Question: When a
person dies does it mean that he has completed his mission in this world?
Answer: No. There are also wicked people who do the exact
opposite of their missions and they nonetheless die. The essence is therefore for a person to
utilize every moment of his life to do good.
See in the Siddur of Maran Ha-Rav Kook Volume 2, p. 364 on the Davening
for Yom Kippur.
Once during the Yom Ha-Atzmaut or Yom Yerushalayim
celebration in Yeshivat Mercaz Ha-Rav, they also celebrated the 80th birthday of
Rabbenu Ha-Rav Tzvi Yehudah. Everyone
praised Rabbenu and all of his life's achievements. Ha-Gaon Ha-Rav Shlomo Yosef Zevin stood up
and said: I do not agree with all of these praises. He related that people once came to the
Kotzker Rebbe with a sick child and requested that he prayer for their precious
and wonderful child, and they recounted all of his sterling qualities. The Kotzker responded that the child had not
done a thing. Everyone was shocked! Instead of arousing merit for the child, he
denounced him. The child nonetheless
recovered. The Kotzker Rebbe said that
the Gemara in Kiddushin (31b) tells that Rebbe Tarfon's mother came to the Beit
Midrash and said: Pray for my son who is a great Tzadik. The Rabbis asked: In what way is he a great
Tzadik? She said: I once lost my shoe
and he placed his hand under my foot the entire way home. They said to her: This is nothing! Even if he did 100 times this, he still would
not fulfill half of the Mitzvah of honoring one's parent. The Kotzker asked: Why did the Rabbis
belittle Rabbi Tarfon? He explained that
what Rabbi Tarfon did was indeed great, but they did not want to ascribe it too
much importance for fear that it would mean that he had completed his role in
the world. Our Sages therefore acknowledged
that what Rabbi Tarfon did was indeed positive, but it was incomplete, just as
the Kotzker Rebbe suggested about the child.
In the same vein, Ha-Rav Zevin said about Rabbenu Ha-Rav Tzvi Yehudah:
"He hasn't done anything".
Rabbenu smiled, and Rav Zevin said: "He still has lots and lots to
do". And he did! This principle of the Kotzker Rebbe, however,
does not have a source. Although the
Kotzker Rebbe himself is a source, there is no source for his idea in the
Torah, Mishnah, Gemara, Rishonim and Acharonim.
It is not written in any place that when a person finishes his task in
life, he dies.
