Let My People Know

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz: “Life is full of problems.”




Life is full of problems.

This reality is an essential and built-in part of life.

It is not merely a local problem, such as whether to wear leather belts or what to do on a rainy day; it is a question of approach:

How should we deal with matters that require attention and rectification?

Adam was told, “Thorns and thistles shall it sprout for you” (Gen. 3:18).

If a person sows in the ground, and thorns and thistles grow instead of his desired crop, he must ask himself:

What should I do with this problem?

This is an essential question, one that is not connected to external conditions or to advantages that some people may have over others, but only to how each person decides to deal with the problems that arise in life.

–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz