Author: Rabbi Allouche
(RabbiAllouche.org) “What is your most important achievement in life?”
This question is presented to us at the conclusion of the two stories of creation in our Torah. The first, is at the beginning of Genesis, when G-d creates the world. The second, is in this week’s portion, when the Jewish people create a Tabernacle for G-d in the desert.
After G-d created our world, he asked Adam and Eve, “Ayeika – where are you?” They had sinned and G-d was reproaching them: “Where are you in life? What have you accomplished? What is your purpose?”
And then again, in this week’s portion, the Torah lists all of the donations that the Jewish people contributed toward the building of the Tabernacle in the desert. This detailed accounting teaches us too that every action counts.
The overall lesson is powerful: Each of us is surely involved in creations of our own. We are all engaged in building relationships, in connecting with our families, in growing our jobs, in helping others, in giving to charitable organizations, and in bettering ourselves and our surroundings.
But from time to time, we ought to pause, take an accounting, and ask ourselves: “Ayeika?” “Where am I? Am I engaged in creations that will make me, my family, and G-d, proud? Am I living my life to my fullest potential?” Or, as Rabbi Nachman of Breslov once put it: “Have I looked heavenward today, and as heaven looked back at me with a smile?”
The late Steve Jobs once shared that every morning he would look at himself in the mirror and ask himself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever his answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, he confessed that he knew that he “needed to change something.”
Similarly, the bedtime Shema, which we recite at night before going to sleep, echoes a similar question, as it begs us to look back at our day and ask ourselves: “Have I made my part of the world today a little bit better than it was yesterday?”
The answer we ought to give ourselves today and every day is a resounding ‘yes’.
And then, at a very old age, we will be able to look back at our lives, and tell ourselves, G-d, and our friends that our “most important achievements” were accomplished every single day.
This article was originally posted on RabbiAllouche.org.
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