Once a student approached his Rabbi to ask him a question that had been troubling him for quite some time. As he approached the Rabbi, he noticed that the Rabbi was deep in study. He decided that he would ask the Rabbi anyway, even if it did disturb his study. “Rabbi”, asked the young man, “I have a question that has been troubling me for some time, could you answer it for me”? “Of course,” answered the Rabbi. The young man began to relate a dream he’d been having for several nights. In the dream there was a ladder that reached all the way up to heaven. On this ladder was a great Torah scholar on about the fourth step. On the first step was a new convert.

Would you please tell me which one is closer to God? The Rabbi only looked at the lad and turned back in silence to his studying. “Rabbi, would you please tell me the answer to my question”? The Rabbi kept right on studying his book as if he never even heard the boy. So the student waited for a few minutes and then asked the Rabbi the same question again. “Rabbi, have I said something to offend you in some way that you will not answer my question”? I really must know the answer to this dream. “No,” said the Rabbi, “you have not offended me in any way”. Then the Rabbi once again turned back to his studies. “Then why won’t you give me an answer then”, asked the student? “My son”, said the Rabbi, “I have not answered your question because you never gave me enough information”. “But I have told you my dream, I never left out a single detail”, he replied. The Rabbi looked straight at the student and said, “You never told me which one was moving up the ladder, the one moving, he is the one closest to God”.

So you see it doesn’t matter if you’re a Torah scholar or not if you’re standing still in your walk with God. A new believer who knows nothing of the commandments or kosher laws is just as righteous as the older, wiser Christian. The important thing is that you’re “trying to learn”, not that you already know. There are a lot of people out there that know, but only do the right things for the wrong reason. Their heart isn’t in it, only their actions. There are others who barely know two commandments, but they have a sincere heart. So don’t spend your time worrying about what you don’t know how to do yet, just keep moving up the ladder. Just make sure your ladder is leaning against the right wall!