But is it ok to just polish /smooth out the rough edges and focus exclusively on the splintered facets of the precious stones like rubies/ sapphires and diamonds (preferably pink) . And or the semi precious stones like Jade/ Rainbow Quartz/ or Pink Tourmaline.Do we have to work on the Cubic Zirconia stones also, which are possibly the heaviest in addition to being artificially manufactured with man made materials .Sometimes they just weigh everything else down and make things so much more cumbersome and stuff . Or is the given parcel like Forest Gump’s proverbial ” life is like a box of chocolates you never know what ure gonna get”.If you think about it though ,eating all the chocolates in the box cuz you dont know which one has the good rum filling is just a little excessive bordering on uneducated and then there’s the possiblity of reverse peristalsis which would make all the chocolates and all the stones precious /semi precious and fabricated just go away by default.

I was almost your exact opposite–I always considered myself an intellectual, but when it came to taking on mitzvot, I always had to take on the mitzvah before I could find the meaning in it. As of today I feel lots of meaning in, and connection to, the mitzvot I keep, but I took all of them on without any feeling of connection. To each their own.

Stubborn is actually a good and characteristically Jewish trait. The Maharal of Prague, when explaining the Biblical term “a stiff-necked people” and the Prophet Jonah’s reluctance to bring a T’shuva message to Nineveh, says that the Jewish people, vis a vis other nations of the world, are more about form (Tsura) and less about material (Chomer). Materials can shed and adopt new forms all the time (think un-kilned clay) but for something that is intrinsically form to change its very essence is much harder, but, more permanent. More simply put-for a stubborn people or individual it may take longer to do T’shuva but once a T’shuva makeover is achieved it is more permanent.

Also, I’ve never met a true Masmid (diligent, intoxicated by Torah, student of Torah) who was not also a stubborn son-of-a-gun. Now that you’ve found a metaphor that speaks to you I hope that you will embrace Mitzvah Observance and Torah Study with the same stubborn tenacity that marked your resistance to them (and veggies) up until now!