Parasha Thoughts
By Rabbi Yosef Khakshoor
Ezra and Daniel are both 35 years old. They both are charismatic, successful surgeons, married and have a beautiful family. Both Ezra and Daniel are highly accomplished individuals with completely different character traits. Ezra is a pleasant, soft spoken, confident, and humble person who is always seeking ways to help the people around him. However, Daniel is a ruthless, arrogant, and unpleasant person who is mainly focused on his own success. What is the underlying cause for two individuals with very similar circumstances to have such different personalities?
The main difference between Ezra and Daniel is the way they view themselves and their accomplishments. Ezra knows in his heart that his good looks, education, beautiful family, and financial success are not due to his own strength and the might of his own hands. However, he does recognize that he has many strengths and blessings that were bestowed upon him by Hashem and tries to utilize them for Hashem’s name. On the other hand, Daniel’s narcissistic personality allows him to believe that all of his accomplishments and successes are due to his own strength and the power of his own hands. Therefore, he becomes a more self-absorbed and arrogant person who is always focusing on his own success.
In this week’s Parasha, Parshat Ekev, Hashem warns the Jewish people not to fall in the trap of thinking, “My strength and the might of my hand made me all this wealth.â€Instead one should know and remember that, “It was He (Hashem) Who gave you strength to make wealth, in order to establish His covenant that He swore to your forefathers, as this day.†(Chapter 8/17-18) The Parasha teaches us one of the most fundamental ideas of the Torah that we must incorporate into our daily lives. In order for us to truly succeed and have blessings, we must not think that it was our own efforts and strength that brought about our success, but really it is Hashem who gave us the strength and ability to succeed and reach great heights.