TODAY'S MESSAGE IS DEDICATED
IN HONOR OF MY PARENTS
ABE AND BARBARA FRANCO
BY MARC FRANCO

RAYMOND BEYDA'S MONDAY NIGHT CLASS
MEN AND WOMEN INVITED
9 P M @ SHAARE ZION
2030 OCEAN PARKWAY - BROOKLYN NY

 

Motivational speakers, managers, schoolteachers, and business people have picked up on a phrase. The new buzzword for success? Be “pro-active.”

“Don’t sit back,” they say. “Take the bull by the horns. Don’t watch things happen and then react; make them happen!”

These are the guidelines they preach to their underlings to prompt them into positive action modes.

When it comes to Torah and mitzvot, the Yetzer Hara (Evil Inclination) is constantly on the lookout for a hole in our defense system. Rather than fight us on battlefields where we are strong, he would much rather choose a surprise attack on turf that we view as a “demilitarized zone.” He won’t try to get us to commit an out-and-out sin such as eating bread on Passover or non-kosher food; he prefers to take the easy path and blindside us when we are not looking. He knows that many people, even those who are observant, make clear distinctions between “religious activity” and “everyday life.”

The Talmud teaches that one verse in Proverbs (Mishle 3:6) is the basis for all of the Torah. “B’chol derachecha da’ehoo—Know Him in all your ways.” Rambam explains that mitzvot are not restricted to ritual observances. “All of man’s actions and words, whether at work or at leisure, should be aimed at this goal, so that no action is senseless and pointless.”

Eating, drinking, sleeping, and exercising all add to physical health. The point is to direct the goal of physical fitness to the ultimate goal of being in good health to serve our Creator.

When you leave the synagogue or your home to enter the “outside world,” focus your thoughts on doing whatever you must do to develop into a better and healthier person, one mentally and financially fit to better serve G-d. Be pro-active. You might have to exercise your brain a little more than you like, but it will convert your everyday acts into mitzvot. You will have executed a sneak attack on the enemy, and won!

CONSIDER THIS FOR A MINUTE

Studying mussar—ethical teachings about self-improvement—and putting the lessons into practice are very difficult indeed. However, one does not have another avenue open for reaching the goal of perfection. (Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe, zt”l)