I was once visiting Yerushalayim when a marathon was taking place. I noticed numerous people running on and on. I asked myself, “Where are they running? Doesn’t the pasuk in Tehillim (122:2) state, ‘Our feet stood firm within your gates, O Jerusalem’? In days bygone, the people would rush toward the Beit Hamikdash, where the Shechinah was housed. But now that we no longer have the Temple, korbanot, or the ner tamid, where is there to run in this city of ruins? Does a marathon add to the sanctity of the city, or merely emphasize its destruction?”
I spent a lot of time thinking about this, trying to understand the point of the marathon. I finally came to the conclusion that there was no point at all. It is only a method of heightening materialism.
Life without Torah is life without purpose. In my lifetime, I have met wealthy individuals who seemed to have satisfied all earthly lusts, but they lacked inner contentment and joie de vivre. From their well-appointed, luxurious offices, they conveyed lives of opulence and ease. But they were the number one clients of psychologists and mental health professionals.
One can attain inner fulfillment only after achieving an ideal. In the life of a Jew, only involvement in Torah and performance of mitzvot will bring him true satisfaction. A life of Torah is a life with a goal, the purpose for which man was placed on this earth.
