268 - Olam Haba (Part-12)

We've discussed some of the concepts that the Torah authorities outline to us, with regards to the world to come - Olam Haba. However, as many of them mention, ultimately, we don't know exactly what is going to transpire, until we actually get there and see for ourselves. However, one thing that is clear according to all opinions, is that in the next world, there is no more opportunity. Olam Haba, the next world, is the world of reward, where we reap the benefits of everything that we did in this world, whereas this world, the world where we have to believe, and many things don't make sense - the world of emunah, is the world of opportunity. 

It is known about the Vilna Gaon, that when he was passing onto the next world, his students saw him crying. And when he was asked why he was crying, he said that he was now leaving a world, where for a small act, for a very small price, one can perform mitzvos that earn you eternal reward, greater than anything that this world can buy. A story in Tanach brings this point out in a very powerful way. The infamous king, Nevuchadnezzar, before he became king, used to be the secretary of another king who had dealings with the king of Israel. Once, when Nevuchadnezzar the secretary was away, the Gentile king wrote a letter where he addressed it to the king of Israel and the God of Israel, first referring to the human king of Israel and only thereafter addressing the God of Israel. When Nevuchadnezzar the secretary arrived back and noticed that the king was about to dispatch this letter, he suggested to the king that it would be more appropriate to first address the God of Israel and only thereafter the human king of Israel.

The Gentile king followed his secretary, Nevuchadnezzar's advice, and it says that Nevuchadnezzar took four steps in order to implement this change. Because Nevuchadnezzar was such an evil man on every other front, Hashem did not want him to have a place in the world to come. But Hashem will never skip over any good deed that anyone performs, even the most wicked of individuals, and Hashem wanted to reward Nevuchadnezzar for standing up for the honor of God in this one act that he committed. And because of the four steps that he took in his effort to stand up for the honor of Hashem, he was rewarded with becoming the most powerful man and human ruler over the entire world. How many times do I take a hundred steps, or maybe drive in a car for ten minutes in order to go to Shul, visit a sick person, or any other mitzvah? We are taught that the reward that awaits us is so great that it cannot even fit in this world. Let us just digest that concept. That the reward that awaits us in the next world for just one single mitzvah is greater than being rewarded with becoming the ruler over the entire world. 

"Hashem, my Father, thank you so much for teaching me the truth of what real reality is. I know that ultimately this world is a distraction from true reality because everything in this world operates in a way where we seem to experience things exactly as they are, at face value. But the truth of the matter, as you've taught us so many times in your Torah, is that we are called unto believe in the information that you've given us in the Torah. Although much of the world are making the main pursuit of their lives to amass as much money as they can, or perhaps to try to find forms of happiness that speak to them in this world, however, Hashem, you have taught us that this world is so short in comparison to what eternity is, and the opportunity that we have each moment to perform mitzvos in this world will gain us reward beyond anything that we can even begin to imagine in this world.

Please Hashem, help me to use my time wisely in this world and not get distracted by the normal way of the world and direction that people follow, but rather to use every moment that I can in service to you. And as you've taught us in your Torah sources, that even if I've fallen and committed transgressions, it's never ever the wrong time to pick myself up and say, Hashem, from now on, I'm going to do my best and capitalize on each opportunity to pick up another mitzvah and, b'ezrat Hashem, move to an even higher place in Olam Haba, for eternity."