Beitzah 18
What’s the purpose
of our souls descending into this physical world?
Before we
are born, we are just souls. Then we are
born and our souls enter physical bodies.
And then we die and our souls leave the bodies. If they’re right back where they started, why
bother?
To top it
all off, when the messiah comes, the dead will be resurrected. In other words, the souls will return to
earth and occupy their former bodies once again. What’s the point of all this space-time soul
travel?
Beis Hillel
teaches that one may not immerse a utensil in the mikvah for purification
purposes on Shabbos. People, however,
may immerse themselves on Shabbos.
Rava
explains that immersing a utensil on Shabbos is like repairing it. Yesterday you couldn’t use it, today
following immersion you would be able to and so you’re effectively repairing
it. Since repairing utensils is
generally forbidden on Shabbos and this seems like a kind of repair job, it is
prohibited to immerse the utensil.
How about
people? They are also repaired by
immersing in the mikvah!
The Talmud
answers that when you see someone immersing themselves, you don’t automatically
think, ‘Oh, he’s doing a repair job.’
Instead, the immediate reaction is ‘Looks like he’s cooling down.’
Repairing ourselves
on Shabbos is not forbidden because we must always work on fixing
ourselves. We were placed into this
world to repair the world and ourselves.
The first act performed on a baby – the bris – is a repair job that
signals to the child that life in this world is about constantly thinking ‘how
can I repair myself? How can I mend my
ways? How can I become a more complete
vessel for G-dliness than yesterday?’
Sometimes
you repair yourself quietly, privately.
Other times, you might feel the need to make a more public statement of
your new commitment. For example, for
years maybe you generally didn’t get to shul on time. But then one day you decide to turn over a
new leaf and all of a sudden, you are now the first one there each
morning.
How do
people react to the new you? When people
see you working on repairing yourself, their reaction should be ‘Looks like he
was cooling down’ in his spiritual fervor and so he’s doubled and redoubled his
efforts for G-d.
The reason
our souls descend into the physical world is in order to grow spiritually. The hope is that when they return to Heaven
they will be stronger and greater than prior to their descent. By doing G-d’s will in this world, by
constantly working on improving ourselves and the world in which we live, the soul
attains greater levels of spirituality.
But the
soul can’t do it alone. Without the
body, it would stagnant. It would be
stuck in a certain spiritual plane, unable to go anywhere. With the help of the body, the soul achieves
greatness.
That’s why
the ultimate reward will be for the reunited body and soul. Since
they worked in tandem to achieve spiritual greatness, they both deserve to be
rewarded. And so when the messiah comes,
the soul will once again descend into this physical world. This time, however, it will be for good. The partners who worked together to serve the
Almighty – the soul together with its body – will be rewarded for all
eternity.
You were
placed into this world to improve yourself.
Your job is to repair the vessel and make it a receptacle for
G-dliness. Every day, you must ask
yourself ‘How am I better today than I was yesterday? Am I passionate about my Divine mission, or
am I cooling down?’ Every day that is not an improvement over
yesterday is a missed opportunity in your mission on earth!
