Words can be confusing. Despite making sense their meaning depends on personal interpretation. So I ask you… “What is the purpose of life?”. A loaded question, right? But let’s break it down. What is purpose? The dictionary defines it as “an objective to be reached; a target; an aim; a goal”. Narrowing our language further down: what is the objective, target, aim and goal of life?

The answer is startlingly simple. It is what you give it. Yes, yes, the tired old answer you’ve heard countless times before. The purpose of life is what you make of it. But again, language is confusing. It was done that way by Hashem, King of Kings after He destroyed the Tower of Bavel (Babel) and scattered the people of the world after the great catastrophe of the flood of Noah (see Beresheit/Genesis 11:1–9). 

After the flood, the Torah tells us that everyone on earth had the same language and the same words (ibid. Verse 1). The interpretation of this is not only did people speak the same language but they all understood each other perfectly, to a degree of understanding that caused zero confusion. Despite this they were haughty and wanted to make a name for themselves (ibid. Verse 4) and defy Hashem’s loving and benevolent instruction to fill the earth (Beresheit/Genesis 1:28) rather than build and remain in one city (ibid. Verse 4). As a result, Hashem confounded the speech of all the inhabitants of earth (ibid. Verse 7). What does it mean that Hashem confounded their speech?

G-d did not create multiple languages, He instead made people to bumble and stammer. He caused interpretations to go awry. People were misled, understandings were mixed up, chaos ensued and the unity that heretofore allowed the people to thrive was garbled. It was this disunity that thus scattered everyone over the face of the whole earth (ibid. Verse 8).

As a result, we live in the world we do now. Because humanity filled the entire planet, different languages were formed over time out of the dialects of people.

So now when we all ask and exceedingly want to know what’s the meaning or purpose of life, the question almost becomes void in and of itself. It has lost all understanding, unless we can restore its understanding for ourselves.

Is there a difference between the purpose of life and the meaning of life? We have established that a purpose is an objective; a target; an aim and a goal. Let’s return to the trusty dusty old dictionary to define what a ‘meaning’ is. The dictionary defines meaning as “the message (or idea) that is intended”.

We now have two vital words clarified. ‘Purpose’; being an objective, target, aim and goal. And ‘meaning’; being the message or intended idea.

We have established that the purpose of our life is the goal we ourselves give it. However the meaning of life, the message or intended idea behind life intrinsically cannot be ours to provide. We did not create life thus we are not the giver of the message. The message of life is found within the Holy Torah of Hashem. The Torah given to Moshe (Moses) and the ancestors of the Jewish people. It is the Torah that is the blueprint of life, the “dossier” that provides the schematics for living. It is the Torah that provides humanity for all its needs. The Torah is not simply a book, it is the divine underpinning of reality given to humankind throughout history, through Holy Tzadikkim (righteous people) and Prophets.

The purpose of life remains the purpose we ourselves give it. But to know our purpose we need Hashem’s helping hand. We need the Torah and this is why Torah study sustains the entire world because without it we are empty of purpose and without a need to live we die.