Life is Journey

Life is a Journey.

Life is a journey — an ongoing process of becoming.

Each step matters.

Every stage has a purpose.

Nothing is wasted.

The Midrash teaches that even before we are born, while still in the womb, each of us makes a vow: to be righteous and not wicked.

We are also told that no matter how righteous others may think we are, we must never see ourselves that way.

We must remain humble, avoiding arrogance, and remembering that we are vessels for bringing Gd’s blessing into the world.

This journey of becoming is rarely easy.

It’s filled with struggle, uncertainty, and obstacles.

But it’s also graced with moments of joy, connection, and peace.

Each life is different — each journey tailor-made.

And every moment, every “stop,” is designed to help us fulfill the vow our soul made before birth.

Our circumstances — all of them — are opportunities:

To learn.

To grow.

To imitate the Divine.

To become creators, healers, builders, lovers, and connectors.

In the desert, the Israelites stopped 42 times on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land.

Each stop was by Gd’s command.

Our lives, too, are made up of stops and starts, pauses and leaps. Each one carries within it a hidden mission:

A lesson to learn.

A fear to overcome.

A character trait to refine.

A difference to make in the world.

At various points along the way, we are called to be courageous, to rise from despair, to cultivate gratitude, to embrace hope.

Some stages are brief. Others stretch longer than we wish.

Sometimes we are building. Sometimes we are letting go.

Sometimes we are leaving something negative behind.

Sometimes we reach for holiness.

Sometimes everything is clear.

Other times, it’s all a mystery.

But all of it — every step, struggle, and still point — is part of the path toward becoming who we were meant to be.

So that when we return our soul to its Source — when we are “born” into the next world, we will have fulfilled that quiet, holy vow we made at the very beginning:

To be our truest, most righteous self, in the way only we could.

Shabbat Shalom and Chodesh Tov,

Elissa