Why Didn't Hashem Just Make Us Not Feel Embarrassed?

Hi, this is Evan Arotsky with our question and answer series. This question we've dealt with in the podcast, but uh obviously whoever is writing in this question doesn't either doesn't remember from there or didn't see it. And it's a fundamental enough question that I'm willing to spend time on it. If the reason Hashem didn't put us in Gan Eden is because we would be embarrassed cuz we didn't earn it, why didn't Hashem make us not embarrassed? This is such a fundamental question. The Zohar Kodesh says that why didn't we go right into Olam Haba? And the answer is because of lechem d'kisufa. That when you hand somebody something that they didn't earn, they don't enjoy it as much as if they earned it. And so the question that the listener is asking is, "Well, why didn't Hashem just make us that we could enjoy it without earning it? Can't Hashem do anything?" And the answer is yes, Hashem can do anything, but he can't do that. And I'm quoting here Rabbi Yaakov Weinberg, the Rosh Yeshiva of Ner Israel, when he was asked this question. Because [snorts] what's the greatest thing in the world? The greatest thing in the world is to be like Hakadosh Baruchu. What is Hakadosh Baruchu? Hakadosh Baruchu is Ein Sof. He's limitless. He's infinite. Right? He he he he goes beyond everything. And we as human beings, we are finite, and we are limited, and we are dependent. If you want to be like Hakadosh Baruchu, you have to be unlimited, independent, and and infinite. Now, we can't cuz we're human beings. But, we can be less limited. We can be less finite, and we can be more independent. Now, we know this, a little kid is very dependent. But, they very much want to be more independent. They want to feed themselves, even though they're not very good at it. Sometimes, they want to get dressed by themselves. They They want to go outside like the big kids. People want to go on the ride, even though they can't reach the little clown's hand to be able to go on the ride. People want to be big. There's a desire for me to be able to be older, to be able to move beyond who I am. That was the whole theme of the Tom Hanks movie called Big in the 1980s. This little kid wanted to be big. People want to move beyond who they are. We want to be less limited. As Reb Moshe Shapiro said once, "Why are people so happy when they get the car? It's not just the financial value, cuz if you gave them the money of the car, they wouldn't be as happy as having a car. Cuz a car makes you less limited. I can go to more places. I can do more things." People want to be more independent. They want to move beyond their boundaries. They want to push beyond where they are. That is the natural state. So, if Hakadosh Baruch Hu created you and put you in Olam Haba, all he could do is trick you. And he could program you to say you're very happy. But, you're not happy, cuz you're not like Hakadosh Baruch Hu at all, just the opposite. You were put here in Olam Haba. You are completely dependent, completely limited, yeah, and and and completely finite. You're not like a good as all except what? He could fool you into thinking that you're having the greatest pleasure. The greatest pleasure is to be like a good as in order to do that, he has to put you someplace where you can make choices. And if you can't make any choices, then you're not like a good as at all. In which case there's no point in creating you. You might as well just make a computer program. You push the button and says, "Happy happy happy happy." Cuz you wouldn't be doing anything. You wouldn't be getting anything out of life. So you're saying, "Why didn't a good as fool us and put us inside of the matrix so we think we have a life and we think that we're married. We think we have kids and we think we're enjoying ourselves and none of it's true. We're just a brain hooked up to wires." What would be the point of that? A good as didn't create us for a lie. He created us for to get the greatest possible pleasure, which is to be like a good as and the only way you can do that is by making yourself more independent, by making yourself more unlimited, and making yourself beyond this world. And that's why he put us in this world for us to be able to become more like a sham. Then you can have a relationship with a good as as equals. This is David Alosky with our question and answer series.