The most precious nuggets of wisdom are those that can fire up your engines when you’re all burned out. Or get you back up and running when you’ve sunk through the pavement.

Like this one:

The master of the Kabbalah, the Arizal, taught that all of history is the story of the moon, how she waxes and wanes in her attempt to shine.

Until, one day, she will be full.

Wait. Isn’t the moon full every month?

You are the moon. You want to shine. So you make your way to the limelight. You shine, magnificently.

But that’s not you shining. At any moment, the spotlight could move away. And you will be dark again. Like the moon.

You want to shine. So you stick to all that your teachers taught you, all the wisdom you have gained in life. And you shine.

But that’s not you shining. It’s your teachers’ light. It’s the script that life has handed you, conceived before you were born, crafted by the G‑d who created you.

It’s the light of the Sun, reflected by you.

Then, one day, you fall on your face.

You do not shine and the sun is not shining on you. A dark and hostile world comes crashing down on your head.

You’re a loser. It’s all your fault. You stepped out of the beautiful script that was written for you.

They say you will never recover.

But you do. Somehow, you pick yourself up.

You rewrite your life. And the lives of others. With your light.

Your own light.

Now, let's try that again:

The Arizal, master of the Kabbalah, taught that all of life, the story of the world, and the story of the Jewish people, is the moon waxing and waning in her attempt to shine.

Until, one day, she will shine her light.

Her own light.

Now go shine.

—inspired by the maamar for the fifteenth of Av, 5735.