Why Is It Worth Being Jewish?

Nurit asks: "First of all, thank you very much for the answers; this is very strengthening. Regarding my question: I do not understand the advantage of being Jewish?"

(It is clear that a Jew's pleasure is greater, but on the other hand, a non-Jew doesn't feel the need for greater pleasure, so seemingly, the Jew lacks more than the non-Jew and needs to strive more to draw closer to Hashem!). I understand that every punishment and correction is for a person's benefit to purify them so they can be worthy to receive reward and draw closer to Hashem, but why is a Jew initially required to perform more commandments? Thank you very much."

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Hello and blessings, Nurit. I'm glad to read that you enjoy the answers. Thank you for your profound question.

Indeed, a Jew is created with a higher soul, aiming to achieve greater eternal pleasure (eternal closeness to the Creator of the world, which is the greatest of all spiritual pleasures). Just as a cat can enjoy this material world more than a plant, similarly, one who is on a higher spiritual level can enjoy Hashem's eternal goodness more than someone on a lower spiritual level.

The greatest pleasure of all is closeness to Hashem, and to be close to Hashem, one must emulate Him. In order to resemble the Creator, He made man in His image, meaning with elevated spiritual capabilities, the ability to choose between good and evil, and to create one's reward (or punishment) through one's actions. This way a Jew emulates their Creator and is capable of achieving eternal closeness to Hashem more than all other nations in the world. The more commandments a Jew is commanded, the more they are tested on their high spiritual abilities, with which they can resemble their Creator and draw closer in their high soul to Hashem more than the non-Jew.

It's comparable to asking why one should wish to be wealthy and close to royalty, who must learn to be educated and follow accounts and businesses and state matters – isn’t it better to be a poor person living on the street who doesn’t have to worry about quality of life and can find food for enjoyment in the trash? This is of course an exaggeration, but it illustrates well the main point of the answer: greatness comes with responsibility, but greatness has clear advantages. Anyone would prefer to be a bank manager instead of a bank cleaner (or even just a low-level clerk) – this is despite the fact that the manager has to deal with more important matters and will be more concerned than the cleaner or clerk, the fact is that the manager lives a higher quality of life and with a much, much larger salary.

Thus, our Sages taught us in the Mishnah: "The Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to benefit Israel, therefore He gave them much Torah and commandments, as it is said: 'Hashem was pleased, for the sake of His righteousness, to make the Torah great and glorious'" (Makkot, Chapter 3, Mishnah 16). And as our Sages said: "The commandments were given only to refine the creatures with them, as it is said (Proverbs 30:5) 'Every word of Hashem is pure'" (Genesis Rabbah, Parsha 44).

The Jew is not lacking more than the non-Jew, but possesses a higher soul than that of the non-Jew, and therefore was given a larger role and responsibility than the non-Jew (of course, any non-Jew can choose to convert and achieve this high spiritual closeness!). Is it better to be small and receive little, than to be great and receive more? We all know the answer, because indeed we all always aspire for more... we do not envy a pitiful person born with a severe intellectual disability - even if they are happy and laughing all day in their simple life, we pity them precisely because we aspire to higher physical and spiritual pleasures - which a limited person cannot achieve.

It is worth being Jewish, and there is no reason to regret it for a moment. Note that the only reason you ask this question is the fact that currently, we live in a reality and period where Jews suffer on the way to happiness, and when things are bad – people do not think about the good.

But notice the fact that women worldwide are willing to endure nine months of suffering to bring a baby into the world because they are aware that the suffering is worth the result, which is so amazing. Throughout history, successful people have invested and suffered to achieve noble goals, and they were happy with their achievements. Hashem also wants us to achieve our eternal happiness, even if we have to correct sins and transgressions beforehand. Currently we are in the interim stage, in the difficult ascent, and we have no idea how great the reward we will receive, and so we ask and struggle. When redemption comes, we will see clearly the honor and glory of the Jewish people in the world, and then you will thank and praise Hashem thousandfold for creating you as a Jew, for indeed the suffering of the people of Israel was great, but the reward we will receive is millions of times greater.

Now we must strengthen ourselves, because this is only temporary suffering until achieving the goal – where everyone will say thank you. Thus, our Sages promise us that in the end of days, even for the bad, they will thank Hashem, and will say "the good and the beneficent," because then the benefit of everything that happened to us will be understood, like a child who cried and screamed in his childhood when a dangerous object was taken from him or he was punished to correct his bad traits, and when he grows up, he understands his parents' objectives and sees that everything was done for his good, and he thanks his parents for their loving and devoted education throughout all his childhood years. So too, everything Hashem does is for our benefit, whether we understand it or not, because ultimately we will understand and thank for everything. This is a promise given to every person, that what we do not understand in this world, we will comprehend in the next world. Thus, it is upon us to believe that from Hashem no bad emerges, only things that seem to us as bad, because everything that Hashem does is for good, meaning for our ultimate benefit and welfare.

Yours with blessings,

Daniel Bels