Chasidut do Liczb 14:21
וְאוּלָ֖ם חַי־אָ֑נִי וְיִמָּלֵ֥א כְבוֹד־יְהוָ֖ה אֶת־כָּל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
Wszakże, jakom żyw, a pełną będzie chwały Wiekuistego cała ziemia, -
Kedushat Levi
Numbers 14,21. “nevertheless, as I live and as the Lord’s Presence fills the whole world, etc.”
The opening words of the verse following the above, i.e. כי כל האנשים, “for all the men, etc.,” certainly seem to be inaccurate, besides what does this have to do with G’d’s glory filling the universe? It almost sounds as if the people who were going to die in the desert would thereby become the instrument of demonstrating G’d’s glory?
Numbers 14,21. “nevertheless, as I live and as the Lord’s Presence fills the whole world, etc.”
The opening words of the verse following the above, i.e. כי כל האנשים, “for all the men, etc.,” certainly seem to be inaccurate, besides what does this have to do with G’d’s glory filling the universe? It almost sounds as if the people who were going to die in the desert would thereby become the instrument of demonstrating G’d’s glory?
In order to understand verses 21-23, we need to preface our remarks with a well known fact about the subject of man’s free choice, i.e. having the choice of obeying the Creator or not. G’d has equipped each one of us with the power to overcome the temptation to do evil and to instead choose to do good and thereby to assure ourselves of life. We must always remember that were it not for the evil urge which constantly lies in wait to deceive us about our true interests, the fact that a human being serves the Creator would not arouse the slightest attention, as it is something that would be taken for granted. Also, as far as G’d is concerned, if man did not have an urge to do evil, how could G’d experience joy and satisfaction that he had not chosen to do so but serves Him instead?
A slave-owner does not derive special pleasure when the slave performs his duties satisfactorily, whereas the father whose son does his bidding without questioning it, causes his father joy precisely because he had the option to refuse to carry out his father’s bidding. We know from experience that many children have friends and companions who try to convince them to disobey their parents.
In spite of this, a clever son disregards the temptation to disobey his father’s wishes and instead goes out of his way to comply with his father’s wishes, as he realizes that by so doing he is adding joy to his father’s life as his father has reason to be proud of him. Something very similar occurs in our relations with our Creator, Who has told us specifically that He considers us, the Jewish people, as His children. (Deut. 14,1) His joy is reinforced as he realizes that by having given us free choice of how we arrange our lives His glory throughout the universe is enhanced.
The opening words of the verse following the above, i.e. כי כל האנשים, “for all the men, etc.,” certainly seem to be inaccurate, besides what does this have to do with G’d’s glory filling the universe? It almost sounds as if the people who were going to die in the desert would thereby become the instrument of demonstrating G’d’s glory?
Numbers 14,21. “nevertheless, as I live and as the Lord’s Presence fills the whole world, etc.”
The opening words of the verse following the above, i.e. כי כל האנשים, “for all the men, etc.,” certainly seem to be inaccurate, besides what does this have to do with G’d’s glory filling the universe? It almost sounds as if the people who were going to die in the desert would thereby become the instrument of demonstrating G’d’s glory?
In order to understand verses 21-23, we need to preface our remarks with a well known fact about the subject of man’s free choice, i.e. having the choice of obeying the Creator or not. G’d has equipped each one of us with the power to overcome the temptation to do evil and to instead choose to do good and thereby to assure ourselves of life. We must always remember that were it not for the evil urge which constantly lies in wait to deceive us about our true interests, the fact that a human being serves the Creator would not arouse the slightest attention, as it is something that would be taken for granted. Also, as far as G’d is concerned, if man did not have an urge to do evil, how could G’d experience joy and satisfaction that he had not chosen to do so but serves Him instead?
A slave-owner does not derive special pleasure when the slave performs his duties satisfactorily, whereas the father whose son does his bidding without questioning it, causes his father joy precisely because he had the option to refuse to carry out his father’s bidding. We know from experience that many children have friends and companions who try to convince them to disobey their parents.
In spite of this, a clever son disregards the temptation to disobey his father’s wishes and instead goes out of his way to comply with his father’s wishes, as he realizes that by so doing he is adding joy to his father’s life as his father has reason to be proud of him. Something very similar occurs in our relations with our Creator, Who has told us specifically that He considers us, the Jewish people, as His children. (Deut. 14,1) His joy is reinforced as he realizes that by having given us free choice of how we arrange our lives His glory throughout the universe is enhanced.
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