Why Do We Ask for More Life?
All of us ask for more time. No one says, “I have lived enough years. That’s enough.” Everyone wants one more year, ten more years, twenty more. But one simple question stopped me, and it runs very deep: what for? Suppose I get one more year, and I live it exactly the way I lived the year that just went by. What have I gained? Copying the same days over again does not add life. This may be the most honest question a person can ask before asking for anything. What Is Life? The Torah says: “Choose life.” This is a command, not a suggestion. But what kind of life are we commanded to choose? The Tanya, the classic book of Hasidic thought, explains that the true life of the soul is not the body’s physical existence. True life is the soul’s bond with the source of its life: Hashem, “the Life of all life.” A soul that is cut off from its source is considered dead, from the soul’s point of view, even if the body is alive and breathing. And the opposite is also true. A life of Torah and commandments connects a person to the very source of life, and that is why it is true life. Rabbi Akiva, the great Sage, gave a famous parable. A Jew without Torah is like a fish taken out of the water. Water is not an “extra” in a fish’s life. Water is its life. In the same way, the Torah is not an extra in our lives. It is life itself. King David said the same thing: “I will never forget Your commandments, for through them You have given me life.” “Through them”: my life is found inside them. A Request That Is Not Empty And here is the new idea. When a person asks for another year, he can mean two completely different things. The first is a request for quantity: more days, more time, the “how much” of life. The second is a request for quality: a life with content, purpose and mission, the “what” of life. An empty request says, “Give me another year.” A real request says, “I still have something to do here.” When a person says, “I want another year,” he is saying without words: there is still someone I want to help. There is still something I want to build. There is still something inside me that has not finished becoming. This is not a passive request to be handed extra time. It is a statement of intent, an expression of a strong desire to act in Hashem’s world. Likkutei Torah, a classic book of Hasidic discourses, explains that the Torah itself, in its words about the Ark setting out on its journey, stresses that life is movement: walking toward a purpose. Not standing still, not making copies. So a “life” that has no inner movement has nothing real in it.
Putting It into Practice
Before you ask, ask yourself. Not as a philosophical question that leaves you anxious about your whole existence, but as a practical question that gives your prayer direction: “Master of the world, give me life, so that I can...” So that I can finish that page of Talmud. So that I can be a better father. So that I can give that person the kind word I owe him. So that I can finish becoming who I am able to be. Our Sages say: “More Torah, more life.” Not “more days,” but “more life.” The difference is the difference between a clock that keeps ticking and a heart that keeps beating. One small question before the Jewish New Year: what will you do next year that you did not do last year? If you have an answer, you have a real request. And if you don’t have an answer yet, this is exactly the time to think about it. “Choose life.” It is a choice, not a wait.
Questions and answers
Q: Why do we ask for more years of life if we will live them the same way?
Rabbi Landau answers: No one says, “I have lived enough years. That’s enough.” Everyone wants one more year, ten more years, twenty more. But one simple question stopped me, and it runs very deep: what for? Suppose I get one more year, and I live it exactly the way I lived the year that just went by. What have I gained? Copying the same days over again does not add life. This may be the most honest question a person can ask before asking for anything.
Q: What is gained by asking for one more year if it is just a copy of the last one?
Rabbi Landau answers: No one says, “I have lived enough years. That’s enough.” Everyone wants one more year, ten more years, twenty more. But one simple question stopped me, and it runs very deep: what for? Suppose I get one more year, and I live it exactly the way I lived the year that just went by. What have I gained? Copying the same days over again does not add life. This may be the most honest question a person can ask before asking for anything.
Q: What kind of life does the Torah command us to choose with "Choose life"?
Rabbi Landau answers: The Torah says: “Choose life.” This is a command, not a suggestion. But what kind of life are we commanded to choose? The Tanya, the classic book of Hasidic thought, explains that the true life of the soul is not the body’s physical existence. True life is the soul’s bond with the source of its life: Hashem, “the Life of all life.” A soul that is cut off from its source is considered dead, from the soul’s point of view, even if the body is alive and breathing. And the opposite is also true. A life of Torah and commandments connects a person to the very source of life, and that is why it is true life. Rabbi Akiva, the great Sage, gave a famous parable.
Q: What is the difference between asking for more life in quantity and asking for it in quality?
Rabbi Landau answers: When a person asks for another year, he can mean two completely different things. The first is a request for quantity: more days, more time, the “how much” of life. The second is a request for quality: a life with content, purpose and mission, the “what” of life. An empty request says, “Give me another year.” A real request says, “I still have something to do here.” When a person says, “I want another year,” he is saying without words: there is still someone I want to help. There is still something I want to build. There is still something inside me that has not finished becoming. This is not a passive request to be handed extra time.
Q: How should I phrase my prayer when I ask Hashem for more life?
Rabbi Landau answers: Before you ask, ask yourself. Not as a philosophical question that leaves you anxious about your whole existence, but as a practical question that gives your prayer direction: “Master of the world, give me life, so that I can...” So that I can finish that page of Talmud. So that I can be a better father. So that I can give that person the kind word I owe him. So that I can finish becoming who I am able to be. Our Sages say: “More Torah, more life.” Not “more days,” but “more life.” The difference is the difference between a clock that keeps ticking and a heart that keeps beating.
Concepts: time