28 | JULY 8 • 2021

A

waiter remembers every detail
of an order but forgets those
details as soon as the plates hit the
table. Inspired by this thought experiment,
German psychologist Bluma Wulfovna
Zeigarnik conducted a series of laboratory
tests to demonstrate that peo-
ple have a better recollection
of the puzzles they are pre-
vented from finishing than
those they have completed.
Evidently, our brains are
wired to be preoccupied with
the details of incomplete
tasks. We have a deep-seated
need to see things to the end. The human
condition is to not be satisfied, to not let
our minds rest, until we do what we set out
do to.
The problem is, very often we don’t. Very
often, for whatever reason, we simply aren’t
able to reach the finish line.
One of our great sages of the 20th cen-
tury, Rav Eliyahu Dessler, writes, “We are
born in the middle of things, and we die in
the middle of things.
”
Friends — life is messy. Full of loose
ends, false starts, unfulfilled objectives. The
question is, what should our attitude be to
this unsatisfying state of affairs?
In this week’s Torah portion, Massei, God
gives Moshe the mitzvah of designating the
cities of refuge — safe spaces for those who
have inadvertently taken a life to escape to,

to seek refuge from avenging parties and for
atonement. There were six cities of refuge
to be established — three east of the Jordan
River and three west of the Jordan River.
The eastern territory had already been
conquered by this stage, and to get things
started, Moshe was tasked with establishing
these first three cities. He did this with great
enthusiasm, knowing that he would never
get to establish the three western cities
because God had decreed that he would not
cross the Jordan River and lead the Jewish
people into the Land of Israel. That mission
was left to his successor, Joshua.
Analyzing the verse, Rashi comments
that the six cities were a single bloc, and
that none of the cities would be operational
until all six were established. This means
that the three eastern cities that Moshe set
up did not become operational until Joshua
conquered the western side of the Jordan
River and established the other three.
In other words, not only did Moshe
not have the chance to complete the task,
he never got to see any of the fruits of his
efforts realized. The Talmud (Makot 10a)
says this was a mark of Moshe’s greatness
— that his passion for fulfilling God’s will
was such that he threw himself into the task
of establishing these cities even though he
knew he would never complete it.
The obvious lesson here is that we need
to savor each moment, each accomplish-
ment, each step along our life’s journey. On

the one hand, it’s good to be goal-oriented
and to keep an eye on the destination. On
the other hand, we cannot be consumed
with our goals to the point where we are
unable to savor the small moments and
the small victories. Because these small
moments and small victories are an import-
ant part of our lives.

LIVE IN THE MOMENT
Every moment of life is precious. We
learn this from pikuach nefesh — the
principle that virtually all the Torah’s
laws are suspended in order to save a life.
Even if it’s to prolong that life for a few
moments. Life is nothing but the sum of
small moments. Each moment is sacred
because life is sacred.
Torah learning provides a good illustra-
tion of the importance of small moments
and small victories. The Mishna teaches
that the mitzvah of learning Torah has no
fixed limit. The Vilna Gaon has a novel
reading of the Mishna. He says that this
teaching applies at both ends of the spec-
trum — there is no upper limit on the
amount of Torah one can learn, but there
is also no minimum amount; each word of
Torah we learn is a distinct mitzvah with
eternal value.
Kindness is another example. We have a
Torah mandate to make this world a kinder,
gentler place. But the mitzvah of chesed is
fulfilled through incremental actions and
gestures — a kind word, a small gesture, a
brief embrace. Tzedakah is another exam-
ple — a mitzvah performed one coin at a
time. And prayer. It is made up of many
individual words. Each of which has its own
meaning and opportunity for devotion and
connection to God.
We see this principle articulated most
explicitly in the Mishnah in Pirkei Avot: “It
is not on you to complete the work, but nor
are you free to desist from it.
” (Pirkei Avot
2:16).
Though the Mishnah is referring spe-
cifically to the mitzvah of Torah learning,
which being God’s infinite wisdom, by defi-
nition, can never fully be comprehended
or “completed,
” it applies no less to every
mitzvah we perform and all the objectives
we pursue over the course of our lives. “We
are born in the middle of things, and we die
in the middle of things.
”
This could also be the message at the
beginning of our Torah portion, Massei,
which chronicles the journey of the Jewish

SPIRIT
A WORD OF TORAH

Rabbi
Warren
Goldstein

How do we deal with unfulfi
lled goals?
The Best-Laid Plans ...