Posted on 03/08/24
I used to wonder if those yellow and black “No Outlet” signs on the side of the road meant that you are entering an Amish neighborhood. But now, I realize how naïve and absurd that thought process was. Instead, more recently, my thought process and wonderment has been much more sophisticated. These days, I’ve been wondering if there is indeed a difference between the “Dead End” and the “No Outlet” signs.
I decided to terminate all doubt on this matter, so I looked up the source. According to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD 11th Edition, pg. 171) from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, “The DEAD END sign may be used at the entrance to a single road or street that terminates without intersecting another street. The NO OUTLET sign may be used at the entrance to a road or road network from which there is no other exit.”
A close-up Gemarah-Kup type of analytical reading of this “law” shows that cities can technically use the NO OUTLET signs in both situations! In fact, some cities are slowly moving away from the somber verbiage of the DEAD END sign and are replacing them with the more descriptive and friendly NO OUTLET sign.
Dan Rankin, the mayor of Darrington, a scenic small town in Washington State, said it best when asked if he would choose the DEAD END or NO OUTLET signage for his town. He said he’d for sure go with NO OUTLET: “I don’t see a debate in that. It’s a better description and probably easier to translate if you were not fluent in the English language. ‘Dead’ and ‘End’ – that doesn’t sound like a good outcome. We’re not going there no matter how beautiful it is.”
I couldn’t help but think just how applicable this last statement is to the overall success and survival of the Jewish people. The world at large preaches a lifestyle of tremendous glitz, glamour, and instant gratification. But we realize that the lifestyle of the secular world and their immense focus on shallowness and impurity is what makes them “Dwellers of the corners” – מיושבי קרנות. A corner is something by definition that is truly a DEAD END. Yes, it looks nice, attractive, and beautiful. But a DEAD END is exactly that, “Dead and “End” – a life of complacency and zero growth – now, that does not sound like a good outcome!
As Jews, we are meant to be “Dwellers of the Study Hall” – מיושבי בית המדרש. The very world מדרש connotes searching, seeking, growth, and spiritual expansiveness. The Eigel was exciting. It was filled with glitz and glamour. It looked beautiful. But it represented the DEAD END lifestyle of the secular world, In Parshas Vayakhel, Moshe gathers Klal Yisroel together, to discuss the holiness of the Mishkan. He was essentially teaching the people: Don’t limit yourselves. Be searching. Be seeking and constantly looking to grow. Live with expansiveness. Don’t settle your holy selves to a DEAD END existence.
Have a holy Shabbos!