The Good Life2 min read

With its myriad laws and directives, it is easy to see the Torah as being restrictive and as preventing us from truly enjoying the good of this world. Wouldn’t it be great to do whatever we please? How amazing would it be if we could eat whatever we feel like, sleep for as long as we want, and live by our own perception of “the good life”? However, a closer look reveals that while, on the surface, the Torah appears to restrict our actions and prevent us from doing certain things, it is for the purpose of guiding us toward the most pleasurable, joyous life – not only in the World to Come but in this lifetime as well! Directing us away from transient pleasures that will fade with the passage of time, leaving emptiness and despair in their wake, the Torah’s guidelines for daily living lead a Jew, hand in hand, to a lifetime bursting with meaning, joy, vitality, and an enduring spirit of contentment. “Ashrecha b’olam hazeh” – a life of soul-infused Halachic observance can enable us to live the most enjoyable life in this world as well.

The Torah’s guidance can be compared to a man whose vantage point on a nearby mountain allows him to look down upon the labyrinth of a corn maze and see where all of the paths lead. When he calls down to some people in the maze who appear to be helplessly lost and tells them to “take a right, not a left”, they realize his advice as being helpful, not restrictive. Similarly, the Torah presents us with a “view from above”, the perspective on a truly good life which, taking into account all levels of the human condition and the entirety of life with the varying realities of its different ages and stages, entirely transcends our narrow understanding of that which appears to be “good ” at a given moment.

R’ Dovid Yitzchak Isaac of Skolia saw this deep truth hidden in a verse from our parsha. Rivkah tells Eliezer, “There is plenty of straw (Teven) and feed at home, and also room to spend the night.” While the word “Teven” means straw, it can also refer to “Tevunah”, knowledge, the divine Wisdom of our holy Torah. The verse is hinting that, “There is plenty of teven – knowledge”, even if a person is committed to a Torah lifestyle, “there is feed at home”, he or she does not forfeit the pleasures of this world – on the contrary, Hashem wants us to live the best possible life in this world. “And also room to spend the night”: In addition to providing one with the most fulfilling, meaningful, and joyous life in this world, living a life of connection to Hashem through His Torah grants us everlasting rest of infinite spiritual pleasure in the world to come.