Yaakov Hibbert Presents… Put Your Plan into Action

I’d like to introduce to you some old friends of mine! There is the “dati b’lev Israeli taxi driver”. “Dati b’lev” meaning religious at heart, in fact one such guy I met told me that he wears a Cappel on his heart! But he is only religious in his heart – his heart is truly with Hashem, every corner he turns he mumbles to Hashem to help him through the traffic, but unfortunately he doesn’t keep many Mitzvahs. On one such encounter with one of these guys, when discussing the preference of real estate investors buying in England rather than in Israel with its volatile market he asked me, with such meaning and passion, “but Moshiach is coming, can’t you see it? Why would people prefer to invest outside of Israel?!” I had to do a double take; here was a guy whose religious observance was next to nil but he spoke from the heart about such a close relationship with Hashem. Truly baffling!

There’s another person. He gets up every morning washes his hands, dons his tzitzis, davens three times a day. His mitzvah observance is 11/10! On the checklist of what Mitzvahs are incumbent upon him every day he gets every box ticked! But unfortunately Hashem is nowhere in his life, he goes about his Mitzvah observance robotically and mechanically. Perhaps sometimes he even resents the  Mitzvahs that he does. For want of a better term for this guy we’ll call him the “frum zombie”. While the ‘dati b’lev’ is full of emotion the ‘frum zombie’ is only into the motion!

It should be noted that for the sake of this dvar torah we will speak in these two extremes – ‘dati b’lev’ and ‘frum zombie’. However in truth not only do these terms speak in extremes which are purely hypothetical, there is a huge grey area in the middle where reality exists. Within each and every one of us there are moments or actions when we sway towards each of these two extremities; although we may lean to one way more often. The Vilna Gaon writes that towards the end of time we will gravitate to becoming a generation of external actions.

I have often debated around my Shabbos table who is better off the  ‘dati b’lev’ or the ‘frum zombie’ – I suggest you do the same before reading further! I can assure you a hot and exciting debate. There are numerous sources many of which I have written about previously to support both sides of the argument.

Let me share with you a particularly insightful Rav Hirsch on this week’s Parshah on the importance of fusion between these two extremes. By taking a look at the ordering of the Ten Commandments we will notice a striking pattern. On the right hand side the first five commandments which are between man and G-d, he notes, “The demand for the recognition of G-d begins with a demand for the mind (1.Knowledge of G-d, 2. not to believe in idols), but is not satisfied with mere spirit; it demands the expression of this spirit in letter, in control of word (3. Vain oaths), of activities (4. Shabbos) and of the family (5. Honouring parents)”.

We see a clear progression. What starts as Mitzvahs which are of the mind – to acknowledge that Hashem is the only G-d and no other gods exists, then moves to a Mitzvah that is rooted in speech – not to say Hashem’s Name in vain by swearing through Him. From speech we then move into concrete actions – our work life is to be governed by a Shabbos that not just directs us how to cease from work on Shabbos but governs us to have the correct approach towards the six days of work. Finally our family life is to be infused with action based Mitzvahs represented with the Mitzvah of honouring our parents.

Taking a look across at the side of ‘between man and his fellow friend’, Rav Hirsch notes that, “the social laws begin with a demand for letter, for control of deeds (Prohibition against 6. Murder, 7. Adultery and 8. Kidnapping) and words (Prohibition against 9. False witness) but are not satisfied with letter only, but demands control of spirit and feeling (10. Prohibition against jealousy).

On the social side we have a mirrored image from the other side. Predominantly the Mitzvahs which are between man and man are action-based-Mitzvahs. For example not to murder, not to commit adultery and not to kidnap. Then we are told not to use our words against a fellow friend by giving false witness. Finally we are to control our very minds and not even covert that which our friend has.

As the Lehman Hagadah concludes “Everything within us should turn into action and all actions should be derived from within”.

Let us focus for a moment on the importance of action. Rav Chaim Shmuelevits [1902-1979] would famously comment on the fact that at  the Splitting of the Sea we are told that “even a lowly slave woman, saw a mystical vision greater than that witnessed by the prophet Yecheskal!” But they are still called ‘maidservants’ observed Reb Chaim! A person can be exposed to the most sublime experiences but if it does not lead to elevating his behaviour it is nothing.

Similarly, he said that we read in the Song of the Sea how all the nations of the world trembled when they heard about the splitting of the sea. But what happened to them? Not much, they had a momentary feeling but this did not have any everlasting effect because it was not translated into action. Indeed it is in this week’s Parshah that we read about the one person who did take action – Yisro. He joined forces with the Jews after all that he had heard. Only his inspiration led to action.

Good Shabbos, Yaakov