Rabbi Meshulam ha Levi Jungreis zt”l always used to quote the Gemara, “Hakadosh Baruch hu liba boai …. Hashem desires the heart.” (Sanhedrin 106b) Rabbi Jungreis was a big man with a big heart. He had been through Gehenom in the Holocaust, but he was always shining like the sun. He would bring challahs to the widows before Shabbos.
It happens that the yahrzeit of this great man falls out this very week, on the Second Day of the Month of Shevat. May his memory be for a blessing!
I tell people who are dating that the essential quality to look for in a mate is a good heart. Everything else follows. I’m not such a chacham to say this; it just follows from the fact that Hashem “desires the heart.”
What does this mean? It means that we have to work on ourselves to imbue our hearts with the desire to do good for others. The heart is the seat of emotion, but it needs to be trained. Goodness is not inherent.
Every morning we put on tefillin “opposite the heart, in order to (remind us to) subjugate the desire and thoughts of our heart to His service.” (Morning prayer)
We have to train our hearts to desire good. In the Shema we ask Hashem to help us, through the mitzvah of tzitzis, not to “explore after our hearts … after which you stray.” We are not to let our heart lead us but, rather, we are to train our heart to go after Hashem’s commandments.
Paro is the prime example of someone whose heart led him to evil. In this week’s Parsha Hashem says, “I have made [Paro’s] heart hard and the heart of his servants stubborn ….” Hashem did not initiate the hardness. Rather it came from Paro himself, for Chazal teach us, “In the way that a man wishes to go, in that way he is led.” (Makkos 10b) Paro trained himself to be evil, just like our enemies of today, who train their children from their earliest days to hate us.
Our job is to soften our heart so that it becomes receptive to Hashem’s will. The Chumash describes what will happen when Am Yisroel does teshuva in the End of Days: “Hashem, your G-d, will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring to love Hashem ….” (Devarim 30:6)
Several weeks ago I discussed the phenomenon of what is called “artificial intelligence.” I think this subject is intimately related to our current parshios. Paro’s trait was hardness of heart. One cannot inflict suffering on others unless one’s heart is hard. One cannot throw babies into the Nile or brick them into the pyramids unless one’s heart is hard. A person with the slightest compassion recoils from such horrible brutality. Look at the incredible suffering the armies of Hitler, ymak shemo, inflicted upon our people. Look at our Arab enemies. These are people who have worked on themselves to bury their hearts in layers of callous in order to stifle feelings of kindness and compassion.
I would like to say that the robot mentality which is exemplified by today’s electronic technology is perhaps the ultimate example of existence devoid of heart. A machine which can think is the most dangerous presence on earth, because it is by definition devoid of feeling, compassion and the love emanating from a good heart. I would say that artificial intelligence is actually today’s avoda zara. People are worshipping this technology as if it will save the world, when in fact it can destroy the world.
Listen to the words of Dovid ha Melech: “Their idols are … the handiwork of man. They have a mouth, but cannot speak. They have eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear. They have a nose but cannot smell. Their hands, they cannot feel….” (Tehillim 115) Do you think robots “see” or “hear” or “speak?” No! Nothing real is coming from them, but rather from a series of numbers formulated by some unknown person in some distant place.
Can you imagine an army of robots? It is too terrible to contemplate. They have nothing to lose because they are machines. They have no conscience because they have no heart. They have no scruples. They are not fighting for something they believe in because they have no belief. They are just wires and electrons.
A family of Greek Jews was hiding in a mountain cave during the Second World War. A Nazi soldier found them, but, when he saw a mother with her baby, he whispered, “They look just like my wife and daughter.” He turned away and they were saved. That baby is now a grandfather; I know him.
This could not happen with a robot.
My friends, don’t think the story of Paro is a thing of the past. We are living in world that is worshipping the very heart of evil. “They do not know nor do they understand. In darkness they walk. All foundations of the earth collapse…. Arise, O G-d. Judge the earth, for You allot the heritage among all the nations.” (Tehillim 82)
Soon the G-d of Justice will arise and judge the earth. “Iniquity will close its mouth and all wickedness will evaporate like smoke, when [Hashem] will remove evil’s domination from the earth.” (Rosh Hashanah)
May we see that day soon!
Forest Cave
GLOSSARY
Avoda zara: idol worship
Chacham: wise person
Chazal: rabbi of the Mishna and Gemara
Dovid ha Melech: King David
Gehenom: hell
Paro: Pharaoh
Parshios: Torah portions
Shevat: the name of the current month in the Jewish calendar
Teshuva: repentance
Yahrzeit: anniversary of a person’s death
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