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?

