Q:
Why should we be thanking Hashem for His kindness, if He brought us into this world against our will, like it says in Pirkei Avos (4:24) על כרחך אתה נוצר – “You were created against your will”? I didn’t ask Him to make me.
A:
Let’s say a man who was a good friend of yours financed your efforts to buy a house. He loaned you huge sums of money and he co-signed on the bank loans for you, and just because of him you moved into this house. So now in your new house and you’re grumbling, “Look what this man did to me. Now I have to go buy furniture for the house. If he wouldn’t have helped me buy this house, I could be sitting in a furnished room right now, living a peaceful life. Look at the big trouble he inflicted upon me.” Anybody who thinks that way is an ingrate, an evil, selfish-hearted person. Would you give up that house once he gave it to you? Certainly not. Therefore, if Hashem put us into this world, that itself is a happiness. It’s fun to be alive! That’s a very great truth; unfortunately people don’t want to talk about it. The mere fact that you’re sitting and breathing, it’s a joy, it’s a great happiness. Your heart is pumping away, your blood is circulating through all of your arteries and veins. Your lungs are expanding and contracting constantly; everything is working perfectly. It’s a joy to be alive! It’s fun to be alive! You can never stop thanking Hashem just for that.
That’s why it says ישמח ישראל בעושיו – “Yisroel has to enjoy and thank our Maker” (Tehillim 149). What are you saying, you didn’t want Him to make you?! Certainly you wanted Him to make you. And you’re most happy with it. Now, that mishnah, על כרחך אתה נוצר, you were created against your will, there’s a secret behind those words and we’ll talk about that one day. But once you’re here and you sense the joy of life, there’s nothing like it. There’s nothing like the great happiness of being alive in this world. Therefore, as long as we have it, we’re expected to respond properly, with the greatest gratitude. ישמח ישראל – “Rejoice Yisroel!” Why? בעושיו – “Because He made you!” Don’t say, “Who told You to make me? And therefore I can demand of You that You should support me and that You should clothe me.”
Even if He wouldn’t have clothed you, if Hashem would have kept you naked, and you would have to live in a barrel, you are a lucky fellow. People in barrels don’t want to commit suicide either. They’re happy to live in barrels, certainly they are. Therefore, we thank Hashem, Boruch atah Hashem michayeh hameisim, every morning. Every morning we say hamachzir neshamos lifgarim meisim – We thank You Hashem for restoring us to life every morning. We go through this all over again and again every morning, and we should never fall into that wicked attitude of asking this question. That question is based on non-thinking. It’s all based on a failure to think. When people utilize their minds, after a while they begin to appreciate the happiness of life. But if you’re going to live with the attitude of “I didn’t ask Hashem to bring me into the world, I didn’t ask Hashem to give me life,” then Hashem might say, “So if you don’t like it, so give it back.”
TAPE # 774
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