The Everlasting Control of Hashem

      This week in Navi we began to learn about the actual sins of Bnei Yisrael. Before it merely mentioned that Hashem was not accepting their Korbanot or Tefillot because they were sinning against each other, however it failed to mention the actual sins. In פרק ב, we began to learn the basis of their sins. It highlights three major sins that were corrupting Bnei Yisrael: 1) They are seeking to have control over their own lives (instead of recognizing the true control of Hashem) 2) Their king is disobeying the laws and guidelines set aside specifically for the king, and 3) The people of Bnei Yisrael were becoming haughty. In seeking control over their own lives, they sought out fortune tellers and "soothsayers" (which is just a weird word for a fortune teller), because they wanted to know what their lives were to become. It was not really that they were trying to control every aspect of their lives, they wanted to control the future of it.
      The king explicitly disobeyed the laws of the king in every aspect. In דברים we learned that the king must not have too many wives, horses, or money. This is EXACTLY what the king does. Even besides that, he began to worship idols AND  he became exceedingly haughty; he thinks he is the cause of his own success. This is what leads all of Bnei Yisrael to haughtiness, as it naturally should. If a nation is being led by an inadequate leader, the nation is obviously going to become inadequate as well. The basis of their haughtiness is also that they think they are the causes of their own success.
      Right after this is stated, Hashem immediately tells us that all the haughty will be humbled, and they will be put back in their place. With exceedingly interesting משלים, Hashem begins to tell us all of the wondrous things He is in control of, to show us that not only are we not in control, but He is the one who has control over everything, even the most amazing and beautiful things in the world. The punishment will be that all the idols and corruption and misleading and lies that the nation has been following will be struck down and destroyed.
      I didn't have time to write this before Rosh Hashanah, so I am writing it after, but this can still be applied to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and the עשרת ימי תשובה. Our own lives today have been taken over by the cultures and traditions of this country. We are no longer as strongly tied to the Torah and the mitzvot as we were three thousand years ago, because there is so much to get in the way. We might not always remember that Hashem is still the one controlling everything that goes on in our lives. Rabbi Feigenbaum's speech on Rosh Hashanah was based on the fact that nowadays people are so consumed with technology that we don't pay attention to each other as much anymore. Rosh Hashanah is about asking Hashem for what we want and for forgiveness in the coming year, and we should all be asking for a way to make it easier to become connected more strongly to the mitzvot and to Hashem.

This is a little late, but שנה טובה ומטוקה!