The Land of the Beautiful Life
"The Land of the Beautiful Life" (Good Things – Noah)
There was a beautiful and rich land, which was called the 'Land of Beautiful Life'. Anyone who entered the gates of the country was amazed by the sight of the green trees and colorful flowers. Blue water lakes where white swans roamed added to the spectacular sight, and magnificent palaces completed the impressive picture. The name of the Land of the Beautiful Living spread far and wide, and many wanted to come to it. But not only because of the beauty of the country, but mainly because of the fact that every guest did not have to work there and toil for a living. Immediately upon his arrival, he was given a palace to live in and three servants whose role was to satisfy him and fulfill all his desires. It is no wonder, then, that many sought the land of the beautiful life and wished to reach it. But there was one thing that all those who heard the stories of the beautiful land of life did not know: the servants and the palace were only available to each guest for a period of one year. Afterwards, the guest was caught and brought to trial before the elders of the land, who asked him a single question: "Why did you come to our land?" and the guest had to give his answer. The visitor's sentence was death in any case, but his answer could only affect the way the sentence was carried out. Whoever lied in his answer was thrown into a cage full of predatory lions. But if he said a true answer, He was put in an empty cage for many days until he died of starvation. This practice continued for many years, and no one disputed it. The guests who arrived heard about the trial that awaited them a few days after their arrival, but they knew that they had no choice and their sentence was signed. They tried to enjoy themselves as much as they could during the year they had left, and at the trial each gave a true or false answer, according to what he thought was an easier death: To be devoured by the lion's teeth or to starve.
One day, an old man arrived in the land of the good life, and his mouth was full of words of wisdom. As soon as he entered the land, the man was given a palace and three servants, as was customary, but his behavior was different from all the guests before him. Instead of eating, drinking, and other pleasures, he was constantly busy accumulating wealth, precious stones, and pearls. He assigned his three servants a strange task: he sent them out of the country. He instructed them to build hiding places for him and to place the valuables he had accumulated in them. The man's strange deeds aroused astonishment in the land, and the elders of the land gathered to discuss it, but they did not find anything wrong with his actions as long as he himself did not leave the borders of the land. The inhabitants of the Land of the Good Life considered the old man to be crazy. He has only a year to live, and instead of enjoying every moment, he makes himself warehouses and hideouts that he will never get to see...
The year passed in a flash, and the time for the trial of the wise and old man arrived. This time, all the inhabitants of the country gathered for the trial to witness the end of the strange and curious man. The man was led in heavy chains and brought before the three judges. "Why did you come to our country, the land of beautiful life?” asked the elder of the judges. The man looked directly at his judges and declared: 'I came here to be eaten by the lions.' The judges smirked at the answer, which was undoubtedly false. Who comes to be devoured by the teeth of evil animals? This is a complete lie! "The answer is false and therefore your sentence is to be sent to the lion cage," the judge declared. Two ladies grabbed the old man's hands, but he wanted to say something before the sentence was carried out. "Gentlemen," he said, "if you throw me into the lion's den, then my answer is true, and if so, you are not allowed to throw me to the lions, but to put me in a cage where I will die of starvation." The judges whispered among themselves for many minutes, and soon the old judge announced their decision: 'Since the defendant has told the truth, he must be put in a cage where he will die of starvation.' But then he again wanted to say something: 'Gentlemen of the judges, if you put me in the hunger cage, it means that I was not thrown into the lions, and if so, I lied, and therefore you should throw me into the lion cage...' The great embarrassment was evident on the faces of the judges. They whispered among themselves for a very long time, looking at a loss, until the old judge knocked his hammer on the table: 'The defendant is free, but he must leave our country today...' The wise old man left the land of the beautiful life, working near the places where his servants had buried the gold and diamonds, and he returned to his land rich and full of possessions.
Our world is the Land of the Beautiful Life. We come here for a limited period of time, and we can enjoy it without limitation, but in the end it is over, and we can be left with nothing. But those who have taken care, like that wise old man, to prepare for themselves valuable deposits outside the boundaries of the Land of the Beautiful Life. Those who do mitzvot and good deeds that will be in their favor when their souls return to the upper world. He came out of the trial with the upper hand.
