* Translated by Janine Muller Sherr
As we know, delayed gratification is one of humanity’s greatest challenges. Every time we succeed in restraining ourselves - we repair something significant in our world. Our Sages explain that Adam’s sin was his inability to restrain himself from eating from the Tree of Knowledge.
In the parasha we read yesterday, the Torah touches on this idea when it commands us to wait three years from planting a tree before eating its fruit: “When you enter the land and plant any tree for food… three years it shall be forbidden for you, not to be eaten.” These three years act to curb a person’s natural tendency to grab the fruit here and now and thus to repair humanity’s first fundamental sin.
Even those of us who aren’t farmers and don’t plant trees can find meaning in this mitzvah and try to train ourselves to act with restraint. For instance, developing our patience as we wait for a small child to grow up; waiting in line at the supermarket or in a traffic jam without getting frustrated; refraining from automatically picking up our phone or giving in to any other bad habit -every time we succeed in restraining ourselves just a bit more, we repair something in the world and bring it closer to its perfection.
To accomplish this task, we don’t need to wait three years; even three seconds is a great achievement. Take a deep breath and try it. Good luck!
