Absolutely, Baruch Hashem 

I never went to a high school reunion, but seeing a former classmate gloss the cover of a major newspaper thrust me into the dreaded situation of asking myself, “Nu, and what have I done?” 

A returnee to the faith, I grew up with secular expectations. Even as my priorities change to what does Hashem want of me, those original expectations don’t go away. There is still a little voice demanding why it was Elon Musk, and not me who became CEO of X.  

Thank God for that.  

If I never second-guessed my decision to live a Torah life, I never would have to review again, and again, and again why I am still doing so. This beautiful exercise reinforces how important it is to live a life that finds favor in the only reunion that matters: The one with my Maker in, b’ezrat Hashem, 72 years.  

The Three Reminders 

At around the middle of your life, you begin to ask yourself, “Is what I am doing worth it?” 

It’s kind of a “last chance” warning. It feels like I have one final moment to make a big turn in my life. The Sages tell us to make one big change to our daily life at age 50 – possibly because they know all too well that beyond this age, big changes become huge challenges.  

This force feeds the big question: Why GOD and not CEO?   

There are three beautiful reasons why a Torah life is the only way to go: 

1.The Jewish People are compared to a vine.

An oak tree doesn’t produce fruit. Its purpose is in the wood it makes. You can cut it down and build homes, furniture, and just about anything. There are fruit trees whose trunks are of little use, but they produce fruit.  
 
Not so with the vine. The branches of the vine are worthless. Once the grapes are harvested, they are discarded. The only purpose a vine serves is to produce grapes. 
 
This is why a Jew is compared to a vine. A Jew is placed in this world to serve God through His commandments. He is like a vine whose fruit are the mitzvot. 

Without any mitzvot, he is as useful as the branches.  
 

2.What matters for life are your mitzvot.

In the Parsha of Noach, we see this first hand.  Lemech was a descendant of Kayin. One of his children was the first to produce music. Another revolutionized agriculture by enabling shepherds to feed large flocks of livestock. Another developed the concept of smelting metal from stone.  
 
Lemech’s sons were the Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates of their day. Their innovations created prosperity and comfort for everyone on earth.  
 
You would figure that for all their work, they would all be given VIP suites in Noach’s Ark.  
 
Hashem wasn’t concerned about their professional achievements. What matters for life are your mitzvot. Are you kind? Are you honest? Do you recognize the One and Only True God? 
 
Arriving to pray the morning services is more important to Hashem than arriving in the CEO’s office of Apple, Inc. to drink your third cup of coffee. Noach didn’t accomplish anything that Lemech’s sons did – but that wasn’t the point of his existence.  
 
Noach lived a righteous life according to God, and Hashem saved him – and not the CEO of Google or Amazon.  
 

3.Mitzvot make your life precious.

Rabbi Nachman of Breslev tells us that walking four amot, or one full stride in the Land of Israel is a mitzvah. Putting on tefillin is a mitzvah. Saying the Shema is a mitzvah. Thanking God for the tough times in our lives by having emunah that it is from God, it is for our good, and it is a message from our Father to us in order to enable us to improve is a big mitzvah.  
 
There are so many ways to make our lives precious. Hashem gives us infinite opportunities to be a useful person. Any of us can do it. This is why we learn in the Gemara that those of us who appear “on top” in this world, are “on the bottom” in the Next World, and those “on the bottom” in this world are at “the top” in the Next World.  
 
The ones “on the bottom” in this world have their priorities straight.  

I am not saying that the guy I shared a class with lacks any of these – I don’t know him. We just sat next to one another and took notes.  

But when I see him on the cover of a major newspaper, and I see myself in front of a mirror – I have to ask the person looking back at me a serious question:  

Are you sure you are on the right track? 

Absolutely.  
Baruch Hashem!  

*** 

David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his family, a budding high-tech center, millions of sunflowers, and Matilda, our local camel. David‘s Israeli startup, Center Stage Content, creates SEO and ROI-driven content that is easy to digest across all your company’s web assets to make your business the star of the show.