The cars are getting fancier, the houses bigger and the steaks thicker. And Hashem is watching us.
At the same time there is a spiritual awakening. Torah is being learned at an unprecedented level. What they call neo-chassidim. many of whom would have been lost are returning to the fold again, and our Yeshivas and Kollelim are thriving, Baruch Hashem.
It’s time to focus on the individual. What do we want, and how hard do we want to work for it?
The Patriarch of the family gathered his grandchildren. “I want to reveal some of the secrets of life,” he said. “The first is that the cow doesn’t give milk.”
“Zeidy, what do you mean?”
“As I said, the cow doesn’t give milk- you have to work for it. Get up at 5 am, go to the barn, sit on the stool and coax the cow to give milk. It does not simply happen.
Don’t be lulled into thinking that everything that you want will just happen without your full-hearted input. But remember this, my children- whatever you desire has to be meant for you and not for someone else.
Contemplate and concentrate, focus and dream, but develop your own special talents, whether they be in business or otherwise. Don’t overstep your boundaries by looking and desiring what others have, lest you lose everything.”
We learn in our parsha that Korach was a great person, a Levi, with sterling lineage – but that was not enough for him. He created a monumental dispute with the leaders of Klal Yisroel. Korach wanted the Kehuna, but in the end he lost everything!
When we reach for what is not ours, and this includes dealing dishonestly, breaking our word or going into debt to spend more than we can afford, in order to impress others – we not only endanger ourselves spiritually, but we risk losing all we have built.
One of the questions we are asked when we leave this world is whether we cared enough about ourselves and others to always deal fairly. Or was our mission just to take, even that which is not rightly ours.
But while the light burns we can still repair things, through self-reflection and a commitment to change.
Have a wonderful Shabbos!
Written by R' Avrohom Hillel Reich, based upon a lesson and a story by Harav Ben Tziyon Sneh Shlita
