Welcome to Emotional Wellness Daily. We continue to speak about jealousy, quoting from Rav Wolbe’s sefer Alei Shor. He quotes a beautiful Or HaChaim HaKadosh about the story of Kayin and Hevel. Kayin tried to bring an offering, and Hevel copied him. But Kayin’s offering was not accepted while Hevel’s was. And Hashem told Kayin, ( Bereshit 4,6)
לָ֚מָּה חָ֣רָה לָ֔ךְ וְלָ֖מָּה נָפְל֥וּ פָנֶֽיךָ׃
What are you angry about? Why has your face fallen?
הֲל֤וֹא אִם־תֵּיטִיב֙ שְׂאֵ֔ת
If you do good you'll be uplifted.
The Or Hachaim asks, What does He mean by “do good?” And he explains that it means, “If you will have the quality of goodness on you, it will dwell on everything you do. And your deeds will lift up by themselves, because Holiness doesn't need anybody else.” That's a powerful line. Rav Wolbe says that we see from here, in his words, “Kedusha Eina Tsricha Haskamot,” which means that holiness doesn't need a haskama -a pat on the back or a thumbs up. And here, it was actually God Himself that did not give the thumbs up to Kayin.
But nonetheless, a person has to forge forward and continue to do good things, and that will lift him up, regardless of outside people's opinions.
The Or HaChaim Hakadosh adds, Refer yourself to the story of Rabi Hiya in Bava Metzia.
There was a rabbi who wanted to see the Yeshiva Shel Maala/heavenly Yeshiva, where the great rabbis and great people learn after they pass on. He wanted to see them as they were entering this heavenly yeshiva.
But the rabbi was told, “You can look at anybody going in, except Rav Hiya.” When he asked how he’d know who Rav Hiya was, they said, “All the other chairs are being carried up by angels. The only chair that goes up on its own is Rav Hiya’s.”
So we see from here says, the Or HaChaim, that Rav Hiya did good without needing the approval of others.
But what did Rav Hiya do?
The Or HaChaim points to another story in the Gemara ( Bava Metzia 85B, where two great rabbis, Rav Hanina and Rav Hiya were arguing with each other. Rav Hanina said, “You're arguing with me?! If the Torah would be forgotten, I could bring it back with my tremendous depth, my pipul.”
Rav Hiya replied, “You're arguing with me? I caused that the Torah wasn't forgotten! I planted flax and I made nets, I took the nets and I captured deer, I slaughtered the deer and I gave the meat to orphans. Then I made parchment out of the skins and wrote the five books on the scrolls. Then I went to a town and I taught five children the five Chumshei Torah, and I taught six children the Shishah Sidrei Mishnah, and I had each child teach another child and I went from town to town…” It seems like what Rav Hiya did wasn’t so deep, or worth all the fanfare. He wasn’t learning in depth or doing what Rav Hanina was doing. But he was doing what he had to do, without taking popular public opinion into account. That is what caused him to grow and grow and become great.
And this, Rav Nosson Wachtfogel says, was the topic of the first muser class ever given in the Torah- When God tells Kayin, “What are you down about? Why are you looking over your shoulder? Why are you looking at your brother? Yes, you were the innovator and your brother copied you, and his was accepted and yours wasn't. (But) If you do good, you lift yourself up.”
This is an extremely important principle, because we get down on ourselves from constantly thinking about what the other person is doing, and we fall into that trap, without realizing that we have our own mission.
There's a beautiful story that I've heard many times, in many different versions.
Whether it happened or not, I don't know, but basically, the story is as follows: There was a man who dreamt of becoming a bus driver. He took lessons, got licensed and finally secured his first job. The man excitedly arrived on the first morning to start his bus route, but he was dismayed to discover that he was given the quietest route. At most of the stops, there were only one or two passengers. He found the experience boring and uneventful.
He had fantasized about driving a full bus with lots of commotion, having to tell passengers to move to the back and make room. At the end of the day, he drove the bus back to the station, feeling depressed, and he brought into the office a small amount of money that he made for the company by driving this route.
The next day, he saw another bus filled to capacity and felt jealous. He decided to take a different route, that would collect many more passengers and bring in much more money for the company. So he went off on his own route, and he thoroughly enjoyed it. It was everything he had dreamed of- crowds of passengers were waiting by the bus stops, and he had to tell them not to push. Throngs of people boarded and got off the bus, and he made an enormous amount of money for the company. At the end of the day, he gleefully marched into the office and placed a huge bag of money on the table.
The next day, the owner of the company called the new driver into his office. “We've been driving that route for over 20 years,” the owner said, “and we never, ever came close to making this kind of money. How’d you earn so much doing that route?”
The man explained that he could do more for the company by driving a busier route, and that that's how he’d earned all the money.
“You did what?!” The owner bellowed, “You ruined the entire system! We don't need more customers on your route. Your job is to drive the route we give you. Every driver gets paid for doing his job, regardless of how many riders he picks up. If you want to succeed here, just do your job properly.”
The same is true in life. Each person comes into this world with a certain job to do. Just like every bus driver in the company is given a route to drive, so too, every person has their job. Some appear glamorous and appealing, and some don't.
Commenting on the pasuk where God tells Moshe that the place that was standing on was Admat kodesh/ sacred ground, the Chafetz Chaim said that the place where Hashem puts a person is sacred ground. It's his specially assigned mission from Hashem. And we must serve Hashem to the best of our abilities, in every situation, wherever He places us. We have to realize that every situation is Admat Kodesh/ Every situation is a sacred opportunity.