Now, one of the most important ways that a person makes use of this opportunity for bechirah is by means of the things he owns in this world. Whatever it is – money, a car, a house; when a person owns things, that property is an opportunity to accomplish tremendous things in this world.
Let’s say you have a house. In that house, first of all, you put up mezuzos. What a zechus it is to take an ordinary house and nail mezuzos on the door. Now, I know that people are accustomed to having mezuzos on the houses and after a while they forget all about them. Maybe they kiss the mezuzah. Very good; beautiful. But it’s not enough.
The mezuzah is telling you something. It says, “This house is dedicated to Hashem!” שְׁ מַ ע יִ שְׂ רָ אֵ ל הַשֵּׁ ם אֶחָ ד הַשֵּׁ ם אֱ לֹהֵינוּ! Hashem is the One and Only thing in our lives! Everything in this house is for the service of Hashem!” Ah! Ah! Ah! You’re machnis orchim into that house. You sit in your house and open a sefer to learn. You say birkas hamozon in that house - you’re mekayem all the mitzvos d’Oraysa and mitzvos d’Rabbanan. It means that we’re choosing to use our nechasim, our property in this world, for You!
Every detail in the house is under the law of the Torah and the mother is directing it all like a Kohen Gadol in the kodesh kodoshim. Everything has to be kosher – and kosher means so many things; milchigs and fleishigs and pareve. You walk in the kitchen and you ask your wife, “Chanaleh, is this a fleishige fork or a milichige fork?” It’s a makom kadosh – even your cutlery is holy. It’s a house where every Jewish man and woman is constantly creating chayim nitzchi’im, eternal life.
Moving Day
Now, this man or woman lived a long frum life, boruch Hashem; a successful frum life. All of you here should live very long frum lives; you should be healthy and happy in your homes and see nachas from everybody. But the time comes after 120 years when we all have to leave that house. Oy vey! It’s a great tzaar! Because such a house you won’t have in Olam Haba. No milchigs and fleishigs in Olam Haba! Oh no! No brachos, no netilas yodayim. In this world you come out of the beis hakisei and you can make a nice loud asher yatzar! No beis hakisei in Olam Haba! Oy vey! No asher yatzar in Olam Haba.
While we’re alive, we may not feel the importance of experiencing these things – while you still can say asher yatzar you don’t appreciate the opportunity – but when the time comes to say goodbye to the world, all of a sudden you discover what a great thing you had that you’re about to lose. Life! The opportunity to serve Hashem and make something out of yourself! All of a sudden the awareness of what you’re losing becomes overwhelming!
Now, you shouldn’t be too sad because Olam Haba is a place of simcha; there’ll be better things than asher yatzars there. But whatever it’s going to be, it’s still a great loss to have to say goodbye to a Jewish home, to say farewell to Olam Hazeh. What a great existence it is! And now I’m going to have to say goodbye?! The heart breaks with sadness.
The Limbs Live On
But there’s good news on the horizon. The Gemara (Eiruvin 70b) makes a statement. י וֹרֵ שׁ אַ אֲ בוֹהָאָ רְ עָא דְ רָ א כוֹהָא בְ רָ א לִאַ בּוּהָא כ – A son, someone who inherits property, is like the foot of his father. That's a very great teaching. A son is like the two feet and the two hands of the father.
Now, let's not think this is just imagination, a mashal. It’s a metzius, it’s a fact. And it’s based on sound common sense, pessukim and ma’amarei Chazal. What it means is that when the son does good deeds, in a certain sense it’s like the father is still alive and going around in this world doing good deeds. Daughters too. Daughters are also karah d’avuha; children are like the feet of their parents. And even though the child may not always be thinking about his parents; still, it's to the benefit of his parents. It means that the father and mother who leave over children in this world will never leave this world – they continue to live through the mitzvos of their children.
Long Distance Shipping
And what kind of mitzvos? Anything that the child does. If the child is a frum Jew, that's already a zechus for his father and his mother. If he fulfills the duties of a frum Jew, then even if he’s not a great personality – he’s an ordinary frum Jew – that child is sending gifts to his parents constantly. And if he's more than a frum Jew, if he's an ish chassid, an oved Hashem, so it’s a much greater zechus for them.
Every mitzvah, every brachah, every penny of tzedakah that he gives is like a gift to the father and the mother. It means thousands upon thousands of mitzvos are being mailed to your ancestors in Olam Haba. Even though they’re in Gan Eden now, sitting on golden thrones and enjoying all the delights of the ziv haShechina, the tremendous happiness of the Olam Haba, nevertheless the joy of being connected to this world by means of a son or daughter is a tremendous satisfaction to them! They’re being rewarded with a feeling, a hargasha that they’re connected to the opportunities of Olam Hazeh, and that quenches their craving to continue living in this world! It gives even more happiness to their stay in Olam Haba.
Invest In Futures
Now we can begin to understand how great is the function of bringing up a generation of shomrei Torah u’mitzvos. Of course to have children is a mitzvah of the Torah; it’s avodas Hashem to get married and have children and bring them up. Not only are you doing something for avodas Hashem, but you’re doing for yourself one of the very greatest benefits you could. When you bring into the world a family of children and you bring them up b’derech haTorah, you're creating for yourself a wealth of nachas. It’s very important because not only are you helping the child, most of all you’re helping yourself. Whatever you do, it’s a tremendous achievement because you’ll be in this world long after you pass away from the world.
And that’s why it’s so important to invest your efforts in your children; it’s so important to think, “What can we do to make the best out of our children? Which cheder is the best one for Chaim’l? Which Beis Yankev should we send Chana’leh to?”
Because when you raise up a dor of frum bnei Torah, of ovdei Hashem, boys and girls who are going to have frum families of their own, not only are you a happy person in this world – after all, there's nothing like frummeh nachas; frum children are a happiness that will fill your hearts with joy all your lives – but in the Next World is where your real happiness will take place. When you pass out of this world, that’s when the true nachas begins. The eternal nachas you’ll get from your children is indescribable.
Your Eternal Home
That’s why yerushah is so important to the meis. So that his house, his makom kadosh, will continue to live on. So you’ll say, “Well, it could be my son won’t have that house. Maybe the neighborhood changed; the wrong people moved in and now they have to move on.” No matter — you live on in that way. Maybe the house becomes money, it’s changed into money, so he’ll buy another house with the money; he’ll use your money for a down payment or to help pay the mortgage on his house. And therefore, you have a certain satisfaction, an oineg of the nefesh knowing that your house continues.
And even though you can’t go anymore into your son’s house or your daughter’s house, you can’t go visit your children and grandchildren and great grandchildren anymore, but you know in that house, in the house of your children, they’re continuing the ways that they saw in your house or in the ways that they learned when they went to the yeshiva and to the girls’ frum schools. You paid tuition for them! Your money is still paying for it now. And therefore, it’s your ways that they’re continuing forever and ever.
Holy Shabbos Guests
And so it’s like you’re sitting together with them in their home. It’s actually like you're sitting in their homes and you’re witnessing what’s going on in your old home. You see that your descendants are keeping Shabbos; you see them sitting at the Shabbos table and singing zemiros and you’re so happy that you sing along.
Yes; don't think it's just talk. Tomorrow night when you sit at your Shabbos table, all your ancestors will be coming down and watching; they’ll be singing together with you, happy. “Ah! That's what we wanted. That's a nachas. Our children are talking about bereishis bara Elokim es hashamayim ve’es ha’aretz. Oh, our children are doing such a great thing for us!”
They’re so happy when they see that you’re going b’derech haTorah and making something out of yourselves. The chasunas, the bar mitzvahs of great grandchildren; they’re learning in yeshivos and doing mitzvos. The children are wearing tzitzis. The boys and girls are all making brachos. Everybody goes to the yeshivah and to the Beis Yankev. Everybody keeps everything. Everybody is busy putting on tefillin and keeping Shabbos and learning Torah and acting with derech eretz – everybody is busy being mekayem kol haTorah kulah.
And so, after you pass away, everything goes on, and you’re still there. You’re there! It’s the great happiness of having your representation in this world continue forever and ever. And that’s what yerushah is always reminding us of. You’re living on! By means of your house, your money, your property and your descendants, you’re still accomplishing in this world. Your yerushah is working for you forever.
