Welcome to our humility series. We're talking about thoughts that cause one to become humble. The Hovot Halevavot in the second gate, Shaar HaBechina, which looks into creation (chapter 5), says, "There's something that you should look into in creation. It applies to the greatest and smallest of creatures. It's something that's hidden, that you don't see with your regular senses. It's the constant of movement. Everything that's happening is happening because of movement.
He says, without movement, nothing would come to be. And he quotes a statement. רב הטבעים עם התנועה /Most of natural events come about due to movement It's what makes the cells move. What makes your blood flow? What makes you able to walk and move your limbs? And he says, When you understand the secret of movement, you'll understand how spiritual it is. It's from the wonders of God. And you'll realize, Hashem's tremendous mercy on you. And you'll realize that all of your movements are connected to the will of your Creator. He's making everything move. The only thing that He left is certain things you have freedom of choice in. But otherwise, as we say in the morning, Hamechin Mitzader Gaver,/God sets up the steps of man. So pay attention to every movement you make and realize how He is connected to that movement. Be a little bit shameful of Him and give yourself over to His will because He's watching and looking and directing you.
This is a very, very important point- we don't have our own independent energy. Hashem makes us move at all times. This is something to think about.
On Rosh Hashanah there is a Piyut that Sephardim say, written by Rav Yehuda Halevi, the author of the Kuzari. It's called Ya Shimcha/Your name is Hashem. It says in the last stanza of that Piyut הִשְׁתּוֹנֵן, וְהִכּוֹנֵן, וְהִתְבּוֹנֵן בְּסוֹדֶךָ. וְהִבַּטְתָּ, מָה אַתָּה, וּמֵאַיִן יְסוֹדֶךָ. וּמִי הֱכִינְךָ, וּמִי הֱבִינְךָ, /Sharpen your mind and prepare yourself and delve into your secret (which refers to your soul) And realize what are you and what is your source of being? Who formed you? Who gave you wisdom?
And now for the last three words, וְכֹחַ מִי יְנִידֶךָ./Whose power animates you?
Whose power makes you move? That's something that the Paytan is asking us to think about, specifically on Rosh Hashanah, the day of creation, the day that God breathed life into man. We should think about this every day, but especially on Rosh Hashanah- Who is energizing us? Who's giving us the strength to move?
We will quote three different sources for this concept, each from a different shade of our religion.
Working chronologically, we start with the Tomar Devorah, the famous sefer written by Rav Moshe, Cordovero, one of the great Kabbalists of Sfat. He lived from 1522 to 1570 and was actually one of the leaders of Kabbalah, even before the Arizal. In the first chapter of Tomar Devorah when talking about he first Middah of Hashem, he says, אֵין רֶגַע שֶׁלֹּא יִהְיֶה הָאָדָם נִזּוֹן וּמִתְקַיֵּים מִכֹּחַ עֶלְיוֹן הַשּׁוֹפֵעַ עָלָיו. /There's not a moment that a person is not sustained and exists from the heavenly force that is constantly granted upon him.
That means we do not live because we're here as independent beings.
We will explain further citing a quote from the Baal Shem Tov, Rav Yisrael ben Eliezer (c. 1700 to 1760), the founder of Hasidut, in his sefer Beer Mayim Chaim on Bereshit explaining the pasuk (Tehilim 119 89) לעולם ה' דברך נצב בשמים,/Forever Hashem, Your words are standing in the Shamayim
The Baal Shem Tov explains that when a flesh and blood craftsman makes a vessel, he can walk away from the vessel and no matter what energy or wisdom he put into it, his ability no longer impacts it. It's going to stay forever. Why? Because he's made it yesh m'yesh/something from something. He took existing silver and crafted it into the vessel. But Hashem created the world yesh m'eyin/something from nothing. There was nothing there before Him. And therefore, if Hashem, even for a second, decides to cease to pump the energy into it, it will cease to exist. God has to constantly put that energy in to make it be. Thr Baal Shem Tov gives the example of the sun. Why is the sun there? Not just because it's there. No. If you were able to put on spiritual glasses, you'd see the words Yehi Or pumping into the sun. And if those letters Yehi Or went away, the sun would cease to exist. Hashem, every second, is pumping energy Yehi Rakia/let there be a firmament. That's why there's a sky. He says that's what it means L'Olam/Forever Your words are still in the heavens. That means the original ten statements that God said when He created the world are still standing there. And if your eyes were capable of seeing it, you'd see them still there.
Lastly, we will quote the Nefesh HaChaim, Rav Chaim of Volozhin (1749 to 1821), the father of the Yeshiva movement. He was a student of the Gaon of Vilna and got everything from him. And he says almost the same thing. Why is Hashem called Elohim, which means the Source of all energy? Because God is different than a regular craftsman that builds a building out of wood, who didn't make the wood, he just formed it. When the craftsman goes away, he goes away. He makes the same point as the Baal Shem Tov: Hashem made something from nothing. And he says, from the time of creation, כל יום וכל רגע ממש. , Every day and every moment, God is keeping it going. And he says that's why Anshei Knessset HaGedolah said המחדש בטובו בכל יום תמיד מעשה בראשית /God renews in His goodness every day constantly, the creation.
תמיד ממש כל עת ורגע./literally every second .
And as it says, לעושה אורים גדולים /God is making the great luminaries- in the present tense. Not He made.
What does that have to do with us? Humility. In the words of the Hovot Halevavot and of Rav Yehuda Halevi- There's nothing that we do on our own. Our heart is pumping because God is making it pump. In Shir HaShirim 5,2 it says ק֣וֹל ׀ דּוֹדִ֣י דוֹפֵ֗ק/The voice of my beloved is banging, פִּתְחִ/Open up
Our pulse is called defek cause the pulse bangs. It pulsates. I once saw a pshat that the pulse is called defek/ banging because Who's the One that's banging and pulsating through our body? It's ק֣וֹל ׀ דּוֹדִ֣י דוֹפֵ֗ק Hashem is making that happen.
When we think these thoughts, we realize, What are we doing? Whatever we're doing, whether hitting a ball, making a cake, or making money, Who is energizing me? Who's pumping it into me? Imagine those huge blow up items that flail around in front of stores to get your attention, flapping back and forth. Imagine if it thought to itself, "Wow! look how powerful I am. I'm going back and forth."
Excuse me, sir. There's someone pumping the air into you. You'd be flat on the floor without that thing pumping air into you.
And with us, it's even worse because we wouldn't even be that flat plastic on the floor if Hashem wasn't pumping energy into us.
These kind of thoughts are humbling, and it's our responsibility to think about them.