Imperfect Yet Priceless | Rabbi Shimon Gruen

A Bochur, who was struggling with a lot of Nisyonos, once came to a Rebbe, and he was complaining: Rebbe, it's so hard for me. What can I do? And the Rebbe gave him Chizuk. He said: What's the difference between a photo and a painting? The boy said: What do you mean? A photo is usually much more accurate than a painting. And the Rebbe says: Well, which one is more expensive? He says: Well, a painting is obviously more expensive. He says: Why is that? He says: Because a photo can't have a mistake in it, obviously, but a painting is a much bigger trick to get it right. And the Rebbe explained to him that that's the difference between the Avoda of Mal’achim, who can't make a mistake, and the Avoda of people who could make mistakes. And that's why, despite all the struggles and challenges, one should never give up. I used to think that this message was about the fact that we could make mistakes and we don't, and that's why our Avoda is so Chashuv. But I think there's more to it. Imagine this. You want to do renovations in your house, do some construction, so you call someone who might be able to help you, and you tell him the different things you need, and he listens to your whole list of things that you want to do in your house. He says: You know, I think I could help you with all that, but the copper pipes in the kitchen, I'm not great with that, but other than that, I can do it all. Mmm... Well, you want the job done complete. You don't want to have to call another person. You call someone else. And he asks: What do you need done? You give him a whole list of things. He says: Well, the tiles that you want to put in the kitchen, I don't know, maybe I could do with something else, instead, or you could have someone help me with that, but I don't think I could do that. Okay, so you go on to the next person. And you call him up and say: I want to do renovations in my house. Sure, I can do it. But I didn't tell you what I need. -No, I can do everything. Some people would be a little wary about hiring somebody who thinks he could do everything. And some people would go for it. Maybe he could do everything. You’ll have a complete job without having to call more people. What happens if you call down this guy, you give him a chance, and on the first part of the job, he already makes a mistake, he messes up. And the second part again. I think it wouldn't take long for you to get frustrated and say, This is not for you. And if he would be smart, he would also know to say: This is not for me. Isn't that what happened when we got the Torah? The Aibishter is offering the Torah to the nations of the world, and the Puerto Ricans or the Mexicans, they’re being somewhat responsible and honest and saying: Well, that little piece is not for me. You know, מה כתוב בה? Let's be clear about it. Other than that, I can do it all. The Yidden are the only ones that say: נעשה ונשמע. We could get it done. Full confidence. Well, Hashem decided to give us a chance and what happened? Didn't take long for the Yidden to fall through with the עגל הזהב. Well, you would think that either the Yidden would say: Well, I guess we messed up. Let's recalculate. Or Hashem would tell them: I see it's not for you. But that's not what happened. We remained the עם הנבחר. Until today, we sing and we’re proud of ourselves that we said: נעשה ונשמע. Why is that? It seems that the Yidden understood that what Hashem was looking for was for the people that were going to keep on trying. And even when they mess up, they're going to stick to it. They’re not going to be impressed by the fact that it's hard for them, or they didn’t get it right 100%. The Goyim weren't being honest or responsible. They didn't have what it takes to fall through and say: You know what? I'll try again. And again fall through and again to try again. And the Yidden were right, because when you look in the Torah, you see how much of the Torah itself is designated to helping people who fell through. What kind of Teshuva, what kind of כפרה, what kind of עונש. Yidden knew Hashem wants us to keep on trying. It's our paintings that have the mistakes in it that are more valuable than all the photos that the Mal’achim take. And when we know this, and we strengthen ourselves, and we give ourselves the Chizuk that it takes to keep on getting up again and again, that's what's so valuable to Hashem Yisborach.