וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, עֲלֵה אֵלַי הָהָרָה--וֶהְיֵה-שָׁם; וְאֶתְּנָה לְךָ אֶת-לֻחֹת הָאֶבֶן, וְהַתּוֹרָה וְהַמִּצְוָה, אֲשֶׁר כָּתַבְתִּי, לְהוֹרֹתָם

And the LORD said unto Moses: “Come up to Me into the mount and be there; and I will give thee the tables of stone, and the law and the commandment, which I have written, that thou mayest teach them.”

  As I drove to the airport Sunday morning for a conference in New York all I
heard and read about on the news was about the life and death of Whitney Houston.
Every news station was discussing the possible causes of her death, her rise to fame and
her addiction to drugs. When I landed in New York, though, the news changed to discuss
underdog sensation, Jeremy Lin. 

   Lin played for Harvard and was not picked during the NBA draft upon
graduation. He continued his career by playing in the minors and was eventually drafted
to the Knicks in 2011. He was brought onto the team to help their offense by working the
court in favor of his teammates. As luck would have it, after a series of 20-point games
and a game winning 3-pointer this past week Lin has now become an international
sensation. 

   Moshe was told to ascend the mountain and be there. Rabbi Menachem Mendel
of Kotzk asks a glaring question about this verse: If Moshe ascended the mountain then
of course we know that he will "be there". What was the need for the Torah to mention
these seemingly superfluous words? He answers that even though Moshe ascended the
mountain that was no guarantee that he would remain there. 

   We all have moments of inspiration in our lives. Times when we can see things
clearly and think that nothing can stop us from achieving our goals no matter what they
are. We ascend the mountain - we may even stay there for some time - but, as often is the
case, we don't remain on the top. This is what the Torah was teaching by telling us that
not only did Moshe ascend the mountain he also stayed there. 

   Whitney Houston's death was not just tragic because we lost an amazing talent in
the music industry. It was tragic because it revealed to the public how quickly one can
rise to fame and then fall from being amongst the stars. The story of Jeremy Lin is
inspiring, but not the inspiration that is long lasting. 

   There is a parable told of an elderly women standing by the docks as the cruise
ship would come and go. As the embarked on their journey, they were sent off with great
fanfare. When the ships eventually returned home, they were met with silence. This
women commented that the people have it all wrong. When the ship leaves the docks, it
leaves with uncertainty. Maybe the trip will be safe or maybe they'll run into rough
waters and be shipwrecked. When they return home safely, though, that should be a
cause for celebration. 

   A truly inspirational tale is one that can look back on a person's life with a sense
of accomplishment - that they remained on top of the mountain. It's easy to rise up on
certain occasions, but much harder to stay there. I hope that I continue to read more about
Lin's career, but I realize that at this point it's not much to get excited about. If we are to
look for true inspirations the best way is to look within ourselves. To look back on all
those times in our lives when we got to the top of the mountain and the amazing feeling
of accomplishment we felt. The tricky part is then to decide on how to never go back
down.