Soaring High! | Rabbi Shlomo Landau

A few days ago, my phone rings. I don't recognize the number and a fellow says to me: Is this Rabbi Landau? I said: Yes. Are you from Vayimaen? I said, I have the zchus periodically of presenting to Vayimaen. He says: Well, I have a lot of issues with Vayimaen. You, particularly. You always have stories that end with such a happy ending. A guy's careful with Shmiras Haeinayim, he makes so much money. A guy's careful with Shmiras Haeinayim, his Shalom Bayis, all of a sudden, is off the charts. A guy's careful with Shmiras Haeinayim, his kid, who was giving him so much עוגמת נפש, all of a sudden, is a piece of Nachas. He says: I've been working on my Shmiras Haeinayim, on my Kedushah areas, literally since the onset of Vayimaen, and even before that, and I watch religiously every single day, and every day is a fight and every day is a struggle and I got nothing. My Parnassah is still the same lousy Parnassah, my Shalom Bayis is still status quo, my kids are still my kids, nothing has changed. You're setting people up for failure, because people like me are not seeing results. What do you have to say? And I gave him an answer, but I want to give you a little bit of an analogy to bring out the answer. There was a young boy who was fascinated with boats, and as he grew older and he started working and he started making some money, he bought his first boat. Then he bought a larger boat and an even larger boat and then a yacht and then a larger yacht and then a super yacht and then a mega yacht. And one day, he is on the voyage of a lifetime. He's in this magnificent river somewhere in South America, with lush jungle on either side. The sun is shining. The wind is blowing. It's magnificent beyond. There's parrots and parakeets and monkeys. He's in Gan Eden, literally. He's sitting there, he's taking it all in, when all of a sudden, he hears from the captain's post, There's a waterfall ahead! Turn the boat around! They quickly try to turn the boat around, they put it on full power, full throttle, but the boat is no match for the current and this massive yacht, with all of the people on it, is heading towards a waterfall. It's just a matter of minutes before they'll be dashed over and smashed into a thousand pieces. No one knows what to do, till someone says, finally, Isn't there a small helicopter somewhere that we can use for an escape? And there was. At the top of the yacht. Everyone climbs to the top, they pull away the canvas, they jump into the helicopter, they fire it up, and in the nick of time, the helicopter soars into the air, as the boat heads right over the waterfall and smashes into smithereens. I told this fellow, Some people, Hakadosh Baruch Hu rewards them with a yacht. And those are the people that see Parnassah, and those are the people that see Shalom Bayis. But at some point, the Schar in Olam Hazeh, the reward in this world, goes over the end and it's all over, and it smashes into a thousand pieces. But the Neshama soars high in a spiritual helicopter. And perhaps, just perhaps, Hakadosh Baruch Hu is, like: Look at this guy's efforts. Look at the amount of struggle that he has. Look at the day-to-day Nisyonos that he has, and he keeps at it. I don't want to give him a yacht. I want to give him a lifetime of נצח נצחים, of eternity. I think it's a very important point. Of course, Hakadosh Baruch Hu throws us morsels, tidbits, Parnassah, kids, Shalom Bayis, all the different things that we need, and we should be asking for those and maybe even hoping for them. But understand something, that when all of that is taken away, the fact that the Neshama soars high לנצח נצחים, because of the effort we invested in this world, is the most precious reward of all.