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I grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio, home of lake-effect snow. I went to college in the New England of Currier and Ives snowscapes, and I was a rabbi for a dozen years in the Boston area, where blizzards were no match for determined B’nai Mitzvah families. So I am not intimidated by the idea of handling the roads in wintry weather. Watching this first snowfall of the season, I’ve also realized that lessons from driving in the snow can apply to other parts of our lives, as well.

If you are uncertain, wait a little bit. Sometimes it makes sense to postpone your traveling in the snow until it stops and the roads clear up. We don’t always need to rush into things. When you are confronting a situation and you aren’t sure of the right choice to make, take your time, consider your options, and make an unhurried decision.

Slow down and pay attention. Driving in the snow means going slower and being aware of what is around you. That’s good advice for us in general, as the hectic pace of modern living sometimes makes us miss things we would want to notice if we weren’t speeding by. Judaism even has a day for slowing things down and experiencing things more deeply – Shabbat!

Turn into the skid. At some point, the slick and icy roads may get the better of your car and you’ll find yourself going in a direction you did not intend. Turning into the skid helps you regain control. So, too, in life, things will go awry in ways we don’t expect. Often, we have the power to confront the difficult situation directly and make a change. And, if you find yourself

metaphorically going in the wrong direction, you have the ability to correct your course and return to the right path. That’s called teshuvah (repentance) – remember from the High Holy Days?

I’ll confess that when I first heard about the prospect of this morning’s snowfall, my midwestern-ness scoffed at the two-hour school delay for an inch of snow. But Torah is everywhere and life’s lessons abound if we are open to hearing and seeing them, even in just a little bit of snow.

Shabbat Shalom (and drive carefully!).