A student can go through four years of college and earn a 4.0 GPA and be very proud of themselves – as they should be. But then the question arises: Now what? What did this great GPA earn them? The same is true for the lives of more mature people. You can work toward a goal and you may think you have reached the zenith of your career, but then you ask, now what.
The questions that we should ask ourselves are twofold: did we accomplish what we set out to do? And is there more to accomplish?
In this week’s Torah portion, we read about the greatest feat of all – when G-d created the world. Toward the end of the sixth day of creation, when G-d was about to “retire” for Shabbat, the Torah says that G-d finished creating the heavens and earth, and G-d looked back to see everything that He had created. He blessed the seventh day and made it holy, since he rested from all the work that He had done in creating the world.
Seemingly, when we read the text, G-d looks satisfied with His handiwork. However, upon closer examination of the words, you might notice that there is an additional word(s) at the end,” to do” (in Hebrew: la’asot). One second—didn’t G-d just say how satisfied He was with His accomplishment? Everything looked so perfect! After He finished his creation, He said, “It was good.” So why did G-d add the word la’asot – “to do?” What now?
Understandably, reason will tell us that G-d could have created the world in any way he wanted. It could
have been complete to perfection. Yet G-d chose not to. He wanted the world to be imperfect. G-d wants us – no matter how insignificant we may look compared to Him – to be His partners in finishing the job – L’taken Olem, better known as doing the job of Tikun Olam.
Why is that? Why couldn’t G-d just do it by Himself?
On a very basic level, a teacher can go and do the job themselves, but then the student will never learn. A student can have the best GPA, but if they don’t go into their desired field and practice—meaning do the actual work—they will never have the opportunity to implement what they have learned. But if they truly partner with their teacher and use the material that they have learned, they can, even better, enhance the field by innovating.
G-d wants us to innovate, to make this world “our world,” to make this world a better place by taking ownership. When we look at this world as our world, we are not doing Mitzvot because G-d told us to, but because we want to. It is our home that we are beautifying, it is our life that we are enhancing. It is our world that we are making into a better place to live.
When we wake up in the morning and we ask ourselves, Mah La’asot, what is my job to do today, there is only one answer: make this world – my world -- a better place.