Subject: In Memory of Baruch Yitzchak ben Yirmiyahu (Barry Pessin)
From: Heath Berkin <heath.berkin@gmail.com>
Date: 12/16/2016, 4:21 AM
To: Heath Berkin <heath.berkin@gmail.com>
BCC: menachem@alonsystems.com
The Mishna in Avos says "jealousy, desire, and honor remove a person from this world"
Last week we spoke about jealousy but possibly more common and evident is desire.
A quick look around to some of the famous and "successful" people is enough to give us a real life show of this Mishna. How many of these figures who seemingly "had it all" lost everything because they were too wrapped up in their desires. There are addicts to every type of physical pleasure and these people become slaves to their desires and literally lose their lives. It is unbelievable when we think about how much these people sacrificed for a few minutes of pleasure, is it really worth it, how could it be? Many of these people spent years of hard work building up their careers, lives, images and marriages just to lose it all in a few minutes of pleasure.
The Mishna is telling us how strong desire is as it can remove a person from this world. Obviously G-d Created desire and there is a time and place for it as life wouldn't function normally without it, but desire should be understood and treated as a means to an end and not an end in itself. If it is channeled in the correct and proper way a person and the world at large can flourish but if it is viewed as an end to itself it will bring destruction and remove a person from this world.