Several years ago Naomi and I met with a financial advisor for the first time. We had been afraid to invest in the stock market because we didn't want to risk losing any money. The financial advisor explained that being aware of risk is a good thing. However, he also cautioned that not investing in the stock market is also risky. Relying on safe, steady returns will not guarantee financial security in the future.

So we learned at that meeting that it is nearly impossible to be free from taking chances. It just depends on the degree of risk that one is comfortable living with.

Recently a doctor told me I needed to undergo a medical procedure. The purpose of the procedure was to see if I had a condition that needed medical attention. However, the procedure itself was not without potential harmful effects.

I was willing to undergo a potentially risky procedure rather than avoid finding out if something was wrong. Fortunately, everything worked out great. I came through the procedure unharmed, and with a clean bill of health.

Jewish tradition recognizes the value of taking risks in order to make our lives better. A seemingly strange text teaches that it is the yetzer hara (the evil inclination within each of us) that encourages the human being to take chances: Were it not for the Evil Inclination, nobody would build a house, marry and beget children (Kohelet Rabbah 3:15)

I've never talked to anyone who built a new home, or even bought an already built home, who didn't have something to complain about. I've yet to meet the spouse or parent who has nothing negative to say about a partner or child. Yet, few of these harmed people would regret having made this life-changing decision.

And so most of us choose not to sit alone locked in a room, free of physical or emotional pain, rather we go out into the world, try out jobs, schools, relationships, sports, etc. Occasionally we get hurt. More often we have enriched or improved the quality of our lives.

By far, the biggest risk taker of all is God. God's choosing to create the world, and on top of that, a world with human beings, each one endowed with free will, was a choice that brought with it the potential for great harm and heartache. In the Babylonian Talmud Eruvin 13b, we find one of the rare occasions when the Schools of Shammai and Hillel agree on something. And what they agree upon is that the world would be better off without human beings. However, we're here, so our task is to do the best we can to improve ourselves and the world around us.