It’s All in Your Mind
In this week’s Torah reading, Moshe (Moses) admonishes the Jews for their reaction to the report of the spies about the Land of Israel.
As the Jews approached the Promised Land after their exodus from Egypt, they sent a group of spies to scout out the land. When the spies returned, the majority of them badmouthed the land, and painted a bleak picture for the nation. They were not at all optimistic about their chances in succeeding to conquer the land. As a result, the Jews began to cry and they said, “It is because God hates us that he took us out of Egypt to give us into the hand of the Emorim.”
Moshe was admonishing them for this, and Rashi explains that Moshe was telling them that it was all in their minds. In truth, God loved them dearly, and it was they who felt hard feelings towards God! Since they harbored ill feelings towards God, without realizing it, their minds distorted the reality and created an image as if it was God who was against them.
I am with Him in His Pain
At times, we may face similar challenges. Things are not going the way we want, and we start to become upset with God and say, “God has something against me.” What we don’t realize is that the complete opposite is true. The Talmud says (Sanhedrin, 46a) that when a Jew is suffering, the Divine Presence cries out to express the pain God has from this, even if the person suffering is wicked, and certainly if he is righteous. We must be careful to avoid having ourselves harbor ill feelings towards God, which can create a distorted image in our minds, as if God has ill feelings toward us.
God is above emotions. There is no such thing as “getting on the wrong side of God.” If we feel that way, it’s only a reflection of our own feelings, created in our imagination. On the contrary, when we are in pain, God is suffering with us, and is closer to us than ever, as the verse says (Psalms, 91:15), “I am with him in his predicament” (see Davar Be’ito, by the Chofetz Chaim, chapter 4).
God, I Know You Are with Me in This
One day, during the Holocaust, the Nazis came up with a new way to torture the Jewish inmates. It was a cold winter day, and they ordered a group of Jews to undress and jump, one at a time, into a barrel full of burning chemicals.
When it came the turn for a certain individual to jump in, he started to talk to God and he said: “God, the Germans have taken everything away from me. They took my parents, they took away my wife, they took away my children and now they have stripped me of my clothing. All I have is my bare bones and flesh. One thing I will always have, that they can cannot take away from me, is You. I know that You are with me in these most difficult times and that You will always be with me.” As he concluded his statement, he jumped into the barrel.
The man proceeded to tell that the pleasure he felt at that moment was indescribable. He felt such a closeness to God, such a unity with the Divine Presence like no other time. The pleasure was so great, of the like he never felt before, and he could hardly tear himself out of that barrel, as his friends were screaming at him to come out before his skin would be completely burned off.
Arouse Positive Feelings – God Loves Us!
When a person is being smitten, he naturally feels distant. It takes a lot of discipline to arouse positive feelings when one is going through a difficult time. Contrary to how we might feel, we should always remember that God loves us and is suffering with us. Never should we make the mistake the Jews made in the desert to accuse God for a moment of acting out of animosity towards us.
By Rabbi Yitzchok Aryeh Strimber torah4every1@gmail.com
