Planning for a Family

Torah’s first commandment is: “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and conquer it.”

This is not just a physical command, but a spiritual one: When it comes to building a family, one must conquer all the concerns that stem from the ‘earth’ — from worldly, materialistic considerations – whether how much it will cost, or how child-rearing might interfere with one’s personal pursuit of spiritual and physical comfort…

The soul is literally a part of G-d. If one were to ask, “What does my soul say? What does it think about all my materialistic concerns?” There is no question what the soul says on the subject, for it is G-d’s blessing alone that brings abundance.

The confusion comes only from a materialistic mindset. That is what one must “conquer,” and the conquering begins with the recognition that the soul is “a literal part of G-d above,” and that the soul is a Jew’s primary self — and therefore, a Jew’s first question must be: “What does my G-dly soul think?” Then, automatically, he will conquer his materialistic inclination.