{"id":86854,"date":"2021-01-17T22:38:19","date_gmt":"2021-01-17T20:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=86854"},"modified":"2021-01-17T22:38:19","modified_gmt":"2021-01-17T20:38:19","slug":"the-meaning-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-meaning-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"The Meaning Of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"86854","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":46656,"related_cahpter":"657","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"To know how to count our days, to make our days count\r\n\r\n","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Psalm 90 is the first of a series of psalms attributed to Moses\u2019 authorship. In this psalm Moses is referred to as \u201ca man of God (90:1)\u201d, the same terminology employed to describe Moses at the end of his life when he was uniquely qualified to speak about recognizing one\u2019s purpose in life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The psalm begins with Moses\u2019 description of the timelessness of God, comparing the length of human days and lifespans to mere blinks in God\u2019s infinite time. He then goes on to pray, not for a long life, not for the one thing Moses wanted most of all and was denied \u2013 to enter the land of Israel, and not for any particular triumph he felt he\u2019d failed to achieve. Moses asks God to \u201cTeach us to count our days so that we may acquire a wise heart (90:12).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook comments on God\u2019s disappointment with how we use the little time we have. He points to the use of the word \u201c<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">evrah<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d, commonly translated to reflect God\u2019s \u201cfury\u201d with humans in verse 9. But Rav Kook speaks of \u201ctoiling on the other side\u201d using the etymology of \u201c<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">eiver<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d, meaning \u201cother side\u201d to bring this verse to a dual meaning: God\u2019s anger over our propensity to spend our time chasing fleeting goals through activities that are in contradiction to God\u2019s plan for the world \u2013 effectively working on the other side. By doing so, we render our time here meaningless.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch concurs with Rav Kook, saying, \u201cHe who knows how to utilize every moment of his existence in service of God, will find true purpose of his life in every moment that he spends on earth. And whenever God will call him away, he will heed the summons serene in the thought that he has reached the goal for which he was created.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s a lofty goal that Rav Kook and Rav Hirsch set \u2013 to spend our time only in meaningful activity that fulfills God\u2019s goals. Moses understands that it\u2019s not so easy. \u201cTeach us to count our days\u201d, he asks God, not just how to make our time valuable, but what our purpose in life is. For only if we understand our purpose can we fully align our actions with God\u2019s will. Effectively, Moses is asking God to \u201cteach us to make our days count by helping us understand our true purpose.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That was Moses\u2019 prayer, in his final days, for himself and the nation he led.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","image":{"ID":86855,"id":86855,"title":"ps90-meaning of life","filename":"ps90-meaning-of-life.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-meaning-of-life.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-meaning-of-life\/ps90-meaning-of-life\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps90-meaning-of-life","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":86854,"date":"2021-01-17 20:37:53","modified":"2021-01-17 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