Description: Belief in the Creator 03
Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh
Volume I Pages 45 – 49
Although it seems that this really is something very simple and straightforward, to live with the knowledge of Hashem, and Hashem’s presence, truthfully, it’s quite distant from us. We can go through a day, full of davening and learning, doing mitzvos, yet never thought once about Hashem. The Chazon Ish writes a letter where he details a clear path for Avodas Hashem, but he finishes by saying, ‘v’haikar lizkor lifnei mi atah amail,’ the most important point is to remember in front of whom you are working!
Now, we might find this difficult to believe – that we aren’t aware of the fact that we are ‘working’ in front of Hashem. But let’s consider this pasuk:
טעמו וראו כי טוב ה'
Taste and see that Hashem is good. What does it mean to ‘taste’? Let’s think about this mashal. You come to eat supper and the table is set, the food is already on the table ready to be taken. You see chicken, potatoes, rice, other vegetables. You sit down, pick up your fork and knife and are about to serve yourself, when you are told, “Wait! Don’t take anything!” “But, why not?” You ask. You are told, “Why do you need to eat the food? Don’t you see it – can’t you see that it is here? You now know that this food exists. Isn’t that enough for you?”
Clearly, knowing food exists doesn’t satiate us! This is what the pasuk means. It’s not enough to ‘know’ that Hashem exists. We have to eat it. Meaning, it has to become a part of us. This is what the Chazon Ish means that the main thing is to remember Who we are working in front of. It has to be something which encompasses our thoughts and emotions and guides them. It has to be something we live with. The more we try to bring this thought to the forefront of our mind, the more it will penetrate our heart and become deeply entrenched in our neshamah.
This is the meaning of the pasuk, ‘Tzaddik bi’emunaso yichyeh.’ A tzaddik lives with his emunah. He LIVES with his emunah! More than that, he receives life and sustenance from his emunah – it is what fires him up. Once it becomes a part of us – we draw our life from this.
The more we ‘taste’ this knowledge and feel it, we begin to experience the true pleasure of ‘lihisanaig al Hashem,’ even in this world. That is what ‘tov Hashem,’ means. As the Mesilas Yesharim already clarified for us – there’s nothing else considered ‘good’ in this world! Everything else is ‘hevel v’shav’. If we internalize and make this knowledge a part of our life – we then begin to experience the ‘good’ which is kirvas Hashem. The Torah is also called ‘tov’, ‘ki lekach tov nasati lachem,’ because it also enables us to experience the closeness to Hashem and enjoy His presence.
The path to acquiring this knowledge isn’t easy. As with all worthwhile accomplishments, there will be challenges and pitfalls, elevated moments and times that we just don’t feel it. But to motivate ourselves, lets just think about what we stand to gain by working on this. This knowledge, this way of life, is the only way we can ‘find’ Hashem. He exists, no doubt, but unless we can get that existence into our hearts and souls, we haven’t yet found Hashem. If we don’t find Him we can’t get close to Him. The point of our lives, as we have clarified – is to find Hashem and get close to Him. This is what makes it so worthwhile to invest the effort necessary in making this a part of our life. Working on making this thought, this knowledge a constant companion and inspiration. Living with Hashem, living with emunah, living off emunah!
At the times it is difficult, we have to remind ourselves that, ‘shevah yipol tzaddik vikam,’ every single tzaddik that ever existed, experienced ‘nefilah,’ points in time where he fell. Times that he felt empty, abandoned, far away from Hashem and kedushah. Every single tzaddik, who was successful, got up and brushed themselves off, and forged on – only to fall once again. And again, and again. Seven times is not a literal number – it means many times – much more than seven! But this process is how we acquire this precious madregah, this precious level of Avodas Hashem – to become ‘tzaddik bi’emunaso yichyeh.’
This can easily take years to really accomplish this level – but it’s years spent wonderfully well!
Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh
Volume I Pages 45 – 49
Although it seems that this really is something very simple and straightforward, to live with the knowledge of Hashem, and Hashem’s presence, truthfully, it’s quite distant from us. We can go through a day, full of davening and learning, doing mitzvos, yet never thought once about Hashem. The Chazon Ish writes a letter where he details a clear path for Avodas Hashem, but he finishes by saying, ‘v’haikar lizkor lifnei mi atah amail,’ the most important point is to remember in front of whom you are working!
Now, we might find this difficult to believe – that we aren’t aware of the fact that we are ‘working’ in front of Hashem. But let’s consider this pasuk:
טעמו וראו כי טוב ה'
Taste and see that Hashem is good. What does it mean to ‘taste’? Let’s think about this mashal. You come to eat supper and the table is set, the food is already on the table ready to be taken. You see chicken, potatoes, rice, other vegetables. You sit down, pick up your fork and knife and are about to serve yourself, when you are told, “Wait! Don’t take anything!” “But, why not?” You ask. You are told, “Why do you need to eat the food? Don’t you see it – can’t you see that it is here? You now know that this food exists. Isn’t that enough for you?”
Clearly, knowing food exists doesn’t satiate us! This is what the pasuk means. It’s not enough to ‘know’ that Hashem exists. We have to eat it. Meaning, it has to become a part of us. This is what the Chazon Ish means that the main thing is to remember Who we are working in front of. It has to be something which encompasses our thoughts and emotions and guides them. It has to be something we live with. The more we try to bring this thought to the forefront of our mind, the more it will penetrate our heart and become deeply entrenched in our neshamah.
This is the meaning of the pasuk, ‘Tzaddik bi’emunaso yichyeh.’ A tzaddik lives with his emunah. He LIVES with his emunah! More than that, he receives life and sustenance from his emunah – it is what fires him up. Once it becomes a part of us – we draw our life from this.
The more we ‘taste’ this knowledge and feel it, we begin to experience the true pleasure of ‘lihisanaig al Hashem,’ even in this world. That is what ‘tov Hashem,’ means. As the Mesilas Yesharim already clarified for us – there’s nothing else considered ‘good’ in this world! Everything else is ‘hevel v’shav’. If we internalize and make this knowledge a part of our life – we then begin to experience the ‘good’ which is kirvas Hashem. The Torah is also called ‘tov’, ‘ki lekach tov nasati lachem,’ because it also enables us to experience the closeness to Hashem and enjoy His presence.
The path to acquiring this knowledge isn’t easy. As with all worthwhile accomplishments, there will be challenges and pitfalls, elevated moments and times that we just don’t feel it. But to motivate ourselves, lets just think about what we stand to gain by working on this. This knowledge, this way of life, is the only way we can ‘find’ Hashem. He exists, no doubt, but unless we can get that existence into our hearts and souls, we haven’t yet found Hashem. If we don’t find Him we can’t get close to Him. The point of our lives, as we have clarified – is to find Hashem and get close to Him. This is what makes it so worthwhile to invest the effort necessary in making this a part of our life. Working on making this thought, this knowledge a constant companion and inspiration. Living with Hashem, living with emunah, living off emunah!
At the times it is difficult, we have to remind ourselves that, ‘shevah yipol tzaddik vikam,’ every single tzaddik that ever existed, experienced ‘nefilah,’ points in time where he fell. Times that he felt empty, abandoned, far away from Hashem and kedushah. Every single tzaddik, who was successful, got up and brushed themselves off, and forged on – only to fall once again. And again, and again. Seven times is not a literal number – it means many times – much more than seven! But this process is how we acquire this precious madregah, this precious level of Avodas Hashem – to become ‘tzaddik bi’emunaso yichyeh.’
This can easily take years to really accomplish this level – but it’s years spent wonderfully well!