makes decisions based on the intangible reality, not the tangible façade. He looks at factors like employee satisfaction, reputation, relationships, inspiration, determination and most of all, leadership. He understands that the intangibles are far more valuable than the tangibles.

The world is just now catching up. It turns out that the whole world is just now realizing this secret. On paper, Google’s net worth is about $5 billion dollars. However, stock market investors value Google at $135 billion. Where does the extra $130 billion come from? Intangibles. Financial experts report that eighty percent of the value of the Fortune 500 is intangible. Twenty percent tangibles, 80 percent intangible.

Lev Baruch, member of the tribe, an accounting professor, estimates that businesses invest $1 trillion a year in intangible assets.

The financial world is just now waking up to the reality—the intangibles are far more valuable than the tangibles. They both have to be there, but the intangibles are far more valuable.

My family and I went on a Disney Cruise this summer, and it was an amazing and enlightening experience. The Disney Magic is a beautiful and romantic ship loaded with the most up-to-date technology from stabilizers under the ship to computerized theatrical sets. Of course, of all the wondrous aspects of the ship—the game rooms, the two pools, the play spaces, the movie theaters, the gift shops, the bars—it’s the dining rooms that are the core of the experience. The dining rooms are fine dining experiences with unlimited food, with international waiters.  Ours was a beautiful and charming Frenchmen named Julien. There were special orders, kosher meals and delightful deserts. The cruise director organized incredibly engaging programs, performances and activities for families and children and adults. The tangibles were so incredible, that at times, you almost forgot you were on a ship on the ocean. It seemed to me that most people on board the Disney Magic, had little connection with the ship or the ocean. Few people appreciated the intangible, elegant engineering of the ship. Even fewer people appreciated the intangible glory of Pacific Ocean and the stunning sunsets.

After the initial shock of the incredible tangibles aboard the Disney magic, I committed myself to the intangible, oceanic experience. Sunset was at 8:04 p.m. The evening performance started at 7:30 p.m.! No one, wanted to miss the evening’s performance. But, I had to go underground, I had to go counter-Disney culture. I had to go underground, guerilla against the Disney empire. I ducked out of the Disney performance, went up to the deck, and wouldn’t you know … there was one of the most amazing sunset’s of my entire life. It started in that Rays of God mode, where the sun is behind the clouds, and it ended 10 minutes later in a pink and orange cotton candy delight. I stood out on the deck of the ship, like I was in the Titanic Movie, except, it wasn’t Vicki and me, Vicki was watching the kids at the Disney show. Out on the bow of the ship, it was me and a nice couple from Indiana—watching the romantic sunset. There were 3,000 people on aboard the magnificent ship, and three of us had the awareness to go to the top deck for this unbelievable sunset over the Pacific Ocean. So I got my natural, Divine, oceanic experience. Over the course of the next few days, I made sure to take Vicki, and each of my kids out to the deck to spend some time with them out on the ocean, and that worked beautifully, but it took a lot of energy, to swim against the powerful current of the Disney magic. But, when we did, it was incredible. I spent time with each child, laying on lounge chairs on the deck, sipping apple juice, and talking about the earth, the ocean, the horizon, and life.

Friends, life is like that ship on the ocean. Our lives our filled with so many distractions. Important distractions, entertaining distractions, urgent crisis, regular routines. Our lives our so full, that sometimes we don’t even realize that we’re human beings on planet Earth. And we’re here on earth for a short amount of time. That’s what we are. That’s what’s real.

We all feel the tug of an intangible, authentic source every once in a while. It can move us to tears or it can change our lives. Sometimes we feel the tug when we celebrate an anniversary or a birthday. Sometimes we feel the tug, when we least expect it.

What we’re doing here now is an attempt to break through the tangibles and look at our lives through the intangibles. What is your reality? You know what your tangible reality is – your marital status, your daily activity, your income, your worldly possessions. You know your tangible reality. Your tangible reality is extremely valuable. The question to address this Rosh Hashhana is a far more valuable question. The question is: What is your intangible reality? What is your state of being? What is the current status of your dreams? Is your identity strong? Do you love your loved one’s enough? Do they feel loved enough? There is more in store for you this year.

It’s Rosh Hashannah. Where in the world are you?

Practical Implications of the Intangible reality

Rosh Hashanna is a pleasant holiday, to be sure, a meaningful service, a time for families and communities to gather. But there’s more: the intangible reality that lies beneath the surface. Let Rosh Hashanna reach your core. Let Rosh Hashannah rock your foundations in three ways.

One – List your intangibles. What are the intangible things that will make or break your life? What gives you that deep, core, satisfaction? At the end of your days, what will have like to accomplish?

Two – Increase your focus on the intangibles. Remember the 80/20 rule. A well balanced life focuses 20% on the tangibles, that’s a significant percentage. A well- balanced life focuses 80% on the intangibles- friendships, romance, self-growth…breathing.

Three – The way to increase the value of your intangibles is simply to give them more of your attention. It’s pretty simple. Give more attention to your loved ones. Give more attention to your spouse. Give more attention to your children and your parents. Give more attention to your dreams. Give more attention to your self.

The book, “The Little Prince,” is one of the best-selling books ever written, selling over 80 million copies. The book broke through the façade to the foundation. The essence of the book is in this quote, “Here is my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” The tangibles are deceptively important. The tangibles are deceptively urgent. The tangibles are deceptively valuable. But don’t be deceived. The intangibles are more valuable than the tangibles.

Ribono shel Olam, Master of the Universe, may we all focus on our intangibles this year: may we all feel the tug toward acts of chesed, may we all feel the tug to intensify our relationships, increase our joy, and strengthening our relationship with God. And in that way we will have a shana tova. And let us say: amen.

© Ranon Teller