Try Me

4 Teves 5782

“And Israel said, ‘Enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.’”

We all have those moments in our lives when we say “Enough! Enough sadness, suffering and self-pity, it’s time to act now. It’s time to rebel against the spirit of indifference. Life is so beautiful. Hashem’s Torah is so beautiful. I want to live by it!”

“Through the knowledge and comprehension of Torah by the soul of a person who studies it well, with the concentration of his intellect, to the point where the Torah is grasped by his mind and is joined with him so that they become one, [the Torah thereby] becomes food for the soul.” (Lessons in Tanya, Likutei Amarim, Chapter 5)

The key idea of Chabad is to channel that spark of rebellion into meaningful action. Only with “concentration” of the intellect, can we truly put our mind and heart into the service of Hashem. Only then does it become “food for the soul.”

“Try me, O Lord, and test me; refine my mind and heart.” (Tehillim 26:2)

The end-goal is to transform all the trials and tribulations Hashem puts in our way into refinements of our selves. When we turn everything that happens to us into a lesson that strengthens our mind’s and heart’s focus on Hashem, we will merit to learn with concentration, embracing Torah with our being, and enclothing ourselves and our actions with the spirit of G-dliness.