Already said that there is not a single superfluous word in the Ramchal’s writings. If so, why did he choose to write specifically the word בְּעוֹלָמוֹ? The answer is simple. The Ramchal tells us that every Jew has his own world. In this world, he must know his role and why he came!
I would like to speak about what our role is in this world. The Gemara (Ta’anit 25a) tells of Rabbi Elazar ben Pedat, who lived in severe poverty. After donating blood, with nothing to eat, he fainted. The Sages came to check on him and saw him crying and laughing in his sleep, with a spark of fire coming from his forehead. When he awoke, they asked him: “Why were you crying and laughing?” Rabbi Elazar said, “Because I saw in a dream that Hakadosh Baruch Hu was sitting with me, and I asked Him: ‘How long will I suffer in this world?’” Hakadosh Baruch Hu offered to recreate the world so he might instead be born in a better time, one of abundance, but Rabbi Elazar declined, saying: “All that, and then just a maybe but no guarantee?” When informed that most of his life had already passed, he declined to start over, and in reward for accepting his fate, Hakadosh Baruch Hu promised him thirteen rivers of pure balsam oil in Olam Haba. Rabbi Elazar asked, “This and no more?” Hakadosh Baruch Hu replied that He could not take reward from others. Rabbi Elazar then suggested taking from someone with no share in Olam Haba; and an angel struck him on the forehead [and from this came the spark of fire the Sages saw], and Hakadosh Baruch Hu said: “Elazar, My son, arrows are shot at you.”
Rabbotai, why, to give Rabbi Elazar ben Pedat some money, must the world be returned to Tohu Va’Vohu and re-created? Is it a problem for Hakadosh Baruch Hu to send him to a lottery booth and let him select the winning numbers?
To understand what lies here, I’d like to bring another Midrash which we will also conclude with. The Midrash (Shemot Rabbah, 52:3) tells of Rabbi Shimon ben Chalfta, who was extremely poor. One Erev Shabbat, with nothing to eat, he went outside the city and davened. In response, a precious stone fell from Heaven, which he sold and used the proceeds to buy food and prepare for Shabbat. Excited, he came home and told his wife to get everything ready. But when she asked where the food came from, and he vaguely answered “from Heaven,” she refused to eat until he told her the full truth. He explained that he had davened and received a gem from the heavens.
Upon hearing this, his wife said: “I won’t eat unless you promise to return it after Shabbat. Do you want your table in Olam Haba to be lacking while your friend’s is full?!” Rabbi Shimon brought the question to Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, who replied: “Tell her, if your table lacks, I’ll fill it from mine.” But his wife insisted: “Can one person see another’s portion in Olam Haba? Doesn’t each tzaddik have his own unique world? It says: הָאָדָם אֶל־בֵּית עוֹלָמוֹ וְסָבְבוּ בַשּׁוּק הַסּוֹפְדִים כִּי־הֹלֵך.”
This Pasuk she quoted from Kohelet says, “For man goes to his eternal home,” – not homes, but his own home. Moved by her words, Rabbi Shimon returned the gem.
Rabbotai, what exactly did Rebbetzin Chalafta want from Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi? The answer is simple, and we’ll summarize.
Hakadosh Baruch Hu brings souls into the world; we are here for a limited time and each person is given a set lifespan. We repeatedly say in the viduy of Yom Kippur:
אֱ-וּ לֹא נוֹצַרְתִּי אֵינִי כְדַאי, וְעַכְשָׁו שֶׁנּוֹצַרְתִּי כְּאִלוֹהַי. עַד שֶׁלֹא נוֹצַרְתִּי.
G-d, before I was formed, I was unworthy to be created. And now that I have been formed, it is as if I had not been formed.
What does this line mean? I always think to myself: “Ribbono Shel Olam, if You had taken my soul and placed it in the generation of the Ritva, do You know to what spiritual heights I would have ascended? I would have felt much more attached to You!” This is the meaning of the line we repeat on Yom Kippur. We say, “It was not worthwhile to create me in the time of the Gaon of Vilna, but in this time! Why? Because this is the most suitable time for my soul!”
Thus, Hakadosh Baruch Hu took each soul and placed it in a different place. One was born to a fabulously wealthy father, lacking nothing. One was born in a house of Torah scholars, and one, a fool, born in a house of fools. For each one, Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave his own burden, according to the role he must fulfill in this world. One was born lame, one blind, one deaf, one mute – and Hakadosh Baruch Hu says to him: “Go in peace, you have ninety years in this world. In the place you were born, with your strengths and abilities! No one else could fulfill this role except you!”
After 120 years, two Jews arrive in Heaven. One completed the Shas a hundred times, and as soon as he arrives, they send him straight to Gan Eden (assuming he had no sins). “Hello, where is my spot?” he asks. They hand him a note that reads, “Row 62, Seat 12.” “Thank you very much,” he says, before heading to his designated place. Two days later, the second person arrives. “Hello, how many times did you complete the Shas?” He answers excitedly, “Twice!” He’s then handed a note that reads, “Welcome! Please head to Row 2, Seat 3.” The person who arrived two days earlier spots him way up front and cries out, “Hallo! What’s going on here?!? I finished Shas a hundred times, and he only twice – how was he seated in the second row?!?”
Rav Yisrael Salanter asks: What’s going on here? Is this true justice? Rav Yosef (in the Gemara) says: “I saw an upside-down world!” Yet, his father responds, “This was not an upside-down world – it was a clear world!” Why? Because each one has his own world. The Jew who completed the Shas a hundred times was born with optimal conditions to be of the greatest in his generation. He was born with all abilities and strengths; Hakadosh Baruch Hu created him with a phenomenal memory and placed him in a home lacking nothing! Thus, he could complete 6-8 pages of Gemara daily, and over a span of 80 years, he could have completed the Shas 200 times! He arrives above and says: “Ribbono Shel Olam, I completed the Shas a hundred times!” Hakadosh Baruch Hu replies to him: “What are you excited about?! In your world, with your conditions and the abundance I allocated for you, you could have completed the Shas 200 times, and yet you barely achieved half of your potential! Please head to Row 62!”
In contrast, a person arrives who came to the world without any tools. His parents lack wisdom and knowledge, his home is broken, he struggles for his livelihood from morning to night, he comes home at seven, eats a quick meal, and goes right to his Daf Yomi shiur. For forty-five minutes, he sleeps because he worked so hard all day, and in the fifteen minutes that remain, he’s able to grasp a small bit despite barely having an IQ able to follow Torah stories geared to children! Baruch Hashem, this person lived eighty years and managed to complete the Shas twice – through the toil of fifteen minutes, then another twenty minutes, then a few more minutes here and there. And when he arrives above, he’s escorted to Row 2!”
He, too, is somewhat shocked. “I’m in Row 2?! How can that be?” The angel showing him to his seat humbly tells him, “Surprisingly, it can be! Because with your strengths and abilities, we didn’t expect you to complete Shas even once. Yet you completed it twice! You deserve to be in Row 2!”
Rabbotai, why is it like this? הָאָדָם אֶל בֵּית עוֹלָמוֹ כִּי הֹלֵך – For man goes to his eternal home. With your strengths, with your abilities – you do the maximum! Rabbi Yehoshua ben Elem says: “What’s going on here? Me and the butcher together?! How can that be?!” It is exactly the way it should be. “You in your world, and he in his world. He, with his strengths, went to study Ein Yaakov and care for his elderly parents. You went to your world with eighty students, not diverting your attention from the Torah. You at your maximum, and Nanas the butcher at his maximum.”
When the Torah scholars parted from one another, the Gemara says, they would wish each other: “May you see your world in your lifetime,” meaning, may you do in this world what you were commanded to do! May you not arrive above and be told: “What did you do?! Is this what you came to the world for ninety years to do?! For what did we give you strengths?!”
We don’t know our role; each of us must do the maximum in every area. But one thing we do know: כָל יְהוּדִי יֵשׁ חֵלֶק בַּתּוֹרָה – every Jew has a portion in the Torah. We say this every day: וְתֵן חֶלְקֵנוּ בְּתוֹרָתֶךָ – And give us our portion in Your Torah. At first glance, it’s not understood what this means. Is it mine? Is it my personal portion? Do I own it?
The answer is: Yes! Every Jew has his portion in the Torah – one’s portion is in Aggadah, one in Halacha, one in Nevi’im and Ketuvim, one in Mishna, one in Talmud... each with his portion in the Torah.
Parshat Bamidbar comes before Shavuot. Hakadosh Baruch Hu says to Moshe Rabbeinu: “בְמִסְפַּר שֵׁמוֹת – By the number of their names.” Don’t just count them; let each one pass before you so you can tell him about his role in this world. You, from the tribe of Yissachar – sit and learn! You, from the tribe of Zevulun – work to support your brother! Why? Because Bnei Yisrael were formed into דְּגָלִים – banners. Hakadosh Baruch Hu said: “You want banners?! יְמַלֵּא ה' כָּל מִשְׁאֲלוֹתֶיךָ – You’ll get them!”
We stand before the great and awesome day known as Shavuot, יוֹם הַדִּין שֶׁל הַתּוֹרָה – the Day of Judgment for Torah. On this day, Hakadosh Baruch Hu sits in judgment, determining the חֵלֶק – the portion in Torah, each person will receive. It is possible to receive spiritual light for an entire year from just one Shavuot!
Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to stand in Tefillah before the Boreh Olam, beseeching Him to grant us our chelek in His Torah, so that each individual may know their role. When everyone truly fulfills their role, there will be no envy or hatred, and consequently, all will be beloved, for each will understand their purpose in this world!
May Hakadosh Baruch Hu grant us the merit to sanctify His Name and to witness the complete Geula, speedily in our days, Amen v’Amen! ◊
