Pemikiran Yahudi Ayub 29:2: Akeidat Yitzchak

Sunlight is a gift bestowed on everyone, yet, unless one is equipped to receive it through normal channels, one may not benefit from it. Anyone whose eyes are defective, may fail to benefit from the rays of the sun and remain blind. Torah, i.e. spiritual light, is provided for man, but it too requires channels that are primed to receive it, understand it and make use of it. Ner mitzvah, the commandment being a lamp, refers to the local illumination achieved through performance of an individual mitzvah, whereas Torah or, the Torah is Light itself, refers to the spiritual illumination provided by Torah in its entirety, since it has the ability to bathe the whole human personality in its spiritual light. Priming one's antenna, however is necessary, else the impact of all that spiritual light goes to waste. When we are told that the unborn infant is exposed to the total teachings of Torah, only to forget same the moment he is born, this means that while as yet unborn, man's potential is unimpeded by negative influences, and he can absorb all the spiritual light offered. Entry into our world however, poses a formidable screen, nullifying at least temporarily the lessons previously absorbed. Only application by man can restore the former ease for receiving Divinely inspired teachings. The infant is sworn to become a tzaddik and not a rasha. Whatever is acquired by man's intellect, is no more than the recollection of what he had learned while still in the womb of his mother. When one tells a wealthy man that he is rich, this does not prevent him from trying to amass still greater wealth. Similarly, when a person is told that he is a tzaddik, righteous person, he must continue to view himself as being almost a rasha, and keep up his efforts to become even more perfect spiritually. Our sages advise that one should strive for refinement of one's character traits with the same energy that one applies to the effort to acquire transient values. The soul has five characteristics that liken it to the Almighty. (Berachot 10) David praised G'd in respect of these five characteristics of the soul in Psalms 103 and 104. 1) G'd sees without being seen; similarly, the soul sees without being seen. 2) Just as G'd fills the universe, so the soul fills the body. 3) Just as G'd feeds the universe, so the soul feeds the body it inhabits. 4) Just as G'd is pure, so the soul is pure. 5) Just as G'd resides in the innermost chamber, so does the soul. May he who possesses the above five characteristics come and bless Him who possesses these five characteristics. We are commanded in Deut. 4,15, "take good care of yourselves, for you have seen no manner of form on the day the Lord spoke with you at Chorev out of the fire." This means that we are to kindle His light, the invisible one, to perfect it, so that G'd in turn who holds our life in His hands (your light) will preserve it. Concerning the soul sustaining the body, compare Psalms 146,4, "when his spirit departs, he returns to his soil." G'd is called the chay olamim, the "eternally living," in the words of Maimonides, since He is to the world what the soul is to the body. The essential difference between Jewish philosophy and that of other religions is that we believe that the soul starts out by being pure, and needs to be kept that way by means of observing G'ds commandments. This is facilitated by reverence for G'd, belief in His existence, His power etc. Other religions believe that man is equipped with a tainted soul, (due to the sin of original man) and has to be cleansed and purified. The order of the ten commandments supports the view of Solomon in Kohelet 12,13, "fear the Lord, and observe His commandments." First there has to be a fundamental reverence for the Lord, only afterwards can the observance of His commandments become meaningful. For that reason, the decalogue starts with the statements "I am the Lord your G'd," and "you must not have any other deities."

We are told by the Midrash that G'd gave Israel three gifts, all of which were acquired through some deprivations. 1) Torah. 2) The land of Israel. 3) olam haba, eternal life in the hereafter.(Shemot Rabba 81) The scriptural proof for this quoted in the Midrash mentions deprivations yissurim in each case. These gifts are ours only if we practice a measure of self restraint. If, in the pursuit of Torah, someone becomes so one-sided that he neglects his debt to society, or fails to appreciate the world around him, he is guilty of Solomon's famous dictum "do not be too righteous." (Kohelet 7,16) Even Torah knowledge can be retained only through continence and self restraint. The Talmud says that every new born baby forgets all the Torah it has learned in the mother's womb, due to an angel striking it at the moment of birth. (Nidah 30) The idea behind this is as follows. While within the mother's womb, the fetus receives exactly what it needs, no excess. Under such conditions it can absorb Torah without impediment. When transferred to our world, these conditions change, and the pursuit of the physical, material, interferes with the acquisition of the spiritual values. The gift of olam haba is received via yissurim because the whole object of mussar, the root of the word yissurim, is to pave the way for life. Olam haba is life in its ultimate definition, attainable, naturally only via such a route. If one may be allowed to oversimplify, morality is nothing but a form of self restraint. In Jeremiah chapter 35, Yehonadav ben Reychav is held up as a shining example of someone who instructed his family to practice the noble art of self restraint concerning a variety of physical pleasures and material acquisitions. In appreciation of that family's having heeded their patriarch's instructions, G'd assures that family that they will provide leading personalities for the Jewish people for all future generations. Arichut yamim, longevity, is defined by our sages as participation in the life which is kullo aruch, of an unending infinite duration. The chapters of the Torah legislation dealing with the shemittah, yovel, ma-asser priestly gifts etc., are aimed at teaching us to practice self restraint when exploiting the bounty the land has to offer. The owner who wants to sell his slave at a good price, will overfeed him prior to the sale, to create the illusion that the slave is in good health and physical strength in the eyes of the prospective purchaser. The negative effects of that slave having been force-fed, will show up only after the sale has been concluded. A father who does not wish to part with his sons, will raise them on the kind of diet that assures their continued well being, and that builds up a resistance against harmful foreign elements in their bodies. (Deut. Rabbah 3) The menorah, candelabra in the tabernacle, was made with beaten gold. The trumpets were made out of beaten silver. The two cherubs on the lid of the holy ark were made of beaten gold. We observe that the purity of these vessels was achieved only after they had been hammered. Only then did the respective raw materials assume its enduring format. The trumpets represent the gift of the land of Israel, since they were employed to herald the Jewish people's approach towards that country. The menorah represents the gift of Torah, spiritual illumination. The cherubs symbolise olam haba, the world in which the angels abound, a world of the spirit, ruach.