For The Love Of G-d

Sometimes, on one of my breaks, I like to look at an atlas. There is something about looking at the way the physical world is laid out and finding out where countries and cities actually are, that I find fascinating.

I particularly enjoy the map of the Middle-East, which shows the sizes of all the Arab countries with respect to tiny little Eretz Yisroel, the complete opposite of what it sounds like from the media in recent history. It is then that I get a 'rush' of trepidation and gratefulness simultaneously as I behold the full glory of miraculous Jewish survival amongst huge, hungry, ferocious, and killer 'lions,' while we barely possess a chair and a whip.

It is also then that I also realize the full impact of the words of the Talmud:

Had the Torah not been given to Israel, no nation could stand before them, which is like what Rebi Shimon ben Lakish said, "There are three who are brazen: Israel amongst the nations, the dog amongst wild animals, and the chicken amongst the birds. (Beitzah 25b)

For, one look at the geopolitical and military situation of Israel amongst the Arab nations reveals a worse-than-impossible and completely ludicrous situation. Thus, for this reason, to not see G-d's protective shield and become loyal to Him can only be the result of sheer stupidity, or arrogance. Being as smart as we seem to be (most of the time), that only leaves the latter option.

Moving on, the other diagram that leaves me awestruck comes right before any of the maps even begin. In my atlas, even before you get to a single map, the inside cover has a diagrammatic representation of the universe. First, it shows the solar system in comparison with the sun, and truly amazing site to behold.

Then, off to the left side of the two-page spread, in a much smaller drawing, is perhaps the biggest and most important point of all. There, in that tiny little diagram is the Milky Way Galaxy, with a little arrow pointing to where, VERY approximately, our 'tiny' little solar system can be found. Talk about overwhelming!

As I stared at that diagram, trying to emotionally appreciate the scale of what I was looking at, I began to feel like a balloon that had been filled to its limits and was about to pop! It was just too large, too vast for me to comprehend what I was viewing, at least on an emotional level. And, just as I was trying to recuperate from that brush with infinity, I noticed that, just above the Milky Way Galaxy in the diagram was another one, called 'Andromeda Nebula.' As I tried, in my mind and heart, to factor that one into an already unfactorable equation, I heard myself say under my breath, "Talk about overkill!"

I mean, what for? Why would G-d create something so massive and expansive - if it is going to be so unusable? So far, to my knowledge, we are the only known life in the entire 'thing.' Why, we haven't even harvested the moon's potential for 'life,' and that's only 248,000 miles away! The best we can do beyond that is send multi-million dollar space cameras on multi-year journeys as part of multi-billion space program.

Now, as I sit here during the Aseres Yemai Teshuvah - the Ten Days of Repentance - trying somewhat to prepare myself for Yom Kippur, all of this makes me recall the words of the great Dovid HaMelech: "G-d, what is man that You recognize him; the son of a frail human that You reckon with him?" (Tehillim 144:3)

When I read these words, I imagine Dovid HaMelech on his rooftop with his harp at midnight, as he often was, composing these words to G-d, as he always did, while he stared into the cosmos and beheld the awesome universe from his vantage point. Through his words I can feel, somewhat, how humble and grateful he must have felt by what he was experiencing during one of his more quiet and contemplative moments.

However, I doubt that Dovid HaMelech knew the full extent of the Milky Way Galaxy, or even of our own solar system. He certainly didn't have a way to view the Milky Way Galaxy past the stars that are visible to man. And, the Andromeda Nebula? Forget it.

Nevertheless, what he could see was sufficient for him to take stock of how wonderfully magnificent G-d's world is - which He created JUST for man. It filled him with awe. It filled him with dread. And, most important of all, it filled him with a tremendous sense of love for the One who made the entire creation in all its splendid glory and detail, just as the Rambam said it would.

The Rambam wrote:

Regarding the Almighty, the Glorious, and the Awesome One, it is a mitzvah to love and fear Him, as it says, "And you shall love G-d, your G-d" (Devarim 6:5), and, "G-d, your G-d, you must fear" (Devarim 6:13). And, what is the way to love Him and to fear Him? Once a person meditates on His actions and His awesome and great creations, and observes His wisdom, that it is without estimable value or limit, immediately he will love, praise, glorify and greatly desire to know His great Name, as Dovid said, "My soul thirsts for G-d, the living G-d" (Tehillim 42:3) . . . (Yad Chazakah, Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah, 2:1-2)

And, here we are today, with the capability to see far past the stretches of our solar system, even to the 'edge' of the universe. Not only this, but we can even peer in the opposite direction to the level of electrons, and see the microscopic universe that is the basis of all of physical life, no less a great and awesome miracle no matter how you slice it. Thus, according to the Rambam, our potential for love of G-d is in itself awesome, if only we would meditate on what we can see and know!

Which, of course, is what this time of year is all about, or, at least, supposed to be about.

The beauty of the concept of love of G-d is that it is kind of a generic solution that fixes everything. Teshuvah can be and is usually very specific, often working on the symptoms more than the overall cause of the problem. Thus, a person tends to go back and repeat the same mistakes he apologized for on Yom Kippur only a short time after Yom Kippur. Teshuvah says, "I'm sorry I sinned." Love of G-d, on the other hand, says, "How COULD I have sinned against You in the first place? I am SICKENED by the distance it has created between You and I! Will You allow it to be repaired . . . Will You take me back once again? How can I go on if You won't?"

To begin with, love of G-d is very different than the type of love one can feel for another human being, or anything physical for that matter. When it comes to loving something physical, it is hard not to be a little selfish, basing the love, somewhat, on some benefit we receive from the object of our love. It is an inevitable reality of being human and loving an equal. However, love of G-d, as the Rambam has taught, is premised on the fact that G-d does not need us at all, but acts as if He does anyhow. It stems from an incredible sense of gratitude for something that should never have been - life - and yet is. It flows from a deep and profound sense of awe of a Creator Who took the time and care to create a world that would create a deep and profound sense of awe.

And, love of G-d, until Adam HaRishon ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was the most natural thing for man to feel. In fact, one of the greatest losses to mankind because of the sin was his ability to see, with ease, all that made love of G-d a daily, even momentary reality. The sin of eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil resulted in greater spiritual impurity that encased the heart of man until it became like stone, unable to feel much about anything that didn't provide some kind of immediate physical benefit.

That is why the prophets, when speaking about the Messianic Era, often spoke in terms of G-d "circumcising our hearts." They meant that a new spiritual reality would descend upon mankind, that would give to man what now he has to work for with great devotion and energy. Hence, the Rambam's instructions regarding the 'path' to love of G-d.

Until Moshiach comes, says the Rambam, love of G-d can only be the result of a person's effort to achieve it, by breaking through the intellectual and spiritual boundaries that act as the heart's encasement. Until the yetzer hara - the evil inclination within man - is destroyed for good, a person has use his intellect and emotions to rise above the everyday mundane reality we call life, and come to appreciation the awesome miracle of creation. However, inserts the Rambam, once a person walks this path, then love of G-d becomes an IMMEDIATE sensation, because it really is the most natural human experience. When a person works himself to the point where he can see what G-d has done in making creation and granting man life, then, like water trapped behind a door, once the door is open, the waters of love of G-d burst forth. In human terms, this often results in a very pleasant but overwhelming connection to G-d that elevates the person even higher out of their everyday mundane reality.

Ultimately, that is what the Aseres Yemai Teshuvah have come to assist us with. For some, the long prayers on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are a 'work-out,' the perseverance of which is in itself a form of atonement for past sins. For others, they are a spiritual hammer with which to break the encasement of stone around the heart that impedes one's ability to feel great love of G-d. They offer a spiritual way to free the soft human heart that lies within.

As one person put it, "After contemplating the words of the Machzor and what they mean in terms of G-d and man, and after working myself to a sense of appreciation towards G-d that is more in keeping with the reality of life than I usually feel, I just found myself crying, all of a sudden. Just like that. It was like a door had been pried open, freeing flood waters of emotion that lay behind it, emotions I wasn't even aware of previously. Once that happened, the emotion just kept building until I felt overwhelmed by a desire to be one with G-d - forever! Suddenly, I could not understand how I could ever have found anything more important than being in the presence of G-d . . . especially doing those things for which I will have to confess on Yom Kippur. It was the greatest teshuvah I have ever done, and I am anxious to know how to maintain the rest of my life what I accomplished during those precious moments on Rosh Hashanah."

G-d knew and understood the desire of one who truly seeks Him, and finds Him. That is precisely why Succos follows on the heels of Yom Kippur. The succah is a house built on love for G-d, the kind of love spoken about in the following posuk: So says G-d: I recall for you the kindness of your youth, the love of your nuptials, you following Me into the Wilderness, into the unsown land. (Yirmiyahu 2:2)

What does G-d remember with great love and affection? Our willingness to follow Him wherever He took us, no matter what sacrifice was entailed in doing so - the ultimate proof of love and devotion. The succah is a miniature representation of this very idea. Had it not been for the Erev Rav, the 'Mixed Multitude' that Moshe brought along from Egypt against G-d's advice, and whom the Zohar compares to the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, that would be ALL G-d remembers.

As the Midrash proves, it was always the Erev Rav who complained first, and in doing so, cooled down the heart of the Jewish people. It is the Erev Rav who, in every generation, encase the heart of the Jewish people by distracting us from the true issues of life and the proper appreciation of Jewish survival and life in general. This, in turn, locks the door behind which love of G-d can be found and realized in full.

Thus, though it is true that during Pesach we read Shir HaShirim - Song of Songs - the ultimate love song from the Jewish people to G-d, it is at this time that we build the awareness that is the basis of that love. Pesach is the time of year that we achieve love of G-d by recalling our humble and impossible beginnings, and our miraculous rise to nationhood. Succos, when we read Koheles - Ecclesiastes - is the time that we go beyond that, contemplating the entire human experience and the phenomenal and awesome universe within which it is played out.

And we do it for the great love of G-d.

Though, we are supposed to assume that we were all sealed in the Book of Life on Rosh Hashanah, people are accustomed to still wish one another, "G'mar Chasimah Tovah" - a "good sealing." Perhaps we were sealed in the Book of Life on Rosh Hashanah. However, that was just the beginning of our ascent to greater heights of spiritual awareness and love of G-d, a process meant to climax for any Jew, even the tzaddik, the righteous person, on Yom Kippur.

To "seal" that on Yom Kippur is to continue the achievements of the Aseres Yemai Teshuvah into Succos and the rest of the year, to continue to go "from strength to strength." May it be so for all of us, and in the merit of what we do achieve, b'ezras Hashem Yisborach, may this year be the one during which we witness the coming of the Goel Tzedek, Moshiach Tzidkainu, and the Final Redemption.

"Shir Hamaalot Bshuv Hashem Et Shivat Tzion Hayinu K'cholmim When G-d returns us to Zion everything we will be As Dreamers."

B'ahavat Yisrael,
Avraham Dovid Lewis
drdoctor@barak-online.net