Filed under: Divine service, Do better than the Generation, ethics, The Guide, Uncategorized
One should review his activities daily, seeing where
he falls short of his potential and areas in which innovations
may aid his divine service
Make sure our days are very long. With each new day make
sure the time is longer fuller, richer with added holiness.
Expand the days. filling them with more holiness and purity.
In this way we will be perfectly united with our Creator in a
revealed way, it is explained that the commandments are the
inwardness of His Blessed Will without any concealment of
the countenance whatsoever. The vitality that is in them is
in no way a separate and independent thing but is united
and absorbed in His Blessed Will, and they are truly one in a
perfect union. Each commandment must be done with
vitality. It must be an act lighted by inner devotion. This
gives it wings. We must seek atonement for the wicked, as
the Holy One does not yet want to destroy them. By doing
so harsh decrees are nullified and gates of blessings are
opened.
The Malbim teaches that to the extent a man possesses
Holiness he surpasses nature; with the help of Divine
Providence. he achieves the goal. The sages describe the
true descendants of Abraham as bashful, merciful, and
benevolent. These traits are our true nature, and those we
need to cultivate-but to bring the Divine Providence into
being in this world, as spoken of above, we must surpass our
natural endowment of these traits and others. Concerning
surpassing our natures, Love upsets the natural order, as
Abraham got up early to offer Issac, going against his
natural inclination to sleep, so his providence is above the
natural order. With a great love we can surpass all bounds,
revealing holiness in even great damage, as Rebbenu
Bachyah teaches in Duties of the Heart that the evil
inclination beguiled us to neglect the cultivation of this
world, depart from the way of our forefathers, and instead
see life as an opportunity for hoarding and a time to increase
in the wealth of this world till they sank deep into the sea.
Everyone did what he saw his neighbor do. One who took
from this world only what was sufficient for him was called
an idler. It was said of one who delayed to increase what he
had that his action fell short. One who was content with
what was needed for him was regarded as a weakling. People
went astray in the depth of folly and turned to the
coarseness of idleness instead of being eager to serve God.
Rebbenu Bachyah concludes that even among the religious
people of today the evil inclination has gone as far as
described here.
