Parasha Thoughts
By Rabbi Avraham Moeinzadeh
The Netziv on this week’s Parasha explains the following Mishnah in Pirke Avot that seems to be self contradictory. The Mishnah says an hour of tranquility in the world to come is better than the entire life of this world. At the same time, the Mishna also says an hour in this world spent fulfilling the mitzvot is better than the eternal life of the world to come.
The Netziv suggests that the Mishnah is talking about two different outlooks on the Mitzvot. For the person who does the Mitzvot out of fear of Hashem, but hasn’t yet developed the proper love towards him, every second of living life is a daunting task for him. Every step he takes he has to be careful not to do something wrong so he won’t get punished. He will definitely choose the tranquility of the world to come over being granted a longer life. But somebody who has reached a level of true love of Hashem, he cherishes the opportunity of being alive and having the privilege of making his creator happy. To him, having a longer life is better than the tranquility of the world to come.
With this the Netziv explains another piece of Talmud that talks about the rewards that the Torah promises for the mitzvot of honoring parents and flying the mother bird. The Torah seems to promise a long life and achieving goodness as reward for both of these commandments. The Talmud, however, states that one will not always merit having a pleasant or long life in this world; rather, one will experience it in the world that is totally pleasant and eternal (Olam Habah). But, asks the Netziv, how can one merit a long life even in this world?
The
answer he gives is that the one who does the Mitzvot out of love merits
a long life in this world. Otherwise, the reward will be reserved for
him in the world to come.
May we all merit to develop in ourselves
the true love of Hashem and this way have a ketivah vachatimah tovah for
a long and fruitful life in this world and tranquility in the world to
come.