MISC-----is the torah the only way

e Posted - 02 October 2000 13:39

---

is the torah the only way to be truly happy and fulfilled? if so are all no religious ppl not happy?

and is it not better to be BT than FFb b/c then it is all your own and the emes!!

MODERATOR Posted - 02 October 2000 14:23

---

The purpose of the Torah is NOT to make us happy in this world, although it does that, too (see below). The purpose is to connect us to Hashem so that after our 120 or so years in this world, we will be infinitely happy for the next many millions of years. Please refer to the other topics in this forum.

The Yetzer Horah tries to make even religious Jews unhappy – that is part of its job – and sometimes the Jew succumbs, and the Yetzer Horah succeeds. But it is so much easier for the Yetzer Horah to make a non-religious person unhappy, since as he gets older and older he has less and less to look forward to. The highest suicide rates are for older adults. White men over 85 have the highest rate, who had a rate of 65/100,000, which is about 5 times greater than the suicide rate of teenagers. Suicide rates increase with age, with particular jumps in rates at ages 25, and then 65.

For a religious Jew, the more time we spend in this world, the more we accomplish. For the Torah-less population, the more time you spend in this world, the more over the hill you are. It’s apple pie simple: if you are religious, then it is your spiritual accomplishments that make you happiest. Those grow with time; the soul gets stronger. If you are non-religious, then all you have a re physical and emotional pleasures, and they get weaker and weaker as time goes by.

Never mind the difference between the religious and non-religious in the next world . . .

As far as Baal Teshuva versus always frum goes, whatever situation Hashem puts you into is best for you. There are Baalei Teshuva who become frum for less than the best reasons, and there are frum-from-birth people who just are frum because it is the default value of their lives. In both cases, it is infinitely better than not being frum, but the Baal teshuva and FFB both have their nisyonos. It is up to Hashem to see which nisayon he wants, in His infinite wisdom and infinite kindness, to give to whom.