Im Lovon Garti - Taryag Mitzvos Shomarti

A man once came to the Maggid of Mezeritch. He was shocked to see how empty the Maggid's home was. There was hardly any furniture and the few basic pieces he did own were all made of simple boards or stumps of wood. The man could not restrain himself and asked the holy Maggid why his house was so bare.

The Maggid responded with a question of his own: "And where is your furniture?"

"In my home, of course." answered the man.

"Why don't you have any with you?" asked the Maggid .

The man looked at the Maggid in surprise. "I'm on a business trip now. Surely a person doesn't need his furniture when he is in the middle of a journey!"

The Maggid smiled. "I, too, am on a journey. This world and all its possessions are only temporary."

**

In this week's Torah portion, Yaakov Avinu relayed this very same message to his brother Esav. "I have lived with Lavan", he said, "and I have acquired many possessions - oxen, donkeys, sheep and servants."

The word "garti" - "I have lived"-has the numerical value of 613, corresponding to the 613 mitzvot of the Torah. Yaakov's message, teaches the commentator Rashi, was -"I may have lived with Lavan for many years, but I kept the mitzvot and led my life according to the Torah."

"Garti" also comes from the root "ger", meaning a stranger, a person who knows that he's not really at home.

Yaakov was saying that everything he earned while working for Lavan - the oxen, donkeys, sheep and servants - are not really important. The entire time he was living there, he was like a stranger, because acquiring these things is not what his life was all about.

Yaakov's real life centers around his neshamah, his soul.

Until Moshiach comes, we, Yaakov's children, are also strangers. Although we may be successful and acquire many possessions, this is not what we are really living for. Like Yaakov, our lives should center around our neshama. That is what really matters to a Jew.