In response to today's Shmiras Ainayim Chizuk e-mail (#146) entitled "The "Game" of Life" I wanted to share a thought on your wonderful response to his inquiry.
In the tefilla of Pasach Eliyahu that some people say before davening, it says that “Ubarasa shemaya V’arah….lishtimoda behon ela’in, v’aich yisnahagun behoin ela’in v’tatuin”. This means that by contemplating how things work “down here”, we can understand how things work “up there”.
There is a famous saying that “There is no free lunch” which depicts a healthy work ethic. You work – you get compensated. You don’t work – you don’t. There is a concept brought down the in the Zohar and further discussed by the Ramchal called Nahama Dichsufa which literally means “bread of shame”.
Hashem could have easily created the world as one big Olam Haba and forgotten Olam Hazeh. But in such a scenario, since we wouldn’t have earned it, the good feeling that all of us would have experienced in Olam Haba would have been on a lower level because it wouldn’t have been earned - thus amounting to an experience of “shameful bread”. This is similar to being on Welfare. It might be good for a short time because you are “getting something for nothing” but after a while it gets depressing. On the other hand, if we earn our Olam Haba by first stopping off in Olam Hazeh and fighting tooth and nail against our Yezer Horah, then our Olam Haba is enjoyed on a much higher level since we “earned it”.
This is at the core of the concept that Hashem created the world for only one purpose, to bestow goodness on others. The ultimate goodness is to reward people - not shower upon them gifts that they didn’t earn.
Pintele Yid
