Seize the Moment

Rav Tzadok HaKohen says the mitzvah that feels hardest for you is the very one you were sent into the world to do. That sounds upside down. So does the short tefillah many say after the Akeidah: Avraham pushed aside his mercy to act with gevurah, and in the same breath we ask Hashem to push aside His anger and act with mercy. Why tie together two things that point opposite ways?One morning a bachur tells his rebbe he just can't daven or put on tefillin today. The rebbe's odd offer stays with the boy long after. Next time you feel that resistance, you may read it differently.