“This is how we live! This is how we stay alive! . . . It is life, itself!

 

"But you who cleave to HaShem your G-d are alive, all of you, today!"

(Deuteronomy 4:4)

Av 15, 5782/August 12, 2022

In writing about Va'etchanan, a parasha that contains a recap of the Ten Commandments and the Sinai revelation, the Shema statement of G-d's oneness, Moshe's plea to HaShem to enter into the land of Canaan, any number of warnings against the dangers of idolatry, and no fewer soaring statements of faith in HaShem and His love for us, it is hard to decide upon what to focus. But the unambiguous statement, "But you who cleave to HaShem your G-d are alive, all of you, today" touches upon all of the above expressions of our unbreakable bond with HaShem our G-d, who is One.

Moshe tells the people "But you who cleave to HaShem your G-d are alive, all of you, today" in the context of his recounting of Israel's horrific lapse into the idolatrous worship of the Moabite god of Baal Peor, following the prophetic praises of Bilaam. The who bowed down before Peor were all killed. And those who kept faith with HaShem were are spared. But this simple statement of fact broadcasts an unmistakably universal message, especially when we hear the closing words, "all of you, today." Moshe is talking to us. We are all alive today by virtue of our attachment to HaShem, our faith in the One G-d, and our love for our Creator. HaShem is our breath and our heartbeat. People who have distanced themselves from HaShem, or have cut their ties to Him, are alive, but not fully so. We live and breathe but our lives are not lived to their fullest in the absence of a living relationship with G-d. We need to keep in touch! How we conduct our conversation with HaShem is our private business, and our relationship with G-d, if it is truly a living relationship, will change and grow each day, sometimes colder and sometimes warmer, depending on what is happening around us and how we see HaShem in our day to day lives. Sometimes we will feel like we are so close to HaShem we are practically touching His hand and sometimes we will feel that G-d is further away than ever. To "cleave to HaShem" is not static and we don't only cleave to Him in good times, but in bad times as well. We cleave to HaShem by asking Him questions whose answers we will never fully understand, and we cleave to HaShem by seeing the sublime beauty of a sunset and knowing that His hand crafted our world.

The danger of idolatry is not that we attach ourselves to meaningless things and misplace our faith in vanities. The danger of idolatry is that we disconnect ourselves from HaShem our source of life, and squander our faith in the work of our own hands and the misguided musings of our own imaginations.

"Beware, lest you forget the covenant of HaShem your G-d, which He made with you, and make for yourselves a graven image, the likeness of anything, which HaShem your G-d has forbidden you. For HaShem your G-d is a consuming fire, a zealous G-d." (ibid 4:23) When we drift so far from HaShem that we turn to idolatry, whether it be the gods of the market place, or the gods of social media, or whatever gods are in fashion, it does not go unnoticed. G-d has no tolerance for those who actively and wittingly choose to cut their ties. But G-d, being G-d, is always right here, ready to receive all who desire to rekindle their relationship.

When G-d first formed woman from man, He decreed that a man shall "cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh," (Genesis 2:24) employing the same word - to cleave - used by Moshe in his comfirmation that "you who cleave to HaShem your G-d are alive, all of you, today." We need one another no less than we need HaShem, and to truly love another is to love HaShem, for He is our common denominator. HaShem and the life He blessed us with is what we humans share. To cleave to one another is to cleave to HaShem - to be alive.

"It is not good that man is alone" (ibid 2:18) G-d determined and set out to fashion for man a helpmeet, a significant other, so that we can truly live. Cleaving to one another is a ‘gateway drug' toward cleaving to HaShem. The pursuit of idolatry, in all its forms, ancient, as well as contemporary, is the path to loneliness. We cut ourselves off, not just from G-d, but from our fellow man, and, ultimately, from ourselves. Pursuing G-d's wish that we not be alone brings Him into our lives. When we connect to one another G-d's Oneness becomes clear, His nearness becomes palpable.

"Hear, O Israel: HaShem is our G-d; HaShem is one. And you shall love HaShem, your G-d, with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your might." (Deut. 6:4-5) This is how we live! This is how we stay alive! Cleaving to HaShem is not merely a way of life. It is life, itself!