Shalom Zachar On Fire

A Torah Anytime original series. >> I recently made a Shalom Zachar for my son. The minhag is that being that a child learns the entire Torah in his mother's womb and then is tapped on the lip and forgets it right before he leaves, we go all to be menachem avel him and console him so to speak. So, I asked the following question at the Shalom Zachar. I said, "I don't understand. This baby a few days ago was sitting and learning with the greatest Torah giants who ever lived. He was being taught by angels. He was learning Kabbalah from the Arizal. He was learning Lamdus from Rav Chaim Brisker and Halacha from Rav Yosef Caro. And he was learning Gemara with Rava and Abaye. And he was learning Chumash sitting next to Rashi. And then he leaves and he is destroyed. And he comes into this world and we are his Nachama? Us? A room full of people who barely know anything? Aren't we only confirming his doubts on this world that this is a world of people who know almost nothing in comparison to the angels that he was learning with? Isn't a room full of tired and worn out men with a long week working who probably didn't learn too much, who are just trying to make it in life, and we are the Nachama? He sees the guy who hasn't opened a sefer in months. He sees the guy who is on a third grade level of Chumash and he's 50. He just finished learning with the Pnei Yehoshua and the Maharal and the Sfas Emes, this baby. And this is his Nachama? We? How are we comforting him? We are terrifying him. The answer is we're telling him something loud and clear. The Torah isn't about knowing everything. It's about growing. It's about trying. It's about struggling. That's what this world is for. That's why we show up to show him the beauty of effort, not perfection. We're telling him, "You don't lose out by being born. You're starting your journey to greatness. One that will last you your whole life." You see, a A of people go through life thinking, "I'm 27. I still speak Russian horror. I still can look look at things I shouldn't. I still don't govern properly. I'm failing. I'm a nobody. I might as well go just go make money all day and make the most out of my own life there. Hope for the best." That's wrong. You're not supposed to be a tzaddik at 27. You're supposed to end up at tzaddik. That's the game plan. That's the secret. Life is designed to challenge you, to stretch you, to push you into the teshuvah highway. Your mistakes, your regrets, your I can't believe I just did that moments, that's where the growth lines That's where the real spiritual work happens. The Torah isn't a VIP club for perfect people. It's a manual for real people with messy lives. And if you take it seriously, failures, struggles, chaos, and all, you'll end up a tzaddik. Not immediately, not tomorrow, but in the end. And at the end of the day, that's what counts.