A recent article published by New Yorker magazine exposed the fate of New York City's worst teachers. Instead of being fired, bad New York City teachers are kept in what is being called "the rubber room." It is a waiting room where teachers can just sit and relax while still being paid by the government (our taxes) for years.

This rubber room is grossly antithetical to Judaism. It is all the benefit without the work. Worse than that, it is benefiting at another's expense without any productivity. We have a concept called "lefum tzarah agra", according to the pain is the reward. Essentially - no pain, no gain. Alternatively, our tradition speaks of "nahama dekisufa", the embarrassing bread or bread that is earned for nothing.

Humans are charged with existence as holchim - movers. On the other hand, angels are omdim - stationary. Our collective mission is to grow, change, impact and inspire. R. Menachem Mendel Schneerson Zt"l explains that the commandment "v'halachta bedrachav" - "you shall walk in His ways", instructs us to see to it that each particular mitzvah that we fulfill takes us to place different than where we were before. There should be no way that we give charity without feeling the expansiveness of our personality.

The month of Elul is the month where G-d asks us all to step out of the comfort of our Rubber Room. There is too much to do in this world for us to simply sit back and reap the benefits of life, without benefiting life.