Friday, October 7, 2022

We Can and Should Purge Our Demons

Parshat Ha'azinu

by Rabbi Avi Billet

In the verse that describes offerings made to שדים (demons) that were non-gods, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch comments, “One certainty alone – the certainly that there is one sole God, Who maintains a covenant of intimate closeness with those who do Him homage – sustains man and uplifts him above all the other forces between heaven and earth.” 

It is not so much that Haazinu was designed to be read between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Haazinu is simply Moshe’s final message to the people, beyond the blessing we will read over and over on Simchas Torah. This crafted poem is meant to span all ages of Mankind throughout history. 

“This conviction alone frees him from all fear and from all degrading trembling which undermines morality; it alone removes from his heart the fear of real or imaginary forces that threaten man’s prosperity.” One might say, we talk a good talk if we say we believe in God. But if we fear external forces, one might further say one’s trust in God is not as complete as it could be. 

 Hirsch continues: “But once he leaves the service of the one and only God, man loses all stay and support; he imagines that he is free, and yet he is anxious about and afraid of all the forces of nature and fate – which are truly more powerful than a man who relies only on himself – just as he fears the nonsense invented by people claiming to have insight into the mysteries of nature and the universe.” 

This opens the door to a fascinating question. Who is most free? A person who can do whatever one wants, with no limitations, with no stops, and nothing guiding choices beyond what feels good and how far will I stretch limits of safety for the exhilarating thrills, OR the person who chooses to live under rules that may be limiting but may also be extremely gratifying?

Once again, here is Hirsch: “On the light of truth emanating from the one and only God, man sees the whole world illuminated in the clear light of wisdom and goodness. In this world, all creatures have a good end; and even if, on their way, they pass through darkness and death, pain and ruin, ultimately they are led to a higher state of existence and life, strength and joy, immortality and eternity. In this world, man is a child of his Heavenly Father and is given the task of living in His presence a life of duty.”

Hirsch is emphasizing the importance of this message penetrating our minds and our hearts. Sometimes we hear complaints, or perhaps we ourselves complain, of the difficulties of a committed life. If we only we could eat anywhere, if only we could take anything off the shelf, if only things weren’t so expensive, if only we could use our free time however we want without guilt, if only we could go shopping or to some other entertainment on Saturday, if only we didn’t have to explain to anyone that we’re taking another holiday off, if only morality weren’t dictated to us by a book and an unseen god, if only we weren’t hated by people for simply existing …

Hirsch: “Hence, man is close to his Creator even in his lifetime. Clinging to the hand of the one God, he can pass, even through darkness and death, in untroubled serenity toward light and life.” 

 This is the opportunity we have – seek, and ye shall find! ובקשתם משם את ה' א-לקיך is the line we hear and read in Parshas Va’Eschanan. You will find Him כי תדרשנו בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך, when you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul. 

“But if man closes his eyes to this light and this life, his world descends into a dark night filled with demons, real and imaginary. In that case he has only the miners’ lamp of human experience to guide him through the darkness in which he must wrestle with hostile demons for his life and happiness. Then every delight and joy ends for him in disgust and disappointment. He enters life crying, to depart from it in sorrow and affliction. In such a life, man is the unhappiest of all creatures because he has the awareness that he is unhappiest. He feels that he has an inalienable right to happiness and to life – but as long as he does not lead a life devoted to duty, he will never enjoy this right. From the bliss of a world full of God’s glory to the pessimism of a world full of demons – that has always been the dismal road along which defection from God must lead, and that is also the road taken by Israel’s defection as described in these verses (Devarim 32:15-17)” 

Those born into this life sometimes need strength and encouragement too. And sometimes the best people to ask are those who found this to be the truth they needed – whether those who converted to Judaism or who took a different Jewish life-route – and have discovered great satisfaction and fulfillment in a life of Torah, Mitzvos, and observance of God’s word. 

May we all be blessed to experience and find the fullest degrees of meaning and beauty in the life we are blessed to live.

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