Haughtiness Then and Now

This week in class, we looked at a few perakim in Devarim as a sort of foreshadowing to the events and themes in Sefer Yishayahu.  There are four major themes that we got out of our reading of segments in Devarim.  One theme is that if you follow Hashem, you will be rewarded and if you don't, you will be punished.  The second is that you should follow all of Hashem's mitzvot, both between man and man and man and G-d.  The third theme is that Hashem is in control of everything.  The fourth theme is that you will be more inclined to follow other gods if you believe that you alone are the source of your success.  This fourth theme is also known as haughtiness.

When I looked through the first perek in Devarim, I found many parallels to religious life today.  The concept of reward and punishment may seem extremely foreign to people today because we do not have many outright miracles.  Even if we do, people are more inclined to blame anomalies in day-to-day life on science or luck or chance.  For now, we can imagine that our reward and punishment for our actions in this world will be in the world to come.  This leads into the next theme: following all of G-d's commandments.  I personally believe that respecting and treating people with "Tzedek U'Mishpat" is a precursor to building a good relationship with G-d.  You have to understand morality before you can understand the forces that drive the world.  Also, G-d wouldn't want to have anything to do with barbaric people, as we saw with Noach's generation and the people of Sedom and Amorah.  This leads to the third theme: G-d is in control of everything.  Little more needs to be added to this statement.  This is the basis of all religious belief.  This leads into theme four: you will be more likely to follow other gods (apart from Hashem) if you believe that you are the source of your own success.  As I said above, this is haughtiness in its most basic form.  People often have a hard time being humble and understanding that there is someone greater than them directing their lives.  One final statement: G-d put us in exile after the destruction of both Batei Mikdash because the people neglected respecting each other because they were too concerned with their relationships with G-d.  Clearly, G-d wants us to be moral people as well.

Incidentally, G-d also gives us a solution to the problems in Yishayahu Perek 1 Pessukim 16-17.  G-d tells the people to remove the bad and do the good: learn what the good is and act on it.  They should seek out justice, protect the weak, do what's right for the orphan, and argue on behalf of the widow.  The Malbim tells us that there are many levels to fulfill complete atonement for the lack of morality that Bnei Yisrael had at the time of Yishayahu.  Regret is not enough repentance for a sin between man and man; it is enough for a sin between man and G-d because it is literally the thought that counts.  In order to receive forgiveness from people, you have to take action to rectify the wrong.  This is what Yishayahu wanted the people to do. On top of that, they had to stop sinning and never relapse.  If all of these steps were followed, Bnei Yisrael would have lived in an ideal society.  We can take note of this and try to apply it to society today.  There are many people out there who believe absolutely that they are the source of their own success and will step on as many people as they have to in order to achieve the ultimate success.  We should all take a minute, realize that G-d is in control and respect our fellow people.