All you need is (Fear and) Love
Moshe Rabeinu tells us this week (Devorim 10:12) : Now Israel, what does G-d ask of you?
Only to fear the L-rd your G-d, to go in HIS ways and to love Him...to observe His commandments...for your benefit.
The world is in turmoil due to the gift China happily bestowed upon us. But Israel knows that all that happens in the world is to direct Israel towards its true role of perfecting the entire world. SO the question Klal Yisrael should be asking this week is: What does G-d want from us now with this crazy virus disturbing all of our activities?
The answer is simply: Fear and love. NOT what other religions or atheistic hedonists preach: "All you need is love...la la la la la...."
We are being given a dose of fear of the virus, but it is only a means for us to achieve greater love of G-d. How does it do that, when so many have lost friends, relatives, and teachers from this plague?
The ultimate cause of all the problems of the world are a loss of connection with the Creator of the world, who has the ability to bestow tremendous blessings and make this world a paradise. In truth, ALL problems are due to a restriction and a loss of connection with the ultimate source of all blessings which causes a breakdown in the flow of blessings to the world.
Israel has been given the tools to restore the connection.
Per Rav Tzadok HaKohen, a great Chassidic master, Israel's entire purpose is to create an expansion in the basic, minimal divine flow that exists to keep the world in existence. The way the flow is expanded and repaired is by performing the divine commandments with fear and love. In fact, prayer books have an introductory prayer that states that we should have our minds focused on fear and love when we pray or do the commandments. It is not sufficient to just be obedient, but our minds must also be filled with both fear and love.
Perhaps all of the fear mongering we are being subjected to, which in many cases has an agenda besides just to protect our health, is really to start having more fear of what a microscopic creation can do. If something so tiny can wreak such havoc, we should think about what the Creator of the universe can do if we do not fulfill our role of expanding the divine flow.
The fear is to wake us up, and not act mindlessly and robotically. Once we are awake, THEN it is possible to act in His ways and love G-d for all of the good we have received, and observe the commandments as the verse quoted above states. But if we are asleep at the wheel, no wonder we are witnessing a world that looks like the aftermath of a traffic accident.
We must get our minds focused on the task at hand to finish the job and restore the divine flow so we do not need more wake-up calls.
This is the lesson Moshe Rabeinu told us. That is what G-d wants: The verse mentions FEAR and LOVE before it mentions observing the commandments. FEAR and LOVE are a prerequisite for the commandments to be effective. This was taught at the end of Israel's wandering in the desert. AND it is a lesson for us as we near the end of our wandering in Golus among the nations that we are subjected to both outside and inside the land of Israel.
Only to fear the L-rd your G-d, to go in HIS ways and to love Him...to observe His commandments...for your benefit.
The world is in turmoil due to the gift China happily bestowed upon us. But Israel knows that all that happens in the world is to direct Israel towards its true role of perfecting the entire world. SO the question Klal Yisrael should be asking this week is: What does G-d want from us now with this crazy virus disturbing all of our activities?
The answer is simply: Fear and love. NOT what other religions or atheistic hedonists preach: "All you need is love...la la la la la...."
We are being given a dose of fear of the virus, but it is only a means for us to achieve greater love of G-d. How does it do that, when so many have lost friends, relatives, and teachers from this plague?
The ultimate cause of all the problems of the world are a loss of connection with the Creator of the world, who has the ability to bestow tremendous blessings and make this world a paradise. In truth, ALL problems are due to a restriction and a loss of connection with the ultimate source of all blessings which causes a breakdown in the flow of blessings to the world.
Israel has been given the tools to restore the connection.
Per Rav Tzadok HaKohen, a great Chassidic master, Israel's entire purpose is to create an expansion in the basic, minimal divine flow that exists to keep the world in existence. The way the flow is expanded and repaired is by performing the divine commandments with fear and love. In fact, prayer books have an introductory prayer that states that we should have our minds focused on fear and love when we pray or do the commandments. It is not sufficient to just be obedient, but our minds must also be filled with both fear and love.
Perhaps all of the fear mongering we are being subjected to, which in many cases has an agenda besides just to protect our health, is really to start having more fear of what a microscopic creation can do. If something so tiny can wreak such havoc, we should think about what the Creator of the universe can do if we do not fulfill our role of expanding the divine flow.
The fear is to wake us up, and not act mindlessly and robotically. Once we are awake, THEN it is possible to act in His ways and love G-d for all of the good we have received, and observe the commandments as the verse quoted above states. But if we are asleep at the wheel, no wonder we are witnessing a world that looks like the aftermath of a traffic accident.
We must get our minds focused on the task at hand to finish the job and restore the divine flow so we do not need more wake-up calls.
This is the lesson Moshe Rabeinu told us. That is what G-d wants: The verse mentions FEAR and LOVE before it mentions observing the commandments. FEAR and LOVE are a prerequisite for the commandments to be effective. This was taught at the end of Israel's wandering in the desert. AND it is a lesson for us as we near the end of our wandering in Golus among the nations that we are subjected to both outside and inside the land of Israel.
posted by Golusman at 8/02/2020 06:32:00 PM
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