Empty Bottle

Empty Bottle
 
One Simchas Torah a couple of years back someone was generous enough to donate a very pricey bottle of scotch to our congregation. When the bottle was opened, the ‘pourer’ was faced with many little cups attached to long outstretched arms, needless to say it only took 45 seconds until the bottle was empty.
 
Marveling at the spectacle, one of our congregants made the following experiment. He took the empty bottle filled it up with inferior quality whiskey and put it out there again thereby testing the unknowing public if they will still appreciate the "High quality" stuff.
 
Substance vs Packaging
There is no doubt that the packaging makes a difference, you cannot compare a gift which is wrapped elegantly to the same gift with a simple wrapper. In fact many of the subconscious choices we make at the supermarket or in the mall are based solely on the visual appearance and not necessarily on the quality of the product.
 
However, when one becomes externally focused and oblivious to the internal qualities  of any given thing, they may fall victim to becoming superficial.
 
If one wants to pursue the truth of any matter he must discover the essence of it, not the packaging, marketing or wrapping.
 
Unfortunately, sometimes we get caught up with the packaging and forget about the substance. When in fact, it's really all about the Photo and not the frame.
 
At the time of the destruction of the first temple (423 BCE), Our prophet Isaiah rebukes the people in the name of G-D.  He tells them "You Shall not continue to bring a worthless offering and when you spread your hands in prayer I will hide my eyes from you even if you increase in prayer I do not hear... Wash yourself, clean yourself and desist from doing evil. Learn to do good, seek justice, strengthen the victim, do justice with the orphan take up the cause of the widow" (Isaiah 1).
 
Isaiah is telling the people that it is not about bringing an offering or prayer when it is devoid of any internal substance. Those external rituals are empty and lack the depth and substance which God desires.
 
My congregants can be forgiven for not knowing the difference between the whiskeys - after all, it was Simchas Torah and they were too absorbed in the Joy, substance and depth of the festival to pay attention to the brand of materialistic drink they were consuming.
 
Good Shabbos, 
Rabbi Yanky Berger