“Life’s a journey, not a destination, and I just can’t tell just what tomorrow brings.”
—Aerosmith, “Amazing”
On this day in 1976, Sylvester Stallone began filming “Rocky,” a film whose heartwarming tale of a man’s journey from mob muscle to championship boxer captured the imagination of America, earning the film three Academy Awards as well as a statue atop the now-iconic steps leading to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
As fans of the movie know, Rocky Balboa’s tale doesn’t conclude with him being crowned champion. Rocky only manages to fight the titleholder Apollo Creed until the final bell. Rocky’s true victory instead comes earlier, during a musical montage that illustrates how his relentless training regimen, absent the benefits enjoyed by Apollo—ring time, sparring partners, and specialized training equipment—transforms Rocky from an amateur into a champion boxer.
In many ways, the focus upon Rocky’s journey, rather than upon victory, represents a very Jewish approach to storytelling. In one of the earliest scenes of the Hebrew Bible, Abraham is called to “go forth … to a land that I [God] will show you.” With no destination in mind, Abraham sets off boldly in search of meaning. The Israelites, meanwhile, spend 3½ books of the Torah in their journey from Egypt to Israel. Ultimately, their arrival becomes a mere afterthought to their transformative journey through the wilderness.
I remember showing the montage of Rocky’s training regimen to aspiring B’nai Mitzvah (when Rocky was still recognizable in teen culture)—to remind them that the effort and the resulting transformation matter much more than the ritual itself. Judaism focuses less upon the reward than upon the journeys we take and the growth we—as individuals and as communities—experience through those journeys. It seems that both Rocky and Jewish tradition ask us to consider: How will we grow and change today?
—Rabbi Josh Knobel