Everywhere or Nowhere

22 Teves 5782

“G‑d spoke to Moses, saying to him, ‘I am G‑d. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’” (Shemos 6:2-3)

“When it appears to us that something is wrong in the way G‑d runs the world, G‑d wants us to question Him. But at the same time, we must continue to believe absolutely in G‑d’s reality and goodness.

From where can we draw the power to believe in G‑d so thoroughly that we virtually see Him even in the darkest moments of exile? G‑d answers this question by saying, ‘I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ The patriarchs and matriarchs possessed this unshakable faith, and we inherit it from them. If we nurture it properly, we, too, will ‘see’ G‑d even when His goodness is not readily apparent.” (Lubavitcher Rebbe, Daily Wisdom)

“[The beinoni’s craving is limited] only [in that] in the case of [a craving for] a prohibited matter, it does not enter his mind to transgress in actual practice, G-d forbid.” (Lessons in Tanya, Likutei Amarim, middle of Chapter 12)

Here too we can ask, how are we, as mere humans, able to achieve even the “medium” spiritual level of the beinoni. It seems so distant from us now. Most of us think about transgressing and actually transgress daily. Tanya itself attests to this, “There are three sins so difficult to avoid that no man is safe from [transgressing] daily: thoughts of sin, [lack of] concentration in prayer … [and slanderous gossip].” These are not minor infractions, but serious sins of the Torah. How are we to progress beyond them?

The answer here too is that the Holy Tzaddikim who came before us cleared up a lot of the spiritual energies impeding our way. When we connect to them, through learning their teachings and following their ways, we can draw some of this light into our life. Then it isn’t just us fighting our evil inclination, but with us also some of the greatest Jews that ever lived. It is within all of our reach to wrest full control over our thoughts, speech and actions from our animal soul and place it safely under the divine soul’s intellect.

“Fortunate are those who preserve justice, who perform deeds of righteousness all the time.” (Tehillim 106:3)

The Rebbe of Kotzk said, “One who does not see G-d everywhere does not see him anywhere.”

To achieve our full spiritual potential, we must put G-d constantly in our lives. There isn’t the shul and the office, both are equally important arena’s for our epic battle with the yetzer hora. The path to becoming a beinoni actually consists of thousands of small decisions. Doing the right or the wrong thing in the moment: Saying a bracha or not, paying close attention to Chitas or just speeding through it to be yotzer, giving a coin every day or putting it off to “give a larger amount later.” When we make the right small decision on each of these challenges, our way will naturally lead to higher and higher levels of spiritual refinement and observance.