Contemplation: The Living Shall Take It to Heart

Better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for that is the end of all men, and the living shall take it to heart.

(Ecclesiastes 7:2)

"And the living shall take it to heart!" - This is the important goal for which the wisest of all men recommends that "Better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting." The close encounter with a person's passing awakens one to think about where they came from, where they are going, and what is the purpose of their life here on earth.

"The main intention of this verse is to warn people to consider worldly matters as vanity in their thoughts, and not to make them their primary focus at all, but to contemplate their end, humble their hearts, and direct their nature toward service. It is known that a house of mourning causes humility of heart, which is a fundamental principle of service, for when one sees generations passing, and their loved ones and acquaintances separating from them between their hands, then a person will see, fear, and take moral instruction, and then their stubborn heart will be humbled." (Kad HaKemach)

[Part of this chapter is taken from the book "Bnei Binyamin" - commentaries on Pirkei Avot. As well as "Be'er Yaakov" on the Torah].

Choose Life!

The Creator of the world addresses the people of Israel in the Holy Torah, saying (Deuteronomy Chapter 30):

"See, I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil. That which I command you today, to love Hashem your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments. And you shall live and multiply, and Hashem your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days on the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live. That you may love Hashem your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which Hashem swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."

A person has "freedom of choice" to choose between life and good, or death and evil, and finally a recommendation and request: "choose life." And the question arises: if the choice is between a sack full of precious stones, pearls and diamonds, and a sack full of rotten potatoes, do we need good advice to choose the sack of diamonds?! Why do we need advice here to choose life?! Who would be foolish enough to choose death and evil?!

What is this comparable to? A poor man found a map to a secret treasure located on the "Diamond Island." He borrowed money and hired a ship to get there. After many hardships, he found the island. When his feet stepped on the island's soil, he suddenly noticed that all the stones on the shore were not ordinary stones, but diamonds, precious stones, and pearls. With surprise and great excitement, he took out a sack and began to fill it. Meanwhile, our friend heard giggling from the bushes. He looked around, and from behind the bushes came native villagers. The visitor was afraid, but they did not attack; they simply laughed. He asked what happened, and they answered: "You are crazy, collecting stones." He opened his eyes in amazement and said to them: "These are not stones - these are diamonds!" The natives burst into great laughter, until one of them said to him: "Listen, on our island there are indeed diamonds, but they are not scattered like this on the shore." The man asked: "Where are the diamonds and what do they look like?" And they answered him that these diamonds are not easily obtained. One must work very hard for them. One must bury bulbs in the ground, care for them for a long time, but the investment is very worthwhile, because then the precious treasure grows. From this precious treasure, special delicacies can be cooked, such as "mashed potatoes," "chips," and more. One can also become wealthy from it through trade, as for one such sack, one can receive several sacks of tomatoes, for example, or rice, or various building materials. In short, whoever works and labors, and succeeds in producing from this precious treasure, called "potatoes," how good and how pleasant is his fate! And the more - the better.

Our friend regarded the words with disbelief, but as he stayed on the island day after day, he came to see that the words were indeed true. Whoever has potatoes - succeeds. Whoever has potatoes - gets rich and lives well and pleasantly! Having reached this conclusion, he began to invest all his energy in growing potatoes. The work was hard, but before his eyes stood his family members waiting for him to return to them with great wealth. He indeed succeeded greatly, and after a period of hard work, he had a very large quantity of sacks of potatoes. With joy and delight, he decided it was time to return home. After many hardships, he returned to his home, with a very serious cargo! His family and friends gave him a magnificent reception, and they waited tensely for the moment when he would open the sacks. The great moment arrived - and behold, before everyone's eyes, our friend puts his hand into one of the sacks and takes out... a potato [which had already rotted]! And another one, and another one! Everyone thought he was joking, and that beneath the potatoes were hidden the real diamonds. But to their great alarm, the sack was already emptying - and there were no diamonds. And so was the next sack, and so were all the sacks. One cannot describe the great shame our friend suffered from all the arrows of mockery directed at him. In the end, the man went to sleep, consumed with disappointment and despair. And behold, after an hour his wife wakes him up, with a real diamond the size of an egg in her hands. She turns to him and says: My dear husband, how did you not reveal to me the real treasure, which was hidden in your wisdom under the potatoes?! Let us go to a jeweler who will tell us how much it is worth.

But the husband did not join in her joy. On the contrary, he cried. They turned to various diamond dealers, who offered higher and higher prices, but the husband continued to cry. They received an enormous sum for the diamond, and the husband cried even more. "How?! How did I toil, labor, and risk myself for rotten potatoes, when I could have easily collected real diamonds?!"...

The moral is that the purpose of a person in this world is to overcome the evil inclination, to perform mitzvot and flee from transgressions, and for this they will receive great reward in the World to Come. In the parable, we are that person who came to the world to collect diamonds, which are: Torah, mitzvot, and good deeds, which can only be done here in this world, and are worth a fortune in the World to Come. The children are the evil inclination and society that distract and say that the real thing is: pleasures! Instead of going to the synagogue, let's go to the beach; instead of a Torah class, let's go to a birthday party... In short, rotten potatoes that are worth nothing in the World to Come, only shame and disgrace.

Hashem gives us the choice between life and good [diamonds] versus death and evil [rotten potatoes], but there are people who think that 'good' is what they call "having fun," that is, pursuing pleasures and worldly delights. But this is a mistake from the factory of the evil inclination. About them the prophet says: "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter."

Hashem reveals to us that true life and good, both in this world and in the World to Come, is walking in His ways and fulfilling Torah and mitzvot: "To love Hashem your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments..."!

From Maimonides' will to his children: "Know that everything will be brought to judgment, on the revealed and on the hidden, on the good and on the evil. He who does good, shall be treated well in this world. Those who see him will praise him, and those who know him will call him blessed, and when his days are fulfilled and he parts from people, he will rejoice in his righteous deeds, and be comforted and not worry much about death, for he will not worry about punishment... And he who corrupts his way and pursues evil, evil will pursue him and overtake him, and destroy his deeds. Those who see him will twist their mouths at him and distort their lips, and when he dies his flesh will suffer and his soul will mourn, for he walks in darkness, and in darkness his name will be covered... I entreat you, recognize the advantage of light over darkness, reject death and evil, and choose life and good, for the authority is given to you".