What is the Purpose of Existence?

by Samuel Ezerzer
January 28th 2013




Just what are we doing here? What is the purpose of existence? Is it to eat and have fun and become rich and enjoy the physical world?




To find the answer to this central question we must look in the very book of life itself the bible or  the Torah, which is called Torat Chaim (a living Torah). The word “Torah” means “instruction” or “guidance”, for the Torah is our guide in life. The Torah makes us constantly aware of our duties in life; it gives us a true definition of our purpose, and it shows us the ways and means of attaining this goal.(Chabad.org)

Lets look at the Beginning of the first book of Moses or the Torah; Genesis

 And G-D said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and they shall rule over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the heaven and over the animals and over all the earth and over all the creeping things that creep upon the earth."

 כו. וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ וְיִרְדּוּ בִדְגַת הַיָּם וּבְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וּבַבְּהֵמָה וּבְכָל הָאָרֶץ וּבְכָל הָרֶמֶשׂ הָרֹמֵשׂ עַל הָאָרֶץ:. 

And G-D created man in His image; in the image of G-D He created him; male and female He created them. כז. וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים | אֶת הָאָדָם בְּצַלְמוֹ בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים בָּרָא אֹתוֹ זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה בָּרָא אֹתָם:. 

And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the sky and over all the beasts that tread upon the earth. "

 כח. וַיְבָרֶךְ אֹתָם אֱלֹהִים וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם אֱלֹהִים פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ וּמִלְאוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ וְכִבְשֻׁהָ וּרְדוּ בִּדְגַת הַיָּם וּבְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וּבְכָל חַיָּה הָרֹמֶשֶׂת עַל הָאָרֶץ:

 And G-D said, "Behold, I have given you every seed bearing herb, which is upon the surface of the entire earth, and every tree that has seed bearing fruit; it will be yours for food.

 כט. וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים הִנֵּה נָתַתִּי לָכֶם אֶת כָּל עֵשֶׂב | זֹרֵעַ זֶרַע אֲשֶׁר עַל פְּנֵי כָל הָאָרֶץ וְאֶת כָּל הָעֵץ אֲשֶׁר בּוֹ פְרִי עֵץ זֹרֵעַ זָרַע לָכֶם יִהְיֶה לְאָכְלָה:

 And to all the beasts of the earth and to all the fowl of the heavens, and to everything that moves upon the earth, in which there is a living spirit, every green herb to eat," and it was so

.ף הַשָּׁמַיִם וּלְכֹל | רוֹמֵשׂ עַל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר בּוֹ נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה אֶת כָּל יֶרֶק עֵשֶׂב לְאָכְלָה וַיְהִי כֵן:

And G-D saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good, and it was evening and it was morning, the sixth day. 

לא. וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת כָּל אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה וְהִנֵּה טוֹב מְאֹד וַיְהִי עֶרֶב וַיְהִי בֹקֶר יוֹם הַשִּׁשִּׁי:

The book of Genesis starts with when Adam was created the G-D immediately told him that his purpose in life would be to, “Replenish the earth, and conquer it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.

The sentence that has me wondering is “world conquest” what did G-D mean when he spoke to Adam and said  וְכִבְשֻׁהָ וּרְדוּ and subdue it or conquer it! what does it really mean in a higher spiritual level?

Before Adam committed the sin of eating the apple or a fruit we don't know exactly which one , that when G–D created , Adam, his soul  was such in a high spiritual level that  he became ruler over the entire creation. All the creatures gathered to serve him and to crown him as their creator. But Adam named the animal of there spiritual level in the higher level by pointing out their error, said to them, “Let us all come and worship G–D our Maker!”

So what does "conquer the world mean" 

Man on this earth was given the task  and there ultimate mission on this earth is to elevate and refine the whole of nature, including the beasts and animals, to the service of true humanity; by the soul, which is veritably a part of G–D above  so that the whole of creation will realize that G–d is our Creator and before a man sets out to conquer the world he must first conquer himself and his own ego.

When a person's ego is huge, a person may think that the world owes them everything. A person with an inflated ego cannot beg for anything; it is beneath their dignity. The bigger the ego the more one expects from the world and the less one receives the more frustrated they will be. And eventually this frustration leads to anger and depression in a person and its not healthy.

If a person whose ego is  genuinely humble , they will think that whatever they posses in this world  is a gift that is more than what anyone owes them. They will appreciate every bit of good they were privileged to get. And they will never take anything for granted, and will always be grateful for any amount of good they will receive.





Gematria or gimatria (Hebrew: גימטריה gēmaṭriyā) is a traditional Jewish system of assigning numerical value to a word or phrase, in the belief that words or phrases with identical numerical values bear some relation to each other, or bear some relation to the number itself as it may apply to a person's age, the calendar year, or the like. 

Though gematria is most often used to calculate the values of individual words, psukim (Biblical verses), Talmudical aphorisms, sentences from the standard Jewish prayers, personal, angelic and Godly names, and other religiously significant material, Kabbalists use them often for arbitrary phrases and, occasionally, for various languages. 


The text of a mezuzah (מזוזה)-A mezuzah is affixed to the doorframe in Jewish homes to fulfill the mitzvah- has 170 words. The number 170 is equal to the combined gematria of two words: 
banim  (children)and chayim חיים) (life), as it is written,
“...So that your days may be multiplied; and the days of your children...” (Deuteronomy XI, 13-21).

The number 170 is also equal to the sum total of the gem-atria of the words chayim (life) and emu-nah  (אמונה  faith), as it is written,

“The righteous shall live by his faith.” (Habakkuk II, 4)
All to say that faith is equal or has the same spiritual value as the combined numerical value of life and children as it is spiritually intertwine.If you don't have emunah (faith) , life has no meaning.