Paths of Faith: From Self-Acceptance to Embracing the Yoke of Heaven

In light of all these points, as we strengthen ourselves in this perspective, we can ascend the first step of self-acceptance. Through recognizing our own self and value, we attain self-love - not mere bodily love but true soul love - to love ourselves because of the divine image within us, because of our unconditional importance as Jews, regardless of our status. This love fills us with immense inner strength that helps us withstand trials and proceed to accept Hashem's guidance.

After ascending the first step of self-acceptance, we can rise to the next step of truly embracing the yoke of heaven - which means accepting the trials Hashem sends us with love and humility rather than, Heaven forbid, complaining against Hashem. We must submit ourselves and accept whatever Hashem sends us, with the trust that the same Hashem who loves us so much and considers us so important has given us this trial for our personal benefit. Even if we do not always see how it benefits us, we trust that in His infinite divine vision, He sees this as being for our good.

Understanding the importance of every Jew helps reduce sadness and aids in accepting the yoke of heaven.

Upon reflection, we will realize that the root of most of our failures and challenges is despair, sadness, and grief stemming from thoughts that we are insignificant. We may think we are so low that our actions or thoughts have no value, as elaborated at the start of this section. This makes it hard to accept the yoke of heaven and could, Heaven forbid, cause rebellion and complaints against Hashem regarding trials, leading to questions like why we've been given this trial, perhaps indicating Hashem doesn't love me. We're forgetting there's a Creator who thinks about each Jew individually and tailors trials specifically to their strength.

The moment we accept ourselves and understand how important we are in the eyes of Hashem, and how each moment of our life is significant to Him, and the trial is an expression of His great love for us, recognizing how it's beneficial for us, and the trial comes as a package with abundant goodness and tools to cope, it becomes easier to overcome sadness and progress step by step in accepting the yoke of heaven - accepting the trial and Hashem's guidance with love and submission.

Accepting the yoke of heaven is the foundation of Judaism and upon it stands all our service to Hashem, which also provides us with the strength to face any trial since much of the difficulty lies in accepting the trial and the internal rebellion against it, as well as the sadness accompanying it. When we manage to accept Hashem's guidance with love, much of the trial's difficulty dissipates, and a sense of inner peace prevails, making it easier to cope.

The work of accepting the yoke of heaven lasts until one hundred and twenty.

The task of accepting the yoke of heaven is not a one-time job but a lifelong effort, lasting until the age of one hundred and twenty. In every stage of our life and every trial, big or small, we must continue to strengthen in accepting the yoke of heaven, accepting Hashem's guidance with love.

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