Choosing Service. Choosing Life.

I was eating breakfast with a three-year-old a few months ago and set out four crackers.

I asked her: “If I take one cracker away, how many are left?”

She quickly answered: “Three.”

Then I put the crackers away and asked: “If I have four things and I take away one, how many are left?”

This time, she was stumped.

Most of us can answer the second question easily because we have mastered the abstraction of subtraction. This child will, too, in time. Abstractions, concepts, and categories are powerful tools we use without thinking.

But our abilities falter when we try to apply them to G-d. Is He a concept, like a creative force? Or a being, like a man? These categories limit us.

That is why the Torah gives us a different framework. To live “One Nation under G-d,” we relate to Him not as a vague idea but as King, Creator of time, Prime Mover of space, and ultimate authority over all creatures.

On Rosh Hashanah, we proclaim Him King of the universe. This deepens our awe and strengthens our desire to serve. Aligning ourselves with His kingship is the key to life in the year ahead.

Service is not abstract. It is daily and personal. It means overcoming self-centeredness, distraction, laziness, and unbridled desire. Each small victory defines and strengthens us. Repeated victories shape the eternal soul.

Physical pleasures remain: a breakfast, a workout, a meal with friends. But they are fleeting. The true source of life is the daily battle of the soul over the self.

Pleasure fills a moment. Service builds eternity.

Choose service. Choose life. Choose the true King. Choose a Happy Rosh Hashanah.