A factory hired a new production manager. He was a great motivator and everyone in the plant was enthusiastic. It didn’t take long for the manager to send an excited message to his bosses in the head office.
“Got production up to unprecedented numbers. We broke all our records yesterday!”
The message he got back in return read:
“What are you doing today?”
We can bemoan the insensitivity of business people, but at the end of the day, the nature of the beast is that business is guided not by sentiment but by the bottom line. Yes, it’s hard, often unfair, and certainly unsympathetic, but that’s the reality.
It’s also a lesson for life.
There are many who start out with great success. Their lights shine for a brief moment, then flicker and fade into oblivion. The secret to success goes beyond the initial enthusiasm. It requires persistence, commitment, and consistency.
Rashi1 teaches us this very message at the beginning of our weekly reading, Tetzaveh.
“And you shall command the Children of Israel that they should take for you pure, pressed olive oil for illumination, to kindle the lamp continually.”
The “lamp” refers to the Menorah in the Temple, and Rashi quotes the Talmudic teaching that the requirement is to light the Menorah “so that the flame ascends of itself.” The Kohen who lights the Menorah must ensure that the flame is strong and stable and will not be extinguished when he walks away. Often, we light a candle, and it flickers briefly, only to go out as soon as we turn our backs. The instruction here is to make certain that the flame is properly lit and will keep burning long after we’re gone.
This, too, is an instruction for life. It’s not enough to light the candle. We must make sure it will last. There’s got to be sufficient oil, wick, and whatever it needs to last.
In life, whether in business or in our relationships, we need to be there for the long haul.
There are sprinters who can break records over short distances, but marathon runners need stamina more than speed, and grit more than grace. It takes a lot of training and enormous determination to go the full distance.
And as it is in life, so it is in Jewish life. We need not only starters, but finishers. Many people make resolutions and begin studying Torah or practicing a new mitzvah, and at first, it’s new, fresh, and exciting. Too often, though, the enthusiasm wanes and peters out. We need the capacity for continuity. That initial burst of energy alone cannot guarantee long-term success. We may be fast, but we fade.
Yes, routines can become boring, and it’s human nature to lose interest after a while. But those with staying power are in it for the long haul. The capacity for continuity, that sense of consistency, separates the faders from the finishers.
Many synagogues have a ner tamid, an “eternal light,” usually somewhere near or over the Holy Ark. It is a reminder of the Menorah in the Temple of old which was kindled daily, summer or winter, rain or shine. The Kohen and the flame were faithful, reliable, and constant.
The light of G‑d is eternal. Torah is truth and truth is forever. The Hebrew word for Truth is emet, which in Hebrew is spelled Alef, Mem, Taf. These three Hebrew letters are the first, last and middle letters of the Hebrew alphabet. First, middle, and last represents consistency. Truth is truth, now and forever.
Long ago, King David wrote in the Book of Psalms, “Who may ascend the mountain of G‑d, and who may stand in the place of His sanctity?”
It’s one thing to climb the mountain. It’s another to maintain one’s level. Please G‑d, may we keep climbing and sustaining our enthusiasm now and forever.
-adapted from www.chabad.org
