44 | JULY 28 • 2022
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 people
have a better recollection
of the puzzles they are
prevented 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
century, 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.
SAVOR THE SMALL MOMENTS
The obvious lesson here is that we
need to savor each moment, each
accomplishment, 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,
TIM SWAAN
Rabbi
Warren
Goldstein
SPIRIT
A WORD OF TORAH
How Do We Find Joy
in the Process?