Crushed Olive Oil and Growth
In honor of Purim, we made it upside down. You try coming up with a lesson.
On Purim, a bachur came crying to R' Aharon Leib Shteinman ztl and said, “I am trying so hard to learn and serve Hashem, but I fall all the time.”
R' Shteinman got very serious and said, “This is the way. You think a fall is a fall? No. It’s the path to building. A Tzadik falls seven times and gets back up each time. The way to spiritual growth is not through never falling; it’s through falling and getting back up. Without struggles, a person does not amount to anything.”
That’s the lesson! There will be falls, but never stop getting back up. Every successful person has a painful story.
This connects to this week’s Parshah:
We are commanded to use crushed olive oil to light the menorah because this is how it is the purest and best oil.
Some feel they are being crushed; little do they realize they’re becoming more pure. Hashem knows we have more to offer to the world than we think, so we are crushed by pressures and difficulties. Look back, and you’ll realize that so many times, you are great at something now because you failed at it at first and felt crushed.
This connects so sweetly to Purim:
We thought we were being crushed, that we were going to be killed for going to Achashverosh’s party and for bowing to Avodah Zarah. Still, this terrible plan of Haman, which crushed us and caused us to fast for three days, was a tremendous benefit for us, as Chazal say, because of this decree, we re-accepted the Torah with love like never before.
In life, it’s the moments when we feel alone, crushed, and it’s over that we must realize we are being built, not broken, that Hashem is here for us, and that there is a big plan. You just wait.
This is the path to growth.
Send us Your lesson!
