Fruits and nuts aren’t the only things with a shell that has to be removed. Much of reality is covered in a shell, a layer that conceals the G‑dliness found in the world.
As soon as you discover that you have derailed—and decide to get back and on track in serving G‑d with every physical act—you can retroactively insert a holy intention into any permissible action done without the express intention of serving G‑d.
You may have all the good intentions in the world and may sincerely wish to make someone happy, but if you go against their express desire, they most definitely won’t be pleased.
Your G‑dly soul tries to assert itself over your body. Your animal soul swoops in like a medieval king fighting for territory, desperately trying to win over those very same thoughts, speech and actions. It’s an endless battle, and you are the battlefield.
You could punch it, kick it, ignore it or wrestle with it, but it will never be defeated. This is the personality of the G‑dly soul, which never gives up the good fight against the animal soul.
“Just five more minutes,” I told myself, yet every turn of the pedal was strenuous, disproportionately harder than the entire 30-minute workout. The struggle was real.
Even if you don’t experience the kind of results you anticipated, if you follow the Torah’s protocol for serving G‑d, you need not feel frustration over not seeing tangible results to your efforts. The results are G‑d’s department.
While G‑d created a world where we subjectively seem independent of Him, His intention was that we would invest effort to discover the truth—that at every moment, He is our true life force.
It’s not a petty annoyance, but going against the very purpose of why He created the world! Whether it is a “small sin” or a “big sin” is irrelevant; the fact that G‑d doesn’t like it causes a disconnect between Jew and G‑d.
There is no shame in struggle. If anything, shame is rooted in a person’s ego, where he expects himself to be exempt from the struggle experienced by the rest of humanity.
I was working out on the treadmill, and my son was looking at me strangely. “But what’s the point, Mommy?” he asked. “Why are you walking if you’re not even going anywhere?”
Sometimes, kids want prizes for their behavior or to be acknowledged for their help. And sometimes, kids are not focused on themselves but on their parents.
Just as when you tug at the bottom of a rope and the top of the rope gets pulled as well, when the animal soul is “pulled” into temptations, the G‑dly soul is dragged along.
It may take effort on the grandfather’s part, but were he to deliver a college-level lecture to the child, it would be way above his head. In order to connect, he needs to remove all barriers.