Imagine you're in the middle of a heavy work out at the gym. Pretty exhausted, you turn to your personal trainer and say, "You have asked me to lift these dumbbells. I am more than happy to do it. But why do you keep on adding weight to them? You're just making my job harder."
The trainer responds, "Yeah, that's the point. Every time you sweat, you burn calories. The heavier the load, the more you burn. I don't just want dumbbells to be lifted, I want you to work for it! The stronger you get, the more resistance you need to make your workout effective." It is similar with G-d's commandments. If He just wanted these things to get done, then it would be ridiculous for Him to make it difficult for us. You don't give someone a job and then put obstacles in their way. You don't ask someone to lift something, and then make it heavier. But our mission is not just to get the deeds done, it is to battle our resistant nature and illuminate the darkness in this world. and change the world for good through doing mitzvos. Every good deed we do brings a ray of divine light into the world. Anything that gets in way of us doing a good deed is a layer of darkness trying to block that light. When we overcome that obstacle, the powers of light have vanquished a little corner of darkness in the universe. And every victory over darkness, no matter how small, is a step closer to the ultimate goal, creating a world of goodness and light. If you are facing a lot of resistance to doing a mitzvah, that is a sign that you are doing a great job. The more hurdles you jump, the more darkness you banish and the more goodness you achieve. As you win more battles and your light gets stronger, you are sent new obstacles, because you now have the spiritual stamina to overcome them. Rabbi Moss and Mendel (Menachem) Bluming of Potomac, Maryland based on Tanya 27 Comments are closed.
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AuthorRabbi Mendel Bluming also dedicated six years to serving on the board of directors of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, where he received the Matthew H. Simon Rabbinical Award for exceptional communal leadership. Archives
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