The Purpose of a Yid Is Bittul to Hashem
The Rebbe indeed uses the imagery of a large burning fire. But if this mashal seems too farfetched, we can make the mental exercise easier: Make the cheshbon of how important deveikus b’Hashem is in your life. How important to you is a relationship with the Ribbono shel Olam?
This yesod and question must accompany us throughout our day, every single day, in everything that we do—just as one who drives a car keeps his eyes on the GPS throughout the drive to see if he’s reaching his destination. But for this to work, it must be an active exercise; we must constantly remember our destination and remind ourselves of it over and over.
This is the reason that we recite Kriyas Shema twice every single day, morning and night—so we will accept upon ourselves מלכות שמים and remember our true reason for being here. It is extremely important to remember and reiterate this, because the entire world we see before us runs contrary to this thought process.
The Pain of Not Keeping a Goal in Sight
A Yid can mamash be lifted out of his problems when he has the right outlook and goal in his life.
Let’s take as an example a Yid who has toiled to maintain his reputation for fifteen years so he will have a good name when it comes to shidduchim for his children. But now, just as he’s set to enter the parashah, someone humiliates him in public—burying wholly his entire stature and esteem. This person suffers such deep pain from it... it’s mamash indescribable: everything he has worked for is gone in an instant.
If someone were to come to him and tell him about the importance of accepting yissurim, it won’t help at all, and it may even make it worse. Why? Because this person’s goal is something totally different from what we imagine. He’s not after those things that could bring him chizuk. He wants his standing back! It’s like a person who wants something very much, but he can’t have it—and we try to console him by giving him something else. “No, thanks,” he’ll say. “I don’t want this—I want that!”
Remembering the Goal Spares Us Anguish
Now imagine another Yid—one who does keep the goal, his purpose on this earth, in front him—going through that same humiliation. Yes, it may be painful, and for the first twenty minutes he may be beside himself. But he will soon find his bearings, and he will remember that he’s getting closer to his goal.
For such a Yid, he feels relief because he’s cleansed through his embarrassment. He has just gotten a windfall of the merchandise that he has always dreamed of attaining—and it came to him sooner and faster than he had ever dreamed. He accepts the pain far easier because he knows that it brings him closer to his ultimate purpose.
A Simple Minchah Can Change Your Day
The benefit of keeping the goal before our eyes cannot be overstated—and here’s another example:
When it comes to Shacharis, many people can keep in mind what they’re saying because they’re rested, and it’s still the beginning of the day. But when it comes to Minchah, and it’s in middle of a difficult day, it may be more difficult to focus on our davening.
Sometimes, Minchah can come to us while we’re engaged in conversation with another person, and the chazzan starts davening... now, during the entire Shemoneh Esrei, we can think about the conversation we’d been having, or how to resolve the business matters in which we had been engaged. But when we keep the goal in front of our eyes, our entire tefillah will be transformed, and our focus will be in the right place. We will appreciate how much we need the tefillos... and our goal infuses us with seriousness and focus.
Transformed Through Purpose
This is what the Rebbe is teaching us in the Tzetel Kattan: We must simply know the goal with clarity. This is the beginning of our entire Yiddishkeit. Just as a mashgiach in yeshivah may tell a bachur, “You don’t know why you’re even here... maybe it’s best that you go home. Go home. Figure out why you’re in yeshivah, and when you do, you’re welcome to come back. You must know your reason for being here.”
The thoughts of a person race furiously the entire time—and this is why it’s important to have constant reminders so we will remember our ultimate goal. Every time we recite Kriyas Shema, it’s reminder. Every time we pass the mezuzah, it’s a reminder. Every time we put on tefillin, it’s a reminder. Begin to remember your goal and purpose. Do it for yourself! Do it so it will be good for you; it will bring so much meaning and pleasure to your life.
