Our True Purpose We’re so busy chasing our dreams. Success, looks, money — it all seems so important. Yet, as we tick off our list of achievements and milestones, we lose focus – forgetting that the here and now was never the point. While traveling, the Chofetz Chaim stopped in a small town to daven. During davening, a man approached him, sobbing hysterically. His wife was in labor for many hours already, and both she and their unborn child were in grave danger. The Chofetz Chaim asked the man, "Have you ever done something significant to honor Shabbos?" The man answered that he had not. The Chofetz Chaim turned to the rest of the people in the shul and asked the same question. One man stepped forward and shared his story: "One Friday, I went for a haircut. As I sat in the barber's chair, I asked him if he was Shomer Shabbos. When he replied that he wasn't, explaining that it was his busiest day of the week, I was deeply disturbed. “How could you?” I asked him. “Each hair you cut violates a D’Oraysa. Each haircut adds up to millions of transgressions. And to think you do this all day, the entire Shabbos!” Baruch Hashem, my words resonated with him. Not only did he commit to closing his shop on Shabbos, he also introduced me to his friends and I was able to convince them as well to kee[ Shabbos." The Chofetz Chaim's eyes lit up. "This is exactly what I was looking for," he said. Then, turning to the man who had shared his story, he asked, "Are you willing to give the zchus of this mitzvah to this man so his wife might have a safe delivery?" After thinking it over, the man agreed, and the first man’s wife’s birth proceeded safely after that. Later, the man who had given away his zchus approached the Chofetz Chaim. "Why did you ask me to give away something so precious?" The Chofetz Chaim responded "Our purpose in this world is to create the most beautiful portion in Olam Haba. This lifetime is not about us, about our achievements and success — to the extent that we’d willingly sacrifice even the zchusim we’ve earned to help another Yid. When we pause and zoom out, we gain focus — this world is just a threshold, a brief passageway leading to eternity. It’s not about us, it’s never been about us. What can we do today to help another Yid?