How to Deserve Life

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

The first verse of the Torah is often mistranslated as: “In the beginning, Hashem created the heavens and the earth.” Rashi points out that the wording of the passuk makes this translation impossible.  Instead, he offers a completely different way of reading the first phrase: “bereishis” can also mean “for the sake of the first,” which refers to both the Torah and the Jewish people.

When read this way, we see that the Torah begins with the statement: “For the sake of the Torah and the Jewish people, the world was created.” In other words, the entire purpose of creation and the reason for all existence is only that the Jewish people should observe the Torah and mitzvos.

However, a look at the world around us seems to show the reverse. There are more than seven billion people in the world today, but most of them do not have the faintest awareness of the Torah, and certainly no appreciation of the Jewish people. Most of humanity spends its life engaging in mundane pursuits that are devoid of any connection to Hashem. This phenomenon begs the question: if the world exists only for the sake of Torah and the Jewish people, what are all those other people doing here?

The Rambam asks this very question in his introduction to his commentary on the Mishnah. He answers that even the most distant nations inevitably serve an important function for the sake of the Torah, thus achieving their purpose in creation. Everything Hashem created plays a valuable role in helping the Jewish people. Even if a skyscraper in New York merely provides shade for a Jew, a city bus provides transportation for a rav, or a worker in Taiwan makes a coat for a Jewish child, an important part in history has been fulfilled.

For several thousand years, the Jewish people have been scattered over all four corners of the earth. We have needed to adapt to a host of different environments. Nevertheless, through Hashem’s miraculous intervention, we have survived and even thrived because of the societal infrastructure that enabled Jews to settle successfully. From Yemen to the United States, Russia, and even Shanghai, Jews have benefited the populations of their host nations all over the globe. This is one of many phenomena Hashem has orchestrated to enable the Torah and the Jewish people to persevere throughout history.

Rav Chaim of Volozhin states (Nefesh HaChaim 4:10) that not only is the Torah the purpose of creation, it is the source of all life in this word and the next. In fact, if the Jewish people would stop learning Torah, the world would immediately cease to exist. Every moment that a person learns Torah he is breathing life into himself and into the world.

Clearly, the opposite is also true: if a person can engage in Torah and mitzvos yet chooses not to, he deprives the world of some of its life source. Not only that, we are expected to channel all of our unique talents into service of Hashem. Refraining from doing so can even incur punishment, as the Midrash describes (Yalkut Shimoni, Melachim 221:21):

There was once a man named Navos, who had a beautiful voice. At the time of the festivals, people would come to the Beis HaMikdash anticipating hearing him sing. His songs of praise to Hashem inspired them greatly. Unfortunately, one time Navos chose not to come to Yerushalayim for the festival; this choice ended up costing him his life.

When we channel our unique gifts and talents into Torah and mitzvos, we fulfill the purpose for which we were granted life. Conversely, if we withhold our talents, we are not fully fulfilling the purpose for which Hashem created us.

On a deeper level, everything that we do should be channeled toward Hashem’s service. Engaging in seemingly mundane activities like eating, sleeping, and the like with the intention of sanctifying His name transforms these activities into mitzvos.

Shlomo HaMelech states (Mishlei 3:6, see Metzudas David): “In all of your ways, know Him.” The Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 34:3) relates that once, after Hillel finished giving his shiur, he walked out of the room together with his talmidim. The talmidim, curious to know why their rebbe was following them, asked where he was going.

“To do a mitzvah!” Hillel replied.

“And what mitzvah is that?” asked the talmidim.

Hillel responded that he was going to take a bath. The talmidim, having expected a more spiritual answer, asked for an explanation. Hillel explained that he was honoring his body, a representation of the Divine image (see Bereishis 1:27), by keeping it clean. We learn from here that everything we do should be with the proper intentions, thus infusing life into the world. This is what the Mishnah means when it states (Avos 2:12): “May all of your actions be for the sake of Heaven.”

My father-in-law, Rav Elimelech Meller, was close to Rav Yechezkel Levenstein. He noticed that the Rav ate very small, simple meals, and they were exactly the same each day. Curious, he asked him why he did not add some variety to his diet.

“I eat only in order to stay healthy and serve Hashem properly,” answered Rav Levenstein. “I spoke with a doctor and he specified exactly which foods I need to eat in order to achieve that. I eat only those and nothing more.”

May we be zocheh to breathe life into the world!

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