To
My Dear Students,
Judaism
is a "deed-oriented" religion, but it
is not a "bottom-line" oriented religion.
It is more concerned with striving than with accomplishing.
If a person tries, but does not finish all that
he set out to do, G-d reckons this to his credit
as if he did achieve. We receive
a reward for the effort, for what we did do.
Our
Torah Portion, Pekudei, the last Portion in the
Book of Exodus, teaches that when the Children
of Israel engaged in building the Tabernacle,
the first Jewish House of Worship, Torah says:
"All the work of the Tabernacle was completed."
The truth is they did not actually "complete"
the work, but since they did all that was humanly
possible, Torah refers to their work as if
they had done so!
We
always beat ourselves up over what we do not accomplish.
But it is not for us to achieve. We can
only act, and then leave the results up to HaShem.
G-d rewards our good-faith attempts. There
is no such thing as a "wasted effort."
All that we can do is our best.
We
should never be disheartened because we cannot
accomplish a task fully. We should not be
discouraged or frustrated because we cannot achieve
all that we set out to do. We should not
be overly agitated over what has not been done.
Rather, we should be serene in what has been done.
As
the Talmud relates, a man encountered a man planting
a carob tree. "How long will it take
for this planting to bear fruit?" he inquired.
"About seventy years," the man replied.
"So you think you will live long enough to
taste its fruits?" The man explained,
"I have found ready-grown carob trees in
the world. As my forefathers planted them
for me, so I plant for my children."
We
may or may not see the results of our work, but
it is the effort that matters.
Shabbat
Shalom,
Your
Rabbi
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