Subject: In Memory of Baruch Yitzchak ben Yirmiyahu (Barry Pessin)
From: Heath Berkin <heath.berkin@gmail.com>
Date: 9/8/2017, 4:50 AM
To: Heath Berkin <heath.berkin@gmail.com>
BCC: menachem@alonsystems.com
The Mishna in Avos (5;22) says Ben Hei Hei says according to your toil and strain you will be rewarded.
When G-d rewards a person He takes into account the toil and struggle the person exerted in fulfilling His Will. Obviously a person needs to accomplish as well, but the amount of toil is considered when we are rewarded as well.
It is interesting that most parents (I think) educate their children to "just try your best" "all we ask for is that you give it your all" these common expressions are a reflection of Ben Hei Hei's statement. The ironic aspect of this is that although it is correct in terms of the way G-d Judges and rewards us, in reality our physical world does not work like that at all. If someone has a job they need to get done their boss doesn't really care how much they tried, they want the job done, period. If the job isn't done a person may very well get fired.
Obviously there has to be a balance as we all agree we wouldn't want a heart surgeon who "tries his best" we want a heart surgeon who will get the job done.
There a number of ways to explain the difference I think. One reason is simply because we only see results we don't really know how difficult or how much strain a person put in to bring about those results. Therefore, we are not able to really appreciate or reward a person for their effort.
On a deeper level though most tasks in life have no real meaning, you need money so you work. People are paying for the results and that is it. But with Hashem our "work" in itself has true meaning, our toil and strain is a direct expression of our Love and desire to draw close to Hashem. Therefore, it makes sense that the process should be rewarded as well even if there are no results. This is something we can all apply to our interpersonal relationships as well. For example, let's say you love a certain ice cream so you ask your spouse if they mind when they go out to pick you up some of your favorite ice cream. They go down to the store to shop and make sure to pick up your ice cream as well. They bring you home the ice cream and you are happy. Your spouse was very nice and if they didn't love you or care about you they wouldn't have bothered to pick up the ice cream for you. You wanted ice cream and you got it!
But let's say you spouse wasn't planning to go to the store and they went special for you. When they got there they saw your favorite ice cream was sold out. They then got in their car and drove across town to another store who was also sold out. They decided that they would try the neighboring city which was 30 minutes away but they too were sold out. After three hours they come home empty handed. Although you may be upset you don't have your ice cream the toil and strain your spouse went through for you is a very vivid demonstration of their sincere caring and love for you. The strain and toil in fact is much more valuable than the ice cream itself.
