Choosing the Life in the Mitzvah

Prepared for print by Rabbi Eran Feintuch

ONRosh Hashanah, we know we need a miracle. Our aveiros are weighty, and our merits meager. Yet still we trust that Hashem will inscribe us in the Book of Life.

Hashem is the “King Who desires life.” In His infinite benevolence, He grants us life even if we’re undeserving. But we need to show Him life is what we really want.

Every year on the Shabbos before Rosh Hashanah, we read in the Torah: “Life and death I have placed before you, blessing and curse — choose life, so that you and your offspring should live.” Rashi comments: “I guide you to choose the portion of life, like a man who tells his son, ‘Choose the prime portion in my estate,’ and walks him to the prime portion and tells him, ‘Take this portion for yourself.’ ”

This metaphor is powerful but puzzling. We all want life. If adhering to the mitzvos is the path to life, and abandoning them is the path to death, why would we ever consider choosing the latter? Why would Hashem have to place our hands on the mitzvos and tell us, “This is the portion you should choose?”