Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay : A Little Extra

This is a Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay. It’s evidently had a good morning foraging and has found a substantial nut. Like most animals, birds spend nearly their entire day’s activity searching for food. They’re locked into an unyielding race between calories expended in searching and calories found for consumption. Often you’ll see birds eat their finds whole, but here the Jay has more than it can say grace over. From a human perspective, this daily quest seems challenging; birds are always right at the edge, unable to stockpile reserves for the future.

Humans have a more robust existence, in that we’ve found ways to cache a little extra for future needs. Tanakh juxtaposes two examples of how to spend this “extra.” In Exodus 30, the Israelites are all commanded to contribute a half-shekel for the service of the Tent of Meeting. This flat tax is intended to reinforce the connection between all the people and HaShem. Just two chapters later, the people take the gold rings from their ears, give them to Aaron, and he fashions the Golden Calf. This disastrous episode nearly led to the destruction of the entire community.

Our modern era offers opportunities and challenges that reflect these same questions faced by our ancestors. Beyond our immediate needs, we have a little extra put aside, and we decide where it goes: to purposes that reflect the noblest sides of our natures or to short-term, “idolatrous” consumption. These are not always easy or obvious choices. The same fear and anxiety that resulted in the Golden Calf are just as prevalent today. Fortunately with the guidance we have post-Sinai, we too have “more than we can say grace over,” and like the Jay, may find contentment and deep fulfillment from what we have.