Thursday, April 23, 2009

T'filla #5

Review of #4

In the previous post we explained the unique role of redemption in incorporating the Shem Hashem into one's outlook. Redemption is the process by which our eyes are opened to the reality that our good is a the product of natural delivery system guided by Hashgacha rather than a social forces rooted in the fantasy of great personalities. Critical to the mind's eye opening experience of redemption is the phenomenon of Yam suf, observing in oneself the transition from being a victim of the force of
the fantasy to having one's minds eye opened by the undeniable natural system revealed by the purposeful termination of Egypt by the Hasgacha.

We left off asking about the connection of redemption to Yakov avinu as well as to tefilla.

Seeing life through the lens of Hasgacha

The relation of the mind redeeming experience of Yam Suf to tefilla or עבודה is clear.
Yam suf secures the general realization that we must admit we receive good exclusively through the natural system of aretz as directed by hashgacha (Yad Hashem). This premise of עבודה however, is a far cry from developing the habit of mind needed to calculate and plan our lives within the many subsystems of human endeavor- בכל דרכך דעהו. The realization of עבודה comes when we move from Geulah to tefilla- planning our lives via applying the idea of redemptive Hashgacha gleaned from Yam suf- to ourselves. The mind opening character of Geula is embedded in the Halacha of semichut Geula litefilla. The gavra hamitpallel, as one able to reflect on himself via the higher principle of Hashgacha, is best focused via the beracha on Geula in Keriat shema.

This need to move past general principle to calculating ones personal place is also evident in the foundational halacha of tefilla- requesting ones needs. In the words of Rambam

אחר כך נותן שבח והודיה לה' על הטובה שהשפיע לו: כל אחד כפי כוחו
The key to Avoda, is perceiving the good, as a product of the natural delivery system-as evident in the self.

The preoccupation with taking the general principle of Hasgachically guided delivery system and applying it to the self, is fraught with difficulty. How is one to know the ways of hashgacha? It is here that we finally come to the topic of the next post-the connection of "seeing" Yam Suf to Yaakov Avinu.

3 comments:

Rabbi Joshua Maroof said...

In purely practical terms, the difficulty that I struggle with is the material reality that most of us obtain our parnassa through some form of human agency - we are employed by a company managed by humans, our salary is paid by humans, and our job security is dependent upon human opinion - so the hashgacha focus, while theoretically true, is limited in its impact on our "bottom line" conduct.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said...

Rabbi Maroof

We do not receive our parnassa from a human agency, this is precisely the fantasy we must break. To succeed we must break our sense of the roles and images of familiar niches of "job" and employer.

We receive our parnassa from the natural system guided by a Chochma order. The particular people are functions of that system that can be understood. we must not fall into the trap of limiting ourselves to the dependency of roles.

Even successful businessmen know this. What makes Warren Buffet great is his cool detached systemic perspective, his refusal to limit his financial decision making to the security of psychlogically familiar roles and images of employer employee, corporate functionary or whatever.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said...

I regret using the term "break" in reference to the natural tendency of role identity. What I should have said is

We do not receive our parnassa from a human agency, this is precisely the fantasy we must redeem ourselves from. To succeed we must learn to reflect upon our sense of the roles and images of familiar niches of "job" and employer and see them for the limiting animal image that they are.


We receive our parnassa from the natural system guided by a Chochma order. The particular people are functions of that system that can be understood. we must not fall into the trap of limiting ourselves to the dependency of roles.

Even successful businessmen know this. What makes Warren Buffet great is his cool detached systemic perspective, his refusal to limit his financial decision making to the security of psychlogically familiar roles and images of employer employee, corporate functionary or whatever.