Is the Mona Lisa THAT Great? Us vs. Angels

B"H

Dear friends,
I hope all is going well for you, and that a fun and inspiring summer
awaits you...

Let me ask you a question: How come a painting is worth so much more
than a picture. I mean, in terms of Accuracy, a picture is much
better! If I want to see what the pacific ocean looks like as the sun
sets, snap a photo for me; the closest a painting can get is a very
impressive attempt at portraying the true scene, but it's not the real
thing. It's not the truth. It's not perfect. A photo is. So how come
the painting will go for 10,000$ and the photo for 25cents!?

1st of all: the appreciation for a painting stems from the fact that
it ISN'T perfectly exact, but rather, intense effort was put in to
attempt to create reality. Also, primarily, each painting is UNIQUE to
it's artist, expressing his or her's distinct mind, talent & effort.

With this we can understand a more meaningful question: why would the Almighty G-d Value our actions, thoughts, and speech, compared to the perfect service of the angels? Our limited selves are definitely not blemishless, and far from the true way we should be. To be perfect isn't easy, but where we fail, the angels succeed. And yet G-d Gave US the Torah and Desires our efforts in serving him!?

But the point is, that every Jew's life is a painting. It may not be
perfect, it may not be completely true, but its yours - your own unique
expression of your soul, of your contribution to G-d and His world. It
may take lots of effort, and it won't be exact, but that's what
separates us and angels. Angels are the photos. While being "perfect",
they are also stagnant without progression to a higher level. We have
the ability to refine and uplift ourselves, as high as we decide to
put effort into.

Each of us has to make sure that our painting isn't so smudged and
that we give it our best shot-in learning Torah and doing Mitzvot, in
Prayer and kindness to others. Hey, when it's all said and done, do
you want your painting at the 99c store, or the Louvre??

Shabbat Shalom Y'all

-daniel

P.S. I'm back in Diego for about 3 weeks if anyone wants to meet up.