Ask not, should I be independent or not, ask only, do I seek joy or death?!

In other words, one of man’s greatest desires is independence.

We see this perhaps most clearly in the story of the Tower of Bavel – it’s not that they didn’t believe in God – they didn’t want God to tell them what to do!

On a very deep subconscious level, this is why Jews succumbed in the times of the first Holy Temple to idol worship – ask the great Jewish sages, Are Jews really that dumb? (to believe in stones and rocks!?) no, but the idols gave their licentious desires free reign.

Again on a subconscious level, this is the sum total of the entire enlightenment movement; as the Rebbe Maharash said, had all the philosophers and “enlightened” people who created vast tomes of literature, all justifying atheism, not had libidinal drives – they would never have ever embarked on their “philosophical” discoveries!

But here is the great irony, for the independent man is the dead man.

Why should I say this? – Simple, when are we happy? When we feel blessed!

When are we miserable? When we feel, well, angry.

Now when are we blessed??

Of course, as you know, blessed or angry is only a state of mind; if I see what I have, as opposed to what I don’t, I feel blessed instead of angry! Oobviously when I see what I don’t, I feel entitled to it – otherwise, I couldn’t even see it, which is why I am not upset that I am not an astronaut.)

So here’s the bottom line, our very human desire for independence, is in fact our undoing; for the more we feel independent, the more we realize, we are lacking.