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Thought for the Day: Midos Improvement Day In and Day Out

Every morning we make a birkas haTorah.  Given the wording of the bracha and the fact that we only make the bracha once per day, one should expect to be involved with some aspect of Torah ("la'asok", related to "eisek", which means "business") every moment of the day.  After all, if you take a break, then you would have to make the bracha again.  It appears that we make it once per day because the only time we are not actively involved in Torah is while sleeping.  The problem is... do you really feel involved with the Torah to even the same extent as your business all the time?

Tosofos addresses the issue by proposing that a Jew always wants to be learning and involved with Torah, so there is no real interruption.  That is similar to the fact that taking a break during a meal to breath is not considered an interruption that would require a new bracha.  That itself is an interesting perspective and deserves some discussion.  Another time, perhaps.

I was thinking along a different line.  The Gra says that our main purpose for being in this world is "shviras hamidos" -- breaking our midos, ie, becoming civilized.  So I walked into work this morning, feeling pretty good about finishing up what I started yesterday.  Here is the email  (sent to the entire group) I saw from my technical lead (who was sitting right across from me):
Do not follow the instructions Michael provided. [...] We will discuss the shortcomings of this approach today
Never mind  that I had actually confirmed the approach before I did it and this was a simple case of miscommunication.  So here I am at a new job, with a spectacular and public failure credited to me, nut actually due to a communication failure with my technical lead.  Not being in a position to argue, I sucked it up.  Which means I got a beautiful and effective opportunity to break my midos.  Ahhh!  So I am saved from ever taking a break in "eisek b'divrei Torah"!  Baruch HaShem.
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