Parashat Re’eh begins: ראה אנוכי נותן לפניכם היום, ברכה וקללה – “Behold, I am presenting before you today a blessing and a curse.” Moshe Rabbenu proceeds to explain to the people that they have the choice between two paths – the path of mitzvah observance, which brings blessing, and the path of disobeying the Torah, which brings the opposite.
The Sifri makes what I believe to be a crucially important comment about these two paths.
It gives an analogy to a man who is traveling and reaches a fork in the road. He must choose between two routes. The first is full of thorny branches at the beginning, but clear and smooth at the end, while the other is clear in the beginning, but full of thorns at the end.
This analogy is relevant to virtually anything good in life. When it comes to anything valuable which we want to achieve, we have this choice to make – to take the easy route, which leads to hardship, or to struggle and work hard, and then enjoy the great benefits that our hard work yields.
If a young person who is just starting out takes an easy job, he might enjoy the comfort of not having to work hard, but he will later suffer the consequences of not having built a career. However, if he begins with a difficult job, which requires long hours and probably doesn’t pay very much, he will walk through “thorns” for a while, but he treads along a path that ultimately leads to success.
When a couple first gets married, they can choose the easy way – doing whatever they want, saying whatever they want, and ignoring the other’s needs. But then the marriage becomes full of “thorns.” If they put in the hard work to be attentive, flexible, compromising and sensitive to each other, then they will later enjoy the unparalleled benefits of a beautiful marriage.
Many alcoholics and drug addicts start out happy. It’s a fun and exciting life, filled with parties, laughter, and good times – until they reach the “thorns,” and their lives are in shambles.
Torah life is just the opposite. Yes, it has its “thorns.” It can feel restrictive having to observe Shabbat every week, to keep a kosher kitchen, to eat only at kosher restaurants, and to maintain the prayer schedule. But ask anyone who has been doing it for many years, and they’ll tell you that they would never give it up. People who observe Shabbat love it. They see it as the greatest and most precious gift. Yes, there are “thorns,” it can be complicated and difficult – but when we get past the “thorns,” we reach the beautiful experience of Shabbat.
It is important not to be misled by the “clear” and “thorny” paths that we see in front of us. Even if the path of Torah appears “thorny,” we need to remember that the path is beautiful at the end – and this is the path which we want to follow.