Baker’s Choice
On my visit to Hong Kong, an elderly non-observant woman approached me with a strange request: “Rabbi, I want a blessing that I should die.”
“A blessing that you should die?!” I asked, incredulously. “Dying before one’s time is not a blessing, but a curse. Why do you wish to incur a curse upon yourself?”
The woman contended that she was fed up with her life of emptiness. She preferred death over a life without purpose.
I tried to understand why her life lacked direction. I discovered that she was fantastically wealthy and even owned a private jet. But she found no meaning in her pampered life of pleasure and indulgence.
I suggested that she begin baking challot in honor of Shabbat. I hoped that the smell of freshly-baked challot would fill her life with warmth and worth.
The woman looked at me with wide-open eyes. “Maybe the Rav did not fully understand me,” she began. “I don’t even prepare my own coffee! All of my wishes are fulfilled by my private staff. I never lift a finger in my house. How in the world am I expected to bake challot?”
I stood my ground. I explained to her that she wished to end her life because she had never accustomed herself to hard work. Her life of gaiety turned dark as soon as the neon lights went out. True vacation belongs to the one who has a vocation. The one who reaps the fruits of his labor is the happy person. Her life seemed rosy and fun, but it was merely a cover for hollowness and futility.
Baking challot for Shabbat would fill her with purpose and the joy of working toward a goal. Thoughts of death would leave her as quickly as they had come. The woman accepted my advice.
After some time, she phoned me. “Honored Rav,” she began, “your advice worked wonders! I am shocked at the transformation that I underwent. From the day I began baking challot, I was filled with fulfillment and love of life. Baking challot for Shabbat led me to observe Shabbat.”
Baruch Hashem, this woman now leads a productive life. She has no time to contemplate morbid thoughts of death.
