Pursue Righteousness
A non-observant Jew once visited me. In the course of the visit, he turned to my wife and told her, “I know you are the wife of the Rav. You certainly are punctilious with all mitzvot, and observe taharat hamishpachah. I, too, understand that faith in Hashem is the ultimate truth and your way of life is the true path.”
I was taken aback by his candor, and replied, “If you recognize the truth, and realize that we live with it, then, you too are obligated to live as we do. You are required to relinquish your life of abandon. You are trying to synchronize two opposing lifestyles. On the one hand, you recognize the truth. You believe there is a Judge and there is justice. But on the other hand, you live a life of looseness and irresponsibility.”
The Torah exhorts us (Devarim 16:20), “Righteous, righteousness shall you pursue.” When a person recognizes the truth and the fact that the world has a Creator, he must pursue this lifestyle. He may not merely store away this knowledge, but he must act upon it.
