Part I.Life of LaborLOTS OF GOOD THINGS FOR THE LABORERWe will begin with the well-known words of Rashi found in the beginning of ourparsha– but first thepossuk. It says אִם בְּחֻקֹּתַי תֵּלֵכוּ וְאֶת מִצְוֹתַי תִּשְׁמְרוּ… וְנָתַתִּי גִשְׁמֵיכֶם בְּעִתָּם – “If you will walk in My statutes and observe My mitzvos… then I will provide for you your rains at their proper times” (Bechukosai 26:3-4). And not only rain; thepesukimgive a long list of rewards that Hashem promises to those who “walk in My statutes and observe My mitzvos.” וִישַׁבְתֶּם לָבֶטַח בְּאַרְצְכֶם – “You will dwell securely in your land, וְנָתַתִּי שָׁלוֹם בָּאָרֶץ, and I will provide peace in the land.” Take a look inside thechumash; there are a lot of good things that come when you walk in the statutes of Hashem.Only that we have to know, what does it mean towalkin themitzvos, towalkin the decrees of Hashem? And that’s the question that Rashi asks: What do these words, “Walk in My statutes” refer to?Yachol zeh kiyum hamitzvos, “I might have thought that it’s referring to fulfilling the commandments,k’shehu oimer, but it explicitly says: וְאֶת מִצְוֹתַי תִּשְׁמְרוּ – “And you should observe My commandments.”Thosewords are talking about doing themitzvos; so what do the words אִם בְּחֻקֹּתַי תֵּלֵכוּ – “You should walk in My statutes” mean? And so Rashi tells us: It means שֶׁתִּהְיוּ עֲמֵלִים בַּתּוֹרָה – “That you should belaboringin the Torah.”Teileichu– “You should walk; that means you should be moving forward, making progress. You can’t just be ‘keeping’ the Torah – you have to beameilin it. And that means we have our work cut out for us.EVEN AMERICANS MUST LABORIf you want to serve Hashem it takesameilus, labor. Now, I know that for our American ears, it’s something difficult to accept. We don’t want tolabor– maybe to work a little bit, OK, we’ll consider it; but to labor, to beameil, that we’ll leave for others. So the first thing we have to get into our heads is that we came to this world to labor.In Iyov (5:7) it states:Adam l’amal yulad– “Man was born into this world foramal, for toil.” Now, the truth is that all of creation must work in this world – birds, plants, reptiles, mammals; they also have to make a certain effort. But that’s not theirpurpose. They’re notbornfor toil- they’re born for utility. The world needs them; there’s an ecosystem where they fit in and therefore even an ant must toil to maintain himself, to preserve his existence. Animals must labor to find food, to find shelter, to survive; nevertheless that’s not their purpose. But Mankind is different:adam l’amal yulad, his purpose is totoil. It’s a very important principle you’re hearing now. In fact it’s the principle of principles.AMEILUS BATORAH!Now, to labor in Torah includes many subdivisions, but the first thing that comes to mind when we read the words of Rashi: שֶׁתִּהְיוּ עֲמֵלִים בַּתּוֹרָה isameilusinlimud hatorah.Learning Torah is very important! If you have any chance to learn – not just to learn, but to beameilin Torah – there’s nothing better than that. Because even when learning Torah, a person can choose the path of avoidingameilus; he could study easier things. He could bema’aver sedrah, and then he could learnMishlei. And afterMishlei, he sits and saysTehillim. And it’s all important, but if you were born to beameil, then you have to labor in learninggemaratoo.Gemarais never easy, you know; it’s never easy. לֹא כָּרַת הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בְּרִית אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶלָּא בִּשְׁבִיל תּוֹרָה שֶׁבַּעֲל פֶּה – Hashem made a covenant with our nation only because of theTorah sh’bal peh(Gittin 60b). And thegemarasays מִשּׁוּם דְּתַקִּיפוּ לְמִיגְמְרִינְהוּ – because it’s hard to learn theTorah sh’bal peh.Especially before they had printedgemaras, everything was done by heart; it’s very difficult to learnb’al peh.CHAZARA IS AMEILUSOf course, to labor means that you have to sit by thegemaraand learn for many hours, no question about that. And it’s not only what you learn but how you learn. To review what you’re learning, that’sameilusba’Torah. You should say the words of thegemaraover and over again. If you learn aperek, and you review it again and again until you know theperek, that’sameilus. And if you labor inTosfos,surely good. But even if you just labor in a plain piece ofgemara, and you can say it likeashrei, you’re a success. And actually there’s nothing sweeter than knowing a wholeperekinside – even thegemaraalone. If you can run through thepereklike you sayashrei, it’s asimcha, a real happiness.We say it every morning: וְהַעֲרֶב נָא הַשֵּׁם אֱלֹקֵינוּ, “Make the words of Your Torah sweet in my mouth.” How does it become sweet? You know when you keep a piece of bread in your mouth longer it becomes sweeter; every time you chomp down, it becomes sweeter and sweeter. Because the bread is starch and the starch turns into sugar through the action of the saliva on the starch. The enzymes mix with the starch and it turns to sugar. The longer the bread is in your mouth the more sweet it becomes. And the Torah is no different – the longer the Torah is in your mouth, the sweeter it becomes. So review and review and review; theameilusofchazarais wonderful.THE MORE DIFFICULT THE BETTERThere’s a world of achievement for you. Every male should have a goal of learningkol hatorah kula.All of it!Talmud Bavli, Talmud Yerushalmi; there’s no end to what you have to accomplish. And you’ll only achieve it by means of hard work; it’s not easy street in this world and therefore you won’t succeed unless youlaborin Torah.And it’s the labor, it’s the hard work, that Hashem wants. That’s the great principle ofl’fum tzara agra,according to the difficulty is the reward. The more difficult it is, the more is the reward. Let’s say it’s a hardsugya;you don’t understand it and you’re discouraged – so you get more reward than when you do understand it. The morekashasyou have and the less you know about thegemara, so you’re struggling more and you’re working on it, so you get more reward.You know,Tosfoshad morekashasthan we have because he wasameilwhen he learned asugya.Tosfoswhen he finished thesugya, he would say, “I don’t understand thegemaraat all!” But we learn for a few minutes and “I got it; I understand everything!” – because we’re not working.Tosfoshas questions on thegemarabecause his mind was laboring, he was always thinking. SoTosfosgets more reward because he suffered more in his learning. Whatever it is, difficulty in doing good things certainly gives you a greater reward.WHAT’S “TO DO” ALREADYIn the beginning of the creation of the world, it says that Hakodosh Boruch Hu blessed the seventh day, כִּי בוֹ שָׁבַת מִכָּל מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר בָּרָא אֱלֹקִים לַעֲשׂוֹת – because on that day, He stopped all His workthat He created to do(Bereishis 2:3). Now, if you pay attention to thatpossukit seems likela’asosis a superfluous word; He createdla’asos, “to do”. That word “to do” is hanging on like a tail at the end of thepossuk. He created; that’s all! What is “to do”?Now, inpashtusit means that He created the world to function continuously; that means that after Hakodosh Boruch Hu established the entirebriyah, it continues to function. All living things work in tandem and this very complicated world runs on its own,k’viyachol, living, producing, functioning. A cow, for example. Cows are giving us milk and meat and leather, and other good things. There are baby cows, and they eat grass and become big cows and the process starts again. And Hashem made itla’asos, that it should continue to function this way on its own.WE DO MORE THAN COWSNow this explanation is a true explanation, no question about it. However, ourchachomimtell us that there’s something more important than that. Because man after all is the most important creation in the world and hisla’asosis a different kind ofla’asosthan that of the cow – he’s created not just to function; to eat and reproduce. Man is created to do something more than just live.On this word,la’asos, there’s aMedrashthat states as follows. “It’s amashalto a craftsman who is working in his shop and his little son is looking on. After the boy becomes older, so the father says, ‘Now you take over.’” That’s themashalin theMedrash.Now, what’s thenimshal?As follows.Before the creation of the world, man did not exist yet and therefore Hakadosh Baruch Hu was the sole doer; Hashem was the Creator, the only doer. But when He finished and He created man, so He said, “Nowyoutake over; now it’s you turnla’asos; I wantyouto get busy doing.And therefore the words אֲשֶׁר בָּרָא אֱלֹקִים לַעֲשׂוֹת – “He created –to do,”means that from now on, man must do.WELCOME TO THE WORKSHOPAnd so when you enter this world, you’re coming into a workshop.You’re not coming into a vacation place.It’s not a place where you’ll lull on the beach or sit in an easy chair. This is a place for work.That’s the lesson that is being emphasized here, that you were born into a worldla’asos, to do. אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר כָּל אָדָם לְעָמָל נִבְרָא – Every person was created in order to labor (Sanhedrin 98b), and there’s no way to skirt your obligation if you want to fulfill your purpose here.Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the system whereby men must labor. בְּזֵעַת אַפֶּיךָ תֹּאכַל לֶחֶם – “With the sweat of your brow, you’re going to eat bread” (Bereishis 3:19); which means the Creator laid down a law that you mustworkfor your living.There’s no such thing as loafing through life because the loafers are the ones who leave the world quickly. And even if they hang around, it’s usually trouble – for everyone.Work is a fundamental part of our nature.When people don’t work, then something happens to them.First of all, their minds begin to falter.Without being busy, it’s almost impossible to maintain sanity.It’s an interesting aspect of human nature that man cannot tolerate idleness.Even the wealthy who don’t have to work, so they look for something to do as a substitute for work. They travel; some do more mischievous things.Whatever it is, they try to keep themselves busy in one way or the other.THE REAL WORKBut all this, you have to know, is really only a symbol of something that’s much more profound. Because man was not made merely to stand behind a counter or to drive a truck or to be a dentist.All these things are only amashal.They’re only a symbol of our true function. This instinct of the workdrive in human beings was given to men in order to let them know, in order to stimulate them, to labor forshleimus, perfection.Ha’kol tzrichin asiyah; man was not created as a finished product, is what the Medrash says. The wordla’asostells us that the work is not yet done; we’re not perfected yet.Bara Elokim, Hashem created you,la’asos, so that you should do something; you were created to make something out of yourself.That’s your job in life and there’s so muchla’asos, so much to do, that it means we have a big job ahead of us.THE TRUCKER WHO MISSED THE BOATIt’s not enough to refrain fromaveiros; it’s a very good thing to refrain from doing sins, but it’s not enough. You didn’t come into this world to not do sins. You’re here to do something positive, to labor inla’asos.I always tell you this story: You sent your trucker with a truck full of goods to deliver in Los Angeles. So he made the trip and came back and he tells you, “Boss, it was a successful trip. I didn’t get a single traffic ticket, no accidents. It went very well.” “That’s great,” you say. “And how did the drop off go? Did all the goods fit into the warehouse?” “Oh,” he tells you. “I forgot to deliver the goods!” So you’ll come back to Hashem and you’ll say, “Hakodosh Boruch Hu, I did no sins.” “Fine, very good,” says Hashem, “What aboutla’asos? What did you make out of yourself?” “Oh, that I forgot.”Now, I’m going to emphasize this a little more because when people hear they have to do, immediately they think they understand what to do.You have to domitzvos.Andmitzvos, that’s already a stereotype – nothing to talk about.Why waste any more time talking about it? Who doesn’t know you have to domitzvos?And the answer is,mitzvosis not what you think it is.Because whatevermitzvosare, they’re only the beginning, the bare bones of yourshleimus, of making yourself. They are only means that are given to help out.לֹא נִתְּנוּ הַמִּצְווֹת אֶלָּא לְצָרֵף בָּהֶן הַבְּרִיּוֹת, the purpose ofmitzvosis to refine the person doing themitzvos(Bereishis Rabbah 44:1).Which means that people can domitzvos, but many times they lose sight of the purpose; and it’s a pity, it’s a frustration of the plan of Hashem.CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOULFor instance, themitzvahof Shabbos. If it’s done properly, Shabbos can change a man.Week after week, the Shabbos comes and goes and it changes people.Only that you have to know how to utilize Shabbos. That’s why there’s no other work allowed on Shabbos, because you’re expected to get yourmindworking, thinking. You can’t just eat the chicken soup like agolem. Now, you can’t expect to work the whole bowl of soup, but at least the first spoonful, you can beameilin! You think, “This spoonful is to celebratebriyas ha’olam yeish mei’ayin, the creation of the world from nothing.” Ah! Now you accomplished! You changed yourself!Tefillinshould change you. If you put thetefillinon your head with the proper understanding, you become a different person. Of course, it takes effort. You’d rather not have to think – on, off, on, off, every day, that’s it. But if you’ll beameil, if every morning you put some thought into whattefillinmean, so every day becomes a newla’asos. Not only are you putting tefillinonyour head, but you’re changing what’sinyour head; and that’s the realla’asos, to transform your mind into a Torah mind.When you weartzitzisand you utilize them, that’sla’asos. Not to just let them hang there and never consider them. It’s better than nothing but that’s not it.Adam l’amal yulad, you have to beameilin themitzvos! We have to utilize themitzvosforshleimus. You can’t do it all at once, but little by little, you begin to beameilin themitzvos, and that’s your success. You’re moving, you’re progressing every day.WALKING AMONG THE ANGELSThere was a certain Kohen Gadol, who had a vision once, a prophetic vision, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu showed him that there weremalachimwho were standing around.Angels were standing around.So Hashem said to the Kohen Gadol, “If you will go in My ways, then וְנָתַתִּי לְךָ מַהְלְכִים בֵּין הָעֹמְדִים הָאֵלֶּה, I’m going to give you the opportunity to walk among those who are standing here” (Zecharia 3:7).It’s a remarkablepossuk.Hashem isdescribing the angels asstanding, and He says, “You are going towalkamong these standing angels.” Not, “You’ll stand among the angels” or “You’ll walk together with the angels.”No, the angels are standing and you’ll be walking among them.So the commentaries explain as follows. Angels are calledomdimbecause they can only stand, they don’t move. Now, we know that they move from one place to another, whatever it is; they carry out whatever Hashem sends them to do. But still they’reomdimbecause they cannot change. An angel cannot become better; there’s nola’asosfor an angel.An angel will never improve himself.He’s a robot.Whatever he is, that’s what he’s going to be forever.You, however, are amehalech.You are walking.You’re not supposed to stand still!You’re not supposed to be anoimed.You cannot stand still.That’s the contrast,mihalchim bein ha’omdim.A human being is not anoimed; he’s amehalech.אִם בְּחֻקֹּתַי תֵּלֵכוּ – He has to be walking; he has to be toiling.STEP BY STEPNow, walking means he has to journey. And journey means step by step.You don’t make a journey by one great leap. Even if you’re taking a plane, you’ll have to step up the stairs to the plane.You have to make steps and therefore, gradually a man is expected to change himself.And so we must understand that the system that is required of us is a system of gradual progress, gradual achievement. That’s whatbichukosai teilechuis saying. It’s a process, it’s step by step; nobody accomplishes things immediately. But it means that you have to be moving, always laboring and walking forward. There are no two ways about it –adam l’amal yulad,that’s why you were born.Part II.A Program for LifeDON’T YES ME!I’m not going to leave you with just this thought alone because it will have no effect. Because people say “Yes, yes,” and then they go home and forget about it.It’s easy to say, but it’s difficult to do the work. Now, work means you have to have a program.And you have to look for advice on how to work on it. Did you ever ask anybody?Ah nechtige tug.He never even thought of getting busy on it! Why should he? He’s sure he has it already.And that brings us now to a greateitzah, the great recommendation for how a person can change himself.So we’ll talk for a few minutes about a system, a system we can follow forla’asos. This system is exemplified by a certainsefercalled Cheshbon Hanefesh.Now, it’s not the only system there is, but it’s a system that works if you take it seriously. And peopleshouldtake it seriously because this is the most serious business of life – not to be anoimed, not to stand still. There’s a man in this synagogue who’s been here for forty years, almost fifty years already, and he is the same as he was when he walked in. Of course, that’s also an achievement; he could have become much worse – there are people like that too. But not spoiling is not enough. Hakadosh Baruch Hu didn’t create us to remain the same.Thegemaratells a case of tzaddikim who were taken out of this world, not because of anything wrong, but because they stopped improving. Life is only for improving, for changing.THE REMARKABLE SYSTEMSo let’s study this system, and we’ll take it seriously because that’s our business here; we were born to beameil. The author of Cheshbon Hanefesh was Rav Mendel Satanover.He lived in the time of the Gra and he was a man who exercised quality of thought.It’s remarkable what else he says in hisseferbesides what we’re going to say now. You’ll find there remarkable ideas about how to recognize thekochos hanefesh, the psychology of human nature, and how to harness a person’s qualities to do good things.When I was in Slabodka, there was ahistadrus hamussar. It was a gathering of Slabodka talmidim – Roshei yeshiva,kollelpeople andtalmidimwho came together from time to time to work onmussar.And one of the projects they undertook was to reprint some oldsefer.And they were considering – I was present at the meeting – they were considering reprinting Rabbeinu Yonah on Mishlei. And yet, even though Rabeinu Yonah is aRishon, finally they decided in favor of the Cheshbon Hanefesh.Do you know what that means? These people were experts in the subject, old Roshei Yeshiva,talmidei chachomim,and of all themussar seforimto reprint they chose the Cheshbon Hanefesh. You know, that Rav Yisrael Salanter in theseferOhr Yisrael, he says, עַיֵּן בְּחֶשְׁבּוֹן הַנֶּפֶשׁ“See Cheshbon Hanefesh.”It’s a remarkable thing.R’ Yisrael didn’t recommend anyseferand here you have a remark,agav orcha, he says, עַיֵּן בְּחֶשְׁבּוֹן הַנֶּפֶשׁ.That’s a tremendous recommendation.SLOWLY BUT SURELYSo here is the system that thisseferrecommends. There are easy stages; it’s a week by week program, so pay attention to what we say here now. Let’s say this week you decide you want to work on the quality of loving your fellow Jew.Now you can’t suddenly say הִנְנִי מוּכָן וּמְזֻמָּן and I’ll do it.No, you can’t do it; it won’t work. To succeed, you’ll do it by gradual stages. You commit yourself toameilus, to labor in loving your fellow Jew and you get going.You’ll pick just one Jew and you’ll concentrate on him this week.This one Jew, for this week, you’ll try to think as much as you can of his good qualities. Latch onto something! Even if it’s just his appearance, how he dresses.Somethingyou can find! Try to love him. Think of him as if he were your brother, or your son. Better yet think of him as if he were yourself.Now how much time are you going to spend?Naturally, you’re not going to spend much time.Spend two minutes a day thinking about that while you’re walking.For two minutes think about that person.And bemekayeimon him וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ at least two minutes.Of course, you won’t love him.At first it’s just externalities.But by the end of the week – seven times two, that’s fourteen minutes – it’s a lot of time fourteen minutes.I know that the decent people here, they say, “Fourteen minutes a week? That’s all?!” They do more than that.A nechtige tahg!Did they ever spend even one second on the subject?! Now, let’s say by the end of the week you did fourteen minutes on one person. You’re going to getschar, you’ll get a big reward for trying; just for the effort alone – besides for the perfection you achieved.NEW WEEK, NEW PROGRAMNow the next week.Next week, try something else.This week you’ll try themiddahof keeping your mouth closed.Work on that quality for a whole week; it doesn’t mean you’ll do itallweek, but at least during that week you’ll choose one hour a day. “This one hour, I’m going to shut my mouth and only open it for the necessity of saying a kind and helpful word to somebody, like good morning or thank you. Otherwise, I put a padlock on my lips for one hour a day.” That’s this week.Little by little, a person learns to control his tongue, to squelch the wisecrack, to repress some stupid remark.And when this week passes away, he’s finished.He can’t keep it up too long because the energy and ambition peter out. The Cheshbon Hanefesh says that; he says that thegevuras hanefeshpeters out and that’s why you go on to a newmiddahthe following week.But the effect stays with you even after the week ends. With a little bit of work this beautiful quality of keeping your mouth closed will make you a new man. You get home and your wife says something silly to you, you get excited and open your big mouth and it blows up. Learn to practice keeping themiddahof staying quiet. So when you’re taking hold of the doorknob, make up your mind, “No matter what she says I won’t answer back.” Make up your mind – the effect will last for the next five minutes at least. All right, five minutes is also a big achievement. And if you’reameilin it, then after a while it will last for five hours. Or the wife; she knows her husband is coming home from work soon, so she makes up her mind that she’s going to keep quiet today. So he’s quiet and she’s quiet, and it’s a beautiful evening. And not only a beautiful evening but they’re both transforming themselves into beautiful people.THE MEZUZAH PROJECTThe third week, another project. Project number three – as you pass a house where you see amezuzah, especially a bigmezuzah, bless those people.Now, they don’t know that you’re blessing them; even better.Bless the Jewish families who have bigmezuzoson their doors.The truth is you can bless any sizemezuzah.Isn’t that a beautiful thing to beameilin?For one week, as you pass bymezuzosyou pour out thebrachos.That’s living! That’s making progress!You’re traveling, not standing still.A man who does that for one week is fulfilling בְּחֻקֹּתַי תֵּלֵכוּ He’s actually walking through his neighborhood in themitzvosof Hashem.Now if you live in the frum neighborhood, there are so manymezusosyou can’t do it. So choose one block ofmezuzos; one full block. As I pass by, I look at the house and I say, “A blessing on them.”And if you want to be better, be explicit.“They should live long.” “They should be rich.” “They should be healthy.” “They should have happiness from their children.”Don’t be lazy; keep on alternating thebrachos.Get accustomed to blessing people who havemezuzoson their doorposts and do it all week. That’s this week; the third week.CHAZERINGFOUR TIMES A YEARNow, you’ll chose thirteen different programs for thirteen weeks because the year has about fifty two weeks. So four times thirteen weeks is fifty-two, so that means four times a year you’ll review these projects.Now, not everybody should work on the same thing.It depends on what you need, more or less.Some people have to refrain from spending too much time at the supper table or too much time on the couch. Here’s a man who sits down with a newspaper and a half hour goes by. Thirty minutes you need?! You have to read everything?! So for this week work on shaving off fifteen minutes. Shave fifteen minutes off that half hour every day – that’s already progress. And those fifteen minutes you can pick up agemaraand learn three lines every day. Three lines a day! You can go and make something out of yourself during those fifteen minutes. That’s alreadyameilus ba’torah. Don’t disdain fifteen minutes ofameilus; three lines every day and you’re already amehalech.This system that was outlined just now is a precious counsel that thisseferhas bequeathed to us; to work gradually on ourselves step-by-step and to be amehalech, to move all our lives, steadily ahead, even though it’s only one step at a time.However, despite everything I’m saying, most people will never do it. Most people will just ignore what we’re saying here. It’s a tragedy, but that’s how people are; they won’t do it.Theywon’tgo home tonight and take a notebook and divide it into thirteen pages and write a heading on each page – “This week I’m working on this, next week on that.” That’s what they ought to do, by the way.If that’s what you’ll do, so tonight was a very valuable night for you.And you keep that notebook with you. Even if you try it for one year or a half a year or a quarter of a year, it’s gold and diamonds.It’s already a life of accomplishment.And when people make a program in life, a program of making progress, of not standing still, that’s the greatness of succeeding in this world. That’s what you came here for! That’s your life!And therefore, do anything to start moving in the right direction!And even though you’re moving slowly, as long as you continue to move, to grow, that’s the fulfillment of the purpose of life and that’s the purpose of the world.The world was createdla’asos–for a man to make something out of himself.RABBI MILLER DISLIKES THE STYLENow, if you’ll put your mind to it, you’ll see that the opportunities forla’asos, forameilusin growth, are available all the time. Nothing is easy, and that’s the joy of life, that’s the success of this world. Let’s say, for example, theameilusof fighting against the modes of the day, the styles of the day. Now, I don’t want to go into details; I don’t want to make some people here feel slighted, but there are certain things that people do today that are a result of styles, of being in style. And I don’t approve of it. There are certain things that are only the product of theyetzer harahand for women especially – men too, but women especially, even frum women – indulge in them to make themselves look prettier. I don’t approve of thatat all.“It’s not easy,” you say. So what?! That’s what you’re here for; to beameil, to labor in the service of Hashem. You must fight back against the fashions of the day. It doesn’t mean you have to be old-fashioned, but the things that are done today in order to attract the eyes of other people, that I don’t like. A woman should never make herself too attractive in public. It’s very important, and that means that every woman, every girl, has to beameilbecause it’s not easy to fight the environment. It’s atza’ar, it’s anamal, but that’s what you came to this world for.THE EREV SHABBOS AMEILUS PROGRAMAnd the truth is that you don’t have to search forameilus– it’s always there. Here’s a woman in her house and Shabbos is coming. Shabbos is coming and she’s going crazy; she has a house full of children and she has to cook and bake and clean. But once she understands what we’re saying here tonight, so she’s not going crazy; it’s hard work, it’sameilusin Torah, absolutely, but she’s not going crazy. She’s full of joy because she knows that she’s accomplishing her purpose in this world.So she’s busy mixing the ingredients and the children are pulling at her dress. Some of them are fighting, and she’s telling them, “Don’t fight; keep quiet. Shabbos is coming,” as she puts the food in the oven. She’s building the Shabbos; it’s not easy to build but she’s doing it! That’s the meaning oflaasos, to accomplish, to live in this world for a purpose.Now here’s ayeshiva bochur; he’s not baking and cooking for Shabbos. His mother lets him stay in thebeis medrashon erev Shabbos to learn. But no matter, he can’t excuse himself from the function ofla’asos, ofamal. So he’s learning a piece ofgemara, and he labors to remember it. He goes over it again and again and again; that’slaasos, that’sameil, he’s accomplishing something. Maybe he’s tired; he’d rather lay on the couch with a magazine or a newspaper, a kosher newspaper. But he says, “No, that’s notameilus; I’m here in this world to labor in accomplishment.”Part III.Laboring in HappinessIS IT SO HARD TO BE HAPPY?And now we come to the one subject with which I want to conclude. I have so much to say to you aboutameilusstill, but I must conclude with this one subject. Because there’s another very important form of labor that is included in שֶׁתִּהְיוּ עֲמֵלִים בַּתּוֹרָה that many people don’t know about – and actually they’re surprised to hear that it requires any work at all. And that is the labor of learning how to enjoy this world.There’s no question about it that this world is full of happiness. But it’s not just something that happens; to some people more, and some less. No, it’s a part of the Torah; the Torah of happiness is a very bigcheilekof the Torah, and like all the subdivisions of Torah it requiresameilusto achieve. LikeRashiexplained, Hashem tells us that we have to beameilin Torah to acquire it. And what that means is that you have to study happiness; you have to labor in thesugyaof happiness if you want to appreciate this world. You hear thatchiddush? You can not become asamei’achb’chelko, you can not enjoy this world, unless you put in work.LAZY PEOPLE GO TO AMUSEMENT PARKSNow, the lazy people who never studied how to enjoy this world, they never labored in it, so they keeptryingto enjoy this world, but they find that this world is a place of disappointments. Even when they set out to go someplace for a good time, when they come back home they see it was a disappointment. You go to the movies, and the lights come back on again and you see it’s nothing but a fake; the story never happened. It’s only a film; there’s nothing to it. Others think that maybe that they’ll find happiness on roller coasters. And if you’re a high roller, you’ll have biggerhasagos, bigger dreams, so you’ll fly to the Bahamas to search for happiness. And trust me, you won’t find it; you won’t find happiness in the Bahamas. Bigger mosquitoes than here in Brooklyn, that you’ll definitely find. Maybe some new disease from the islands you’ll bring back; but happiness, no. Because for happiness you have to labor. And when you try to find happiness the easy way, by going to ball games and amusement parks, so it may be that you can find a thrill, some fun, yes. But happiness, no. Life becomes one big disappointment.Hashem says, “I gave you this world to enjoy itbut like all good things you have to labor for it.”הָעוֹלָם לֹא נִבְרָא אֶלָּא לְהִתְעַנֵּג – the world was only made for happiness (Mesillas Yesharim,Hakdamah). Of course the last word there is important – it says there לְהִתְעַנֵּג עַל הַשֵּׁם – to be grateful to Him, to think about Him, to appreciate what He’s giving you. We’re here to understand the gifts of Hashem and to enjoy them. And when you enjoy life by means of labor, by means of studying the gifts of Hashem, thinking about them, then Hakodosh Boruch Hu says, “You’re fulfilling your purpose.” And therefore you have no option; you have to put in effort. It’s only when people toil, when they labor to see the happiness of life, that’s how they become happy people. By means ofameilusyou can become a person who is actually overflowing withsimcha, with real joy.ENJOYING THIS WORLD WITHOUT A WRISTWATCHOnce a man ran over to me and he said, “Why are you always talking aboutOlam Hazeh?!” It was a kollel man – “You’re talking to them aboutta’anugei Olam Hazeh,” he said. I looked at him. He’s wearing a wristwatch – I don’t wear a wristwatch. He smokes – I don’t smoke. He drives a car – I don’t have a car. But I’m the guilty one who’s enjoyingOlam Hazeh!He doesn’t care forOlam Hazeh!The answer is that כְּסִיל בַּחֹשֶׁךְ הוֹלֵךְ, the fools walk in darkness (Koheles 2:14). He doesn’t know what happiness is. You don’t need wristwatches and cars to be happy; you don’t need anything to be happy exceptseichelandameilus.You must learn to appreciate the fact that you are able to breathe. Did you ever toil inlearninghow to enjoy how to breathe fresh air? Walk out of here tonight on the street and fill your lungs, those two balloons, with air. Breathe deeply; it’s a delight. The air oxygenates your blood and makes it red. The iron in the blood unites with the oxygen; the hemoglobin takes the oxygen in and it begins flowing in a form that’s easily assimilated by the body. Your whole body is delighting in that oxygen. There’s a happiness in breathing! You never thought about that? Practice it! Here’s a person who learned how to breathe deeply, and he enjoys life because of it. But it didn’t just happen that way; he labored in it. You’ll never be happy with breathing unless you work on it.SEEING HAPPINESSLearn how to enjoy the happiness of being able to see. You have two good cameras, camcorders, and as you turn your neck you can see everything around you. Isn’t that a pleasure? Isn’t it beautiful? You see everything; colors and movement and faces. Isn’t that a happiness? Of course it’s not, because you never labored in it. There’s nothing in the world as beautiful as seeing. If you think about that person you saw tapping his way in the street with a stick; he was robbed of this great happiness, and you have it!Boruch Atah Hashem, po’keiach ivrim; Ah! The happiness of seeing. If you labor in the Torah of how to be happy with your eyes so you’ll never be able to be unhappy all your life.Eizehu ashir,who is rich in this world?Hasameiach b’chelko, the one who learns to enjoy his eyes, and his lungs.Learn to enjoy the fact that you could walk.Boruch atah Hashem ha’meichin mitzadei gaver –He establishes my footsteps. What a pleasure it is to get around on my feet. Look at the man sitting in the wheelchair; he can’t walknebach. It’s a pity on him. He lost that great fun of locomotion; walking back and forth using those two Rolls Royces underneath your body! Ah, ah, ah, what a happiness! The simcha of walking, it’s a joy! The person who learns how to enjoy walking will always be full of happiness.THE HAPPINESS OF BREAD AND WATERLearn how good it is to eat a piece of bread. Eating a slice of bread is a very bigsimcha, it’s very great fun. And don’t think that it’s not a mitzvah.Boruch Atah Hashem, hamotzee lechem min ha’aretz.It’s a great fun to eat a piece of bread and to thank Hashem from the bottom of your heart. And you say that the purpose of the bread is בַּעֲבוּר שְׁמוֹ הַגָּדוֹל, for the sake of His great name. “I’ll enjoy the bread and think of His great name.”כִּי הוּא קֵל זָן וּמְפַרְנֵס לְכָל, You give food to the world. What a pleasure it is to chew on the bread. The pleasure of eating a piece of bread! How great is the daily experiences of a man who understands what it means to be able to chew a piece of bread and swallow it. What a benefit it is for the body to eat a piece of bread. It’s a blessing.Now, when you learn to enjoy the piece of bread and with it, a glass of water, that’s theameilusof a happy man. Water is a miracle; water is a combination of two gases. Can you imagine that? it’s two gases. It’s oxygen and hydrogen and neither of them on its own could quench his thirst. And then it comes together by an electric spark and it becomes water. That’s a miracle! Aneis! And thatneisgoes into your body and it lubricates all your joints; it makes your eyes sparkle; it causes your blood to flow so that it shouldn’t congeal. Water is life!Boruch Atah Hashem sh’hakol n’ihiyeh b’dvaro.Practice that; practice enjoying a glass of water. When the children are sitting at the table on Shabbos the first thing they stretch out their hands for is for the soda, for the juice, the colored water, the dirty water they want to drink. Teach them that the plain water is happiness.EVEN TZADIKIM DRINK WATER AND SLEEPEventzadikimeat bread and drink water; and Hakodosh Boruch Hu says, “I’m not going to reward you for not being happy. I don’t like grumpytzadikim. If you’re not happy, it’s your own fault.” Hashem doesn’t want him to be unhappy with the bread or unhappy with the water. They’re supposed to sayBoruch Atah Hashem.I could go on all night – if you don’t work on appreciating sleeping well so you’ll never know what happiness is. You young fellows, you put your head on the pillow and right away you waft off into slumberland.Ah geshmakehsweet sleep. But you’ll never appreciate it if you don’t labor in it. Ah, the pleasure of sleeping well; you wake up and you’re a refreshed, you’re a new person.And so little by little, when a man works to gain the insights that cause happiness, so the world becomes a happy place. So not only can a person succeed by beingameilin the words of the Torah itself, but he can succeed by beingameilin living a Torah life. And don’t think it’ll be deducted from your reward inOlam Hababecause you enjoyed Hashem in this world. Thescharof happiness in Hashem’s gifts cause you to sing to Hashemin this world and you’ll continue singing in happiness to Him in the world to come.THE END OFAMEILUSROADSo if we learned anything tonight, it’s how important this element ofameilusis for succeeding in our function ofla’asos. We’re here in this world “to do,” and doing is not meant to be easy. But once you begin to understand this vital Torah attitude, life becomes the place of the greatest pleasure because it becomes the place of achievement and accomplishments through small but steady steps.And that’s why the Torah says thatim bechukosai teleichu,if you labor in Mymitzvos, you will be rewarded with all good things: rains and produce and peace and long life. What does that mean that Hashem will give us plenty to eat? Does it mean that you’ll have the opportunity to eat more breakfasts and more suppers? Is that what it’s all about? No, it doesn’t mean that. The Rambam explains that all these rewards mean that you’ll have more opportunities to achieve something more while you’re in this world. Because the longer you live, the more produce and peace that you have, the more you can accomplish. Your station inOlam Habahdepends on what you do inOlam Hazeh.And therefore the greatest reward is וְנָתַתִּי שָׁלוֹם בָּאָרֶץ, peace in the land, because you’ll have more years to beameilinla’asos, and to make yourself into a new person. And once you begin walking down this path ofim bechukosai teileichu, of laboring in this world and achieving, so בַּדֶּרֶךְ שֶׁאָדָם רוֹצֶה לָלֶכֶת מוֹלִיכִין אוֹתוֹ – Hakodosh Boruch Hu will help you succeed at walking even more. And not only will you be fulfilling what Hakodosh Boruch Hu wants you to do – but you’re transforming yourself into something much more noble than when you were born – you’re remaking yourself! And so, on that final day, when you have to return yourneshamato Hakodosh Boruch You, you’ll be able to say, “Hashem, I spent my days beingameilinbechukosai teileichu –I fulfilledla’asos, and now I come back to You prepared to receive my eternal reward.” See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This podcast has been graciously sponsored by JewishPodcasts.fm. There is much overhead to maintain this service so please help us continue our goal of helping Jewish lecturers become podcasters and support us with a donation: https://thechesedfund.com/jewishpodcasts/donate
