Building the Complete Chariot

Opening Picture a beautiful car. It is the perfect model, and every part of it was designed with the greatest care. Now a man who thinks he is very clever comes along and says to you: “Do you know the secret of that car? It’s the screen inside. A huge, gleaming screen, the most advanced one there is.” He takes that exact same screen and puts it into an old, rickety car with a broken engine and worn-out wheels. Does he now have the perfect car? Of course not. It was never about the screen. It was about all the parts together: the engine, the wheels, the steering, the screen. They all work in harmony. Each one is whole, and all of them serve one single purpose. A Question Young married man, ask us this question straight out. We see great people around us. There is a scholar of boundless learning who has sat and studied Torah for twenty years. But his home? It is far from him. There is a community leader who gives himself completely for the public. But his own character traits? They are harsh. There is a successful working man. But fixed times for Torah study? Well... And there is an upright, sincere man. But his effort in Torah study? It is thin. Is this the kind of person we want to become? Is it enough for a person to have one “shiny screen,” however precious and impressive it may be? Our Sages teach: “The Patriarchs themselves are the chariot.” What does this mean? Our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were not vessels for just one thing. They were a chariot, a complete vessel. Every one of its “limbs” worked for the One Hashem. The Explanation Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, author of the Tanya, the classic book of Hasidic thought, writes that the divine soul came down into this world to clothe itself in all of a person’s powers. That means his mind and his emotions, and also his thought, his speech and his actions. It is not meant for some of them. It is meant for all of them. This is the meaning of what King Solomon wrote: “In all your ways, know Him.” In all your ways, not in just one. As long as a person treasures one of his parts and leaves the others unbuilt, he is putting a gorgeous screen into a broken car. Is his Torah study whole, and is there peace in his home? That is a chariot. Does he earn his living with dignity, and does he keep fixed times for Torah? That is a chariot. Is he kind, and are his character traits straight? That is a chariot. But each of these on its own is only one detail, and a single detail is not wholeness. A Warning: When the One Part Is Holy Here we need to look closely at something important. The danger is greatest when the one detail a person treasures is holy in itself. Someone who wastes his time on empty things knows that something is missing in him. But think of someone who sits and studies with tremendous dedication while his home turns into a battlefield and the peace in his home is damaged. He sees nothing lacking in himself, because after all, “I’m studying Torah!” This is exactly the shiny screen in the broken car. The greatness of the one detail hides the breakdown of the whole. The goal is not to stand out in one area, cut off from everything else. The goal is wholeness: building a complete person, whose every part works together as one complete car. That means his Torah, his prayer, his family, his livelihood and his character traits. In Closing Stop for a moment, young married man. Don’t only ask, “What am I good at?” Ask: “What car am I building?” Which parts are working, and which ones are neglected? This is not a question of judging yourself. It is a question of direction. For as the verse teaches us, the purpose is not to excel at one point. The purpose is to be a chariot, a complete vessel where Hashem is King in every part, from its engine to its screen, from his home to his study hall. Build the whole car.