Who am I?.....Part II

Here's the follow up to the previous post...and the eye opening conclusion.



If you click on the above link you'll hear the end of that NPR audio file that my previous post was based on.It is the touching story of Clive Wearing.
Clive was a musical genius and composer of choral works in England when at a fairly young age catastrophe struck.
He suffered from headaches for a few days and no one could figure out the cause. After 5 days he suddenly lost his memory.
He couldn't remember anything.
He was struck with a freak infection which caused the most extreme case of amnesia ever recorded. Every few minutes his mind would get erased and he'd start his life anew.
However over time it became clear that the only things he remembers is his wifes love and his love for her. Every time she walks into his room his face lights up and he smothers her with kisses..and tells her how much he misses her..etc..
The second thing he remembers is his music.
He was brought into a cathedral and opened a songbook of his own music and he started singing it and remembered his songs enough to be able to conduct his old choir.

In another experiment done on a woman with a similar form of amnesia, her Doctor, who would usually greet her in the morning, she thinking him a total stranger, one morning hid a thumb tack in his hand and pricked her as she shook his hand.
The next day, even though she had no idea who he was hesistated to shake his hand. The fear had somehow carried through where the memory had died.

The clear conclusion here is that at the end of the day, our memory might be suspect and our body might be gone so what are we?

The Torah tells us that the Tochacha comes "Because you have not served Hashem with joy". The Meforshim ask...Is that reason enough to bring all these curses upon us?
The answer is a resounding yes!
One can do mitzvos by rote and yes he will get some sort of reward for that.

One can go through marriage and life interacting with people.
But it will not become him.

Only relationships built on love or fear have any enduring value.
Only actions done with passion become part of who you are.

Because..who are we?

We are the sum of our joys, loves, fears and passions.

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