Why Life's Tough

We've all seen the emails promising millions of dollars with the click of a few buttons. We've seen the ads that promise to make us thirty pounds lighter in thirty days if we just take a simple pill. But we know not to believe them. Just a few years in this world teaches us that nothing comes easy. Get rich quick is simply not a reality.  In order to get anywhere in this life, we must work for it.

This is life as we know it. But it did not have to be this way. When G-d created the world, He could have done it in any conceivable-or inconceivable-way. Why did He, in fact, create the world in a way that requires so much from us? Why did G-d structure reality that so every achievement requires such monumental effort?

This question is amplified in regard to keeping Torah and Mitzvot. Why did G-d have to make it all so difficult?  He's G-d, after all, so He could have made it very easy for us to do the Mitzvot-he could have made it come naturally. Instead, it seems, He has made it as difficult as can be. Why?

The Mishnah tells us that a person "prefers one unit of his own [produce] to nine of his friend's." This elucidates something we grasp intuitively: When we work for something, it becomes our own and is suddenly considerably more valuable. Living off another may be comfortable, but when we cultivate our food by the sweat of our brow, it is that much more rewarding. In order for us to truly value something, we must work for it.

In this week's Parshah "Bechukotai," we read of G-d's promises to the People of Israel if we follow in His ways. The plain meaning of Bechukotai is "in my statutes." The Chassidic masters, however, give us an alternate meaning derived from the word Chok: "engraved." How is an engraved text different from one that is written? The engraved words become a part of the object into which they are etched; they are no longer two separate entities, as are words written with ink on paper. Rather, the words become one with the object.

Obviously, it requires much more labor to engrave than to write. It's not simply a matter of putting pen to paper. The engraver has to work with his tools to slowly etch out the letters, bit by bit, clearing out the space that will eventually become the message. But when he has completed his task, he knows that his work will never fade, that the words will last forever because they have merged with their medium.

With life, G-d has granted us a gift, one that empowers us to reach, achieve, and transform ourselves in the process. When we really work on the mitzvah, when we put our whole selves into overcoming all the difficulties in getting there, the mitzvah becomes "chakikah," engraved within us, so that it becomes part of us, and lasts forever.

On The Lighter Side...

The Sunday school lesson had just finished, and the rabbi asked if the children had any questions.

Little David quickly raised his hand "I have four questions to ask you, Rabbi. Is it true that after the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, they then received the Ten Commandments?"

"Yes, David."

"And the children of Israel also defeated the Canaanites?"

"Yes, David, that's also true."

"And the children of Israel also fought the Philistines and built the Temple?"

"Again you are correct, David."

"So my last question is, Rabbi, what were the grown-ups doing all this time?"

Mark Your Calendar

Upcoming Holiday: Shavuot. Begins Thursday June 1^st at sunset.