“What Are You Chasing?” Aviv Alush on What Really Matters

“What are you chasing? You’re going to die anyway. So what are you chasing?”

Actor Aviv Alush posed that question during a conversation with comedian Ben Ben Baruch on the Mojo podcast, where the two spoke about spiritual growth, material success, and the question of what ultimately gives a person’s life meaning.

“No one is saying money is a bad thing. No one is telling you that achievements are a bad thing—absolutely not,” Alush said. “But don’t turn them into the main thing. They are only a means.”

Alush and Ben Baruch, both of whom have become more religiously observant in recent years, discussed the tension between material ambitions and spiritual priorities. According to Alush, there is nothing inherently wrong with pursuing a career, education, or financial success. The question is what place those achievements occupy in a person’s life.

“What matters most is what you are going to leave behind in this world,” he said. “What matters most is not what you chased. What did you invest all your energy in—a degree? A diploma hanging on your wall?”

“What Matters Is Who You Are Within It”

Alush emphasized that the problem is not achievement itself, but allowing achievement to become the ultimate goal.

“It’s not that it’s bad, but you must not let it become the main thing in your life,” he explained. “What matters is who you are within it.”

He then used different professions to illustrate his point.

“So now you’re a doctor? What kind of doctor are you? Are you a doctor who greets your patients warmly? Are you a doctor who thinks you are the one healing?”

He continued: “What kind of lawyer are you, and whom do you represent? What do you choose to represent? Are you looking for justice, or are you looking for money? This applies to every profession. You don’t have to be famous to understand it.”

In other words, Alush suggested that a person’s profession or status matters less than the values they bring to it. Success may provide opportunities, but the deeper question is what a person chooses to do with those opportunities and who they become along the way.

Don’t Become So Busy Chasing That You Forget to Search

Alush concluded by speaking about the individual purpose each person is meant to discover throughout life.

“We need to discover, in school, in the army, everywhere, the things we need to gather—the things that belong to me, what I need to fix, to do good in my mission.”

Then came his final message: “If I’m chasing after the thing, I don’t have time to search.”

His words draw a distinction between two ways of moving through life: chasing external achievements and searching for meaning. Money, education, careers, and accomplishments can all have value—but, as Alush argues, they are tools rather than the destination.

The greater question is not simply what we managed to achieve, but what kind of person we became while achieving it—and what we ultimately leave behind.