Haggadah-Using the Contradictions II

“Before my soul was sent down to earth, it was given what seemed a set of contradictory instructions. You must say, it was told, ‘For my sake the whole world was created’; you must also say, as Abraham did, ‘ I am but dust and ashes.’

My soul was told that nothing in life equals the study of the Torah but that study cannot equal good deeds.

It was told to be ambitious but to be satisfied with what it had.

And on it went.

My soul protested, ‘ How can one live with such contradictions?’

But my protests went unheeded, and my mother gave birth to me.

So here I am and here I have been for 40 years, still living with contradictions.” (Rabbi Naftali of Ropshitz)