This week, I indulged in a rare break away from everything: my job, my family, everything. It’s not that I went running off by myself to leave my wife home alone. Instead, I took nearly a full week off to attend a retreat sponsored by my messianic temple, Kehilat Sar Shalom.
The week was a great break away from everything. No job to go to, no responsibilities, just a great chance to do some fishing, read some Torah and Torah-related study materials, eat some great food, bond with other men in my congregation, and even spend some time in prayer (though not nearly enough.)
I decided to come home a day early. My wife couldn’t understand why, at least initially. But when I woke up Thursday morning, it was with a distinct and clear impression that G-d was telling me, “Enough is enough. Go home and provide for your family.”
In talking with another guy who decided to leave a day early, on the drive back, I discovered he had encountered much the same impression. This raised a debate between the two of us that had nothing to do with discount furniture.
Are retreats a selfish endeavor? Is withdrawing from one’s responsibility for a time a sound practice or self-centered?
On the one hand, one sees figures such as Moshe enjoying no such respite from their responsibilities. From the moment he first went before Pharoah to deliver haShem’s message - Let my people go! - to his death, he never really had a break or a vacation. It seems to be a foreign concept in his time.
Unless you count the time he spent in solitude on Mount Sinai in the presence of Adonai, of course. But I doubt he spent much of that time fishing.
On the other hand, Yeshua did withdraw from the crowds who swarmed to see him at times, retreating up a mountain or sailing across a lake, in order to spend time in communion with haShem. A bit of “recharging his batteries” seems not to be entirely out of line with Yeshua’s example.
My friend was of a different opinion, stating that if one would simply listen to and rely on Adonai more, one would not need to retreat and recharge.
Upon further discussion, my friend revealed that he spent almost all of his waking hours fishing, rather than dividing his time to include Torah and Torah-related study, prayer time, and rest.
“I made fishing my G-d this week,” he confessed.
Perhaps that’s the basis for our difference of opinion in whether a retreat is a selfish practice. I still have no easy answer to the question, but I suspect how one spends their time on retreat plays a major role.
