Man with God 

Nothing hath separated us from God but our own will, or rather our own will is our separation from God. -William Law 

Rabbi Hirsch on Leviticus 6:2 contrasts the heathen view of Night and Day to the Jewish view, and what that means regarding our relationship to God:

“Night, the time when things are “commingled,” when man, too, reverts to the bondage of physical forces, brings the heathen mind closer to its gods. At night the heathen believes he feel the power of the gods that hold him in bondage along with all other creatures. Conversely, he perceives the day, the time of “standing erect,” when man becomes aware of himself and resumes the struggle to subdue the physical world, as the time when man must take up anew the struggle against the gods.”

“By virtue of the Word of God, the position of Judaism is the direct antithesis to these notions. The Jew need not wait until night in order to feel the power of his God. He stands near to his God particularly when his mind is clear and when he is in the midst of his endeavors to subdue the world. He regards the lucidity of his clear mind, the energy of his free will and the results of his creative endeavors, indeed, all of his free personality that achieves its highest potential during his daily activities, as a gift from his Creator, the One sole God. By breathing into him a tiny spark from the infinite fullness of His own spirit that fills the world with His thoughts, from His own holy, unfettered will, from His own creative power that freely dominates the world which He Himself freely created, God has raised man high to Himself beyond the bonds of the physical world. God has thereby elevated man, made in God’s image, to become a free personality, ruling freely over the world in service of God and God’s purposes. Precisely by implementing this power in his daily personal life does man fulfill the will of his God; only in this manner, uplifted and encouraged by God Himself, can man render his service to God in this world.”

“The heathen mentality sees daytime as the period when mortals must do battle against the might of the gods. To the Jews day is the time for action, for achievements in the service of God and for his approval. Hence in the Sanctuary of Judaism it is not night that drags day with it into the grave of mortality, but day that raises night with it into the eternity of a life of nearness to God. Physical nature is not the intermediary between the Jew and his God; man’s personality stands high above physical nature and in direct proximity to God. For this reason it was in the wilderness, where man has nothing and no one but himself, that God came near to Israel. It was there that God established with Israel the covenant of His Law. It was there, in the wilderness, where man has nothing to offer to his God except himself, nothing but that which he bears within his own personality, that God first commanded Israel to make the offerings of its own devotion to Him.”

“An unfettered personality that subordinates its thoughts, its aspirations and its achievements to God of its own free will: such is the personality to which God’s command was addressed and which is a prerequisite for the offerings made to Him.”

May we see both Night and Day for what they truly are and endeavor to connect with God rather than foolishly strive against Him.

Shabbat Shalom and Pesach Kasher Ve’sameach,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the men, women and children working day and night preparing for Pesach.