Let My People Know

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz: “The thorns and thistles of life.”

When the Torah says, “which God created to do,” this means that the world is full of imperfect things.

As the Midrash puts it, “Everything created during the six days of Creation requires rectification” (Pesikta Rabbati 23).

One can always question whether the “imperfections” we encounter in life result from a defect in Creation or from the sins of human beings.

But once it is clear that the thorns and thistles of life – for whatever reason – do exist, we must not abide them.

We fight them, destroy them, and try to grow other things in their place.

–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

From Talks on the Parasha