{"id":98535,"date":"2022-11-20T02:02:11","date_gmt":"2022-11-20T00:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/?p=98535"},"modified":"2022-11-20T02:02:11","modified_gmt":"2022-11-20T00:02:11","slug":"room-for-improvement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/room-for-improvement\/","title":{"rendered":"Room for Improvement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Room for Improvement<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was once asked to affix mezuzot upon the rooms of the home of a wealthy Brazilian. When I arrived there, I was dumbstruck to find a house of over seventy rooms. This was not a house; this was a mansion. The rooms were spacious, containing every conceivable modern contraption. Only the most technically advanced machines graced this place.<\/p>\n

The furniture was most impressive, offset by expensive rugs, spread throughout. Crystal chandeliers caught the light as it filtered through the massive bay windows. Two tremendous pools stood in the yard, flanked by gardens and lawns on all sides. Wherever one looked, a staff of servants stood at service, ready to serve the family and guests most graciously.<\/p>\n

I stood in wonder, drinking in the sights, when the householder handed me a mezuzah to put up.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch a tremendous house demands tens of mezuzot, one for each room,\u201d I pointed out.<\/p>\n

Not missing a beat, he informed me that he had only one mezuzah.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd in which room do you want to put it?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

He thought for a moment, and then said, \u201cI would like the Rav to affix it to the basement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy not at the front entrance to your home?\u201d I asked in surprise.<\/p>\n

The man innocently replied that his safe was kept in the basement. He felt that a mezuzah there would keep it safe.<\/p>\n

I was filled with pain at his blindness to the pure truth.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour entire outlook on life is mistaken,\u201d I reprimanded him. \u201cYou think you will live here forever, but you are sadly mistaken. \u2018The days of our years\u2026 are seventy years, and if with might, eighty years\u2019 (Tehillim<\/em> 90:10). When your day will come, none of your possessions will remain with you. Only your mitzvot will escort you on your Final Journey. It hurts me that you want the mezuzah, written with Hashem\u2019s Name, to protect your property instead of your spirituality.<\/p>\n

\u201cSee how good the Al-mighty has been to you. He has granted you fame and wealth. But instead of expressing gratitude and thanking Him by performing mitzvot, you distance yourself from Him and hand over your soul to your Evil Inclination.\u201d<\/p>\n

I added another point. \u201cThe Torah relates that Yaakov \u2018built himself a house, and for his livestock he made shelters\u2019 (Bereishit <\/em>33:17). Shelters are temporary dwellings, implying transience and impermanence. With this deed, Yaakov taught us what our attitude toward our acquisitions should be. In contrast, for his soul, Yaakov built a house, which is a stable, permanent abode, established upon closeness to and love of Hashem.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have mixed up the messages. You have made the primary peripheral, and vice versa. Instead of employing your fantastic wealth and modern technology to promote the cause of mitzvot, you have invested your funds in\u2026 accumulating more money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although this man ranks among those who support our institutions, I spoke to him with zealousness, l\u2019shem Shamayim. I hope and pray that my words entered his heart and he merits correcting his ways.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Room for Improvement I was once asked to affix mezuzot upon the rooms of the home of a wealthy Brazilian. When I arrived there, I was dumbstruck to find a house of over seventy rooms. This was not a house; this was a mansion. The rooms were spacious, containing every conceivable modern contraption. Only the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":25387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1074],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-modern-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rdpinto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}