Acharei Mot - Kedoshim
Can we untether our delight?
Reflection by US Community Manger Carrie Watkins:
"The reality of One God is central to Judaism, and not making or worshipping idols is one of our most steadfast principles.
In our times, this seems easy enough to follow. Don’t make an object and worship it; I wasn’t going to anyway!
To the 19th Century Ishbitzer Rebbe, avoiding making a molten idol requires more attention than we might think, and the practice of this attention can lead to rich spiritual growth:
וגם באדם ימצא שירגיל את עצמו בהנאת עוה"ז אף בהנאה קטנה עד שלא יוכל לפרוש ממנה זה יקרא מסכה
(Mei HaShiloach Kedoshim)
`When a person finds themselves so used to a physical pleasure in this world that they can’t separate themselves from it, this is called a masecha, an idol`
When we become habituated to worldly pleasures, without perspective or separation, we fall into idolatry.
How then do we avoid this idolatry? Should we become ascetic and avoid worldly enjoyment altogether?
Not at all, says the Ishbitzer. Rather,
רק בכל דבר הנאה שיגיע לאדם צריך לסלק את עצמו מכל נגיעותיו, ובאם אחר סילוק והסרת נגיעותיו עוד ישאר לו זה החשק אז ידע בברור כי מאת ה' היא
`For every physical enjoyment a person must remove himself from any personal motives and attachments, and any pleasure that’s left will be from God.`
True enjoyment of this world is Divine. In order to see clearly when we’re worshipping idols and when we’re in touch with Divinity, we must reflect on our habits. If our merriment is laden with attachment, with an inability to separate ourselves from the object of enjoyment, with a way of seeing that is fixed and rigid, then we are engaging in a form of idol worship. If we can touch joy in something that is free and not about us as individuals, but part of the larger flow of life, then that pleasure can be holy.
Our task is to tend to the difference and orient ourselves towards a more unencumbered joy.
Wishing you a Shabbat of untethered delight."