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Rabbi Haim Lifshitz
Essays and Articles:
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Vayigash l'ilui nishmat Esther bat Mordechai Righteousness/Morality/Halacha/Self-Preservation/Creativity Religions are made up of two basic tendencies. Religions of human origin, invented by man, are based solely on reward, and punishment, which are direct outgrowths of self-preservation, upon which every animal’s existence is based, and not only those mortals created in the Divine image. Every animal is motivated by a survival instinct that distances it from danger and attracts it toward pleasure. Being that man possesses intelligence and spiritual needs, he has invented a survival methodology, which guides him to seek the favor of the omnipotent sovereign, the Deity. This sole sovereign heads the entire system of creation (thus it is only logical to attempt to curry His favor). He is conscious of but one thing: If he will draw near to, and ingratiate himself to the sovereign, this will acquire him the right to reward, whereas rebelliously distancing himself is necessarily bound up with punishment. If human beings desire to live, let them beware, and let them obey His orders. These orders are not subject to any sort of human logic. The sovereign’s will is the law, just because He wills it. It does not have to be acceptable or understandable to human beings. It is sufficient that the law is included within the framework of a decree that has come forth from the mouth of the sovereign. Human beings will accept it submissively, thanks to their survival instinct. Human beings created a methodology of reward and punishment. Around this methodology, they created rules, ceremonies, and mainly, all manner of prohibitions that one must accept humbly if one desires to live. There is no reason whatsoever to examine their logical basis. On the contrary: The more arbitrary the methodology of reward ad punishment, the more it is respected by human beings. Arbitrariness indicates power, and attests to the might of the omnipotent ruler, proving that He has no need to fit Himself to human beings, who are weaker than He. Mystical perspectives derive from this assumption. Blind, submissive belief takes up significant space in religions other than Judaism. Fear of punishment and anticipation of reward form an axis of faith that unites the religions of the world. Judaism stands in firm opposition to this posture. The contrast is stark, in that Judaism stands me’ever – on the opposite side. Abraham was an ivri, a “Hebrew,” and the Talmud refers to this oppositional posture: “The entire world was on one side, and Abraham was on the other side.” Raising the banner of opposition to all religions is not an entirely rewarding role. From the time of Joseph, who was “rewarded” with life-threatening levels of hatred from his older brothers, to our own generation, which has been rewarded with heaping measures of abuse and pain from the entire world, Judaism has demonstrated a power of endurance that cannot be accounted for in logical terms. What is so potent in the power of the Jewish religion? Although divinely revealed at Sinai to over one million eyewitnesses who transmitted it to their descendants, there is no doubt that the foundations of the Jewish religion also derive from sources anchored deep within the human personality. These sources occupy a significantly greater space than that occupied by the material system, all its automatic systems with their various reflexes and instincts included. Judaism comes to prove to the world that “it is not on bread alone that human beings live.” Their spiritual and moral needs, including the panorama of values that derive from these sources, belong to a system that is the reverse of, yet the complement to the survival system, as seen in the reverse yet complementary correlation between Jacob and Esau. When one rises, the other recedes. “One nation will grow mighty at the expense of the other.” “When the voice is Jacob’s voice, then the hands that are Esau’s hands cannot dominate.” And: “A bit of light repels a great deal of darkness.” It is to this system that we attribute the entire matrix of qualities and talents that arise from the element of human creativity: Man’s ability to conceive of original ideas, his ability to create, his attraction toward and capacity for actions and ideas that will endow his life with the taste of meaning, that will organize his life around ideas that he believes in. This ability is stronger than the survival system, as proven by the simple fact that many are willing to sacrifice their lives, and their survival, to serve an ideal that they cherish. For such people, reward and punishment have been pushed to the sidelines. For such people, “a mitzvah’s reward is another mitzvah, and a sin’s reward – is another sin.” They do not “serve their master in order to receive a prize.” Their road is paved by “intentions for the sake of heaven.” A superficial observer would bestow the title of tzadik, “righteous one,” upon those who perform for their sublime goal rather than in order to receive a prize, or out of dread of the punishment that is reserved for those whose actions are not performed for the sake of heaven. We must point out at this juncture that this superficial observer is in error. Judaism is not reserved for sublime people only, who deal in spirituality and who ignore the ways of the physical world to the point of detaching completely. Judaism advocates a perception that embraces the entire universe, that includes its spiritual and its physical perspectives, encompassing them both together. The Jew is obliged to physically actualize the spiritual, and to the same extent, to grant meaning to the physical. The Jew must extract the “for the sake of heaven,” that spiritual nucleus that is buried in the depths of coarse materialism. The holiness reached by Rabi Shimon Bar Yohai is not greater than the holiness reached by his son Rabi Elazar. Though Rabi Shimon Bar Yohai taught the mysteries of spirituality, while the sages of the Talmud describe his son in the most extreme terms with regard to the dimensions of his material involvement, nevertheless, the power of Rabi Elazar’s sanctity was such that it could elevate physical matter to the level of spirituality. Joseph, representative of the sanctity inherent in physical matter, and his brothers, the bearers of the banner of spirituality, reach the conclusion that neither one of their approaches is superior to the other’s. To which of the two camps does this prayer belong? “Remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Do not look toward our hardness, our wickedness, and our sins.” Both camps identify with the idea of removing reward and punishment to the sidelines. What strategy did Judah – king of the brothers and representative of the brothers’ approach – employ, in order to persuade Joseph, to the point that Joseph broke down and disclosed his identity to his brothers? Joseph, whose heart was heavy over what his brothers had perpetrated against him – what caused him to attempt to persuade them, by a loving embrace, to try to endow the reality of their harsh conduct toward him with a positive meaning? “It is not you who sent me here, but rather the Lord…” What drives these words that are so incompatible with simple, stark reality? How could these words have the power to endow a base conspiracy with a sacred intention? We have no choice but to delve more deeply into a unique power that human beings possess. This is the power of ‘will,’ which is capable of “turning bitter into sweet.” Will power is the only power that is not the result of some other power fixed into human beings through the genetics of heredity. Heredity derives from an individual’s parents and extended family. Heredity is not determined by free choice, which is the most important element given into human hands, and which determines a human being’s position as a servant of God. The element of human will is capable of exploiting the given conditions of heredity and environment – for good or for evil. This means self-control, but it also means that which is above self-control: Moral behavior. These are the product of free choice, also called ‘will.’ However, self-control and morality are bound to side effects that threaten to overturn all of their achievements. They stimulate artificial moral behavior that causes harm to the soul and body of the morally behaving person. Indeed, they even distort his path that is paved with good intentions. If so, if making use of his will power can drag such entanglements in its wake, is he not better off without it? Let him simply fulfill the commandments, study Torah, perform acts of kindness and inherit the Next World. However, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. He’ll affix a mezuzah to his doorpost merely so that it will protect him from evil spirits. He’ll use prayer, preferable at the graves of the righteous, in order to plead for his own life. He will perform deeds of loving-kindness for deserving and undeserving alike. He will study Torah in order to butt others, and in order to glorify himself, and ultimately find himself falling toward hell. This is because Judaism does not advocate the test of the result. The result of an action is entirely given over to, and exclusively dependent upon supreme Providence. Judaism advocates the test of the intention. If, by the test of the intention, he finds that he is using his ego for his own benefit during prayer, while being lead by his animal instinct of self-preservation, to attain his own success and prosperity in the practical/social world, and if similarly, his mezuzah serves as his amulet, intended to guard the doors of his home, and if his loving-kindness is a function of: “Whoever is compassionate toward the cruel, will ultimately be cruel toward the compassionate” – then even if he is a sublime person who cherishes spiritual values and ideals, ultimately he will become the slave of his ideal. In its name, he may very well perpetrate acts of cruelty, as is the way of all world-destroying tyrants, whose path began by clinging to a sublime ideal, and whose ultimate end was enslaving those who obeyed their orders, through bloodshed. If we speak here of serving God, Ramban warned us long ago that “there is such a thing as a degenerate with the Torah’s permission.” This extremely complex situation should not bring God’s servant to a state of despair. Let him have the wisdom to focus on true morality’s influence, because even morality can fall prey to the negative side effects mentioned above. What is morality and where do we find it? Morality deals with traits of character. Morality is synonymous with character. Character traits are defined as applying moral values, and attaching them to one’s own personality strengths and life force powers according to the particular moral values that are compatible with one’s particular personal strengths. To the surprise of those who advocate the labor of character refinement and the development of one’s character traits, this labor has not been exclusive to God’s servants. An irreligious non-Jewish statesman in the United States by the name of Benjamin Franklin conceived a theory and developed an efficient method for the labor of character improvement. His goal was not to worship God at all, but rather to raise the level of individual ability. Franklin compiled a list of character traits, such as orderliness, industriousness, alacrity, restraint, etc. He set aside a specific week for each of these traits, in which the individual would focus upon that one trait, and would summarize at the end of the week. He would grant himself good points for success, and negative points for failure, and he would thus be able to receive a clear picture of the condition of his character traits. In this way, he could improve and upgrade his own personal powers, his own will, and his own capacity for control – over others… No one would view such an intention as relating in any way to the worship of God; its goal is purely one of social and political government. Nevertheless, the Mussar movement saw Franklin’s book as a key to the worship of God as well, and adopted it, not knowing that the source of this method was a quite human and supremely materialistic way of thinking. They enthusiastically translated it to Hebrew and titled it Heshbon Hanefesh, A Spiritual Accounting, and promulgated it as such. This method directs one to develop the habit and skill of introspection. The difficulty with this is that introspection that is not carried out under the supervision of an experienced counselor can cause great harm. This applies to all introspection, following the rule that “a prisoner cannot release himself from jail.” Except that I fear to say it, I would warmly commend Joseph, “the Righteous One,” for petitioning the Egyptian butler to recommend him to Pharoah. Yet Joseph merited a severe reprimand from the sages of the Talmud, for doing just this. They taught the verse: “Fortunate is the man who has not turned toward vanities,” as referring to Joseph, for placing his faith in a mortal, instead of petitioning the King of the universe exclusively. They state that two full years were added to his imprisonment as punishment for this. Yet we see, first of all, that after these two years, it was the butler, specifically, who was the cause of his release, for he recommended him to Pharaoh. Secondly, it appears to me that Joseph did not wish to use the King of the universe for his own egoistic well-being. Thirdly, he was conscious of the rule that “a prisoner cannot release himself from jail,” and therefore he must seek assistance from the outside. BALANCE BETWEEN INNER AND OUTER: NEITHER SHUTTING IN THE SELF, NOR EMPTYING IT OUT. In fact, no inner delving and introspection is free of side effects. The most painful side effect is: shutting oneself off from the outside. This bewilders human existence, which by its nature is built upon a relationship between inner and outer. When the self refrains from seeking the outside, a process of revenge is triggered, resulting in a boomerang effect, causing confusion in all the internal processes of the self; varieties of vertigo set in, revolving around the self, with excessive concentration on ego. For this reason, Judaism does not look upon meditation with a benevolent eye, though it is highly regarded in the Far East, and has penetrated widely into western circles. Judaism does not advocate emptying, but rather focusing upon the One, according to the principle, “I place God opposite me, incessantly,” as an incessant obligation. Therefore, let a Jew not engage in self-emptying, which could cause harm to the body and entangle the free-flowing systems of awareness, to the point of bewildering body and mind. A Jew does not turn toward ego, which is the prime activator of the survival instinct. A Jew turns rather toward the self, which is the prime activator of creativity. Creativity turns from the inside to the outside, and there takes hold of an existing value or ideal, activating individual strengths in order to implement the goal. So it is with every ideal that is activated and with every labor of self-betterment. God’s servant focuses on a single trait that is characteristic of his own self, which is located at the point of free choice intrinsic to the element of will, he activates values and ideals, attaches them to the rules of morality, and behold, a moral labor that is individually fitted to his own character. Examining this, one might claim that the pendulum-like movement of human experience, which swings back and forth from self-preservation to creativity, might interfere with this moral labor. Let him simply attach the pendulum’s movement to the framework of the halacha, the practical laws of Judaism that determine goals and courses of action. He is then assured of an objective, paved and certain path. In sum, the labor over traits of character must be attached to moral values on the one hand, and to the halacha, the practical laws of Judaism, on the other hand. Both of these are to be fitted to one’s unique personality throughout one’s lifetime. Morality without the practical law is as the practical law without morality. Either could reduce one to deserving the undignified title, “ a degenerate with the Torah’s permission.” Both together protect God’s servant, and assure his success on his Godly path, paved along the axis of morality and halacha: Morality for self-betterment and halacha to determine the right direction and the right road – these were the guides on the path traveled by Joseph and Judah alike. The prayer uttered by God’s servant expresses a turning toward what is above him, toward the God Who possesses heaven and earth: “Bring my life force out of prison.” He expresses not only his desire to attach to the source of his Godly vitality, but also to go forth, to leave behind, to elude material reality, which limits and strangles and closes in on him from every side. A mortal yearns for the endless vistas, to open up, to dream of the future, to dream of redemption – in a word, to develop and to grow beyond the limitations of the given. Hence curiosity, hence dreams, hence romance, and hence the yearning for the sacred. This is the true, hidden goal of our request during prayer. Our request does not express a desire to receive, to hoard. Rather, it expresses faith in the omnipotent One: “And she prayed for God.” “God, I have hoped for Your saving.” |
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