By Rabbi Naftoly Bier
We are startled by today’s world order. We are shocked what Hamas has done, their complete lack of dignity, their hatred of Klal Yisrael and their disdain for any meaning. We are appalled and stupefied by the countless people worldwide who with detestation of civility have bonded together to vilify the Jewish people. What is the core issue that needs to be addressed? It’s the value of human life! It’s the significance of human nobility! It’s the sincere, wholehearted appreciation one has for all the gits Hashem bestows upon us and that all others do for us. Thats the fundamental basis for all of enthusiastic subservience. When we don’t recognize Hashem’s constant benefactions, we stop it from happening!
The Torah, Leviticus 26:14, states, “ואם לא תשמעו לי ולא תעשו כל המצוות האלו ״, “If you will not listen to Me and will not perform all the Commandments.” Rashi quotes the תורת כהנים that asks what is the significance of the word, “Me”; it’s understood that Hashem is the one we are not listening to; after all it is He who commanded us to perform all the mitzvos?
The profound answer is that it refers to one who recognizes with acuity and clarity that there is a Creator, and deliberately rebels against Him. In history, we are taught in the Torah that נמרוד, Nimrod, recognized unequivocally G-d‘s presence and relentlessly pursued a path of distancing the world from him. In the same manner, the population of Sodom engineered a revolution against G-d, to distance themselves from all obligation to Him.
The lesson we are being taught is that the core reason, true basis of all of disregarding one’s obligations to constantly learn Torah and perform mitzvos is an inner sense of rebelling against authority. While one may argue that one is overcome by a passionate desire for hedonism, materialism or fame; it is but a manifestation or a result of one’s inner desire to reject governance from Hashem. The יצר הרע, the evil or negative force that one has to always overcome is the natural tendency to absolve oneself from obligation and responsibility dictated by an outer force.
The Torah continues that there is a chain reaction of seven steps as a consequence of this innate desire (see Rashi 26, 15):
1) Lack of dedication to Torah study
2) Eventually to stop performing commandments
3) To be nauseated by those who are committed to Torah
4) To detest those who teach Torah
5) To preclude others from being observant
6) Deny that the Torah is totally from G-d but rather is man-made.
7) To reject the existence of G-d
Initially one would think that if one has desires for the aforementioned… it has no bearing on one’s association with Hashem and Torah sages. The Torah is emphatically instructing us the opposite. If the essence, the pivot, of all action is the rejection of governance, authority, submission, obedience, subservience, or conformity, then invariably one has embarked on a path of negation of true responsibility to Hashem and others.
In פרשת נצבים, Deuteronomy 30:7, it states: “and Hashem your G-d will place all of these imprecations on your ‘אויביך’, your enemies and your ‘שונאיך’, your haters.”
Rabbeinu Bachya, explains the difference between these two in the following manner: איוביך refers to the descendants of ישמעאל, Ishmael – the nation of Islam and שונאיך refers to the descendants of עשו, Esau. At the time of משיח they will both convert and become part of כלל ישראל. “שונא” is one though he inflicts pain and death, tempers it with a degree of mercy; while אויב is unrelenting in its hatred (even sacrificing their own as suicide bombers to kill Jews) with no sense of self dignity whatsoever. The renowned Tzaddik, the Klausenberger Rebbe זצ״ל, despite his wife and eleven children being murdered by the Nazis ימח שמם וזכרם, and being in the concentration camps, remarked after the Six-Day war, “I’m more afraid of the Arabs.”
Before the advent of Moshiach, we are taught that the attitude of the descendants of ישמעאל will dominate.
Today we live in a society that has rebelled against G-d, rejecting governance of a Higher Being, has continued by rejecting “law and order” – police and recently rejected governance of nature; one can choose if one is male or female. In an environment of rejection, the worth of human life is no different than taking a stone and throwing it into a body of water to enjoy the momentary ripples it causes. Without G-d one has to feel empty, purposeless and insignificant. The result, the person can feel “I just abused and shot mannequins.”
The Torah immediately after describing the calamities that will befall the Jewish people teaches us the mitzvah of ערכין, donating one’s spiritual worth to the בית המקדש, the Holy Temple. Every male/female has the same spiritual value… to inculcate in us the importance of every individual – we are all creations of Hashem and by dedicating our value we are declaring; “Hashem, thank you for making us feel special, I hereby dedicate my life to You.” To ensure this to be a truthful, successful path requires one to subjugate oneself to full governance.
