May 6th 2010 (4 months, 0 days ago.)
Parashiot Behar-Behukotai
Posted by: Avi Norensberg in 5770 | Weekly Parasha
Perke Abot
As Heard From Rabbi Avigdor Miller ZT”L
“He (R’ Hanina Ben Dosa) said, if the spirit of one’s fellows is pleased with him, then the spirit of Hashem is pleased with him; but if the spirit of one’s fellow is not pleased with him, the spirit of Hashem is not pleased with him.” (Abot 3:13)
Rabbi Miller ZT’L explains that this Mishna provides an answer to the big question which we should all have. How can I recognize how Hashem feels about me? If He would only just send me a telegram and let me know. This knowledge would be a tremendous help in directing me to make adjustments in my life in order to serve the Creator with increased perfection.
This Mishna provides us one way for us to see and affect the way Hashem thinks of us. When people are pleased with us, this is an indication that Hashem is pleased with us. When we make it our business to make people happy through respecting or encouraging them, people will then be pleased with us, which results in Hashem being pleased with us.
Therefore, every day we should realize that a great Purpose of Life is to make it a prime objective to make sure people are pleased with us. R’ Hanina assures us then, that Hashem will be eternally pleased with us.
In order to help us gain in our Sensory Awareness of Him, Hashem revealed to us that people are created in ‘the Image of G-d’. When we gain this Awareness we can think that Hashem is watching us through people’s eyes.
This Mishna teaches us that a reminder of our relationship with Hashem is through our relationship with people.
Shabbat Shalom
