July 31, 2026

Reflect On Three Things

Know from where you came, and to where you are going, and before whom you are destined to give a judgment and accounting: From where you came – from a putrid drop; and to where you are going – to a place of dust, worms, and maggots; and before whom you are destined to give a judgment and accounting – before the King, the King of kings of kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He.

Akavya ben Mahalalel was a Mishnaic sage known for holding legal opinions that broke from the majority, and tradition says the other sages offered him the position of head of the court if he would only recant, which he refused. This teaching comes from Pirkei Avot, the Mishnah's collection of ethical sayings meant to shape daily character rather than abstract belief. Akavya does not appeal to philosophy but to plain biology, tracing the body from a single drop of seed to its return as dust and food for worms. In a tradition that treats the body as the vehicle for holy action, this blunt reminder of where it came from and where it is headed is meant to sharpen how a person spends the time in between.