Pensée juive sur Les Psaumes 130:3

Shimon the Just mentioned only the pillars that ensure the survival of our soul. Had he referred to the needs of the body, he would have had to include food and other necessities for physical survival. On the Day of Atonement, culmination of ten days of preparation, the emphasis of this role of the Jew is even greater than at other times during the year, and we worship G'd in the manner of angels, abstaining from food and drink, just as spiritual beings. In fact, we desist from most physical functions that are not essential to our actual survival. Having thus approached a state of complete innocence, we are allowed to recite aloud, that which we dare no more than whisper during the rest of the year, namely the verse "blessed be the name of His glorious Majesty." Since this version is one that is plagiarised from the angels' liturgical repertoire, we would not dare do so without their consent. So far the Midrash. Since we note that the praise of G'd referred to is in indirect language, employing the pronoun "HIS," and since David in Psalms 145, and 72, has already employed similar terminology quite openly, one is tempted to ask why we cannot use said formula unabashedly all year round. The answer may be that all pronouns, or attributes, are merely a negative way of defining something. Since G'd is not understood by man, the nearest we can come to understanding Him, is the way He Himself explained it to Moses, i.e. "you will see My back." (Exodus 33,23) We arrive at a definition of G'd by a process of elimination. By comprehending what He is not, we form some idea of what He must be. The Talmud Berachot 31, states that Israel is more beloved than the angels, since the latter require three stages of elimination to arrive at G'ds name, whereas Israel needs only two such stages. The angels recite "holy, holy, holy," followed by the name of G'd, whereas Israel merely recites "Hear, O, Israel the Lord our G'd is One." The angels have to eliminate, i.e. separate themselves from three worlds, since they know both their own world, the one of abstract spiritual beings, as well as the two worlds which we know. Israel knows only two worlds, cannot distinguish what goes on in the world of the spirits. Therefore, it needs to separate itself only from the awareness of the two worlds containing matter before concentrating on praising the Lord. This gives the angels an advantage over the humans in that they can free themselves of even more encumbrance in order to come closer to the essence of G'd. When we commence the formula of the kedushah, the sanctification of G'd in our liturgy, we say "let us praise Your name O Lord just as they do in Heaven."..followed by the triple proclamation " holy, holy, holy," reflecting the havdalah, separation between the three worlds G'd has created, and the Creator Himself. Our own formula of praise is introduced by the words "Hear O Israel." The word "hear" describes a human function; humans employ physical ears to receive communications, since they can distinguish only the two worlds of the plants and the living bodies. But we do not praise the kinnuy, attribute, only the holy name itself. The angels, though they have a clearer comprehension, praise only "HIS" glorious Majesty, (not the actual NAME) In this respect we are more beloved than they are. In the words of the teachers of our Mishnah "chavivim yisrael, Israel is especially beloved. To sum up then: We address G'd directly in our formula of the keriyat shema, whereas the angels concern themselves only with some of G'ds attributes. Moreover, Israel recites the praises of G'd three times daily, whereas the angels do so only once a day. Many angels, individually get to do so only once in fifty years, (compare discussion in Chullin 91) We also have it on Talmudic authority that the angels are not permitted to recite their song of praise until after Israel has done so here on earth. Against this, we need to consider that the relatively infrequent occurrence of an event makes such an event more special, more distinguished. If it is true that the task of the angels is to promote G'ds work in the "lower" world, it makes sense that until Israel has praised the Lord, the angels are in no position to do so, having not yet completed their appointed task. In fact, it would be hypocritical for the angels to praise the Lord as long as Israel, G'ds standard bearer, has failed to do so. This is what the angel who wrestled with Jacob told him, when the Midrash quotes him as saying that he must now join in the Heavenly choir of praise to G'd. Only now, after he had found that Jacob did indeed possess integrity, had this angel accomplished his specific mission, and was able to re-join his colleagues. A second answer to our problem is that the verse "Blessed be Majesty, His kingdom forever and ever" is really talking about two separate aspects of Divine manifestations. The first half of the verse represents an acknowledgment of G'd as Creator and Supreme King, the second half talks about the manner in which He exercises His functions. Some people reach an understanding of the manner of G'ds guidance in the universe. Most people do not. Angels, however, when praising the Lord, automatically praise Him from both vantage points. Therefore, they use a formula which includes both aspects of the matter. On the Day of Atonement, when all of us reach a higher spiritual level than during the rest of the year, we can utter this formula with full voice, although the same thing would be presumptuous during the rest of the year. Pessachim 56, explains that since Moses had not used this formula of praising G'd, the sages were hesitant about arrogating such right to themselves. On the other hand, since Jacob was reputed to have used this formula according to the Midrash, they decided it should be used, but only sotto voce. The order of the service on the Day of Atonement, corresponds to the three principles laid down by Shimon the Just.

In order to comprehend what happened when Moses failed to return at the time expected, we must remember what the Torah tells us about the basic nature of man. We are told in Genesis 8,21, "for the impulse of man's heart is evil from its infancy." Even after man has absorbed the Divine teachings intellectually, his basic nature has not changed thereby. It is not in man's nature to become permanently free from sin so that we would have to view sin as a departure from his nature, and he would therefore forfeit his claim to a future in the hereafter. Sainthood is not demanded of man. What is demanded however, is that any relapse into sin be repaired through true repentance, in order for him to regain his stature as it was prior to his sin. This is the meaning of Exodus 34,6, "The Eternal, the Eternal is a merciful and gracious G-d." This means that G-d is saying "I am the Lord after you have sinned, just as I have been the Lord before you had sinned." The implication is that the likelihood of sin is about equal to the likelihood of saintly purity. Or, in the words of the Psalmist, (Psalms 130,3) "if You would keep remembering sins, O Lord, who could possibly stand up before You?" (Rosh Hashanah 17) The purpose of forgiveness after repentance is described as "so that You may be revered" (Psalms 130,4) It is the person who does not repent who truly merits punishment. If our sages viewed the institution of repentance as chronologically preceding the creation of man, this underlines the concept that sin is an integral part of the world we live in. (Pessachim 54) The episode of the golden calf then provided Israel with a chance to do what G-d had said, (Deut. 5,26) "would that their heart would revere Me." Had it been possible to create the nature of man so that he could be totally good, Israel could not have made the golden calf, for no other nation even approached the ideal of humanity as closely as Israel did at that time. Even G-d had expressed the wish that they should be able to maintain that level of piety in order to reap the fruits of such conduct. Israel's action in making the golden calf was proof that it was unrealistic to expect such high levels of piety and belief in G-d to be maintained at all times. Rabbi Yochanan told us then that Israel was certainly not at a low enough level at that time to have indulged in that sin, nor was David so enslaved to sensuality that the affair with Bat Sheva would be expected of him; rather, in spite of their respective high levels of morality, the nature of man made such sins possible. This teaches us the lesson of repentance as a corollary. David represents a lesson for the individual sinner, whereas Israel provides the example that even collective guilt can be forgiven. The Midrash then only supplied the answer to the question of why a golden calf had to be the idol chosen. The basic answer about why the sin took place at all, lies in the fact that it is in the nature of man to regress spiritually from time to time. Isaiah 43,26, tells us that the discussion of our sins rather than an attempt at whitewash, will bring righteousness in its wake. The Talmud Megillah 25, discusses a series of events with which the Torah deals, and which may be read in public both in Hebrew and in the vernacular. This may be done, though in the process some of our most famous heroes such as Abraham, Yehudah etc. may appear discredited in the ears of the listener. The decisive consideration in all these instances where superficial perusal may reflect discredit on a deserving person is, whether the moral lesson to be learned from the story outweighs the side effect it may produce. The story of the golden calf, discussed in the Torah on two occasions in considerable detail, teaches so much about the ways of G-d, that the fact that it makes Aaron appear as an accomplice is a calculated risk the Torah had to take. Normally, our sages prohibit readings in the vernacular, when they believe that the uneducated masses would form negative impressions about people in the story who are really free from blame. In our situation, the first half of the golden calf episode is permitted to be read also in the vernacular, because the lessons about the power of repentance and forgiveness are derived from that story. However chapter 32,21, is not to be read in the vernacular, since it deals with Aaron's specific involvement, and would give the uneducated listener the impression that Aaron's error was far greater than it actually was. Conversely, this would lead the masses to conclude that the people's involvement in that sin was far less serious than had been the case.

The story of Creation teaches that belief in fatalism is wrong. Since the Creator was free to create at that time, He will forever remain free to change His world and its laws whenever it pleases Him. (compare chapter 1 and chapter 15) Fear then is predicated on the assumption that what is dreaded need not necessarily happen, or need not necessarily fail to happen, since the ultimate decision is within the province of G'ds will and Power. We are therefore asked by the Torah not to relate to anything from a fatalistic point of view. We are asked to fear Him, just because He is able to either halt or precipitate the very events which we dread. Fear is the opposite of resignation then. If one were to assume that misconduct by man would inevitably result in retribution by G'd, then fear, which is the catalyst of repentance, would be replaced by resignation, and repentance would become almost impossible. (Chagigah 15, telling about the apostate Elisha ben Avuyah is a prime example of this approach). The latter had heard that the gates of repentance would be closed to him, and had therefore lost his incentive to do penitence, and to re-acquire the yir-ah expected of us. In his prayer, during the inauguration ceremonies of the temple, king Solomon used this very argument, lema-an yira-ucha, in order that they may fear You as long as they live on this earth." (Kings I 8.37-40) Concerning this "fear,"- which is identical with faith,- Rabbi Chaninah proclaims that whereas all is within the power of Heaven, imbuing someone with this faith is not within the power of Heaven, but is solely up to the believer himself. For this reason, Abraham was given credit for having believed in the promise that he would sire children. "He believed G'd, and He considered it an act of righteousness on Abraham's part." (Genesis 15,6) This faith could not have been supplied by G'd, but had to be an act of willpower on the part of Abraham himself. He was the first philosopher who found his way to this yir-ah/emunah, as is recorded of him after the akeydah, the binding of Isaac. (Genesis 22,12) "For now I know that you are G'd fearing." After all, this is the goal of all our striving, as Solomon proclaims at the end of his book Kohelet: "In conlusison, after all is said and done, fear the Lord, observe His commandments because this is the sum total of being a human being " There is a third variety of fear that is composed of an intelligent awareness of the fact that if one does not take adequate precautions against known dangers, disastrous consequences may result. This fear, while recognising the dangers of inaction or lack of preparedness, is nevertheless not due to a fatalistic outlook. It is therefore fear, not resignation. The intelligence involved stems from the recognition of a free G'd as the ultimate cause of events, events which He can control, but that man can influence directly. If a king threatens a subject with jail unless said subject carries out certain orders, such conduct is autocratic and deprives the subject of any meaningful choice. If, on the other hand, the king points out that strike action by the subject would result in his losing income, his family going hungry etc., this would not really be called putting the subject under duress. A person doing the right thing under such circumstances falls into the category of "who is clever? he who can foresee the consequences." (Tamid 32) The fear experienced by such individuals is based on an intelligent appraisal of the options open to them in the long run. When Moses realised that his killing of the Egyptian had been witnessed, (Exodus 2,14) he became afraid, not resigned, and took action to escape the consequences. When our sages in Avot 3,21, say "where there is no wisdom, there is no fear, and where there is no fear, there cannot be any wisdom," this is what they had in mind. He who is intellectually unaware of what the future may hold, cannot relate to it with fear. On the other hand, he who is insensitive to what the future may hold, is obviously devoid of wisdom. Fear of the type described, is fear of becoming the architect of one's own misfortune, seeing that the Torah tells us that we will be punished for our sins. Since no one is completely free from sin, no one should be completely free from this fear. Just as an invalid whose doctor prescribes abstention from certain foods to avoid harming his condition, will not consider himself under compulsion, so a Jew whose Torah forbids matters which would endanger his physical and spiritual survival cannot consider himself as observing Torah under duress. In this way we understand Moses' address to the people at the time of matan Torah, the giving of the Torah, (Exodus chapter twenty) when he said "do not be afraid; in order to test you did the Lord come; and in order that the fear of Him shall be upon you so that you will not sin." (verse 17). Although, at first glance these lines seem self contradictory, the fact is that they are exhortations not to relate to G'd with the wrong kind of fear. The result of the revelation was that Israel realised that it was possible to witness the glory of G'd and yet to remain physically alive. We were elevated from the purely instinctive, animalistic dread. Our concepts were raised to a level that afforded us an inkling of His grandeur, not like the beasts around us. This kind of fear fills one with a degree of joy, as David expresses it in Psalm 2,11, "serve the Lord in fear, rejoice even while trembling." With this thought one can also resolve the contradiction in Psalm 76,9 "from the Heavens you have heard judgment, the earth was afraid and calm." How can calmness be a product of fear or vice versa? As long as the earth had not heard that Israel had accepted the Torah, she had been concerned about her own future. Once she heard that Israel had spoken the words "We shall do and we shall listen," the earth became calm, knowing her own future was assured. In other words, joy is the product of the right kind of fear at the right place at the right time. Going back to our opening Midrash, we can appreciate now how the attainment for the kind of fear we have described was truly a minor accomplishment for Moses. The Torah has taught us this concept meanwhile in so many ways, that we can no longer claim that the attainment of such "fear" as Moses achieved without the help of the Torah, is really such an unattainable goal for the Jewish masses who enjoy the benefit of Torah and its teachings.