Thursday, December 4, 2014
Ethics of our Fathers: Chapter 4: Mishna 5: G-d is Watching You!
9:48 PM | 
Posted by
Rabbi Chaim Coffman |
"Rabbi
Yochanan ben Berokah said: 'Whoever profanes the name of G-d secretly is
punished publicly, whether the profanation is committed intentionally or
unintentionally."
When we speak about a profanation of G-d's name the connotation is something that has taken place in public. The desecration of G-d's name will depend on the level where the person is holding spiritually.
The Talmud gives an example of a rabbi who bought meat but didn't pay for it immediately. Each one will get judged according to their own level. We learn this out from Yishmael because when he was a child and dying of thirst, G-d did not allow him to die.
The angels asked why he was allowed to live if in the future his progeny would inflict great punishment and make the Jewish people suffer. G-d answered by asking if the child right now is guilty or innocent whereby the angels answered innocent. G-d then told them that since he is innocent now, I cannot punish him for what he may do in the future because I am judging him as he is now!
The Mishna here explicitly tells us that the transgression we do in our homes where others don't see us will eventually come out in public whether we did them intentionally or not. This is truly remarkable because many times we hear of things that people did that we never would have known had it not been made public.
This teaches us a number of lessons. One is how careful we have to be in our actions even in the privacy of our own homes! if we don't then we could eventually be exposed even for the most private of things!
There's an old saying: what goes around comes around. This seems to mean that a person's actions whether they are good or bad have consequences. We can run but we can't hide. G-d knows the thoughts and actions of all men and will expose those things that we so desperately try and hide.
This is similar to what the Zohar says at the end of a person's life, they will be shown two movies. One movie is what they did in their lives and the other is what they had the potential to do. Before the invention of video recorders. we would not know what this is referring to.
Now that we see things can be recorded and saved, G-d too does the same thing and will play all our actions that we have done when He renders His final judgement! The true righteous person is careful with their actions in public but we must be careful with them in private as well.
This shows true fear of heaven that all our actions regardless of where we may be have to be proper in G-d's eyes. This is not an easy task but G-d is with us no matter where we are and that is something we all have to remember!
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