Vayelech - Seeing Through the Illusion

I will surely hide My face in that day for all the evil which they shall have wrought

הַסְתֵּר אַסְתִּיר פָּנַי בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, עַל כָּל-הָרָעָה, אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה

Devarim 31:18

What does the verse mean "I will surely hide My face"? Doesn't that undermine the sense of connection and relationship we hold with Hashem? There is no worse punishment that a Jew can face than not feel the closeness of Hashem.

Dwells In Our Impurity
The Slonimer Rebbe explains that this is not a dire warning, but more of a test, that a Jew must believe that EVEN a wall of iron does not stand between us and our father in heaven, for HaKadosh Baruch Hu evens dwells in our impurity.

A Jew is elevating and there is no power that can disconnect us from our father in heaven, as long as we don't want to disconnect. Rather all these mentions of 'hiding' they are only metaphorical, like the father that sometimes distances himself from his son, but never abandons him even for a moment, and constantly watches over him.

This is only to test his son, that without thinking, his son may believe that his father has abandoned him. Rather the smart son knows that there's no way that his father would abandon him, and truly knows that his father will always watch over him.

This is the essence of the idea that a Jew who has even committing the most dire prohibition, should he not be able to open his heart and pour out his thoughts and prayers to Hashem? A Jew must always believe that HaKadosh Baruch Hu always is accepting of us.

The Slonimer Rebbe brings an allegory from the Baal Shem Tov to help explain this concept.

The King's Illusion Walls
"A king, by magic, surrounded his palace with many walls. Then he hid himself within the palace. The formidable walls were arranged in concentric circles, one inside the other, and they grew increasingly larger-- higher and thicker-- as one approached the center. They had fortified battlements and were manned by fierce soldiers who guarded from above; wild animals-- lions and bears-- ran loose below. All this was so that people would have proper awe and fear of the king and not all who desired to approach would be allowed to do as they pleased.

"The king then had proclamations sent throughout the kingdom saying that whoever came to see him in his palace would be richly rewarded and given a rank second to none in the king's service. Who would not desire this? But when many came and saw the outer wall's awesome size and the terrifying soldiers and animals, most were afraid and turned back. There were some, however, who succeeded in scaling that wall and fighting past the soldiers and animals, but then the second wall loomed before their eyes, even more imposing than the first, and its guards even more terrible. Seeing that, many others turned back.

"Moreover, the king had appointed servants to stand behind the walls to give money and precious stones to whoever got beyond each wall. Those who had crossed one or a few walls soon found themselves very rich and satisfied with what they had gained from their efforts; so they too turned back. For one reason or another, either from fear at the increasing obstacles or satisfaction with the accumulated rewards, none reached the king ...

"Except for the king's son. He had only one desire: to see the face of his beloved father. When he came and saw the walls, soldiers, and wild animals, he was astonished. He could not understand how his dear father could hide himself behind all these terrifying barriers and obstacles. 'How can I ever reach him?' he thought. Then he began to weep and cried out, 'Father, Father, have compassion on me; don't keep me away from you!' His longing was so intense that he had no interest in any rewards. Indeed, he was willing to risk his life to attain his goal. By the courage of his broken heart, which burned to see his father, he ran forward with reckless abandon and self-sacrifice. He scaled one wall and then another, fought past soldiers and wild animals. After crossing the walls, he was offered money and jewels, but he threw them down in disgust. His only desire was to see his father. Again and again he called out to him.

"His father the king, hearing his son's pathetic cries and seeing his total self-sacrifice, suddenly, instantaneously, removed the walls and other obstacles. In a moment they vanished as if they had never existed. Then his son saw that there were no walls, soldiers, or animals. His father the king was right before him, sitting on his majestic throne, while multitudes of servants stood near to serve him and heavenly choirs sang his praises. Gardens and orchards surrounded the palace on all sides. And the whole earth shone from the king's glory. Everything was tranquil, and there was nothing bad or terrible at all. Then the son realized that the walls and obstacles were a magical illusion and that his father the king had never really been hidden or concealed, but was with him all the time. It was all just a test to see who truly loved the king.

Walls of This World
This allegory comes to describe the world we live in, that everything we encounter is like a wall - all the distractions of this world standing between a Jew and Hashem. Yet none of these walls are as strong as the wall that is formed in the heart of Jew that feels far from Hashem. 

When the Yetzer Hara acts to seduce a Jew, the Yetzer Hara is not interested in the Jew committing the specific indiscretion, but rather bringing the Jew to a state of feeling hopeless. This is worse than the sin itself, for there is a way to recover from the action, but the state of hopeless leaves one disconnected from Hashem, without a feeling that there is a way back.

Day of Judgement
This is the main preparation for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. For not only does a Jew need to recognize his sins, and how large they are, but also to truly believe that even an iron wall can not stand between him and Hashem. For a Jew is never lost, for we are Hashem's children.

Vayelech/Nitzavim - Life or Goodness, Which Takes Precedence?

The Siege of Leningrad
I heard a report recently on the BBC. A researcher was writing a report on the Siege of Leningrad in World War 2. The siege was romanticized by the Russians as a time of triumph and bravery shown by the Russian people. The siege of Leningrad was the most lethal siege in world history, resulting in the deaths of up to 1,500,000 soldiers and civilians. The Red Army established a route for bringing a constant flow of supplies into Leningrad. This lifeline did bring military and food supplies in and took civilians and wounded soldiers out, allowing the city to continue resisting the enemy. Civilians in the city suffered from extreme starvation, where at one point the only food available to a citizen was 125 grams of bread, of which 50–60% consisted of sawdust and other inedible admixtures.

Reports of cannibalism appeared in the winter of 1941–1942, after all birds, rats and pets had been eaten by survivors. Hungry gangs attacked and ate defenceless people.

Against these circumstances, the researcher discovered an interesting fact. Early on in the siege, amongst the flow of supplies, there was an apportionment to the zoo animals. This was reported in the UK's Daily Mail "Only the zoo preserved its star attractions, like ‘Beauty’ the hippopotamus, with special rations of hay."

The researcher was shocked by this action. How could the Russians, in the face of such devastating horrors still apportion food to zoo animals? The researcher turned to her Russian translating assistant and said.

"They should have slaughtered the zoo animals immediately and fed them to the starving women and children!"
The Russian assistant turned to her and said, "What? And if they were cold should they have burned the violins?"

Life and Good
There is an interesting verse in the middle of Parshat Netzavim

Behold, I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil,

Dvarim 30:15

Why does the verse put 'life' before 'good'? isn't 'good' referring to Torah and Mitzvot? Shouldn't 'good' be put as the higher value, preceding the reference to 'life'?

The Kli Yakar raises this question and provides an insightful response for the structure of this verse. The Kli Yakar first proposes that "if life is what you request, then look to goodness, and do good in the eyes of Hashem."

Doing Good
Based on this desire, the Kli Yakar suggests this verse comes to address this request, saying "that you shouldn't do good in the eyes of Hashem in order to gain life, rather you should live in order to do good."  Had the verse presented been presented as "set before you good and life" then you may have been lead to believe that doing good is the path to gaining life, making doing good only a 'means' with the 'end' to gain life.

So, the Kli Yakar continues, the phrasing of this verse can be seen as a warning. It is warning to not look for ways to extract demands from Hashem, that you shouldn't look at doing good as the giving you a way to expect to be rewarded.  Rather you should live, in order to do good.

Material Life
You should not look at material life as your main focus in this world. The Kli Yakar explains that you shouldn't request material life from Hashem since if you request life. Though if you do request material life, then it should be to dedicate more time to the service of Hashem, as noted in Tehilim "Who is the man who desires life, who loves days to see goodness?".

Living Life for Hashem
The Kli Yakar concludes, based on the quoted verse in Tehilim, that we should love the days of our life so that we can see in them the goodness of Hashem. What is goodness? Torah and Mitzvot.

It is like it says next to "to love Hashem your G-d and stick to Him, since He is your life." This means that this is the purpose of your life. Since there is no other reason that G-d gives you life except for this reason.

Using Our Time to the Fullest
As we see here, there is no formula to extend life, only at the mercy of G-d. No one knows how long they have, but we all do know that we are all limited to 24 hours in a day. It is up to each of us to use that time to the fullest to enhance our connection to Hashem.

I was shocked and impressed by the BBC report, where material items were the focus and highly valued while lives were considered to be secondary. It made me think and contemplate how dear life is.

We are all just as limited with the time remaining to us before the onset of Yom Kippur. We should merit to use this time to better ourselves, and continue to strive to grow spiritually and become close to Hashem.