As stated in the
Mesillas Yesharim, the purpose of life is closeness to Hashem and deveikus
(attachment) to Him.
And we learn in Bilevavi
Mishkan Evneh that the avodah of acquiring true ratzon (desire/will) to get
close to Hashem is the root of everything.
So where are you
holding in your desire to get close to Hashem?
Are you pumped
or do you merely want to get close to Him in much the same way that you want
it to be a nice day outside?
Rabbi Itamar
Schwartz goes on to tell us that if one does not truly want, but only wants
to want, his whole foundation is built (to the extent that it’s built at
all) on swamp land courtesy of his weak ratzon. He may have a ratzon to get close to Hashem,
but not it's strong enough to take him out of his comfort zone long enough to
break a sweat.
As we said in EmunahSpeak: A
Burning Need, wanting is
passive and, as such, it’s not wired for tachlis. If it so happens that
that which was wanted actually comes to be, the fruition of that want was not
in response to it. A need, by contrast, is proactive and, by virtue of
its fiery nature, it can (and usually does) clear a path for itself.
And so it
goes for almost any situation. Most of us want to learn. How many
need to? Do you want to help others or do you need to help others?
And anticipating
what it takes to come close to Hashem we also asked there:
Would you
like (want) to connect Hashem or do you need to connect to
Hashem?
The beginning of
a person’s avodah is to inspire his ratzon more and more. It’s to change a weak want into a strong
need.
And only a need
that has a laser like penetration of a soul on fire can shift one into
gear sufficient to bring him closer to Hashem.
