20 Jan SEEKING HASHEM – PART ONE
In bentching, we declare “V’dorshei Hashem lo yachsiru chol tov – Those who seek Hashem will lack from naught that is good.” The occupation of seeking Hashem, being a Dorshei Hashem, is the fulfillment of one of the meanings of the verse, “Es Hashem Elokecha tirah,” for Rav Miller renders this posuk, that “One should look to see Hashem in this world.” An example of such a person was Yisro, the father in-law of Moshe Rabbeinu.
The Torah quotes Yisro as saying, “Atah yadati ki gadol Hashem mikol elohim ki badavar asher zadu aleihem – Now I know that Hashem is greater than all powers, for that which the Egyptians plotted, befell them.” Yisro starts his comments with the words, “Now I Know.” This teaches us that Yisro was looking into this matter for a while. He was a true Dorshei Hashem. When Yisro saw that everything that happened to the Egyptians was measure for measure, he spotted conclusively the Hand of Hashem: When he saw the Nile which was filled with the blood of Jewish babies turn into blood by the plague of dam, when he noticed the Egyptians stricken with lice because they didn’t allow the Jews to bathe and to shower, and finally when he saw the Egyptians drown in the Red Sea for drowning the Jewish babies. All of this precluded any element of chance and pointed with a certainty to the Hand of Hashem. This pursuit of seeing Hashem is the goodly intelligence which we refer to every morning when we say “Reishis chochma yiras Hashem, seichel tov l’chol oseihem – It is the first of wisdom, awareness of Hashem, goodly intelligence for all that achieve it.”
When Yisro saw that Hashem manipulated nature according to His will, he made the statement that Hashem is greater than all elohim. What does elohim refer to in this verse? We are taught that the word “Elohim” has the same gematria as HaTeva, nature. We are also taught that “Elohim” refers to Midas HaDin, the attribute of strict justice. I believe this is because nature acts strictly, brooking no compromise. The sun is precisely 92 million miles away. If it were any closer, we’d be barbequed. If it were further, we would have an Ice Age. As we say in Kiddush Levana, “Chok u’zman nusan lahem shelo yeshanu es tafkidum – A statute in time Hashem gave them and they do not deviate from their purpose.” The sun is calibrated perfectly to give photosynthesis to every leaf on the planet. It is exactly just the right distance so that when we see there isn’t any sun glare but its light is also not too dim. This is compared to Din, strict justice, which allows for no wavering. Yisro took note that when Hashem manipulated the world doing the ten plagues and the splitting of the Red Sea, He was greater than all of this nature.
Now however, for us to be Dorshei Hashem, we don’t need the manipulation of nature. By studying the din of the teva, we can see clearly the Hand of Hashem: simply by looking at a chicken egg whose shell is constructed in just the right thickness. If it were a little thinner, the young chick wouldn’t survive the trauma of the egg birth. But if the shell were a little bit harder, the chick wouldn’t be able to peck its way out. It has to be just the right thickness. Now, because the ostrich has a more traumatic birth, its egg shell is therefore a lot harder. However, the baby ostrich has a thorn-like appendage on one of its fingers so that it can break through the shell and exit to the world. “Mah rabu maasecha Hashem, kulam b’chochma asisa – How great are your deeds Hashem, all invested with great wisdom.”
Let’s take another example: before a fetus is born, the blood doesn’t flow to the lungs for the baby is not using its lungs. Rather, it “breathes” using the umbilical cord. Instead, the blood flows from the right side of the heart to the left side of the heart through a specially designed duct. At the moment of birth, this duct amazingly and instantaneously seals and instead the blood starts flowing to the lungs. This happens when every baby is born. The true seeker of Hashem does not have far to look to discover the plan and purpose of the Creator everywhere he or she looks.
May it be the will of Hashem that we learn to see Hashem through the myriads of kindness which He showers upon us.In that merit, may He bless us all with long life, good health and everything wonderful.
To be continued.