Thursday, May 14, 2015
Parshas Bechukosai: The right thing to do is not always easy
10:25 PM | 
Posted by
Rabbi Chaim Coffman |
"If you walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; then I will give you rain in due season and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit". (Leviticus 26:3-4)
If we would do G-d's will the Torah tells us, everything will be good; we will have plenty of food, rain will come at its appropriate time and life in general will be excellent. If we don't do what G-d wants us to do, then we won't have plenty of food, there will be no rain...The question is isn't this like the zap treatment: if I don't do G-d's will then I will get zapped, life will be difficult and I will have all kinds of problems. Did I just lose my free will?
If we look back at the story of Abraham when G-d tells him to leave his land, the place where he was born... and I will make your name great, you will have wealth... This is one of the ten trials that Abraham goes through! If G-d is going to make his life so easy and he will be world famous and wealthy where is the test here?
The answer to both questions is the same. In the case of Abraham he still had to go to the unknown; he had no idea where G-d was sending him. For every step he took the commentaries tell us he got reward for listening to G-d and giving up everything he had essentially known! Even if G-d was to make him wealthy and famous, he had no idea where he was going!
In our parsha G-d does give us free will to either do the right or wrong thing. At the same time, even if we know that things will be good if we do the right thing, we still can choose to go against G-d's will; this in no way contradicts the promise the G-d gives to us.
Even if we know that our parents will reward us if we do good on our report cards, we may for whatever reason be lazy or have negative influences that stop us from reaching our goal! Knowing the right thing to do and doing it are two totally different things.
Our yetzer harah (evil inclination) never stops trying to get us to sin, even when we are sleeping! We have to be ever so vigilant not to let him get a strong hold of us. We understand the task at head but we have to make a monumental effort to reach it.
Living in this world can make us go in a thousand different directions but G-d tells us even if that is true, there is still an obligation to serve Him. We know what the ultimate good is but achieving it is another story altogether.
If we would wake up every day and the weather would be 75 degrees and sunny for the entire year, we wouldn't necessarily be adversely affected by it! Weather is also a test when it is cold or rainy or too hot..it challenges our emotions.
If everything would go smooth and easy then what fun would there be for us? That is what some people want, just to be able to relax, have no pressure and let life be lived. The problem is that we don't grow without challenges. If things were too easy then we would find other ways to get ourselves into trouble causing all kinds of challenges that we are not looking for!
If we would live in an ideal world, then things would look different; the problem is that we messed it up and we don't. The goal is to put knowledge into action and internalize the messages that can help us grow. How easy is it knowing the right thing to do and then going out and doing it?
Shabbat Shalom
If we would do G-d's will the Torah tells us, everything will be good; we will have plenty of food, rain will come at its appropriate time and life in general will be excellent. If we don't do what G-d wants us to do, then we won't have plenty of food, there will be no rain...The question is isn't this like the zap treatment: if I don't do G-d's will then I will get zapped, life will be difficult and I will have all kinds of problems. Did I just lose my free will?
If we look back at the story of Abraham when G-d tells him to leave his land, the place where he was born... and I will make your name great, you will have wealth... This is one of the ten trials that Abraham goes through! If G-d is going to make his life so easy and he will be world famous and wealthy where is the test here?
The answer to both questions is the same. In the case of Abraham he still had to go to the unknown; he had no idea where G-d was sending him. For every step he took the commentaries tell us he got reward for listening to G-d and giving up everything he had essentially known! Even if G-d was to make him wealthy and famous, he had no idea where he was going!
In our parsha G-d does give us free will to either do the right or wrong thing. At the same time, even if we know that things will be good if we do the right thing, we still can choose to go against G-d's will; this in no way contradicts the promise the G-d gives to us.
Even if we know that our parents will reward us if we do good on our report cards, we may for whatever reason be lazy or have negative influences that stop us from reaching our goal! Knowing the right thing to do and doing it are two totally different things.
Our yetzer harah (evil inclination) never stops trying to get us to sin, even when we are sleeping! We have to be ever so vigilant not to let him get a strong hold of us. We understand the task at head but we have to make a monumental effort to reach it.
Living in this world can make us go in a thousand different directions but G-d tells us even if that is true, there is still an obligation to serve Him. We know what the ultimate good is but achieving it is another story altogether.
If we would wake up every day and the weather would be 75 degrees and sunny for the entire year, we wouldn't necessarily be adversely affected by it! Weather is also a test when it is cold or rainy or too hot..it challenges our emotions.
If everything would go smooth and easy then what fun would there be for us? That is what some people want, just to be able to relax, have no pressure and let life be lived. The problem is that we don't grow without challenges. If things were too easy then we would find other ways to get ourselves into trouble causing all kinds of challenges that we are not looking for!
If we would live in an ideal world, then things would look different; the problem is that we messed it up and we don't. The goal is to put knowledge into action and internalize the messages that can help us grow. How easy is it knowing the right thing to do and then going out and doing it?
Shabbat Shalom
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