Many have heard me joke, “I have two religions: Judaism and Apple.”  In Jerusalem last summer, I purchased a kippah with the “Think Different” Apple logo embroidered on its black, velvety surface, as a way of signifying the coming together of the two. While this statement is mostly said in jest (though I actually did buy the kippah), it is true that when I speak of Apple, I am often overcome with the same kind of deep, glowing passion as when I speak of my tremendous love for Judaism.  As a seminary student, it is difficult for me to admit this–blasphemous, even.  And, usually, while I may say it to my close friends, I would never do so in print.  However, today is different…today, my defenses are down…today, I am trying to find words…

When a hero dies, the hero becomes a legend.  But what happens when one who is a legend dies?

For years, Steve Jobs has been a legend to me.  I drank the Apple-flavored kool-aid a long time ago, and I have Jobs to thank for that.  I don’t just like my iPhone or think my iPad is cool.  I believe in the mission of the company.  I believe it is contributing to truly awe-inspiring innovation that genuinely pushes people to “think different,” to challenge the status quo, and to never settle with contentment.

I was afraid that working for this company in which I believed so deeply would demystify it for me, but after going to work for Apple three years ago, my appreciation for the vision, the genius, and the heart of the company has only swelled.  Apple is not only neat technology to me; it is a community of friends, colleagues, and even strangers; it is an avenue through which I get to enrich lives of the tech-savvy nerds, the ones who are using a computer for the very first time, and everyone in between; it is a space where I get to think creatively and act independently.  The spirit of Steve Jobs is at the heart of all of it.

Jobs was not Apple, but he was Apple’s legend.  He did more than just make the impossible possible.  He made possible the things that nobody could even think of to think they were impossible–revolutionizing not only personal computing, portable music, the smart phone, touch-screen tablets, but also marketing, retail business, digital animation, keynote presentations… the list goes on and on.

As the news of Steve Jobs’ death reverberated throughout every media channel one can touch (most of which were directly impacted, if not envisioned, by the very man of whom they speak), I was attending a lecture by one of my rabbinic heroes, Harold Kushner.  Kushner’s lecture on the beauty and depth of Yom Kippur filled my spirit in ways difficult to articulate.  The wisdom of his words–drawing from Abraham Joshua Heschel, and other hasidic and neo-hasidic legends–left me with a sense of personal empowerment and spiritual awe.

He spoke of the way in which this holy season in the Jewish calendar reminds us of two things.  On one hand, the record of life is written in our own handwriting; we have the authority to chose the way in which we respond to the world and to what we encounter each day.  And, on the other hand, there are things over which we have no control–things that happen to us because of nothing we did (for good and for bad).  This, he said, should empower us to do the very best with what we have.  And, for the rest–the uncontrollable things–we must let go, find peace with the chaotic, and know that when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, an intimate Divine is there, with us.

I do not know if Kushner had heard the news of Jobs’ death when he spoke to us.  But, after the lecture, when a friend of mine approached me with “Have you heard about Steve Jobs…?” (I hadn’t), I was grateful for the wisdom I had just received.  Jobs was not a perfect guy–none of us are–but there is no question that he made much of his life.  Like all of us, he had the choice of how to respond to what he encountered in life.  And, wow, did he ever.  Even after hearing of the ways in which his life–his health–would be impacted by those things over which he had no control, he pushed forward.  He never seemed to cease striving.

In Judaism, when one dies, it is said to those survived by the deceased, “May his/her memory be for a blessing.”  My wish today is that we choose to honor the life and memory of Steve Jobs by living into the message of his legacy–by never ceasing to “think different.”

As only Apple could have said it: “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Here’s to Steve Jobs–the innovator, the legend, the inspiration.  May his memory be for a blessing…