רבים מתנחמים בעצמם לאמר אם איני עובד את ד׳ כחובתי ולא מקודש כצרכי, עכ״פ רצון טוב יש לי, עד שהרבה פעמים לבי צועק ממכאוביו ומהתרחקותו. אבל התתנחם הגלגולת הצפה ע״פ המים, בזה לבד שרוצה להציל את עצמו ולבו כואב לו, וצועק על נפשו, אם ח״ו לא יציל את עצמו ולא יעלה מן הנהר שטובע בו.
DROWNING IN HEARTACHE: Many are in the habit of self-consolation in saying to themselves: “Even if I am not serving God as I should and even if I am not as refined as behooves me, well at least I have good intentions. And, indeed, many times my heart even cries out in sorrow because of my distance from God.’’ However would the skull floating along in some body of water [e.g., the one mentioned in mAvot 2:6), [if it could come to life,] would its possessor find comfort in the that that such a person had hoped to save themself or would their heart ache [because of their failure]? Would such a one cry over their own [lost] life because that person was unable to save themself and to rise up over the river in which that person was drowning?
רבים מתנחמים בעצמם לאמר אם איני עובד את ד׳ כחובתי ולא מקודש כצרכי, עכ״פ רצון טוב יש לי, עד שהרבה פעמים לבי צועק ממכאוביו ומהתרחקותו. אבל התתנחם הגלגולת הצפה ע״פ המים, בזה לבד שרוצה להציל את עצמו ולבו כואב לו, וצועק על נפשו, אם ח״ו לא יציל את עצמו ולא יעלה מן הנהר שטובע בו.
DROWNING IN HEARTACHE:
Many are in the habit of self-consolation in saying to themselves: “Even if I am not serving God as I should and even if I am not as refined as behooves me, well at least I have good intentions. And, indeed, many times my heart even cries out in sorrow because of my distance from God.’’ However would the skull floating along in some body of water [e.g., the one mentioned in mAvot 2:6), [if it could come to life,] would its possessor find comfort in the that that such a person had hoped to save themself or would their heart ache [because of their failure]? Would such a one cry over their own [lost] life because that person was unable to save themself and to rise up over the river in which that person was drowning?