Rabbi Shnuer Zalman in his seminal book the Holy Tanya
begins chapter 35 with a very powerful and relevant questions for most of us. A
question that many of us will ask ourselves at one stage or the other, if life
is taken seriously. Before I get to the
question and somewhat of an answer, let me begin with a story.
Rabbi Shmuel Munkes travelled to Liozna in White Russia and
got there late at night. It was very cold and noticing a light in one of the
homes and wanting to warm himself up, he knocked on the door. Little did he
realize, this was the home of none other than Rabbi Shnuer Zalman.
At that very late hour, the Rabbi himself opened the door,
and asked the visitor what he wanted as he kept on pushing his way further into
the house. Rabbi Shmuel said he wanted to stay for the night, to which Rabbi
Shnuer Zalman responded, he would call his in house tough guy/bully, to chase out the uninvited intruder.
Rabbi Shmuel, being a jovial good humored individual, and
understanding the Rabbi would certainly not send him out into the cold, took
the comment as a spiritual message and responded, he wasn’t intimidated.
Because, his very own (internal ) bully was stronger than that of Rabbi Shnuer
Zalman.
We all have inside of ourselves if we cherish every day, a
constant uphill struggle. There is always room for personal improvement and
growth, but it’s not easy. Sometimes just keeping up with the status quo is a
struggle. We can give up moving along and/or just stop trying. However, as long
as we see every day as another G-d given opportunity to progress further and
further, higher and higher, and become more than the day before, we inevitably
must work against the pull and draw of gravity which is downward.
Rabbi Shnuer Zalman asks this question.
If it is true that most
people will never make it to the spiritual final line of perfection, as
a matter of fact, most people are wired intentionally, in a way that they have
no other choice but to struggle, and will never be completely liberated from
this tug of war, why even try to conquer the opposite force inside?
Everyone’s soul is
sent by G-d to dwell in their body of flesh and blood which by its very nature
pulls the soul in the opposite direction, contrary, and in reverse from
spiritual fulfillment. As long as a
person lives in their body of flesh, and in this physical world, they are
challenged and are faced with the deceit
and dishonesty of this physical existence versus the deep and rich underlying
spiritual reality.
In the words of Rabbi Shnuer Zalman, “Why then did their
souls descend to this world, to strive in vain, G‑d forbid; waging war all their lives
against their evil inclination, yet never being able to vanquish it?”
I recommend everyone get the Tanya and read for yourself the
lengthy explanation. In a nutshell, here is a little of the answer.
We are all placed in this world to fulfill a spiritual and
G-dly mission. We are serving G-d throughout our lives by observing His wishes
and commandments. This is what earns us virtue, everlasting eternal rewards,
and enriches our souls, forever.
When it comes to food, there are sweet and spicy foods and
each one has its own flavor and enjoyment to the palate. The same is with the
different kinds and types of missions G-d puts us on, and to borrow the
imagination for a moment, the different types of enjoyment G-d has.
For most of us, our entire raison d’etre is fulfilled not by
victory, but by the constant struggle and daily drudgery of hard personal work
. This to G-d, and in the end for ourselves, is immensely more valuable and
enjoyable, than what appears an easier life would be for ourselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment