Shabbos Chol Hamoed Pesach 5770 April 3, 2010

The ideas were inspired by Rabbi Matisyahu Solomon in his work Matnas Chaim (vol. Moadim, Iyan emes vemunah / galus ugeulah paragraph 7.)


An observation:

Did you ever notice that when someone draws a picture of a strange creature from outer space it usually contains features of earth creatures organized differently that we normally find them? A big eye on the top of the head and sixteen arms and elephant type skin. The reason is that we cannot imagine anything that we don’t have a point of reference to in our personal experience. Science fiction always imagines one step ahead but not many steps ahead. Jules Verne imagined a submarine but not the internet. That is because where he was coming from there was no point of reference to imagine the internet.

A related observation: Why do we have the features that we have? Why don’t we have a compound eye like a fly which would enable us to see ultra violet light and changes in air flow? Why do we have an opposable digit on our hand but not one on our foot? Of course evolutionists would explain that when we came down out of the trees and started walking on the Savannah we lost our opposable toe. I don’t know about the Savannah or Augusta or Macon for that manner but our question is why did G-d make us the way he did.

Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato known by his acronym Ra*m*cha*l addressed this question in his work Daas Tevunos translated under the title The Knowing Heart (Feldheim Publishers). He says that Hashem gave us everything we need to know Him. He gave us eyesight so that we could conceptualize the concept of hashgacha divine providence. Hashem sees everything we do. How would we ever conceptualize that if we did not have eyesight? No matter how vividly you describe it a blind person can never really conceptualize watching on a screen what someone is doing on the other side of the world. Cameras, satellite images etc. it’s all beyond them. This is also true from an emotional perspective. We are given the capacity to feel kindness so we can conceptualize Hashem kindness with us. All of the other traits are similar. We look around us and see the traits of Hashem at work. Nowhere is this most evident that in the most sublime of human traits the capacity to love. The rhapsody, tenderness, excitement and euphoria of a person in love are completely foreign to one who has never experienced it. Only one who has experienced the love and intimacy of marriage can imagine the ecstasy of intimacy with the Divine. This is the Song of Songs Shir Hashirim that we read this morning. Characterized by Rabbi Akiva as the Holy of Holies this book more than any other directly describes the sought after intimacy with the Divine and it does so in human terms which are part of our experience. The joy the longing the heartache the anticipation the ups and downs of the relationship all are there.

Just as we need an experiential reference point to appreciate something, without a reference point we can’t appreciate it. Some people are naturally positive others negative. The negative people think that the positive people are phony. How could they be so upbeat about everything? Liars can’t believe that there are people who would never tell a lie. Even when they come to know someone who never lies they never really trust them because they assume they are just choosing to tell the truth but would lie if conditions call for it. Trusting people can trust in Hashem. Those who are always doubtful and suspicious can’t really have faith in Hashem.



Some of us wonder about people who really enjoy keeping the mitzvos or learning Torah. We can’t understand what they are getting out of it. We assume they must be faking or trying to please the Rabbi or they had a lobotomy or something. Perhaps they are experiencing something that is currently outside of our frame of reference. To close that gap I invoke the mantra of Rabbi Dave Silverman who has been encouraging participants of his beginner’s minyan for twenty two yours. “If you don’t know the words fake it”. Perhaps we will create a point of reference. After all that is why Hashem made it.