The Easy Path \ Day 12 \ 30 Days to Teshuvah
"The second material factor, the fulfillment of one's needs according to his financial status, is completely within his control. It is true that the more difficult his financial situation, the greater effort will be required to attain his provisions. Nevertheless, he will do what he must to provide his needs. Why is this? Aside from the fact that the pauper has no choice, the fact remains that the indignity and hardship of begging for food is still easier to bear than the pain of an empty stomach."
(Ohr Yisrael, Letter Six)
What lesson do we draw from the willingness of the pauper to do something that people of a higher status could not tolerate?
Rav Yisrael presents the axiom, "The lower one's financial status, the more he must work for his daily bread." However, he also asserts that the poor man willingly struggles to collect his bread rather than face starvation.
Rav Yisrael revealed a brilliant insight into what makes a task difficult or easy. Specifically, the difficulty of the task is relative to the instinctual awareness of the harsh consequences of not performing it.
The pauper's realization that it is easier to beg for food than to starve stirs him into action. He does not focus on the difficultly of the task; rather he responds to his instinctual drive to protect himself from the more severe difficulty of starvation.
The act of begging is considered intolerable to a middle-class person because he has never been subject to the fear of starvation.
The application of this insight to the spiritual realm offers powerful inspiration to dramatically improve our dedication to Mitzvot. Rav Yisrael proved that the awareness of the consequence renders the most difficult task into one that is "easy" to perform. In light of this, the awareness of not being forgiven on Yom Kippur will inspire us to "easily" abandon the behavior which was previously very hard to give up!
Tip -- Motivate yourself to change by imagining the consequences of not being forgiven on Yom Kippur!
Have a Wonderful Shabbos!
