Graduations and Goals

"No more homework, no more books. No more teachers' angry looks!" Remember chanting those words, or a similar sentiment, at your graduation?
"Ahh, we've graduated. We're finally finished," we sighed in relief.

But, as every principal, dean or university president will make sure to mention in his commencement speech, graduation is just a beginning, not an end.

Jewish teachings explain, "The end is connected to the beginning."

In other words, before we begin something, we need to clearly identify our final goal.

Only once we have a definite understanding of the goal can we efficiently and effectively beg in working toward it.

To illustrate this point, the example of a house is often used.

Were a construction crew to simply start building, without exact plans or a detailed draft, the home could not possibly be inhabitable.

And even once exact plans are drawn up, they must be executed in sequence: you can't put up the beams before the foundation is laid; you can't put in the electrical wiring after the walls have been plastered and painted.

The builder first conceives of the total project, the finished product, and then he breaks it down into various stages, steps and jobs.

The end is connected to the beginning. Before we begin anything, we have the goal in mind.

Envisioning and focusing on the goal makes it easier to keep at the details and to follow a progressive path.

Applying this important mode of thinking to every aspect of our lives accrues unbelievable results.

As our Sages have stated, "A wise person sees the result."

An intelligent person considers the consequence or outcome before undertaking a specific course.

What is true of graduations and house building is certainly true of the world at large.

G-d created the world with a goal and a purpose. Thus, the world today is obviously much further along toward its goal than it was when it was created.

The world has advanced to the point that we are actually standing on the doorstep of our new home - the Messianic Era.

The Messianic Era is G-d's final intent and purpose for the creation of the world. It is the "end" that we have been leading up to since the beginning of the world.

But, far from what non-Jewish teachings would have us imagine about the "end" being near, Judaism does not have a doomsday view of the "end."

For, as mentioned before, the end is connected to the beginning, and conversely, the beginning to the end.

The "end of days" marks the beginning of days, the Days of Moshiach.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe repeatedly emphasized that we will not lose anything in the Messianic Era; the G-dliness in everything will "simply" be apparent to all.

Some things, though, will end.

There will be an end to hunger, war, sickness, strife, jealousy... the list goes on.

In the Messianic Era there will be only good: peace, prosperity, divine knowledge - an end that is truly a new beginning.