Meeting Din with Joy
by
Haazinu
is the last parsha of the Torah for which a weekly
reading is assigned. The Torah readings
are being wrapped up in the last readings of the last book—Dvarim,
which is, itself, a summary of the Torah.
This is the time of the year for reflection and repentance, when all of
our views of life are challenged, as we again read Moshe’s call on heaven and
earth to witness the Covenant of the Torah.
On Rosh Hashana we ask G-d to “remember us for good,” and He asks
us to “remember the days of old”—the things He did for the generations of
Moshe
proclaims that G-d is our Rock. This is
a challenge to look deep inside ourselves to see our true view of G-d—not what
we are “supposed to think”, but, rather, what we truly do think and feel about
Him. Many people have a damaged view of G-d,
based on injurious human relationships with parents, spouses, or friends. However, for most people, this is so deep
that they are unaware of it themselves.
The first step in having a relationship with “The Rock”, then, is to
reflect honestly on that true feeling toward Him. Prayer and meditation in Torah can then bring
the soul to Truth of who He is. Many
people try to skip the first step and find themselves
pretending, saying the things they feel they are supposed to say. The sad thing about this is that they will
never get to a real relationship like that.
They might find emotional highs and some type of spiritual experiences,
but they will never find the connection with G-d necessary for those
experiences to be genuine. Our world is
full of people pretending to be what they think they are supposed to be rather
than being who they truly are in G-d—who they came into the world to be. To find this, requires the divine attribute
of din—judgment—which is misunderstood to be a negative concept.
Elohim
created the world absolutely perfect. Every
tree sunk its roots firmly into the earth, never to suffer rot or decay. Every animal walked in harmony with the
other, never to suffer disease or injury.
There was no flaw, no pain, no death. All was perfect—absolutely perfect. This was the world conceived in the mind of
the Creator—the perfect world for which our souls still yearn. Yet this was the world of din, in which there
was no room for flaw. When Adam
disobeyed and ate the forbidden fruit, sin entered the world. In that world of din, he would have had to be
destroyed. However, mercy entered, and a
new world came into being. Into that world, that allowed for flaw and sin, evil was born, along
with its consequences. Adam survived to
live in a world of pain and sorrow, yearning for the world he had left, of
absolute perfection, of din. Although he
thanked Hashem for His mercy, he understood that the din of Elohim
sets the balance.
Moshe
admonished the people to adhere to the Torah, to strive for that
perfect world that din would bring.
Yet he, too, understood the value of Hashem’s mercy, and fervently
appealed to it, as the people displayed weakness time and again. This mercy would carry them through the times
of failure, as they strove for the perfect world of din. The poem of Haazinu
foresees times when G-d would hide His face, but promises that He will again
remember His people and restore them to the place He created for them in the
world.
After King Shaul heard from the conjured spirit of Shmuel the Prophet
that he was going to die, he took his sons and faced the Philistines in battle.
(I Samuel chapters 28 and 31) He could have run from it, or at least sent his
sons out of harm’s way, but he chose to face din, going to it, not just
bravely, but joyfully. Shaul had gone to the witch of En-Dor
after he had failed to receive divine guidance in every legitimate way,
indicating that he was “forgotten.” He
had erred beyond repentance, and Shmuel’s message
helped him understand the consequences.
However, he also understood that this world is not the ultimate, and
finally accepted and bowed to G-d’s will.
In din, Shaul was remembered by G-d, and he
found the sweetness of it.
When we bow
to G-d’s will, when we surrender our will to His and ask to be conformed into
His image, we are entering din. The
sweetness of this is that we thus come to know Him in a real way. We are not asking for Him to give us
something or to change things in our lives, but rather we are asking to truly
know Him. All the pretenses, the charades, fall away, transforming the stage of
our lives with Truth. This is the path
of Torah—the expression of His will in the world. This is the path of coming to know who He
created us to be—our unique place and purpose in the world. This is the most profound thing we can ever
pray.
May
Hashem's Name be praised in all the earth!