Small tidbits and Sparks of wisdom

“וַיִּפֹּל עַל־צַוְּארֵי בִנְיָמִן אָחִיו וַיֵּבְךְּ; וּבִנְיָמִן בָּכָה עַל־צַוָּארָיו”
(בראשית מה:יד)
After Yosef reveals himself, he and Binyamin embrace and cry.
Rashi explains that this was not merely emotional release. They foresaw the future destruction of the Batei Mikdash — Shiloh in Yosef’s portion and Yerushalayim in Binyamin’s. They cried over what had not yet occurred.
The question is unavoidable: why cry now?
After twenty-two years of separation, tears of relief and happiness are natural. But why tears over future destruction, at the very moment of reunion?
Chazal give us the key. The verse says:
“בִּלַּע הַמָּוֶת לָנֶצַח, וּמָחָה ה׳ אֱלֹקִים דִּמְעָה מֵעַל כָּל־פָּנִים”
(ישעיהו כה:ח)
Why does it say “מֵעַל כָּל־פָּנִים” — from all faces?
Chazal explain: when death is eliminated, not only tears of sorrow will disappear — even tears of joy will cease. Hashem will wipe away all tears, including happy ones.
This is unsettling. What could be wrong with crying from joy?
Rav Mordechai (Mottel) Pogremanski explains: tears of joy are never pure joy. They come from a hidden sadness embedded within happiness itself. At the height of joy, the soul realizes something painful: this moment will not last.
That realization breaks through emotionally. One feels overwhelmed not only by happiness, but by the knowledge of its fragility.
A parent sends a child to school and cries.
A wedding takes place and tears flow.
A reunion happens — and suddenly eyes fill.
Why? Not because of sadness, but because time is moving. Connections change. Presence weakens. The relationship will not remain in this exact form. There is an unspoken awareness of separation — perhaps distance, perhaps years, perhaps never seeing the moment again as it once was.
That invisible sadness is masked by happiness, and it emerges as tears.
This is what Yosef and Binyamin felt. Their joy was real — but they knew it was finite. History would intervene. The Mikdash would be destroyed. Exile would return. The happiness of reunion already carried the pain of future loss.
In the World to Come, this changes fundamentally.
When death is removed, connection no longer weakens. There is no fading, no departure, no erosion of presence. Relationships are permanent. Joy does not peak and collapse. There is no background fear of loss hidden beneath happiness.
Existence will be directly connected to Hashem — like a system permanently fed by its source of electricity. There is no interruption, no cutoff, no emotional overload. The flow is constant.
Therefore, there will be no tears — not of sadness, and not of joy.
Because when connection is eternal, happiness no longer hurts.

The Gate of Self-Accounting: Chapter 3
…one destined to receive it, whether in his lifetime—as it says: “At a young age it will leave him” (Yirmeyahu 17:11)—or after his death, as it is written: “They leave their wealth to others” (Tehillim 49:11).
The Wise One [King Solomon] warned us against excessive drive and effort to gain wealth, as it is written: “Do not toil to get wealth; of your own understanding, desist” (Mishlei 23:4); and described the ill inherent in it: “Before you can set your eyes on it, it is gone” (ibid. 23:5). The other Wise One [King David] guided and encouraged us to work only for one’s basic sustenance, what is sufficient for one’s needs, saying: “You will eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you will be happy and it will be well with you” (Tehillim 128:2).
The pious man also asked God to grant him an adequate livelihood but to withhold from him wealth, which leads to luxuries, and poverty, which leads to the corruption of morality and religion. As he said, “Two things I ask of You… Give me neither poverty nor riches, but provide me with my daily bread; lest I be full and deny [You] and say, ‘Who is God?’ or lest I be poor and steal…” (Mishlei 30:7–9). Similarly, we find that our patriarch Ya‘akov, peace be upon him, asked God to provide only his needs: “If God will… give me bread to eat and clothing to wear” (Bereshis 28:20).
Will you not awaken, my brother, and see the drawback in what you have worked for and hastened to, [namely] maintaining the natural welfare of your body, which will be associated with you for only a short while and which, for as long as you are joined to it, is never free of pain or immune to accident. If it is too full, it becomes ill; if it is hungry, it becomes weak. If you overdress it, it is irritated; if you leave it naked, it suffers. Moreover, management of the body—when it is healthy or sick, when it lives or dies—is not in accordance with your will or in your power, but is under the control of your Creator, May He be exalted.

Wasting Energy “Fishing” for Wealth
A man can exhaust his life chasing money and still end with nothing, while another receives wealth with little visible effort. That alone should force an honest person to question the fantasy that wealth is proportional to hustle. The tradition never taught that parnassah is a hunt. It taught that it is assigned.
Fishing is the right metaphor because fishing depends less on effort than on conditions you do not control: the tide, the fish, the weather, the net. You can thrash the water all day and catch nothing, or drop a line once and pull out abundance. The one who thinks effort itself produces wealth confuses motion with causation.
The Torah view is blunt: excessive striving for wealth is not diligence; it is anxiety dressed up as responsibility. Shlomo HaMelech does not say “don’t be lazy.” He says, “Do not toil to get wealth; desist from your own understanding.” That is not poetic—it is a warning. When a man over-invests his strength, mind, and time into money, he is not securing his future; he is signaling distrust in Providence.
What is meant for a person’s good arrives with measured effort, not obsession. The effort is a vessel, not the source. Once the vessel is sufficient, more strain does not bring blessing—it leaks it. The Gemara already tells you this: extra effort beyond what is fitting often subtracts rather than adds.
There is also a moral cost. Wealth chased aggressively reshapes the soul. It narrows vision, hardens judgment, and quietly replaces service of God with service of outcomes. That is why the wise pray neither for riches nor poverty. Riches intoxicate. Poverty degrades. Both distort clarity. Only sufficiency preserves balance.
A man who understands this works honestly, steadily, and within bounds. He does not panic when others appear to surge ahead. He does not gamble his life force on “what could be.” He accepts that if something is truly destined for him—and truly good—it will reach him without destroying him along the way.
In short:
Fishing harder does not summon fish.
It only tires the fisherman.

Another way to say :

On the Futility of Expending Excessive Energy in the Pursuit of Wealth
The impulse to expend one’s strength in relentless pursuit of wealth rests upon a fundamental error: the assumption that abundance is generated by exertion itself. Our tradition rejects this premise. Sustenance is not seized by force of will, nor extracted through relentless maneuvering; it is apportioned, and human effort serves only as the proper vessel through which that apportionment is realized.
The image of fishing is apt. Success in fishing depends far less on the vigor of the fisherman than on conditions entirely beyond his command—the movement of the waters, the presence of the fish, and the suitability of the moment. One may labor from dawn until dusk and return empty-handed, while another casts his line briefly and draws forth a full catch. The disparity lies not in exertion but in allotment.
Scripture therefore cautions against excessive striving. Shlomo HaMelech does not condemn labor; he condemns overinvestment of the soul in material acquisition. “Do not weary yourself to acquire wealth; desist from your own understanding.” The warning is precise: when a man relies upon his own calculations as the determining force of success, he displaces the true source of provision and inevitably invites frustration and disquiet.
That which is intended for a person’s genuine benefit arrives through effort that is proportionate and restrained. Once the necessary measure of endeavor has been supplied, additional strain does not increase blessing; it distorts it. Excessive preoccupation with gain consumes clarity of thought, corrodes contentment, and subtly reorients a person’s loyalties. What begins as responsible engagement with the world often concludes as servitude to outcomes beyond one’s control.
For this reason, the wise sought neither abundance nor deprivation, but sufficiency. Wealth tends toward indulgence and spiritual dullness; poverty toward desperation and moral erosion. Only a measured livelihood preserves equilibrium of character and steadiness of mind.
The individual who comprehends this works diligently yet without agitation. He neither begrudges the apparent ease of others nor sacrifices his inner order to speculative pursuits. He understands that what is destined for him—and truly beneficial—will reach him without requiring the exhaustion of his vitality or the compromise of his principles.
In sum, strenuous motion does not summon provision.
It merely exhausts the one who mistakes exertion for causation.

Shabbas 25: says. Who is called wealthy,4 answers

The Four Teachings on True Wealth
(as taught in the Baraisa)
1. R. Meir says:
“Who is truly wealthy?
Anyone who takes pleasure in his wealth.”
2. R. Tarfon says:
“A wealthy man is anyone who has a hundred vineyards,
and a hundred fields,
and a hundred servants who work in those fields.”
3. R. Akiva says:
“He is anyone who has a wife beautiful in deeds.”
4. R. Yose says:
“He is anyone who has a wife refined and fitting for a Torah scholar.”
Notes and Explanations (Relevant Extracts)
Note 26 (Rashi):
For those who aspire to wealth, the Gemara teaches its true nature.
Note 27:
That is, anyone who is happy with his portion in life, whether large or small (Rashi). Alternatively, a wealthy man is one who, by the grace of God, is able to enjoy his wealth (Maharsha).
Note 28:
The mnemonic MaT KaS refers to the four Tannaim cited:
M = R. Meir
T = R. Tarfon
K = R. Akiva
S = R. Yose
Note 29 (Maharsha):
People are motivated to accumulate wealth for three reasons:
(a) to attain honor as a wealthy person,
(b) to provide generously for one’s wife, and
(c) to maintain a financial reserve in case of illness.
The Tannaim teach that these goals are illusory, implying that the true definition of wealth is that of R. Meir.
Note 31 — R. Akiva (Key Point)
R. Akiva teaches that a man who accumulates wealth in order to provide his wife with luxuries cannot be considered rich, for he will never be satisfied. Rather, one married to a woman beautiful in deeds—whose material demands are slight, and who is content with her portion together with her husband—is truly wealthy.
Indeed, R. Akiva was referring to his own wife.
Clarifying the Hierarchy
R. Tarfon deliberately exaggerates to expose the emptiness of material accumulation.
R. Meir defines wealth psychologically: contentment.
R. Akiva deepens the concept: wealth is relational and moral, not quantitative.
R. Yose refines it further for the Torah scholar: inner harmony and refinement within the home.
R. Akiva’s teaching is the pivot point:
If one’s domestic life demands constant expansion, no amount of wealth will suffice. If one’s home is governed by virtue and restraint, even limited means are abundance.

Why Married People Who Pursue Wealth as an End Do Not Endure
R. Akiva’s teaching in Note 31 is not a moral flourish; it is a diagnosis. A married person who makes the pursuit of wealth central to his life places his household on an unstable foundation. Such a life cannot endure, because the structure itself is internally contradictory.
Marriage introduces permanent obligation. Wealth, by contrast, operates on comparison and escalation. When a man accumulates resources in order to satisfy expanding expectations—particularly domestic expectations—he guarantees perpetual insufficiency. No level of provision settles the matter, because the standard is no longer necessity or virtue, but comfort and display. R. Akiva therefore states unambiguously: such a man is not rich, and never will be.
The contrast he draws is precise. A wife “beautiful in deeds” is not merely morally admirable; she is existentially stabilizing. Her restraint defines the household’s horizon. Where material demands are limited, provision becomes achievable; where they are unbounded, provision becomes a moving target. In the latter case, the marriage itself becomes contingent on performance, and the home turns into a site of pressure rather than continuity.
This is why marriages oriented toward acquisition rather than sufficiency tend not to survive. The husband is driven outward, compelled to expand income without limit; the wife’s expectations—once detached from restraint—cannot be permanently met; and the relationship becomes transactional. Affection yields to accounting. Presence yields to pursuit.
R. Akiva is teaching something sharper than contentment: alignment. When husband and wife share a moral framework that values deeds over display, their material life stabilizes naturally. Wealth, if it arrives, does not dominate; if it does not, life remains whole. Where that alignment is absent, no level of income produces rest, and the marriage erodes under the weight of endless striving.
In short, a household built around wealth does not fail because it lacks money.
It fails because it lacks a stopping point.

A.
Those who love God recognize that everything—religious and secular—is under His decree. Free choice exists, but never outside Divine control. They stop chasing preferred outcomes and abandon obsession with circumstances. Instead, they trust that the Creator selects what is best and most fitting for them. Their confidence is not emotional optimism but firm conviction that all movement in their lives aligns with God’s will.
B. Alignment of Will and Desire
When they learn from the Torah what God desires, they reshape their inner will accordingly. Physical cravings lose their grip, not by force alone but because longing for God replaces them. Their free choice is exercised in harmony with His will. They no longer live for this world’s attractions; their hearts are directed upward. Their primary hope is to be strengthened to serve God properly and fulfill His commandments as fully as possible.
C. Conduct Rooted in Humility and Restraint
They praise God for what they can accomplish and take responsibility—not excuses—for what they cannot. Where strength is lacking, they apologize before God and resolve to act when able. Internally detached from worldly concerns, they engage bodily needs only when necessary. They are humble, patient when wronged, wise in speech, and modest in conduct. Their awe of God eclipses ego, status, and idle talk.
D. Devotion Expressed Through Discipline
Their love expresses itself through obedience, restraint, and endurance, not spiritual theatrics. They abstain from prohibitions, accept effort and patience as the price of service, and understand that the mitzvot demanded of them are few compared to what God gives. They walk the upright path even when it is narrow and unrewarding in the short term. Love of God empties their hearts of trivial pursuits and anchors them in the choicest path of life.
Bottom line:
This is not mystical escapism. It is disciplined faith.
Love of God here means submission of will, mastery of desire, humility in action, and consistency in service. Anything less is sentiment, not belief.

Chanukah and Purim are not merely historical commemorations. Each reveals a distinct spiritual light that emerged through a specific rectification (tikkun). The laws and practices of each festival reflect the nature of that rectification and address a single, enduring question: what sustains Jewish existence when external structures remain but inner meaning erodes?

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Purim: Re‑Acceptance of Torah After the First Destruction

Purim took place during the Babylonian exile, after the destruction of the First Beis HaMikdash. Although the Second Beis HaMikdash would later stand, an essential spiritual level had already been lost. Open revelation was gone. National clarity was diminished. The Ten Tribes had disappeared. Jewish life now functioned without the protections that once came naturally from revelation.

From that point forward, survival depended not on environment but on choice. External nations and internal influences began chipping away at Jewish identity. Torah could no longer be assumed; it had to be actively embraced.

Chazal describe this moment with precision: “They accepted the Torah again in the days of Achashverosh.” This was not Sinai. It was acceptance under concealment, without miracles, without clarity, without guarantees. Purim established that Jewish continuity could only persist through voluntary, deliberate attachment to Torah.

—

Chanukah: Defense of Torah Within the Land

Chanukah occurred not in exile, but in Eretz Yisrael itself. The threat was not physical destruction but cultural conquest. Hellenism did not seek to eliminate Jews; it sought to redefine Judaism. Philosophy would replace obligation. Aesthetics would replace sanctity. Sports, theater, and public spectacle would replace avodah.

The Menorah stood at the center of this conflict. It represented divine wisdom, holiness, and separation between sacred and profane. Greek opposition was directed not at the Temple structure alone, but at what the Temple meant. When the Kohanim restored the Menorah, they restored meaning, not symbolism.

Chanukah teaches that Jewish life within the Land is no protection on its own. Without Torah at the center, sovereignty becomes hollow.

—

Chanukah as Reinforcement of Purim

Purim established survival through faith under concealment. Chanukah reinforces resistance to cultural erosion and ideological compromise. Together they teach a hard truth: Jewish continuity without Torah is empty, and Jewish sovereignty without Torah is unstable.

Even with a Second Beis HaMikdash, the spiritual level remained diminished. Attachment to Torah required reinforcement. Chanukah is that reinforcement.

—

The Secular Illusion of Continuity

A shared language and residence within a nation are secular foundations. On their own, they are not a coherent basis for Jewish continuity. If Torah is not the primary organizing force of life—shaping daily activity, values, and purpose for men, women, and children—then nothing essential remains.

Without Torah as the constant center, national existence becomes empty. It is indistinguishable from any other country, whether Switzerland, Norway, or any modern state with customs and symbols but no binding inner truth. Such continuity is non‑viable. It preserves externals while hollowing out substance.

Customs detached from obligation become performance. Identity without mitzvos becomes nostalgia. A Jewish society that does not live by Torah may survive administratively, but it has no internal meaning and no reason to endure.

—

The Historical Pattern

History repeats this lesson relentlessly. When Jews define themselves by culture, folklore, food, or collective memory rather than obligation, disappearance follows. There is no neutral Jewishness. What is not anchored in Torah is absorbed by surrounding civilizations.

Assimilation does not present as betrayal. It presents as sophistication, normalcy, and progress. The Greeks perfected this model. They allowed Jews to exist so long as Torah was reduced to wisdom, mitzvos to symbols, and holiness to private sentiment. That model always ends the same way: continuity without covenant, identity without command, light without fire.

—

The Enduring Message of Chanukah

Torah is not an accessory to Jewish life, nor a heritage item to be honored occasionally. It is the engine. Remove it from daily motion, and everything else—nationhood, language, even sovereignty—becomes an empty shell.

What may survive might look Jewish, but it is no longer Jewish in any demanding or enduring sense. Chanukah stands as a warning and a demand: stay anchored, stay distinct, and refuse to trade obligation for imitation. Only Torah gives Jewish life meaning, direction, and continuity.

King Shlomo warned us against excessive striving for riches:

> “אַל־תִּיגַע לְהַעֲשִׁיר; מִבִּינָתְךָ חֲדָל.”
“Do not toil to become wealthy; cease from your own cleverness.”
— משלי כ״ג:ד׳ (Mishlei 23:4)

And he described its fleeting nature:

> “הֲתָעִיף עֵינֶיךָ בּוֹ וְאֵינֶנּוּ.”
“Before you even set your eyes upon it — it is gone.”
— משלי כ״ג:ה׳ (Mishlei 23:5)

David HaMelech guided us toward balance and sufficiency:

> “כִּי תֹאכַל יְגִיעַ כַּפֶּיךָ, אַשְׁרֶיךָ וְטוֹב לָךְ.”
“You shall eat the labor of your hands; you will be happy and it will be good for you.”
— תהילים קכ״ח:ב׳ (Tehillim 128:2)

The wise and righteous asked not for extremes, but for dignity:

> “רֵאשׁ וָעֹשֶׁר אַל־תִּתֶּן לִי; הַטְרִיפֵנִי לֶחֶם חֻקִּי.”
“Give me neither poverty nor wealth; provide me my daily portion.”
— משלי ל׳:ח׳–ט׳ (Mishlei 30:8–9)

Yaakov Avinu requested only the basics needed:

> “אִם־יִהְיֶה אֱלֹהִים עִמָּדִי… וְנָתַן לִי לֶחֶם לֶאֱכֹל וּבֶגֶד לִלְבֹּשׁ.”
“If God will be with me… and give me bread to eat and clothing to wear.”
— בראשית כ״ח:כ׳ (Bereishis 28:20)

—

The Body Is Temporary — Obligation Is Eternal

Consider how much effort is poured into the body — a temporary vessel. It is never fully satisfied: too much food harms it, too little weakens it; too much clothing irritates it, too little leaves it suffering. And despite one’s effort, control over health and life is never truly his — it remains in the hands of the Creator.

—

Wealth Is a Deposit — Not a Trophy

Wealth is not an achievement to display nor a monument for after death. It is a deposit entrusted by Heaven. The portion intended for the poor — the widows, the orphans, families in struggle — is not for deferral.

צדקה שנדחית — היא צדקה שנשללה.
Tzedakah delayed is tzedakah denied.

A hungry child cannot eat from a future will. A struggling family cannot survive on the promise of generosity later. When comfort sits in your home and need sits at your door — silence becomes theft.

—

Necessity vs. Indulgence

Do not fool yourself into thinking that luxury becomes justified because it was acquired cheaply or with reward points. A want remains a want, even at a discount.

Modest relaxation is allowed when needed, but building life around comforts while ignoring obligation is a distortion. What exceeds genuine need belongs to the needy — not to habit, boredom, or convenience.

—

Your Obligation Comes From Torah — Not Government

Some imagine that if the IRS does not demand their resources, then they owe nothing. But obligation to support the poor of Israel comes from Torah, not the state.

Jewish poor need help now:
daily food, tuition, health care, dignity, and stability.

Europe proved a hard lesson: many accumulated gold, art, and treasure as “investment.” In the end, governments seized everything — and nothing followed them.

To support the living — this is real legacy.

—

Wealth Comes From Heaven — Not Genius Alone

Never forget:

> “וְזָכַרְתָּ אֶת־יְ-הוָה אֱלֹקֶיךָ כִּי הוּא הַנֹּתֵן לְךָ כֹּחַ לַעֲשׂוֹת חָיִל.”
“And you shall remember Hashem your God, for it is He who gives you the strength to achieve wealth.”
— דברים ח׳:י״ח (Devarim 8:18)

Success is not solely intellect, strategy, or ambition. Breath, time, health, timing — these are not man-made. Wealth is a Heaven-given test and trust.

When used selfishly, it decays a soul; when used as intended — with humility, urgency, and compassion — it becomes blessing in this world and merit in the next.

–

Judaism is unique among world religions because its foundation is a public revelation, not a private claim. At Sinai, more than two million people witnessed the event, and among them were 600,000 adult males between the ages of 20 and 60. That specific category matters. According to Torah law, they represent the highest level of legal witnesses: fully mature, mentally responsible, physically capable, and obligated in every commandment. They are the backbone of national memory and legal continuity. They are neither minors, who lack halachic standing, nor elderly individuals whose mental clarity might diminish. Their testimony forms a solid, accountable basis for transmission.

Unlike Christianity, Islam, or newer religions founded on the claim of a single individual, Judaism begins with a collective experience. No one said, “Believe me, God spoke to me.” Instead, the entire nation heard God directly. This wasn’t mystical secrecy or private revelation—it was undeniable and shared by every person present.

This testimony didn’t fade into folklore. The Torah commands active memory: “Teach it to your children and to your children’s children.” Memory is preserved through obligation, not sentiment. We recount the Exodus and Sinai:

Daily: In Shema and numerous blessings.

Weekly: Through Shabbat and Kiddush.

Annually: At the Passover Seder.

Nationally: During the pilgrimage festivals when the nation reaffirmed the covenant.

For more than 3,300 years, this pattern has remained unchanged. No revised scripture. No replacement prophet. No theological “update.” The chain has held—from father to son, teacher to student, community to community.

This is why Judaism stands apart: its foundation is not belief in a private revelation but the continuous, disciplined preservation of a national event witnessed by the strongest legal category of testimony. This makes the tradition not only sacred, but historically stable and intellectually defensible.

Chapter 1 — The Design

Human life is not an accident, nor is the physical world an obstacle. According to the ancient understanding reflected in this text, the physical world is the very arena in which the human being is meant to grow. We begin at a low point — distracted by appetites, driven by instinct — yet it is precisely from that low ground that we are meant to rise.

The world is not merely background. It is the instrument. When a person resists darkness, elevates his conduct, and transforms what is base into something decent and purposeful, that struggle becomes his achievement. Honor doesn’t come from escaping the world, but from using it wisely.

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Chapter 2 — The Limits That Shape Us

God, the text insists, did not leave humanity without guidance. He set limits — moral, spiritual, ethical. These limits govern how we use the world and how far we may go. When a person works within those boundaries, even mundane actions can become meaningful.

A meal becomes discipline. Work becomes purpose. Restraint becomes refinement.

The boundaries aren’t punishment. They are structure — the kind that turns activity into intention and intention into growth.

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Chapter 3 — Commandments as Human Architecture

The commandments, both the required acts and the prohibitions, are described as tools designed to build the human character. Each command offers a particular benefit: either planting excellence or removing moral fog.

No commandment is random or decorative. Each fits human nature, human weakness, and human potential. The design is precise: every detail exists because it contributes to what the human being could become.

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Chapter 4 — The Central Struggle

The text is blunt: the primary work of life is learning to conquer the lower impulses that push a person toward selfishness, indulgence, and distraction. Closeness to God — or in modern language, moral clarity, spiritual stability, and inner integrity — is not automatic. It requires decision.

One must choose to live consciously, not reactively. One must remember purpose in the middle of routine. The inner battle is not a flaw — it is the place where greatness is earned.

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Chapter 5 — Two Kinds of Action

Human behavior divides into two categories:

1. What we do because God commanded it — moral and ritual obligations.

2. What we do because life demands it — eating, working, resting, providing.

Both matter. The commandments shape the soul. Necessary activities maintain the body — and if done intentionally rather than impulsively, they also contribute to spiritual growth.

A person is meant to eat to fuel service, not to chase indulgence. Work is meant to sustain life, not to become life’s purpose. Necessity, handled with discipline, becomes part of holiness.

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Chapter 6 — Elevating the Everyday

When a person uses the world with mindfulness — avoiding what is forbidden, refusing excess, maintaining health for the sake of higher goals — the ordinary becomes sacred. Even daily routine becomes part of something larger.

In that approach, not only the individual rises, but the world itself is lifted, because it ceases to be a playground for appetite and becomes a support system for spiritual living.

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Chapter 7 — Awe and Aspiration

A meaningful life requires inner posture — humility before God, a sense of awe before the vastness of creation, and an awareness of one’s small place within it.

From that humility comes longing: the desire to be close to what is higher, better, and more enduring than the self.

That longing — quiet, steady, and sincere — is at the center of what this philosophy says God truly wants.

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Summary — Why Man Exists

Man was created to transform darkness into light. The physical world is not a distraction from spiritual purpose — it is the workshop in which that purpose unfolds. The commandments serve as the tools and boundaries that enable a person to fight inner darkness, reshape desire, and grow toward moral greatness.

A person fulfills their purpose when they live with intention: obeying what is right, restraining the unnecessary, refining the necessary, and grounding everything in the hope that one day, the fullness of goodness, clarity, and spiritual perfection will be realized.

At its core, the message is simple:

Man was created to strive upward — to hope for salvation, to work toward it, and to become worthy of it.

Chapter A:

1.
A person’s greatest obstacle is not the mountain in front of him, nor the challenges of society, nor the pressures of the world. The real barrier is the self — fear, ego, comfort, hesitation, and the inner negotiation that cripples action. This resistance determines whether a life rises or collapses.

2.
Judaism calls this inner engine ratzon — will. Not whim or mood, but the deep direction of the soul. When ratzon is firm and clean, nothing can block it. When ratzon is tangled with fear or self-interest, even small responsibilities become heavy.

3.
Ratzon Hashem is only human language, because the Creator has no need, no change, and no desire in the human sense. He willed the world into existence to give mankind the chance to act as a giver — the one form of Divine imitation that a limited being can achieve. A Creator with no needs designed a world filled with needs so that people could elevate each other.

4.
This defines the mission of every human being, and even more sharply the responsibility of the Jew: to show the world how a person rises above self-centered instinct and becomes a source of good. Torah life is built on this outward focus, aligning the human being with the purpose of creation.

5.
The path to success often feels like climbing a mountain, but anyone who pauses and reflects will see the truth: every step came from Hashem. Many others tried the same route with the same effort and failed. There is no superiority here — only being chosen. Yet the fear of losing what was given becomes a heavy obstacle. It turns a person inward, makes him protective, egotistical, and suspicious. Many wealthy individuals end up living in self-constructed towers, spending endlessly on themselves, surrounded by people who want proximity to money, not friendship. This breeds loneliness and makes generosity feel dangerous. The only way to break this trap is to strip away the illusion of ownership — to treat oneself as if nothing truly belongs to him — and to give, give, give until the ego releases its grip.

6.
Marriage reveals this truth in daily life. It forces a person to stop operating as the center of his own world. Giving, compromising, and sharing become non-negotiable. This transforms character and breaks selfish instinct. A single person may be kind, but he often chooses when to give and when to retreat. Marriage removes that escape.

7.
Many people carry emotional habits rooted in childhood. Parents from the post-war Eastern European generation — often themselves children of survivors — lived through hardship and had no modern language for emotion or conversation. They were sharp, tough, and one-directional in discipline. That upbringing left many adults today searching for a “blanket” or emotional pacifier to cover the wounds of a difficult home. Yet that same hardness often pushed their children toward resilience and success. Too-soft parenting can produce weak, unformed adults; too-hard parenting can leave emotional scars. The truth lies in balance — a blend of firmness and warmth. Earlier generations leaned heavily toward hardness, but that was the world Hashem shaped at that time and the method He used to build stronger character. Today the task is to keep the strength they gave while repairing the emotional gaps they could not fill.

8.
A developed human being is someone who rises above instinct, gives without self-worship, shares without calculation, and places others’ needs alongside his own. Success in any form rests on this ability. Stumbling over the self is the beginning of failure; stepping beyond the self is the beginning of life.

9.
The design of the world itself teaches the path forward: stop stumbling over your own self, and the way ahead becomes clear.

A Clear Torah Explanation of Wealth, Loss, and Divine Allocation

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I. The Core Principle

Chazal establish an uncompromising rule:

“אין אדם נוגע במוכן לחבירו”
A person cannot touch that which is prepared for someone else.
— Yoma 38b

This is not poetic language.
It is a direct statement on how Divine distribution operates.

What is decreed for a person — income, property, opportunity, position — cannot be taken by another.
And whatever Heaven has ruled must leave a person will leave, through one channel or another.

—

II. Two Tracks: The Decree and the Delivery

Torah thought separates the outcome from the method:

1. Heaven decrees the outcome.

For example, that a person will lose or gain a certain sum this year.

2. Human beings determine the method.

The loss or gain may come through:

business success or failure

market rise or collapse

unexpected expenses

government intervention

or, when wickedness prevails, through theft or corruption

The decree is fixed.
The path is chosen by human beings.

This explains:

“רשעים – שלוחי דינים”
The wicked become the agents of harsh decrees.

They are not forced; they choose to walk into that role.

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III. The Victim’s Loss and the Thief’s Gain Are Separate Calculations

A common mistake is thinking that if one person steals from another, he “took” the victim’s destiny.

Torah rejects that notion.

A. The loss reflects Heaven’s ruling, not the thief’s power.

If the victim was decreed to lose, the money was already spiritually on its way out.
If the thief did not choose sin, another channel would have carried out the decree.

The thief did not remove something that was still “his” in the eyes of Heaven.

B. The thief’s gain reflects his portion, not the victim’s.

Whatever he receives through sin is simply the material form of his predetermined portion — delivered in a corrupt way.

Heaven does not bless him for stealing.
He merely contaminates his own portion through his choices.

—

IV. Why the Thief Is Punished

If the victim was supposed to lose the money, why is the thief guilty?

Because Divine decree determines what, not who.

Chazal say:

“מגלגלין חובה על ידי חייב”
Heaven brings harm through those already inclined toward guilt.

The thief is punished for choosing to be the instrument of harm.
The decree of loss never forces anyone to commit sin.

The victim’s decree does not excuse the thief’s free will.

—

V. The Outward Success of the Wicked

A thief or corrupt individual may rise:

gaining wealth

projecting prestige

influencing society

This does not mean he took someone else’s portion.
It means Heaven is giving him his entire reward here, often as:

שכר מצוה בהאי עלמא
Payment for any merits he has, delivered in this world only.

Such success is unstable and spiritually empty.
It rarely lasts and never elevates.

—

VI. The Decline of the Formerly Wealthy

When someone once wealthy becomes poor, Torah sources describe this as part of a larger spiritual calculation:

misuse of resources

insufficient generosity

completion of a prosperity cycle

character tests

or reasons hidden from human knowledge

The person would have lost the wealth one way or another.
The human agent who triggered it is judged separately.

Heaven does not confuse the two stories.

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VII. The Principle in Full

The teaching from Yoma 38b is absolute:

No one takes what Heaven has destined for another.

No one retains what Heaven has ruled must leave him.

Wicked people may temporarily hold wealth, but it does not endure.

Every person receives his portion; every action carries its own judgment.

Providence and free will operate simultaneously and without contradiction.

—

VIII. A Classic Example: Haman’s Wealth and Its Collapse

Chazal provide a historic example of how wicked people may temporarily rise and then collapse completely.

1. Haman’s Sudden Wealth

The Midrash teaches that Haman discovered the hidden treasures of the descendants of Korach, becoming one of the wealthiest men of his era.

This explains how he:

bought influence in Achashverosh’s court,

purchased the highest ministerial position,

and offered a massive fortune to annihilate the Jews.

This was wealth without blessing — corrupt, arrogant, and spiritually rotten.

2. Wealth Without Stability

Haman’s fortune fueled delusion, hatred, and paranoia.
He lived with no inner peace, despite his power.

It was the textbook case of a rasha receiving his portion in this world alone.

3. The Collapse and Transfer to the Righteous

When Haman fell, all his property transferred to Esther and then to Mordechai, exactly as the Megillah records.

This is the clearest demonstration that:

The wicked do not own what they hold.

Their wealth is temporary and fragile.

Providence redirects it when the time comes.

4. The Broader Shift: Wealth Reassigned to the Jewish People

After Haman’s downfall, the resources and political capital he had accumulated were used:

to support the Jewish population throughout the empire,

to strengthen Jewish communities in exile,

and eventually to assist in the restoration of the Second Beis HaMikdash, as seen later in Tanach.

What looked like victory for evil was actually preparation for its downfall.

5. The Lesson

Haman is the model:

Wicked people may rise quickly.

Their wealth is not truly theirs.

Heaven redirects their resources to serve righteous purposes.

Their downfall is swift and total.

This is the full expression of “no one touches what is meant for someone else.”

—

IX. The Final Torah View

The Torah’s position is direct and without sentimentality:

A person cannot take what belongs to someone else in Heaven’s accounting.

A person cannot hold what Heaven decrees must leave him.

Wicked people may appear to succeed, but their rise is hollow.

Their wealth ultimately collapses and shifts to the righteous.

Divine allocation and human free will function together with perfect precision.

This is the sober, traditional understanding of Divine justice, wealth, and destiny.

Origins, Fractures, and the Weight of History**

I. The First Problem: You Can’t Outdo the Original

Once a foundational text appears and shapes a civilization, anything built afterward sits in its shadow.
Judaism, with roughly 3,337 years of continuous tradition and literature, is the earliest fully-developed monotheistic system with a legal code, ethical structure, national history, and ritual life.

It isn’t about belief alone — it’s a complete civilization.
Later religions faced a hard reality: creating something totally original risks being dismissed as fiction or fantasy. So they borrowed the blueprint.

This borrowing is visible in:

narrative structures

moral frameworks

prophetic models

commandments or law codes

ideas about afterlife, reward, punishment

the one-God model

the concept of “chosen” or “covenant” identity

Copying a strong structure may help a new group get started, but it also locks them into a permanent defensive position. When your foundation is borrowed, your legitimacy is always open to question.

—

II. The Copycat Cycle: Why Borrowed Systems Split Internally

Here’s where the real instability begins.

When a religion copies an older framework but claims to “replace” it, every disagreement becomes a threat to the entire system. New interpretations are not just opinions — they become new branches, then new sects, then new religions.

1. No single authority can hold the structure together

If the system didn’t grow organically from centuries of law, texts, and tradition, there is no built-in mechanism to settle disputes.
So every argument becomes an opportunity for a break.

2. The borrowed parts create loopholes

When your core ideas are not your own — prophecy, scripture, law, revelation — anyone who comes later can claim:

a “new revelation”

a “better interpretation”

a “true version of the founder’s words”

And there’s no solid way to shut them down.

3. Copying encourages internal competition

Once you accept the idea that your religion can override or reinterpret an older one, members inside your own community will eventually try the same trick on you.

That’s how you end up with:

Roman Catholics → Eastern Orthodox → Byzantine Catholic hybrids → Protestantism → hundreds of Protestant splinters

Islam → Sunni vs Shia → further fragmentation inside both camps

Smaller movements constantly breaking off into new denominations

The more a system is built on reinterpretation, the more reinterpretation becomes its culture.

—

III. Why Judaism Didn’t Fracture the Same Way

Judaism has internal debates, but they revolve around interpretation of the same foundational texts, not the creation of new scriptures or new prophets.
The framework is:

fixed

ancient

communal

legally binding

historically continuous

You can argue inside the house, but you don’t burn the house and rebuild a new one next door.

This is why the core body of Judaism — the Hebrew Bible, the legal tradition, the calendar, the core rituals — has stayed intact for over three millennia, across continents, empires, persecutions, and dispersions.

Continuity isn’t an accident. It’s structural.

—

IV. Why Newer Religions Couldn’t Stay Unified

Christianity (approx. 1st century CE)

It starts as a reform movement based on the Hebrew Bible, then builds evolving layers:

church hierarchy

councils

creeds

political alliances

Without a unified legal tradition, interpretation becomes everything.
And interpretation is the fastest path to fragmentation.
No central court, no ancient legal process, no shared national history — so eventually:

Catholic

Orthodox

Oriental Orthodox

Protestant

40,000+ denominations and sub-groups

Once you set the precedent of rewriting older texts, every generation feels entitled to make its own version.

Islam (approx. 7th century CE)

Islam also builds itself from the earlier Biblical framework — prophets, law, a single God, sacred text.
But authority questions appear immediately after its founder’s death.

Result:

Sunni

Shia

Kharijites

Further fragmentation inside both major branches

The borrowed foundation provided structure, but not stability.
The younger the religion, the more exposed it is to political and interpretive struggles.

—

V. The Timeline That Explains Everything

It helps to see the historical distances clearly:

Tradition Approx. Age Core Status

Judaism ~3,337 years Original source-text tradition; basis of the Old Testament; earliest monotheistic legal-religious system
Christianity ~1,990 years Builds on Old Testament ideas, reinterprets earlier texts, adds new scripture
Islam ~1,400 years Builds on Biblical characters, prophets, and stories, claims to finalize earlier traditions

The age gaps matter because they show the direction of influence:
you can’t borrow from something that didn’t yet exist.

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VI. The Core Thesis: Why Being a Copycat Guarantees Instability

A religion built on replacement thinking invites future replacements.
A religion built on reinterpretation invites endless reinterpretation.

A copycat structure has three unavoidable weaknesses:

1. Borrowed legitimacy

2. Flexible interpretation that can always be challenged

3. No ancient legal backbone to handle disputes

Judaism’s stability comes from its depth and age.
Christianity’s and Islam’s fragmentation comes from their structure.
The pattern repeats across history because it’s built into the logic of copying.

When you inherit a blueprint instead of developing one, you build something that can function — but you don’t build something that can last unchanged for millennia.

And history has proven it.