Chances are, you are among the many people who love to do the Sudoku puzzle in the daily newspaper. For those who are unfamiliar, Sudoko is the puzzle consisting of 81 squares, in a 9 x 9 grid, in which each row, column, and 3 x 3 section is required to contain the numbers 1 through 9 exactly once. Filling in this grid correctly can be a challenge. Why do we love it so much?

First of all, it’s a game, and in these stressful times we all need a little fun. Unlike other forms of fun, Sudoku is safe, inexpensive, and doesn’t require a lot of time or any special equipment, other than a pencil (or a pen, for the real “gutsy” players).

But, more importantly, Sudoku is a puzzle which always has a solution. If only everything in our lives shared this feature.

So often we find ourselves with a problem, a dilemma, a personal or professional crisis, for which there is sadly no clear answer, just a series of imperfect choices. Similarly, we read in that same newspaper about issues facing our government leaders—like war and the economy—and we know “deep down” that no simple solutions exist.

How nice then, to try to solve a puzzle which has a clear solution. Even on the days when the Sudoku proves too challenging, we know that the correct answer still exists, if only we had enough time to keep trying to find it.

And when you successfully complete the Sudoku grid, something else wonderful happens. You know you are right, without question! What a great feeling that can be. In life, we make choices—whom to marry (or even, whether or not to marry), what career to enter, in which city to live, how to parent our children. Few of these, and other important decisions have clear “right” and “wrong” answers. Moreover, if we succeed in making a good (not necessarily perfect) decision, we often will not know this to be true for years to come.

So, again, isn’t it nice, if only for the few minutes of doing a puzzle in the morning newspaper, to be certain that we are right!

Now, real Sudoku players understand that in order to be a winner, one needs to take chances. Certain numbers can be easily filled in, others are not so obvious. One can stare at a blank grid for hours, and not make any mistakes, but “avoiding mistakes” is not the definition of success. Isn’t that a great message for our lives? Our goal should be not merely to avoid failing, but rather to take some calculated risks, and even if we make a temporary wrong decision, we will ultimately learn from our experience and move closer to the correct path.

A final feature of Sudoku is, of course, that every number must be used equally, or the puzzle doesn’t work. Here, too, is a message for our lives, that is best summed up in the wisdom of the Mishna, in Pirke Avot (chapter four):

Ben Azzai used to say: Don’t despise any person nor discriminate against anything. For every person has his/her time, and every thing has its place.

This sounds a bit like Andy Warhol’s statement that everyone receives in this world ten minutes of fame. But look again, and you understand that the mishna’s message is that the world only works correctly if we realize that every person plays a role. Sometimes we struggle to find our own niche, or to recognize the importance of others besides ourselves.

But ultimately, like the numbers on the Sudoku board, unless we all work together, and use everyone’s strengths and contributions, we will not truly ever succeed.