לזכות חנה ליבא בת נעכא גיטל לברכה עד בלי די
We live in an incredibly, unprecedentedly comfortable world. The average citizen today is incomparably more comfortable than the richest person 150 years ago. He didn't have running water, cars, airplanes, advanced medicine, Amazon [buy ANYTHING from home and have it at your doorstep in no time😀], the countless machines we benefit from constantly like computers, Waze, washing machines, dryers, air conditioners, heaters etc. etc. etc. There are things that only came on the market in the last few years that many can't survive without for five minutes....
I say - BARUCH HASHEM!!!!! We are blessed. We are blessed in Gashmiyus and we are blessed in Ruchniyos. Today - anybody can learn almost anything. Artscroll Gemaros, Mishnayos, millions of translations and elucidations, probably millions of recorded shiurim that one can listen to anywhere. Endless shuls, mikvaos and Jewish schools. Kosher food that is available in mass amounts ready to be eaten [or placed in the micro]. In the old days women were preparing chickens from scratch and brought them to the Rav to ask shylos. When was the last time a woman you know brought a chicken to a Rav 🐔🐔? We are truly blessed.
Since we were born into it that makes it harder to appreciate. But our deficit in appreciation doesn't make it less of a blessing.
The world is split up into two categories of people. People who own their own homes or people who dream of owning their own home. That is legitimate. And not just a home with four walls and roof. But a luxurious home filled with creature comforts. No aveirah there, right? So where am I going with this??
Many Orthodox Jews own three homes. One common example - one in NY, one in Florida 😎 and a third of course in Israel [Hatikvah plays in the background🎹🎷🎵 ]. Then of course when they want a vacation they go somewhere where they don't have a home. How can it be a true vacation if they are just going home??? So HEEELLLLLO Spain, France, Arizona, Dubai etc. etc. There are some people who are perpetually either actually on vacation or planning one. Even though things aren't so rough at home....
So far it seems that we haven't mentioned one aveirah. But I have one question: A foundational Jewish belief is that we are not in this world merely to "coast" and be comfortable. We are in this world to WORK HARD. היום לעשותם ומחר לקבל שכרם. Shabbos, the true Shabbos, when we can REALLY sit back and "chill" - is in the next world. This world is but a "waiting room" for the next world, as the Mishna in Avos teaches. So are people really living with this awareness? Do they really think that they need THREE [sometimes more...] fancy, luxurious waiting rooms in order to facilitate a life of serving Hashem and spiritually self-actualizing?? Is that really what it is about? This is not a criticism. If I had the money - who knows what I would buy? [I would probably start with the NY Knicks..... Then I would sit court side and make sure they put the TV camera on me when I go crazy over a VERY LARGE man, descended DIRECTLY from Cham ben Noach, a-rags-to-riches-his-great-great-great-granddaddy-was-a-Eved-Kinaani-and-he-throws-a-ball-for-30-million-a-year, convincingly and ferociously, who takes a piece of cowhide and SLAMS it in a net while simultaneously defying laws of gravity🏀🏀 ]. It is just a provocative question that should be asked in order to remind us why we are here. At the end of the day - all of our homes are a form of a rental b/c while the home may last [barring a hurricane in the Florida mansion], we don't...
Something else worth considering is that the Sefer Hachinuch says that running after excessive pleasure is an עבירה דאורייתא 😳😳:
