The Chida, in his Sefer Homat Anach (8,14) is bothered that according to many Rishonim, forgetting about Hashem is a negative commandment. It says Zacharta Et Hashem Elokecha/You have to remember Hashem. He says there’s a machlolet about whether Forgetting Hashem is considered negligence or an accident. To illustrate, if I have to watch something and I forget, is that forgetting considered negligence? Maybe it's just an accident-It's not your fault, you forgot. How do we view forgetting? Sometimes people forget where they put their keys. Is that considered negligence or an accident? How do we view it? It's an argument, he says, but sometimes there is negligence from the outset which causes the forgetting, as is discussed about Sefirat HaOmer. You forgot to count, but you should have put a sign up. You should have done something.
Sometimes you're responsible for the forgetting and so you are considered to be negligent. With that, he answers the question. The pasuk doesn't say, Don't forget Hashem. It says You’ll become arrogant and forget Hashem. Therefore, he says, forgetting Hashem comes from arrogance, and that arrogance is in your control. For this reason, you are responsible for forgetting Hashem, because your arrogance caused it.
But hold on-where does the arrogance come from? Is that in my control? And the answer is yes. The arrogance is in your control because of your Bitachon and Emunah.
All Middot are in our control. It's up to us to program our brains a certain way and constantly bombard ourselves. As we’ve said, there are causes for arrogance but it's in our hands to remove those causes- such as by making a beracha every single day, as we’ve discussed previously. Every time we make a beracha, that reminds us of Hashem.
I once heard a mashal of a man speeding, going over a hundred miles an hour.
A cop pulled him over and gave him a big ticket. He was going to lose his license. When he was called in front of the judge, the judge asked, “What do you have to say on your behalf?” The man said, “It's not my fault. I was drunk.” Is that an excuse? No. Getting drunk was in your control. That was up to you. And now that you’re drunk, of course, you're going to drive a hundred miles an hour. It’s the same thing with arrogance and forgetting Hashem. We get into trouble because we're at a point of no return, but it starts earlier in the game. That’s what we're trying to do, to work constantly on Emunah and bitachon.. And if we work constantly Emunah and Bitachon, we won't become arrogant. And if we don’t become arrogant, we won’t forget God.
There's an interesting Bet Halevi, on his commentary on Bereshit, 27,9. He is bothered by the famous question, Why is it that Yitzhak Avinu was going to give Esav this wonderful blessing of Olam Hazeh, and leave Yaakov out? When he heard Hakol Kol Yaakov/ the voice of Yaakov, he thought it didn’t sound like the right son, and he didn’t want to bless Yaakov. But why not? The Bet Halevi says something that may shock some people.
He says that Yitzhak Avinu knew Yaakov was involved in learning Torah, and he was setting him up to be a true Eved Hashem. The Bet Halevi says that Yitzhak Avinu understood that getting involved in worldly pleasures might cause Yaakov Avinu to become arrogant and forget God, so he didn't want give Yaakov the luxuries and extras.
He wanted Yaakov to keep it simple, to live a life of simplicity, in order not to become arrogant. For us, that's shocking. Who doesn't want to
become wealthy? Isn't becoming wealthy a great thing? But the Mesilat Yesharim says,regarding wealth, that life is a test. He quotes Mishleh 30,9 where Shlomo Hamelech says,
שָׁ֤וְא ׀ וּֽדְבַר־כָּזָ֡ב הַרְחֵ֬ק מִמֶּ֗נִּי רֵ֣אשׁ וָ֭עֹשֶׁר אַל־תִּֽתֶּן־לִ֑י הַ֝טְרִיפֵ֗נִי לֶ֣חֶם חֻקִּֽי׃
פֶּ֥ן אֶשְׂבַּ֨ע ׀ וְכִחַשְׁתִּי֮ וְאָמַ֗רְתִּי מִ֥י יְ֫הֹוָ֥ה וּפֶֽן־אִוָּרֵ֥שׁ וְגָנַ֑בְתִּי וְ֝תָפַ֗שְׂתִּי שֵׁ֣ם אֱלֹהָֽי׃
“I don't want poverty, and keep wealth away from me. Give me my daily portion. What am I afraid of?
If I become satiated I will deny God and say, Who is God? And Lest I I become poor, and I steal.”
And the rabbis in Musar ask, What's worse? Forgetting God or stealing? The poor man steals, but the wealthy man forgets God.
Thus, the shocking explanation of the Bet Halevi, which is really a clear pasuk in Mishleh. There's a fear of wealth, because one will come to say, Mi Hashem/Who is God?
Rashi says in Mishleh, “Become satiated from the wealth and from the tremendous arrogance, I will deny God and I'll say, Who is God? There's no God.”
Scary!
Our job is to fight against the lures of wealth and constantly remind ourselves, Mi Hashem.