Wisdom & Wit

Wisdom & Wit

The Chafetz Chayim would explain what one does in this world in terms of a parable.
“Imagine,” he said, “that a man wanted to build a gracious mansion. He called in an architect and told him,” On my plot of land, I want you to build a magnificent corridor leading to an equally magnificent living room.”
“The architect went home, studied the plot, and told the man,” Unfortunately, I cannot build both on your land. You will need to make a choice - either simplify the corridor, or make a magnificent corridor at the expense of having a very small living room. I would strongly urge you to cut down on the corridor, because a magnificent corridor leading to a small living room would be the height of incongruity.”
“And we, too, are faced with the same choice,” said the Chafetz Chayim. “We can invest all our efforts into furthering ourselves in this world - the corridor to the World to Come - and as a result lose out on our portion in the World to Come. Or we can ‘invest’ all of our efforts while we are in this world in furthering our position in the World to Come. Yes, it will mean that in this world we will not strive for all the luxuries, but we will be ensuring that our lot in the World to Come will be a fine one.”

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