Rattlesnake Ledge or On the Edge
Living on the Edge “We’ve been talking about boarding a plane for a while—it’s enough already. Let’s go,” our editor remanded us. “We need to get to Switzerland, I’m getting antsy about those Alps,” she mentioned in her best English. Meantime, one of us still has a foot in the Western United States. That seems to be causing a little problem. With so much to see and do in this part of the world, it’s easy to understand why someone would be reluctant to leave. Well, that’s the writer’s view. Then a thought crossed the mind about Switzerland. A few years ago, Rabbi Wohlgelernter was giving a talk and he added an anecdote. It went something like this: Rabbi Samson Hirsh, the famous 19th century scholar (and great favorite of ours) was telling his students that he intended going to view the Swiss Alps. ‘But Rebbe,’ they protested, ‘Wouldn’t that amount to wasting Torah study time?’ He answered them. ‘When I come before the Great Master after leaving this world and He asks me whether I enj...