From a tiny Swedish business, founded in 1943, selling products through a mail-order catalog, IKEA has grown into one of the most well-known home furnishing brands in the world. Today, there are over 450 IKEA stores operating in over 60 countries, and their global retail sales exceed 45 billion dollars! People love IKEA furniture because it delivers form, function and good quality products at a relatively low price. But there is another secret to the success of IKEA.   

The Do-it-Yourself Assembly that is typically required with IKEA products is an approach that gets customers committed. According to a 2011 study by Harvard Business School, individuals tend to be more inclined to value an item that they built on their own. This is known as the “IKEA effect” which describes how people tend to value an object more if they make or assemble it themselves. Simply put, we like things more if we've expended effort to create them. 

This concept was actually taught to us well before IKEA even existed. In the Book of Tehilim 128:2, Dovid HaMelech says: You shall enjoy the fruit of your labors; you shall be happy and you shall prosper. 

Hashem could have kept our souls up in Heaven, basking in His glory. He didn't need to send us down here to the physical world, what we call Olam Hazeh. But guess what? He did. Which means, it's the best thing for us. There is something about this world that can only be accomplished here. 

When our souls were up in Heaven, basking in the Divine, it was a connection, but it wasn't a relationship. In heaven, our souls were connected to Hashem, but it was free. It required absolutely no work, no expenditure of energy on our part. We were put on this world to build a relationship with Hashem. And a relationship, by definition, requires work and effort. 

In order to grant us with a truly rewarding experience, Hashem – in His Infinite Wisdom and Kindness – brought us down here, to a world of physicality, to work hard. And when we work hard on something, it makes us feel so good. We feel a greater level of value, and apply a higher level of worth and meaning to our lives. When we work on ourselves and experience The IKEA Effect – we start enjoying the fruits of our labor, which leads to a life of great meaning, purpose, holiness and value. 

The Torah says, ויקחו לי תרומה מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו – “You must take the contribution for Me from every man whose heart prompts him to give.” We are humans, made of flesh and blood. We are in the realm of איש. Yet, despite our physical state, we were placed on this world to “take contributions for Hashem.” We were placed here to not just make a connection, but even more, to build a relationship with the Divine. It requires work, effort, and dedication. But it’s worth it.

Have a holy Shabbos!

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