Getting to Know Your Self - 002 Part One Introduction

Part One - Introduction

Our Sages, of blessed memory, have said,[1] “Wise ones, be zehirim with your words.” On a simple level, this relates to the word “zehirus” (caution), but it also relates to the word “zohar” (radiance. This implies that one should “radiate light” and be perfectly clear when expressing an idea. He should try to make it clear and bright, not like a dying ember that does not give off adequate light.

The ideas that appear in the coming pages are understandable from many different perspectives.  We will explain the root of what will be discussed.

In a general sense, it may be said that there are two kinds of avodah (spiritual work):  The first kind is discussed in the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law),[2] based on the passuk,[3]  “In all your ways, you shall know Him.”  This way shows how to serve Hashem (G-d) in each situation.    Certainly, if one directs all his acts toward serving his Creator, he will also perfect his behavior. 

But there are many people who avoid this way, and decide that they are not on that level– they are not yet there.  Therefore, there is a corresponding way, which does not initially direct all of one’s deeds toward serving his Creator.  Rather, it shows how to build a good, balanced, and proper person, functioning within the conditions of this world, and reveals to him the absolute good contained in Creation, for his own benefit and his own needs. After one develops his own self properly, the next step will be to move on to the first way, that of “In all your ways, you shall know Him.” 

The ideas that will be shared here will be presented in relation to the second way, not the first.  The entire line of thought will be to make the individual a good, whole, and proper person.

Since the emphasis will not be on serving the Creator (for the time being), the ideas will primarily deal with divesting oneself of the material world, separating from the evil that resides within a person, and revealing the Divine spiritual goodness in Creation.   We will not deal specifically with how to serve the Creator as a subject serves his king.  Rather, our approach will be:  How can I take care of myself (as unspiritual as that sounds) and try to build my own world by removing the evil in my midst and exposing the good contained within me?

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I understand that because some readers may have heard other, conflicting ideas before this, while not being a bad thing at all, there might be some confusion between the various concepts.

To understand what we mean by a confusion of concepts, let’s consider a hypothetical example from daily life:  A person enters a grocery store and takes milk without paying.  The owner asks him, “Why aren’t you paying for the milk?”  He responds, “I see that you are a Jew who keeps Torah and mitzvos.  You are certainly aware that ‘The world is built on kindness,’[4] and that the whole purpose of life is the performance of kindness.  Therefore, I took a container of milk, and I have no intention of paying for it, so as to give you this opportunity to do an act of kindness.”

This is a clear case of confusing distinct concepts.  If the owner would hang up a sign in the store declaring, “For the sake of kindness, we are dispensing free milk for the needy,” then anyone needy would be welcome to come and take.  But when a person sees a grocery store or supermarket, he must understand that although the merchant does acts of kindness, the store is operating so that he can earn a livelihood.  Besides earning a livelihood, he also does acts of kindness.  But that is not the purpose of the store; the store is for his livelihood.  It is not a place for giving away milk, but for selling it. 

Likewise, the soul has two modes: One is for serving the Creator, which is considered the higher mode, and the other is for ordinary, daily life.  With almost everyone, daily life is not totally devoted to serving the Creator.

Therefore, when one speaks words of inspiration, the listener must ascertain the context: are the words addressing the mode of serving the Creator, or the mode of daily life, for a person seeking a good, meaningful life?

When you present advice for building a good, meaningful life, and the listener erroneously relates it to the service of the Creator, although at times this is a very positive approach, at other times, it can be counterproductive.  This is because the advice was not presented in relation to serving the Creator.

It is impossible to speak with people and focus purely on serving the Creator, while at the same time, explaining how to live with themselves in an optimal way without any emphasis on the yoke of servitude. 

If one is already prepared to live as a servant of the Creator, this work is not meant for him.  In this sefer, we are addressing a stage far below, and prior to, the service of the Creator, so that a person can contemplate his own life and find the best way to live it. 

Therefore, if one tries to understand what we will say and apply it to service of the Creator, some of it will be understood properly, but some of it will be completely distorted.
 
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To make this perfectly clear, I will refer to an example in this work.  In the sixth chapter, there are suggestions and methods to enable a person to avoid inner fears and concerns.

If this would have been presented in the context of serving the Creator, the entire discussion would be unnecessary.  Why?  Because this simple and absolute path requires a person to believe that everything Hashem does is for the best, that nothing will happen that is not in one’s best interest, and thus, there is no place for fear.

When we discuss in that chapter how one can be free of fear, we are addressing someone who is not yet on the level of truly serving the Creator, in order to provide him with solutions for calming his fears. 

The passuk says,[5] “Happy is the one who is always fearful.”  Anyone who reads this knows that it cannot be taken literally.  Can it be a positive thing to be fearful at all times?  Can a fearful person be considered happy?  Certainly not!

The true meaning is, as explained by our chachomim (Sages), of blessed memory:[6] “This refers to Torah observance.”  It does not refer to fears of this world, but to a fear that one might not be properly serving the Creator.  This is the true, inner fear that one should maintain.

In the aforementioned chapter, which explains how to cope with fear, we are not dealing with the fear of which our chachomim said, “Happy is the one who is always fearful,” but with a negative kind of fear, which relates to material issues and our daily life.  Concerning that fear, the proper method is to nullify the desires.

Therefore, it must be made clear in advance that if one is on such a level that his life is totally focused on serving the Creator, he must study other thoughts that are presented differently.  Here, we are addressing a person who is just beginning to consider life deeply, who has not yet realized that life is all about serving the Creator.  At his stage in life, he should work with the ideas we have presented, and with the help of G-d, he will succeed.

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Another point: These ideas cannot be implemented at the same pace as their presentation.

To illustrate: A person purchases a series of recordings which contains a course for learning Hebrew.  The course consists of ten lessons for learning Hebrew, each one lasting about an hour.

The person sets aside ten hours, and listens to the first lesson, the second, the third, and so on, but makes little progress.  He doesn’t understand: “How come I still don’t know Hebrew after the ten hours?  After all, the package states that there are ten hours of instruction and that 98% of users succeed in learning Hebrew fluently through these recordings!”

He might think, “Maybe I am one of the 2% who are not successful.” But that is not the answer.  Although the course contains ten hours of instruction, the intent was not that one would listen to it all on one free day, from morning to night, and then know Hebrew perfectly at the day’s end.

It is obvious to all that although there are ten classes that present methods for learning the language, the exercises for knowing the vocabulary and the other information require much more than one day’s effort.

Here, too, it would be ideal if the first chapter would be presented today, and then the next one, three months from now, after everyone has had the opportunity to finish working with the first point.  Regrettably, this is not possible, and we must present the material in book form, so that the reader can get the general picture.  But I certainly don’t expect the reader to progress at the same pace as he absorbs the information in each chapter. 

May Hashem help us in this endeavor!