Our Oath

26 Shevat 5782

“Behold, I am sending an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Beware of him and obey him; do not rebel against him, for he will not forgive your transgression, for My Name is within him.” (Shemos 23:22)

Rashi explains, “He (the angel) is not accustomed to forgiving, for he is of the group that do not sin. And moreover, he is a messenger, and he can do only his mission.” We should adopt some of this irrational intransigence in our own Avodat Hashem and our unwavering commitment to fulfilling His commandments at all times, in all places, and under all circumstances.

“This is because of the Divine light which is clothed in his soul, as explained above, which does not come within the realm of time at all but transcends time, and therefore, in relation to this light, every action is eternal; furthermore, as is known, this Divine light rules and dominates time—not only is it not governed by the laws of time, but on the contrary, it governs them.” (Lessons in Tanya, Likutei Amarim, middle of Chapter 25)

We must realize that there is no such a thing as a “momentary” separation from Hashem, for Hashem transcends time, therefore in relation to Him, every action is eternal. Our innermost desire is never to disconnect from His light, even for a moment, as the Alter Rebbe explains is the case when a Jew is forced to perform idol worship. Even though he can rely on repenting later, in such an extreme circumstance the “spirit of folly” has no power over him. He can transcend his own logic to truly connect with his G-dly soul, whose only desire is to join its counterpart above. This empowers him to overcome any obstacles in the way of fulfilling his Divinely intended purpose in this world.

“I have sworn-and I will fulfill it-to keep Your righteous judgments.” (Tehillim 119:106)

We are here on a mission, and, like the angel in today’s Parashah, it is simply beyond our scope to give in to any temptations that would compromise it. As the Alter Rebbe explains in the very first verse of Tanya, “We have learned ‘An oath is administered to him: ‘Be righteous and be not wicked’.” The soul of a Jew descends into a body for a purpose—in order to fulfill a specific spiritual mission in this world. To enable him to fulfill it, a heavenly oath is administered to him that he “be righteous and not wicked,” to fulfill Hashem’s righteous judgements at all times. Everything that comes after is simply a redemption on this promise. We have no right to backtrack on it or falter on our mission in any way.