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Elul:
The Wisdom Within the Action
Elul:
The Wisdom Within the Action
How to Prevent Physicality from Bringing You Down
(Based
on the Or Gedalyahu, Chodesh Elul #3, p. 4-5)
The religious person is caught in a very difficult
predicament in this world. He possesses a desire
(and mandate) for spirituality, wisdom and the higher
things of life. Man, however, of necessity lives
in the physical world. Physicality is inescapable
as long as his soul is connected to his body. Physicality
is there in the food he must eat for survival, in
the clothes he must wear for protection, and in
the sexuality that is a necessary part of family
life. All this would not be problematic if not for
the powerful effect involvement in physicality has
on man -- it makes him more physical, and consequently
less attuned to those higher and more refined pursuits.
This is in line with what the Sages said, "A sin
causes another sin." When one is involved in sin
he is brought down, making it easier to perform
another sin. Similarly, involvement in physicality
makes a person more physical, taking him further
away from refined spirituality and paving the way
for more physicality.
How does one deal with this very natural but very
tragic human predicament? How do we go on living
in this world but avoid the downward spiral towards
coarseness and away from spirituality?
Rabbi Pinchas bar Chama in the Midrash (Devarim
Rabba 86:3) tells us: Everywhere you go the commandments
escort you. When you buy a new house, build a protective
fence around the roof; when you make a door, put
a mezuza on it; when you wear new clothes, do not
wear shatnez . . . even if you are not involved
in anything but just walking on the way, the mitzva
of chasing away the mother bird accompanies you.
The Midrash quotes the verse in Mishlei (1:9) "Ki
livyat chein heim leroshekha (For they are a charming
thing joined to your head). "
The term "livyat" relates to the Hebrew root lamed
vav hei, which indicates connection (the word "levaya,"
for instance, means to escort or accompany). The
mitzvot, says the verse, create a connection between
man and his Creator. Each physical act man does,
says the Midrash, has a mitzva that acccompanies
it. Through performing the mitzvot connected with
each act, we are connected to G-d instead of being
drawn after the coarse side of physicality.
The agricultural process is a good example of this.
Every stage of the process is accompanied by commandments
- shmitta, gifts to the poor, terumot and maasrot,
challa, blessings, etc. As progressively more physical
stages are reached, more mitzvot present themselves.
There is a common misconception that must be avoided.
Most people think that the physical act logically
precedes the mitzva - in other words, because we
have homes there is a mitzva of mezuza, because
we have clothing there is a mitzva of shatnez. In
fact, says the Or Gedalyahu, the starting point
is the mitzva. G-d wanted man to be able to fulfill
the mitzvot of mezuza and shatnez so He created
him with a need to have homes and clothing. Man
must approach his physical life with such a perspective.
He must ask himself the question, "What is the mitzva
at the core of this physical act?" |
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