Thought for the Day: Nothing In This World Is What It Seems, But You Need to Live In The World to Know That

I am uncomfortable with the term "rebbi"; I don't know why, it just doesn't seem to sit/fit well with me. However, if I did have a rebbi, it would be R' Dovid Siegel, shlita; now of Kollel Ahavas Torah in Eretz Yisrael. R' Siegel comes to America each year. He is wont to daven vasikin, which works out very conveniently for me. This year, however, the logistics did not work out. There was never a question of whether we would see the rabbi; only a question of venue as he has a very busy schedule. When I say "we", I mean my wife and I. R' Siegel has been a mentor to me and has been instrumental in helping us to continue building a Torah marriage even though we both came from a background bereft of any real spirituality; which is to say, bereft of reality.

The hashgacha arranged that R' Siegel walked in from Telshe to address the olam for shashlos s'udos at the Agudah. The rabbi needed a ride back after Shabbos, so we had the merit of hosting him for havdalah and some incredible quality time after Shabbos. One thing I got out of the visit was a feeling of how I should always feel making a bracha. Being motzi R' Siegel in havdalah made me very nervous; so much so that he had to correct once -- Baruch HaShem, only once.

One of the things the rabbi told us was, "Nothing is as it seems, but you need to live in the world to know that." Of course I have heard that this world is called the עולם השקר/false world -- a thin facade of physicality over the spiritual reality. However, I had not heard that one needs to live in this world to know that -- isn't it enough to know that, just as we know everything else from our masora? Moreover -- what's the point? I hereby share some of the fruits of my pondering the import of the words of my rebbi. I can't do them justice, but I believe I understand what he wanted to relay to me.

I am a physicist at heart; I make no apologies, but it certainly shapes how I frame my explanation and understanding of deep matters. In physics we know -- and you may have heard -- that centrifugal force, the force you feel pushing you away from the center of a merry-go-round/the force you feel pushing you against the passenger side when the driver makes a sharp left turn is known as a pseudo-force. In fact, there really is no such thing as centrifugal force. You'll argue and say that you really feel those forces, so how in the world can I (and the world of physics, and physical reality) declare that there is no such thing?!

Here's how: Things traveling in a straight line tend/want to continue traveling in a straight line; that is called inertia. When you are a passenger in a car going straight, you and the car have aligned wills. When the driver makes a sharp left turn, you want to continue going straight. What happens then (assuming your door is closed) is that the door pushes on your right shoulder and the frictional force between the car seat and your pants/skirt pulls you to the right. In your mind, you have assigned the car the role of "frame of reference." Anything, in your mind, that moves you away from a solid position in the car must be -- again, in your mind/from your perspective -- the result of an external force. The reality, though, is that the car is being forced away from its straight path and the car is working to keep you inside, but your inertia wants you to continue going straight.

When you think about it, you'll realize that what you thought of as a force to the right-- because you felt your shoulder pressing against the passenger door -- is actually the door itself pushing you to the left against your inertia. Someone watching from a helicopter above would see that, but you have to think about it and reason it out.

That is everything in this world. You must constantly be using the very real data that your senses report to you and then interpret from the reality base of the Torah -- not the false view you have been taught from non-Torah -- that is, false and misleading -- sources. So why did HaShem put us in this world? Put us in the helicopter and let us observe the Truth.

Two problems with that -- there are beings outside this world who observe; they are called מלאכים/angels. Note my careful choice of language -- they observe the world, they don't live it. The guy in the helicopter and the מלאכים certainly see the Truth, but they don't understand it. They don't even know what you mean or how you could be misled into believing in centrifugal force and any non/anti-Torah thought. Which means they don't really understand reality nor the Torah. You can't really claim to understand something until you understand how it could be misunderstood. You can observe, but you can't know.

HaShem wants us to know Him, not just observe. HaShem doesn't want to be on a stage being observed by His minions; He wants to live with you in a loving relationship.