“What is to give light, must endure burning.”

 

Great life lesson from this story.

A young man began his return journey back to his spiritual roots and asked Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson the Lubavitcher Rebbe, "Rabbi, why is it so difficult? Why do I have constantly hardships, difficulties coping…?"

The Rebbe replied: "We are not angels, we are human beings. Angels have no tests and temptations; they worship the Almighty without any difficulty. But we, have been given trials and tribulations to use them as ladders, to climb and to rise."

The young man did not really understand what the Rebbe meant, and instead of explaining, the Rebbe asked him, "What do you like best? What are your hobbies?” I love art, especially paintings," he said.

"Who is your favorite artist?" Asked the Rebbe. "Picasso," he said. "And what Picasso painting do you like best?" The Rebbe continued. The guy described the painting "Sunset," his favorite painting in the world.

"In the painting one sees the beach. The sun is setting, a couple of kids are playing in the sand, and an old couple is walking in their direction. Sunset tells me a lot. It has a lot of meaning. The symbolism of the sun going down and the hope that tomorrow it rises again, the kids play and do not even relate to the elderly couple walking beside them. A generation goes and a generation comes. This gives me a lot of thoughts and feelings. "

"And how much is this painting worth?” Asked the Rebbe. "Right now it sold at a public auction at Sotheby’s for eight million dollars," the fellow said.

Asks the Rebbe: "If as Picasso painted, there was someone with a camera and just simply snapped the magnificent picture, at sunset, children, the elderly - what do you think would be more accurate? The painting by Picasso or the picture from the camera?” “Clearly the picture," the young man said.

"And how much do you think the picture would be worth?" The Rebbe continued to ask. The young man answered immediately: “they sell postcards of similar pictures for twenty-five cents."

The Rebbe said to him: "Tell me, how is it that for the painting people are paying millions of dollars, and the picture barely fetches twenty-five cents?"

"You know why?" Said the Rebbe, “a camera cannot make mistakes. It's a machine. Humans on the other hand can make errors and mistakes and that is why his creations and his works are worth eight million dollars.

When a painter paints, he invests his entirety into the painting. He gives his feelings, his perspective. You can see and feel his soul, the experiences he went through, because he puts himself in the picture. But the camera when it comes down to it, is just a robot.

In the same way, the Almighty G-d has billions of angels, they never make mistakes, but they are not as valuable as human beings exercising free choice. The prayers of Angels are not worth the same like that of a person’s  prayer who says , "acknowledge G-d, proclaim His name, make His deeds known,…sing to Him, chant to Him, speak of all His wonders…”

The Rebbe concluded: "All the failures and tribulations you described are not meant to knock you down, but to gratify you even more. Because, every time you fail you are reminded that you are a human being on a mission and on a journey of improvement. If one time you could not pray properly, then the next time you exert yourself your prayers will be better. You, will have enhanced your own self. Your failures make the light! ".

Let me conclude the article with this saying. “What is to give light, must endure burning.”