Self-Acceptance and the Yoke of Heaven: Finding Strength in Jewish Faith

Self-acceptance is the key to much of what we want to achieve in life. By recognizing our own worth, we come to love ourselves. This is not a shallow love of the body, but a true love of the soul. We love ourselves because of the tzelem Elokim (Divine image) within us, because of our unconditional value as Jews, that is not dependent on our spiritual level or status. This love fills us with great inner strength, enabling us to withstand trials and move forward to accepting God’s guidance in our lives.

Once we ascend this first step of self-acceptance, we can move up to the next level of genuine acceptance of the yoke of Heaven. This means accepting the challenges that God sends us with love and humility, and submitting ourselves completely. We accept everything He sends with trust, knowing that God — who loves me so deeply and considers me so precious, has given me this trial for my personal good. Even if I cannot see how it benefits me, I trust that in His infinite vision, He sees how it is truly for my good.

Recognizing Our Value Reduces Sadness and Helps Us Accept God’s Rule

When we reflect on ourselves, we recognize that the root of most of our failures and struggles is despair, sadness, and depression. These feelings come from thinking that we are worthless, and that our deeds and thoughts have no meaning. From that place, it becomes very difficult to accept the yoke of Heaven, and one may even rebel against God, questioning: Why did I receive this trial? Maybe God doesn’t love me?

We forget that there is a Creator who thinks of every single Jew and gives each one challenges that are precisely suited to his or her strengths.

The moment we accept ourselves and realize how precious we are in God’s eyes, how important every moment of our life is to Him, and how every trial is an expression of His great love for us, then it becomes easier to overcome sadness and despair. Knowing that He has given us each trial as part of a “package deal,” including much goodness and the tools to face it, we can progress step by step in accepting the yoke of Heaven: receiving God’s guidance with love and humility.

The Foundation of Judaism

Accepting the yoke of Heaven is the very foundation of Judaism, and upon it rests all our service of God. It also gives us strength to endure trials, as much of the difficulty lies not in the trial itself, but in our resistance to it, and our inner rebellion and the sadness that accompanies it.

When we merit to accept God’s rule over us with love, a large part of the burden is lifted. Inner peace descends upon us, and it becomes easier to cope.

A Lifelong Work

The work of accepting the yoke of Heaven is not a one-time effort, but a lifelong mission. At every stage of life, in every trial, big or small, we must continue to strengthen ourselves in this practice, to receive God’s guidance with love.