You, Yourself Need Fixing.
6 years ago bbursk 0
You, Yourself Need Fixing.
As we approach the joyous holiday of Rosh Hashanah, we begin to think about many different aspects of our lives. We think about the stress of school work, exams, and, for some of us, we’ll be calculating how much apples and honey we’ll be eating. There is something more profound we must try and concentrate on, a concept that we must incorporate into our year ahead.
At times in life, we find ourselves complaining about things. We complain about what we didn’t like about another person, like our teachers, friends, or even our family members. We complain about our lives, our schools, everything! There may not be a positive outlet for complaining, but we do it all the time. For many of us, it’s a habit, something we can’t control.
But there comes a time in the year where we should stop to think about the year that passed and the year that is on its way. Will we use this precious time to complain about how ugly the world is or will we begin to add sweetness and goodness into the world?
What does it mean to add in “Sweetness” & “Goodness”?
To begin, the word sweetness is a word that expresses the flavour of a food we may eat, like honey. It is a physical idea which makes it something we all understand and see clearly within our lives.
Goodness, however is something more spiritual or emotional. We can’t see goodness and it’s not entirely understandable. How do we bring “goodness” into the world? Through mitzvot. When we do a mitzvah it brings in goodness to the world.
But, how do we bring in the sweetness as well? Well it comes from us. It’s a physical action when we do an act of “goodness.” For example, through giving charity, we can bring the sweetness along by giving the charity in a kind and wholehearted way. This will in turn make us feel a lot more involved in the action of the mitzvah, and enjoy it more
When we bring this idea into our lives, we will soon find that all those ugly things we thought about the world start to fade away. There is a very powerful quote given by the Lubavitcher Rebbe that goes as follows “If you see what needs to repaired and how to repair it then you have found a piece in the world G-d has left for you to complete. But if you only see what is wrong and ugly in the world, then it is you yourself that needs repair.”
May we all merit a year filled with “Sweetness and Goodness” and of course the immediate coming of the moshaich.
Shana Tova!
-Ben Bursk
