Balance

I always knew that there needs to be a balance between - going beyond one’s limited ideas of what he can accomplish, and not going overboard. As the Rambam says[1] “the straight path is the middle-road”.

Yet, as a student I never heard this idea stressed from my teachers and mentors. I only heard the do do do, and then some more – message. They were obviously focusing their message to our lazier side. But I feel, that the above message is extremely important to impart as well. 

I have a friend that pushed himself too much – and had nervous breakdowns.

On Living Torah a few weeks ago there was an exchange between the Rebbe and Mr. David Chase:

Mr David Chase: You taught us one thing: never to be satisfied - so we never will be.

Rebbe: Don't let it affect your health, that you are not satisfied.

Mr Chase: You once told me that a human is like an engine, if you overdo it you can burn it out, but if you under use it gets sluggish.

[My friend Eli Leib Rubin recently started a blog on Chabad.org “Hasidology”[2]. His most recent post was about Sonia Rozenblum and some letters of the Fridiker Rebbe to her. The above topic is touched upon a number of times.]


[1] Deos 1:4 cf. Yerushalmi Chagigah 2:1