As
the days and hours slowly fly by to birth day, I have to ask myself, is it fair
to bring a new life into this world? Now, I don’t mean this in a
pejorative sense that society today is too immoral or the world too dangerous.
I mean this much more essentially- should human beings exist at any point in
history?[1] This is not my query. It
is a question that was debated vigorously in what is now modern day Iraq. Long
before the quarrel between the house of Capulet and Montague, there was a
quarrel between the house of Shammai and Hillel.
For
over two and a half years, they traded intellectual barbs in an attempt to
convince the other party that their side was correct. One side said, ‘it would
have been easier for man not to have been created than to have been created.
While the other side said, ‘it is easier for man to have been created more than
not having been created’. Finally, the debate came to a close and it
was decided, ‘it is easier for man not to have been created, than to have been
created, but now that he already exists, he should examine his general deeds
and some say examine the quality of his good deeds’. How do we understand this
debate and what is its message
Both
sides agree that the creation of the world was for our good. What
they disagree on is whether a human being can use his intellect or his faith to
perceive that the world is good for him. Why should a person need to
understand why the world is good? It shapes our entire approach to life. The
primary tactic of the evil inclination is to say that success is impossible,
and therefore, we should give up. It is an effective tactic to use because the
proof is all around. How many spiritually successful people do we
see walking in the streets? How many role models are there that have true
self-control and clarity of purpose? Therefore, these intimidation
tactics work and keep us complacent, and the real debate is what to do.
The
house of Hillel approaches life through the idyllic lens of loving kindness
that looks to spread wherever it can. Therefore, they see that they can spread
love in easy situations and develop that love to more difficult
situations. If we start with easy steps and see successes, we build
up the confidence to silence the evil inclination as there is no reason to give
up in the face of triumph. However, the house of Shammai approaches
life through the practical lens of limitation. Every action we do
could be better; our finitude keeps getting in the way. True success
is far away and always will be. From this side, the evil inclination has ample
opportunity to wreak havoc and make our lives difficult.
After
much debate, it was decided that the struggle is great and man will always see
success as far way. For this reason, the best chance man has is to control what
he can as best he can since there is no alternative. And that is
deepest lesson we have from this. When a man is cornered and sees no
other choice that is when he is at his best. That is the lesson
during these days of Channukah as well. The Jews were cornered and threatened
with spiritual extinction. That brought out their best inner
‘oil’. Oil is the precious stuff that comes out after much
pressure. If we view life like we are in a fight for our very
survival, it brings out our best, and that makes everything worth it.
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