Paths of Faith: If the Finger is Frozen, Why Massage the Heart?

Willpower assists in coping. To face challenges, we must activate the power of will. A person without willpower lacks the strength to confront challenges. A person with strong willpower can, with Hashem's help, withstand any difficulty.

Hashem tailors the difficulty of a challenge to a person's strengths, but to bring our strengths into action, we need the most powerful engine that drives everything—our will, which propels us to act. Nothing begins without a will.

Everything Starts with Will

Everything starts with will. Willpower drives thought. Everything depends on the will.

There is a story of a Jew who arrived at a synagogue in Siberia with one of his fingers completely frozen—a very dangerous state. Luckily, there was someone in the synagogue who understood first aid and massaged his heart. The people in the synagogue didn’t understand: if the finger is frozen, why massage the heart and not the finger? When the man regained consciousness and the finger warmed up, he explained that touching a frozen finger is dangerous, as it might fall off, but when the heart is strengthened, the whole body warms up. Therefore, he massaged the heart, improving its function and blood flow, which naturally warmed up the frozen finger.

This story illustrates how everything begins with the heart—everything starts with the will that arises in the heart, and from there everything advances. When the will awakens in the heart, all body parts are roused to fulfill the heart's desire.

A person's success—more than depending on their data, abilities, and connections—depends on their willpower. Without will, a person will accomplish nothing, won't advance, and consequently, won't succeed. A new will is a recipe for success.

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