Are You a Tennis Pro?

Question of the Week:

My daughter has an amazing talent - she is a natural tennis star. The problem is this requires her to play on Shabbos, and recently she has become more observant and refuses to play. Must she give up her life dream for her religion? Is this fair? Why does G-d restrict someone from achieving their goals in life?

Answer:

There is no doubt that being an observant Jew limits certain career choices. But perhaps this is not a bad thing. From a Jewish perspective, playing tennis is a wonderful hobby, a great way to keep fit, have fun and make friends. But it is not a life mission. The soul was not sent down to this world to perfect its second serve. Nobody's life mission is to have a great backhand. The single-minded dedication and complete and total focus required to become a tennis pro means sacrificing other parts of life. How many teenagers lose their childhood years to intense training? How many families lose their mother/father to world tours and gruelling schedules? This is not the Jewish ideal. We are here to work on our character, not our backswing. Our mission is to be good parents, good spouses, good community members and good citizens. If we are also good tennis players, that's wonderful. But that is not our identity. If we want our children to share these ideals, then we must be very careful which role models we present them with. The average sports star is not necessarily the paragon of goodness and morality. If these are our children's models, then we are setting them up for disappointment. But if from a young age we expose our children to real heroes, giants of the spirit who lived lives dedicated to goodness, then they are more likely to dream of being like them one day. Tennis is a fantastic sport. But no more than that. Life and its meaning are found elsewhere.

Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Moss