The Meaning of Life

We are all caught up in the feverish rhythm of modern life: studies, work, endless errands, shopping and household duties. In this unending race we often forget to ask one single, most important question: what is it all for? Does our life have some objective purpose, or are we simply meant to enjoy the moment until it ends in the predictable finale?

Imagine that the world's leading technology company announces the launch of a secret product that is going to change humanity. At a grand presentation broadcast to the whole world, the inventor solemnly lifts the cover from the device and declares: "Before you is the world's first melgofus!" It is a strange plastic object with eight wheels, three antennas, a solar panel and complex electronics.

The audience is baffled: what is it, and what is it for? But before the inventor can utter a single word of explanation, tragedy strikes: he suddenly collapses and dies. No instructions were left; the secret went with him to the grave. Now professionals and amateurs alike try to guess the machine's purpose, dreaming up random uses for it — but no one knows whether any of them matches what its creator intended. The only one who could answer that question is the inventor himself.

This mysterious "melgofus" is a metaphor for human life. A human being, too, is built in a complex way: we have a heart, a brain, hands, feet, feelings and intellect, yet we are born without an "owner's manual." Most people use their abilities without ever once asking themselves: what was a human being actually created for? The answer to this question must be sought from the One who designed us — from G-d. He made sure to hand us detailed instructions through the Torah at Mount Sinai.

Today, questions about the meaning of life are sometimes taken as a sign of psychological instability, and people tend to suppress them. Yet the very urge to seek answers is what makes us human. We are not simply built into nature like animals; we are curious, we explore, we crave improvement. This inner mechanism of searching was placed in us by the Creator for a reason — He expects us to use it.

It is important to understand the difference between "existing" and "living":

• Existing is simply taking up space and consuming resources (food, sleep, safety). Without a higher purpose, such being often leads to a sense of emptiness and sadness.
• Living is something else. It is the connection of our reality with the reality of the Creator, a step beyond the physical senses into the higher, spiritual world.

According to the Torah, the purpose of man's creation is G-d's desire to bestow absolute good on man. The Torah stresses repeatedly that keeping the commandments is given to us "for your own good."

This good will be eternal and perfect, but the path to it runs through our earthly choices. G-d placed the soul in a body and sent it along a route full of ups, downs and trials. We must labor, choosing good and closeness to the Creator, in order to "earn" this delight. The reward becomes perfect only when a person has made an effort to attain it.

Ever since the fall of the first man, humanity has been engaged in "tikkun olam" — the repair of the world. When a person makes the right choice, he repairs flaws and attains a spiritual delight in the World to Come that cannot be described in human terms.

But the meaning of life is not only about waiting for the future. A person who fulfills his true purpose already feels, in this life, a deep satisfaction, peace and joy that no fleeting earthly pleasure can give.

Any sensible person who starts a course of study, military service or even just a car trip knows the end point of the journey. Why is it, then, that on the most important "route" of all — our life — so many never bother to check the destination?

Denying a higher meaning without serious examination is an enormous risk. If there is no meaning, you lose nothing; but if you were wrong and meaning does exist, you have lost your one and only life. The most frightening thing is to discover at 80 that the purpose was missed, and that it can no longer be fixed. That is why each of us should stop for a moment and seriously work out: what is my mission in this world?

An analogy for understanding the purpose of life:

Imagine a person who trains hard all his life, lifts weights and keeps to a diet, yet has no idea for which sport he is doing it. Without knowing the rules of the game and where the finish line is, all his enormous efforts may prove useless: he may run with all his might, but in exactly the opposite direction from the finish. Knowing the meaning of life is precisely knowing where the finish line is — so that every step you take brings you closer to the goal, not farther from it.