The 2 Wisest Men: “Don’t Lose Your One Chance”

Letter to the Non-Religious Jew

Rabbi Moshe Ben-Chaim

“See I place before you today life and goodness, and death and evil” … “Choose life so you and your offspring would live” (Deut. 30:15,19). 

Moses warns the people that by choosing one you avoid the other: choosing goodness grants eternal life, while selecting evil—that which God forbids—forfeits eternal life. Similarly: 

“Rabbi Jacob said: ‘This world is like a vestibule before the world to come; prepare yourself in the vestibule, so that you may enter the banquet hall’” (Avos 4:16). 

But if one does not prepare, he forfeits the afterlife. Same message. 

As we age, parents, friends and loved ones pass on. Our own mortality becomes real. It is foolish to ignore God’s message through Moses and Rabbi Jacob and ignore a Torah life which forfeits your eternal existence. How do we earn an eternal life? Moses told us and God endorsed his word: follow Torah. But what essentially is Torah?

Moses received the entire Bible (Torah) and the 10 Commandments, the main headings (Saadia Gaon). Maimonides classified 13 foundations of Torah. So we have resources that define the essential Torah truths. It vital to start with these to learn what is most crucial. Knowing these fundamentals also lead us to many other of the 613 commands. But these are only the starting point. As God created each human for the single purpose of arriving at truths about God and how to treat others, failing to adhere to God’s terms of existence, He has full rights to terminate our existence upon our physical death. Why accept such a fate when you can live eternally? If you follow His commands you eventually see the beauty in His wisdom which permeates them all, you start living a more enjoyable life here as you abandon empty pleasures of the body, and enjoy the pleasures of the mind. Additionally, you earn the afterlife.

We must not respect the masses and assume they are correct in a life without Torah. We should not look at those successful and famous, and envy their lives either. If you would read about some of these personalities you would learn how most of their lives are in frustration until they get those five minutes spotlight, which is an awful bad trade-off for the decades it took to get there. It's also not worth the toil and sacrifice required to amass fortunes, wealth never spent and only left to those after we die…another futility. King Solomon already experimented with the popular lusts and ambitions. He was the second wisest man after Moses and he advised us that such pursuits are vanity and do not provide happiness. Moses too instructs us that a life of pursuing Torah wisdom is goodness and ensure our afterlife. 

While you still have many years remaining, listen to the 2 wisest men Moses and King Solomon. They certainly offer greater advice than today’s ignorant masses. Find a competent Torah scholar. Make time to investigate Torah. Ask him all your questions. Or be in touch here on Mesora.org and search over 3600 essays to gain answers. Email us with your questions. But don’t lose your once chance.