Chet haegel is one of the most difficult episodes in the Torah. There is much discussion about how the Dor Deah could commit such a terrible sin so soon after Matan Torah. One less commonly discussed aspect of this terrible incident is the way in which Hashem punished the Jewish people for the chet: Right after it, Hashem says to Moshe Rabbeinu, “..Behold, My angel shall go before you.. ” Rashi explains that this is a punishment; up to this time, Hashem Himself would guide the Jewish people in the desert, but from now on, only an angel would guide them. Chazal teach us that Hashem punishes mida keneged mida, which means that the nature of the punishment can help us understand the nature of the sin. What was the mida keneged mida in this punishment for chet haegel?
In order to understand this we must first briefly discuss how the Jewish people could commit a sin that seems to be avoda zara. The commentaries explain that they did not intend to worship an idol, rather they wanted the egel to be an intermediary between themselves and Hashem: When they thought that Moshe had died they panicked - they believed that they could not have a direct relationship with Hashem, rather they needed an intermediary to communicate with Him on their behalf. This was not a denial of Hashem, rather it was an erroneous belief that some kind of being was needed to represent them before Him and convey His teachings and beneficence to them .
With this explanation we can now understand the root cause of chet haegel. The Jewish people came to this belief that they needed an intermediary because on a subtle level they did not desire a direct relationship with Hashem. This was not the first time in which this failing was apparent; at Matan Torah, after Hashem spoke directly to the people for the first two mitzvos, they asked that Hashem no longer communicate directly with them. Rather, He should tell Moshe and Moshe should pass on what Hashem said to them. In Parshas Va’eschanan, Moshe rebuked them for this seemingly innocuous request: Rashi tells us that Moshe said to them, “I was pained and disappointed by you. Would it not have been better for you to learn directly from Hashem’s mouth than to learn from me?! ” It was this underlying fear of a direct relationship with Hashem that was responsible for the terrible course of events that culminated in chet haegel. The mida keneged mida punishment for this was that there would now be an intermediary Malach guiding them instead of their being under direct guidance from Hashem Himself.
Later in the parsha we see a stark contrast to this in the attitude of Moshe Rabbeinu himself. Having successfully pleaded for Hashem to spare the Jewish people, Moshe saw that it was an ‘eis ratson’ a time when his words were being received. At this moment, he had the opportunity to make any request of Hashem - what did he choose to ask for? “Please show me Your Glory .” He asked for the ability to perceive Hashem on a greater level than even he had ever experienced: Moshe’s primary goal was to gain more awareness of, and closeness to, Hashem.
The incidents in the Torah are not merely there to offer interesting reading - both the positive and negative actions of the people in the Torah provide us with lessons about our own life: On a subtle level, the great Dor Deah were lacking in their desire for a direct relationship with Hashem and as a consequence they became overly reliant upon intermediaries. How does this flaw effect us? The story is told of a Rebbe who once asked one of his chassidim how often he thinks about G-d. The talmid answered, “Rebbe, I wake up every day at 3.00am to learn before davenning Neitz, I then learn uninterrupted till mincha, and after a very brief lunch I continue learning for several hours more. Finally I sleep late at night and wake up at 3.00am the next day to learn - Rebbe, when do I have time to think about G-d?! ”
Sometimes we can be so involved with our Avodas Hashem that we can forget about Hashem Himself. Just like the Dor Deah overly focused on intermediaries we can sometimes ‘miss the forest for the trees’ and be so focused on the means with which we should get close to G-d but we forget that they are just means and not an end in itself. This can even be the case with regard to Talmud Torah. Talmud Torah is so central our lives that we can sometimes forget that it is primarily a means of developing a closer relationship to Hashem. Knowledge of a great deal of Torah is not an end in itself, Torah is supposed to bring us to greater Emuna and Yiras Hashem and if it does not then, there is something amiss.
The Baaley Mussar spoke at length on this inyan and the need to set aside time to focus on developing Yiras Hashem. Even the Nefesh HaChaim, who argued against excessive mussar study, stressed the necessity of spending a short amount of time before learning to contemplate Hashem so that the learning would be infused with the correct attitude. He even wrote that a person can stop in the middle of his learning and reflect on Hashem, “before the yiras Hashem in his heart will be extinguished. ”
Moreover, the Rosh Yeshiva of Novardok, Rav Ben-Tzion Brook zt”l said that it is important to be aware of the context in which Nefesh HaChaim was written in order not to misunderstand his message as a call to focus exclusively on Talmud Torah to the expense of mussar. The Nefesh HaChaim was written as a response to people who were devoting most of their time to mussar sefarim at the expense of Talmud Torah. Consequently, he stressed that it is correct to devote most of one’s time to learning Torah and that this will bring a person to a relationship with Hashem. However, Rav Brook argued, nowadays, the nisayon for most people is very different; a person who has little awareness or understanding of emuna may read Nefesh HaChaim and see it as a heter to avoid working directly on getting closer to Hashem. The Nefesh HaChaim was not talking to this kind of person at all, and whilst it is accepted to spend most of one’s time in regular Talmud Torah, nonetheless it is essential that we realize that the ikar is indeed to increase our emuna .
It is also possible to place performance of mitzvos as the ikar in place of closeness to Hashem. A person can perform a mitzvo with little or no thought of Hashem and think that he has fulfilled the mitzvo to a satisfactory level. With regard to this it is pertinent to remember the words of the Ramban in parshas Bo: “The purpose of all the mitzvos is that we believe in our G-d and that we acknowledge that He is our G-d, and that is the purpose of creation, because there is no other reason for creation, and the only thing that Hashem wants from us is that we know and acknowledge that He created us. ”
There are a number of simple ways through which we can avoid the pitfall of forgetting that the tachlis of all our Avoda is to develop our relationship with Hashem. The most obvious is to learn sefarim that discuss such topics as emuna, bitachon or tefilla. On a more practical level, Rav Dov Brezak Shlita writes that he asked one of the Gedolim how one could work on becoming more aware of Hashem. His simple answer was that we should pray for anything that we want - even for mundane matters, things that may be of no spiritual significance. For example, if we are waiting for a bus and want it to come sooner we should ask Hashem to make it happen. This exercise can help us develop a constant awareness that Hashem is with us. If we possess such an awareness then we are far more likely to remember Hashem during spiritual pursuits such as learning Torah .
It is also very important to note that the degree to which we develop our relationship with Hashem has a tremendous bearing on how our children will develop in their own relationship with Him. If they grow up seeing their parents having a genuine relationship with Hashem then they are far more likely to do the same. We should not underestimate the significance of this in our chinch: Rav Brezak quotes Rav Wolbe zt”l as saying that the reason there are so many rebellious children nowadays is that thy were not taught to have a sensory awareness of Hashem and His deeds .
There are numerous lessons to be learnt from chet haegel. One of the most important is to remember that we do have the ability to have a direct relationship with Hashem and that everything else is secondary to this goal. May we all be zocheh to constantly develop our relationship with Hashem.
Showing posts with label Golden Calf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Golden Calf. Show all posts
Sunday, March 4, 2012
CLEARING THE CONFUSION - KI SISA
The sin of the Golden Calf is one of the most difficult to comprehend episodes in the Torah. The commentaries discuss at length how the Jewish people could stumble in such a severe sin just forty days after the Revelation at Sinai. The events that led up to the sin are similarly clothed in mystery. In particular, the account of how the people came to believe that Moshe Rabbeinu had died Is very difficult to understand: The Torah tells us that the people miscalculated when Moshe would return, believing he should come back one day earlier than was in fact the case. The Gemara elaborates on the details of this mistake. It tells us that the Satan showed them an image of Moshe no longer alive. When they saw this they panicked and demanded that Aaron create for them a new medium through whom they could relate to G-d. One of the difficulties in this passage is the method in which the Satan caused them to sin by showing them an image. Nowhere do see we such a tactic used in other incidents in the Torah. Normally a person sins because he would rationalize that what he was doing was correct. What is the nature of this form of persuasion and why was it necessary for the Satan to show them such an image instead of using the normal methods of persuasion?
Rav Chaim of Volozhin in his classic work, Nefesh HaChaim answers these questions in the course of his discussion on the nature of the yetser hara (evil inclination). In order to do this, he first explains the sin of Adam and Chava, and ends by showing how the events of Mattan Torah (the Giving of the Torah) and the Golden Calf paralleled the state of Adam and Chava before the sin and after the sin: He begins with an analysis of Adam and Chava’s state before the sin: Chazal tell us that before the sin, mankind did not have a yetser hara, yet this does not mean that he did not have free will. He related to evil - in his situation in the form of the nachash (snake) - as something that was totally outside of himself. Its goal was to somehow persuade him to perform an act that was clearly abhorrent to him. The Nefesh HaChaim compares it to a person deciding whether he should step into a fire. However, somehow, the nachash was able to seduce Chava into eating from the fruit of the knowledge of Good and Evil. By eating from this tree, Adam and Chava brought the yetser hara into themselves. This means that they now constituted of a combination of the good that emanated from their pure soul, and the evil that came from the yetser hara.
The result of this was that they were now subject to the main weapon of the yetser hara; confusion. When a person knows that something is clearly wrong he will not do it. The yetser hara’s tactic is to convince him that this sin is actually not a sin at all, in fact it is the correct thing to do. In this vein, Chazal tell us that a person only sins when a ruach shtus overtakes him – this means that he loses touch with his sense of right and wrong and therefore does the wrong thing, whilst convincing himself that it is actually the right thing to do.
The Nefesh HaChaim continues that this state of being continued until Mattan Torah. The Gemara states that the ‘poison’ that Chava ingested when she sinned (ie. the yetser hara) was completely negated when the Jewish people stood at Har Sinai. In this way, the Jewish people returned to the level of Adam before the sin. At this point in time, the people would be able to live eternally as was the case with Adam before he ate from the tree. With this understanding of the state of the people after Mattan Torah, the Nefesh HaChaim explains why the Satan showed an image to the people. They were on such a high level that there was no yetser hara inside them. Accordingly, the yetser hara could not trick them with its regular weapon of internal confusion. Rather, it had to persuade them externally, in the same way that the nachash did with Chava. When the people succumbed to the Satan’s persuasion, the ‘poison’ from the sin returned to them and the yetser hara once again dwelled within them.
We have seen how the Satan was forced to revert to unorthodox methods of persuasion in order to cause the Jewish people to sin with the Golden Calf. However, after they sinned, the Satan re-entered the very being of each person, leaving us with the difficult task of trying to discern the good inside of us from the evil. The yetser hara’s main tool now is to convince us that what we are doing is actually permitted or even a Mitzvo. For example, the Chofetz Chaim zt”l pointed out that many people were speaking lashon hara with the justification that this particular thing they were saying was permissible; or that it was permitted to speak lashon hara about that particular person. The lashon hara speaker did not think he was speaking lashon hara, rather he rationalized that what he was saying did not constitute forbidden speech. In this vein, the Baal HaTania points out that if one were to offer an observant person a large amount of money to speak lashon hara, he will refuse. This is because he intellectually recognizes that no amount of money is worth transgressing a Mitzvo. Yet the same person will, on another occasion, speak lashon hara for no monetary gain! This is because he convinces himself that he is not speaking lashon hara at all.
How can a person begin the long journey in discerning between the yetser tov and the yetser hara that is inside of him? One vital tool is Torah learning. If a person learns the laws of lashon hara, for example he will find it much harder to rationalize that what he is saying is permissible. Likewise, learning Mussar helps a person understand how his yetser hara works, and act accordingly. The other essential tool is that of Cheshbon HaNefesh (accounting of the soul). This involves a regular analysis of one’s actions and can enable a person to look back and rationally analyze the true nature of his actions. It is highly recommended to seek assistance in how to do Cheshbon HaNefesh in the proper way. With a concerted and long-term effort at learning Torah and self-analysis a person can begin the long journey back to gaining true clarity as to good and evil.
Rav Chaim of Volozhin in his classic work, Nefesh HaChaim answers these questions in the course of his discussion on the nature of the yetser hara (evil inclination). In order to do this, he first explains the sin of Adam and Chava, and ends by showing how the events of Mattan Torah (the Giving of the Torah) and the Golden Calf paralleled the state of Adam and Chava before the sin and after the sin: He begins with an analysis of Adam and Chava’s state before the sin: Chazal tell us that before the sin, mankind did not have a yetser hara, yet this does not mean that he did not have free will. He related to evil - in his situation in the form of the nachash (snake) - as something that was totally outside of himself. Its goal was to somehow persuade him to perform an act that was clearly abhorrent to him. The Nefesh HaChaim compares it to a person deciding whether he should step into a fire. However, somehow, the nachash was able to seduce Chava into eating from the fruit of the knowledge of Good and Evil. By eating from this tree, Adam and Chava brought the yetser hara into themselves. This means that they now constituted of a combination of the good that emanated from their pure soul, and the evil that came from the yetser hara.
The result of this was that they were now subject to the main weapon of the yetser hara; confusion. When a person knows that something is clearly wrong he will not do it. The yetser hara’s tactic is to convince him that this sin is actually not a sin at all, in fact it is the correct thing to do. In this vein, Chazal tell us that a person only sins when a ruach shtus overtakes him – this means that he loses touch with his sense of right and wrong and therefore does the wrong thing, whilst convincing himself that it is actually the right thing to do.
The Nefesh HaChaim continues that this state of being continued until Mattan Torah. The Gemara states that the ‘poison’ that Chava ingested when she sinned (ie. the yetser hara) was completely negated when the Jewish people stood at Har Sinai. In this way, the Jewish people returned to the level of Adam before the sin. At this point in time, the people would be able to live eternally as was the case with Adam before he ate from the tree. With this understanding of the state of the people after Mattan Torah, the Nefesh HaChaim explains why the Satan showed an image to the people. They were on such a high level that there was no yetser hara inside them. Accordingly, the yetser hara could not trick them with its regular weapon of internal confusion. Rather, it had to persuade them externally, in the same way that the nachash did with Chava. When the people succumbed to the Satan’s persuasion, the ‘poison’ from the sin returned to them and the yetser hara once again dwelled within them.
We have seen how the Satan was forced to revert to unorthodox methods of persuasion in order to cause the Jewish people to sin with the Golden Calf. However, after they sinned, the Satan re-entered the very being of each person, leaving us with the difficult task of trying to discern the good inside of us from the evil. The yetser hara’s main tool now is to convince us that what we are doing is actually permitted or even a Mitzvo. For example, the Chofetz Chaim zt”l pointed out that many people were speaking lashon hara with the justification that this particular thing they were saying was permissible; or that it was permitted to speak lashon hara about that particular person. The lashon hara speaker did not think he was speaking lashon hara, rather he rationalized that what he was saying did not constitute forbidden speech. In this vein, the Baal HaTania points out that if one were to offer an observant person a large amount of money to speak lashon hara, he will refuse. This is because he intellectually recognizes that no amount of money is worth transgressing a Mitzvo. Yet the same person will, on another occasion, speak lashon hara for no monetary gain! This is because he convinces himself that he is not speaking lashon hara at all.
How can a person begin the long journey in discerning between the yetser tov and the yetser hara that is inside of him? One vital tool is Torah learning. If a person learns the laws of lashon hara, for example he will find it much harder to rationalize that what he is saying is permissible. Likewise, learning Mussar helps a person understand how his yetser hara works, and act accordingly. The other essential tool is that of Cheshbon HaNefesh (accounting of the soul). This involves a regular analysis of one’s actions and can enable a person to look back and rationally analyze the true nature of his actions. It is highly recommended to seek assistance in how to do Cheshbon HaNefesh in the proper way. With a concerted and long-term effort at learning Torah and self-analysis a person can begin the long journey back to gaining true clarity as to good and evil.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
WAITING - VAYEITSEI
Soon after coming to work for Lavan, Yaakov Avinu agreed to work for seven years in exchange for Rachel’s hand in marriage. The Torah tells us that this period passed very quickly for Yaakov. “And Yaakov worked seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him a few days because of his love for her.” Many commentaries point out an obvious difficulty. Usually, when a person is eagerly awaiting a specific event, the time in between seems to move very slowly. However, in this case, the Torah states that the seven years of waiting to marry Rachel seemed like a few days. How can this be?
In order to answer this question, it is first necessary to understand why, normally, the waiting period does seem to be painfully slow. In most cases, the person is anxiously waiting for a specific event to take place – he views the time in between as a mere impediment to the object of his desires. It is well known that when something is unpleasant or painful, it seems to last a long time. Thus, a person for whom the waiting period is an obstacle, views it as something unpleasant, therefore he feels that it takes a long time to pass by. However, Yaakov Avinu had a very different approach to the seven year waiting period for Rachel. His love for Rachel was not based on lust, rather a deep sense of love, whereby he recognized her greatness, and wanted to be as good a husband as possible. He understood that the time that stood in between his marriage to Rachel was not an obstacle, rather it constituted a great opportunity to improve himself. Therefore, he viewed each moment as a priceless opportunity to further prepare himself for marriage. With such an attitude, the time itself was not viewed with a negative attitude, rather Yaakov saw it in a very positive manner as an opportunity to ready himself for marriage. Since he valued this time, he did not see it as something painful, rather he actually appreciated it. And just as we know that unpleasant situations move slowly, we also know that enjoyable circumstances move very quickly. Therefore, the seven years seemed like a few short days.
Yaakov Avinu demonstrated the correct attitude to waiting for a specific event, however, there is another famous incident in the Torah, where the Jewish people seemed to have stumbled in this very area. In Parshas Ki Sisa, after having received the Ten Commandments, Moshe Rabbeinu spent forty days on Mount Sinai, where he learnt the entire Torah and received the luchos (Tablets) that he would bring down to the people. However, the people miscalculated when the forty days should end and expected Moshe to come down earlier than he said he would. Chazal tell us that the Satan showed them that Moshe was dead. This began the chain of events that resulted in the Sin of the Golden Calf. The question is asked, that it seems unfair that the people should be subject to such a difficult nisayon (test) of seeing a vision of their beloved leader, Moshe, no longer alive – why did they have to be subjected to such a nisayon? The answer is that the Satan could only have the power to effect the people when they showed a lacking in a certain area. The yetser hara only has power when there is a weakness in a person; in such a case he can then expose that weakness. In the case of the build-up to the Golden Calf, it seems that the peoples’ failing was in their impatience for Moshe to return and give them the Torah. This impatience led them to begin to panic when Moshe did not return at the time that they expected. Consequently, the Satan now had an opening which he could exploit.
Thus, we see that the root weakness that began the course of events that led to the Golden Calf, was the incorrect approach to the period of Moshe Rabbeinu being on Mount Sinai. The people’s attitude was that of anxiously waiting for the time to pass, so that they could move on to the next stage in their acceptance of the Torah. They should have viewed that time in the same way as Yaakov used his time waiting to marry Rachel; as an opportunity to work on themselves so that they would be more ready to receive the luchos (Tablets). Had they had such an attitude, they would have been less focused on the end of the waiting period, and more focusesd on utilizing it as much as possible.
We have seen examples in the Torah of the correct and incorrect ways to approach waiting for specific events. It is obvious that the challenge of dealing with waiting periods is one that people constantly face. It may be in the areas of waiting for major events to take place, such as someone dating, eagerly awaiting the time when they find their spouse. Or it may be in daily occurrences such as traffic jams, or frustratingly long lines in the supermarket. Whatever the length of, and reason for, the wait, the underlying principle is the same – that one should not look at these occurrences as mere nuisances that prevent a person from attaining his goal. Rather, one should realize, everything is from HaShem, including annoying or painful periods of waiting. One must make the decision to avoid wasting such time periods, or, even worse, getting frustrated and angry; instead he should recognize that they are G-d given opportunities to grow closer to HaShem. Thus, a person who is waiting to find the right shidduch, should realize that this time period in his life, is not merely a time when life stops until he finds his match. Rather, this is a precious time, when he can work on his character traits to prepare for his future marriage. And, when one finds himself in a line, he could use such time to learn Torah, or for other necessary purposes.
We learn from Yaakov’s attitude during the long seven year wait for Rachel, that waiting periods are opportunities for growth, not burdens to overcome. May we all merit to use such time in the optimum fashion.
In order to answer this question, it is first necessary to understand why, normally, the waiting period does seem to be painfully slow. In most cases, the person is anxiously waiting for a specific event to take place – he views the time in between as a mere impediment to the object of his desires. It is well known that when something is unpleasant or painful, it seems to last a long time. Thus, a person for whom the waiting period is an obstacle, views it as something unpleasant, therefore he feels that it takes a long time to pass by. However, Yaakov Avinu had a very different approach to the seven year waiting period for Rachel. His love for Rachel was not based on lust, rather a deep sense of love, whereby he recognized her greatness, and wanted to be as good a husband as possible. He understood that the time that stood in between his marriage to Rachel was not an obstacle, rather it constituted a great opportunity to improve himself. Therefore, he viewed each moment as a priceless opportunity to further prepare himself for marriage. With such an attitude, the time itself was not viewed with a negative attitude, rather Yaakov saw it in a very positive manner as an opportunity to ready himself for marriage. Since he valued this time, he did not see it as something painful, rather he actually appreciated it. And just as we know that unpleasant situations move slowly, we also know that enjoyable circumstances move very quickly. Therefore, the seven years seemed like a few short days.
Yaakov Avinu demonstrated the correct attitude to waiting for a specific event, however, there is another famous incident in the Torah, where the Jewish people seemed to have stumbled in this very area. In Parshas Ki Sisa, after having received the Ten Commandments, Moshe Rabbeinu spent forty days on Mount Sinai, where he learnt the entire Torah and received the luchos (Tablets) that he would bring down to the people. However, the people miscalculated when the forty days should end and expected Moshe to come down earlier than he said he would. Chazal tell us that the Satan showed them that Moshe was dead. This began the chain of events that resulted in the Sin of the Golden Calf. The question is asked, that it seems unfair that the people should be subject to such a difficult nisayon (test) of seeing a vision of their beloved leader, Moshe, no longer alive – why did they have to be subjected to such a nisayon? The answer is that the Satan could only have the power to effect the people when they showed a lacking in a certain area. The yetser hara only has power when there is a weakness in a person; in such a case he can then expose that weakness. In the case of the build-up to the Golden Calf, it seems that the peoples’ failing was in their impatience for Moshe to return and give them the Torah. This impatience led them to begin to panic when Moshe did not return at the time that they expected. Consequently, the Satan now had an opening which he could exploit.
Thus, we see that the root weakness that began the course of events that led to the Golden Calf, was the incorrect approach to the period of Moshe Rabbeinu being on Mount Sinai. The people’s attitude was that of anxiously waiting for the time to pass, so that they could move on to the next stage in their acceptance of the Torah. They should have viewed that time in the same way as Yaakov used his time waiting to marry Rachel; as an opportunity to work on themselves so that they would be more ready to receive the luchos (Tablets). Had they had such an attitude, they would have been less focused on the end of the waiting period, and more focusesd on utilizing it as much as possible.
We have seen examples in the Torah of the correct and incorrect ways to approach waiting for specific events. It is obvious that the challenge of dealing with waiting periods is one that people constantly face. It may be in the areas of waiting for major events to take place, such as someone dating, eagerly awaiting the time when they find their spouse. Or it may be in daily occurrences such as traffic jams, or frustratingly long lines in the supermarket. Whatever the length of, and reason for, the wait, the underlying principle is the same – that one should not look at these occurrences as mere nuisances that prevent a person from attaining his goal. Rather, one should realize, everything is from HaShem, including annoying or painful periods of waiting. One must make the decision to avoid wasting such time periods, or, even worse, getting frustrated and angry; instead he should recognize that they are G-d given opportunities to grow closer to HaShem. Thus, a person who is waiting to find the right shidduch, should realize that this time period in his life, is not merely a time when life stops until he finds his match. Rather, this is a precious time, when he can work on his character traits to prepare for his future marriage. And, when one finds himself in a line, he could use such time to learn Torah, or for other necessary purposes.
We learn from Yaakov’s attitude during the long seven year wait for Rachel, that waiting periods are opportunities for growth, not burdens to overcome. May we all merit to use such time in the optimum fashion.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
CLEARING THE CONFUSION - KI SISA
The sin of the Golden Calf is one of the most difficult to comprehend episodes in the Torah. The commentaries discuss at length how the Jewish people could stumble in such a severe sin just forty days after the Revelation at Sinai. The events that led up to the sin are similarly clothed in mystery. In particular, the account of how the people came to believe that Moshe Rabbeinu had died Is very difficult to understand: The Torah tells us that the people miscalculated when Moshe would return, believing he should come back one day earlier than was in fact the case. The Gemara elaborates on the details of this mistake. It tells us that the Satan showed them an image of Moshe no longer alive. When they saw this they panicked and demanded that Aaron create for them a new medium through whom they could relate to G-d. One of the difficulties in this passage is the method in which the Satan caused them to sin by showing them an image. Nowhere do see we such a tactic used in other incidents in the Torah. Normally a person sins because he would rationalize that what he was doing was correct. What is the nature of this form of persuasion and why was it necessary for the Satan to show them such an image instead of using the normal methods of persuasion?
Rav Chaim of Volozhin in his classic work, Nefesh HaChaim answers these questions in the course of his discussion on the nature of the yetser hara (evil inclination). In order to do this, he first explains the sin of Adam and Chava, and ends by showing how the events of Mattan Torah (the Giving of the Torah) and the Golden Calf paralleled the state of Adam and Chava before the sin and after the sin: He begins with an analysis of Adam and Chava’s state before the sin: Chazal tell us that before the sin, mankind did not have a yetser hara, yet this does not mean that he did not have free will. He related to evil - in his situation in the form of the nachash (snake) - as something that was totally outside of himself. Its goal was to somehow persuade him to perform an act that was clearly abhorrent to him. The Nefesh HaChaim compares it to a person deciding whether he should step into a fire. However, somehow, the nachash was able to seduce Chava into eating from the fruit of the knowledge of Good and Evil. By eating from this tree, Adam and Chava brought the yetser hara into themselves. This means that they now constituted of a combination of the good that emanated from their pure soul, and the evil that came from the yetser hara.
The result of this was that they were now subject to the main weapon of the yetser hara; confusion. When a person knows that something is clearly wrong he will not do it. The yetser hara’s tactic is to convince him that this sin is actually not a sin at all, in fact it is the correct thing to do. In this vein, Chazal tell us that a person only sins when a ruach shtus overtakes him – this means that he loses touch with his sense of right and wrong and therefore does the wrong thing, whilst convincing himself that it is actually the right thing to do.
The Nefesh HaChaim continues that this state of being continued until Mattan Torah. The Gemara states that the ‘poison’ that Chava ingested when she sinned (ie. the yetser hara) was completely negated when the Jewish people stood at Har Sinai. In this way, the Jewish people returned to the level of Adam before the sin. At this point in time, the people would be able to live eternally as was the case with Adam before he ate from the tree. With this understanding of the state of the people after Mattan Torah, the Nefesh HaChaim explains why the Satan showed an image to the people. They were on such a high level that there was no yetser hara inside them. Accordingly, the yetser hara could not trick them with its regular weapon of internal confusion. Rather, it had to persuade them externally, in the same way that the nachash did with Chava. When the people succumbed to the Satan’s persuasion, the ‘poison’ from the sin returned to them and the yetser hara once again dwelled within them.
We have seen how the Satan was forced to revert to unorthodox methods of persuasion in order to cause the Jewish people to sin with the Golden Calf. However, after they sinned, the Satan re-entered the very being of each person, leaving us with the difficult task of trying to discern the good inside of us from the evil. The yetser hara’s main tool now is to convince us that what we are doing is actually permitted or even a Mitzvo. For example, the Chofetz Chaim zt”l pointed out that many people were speaking lashon hara with the justification that this particular thing they were saying was permissible; or that it was permitted to speak lashon hara about that particular person. The lashon hara speaker did not think he was speaking lashon hara, rather he rationalized that what he was saying did not constitute forbidden speech. In this vein, the Baal HaTania points out that if one were to offer an observant person a large amount of money to speak lashon hara, he will refuse. This is because he intellectually recognizes that no amount of money is worth transgressing a Mitzvo. Yet the same person will, on another occasion, speak lashon hara for no monetary gain! This is because he convinces himself that he is not speaking lashon hara at all.
How can a person begin the long journey in discerning between the yetser tov and the yetser hara that is inside of him? One vital tool is Torah learning. If a person learns the laws of lashon hara, for example he will find it much harder to rationalize that what he is saying is permissible. Likewise, learning Mussar helps a person understand how his yetser hara works, and act accordingly. The other essential tool is that of Cheshbon HaNefesh (accounting of the soul). This involves a regular analysis of one’s actions and can enable a person to look back and rationally analyze the true nature of his actions. It is highly recommended to seek assistance in how to do Cheshbon HaNefesh in the proper way. With a concerted and long-term effort at learning Torah and self-analysis a person can begin the long journey back to gaining true clarity as to good and evil.
Rav Chaim of Volozhin in his classic work, Nefesh HaChaim answers these questions in the course of his discussion on the nature of the yetser hara (evil inclination). In order to do this, he first explains the sin of Adam and Chava, and ends by showing how the events of Mattan Torah (the Giving of the Torah) and the Golden Calf paralleled the state of Adam and Chava before the sin and after the sin: He begins with an analysis of Adam and Chava’s state before the sin: Chazal tell us that before the sin, mankind did not have a yetser hara, yet this does not mean that he did not have free will. He related to evil - in his situation in the form of the nachash (snake) - as something that was totally outside of himself. Its goal was to somehow persuade him to perform an act that was clearly abhorrent to him. The Nefesh HaChaim compares it to a person deciding whether he should step into a fire. However, somehow, the nachash was able to seduce Chava into eating from the fruit of the knowledge of Good and Evil. By eating from this tree, Adam and Chava brought the yetser hara into themselves. This means that they now constituted of a combination of the good that emanated from their pure soul, and the evil that came from the yetser hara.
The result of this was that they were now subject to the main weapon of the yetser hara; confusion. When a person knows that something is clearly wrong he will not do it. The yetser hara’s tactic is to convince him that this sin is actually not a sin at all, in fact it is the correct thing to do. In this vein, Chazal tell us that a person only sins when a ruach shtus overtakes him – this means that he loses touch with his sense of right and wrong and therefore does the wrong thing, whilst convincing himself that it is actually the right thing to do.
The Nefesh HaChaim continues that this state of being continued until Mattan Torah. The Gemara states that the ‘poison’ that Chava ingested when she sinned (ie. the yetser hara) was completely negated when the Jewish people stood at Har Sinai. In this way, the Jewish people returned to the level of Adam before the sin. At this point in time, the people would be able to live eternally as was the case with Adam before he ate from the tree. With this understanding of the state of the people after Mattan Torah, the Nefesh HaChaim explains why the Satan showed an image to the people. They were on such a high level that there was no yetser hara inside them. Accordingly, the yetser hara could not trick them with its regular weapon of internal confusion. Rather, it had to persuade them externally, in the same way that the nachash did with Chava. When the people succumbed to the Satan’s persuasion, the ‘poison’ from the sin returned to them and the yetser hara once again dwelled within them.
We have seen how the Satan was forced to revert to unorthodox methods of persuasion in order to cause the Jewish people to sin with the Golden Calf. However, after they sinned, the Satan re-entered the very being of each person, leaving us with the difficult task of trying to discern the good inside of us from the evil. The yetser hara’s main tool now is to convince us that what we are doing is actually permitted or even a Mitzvo. For example, the Chofetz Chaim zt”l pointed out that many people were speaking lashon hara with the justification that this particular thing they were saying was permissible; or that it was permitted to speak lashon hara about that particular person. The lashon hara speaker did not think he was speaking lashon hara, rather he rationalized that what he was saying did not constitute forbidden speech. In this vein, the Baal HaTania points out that if one were to offer an observant person a large amount of money to speak lashon hara, he will refuse. This is because he intellectually recognizes that no amount of money is worth transgressing a Mitzvo. Yet the same person will, on another occasion, speak lashon hara for no monetary gain! This is because he convinces himself that he is not speaking lashon hara at all.
How can a person begin the long journey in discerning between the yetser tov and the yetser hara that is inside of him? One vital tool is Torah learning. If a person learns the laws of lashon hara, for example he will find it much harder to rationalize that what he is saying is permissible. Likewise, learning Mussar helps a person understand how his yetser hara works, and act accordingly. The other essential tool is that of Cheshbon HaNefesh (accounting of the soul). This involves a regular analysis of one’s actions and can enable a person to look back and rationally analyze the true nature of his actions. It is highly recommended to seek assistance in how to do Cheshbon HaNefesh in the proper way. With a concerted and long-term effort at learning Torah and self-analysis a person can begin the long journey back to gaining true clarity as to good and evil.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE GOLDEN CALF - KI SISA
Chet haegel is one of the most difficult episodes in the Torah. There is much discussion about how the Dor Deah could commit such a terrible sin so soon after Matan Torah. One less commonly discussed aspect of this terrible incident is the way in which Hashem punished the Jewish people for the chet: Right after it, Hashem says to Moshe Rabbeinu, “..Behold, My angel shall go before you.. ” Rashi explains that this is a punishment; up to this time, Hashem Himself would guide the Jewish people in the desert, but from now on, only an angel would guide them. Chazal teach us that Hashem punishes mida keneged mida, which means that the nature of the punishment can help us understand the nature of the sin. What was the mida keneged mida in this punishment for chet haegel?
In order to understand this we must first briefly discuss how the Jewish people could commit a sin that seems to be avoda zara. The commentaries explain that they did not intend to worship an idol, rather they wanted the egel to be an intermediary between themselves and Hashem: When they thought that Moshe had died they panicked - they believed that they could not have a direct relationship with Hashem, rather they needed an intermediary to communicate with Him on their behalf. This was not a denial of Hashem, rather it was an erroneous belief that some kind of being was needed to represent them before Him and convey His teachings and beneficence to them.
With this explanation we can now understand the root cause of chet haegel. The Jewish people came to this belief that they needed an intermediary because on a subtle level they did not desire a direct relationship with Hashem. This was not the first time in which this failing was apparent; at Matan Torah, after Hashem spoke directly to the people for the first two mitzvos, they asked that Hashem no longer communicate directly with them. Rather, He should tell Moshe and Moshe should pass on what Hashem said to them. In Parshas Va’eschanan, Moshe rebuked them for this seemingly innocuous request: Rashi tells us that Moshe said to them, “I was pained and disappointed by you. Would it not have been better for you to learn directly from Hashem’s mouth than to learn from me?! ” It was this underlying fear of a direct relationship with Hashem that was responsible for the terrible course of events that culminated in chet haegel. The mida keneged mida punishment for this was that there would now be an intermediary Malach guiding them instead of their being under direct guidance from Hashem Himself.
Later in the parsha we see a stark contrast to this in the attitude of Moshe Rabbeinu himself. Having successfully pleaded for Hashem to spare the Jewish people, Moshe saw that it was an ‘eis ratson’ a time when his words were being received. At this moment, he had the opportunity to make any request of Hashem - what did he choose to ask for? “Please show me Your Glory .” He asked for the ability to perceive Hashem on a greater level than even he had ever experienced: Moshe’s primary goal was to gain more awareness of, and closeness to, Hashem.
The incidents in the Torah are not merely there to offer interesting reading - both the positive and negative actions of the people in the Torah provide us with lessons about our own life: On a subtle level, the great Dor Deah were lacking in their desire for a direct relationship with Hashem and as a consequence they became overly reliant upon intermediaries. How does this flaw effect us? The story is told of a Rebbe who once asked one of his chassidim how often he thinks about G-d. The talmid answered, “Rebbe, I wake up every day at 3.00am to learn before davenning Neitz, I then learn uninterrupted till mincha, and after a very brief lunch I continue learning for several hours more. Finally I sleep late at night and wake up at 3.00am the next day to learn - Rebbe, when do I have time to think about G-d?! ”
Sometimes we can be so involved with our Avodas Hashem that we can forget about Hashem Himself. Just like the Dor Deah overly focused on intermediaries we can sometimes ‘miss the forest for the trees’ and be so focused on the means with which we should get close to G-d but we forget that they are just means and not an end in itself. This can even be the case with regard to Talmud Torah. Talmud Torah is so central our lives that we can sometimes forget that it is primarily a means of developing a closer relationship to Hashem. Knowledge of a great deal of Torah is not an end in itself, Torah is supposed to bring us to greater Emuna and Yiras Hashem and if it does not then, there is something amiss.
The Baaley Mussar spoke at length on this inyan and the need to set aside time to focus on developing Yiras Hashem. Even the Nefesh HaChaim, who argued against excessive mussar study, stressed the necessity of spending a short amount of time before learning to contemplate Hashem so that the learning would be infused with the correct attitude. He even wrote that a person can stop in the middle of his learning and reflect on Hashem, “before the yiras Hashem in his heart will be extinguished. ”
Moreover, the Rosh Yeshiva of Novardok, Rav Ben-Tzion Brook zt”l said that it is important to be aware of the context in which Nefesh HaChaim was written in order not to misunderstand his message as a call to focus exclusively on Talmud Torah to the expense of mussar. The Nefesh HaChaim was written as a response to people who were devoting most of their time to mussar sefarim at the expense of Talmud Torah. Consequently, he stressed that it is correct to devote most of one’s time to learning Torah and that this will bring a person to a relationship with Hashem. However, Rav Brook argued, nowadays, the nisayon for most people is very different; a person who has little awareness or understanding of emuna may read Nefesh HaChaim and see it as a heter to avoid working directly on getting closer to Hashem. The Nefesh HaChaim was not talking to this kind of person at all, and whilst it is accepted to spend most of one’s time in regular Talmud Torah, nonetheless it is essential that we realize that the ikar is indeed to increase our emuna .
It is also possible to place performance of mitzvos as the ikar in place of closeness to Hashem. A person can perform a mitzvo with little or no thought of Hashem and think that he has fulfilled the mitzvo to a satisfactory level. With regard to this it is pertinent to remember the words of the Ramban in parshas Bo: “The purpose of all the mitzvos is that we believe in our G-d and that we acknowledge that He is our G-d, and that is the purpose of creation, because there is no other reason for creation, and the only thing that Hashem wants from us is that we know and acknowledge that He created us. ”
There are a number of simple ways through which we can avoid the pitfall of forgetting that the tachlis of all our Avoda is to develop our relationship with Hashem. The most obvious is to learn sefarim that discuss such topics as emuna, bitachon or tefilla. On a more practical level, Rav Dov Brezak Shlita writes that he asked one of the Gedolim how one could work on becoming more aware of Hashem. His simple answer was that we should pray for anything that we want - even for mundane matters, things that may be of no spiritual significance. For example, if we are waiting for a bus and want it to come sooner we should ask Hashem to make it happen. This exercise can help us develop a constant awareness that Hashem is with us. If we possess such an awareness then we are far more likely to remember Hashem during spiritual pursuits such as learning Torah .
It is also very important to note that the degree to which we develop our relationship with Hashem has a tremendous bearing on how our children will develop in their own relationship with Him. If they grow up seeing their parents having a genuine relationship with Hashem then they are far more likely to do the same. We should not underestimate the significance of this in our chinch: Rav Brezak quotes Rav Wolbe zt”l as saying that the reason there are so many rebellious children nowadays is that thy were not taught to have a sensory awareness of Hashem and His deeds .
There are numerous lessons to be learnt from chet haegel. One of the most important is to remember that we do have the ability to have a direct relationship with Hashem and that everything else is secondary to this goal. May we all be zocheh to constantly develop our relationship with Hashem.
In order to understand this we must first briefly discuss how the Jewish people could commit a sin that seems to be avoda zara. The commentaries explain that they did not intend to worship an idol, rather they wanted the egel to be an intermediary between themselves and Hashem: When they thought that Moshe had died they panicked - they believed that they could not have a direct relationship with Hashem, rather they needed an intermediary to communicate with Him on their behalf. This was not a denial of Hashem, rather it was an erroneous belief that some kind of being was needed to represent them before Him and convey His teachings and beneficence to them.
With this explanation we can now understand the root cause of chet haegel. The Jewish people came to this belief that they needed an intermediary because on a subtle level they did not desire a direct relationship with Hashem. This was not the first time in which this failing was apparent; at Matan Torah, after Hashem spoke directly to the people for the first two mitzvos, they asked that Hashem no longer communicate directly with them. Rather, He should tell Moshe and Moshe should pass on what Hashem said to them. In Parshas Va’eschanan, Moshe rebuked them for this seemingly innocuous request: Rashi tells us that Moshe said to them, “I was pained and disappointed by you. Would it not have been better for you to learn directly from Hashem’s mouth than to learn from me?! ” It was this underlying fear of a direct relationship with Hashem that was responsible for the terrible course of events that culminated in chet haegel. The mida keneged mida punishment for this was that there would now be an intermediary Malach guiding them instead of their being under direct guidance from Hashem Himself.
Later in the parsha we see a stark contrast to this in the attitude of Moshe Rabbeinu himself. Having successfully pleaded for Hashem to spare the Jewish people, Moshe saw that it was an ‘eis ratson’ a time when his words were being received. At this moment, he had the opportunity to make any request of Hashem - what did he choose to ask for? “Please show me Your Glory .” He asked for the ability to perceive Hashem on a greater level than even he had ever experienced: Moshe’s primary goal was to gain more awareness of, and closeness to, Hashem.
The incidents in the Torah are not merely there to offer interesting reading - both the positive and negative actions of the people in the Torah provide us with lessons about our own life: On a subtle level, the great Dor Deah were lacking in their desire for a direct relationship with Hashem and as a consequence they became overly reliant upon intermediaries. How does this flaw effect us? The story is told of a Rebbe who once asked one of his chassidim how often he thinks about G-d. The talmid answered, “Rebbe, I wake up every day at 3.00am to learn before davenning Neitz, I then learn uninterrupted till mincha, and after a very brief lunch I continue learning for several hours more. Finally I sleep late at night and wake up at 3.00am the next day to learn - Rebbe, when do I have time to think about G-d?! ”
Sometimes we can be so involved with our Avodas Hashem that we can forget about Hashem Himself. Just like the Dor Deah overly focused on intermediaries we can sometimes ‘miss the forest for the trees’ and be so focused on the means with which we should get close to G-d but we forget that they are just means and not an end in itself. This can even be the case with regard to Talmud Torah. Talmud Torah is so central our lives that we can sometimes forget that it is primarily a means of developing a closer relationship to Hashem. Knowledge of a great deal of Torah is not an end in itself, Torah is supposed to bring us to greater Emuna and Yiras Hashem and if it does not then, there is something amiss.
The Baaley Mussar spoke at length on this inyan and the need to set aside time to focus on developing Yiras Hashem. Even the Nefesh HaChaim, who argued against excessive mussar study, stressed the necessity of spending a short amount of time before learning to contemplate Hashem so that the learning would be infused with the correct attitude. He even wrote that a person can stop in the middle of his learning and reflect on Hashem, “before the yiras Hashem in his heart will be extinguished. ”
Moreover, the Rosh Yeshiva of Novardok, Rav Ben-Tzion Brook zt”l said that it is important to be aware of the context in which Nefesh HaChaim was written in order not to misunderstand his message as a call to focus exclusively on Talmud Torah to the expense of mussar. The Nefesh HaChaim was written as a response to people who were devoting most of their time to mussar sefarim at the expense of Talmud Torah. Consequently, he stressed that it is correct to devote most of one’s time to learning Torah and that this will bring a person to a relationship with Hashem. However, Rav Brook argued, nowadays, the nisayon for most people is very different; a person who has little awareness or understanding of emuna may read Nefesh HaChaim and see it as a heter to avoid working directly on getting closer to Hashem. The Nefesh HaChaim was not talking to this kind of person at all, and whilst it is accepted to spend most of one’s time in regular Talmud Torah, nonetheless it is essential that we realize that the ikar is indeed to increase our emuna .
It is also possible to place performance of mitzvos as the ikar in place of closeness to Hashem. A person can perform a mitzvo with little or no thought of Hashem and think that he has fulfilled the mitzvo to a satisfactory level. With regard to this it is pertinent to remember the words of the Ramban in parshas Bo: “The purpose of all the mitzvos is that we believe in our G-d and that we acknowledge that He is our G-d, and that is the purpose of creation, because there is no other reason for creation, and the only thing that Hashem wants from us is that we know and acknowledge that He created us. ”
There are a number of simple ways through which we can avoid the pitfall of forgetting that the tachlis of all our Avoda is to develop our relationship with Hashem. The most obvious is to learn sefarim that discuss such topics as emuna, bitachon or tefilla. On a more practical level, Rav Dov Brezak Shlita writes that he asked one of the Gedolim how one could work on becoming more aware of Hashem. His simple answer was that we should pray for anything that we want - even for mundane matters, things that may be of no spiritual significance. For example, if we are waiting for a bus and want it to come sooner we should ask Hashem to make it happen. This exercise can help us develop a constant awareness that Hashem is with us. If we possess such an awareness then we are far more likely to remember Hashem during spiritual pursuits such as learning Torah .
It is also very important to note that the degree to which we develop our relationship with Hashem has a tremendous bearing on how our children will develop in their own relationship with Him. If they grow up seeing their parents having a genuine relationship with Hashem then they are far more likely to do the same. We should not underestimate the significance of this in our chinch: Rav Brezak quotes Rav Wolbe zt”l as saying that the reason there are so many rebellious children nowadays is that thy were not taught to have a sensory awareness of Hashem and His deeds .
There are numerous lessons to be learnt from chet haegel. One of the most important is to remember that we do have the ability to have a direct relationship with Hashem and that everything else is secondary to this goal. May we all be zocheh to constantly develop our relationship with Hashem.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
THE GOLDEN CALF - KI SISA
Chet haegel is one of the most difficult episodes in the Torah. There is much discussion about how the Dor Deah could commit such a terrible sin so soon after Matan Torah. One less commonly discussed aspect of this terrible incident is the way in which Hashem punished the Jewish people for the chet: Right after it, Hashem says to Moshe Rabbeinu, “..Behold, My angel shall go before you.. ” Rashi explains that this is a punishment; up to this time, Hashem Himself would guide the Jewish people in the desert, but from now on, only an angel would guide them. Chazal teach us that Hashem punishes mida keneged mida, which means that the nature of the punishment can help us understand the nature of the sin. What was the mida keneged mida in this punishment for chet haegel?
In order to understand this we must first briefly discuss how the Jewish people could commit a sin that seems to be avoda zara. The commentaries explain that they did not intend to worship an idol, rather they wanted the egel to be an intermediary between themselves and Hashem: When they thought that Moshe had died they panicked - they believed that they could not have a direct relationship with Hashem, rather they needed an intermediary to communicate with Him on their behalf. This was not a denial of Hashem, rather it was an erroneous belief that some kind of being was needed to represent them before Him and convey His teachings and beneficence to them .
With this explanation we can now understand the root cause of chet haegel. The Jewish people came to this belief that they needed an intermediary because on a subtle level they did not desire a direct relationship with Hashem. This was not the first time in which this failing was apparent; at Matan Torah, after Hashem spoke directly to the people for the first two mitzvos, they asked that Hashem no longer communicate directly with them. Rather, He should tell Moshe and Moshe should pass on what Hashem said to them. In Parshas Va’eschanan, Moshe rebuked them for this seemingly innocuous request: Rashi tells us that Moshe said to them, “I was pained and disappointed by you. Would it not have been better for you to learn directly from Hashem’s mouth than to learn from me?! ” It was this underlying fear of a direct relationship with Hashem that was responsible for the terrible course of events that culminated in chet haegel. The mida keneged mida punishment for this was that there would now be an intermediary Malach guiding them instead of their being under direct guidance from Hashem Himself.
Later in the parsha we see a stark contrast to this in the attitude of Moshe Rabbeinu himself. Having successfully pleaded for Hashem to spare the Jewish people, Moshe saw that it was an ‘eis ratson’ a time when his words were being received. At this moment, he had the opportunity to make any request of Hashem - what did he choose to ask for? “Please show me Your Glory .” He asked for the ability to perceive Hashem on a greater level than even he had ever experienced: Moshe’s primary goal was to gain more awareness of, and closeness to, Hashem.
The incidents in the Torah are not merely there to offer interesting reading - both the positive and negative actions of the people in the Torah provide us with lessons about our own life: On a subtle level, the great Dor Deah were lacking in their desire for a direct relationship with Hashem and as a consequence they became overly reliant upon intermediaries. How does this flaw effect us? The story is told of a Rebbe who once asked one of his chassidim how often he thinks about G-d. The talmid answered, “Rebbe, I wake up every day at 3.00am to learn before davenning Neitz, I then learn uninterrupted till mincha, and after a very brief lunch I continue learning for several hours more. Finally I sleep late at night and wake up at 3.00am the next day to learn - Rebbe, when do I have time to think about G-d?! ”
Sometimes we can be so involved with our Avodas Hashem that we can forget about Hashem Himself. Just like the Dor Deah overly focused on intermediaries we can sometimes ‘miss the forest for the trees’ and be so focused on the means with which we should get close to G-d but we forget that they are just means and not an end in itself. This can even be the case with regard to Talmud Torah. Talmud Torah is so central our lives that we can sometimes forget that it is primarily a means of developing a closer relationship to Hashem. Knowledge of a great deal of Torah is not an end in itself, Torah is supposed to bring us to greater Emuna and Yiras Hashem and if it does not then, there is something amiss.
The Baaley Mussar spoke at length on this inyan and the need to set aside time to focus on developing Yiras Hashem. Even the Nefesh HaChaim, who argued against excessive mussar study, stressed the necessity of spending a short amount of time before learning to contemplate Hashem so that the learning would be infused with the correct attitude. He even wrote that a person can stop in the middle of his learning and reflect on Hashem, “before the yiras Hashem in his heart will be extinguished. ”
Moreover, the Rosh Yeshiva of Novardok, Rav Ben-Tzion Brook zt”l said that it is important to be aware of the context in which Nefesh HaChaim was written in order not to misunderstand his message as a call to focus exclusively on Talmud Torah to the expense of mussar. The Nefesh HaChaim was written as a response to people who were devoting most of their time to mussar sefarim at the expense of Talmud Torah. Consequently, he stressed that it is correct to devote most of one’s time to learning Torah and that this will bring a person to a relationship with Hashem. However, Rav Brook argued, nowadays, the nisayon for most people is very different; a person who has little awareness or understanding of emuna may read Nefesh HaChaim and see it as a heter to avoid working directly on getting closer to Hashem. The Nefesh HaChaim was not talking to this kind of person at all, and whilst it is accepted to spend most of one’s time in regular Talmud Torah, nonetheless it is essential that we realize that the ikar is indeed to increase our emuna .
It is also possible to place performance of mitzvos as the ikar in place of closeness to Hashem. A person can perform a mitzvo with little or no thought of Hashem and think that he has fulfilled the mitzvo to a satisfactory level. With regard to this it is pertinent to remember the words of the Ramban in parshas Bo: “The purpose of all the mitzvos is that we believe in our G-d and that we acknowledge that He is our G-d, and that is the purpose of creation, because there is no other reason for creation, and the only thing that Hashem wants from us is that we know and acknowledge that He created us. ”
There are a number of simple ways through which we can avoid the pitfall of forgetting that the tachlis of all our Avoda is to develop our relationship with Hashem. The most obvious is to learn sefarim that discuss such topics as emuna, bitachon or tefilla. On a more practical level, Rav Dov Brezak Shlita writes that he asked one of the Gedolim how one could work on becoming more aware of Hashem. His simple answer was that we should pray for anything that we want - even for mundane matters, things that may be of no spiritual significance. For example, if we are waiting for a bus and want it to come sooner we should ask Hashem to make it happen. This exercise can help us develop a constant awareness that Hashem is with us. If we possess such an awareness then we are far more likely to remember Hashem during spiritual pursuits such as learning Torah .
It is also very important to note that the degree to which we develop our relationship with Hashem has a tremendous bearing on how our children will develop in their own relationship with Him. If they grow up seeing their parents having a genuine relationship with Hashem then they are far more likely to do the same. We should not underestimate the significance of this in our chinuch: Rav Brezak quotes Rav Wolbe zt”l as saying that the reason there are so many rebellious children nowadays is that thy were not taught to have a sensory awareness of Hashem and His deeds .
There are numerous lessons to be learnt from chet haegel. One of the most important is to remember that we do have the ability to have a direct relationship with Hashem and that everything else is secondary to this goal. May we all be zocheh to constantly develop our relationship with Hashem.
In order to understand this we must first briefly discuss how the Jewish people could commit a sin that seems to be avoda zara. The commentaries explain that they did not intend to worship an idol, rather they wanted the egel to be an intermediary between themselves and Hashem: When they thought that Moshe had died they panicked - they believed that they could not have a direct relationship with Hashem, rather they needed an intermediary to communicate with Him on their behalf. This was not a denial of Hashem, rather it was an erroneous belief that some kind of being was needed to represent them before Him and convey His teachings and beneficence to them .
With this explanation we can now understand the root cause of chet haegel. The Jewish people came to this belief that they needed an intermediary because on a subtle level they did not desire a direct relationship with Hashem. This was not the first time in which this failing was apparent; at Matan Torah, after Hashem spoke directly to the people for the first two mitzvos, they asked that Hashem no longer communicate directly with them. Rather, He should tell Moshe and Moshe should pass on what Hashem said to them. In Parshas Va’eschanan, Moshe rebuked them for this seemingly innocuous request: Rashi tells us that Moshe said to them, “I was pained and disappointed by you. Would it not have been better for you to learn directly from Hashem’s mouth than to learn from me?! ” It was this underlying fear of a direct relationship with Hashem that was responsible for the terrible course of events that culminated in chet haegel. The mida keneged mida punishment for this was that there would now be an intermediary Malach guiding them instead of their being under direct guidance from Hashem Himself.
Later in the parsha we see a stark contrast to this in the attitude of Moshe Rabbeinu himself. Having successfully pleaded for Hashem to spare the Jewish people, Moshe saw that it was an ‘eis ratson’ a time when his words were being received. At this moment, he had the opportunity to make any request of Hashem - what did he choose to ask for? “Please show me Your Glory .” He asked for the ability to perceive Hashem on a greater level than even he had ever experienced: Moshe’s primary goal was to gain more awareness of, and closeness to, Hashem.
The incidents in the Torah are not merely there to offer interesting reading - both the positive and negative actions of the people in the Torah provide us with lessons about our own life: On a subtle level, the great Dor Deah were lacking in their desire for a direct relationship with Hashem and as a consequence they became overly reliant upon intermediaries. How does this flaw effect us? The story is told of a Rebbe who once asked one of his chassidim how often he thinks about G-d. The talmid answered, “Rebbe, I wake up every day at 3.00am to learn before davenning Neitz, I then learn uninterrupted till mincha, and after a very brief lunch I continue learning for several hours more. Finally I sleep late at night and wake up at 3.00am the next day to learn - Rebbe, when do I have time to think about G-d?! ”
Sometimes we can be so involved with our Avodas Hashem that we can forget about Hashem Himself. Just like the Dor Deah overly focused on intermediaries we can sometimes ‘miss the forest for the trees’ and be so focused on the means with which we should get close to G-d but we forget that they are just means and not an end in itself. This can even be the case with regard to Talmud Torah. Talmud Torah is so central our lives that we can sometimes forget that it is primarily a means of developing a closer relationship to Hashem. Knowledge of a great deal of Torah is not an end in itself, Torah is supposed to bring us to greater Emuna and Yiras Hashem and if it does not then, there is something amiss.
The Baaley Mussar spoke at length on this inyan and the need to set aside time to focus on developing Yiras Hashem. Even the Nefesh HaChaim, who argued against excessive mussar study, stressed the necessity of spending a short amount of time before learning to contemplate Hashem so that the learning would be infused with the correct attitude. He even wrote that a person can stop in the middle of his learning and reflect on Hashem, “before the yiras Hashem in his heart will be extinguished. ”
Moreover, the Rosh Yeshiva of Novardok, Rav Ben-Tzion Brook zt”l said that it is important to be aware of the context in which Nefesh HaChaim was written in order not to misunderstand his message as a call to focus exclusively on Talmud Torah to the expense of mussar. The Nefesh HaChaim was written as a response to people who were devoting most of their time to mussar sefarim at the expense of Talmud Torah. Consequently, he stressed that it is correct to devote most of one’s time to learning Torah and that this will bring a person to a relationship with Hashem. However, Rav Brook argued, nowadays, the nisayon for most people is very different; a person who has little awareness or understanding of emuna may read Nefesh HaChaim and see it as a heter to avoid working directly on getting closer to Hashem. The Nefesh HaChaim was not talking to this kind of person at all, and whilst it is accepted to spend most of one’s time in regular Talmud Torah, nonetheless it is essential that we realize that the ikar is indeed to increase our emuna .
It is also possible to place performance of mitzvos as the ikar in place of closeness to Hashem. A person can perform a mitzvo with little or no thought of Hashem and think that he has fulfilled the mitzvo to a satisfactory level. With regard to this it is pertinent to remember the words of the Ramban in parshas Bo: “The purpose of all the mitzvos is that we believe in our G-d and that we acknowledge that He is our G-d, and that is the purpose of creation, because there is no other reason for creation, and the only thing that Hashem wants from us is that we know and acknowledge that He created us. ”
There are a number of simple ways through which we can avoid the pitfall of forgetting that the tachlis of all our Avoda is to develop our relationship with Hashem. The most obvious is to learn sefarim that discuss such topics as emuna, bitachon or tefilla. On a more practical level, Rav Dov Brezak Shlita writes that he asked one of the Gedolim how one could work on becoming more aware of Hashem. His simple answer was that we should pray for anything that we want - even for mundane matters, things that may be of no spiritual significance. For example, if we are waiting for a bus and want it to come sooner we should ask Hashem to make it happen. This exercise can help us develop a constant awareness that Hashem is with us. If we possess such an awareness then we are far more likely to remember Hashem during spiritual pursuits such as learning Torah .
It is also very important to note that the degree to which we develop our relationship with Hashem has a tremendous bearing on how our children will develop in their own relationship with Him. If they grow up seeing their parents having a genuine relationship with Hashem then they are far more likely to do the same. We should not underestimate the significance of this in our chinuch: Rav Brezak quotes Rav Wolbe zt”l as saying that the reason there are so many rebellious children nowadays is that thy were not taught to have a sensory awareness of Hashem and His deeds .
There are numerous lessons to be learnt from chet haegel. One of the most important is to remember that we do have the ability to have a direct relationship with Hashem and that everything else is secondary to this goal. May we all be zocheh to constantly develop our relationship with Hashem.
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