Welcome to Emotional Wellness, a SIMHA project. We are discussing the concept of one day at a time, learning to appreciate what one day can bring, and getting excited about the day that you have.
Hacham BenTzion Abba Shaul, zl, once related to his students, "I accepted a young student into the yeshivah based upon his word alone." The Rosh Yeshivah continued, "A young boy approached me and asked to be admitted into the yeshivah. Since I saw that he was too young, I suggested that he return the following year for an entrance exam. The boy left and returned about a half hour later, asking, 'May I at least learn in the yeshivah today?'
"I was amazed with this boy's attitude. I had never come across such a phenomenon. A boy is not accepted into the yeshivah because he is too young, yet he asks to be allowed to learn that one day in the yeshivah. What does he have to gain from one day in the yeshivah? Obviously, this boy understood the infinite value of each and every day's study in the yeshivah. I was amazed by this boy's maturity. To realize at such a young age that one day in the yeshivah is an unparalleled gift indicates the unparalleled love this boy has for Torah learning. I was sure that he will one day be a great Torah leader. Thus, I accepted him."
Rav Yerucham Levovitz writes that it’s worth being created for the service of one day. As it says, one whiff of Olam Haba is worth all of this world, and one minute on this world is worth all the next. One minute on this world is the opportunity to do even one mitzvah. We don't realize how great the opportunities of small Mitzvot are.
Rabbi Elya Lopian once repeated something he had heard from the Elder of Kelm. He said “It was worthwhile for Hashem to create the world, and to keep it existing for six thousand years, just for one person to recite ‘Baruch hu u’varuch shemo‘ just one time. However, he added, “Saying ‘Baruch hu u’varuch shemo’ even a thousand times is less important than responding ‘Amen‘ once, and responding ‘Amen‘ a thousand times is less important than answering ‘Amen, Yehe Shemeh Rabba…’ once.
That means Amen Yehe Shemeh Rabba is a million times more powerful a Baruch Hu U’Baruch Shemo. And for that it would be worth creating the whole world for a millionth of an Amen Yehe Shemeh Raba!
We don't appreciate and realize what we can do in one day.
What is life worth?
Rav Yosef Chaim Sonenfeld used to visit an elderly woman before the high holidays. This lady was very weak and ill and she was not able to control her bodily functions, to the extent that she wasn't able to make berachot because she was unclean. Yet every year when he came to visit her before Rosh Hashana, she would ask him for a blessing that she should have a good year. He asked her, “Exactly what are you looking for? You're sick, you're weak, you're suffering, you can't even pray….”
She answered. “Once a week, someone comes and cleans me up and for a period of time I can make some berachot and say some tehilim. It's worth living for those opportunities.”
She understood the value of what we would call a ‘small’ opportunity. Every day is full of opportunities- full of great things that we can do. We can't underestimate what one day is. What makes great people great is that they appreciate what every day does, and they understand that all these single days together make who you are forever.
In Bereshit (24,1) it says
וְאַבְרָהָם זָקֵן בָּא בַּיָּמִים
Abraham was old, he came with his days.
Similarly, about David Hamelech in Melachim I (1,1)
It says, וְהַמֶּלֶךְ דָּוִד זָקֵן בָּא בַּיָּמִים he came with his days.
Great people come with their days. Every day is something. We have to appreciate that.
The Or HaChaim HaKadosh gives a mashal that when a person is born, he's given a finite amount of days and we don't know which day is going be the last. 354 days is a year, 3540 is ten years. Multiply that by eight, that’s 28,320 days.
So you come into this world with 28,320 balloons and every single day before you go to sleep, you let that balloon go. That's your day, and it's never coming back. If you put something inside of it, you have something, and if you don't, you don't.
At the end of your life time, all those days come back and your Olam Haba is made up of those days. Those balloons become threads that create the cloak that you're going to have forever and ever.
And if you didn't do a good job one day and didn't do anything, then you're going to be missing a stitch or two. And with poor stitching, the clothing might just open up at a certain point. So again, our job is to appreciate what it is to have a day and appreciate what you can do in a day. An Amen Yehe Shemeh Raba- anything that we do is a something. Don't underestimate the power of a day.