Why Life Is Worth Living – A Torah Perspective on Purpose, Faith, and Inner Strength

Meir asks: "I feel my life is hard, disappointing, and sometimes even hopeless. Despite moments of comfort and happiness, lately I feel that life has no value, and that if I truly understood everything, I would probably not choose to come into this world. Can you prove otherwise? Thank you."

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Dear Meir,
I feel your pain, and I’m sorry for what you’re going through. It sounds like you’re in a very difficult period of life, and you’re speaking from that place of hurt.

Please understand however, that God knows your reality and what is truly good for you, better than you do. This can be proven easily.

Your body contains countless brilliant, perfectly coordinated systems that God designed and sustains. You are made of billions of atoms, all working together. Even the tiniest cell in your finger is more complex than an entire city’s transportation system. Your hands are intricate levers with perfectly matched joints that let you function in life. Every step you take uses about 200 different muscles. Each of your eyes contains over 120 million light receptors, enabling you to see a sharp, colorful picture of the world.

Your heart weighs just 300 grams, but every single day it pumps around 8,000 liters of blood. In three days, that’s enough to fill a swimming pool. And because that much blood needs constant detoxification, your liver filters about 2 liters of blood from toxins every minute. In just one drop of your blood there are over 5 million red blood cells, and your body produces over 200 billion of them daily.

Your brain is perhaps the greatest wonder in creation. It weighs only about a kilo and a half, but it operates roughly 100 billion neurons — more than the number of stars in an average galaxy. Together, they process up to 100 million pieces of information every second, enabling you to see, hear, move, speak, remember, and think. As King David said: "How great are Your works, O Lord, You made them all with wisdom" (Psalms 104:24).

Can we really doubt that the One who created all this has an immensely important purpose for you? This amazing body is only the outer vessel given to you so your soul can function in this world, much like a driver in a car. If the physical body is this extraordinary, imagine how great your soul must be. You are the driver, but what path will you choose? Will you trust the One who created you, or reject His goodness?

The Creator, who designed your mind, emotions, abilities, and deepest desires, also knows every moment of your past, present, and future. If life were truly not good for you, He wouldn’t have created you. He placed you here because He knows that the unique journey He set for you will ultimately be for your benefit, and that in the end, you’ll thank Him.

Our sages teach that in the future, we will even thank God for the hardships we faced, because we’ll see how they led to the greatest possible good. Just like a patient thanks a skilled surgeon after a difficult but life-saving operation, we will one day understand the love and care behind everything that happens to us.

(Photo: shutterstock)

Perhaps the emptiness you feel comes from a disconnect between your soul’s true needs and the goals you’ve set for yourself. Your soul was created for far greater things than material success — it longs for closeness to God, for truth, for meaning. For this reason, no amount of possessions or pleasures can truly satisfy it.

God gave us the Torah which is the “manufacturer’s guide” for the human soul, teaching us how to live with both the physical and spiritual in perfect harmony, leading to true fulfillment.

The only way to navigate this life is through faith — living for something greater than life itself: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). When you live with faith, you’re not simply chasing comfort, but you’re connecting your soul to its Source, which is something beyond price or measure.

I recommend you begin watching one Torah lecture each day, and with time, your perspective will shift, your hope will grow, and you’ll begin to see life as the extraordinary gift it truly is.

Stay strong, Meir. Don’t give up. The fact that you’re struggling means your soul is great, because, as our sages say, “The greater the person, the greater his challenges” (Sukkah 52a). And “According to the effort is the reward” (Pirkei Avot 5:23).