Its A Busy Life
“The day is short, and there is much work.” (Pirkei Avot) Let’s face it, life is busy and there’s always so much to do. Aside from our spiritual responsibilities, we have regular stuff to deal with and sometimes it seems like everything takes so long to complete.
That’s why we like shortcuts.
When you have a twenty-minute walk to shul, but there’s a shortcut that takes it down to twelve, you certainly want to take it. Of course, sometimes that shortcut involves climbing over a fence, through brambles, and up the side of a rocky cliff. Then, it might not make so much sense to take that route. In Chazal terms, this is “derech k’tzara she’hee arucha“, a short path which is truly longer.
There’s One Way Home
I was able to relate very strongly to this dictum of our Sages one day when we were coming home from the airport. There is a specific car service I use, and one particular driver we always request. He knows we like to take a specific route, because we’ve found it to be the most reliable and predictable overall. Even with traffic, we prefer to take it over others because it’s familiar.
Well, one day, we were heading home and it seems the driver forgot what we had previously requested. Maybe there was a big backup on the road we like, or maybe he was trying to save a bit on tolls. Either way, he began driving a way I wasn’t familiar with. From time to time, his GPS offered him alternative routes and suggestions that could save a minute or two.
Stay On Course
When I drive and get those notifications, I generally ignore those, unless I understand the factors leading up to the time discrepancy, such as construction or an accident. If it’s a big difference in time I might consider it, but for saving two or three minutes, I stick to what I know.
First of all, the GPS is likely giving the same suggestion to all the other drivers on the road, which means the timing will change when everyone starts doing it. Second of all, when you get off the highway to take city streets, let’s say, you could very easily lose the time you saved by sitting at a stoplight or waiting for other drivers to let you go.
Well, our driver, we’ll call him, Peter, decided to take the different shortcuts offered to him. We went down side roads, through residential neighborhoods, and past a football stadium (!) in search of a shorter way to get to our house. I think timing-wise we ended up pretty much with the same time we would have the other way, and maybe even longer, because whatever time we made up in corners cut, we lost at stop signs, traffic lights, and lower speed limits.
Do What The Client Wants
This shortcut ride home seemed like a metaphor for life for me. We are the drivers in our lives, but there is a Client Who tells us which road He prefers we take. We can follow His directions and not worry about the delays or traffic, because He has taken all that into account. However, if we try to take shortcuts, taking paths He doesn’t recommend, hoping to get ahead faster, we’ll usually find ourselves falling behind, doing more work, and not seeing the outcomes we hoped for.
We all have things we want, things we think will make us happy, and we don’t want to wait for them. We want to get someplace without having to put in the effort, or maybe we just want to beat the crowds and be there first. We find ways we think will help us navigate life better than the directions of Hashem, but inevitably, there’s a breakdown and disappointment. At some point we’ll regret taking the backroads, whether we end up with a blown tire, or just get stuck waiting behind someone else.
I don’t know if Peter learned his lesson, or if he’ll keep trying to find a new way to beat the system. I don’t think most people learn lessons after one incident, or even after several incidents. But we can try to learn lesson for ourselves, right away.
Torah Is Our Guide
Hashem has given us the Torah. He tells us which are the straight roads to stay on, and which are the dangerous curves to avoid. He knows more than the GPS, and at the end of the day, He’s the Client we want to make happy. Not only is He giving us the car, gas, and money for tolls, but He is going to pay the fare at the end, and possibly give us a very nice tip!
An extra insight is that when people cheat or steal, Chazal tell us they are matriach, that they ‘give extra work’ to Hashem because Hashem has to then return the money to the rightful owner. Stealing is not helpful and the thief ends up losing out anyway. It’s like a guaranteed setback.
So, the next time you’re tempted to take a bit of a crooked path, ask yourself if it’s worth it to be ‘matriach‘ your Client, Hashem, especially since He wants you to have the smoothest ride and knows the roads best.
By Rabbi Jonathan Gewirtz
2025 – All Rights Reserved
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