The Ribbono shel Olam created the world in such a way that it seems that there are opportunities for “success” in This World, especially if we look at the world from a secular perspective. But this is an illusion, a mistake. The world was not created for us to be successful in it, but rather to be a place to accomplish what we need to do and to move on. A person who is preoccupied with material success is living in a world of illusion.
When a person goes to a grocery, it is to buy milk, bread, and other provisions for his family. He walks around the store and picks up what he needs. It doesn’t occur to him to unfold a table and chair and sit there for the long term, saying, “I am the successful person in this store.” This is not how it works. Everyone comes there just to buy, and then they leave. Some stay a little longer, because they have more to buy... but a shop is a place to come and go. Some stores even have a designated door for coming in and a separate door for exiting—because the entire purpose of your coming in is to leave as soon as you’ve finished shopping.
Similarly, when a person comes down to This World, his entire purpose is to come, take care of what he must do, and then depart for Olam HaBa. And although This World has a magnificent purpose—to fulfill mitzvos, to learn Torah, to daven to Hashem, to withstand nisyonos, to guard our eyes, to refrain from lashon hara and rechilus, etc. etc. —the world is nevertheless not a place where one is meant to establish success and standing for himself.
The Klipah of “Success”
The Ribbono shel Olam could have created the world without this illusory concept of success—but this illusion is a klipah that is present in our world, and there is an entire atmosphere and attitude of “this person is successful...that person does well...everyone envies him,” and so forth. It seems that this person had dreams and aspirations to make lots of money, and he was successful in doing so... and now he’s on top of the world.
This is the secular view of the world. They encourage a person to pursue money and success at all costs. How can they convince a person to work eighteen hours a day? Why would a person agree to something so foolish? Simple. They tell him that through this he will attain honor and prestige, something he dreams about and aspires to achieve.
The Ribbono shel Olam designed the world in a way in which it seems as though it is not merely a place where we accomplish what we need to, but where we will be able to imagine that our success in This World constitutes success—and thus we will forget the entire purpose of coming to This World in the first place. This is akin to a person who goes to the store to buy something, and there he meets a friend. They get into a long conversation, and he ends up forgetting the very reason that he originally went to the store!
