Q&A: How to Live Life?!
How to Live Life?!
Question
Hello and blessings, our master, the holy great Rabbi, may he live long and well.
I was born and raised by very righteous parents. My father, may he live long and well, is an outstanding Torah scholar, learning Torah every free minute, etc. In short, today I have changed my path, and my aspiration is to live like a gentile but with the Shulchan Arukh—that is, to do everything I love except for what the Almighty explicitly forbade us. A number of times I have already had arguments with my father, may he live long and well, and his claim is that if I truly believe (in the Thirteen Principles, and) that there is great reward for those who engage in Torah and increase their observance of commandments as much as possible, even without a direct command from the Creator, then why should I involve myself in worldly matters (and live like a normal person—as the Rabbi would call it), since this world is like a vestibule before the World to Come (Mishnah in Tractate Avot), etc.
What is the Rabbi’s answer to this claim?! (Not from the standpoint of what Jewish law requires and the like, but from the standpoint of ethics, where in the case we are discussing it is simply relevant and the practical way to live.)
Thank you very much!
Answer
I have no idea regarding reward and the World to Come. I know that we were commanded regarding the commandments, and those must be observed. Of course, someone who does more—that is better. But there is no obligation. Beyond that, the criterion for what is proper is what is normal. If you do more, it may bring you more reward, but you are certainly not obligated. The question of what is worthwhile to do and the question of what is permitted to do are two entirely different questions.
Discussion on Answer
Because a person does not always act according to what he believes. Do people always act according to morality? They believe in it completely. The claim is that there is legitimacy to act at a different dosage, but it is true that someone who is very devoted will do this all the time. Of course, you are speaking in terms of reward, whereas I think that serving for its own sake is not based on reward but on what is right. And what is right is to live normally.
My question was exactly that—namely, if someone truly believes (of course, any Jew who is not a heretic according to Maimonides) that one receives more reward for more commandments, why doesn’t he do it? [Because in truth, deep down, he does not believe it, for if not, why doesn’t he learn Torah all day?!]