Gan Eden

By equating his portion in the World to Come with just one ruble, the doctor disgraced his Olam Haba. To him, it was worthless, and therefore, for him, it would remain worthless. The rav concluded with one final clause. The entire town had all learned a profound lesson about the terrible consequences of belittling or disbelieving in sechar v’onesh. In the merit of being the catalyst for such a great Kiddush Hashem, the doctor would receive a portion in Olam Haba.

We can easily get discouraged by the tragedies that seem all too common in our day. Yet, if we keep our hearts trained on what we are doing here and realize that this is just the road for each neshamah to reach its eternal destination, we can retain our appreciation for all the good Hashem has granted us.

The mitzvah of kibbud av va’eim can feel so challenging to many people. A very helpful mindset is to remind yourself that each chance at fulfilling this mitzvah is an invaluable opportunity to be seized and cherished.

Keeping our eyes on the goal can help us make the best choices for our ruchniyus and encourage us to push on when we face challenges great and small.

A mitzvah is worth more than we can ever imagine. Do we mistakenly equate our reward with earthly recompense? Do we recognize the value of each mitzvah we do?

Clearly, the recital of Kaddish, in which we are m’kadeish Hashem’s Name in public, does something very powerful in Shamayim!