In many ways, being able to compartmentalize the different aspects of our lives is very helpful. Going to work and focusing on our job because we have left our personal issues at the office door, can be quite advantageous. Even more important is the reverse—when we come home from work and leave our work issues at the office, that brings us peace of mind at home. And in today’s connected world it is a bit more challenging, although there are many apps and techniques to help us do so.
However, we can challenge this way of thinking, because in many aspects of our lives, separating one aspect from the next can actually be detrimental to our wellbeing and to our families. For example, we should not ignore our health during the day and say that we will take care of it over the weekend, or ignore our children’s events at school because we are too busy at work, etc. We must learn how to integrate these facets of our life into our day-to-day living.
In this week’s Torah portion, Balak, the Jews are about to enter the land of Israel. They are at the brink of fulfilling their dream of the last thirty-eight years—and they hit a stumbling block. They start to worship idols, Baal-Peor. What happened? How is it possible that from such a spiritual high they can fall so low?
One answer can be found in the Haftarah of this week. It says there was a disconnect between the Jews’ faith in G-d and their commitment to the Mitzvot, and their connection to the physical world: They compartmentalized their lives to the extreme.
One of the fundamental principles of Judaism is that we cannot and should not separate our spiritual and mundane lives from each other. Not only are they connected, but they are also intertwined with each other, to the point that in essence, they are one and the same.
By way of analogy, imagine a couple living together who doesn’t share the same bottle of milk. What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is yours. Such a compartmentalized life is asking for disaster. Not only should the milk be shared, but it should not be measured either. Every aspect of the couple’s life is a shared life. In a happy marriage, there is no splitting between the spiritual and the physical. Between his and hers. Everything belongs to everyone.
In our relationship with G-d, we too, should view our daily lives the same way. Our connection to G-d should not stop after we finish our morning prayers and then we start off “our” day, and then we reconnect with G-d once we are ready to do so later in the day. Every moment of the day should be braided, connected, and holy.
When we are in this kind of zone, we don’t mess up, and our faith and trust in G-d is rock solid.