Listening To Life's Messages: Part 3

00:00 Behemesek in continuation to the earlier installments where we discussed that one can and needs to derive lessons in life by listening to life's messages and incorporating, internalizing them in one's personal service to the Creator. We now continue with installment number three, elaborating on various messages in life as they were articulated in the Rebbe's talks and writings. As mentioned, this is based also on the book, Learning from Everything, written by Rabbi David Sragev-Polter and published by Rabina Avtzin of Sichas in English in 1997. The first topic, first message is in regards to a lesson of an accountant. The Rebbe explains in a Sicha, a businessman must periodically take inventory, balance his accounts, and determine his financial standing. Regular accounting procedures keep a business running smoothly and are a pillar of successful commerce. However, most of his time is spent engaged in commercial activity. He pauses only to evaluate a particular transaction to ascertain if it will be profitable and to determine the best approach. The examination of the overall status of his business is conducted far less frequently, usually only once a year, for were it to be every day, there would be no time to conduct any actual transactions. We should follow the same procedures in our service to Hashem, which is our business. Most of the time, our business year, we deal quote-unquote in the formalities quote-unquote of tailor mitzvahs. Only the month of Elul, which precedes Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, is the time for a general financial review when we concentrate on

02:30 introspection, stocktaking, and spiritual accounting. For the rest of the year, we should pause only briefly for specific short-range assessments. For example, upon reciting the Shema each evening before retiring, we sum up the credits and the debits, the achievements and deficiencies of that day. Before Shabbos, we examine the accounts of the previous week. And before Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of a new month, we balance the account for the preceding month. Then, in the last month of the year, we make a comprehensive analysis. Some people believe that to proceed with tailor mitzvahs, they must know exactly where they stand at every moment and constantly re-examine whether they are proper candidates for spiritual service with the accompanying detailed introspection. In reality, this approach is merely a ploy by the Yetzer Hara evil inclination to deflect a person from appropriate action by involving him in obsessive self-analysis. He can instead proceed on his course with confidence, leaving aside this activity until its proper time. The second message in life is regarding an architect. The Rebbe writes in a letter in volume 13 of the series of Igris Kadesh, as is translated here in English, When people encounter difficult times in their lives, many are spurred to question the existence of a divine system and master plan for our world. When one part of the world's structure appears out of sync with the way we understand it should be, we are quick to draw conclusions about the entire cosmos. However, the worlds of physics, chemistry, astronomy, or the other natural

04:47 sciences demonstrate otherwise. There, even the smallest atom is seen to have its own structure and function. Every particle of matter is subject to specific laws and is part of a defined framework, a cosmic order which is vast and complex. To highlight this lesson, imagine that you are in a massive building that has thousands of rooms. The furniture in each room is perfectly arranged. However, in one tiny room with strange furnishings, the sense of organization so obvious in the rest of the structure is not immediately apparent. Since the gigantic building and its thousands of chambers can be seen as part of an orderly system, undoubtedly the individual room and its unique furnishings are also part of the overall plan. Although the untrained observer may not at first understand the unusual pattern, with some thought he will come to realize that it must also be a part of the larger system. We will, im yirtze Hashem, continue in the next installment.