Ten Minutes of Meaning (Part 158): Glue Yourself to Hashem - Mesillas Yesharim

Good morning, Boca Tever. Welcome back to 10 minutes of meaning Mesillas Yesharim as we try to become better versions of ourselves. A big thank you to our series sponsors of 10 minutes of meaning, Jeffrey Gelb in memory of Michelle ben David Shanda bas David, Avner ben Avraham haCohen. We are in Mesillas Yesharim and we are on the 19th chapter. We have been learning about Chassidus. Chassidus defined not by what you wear. Chassidus defined not what sect you belong to. Chassidus is inner piety. How we behave not being satisfied with good, but striving for great. Always wanting to be better in every realm of life between our relationship with other people and our relationship with God, and of course in our relationship with ourselves. We've been defining in our relationship with God Chassidus, piety, virtue, going above and beyond, striving for great, not being satisfied with good, expresses itself in ahavah, in love of Hashem, in yirah, which we defined as awe and fear, and now devekus. Although devekus is starting in the Torah parshas Re'eh, the Torah tells us about devekus. Devekus means to cling, to cleave to God. What does that mean? How does one do that? No less than five times in the book of Devarim are we obligated, are we commanded in the mitzvah of devekus. Go cling to Hashem. What does that mean? You could tell me how to blow a shofar, you could tell me how to eat matzah, tell me what I'm not allowed to do on Shabbos, tell me what I can eat and can't eat. I understand. Go cleave to God? How does one cling to God? How do you attach yourself to God? What does that mean? Torah tells us "Im kol levavcha u'vchol nafshicha." U'vchol ba'acha, u'vchol me'odecha. David Hamelech, David in Tehillim adds, "Davka nafshi acharecha." My soul cleaves after you. My soul clings after you. V'inyan kol ha'psukim ha'eileh And the core of the idea of all these psukim is the same. Shehu devekus she'adam misdavek bo Yisbarach. The idea that we're living our lives and we've attached ourselves to God. We're not living isolated or apart. We don't see ourselves as independent or on our own. We're not trying to navigate or figure it out for ourselves. We're not living for ourselves and our pleasure and our happiness. But we are clinging to and sticking to Him. She'ein yakhol l'hipared v'lo lazuz mimenu. We are inseparable. There are husbands and wives who are inseparable. There are parents and children who are inseparable. There are friends who are inseparable. There are business partners who go into everything and attend everywhere together. They are inseparable. Devekus is the Torah's asking us, "Live a life in which you are inseparable from God." Cling to Him. Cleave to Him. Attach yourself to Him. Let Him be with you everywhere at all times and everything. He's by our side. We're choosing what to watch or listen to or read, He's by our side. We're filing our income taxes, He's by our side. When we get great news, He's by our side taking place in our joy. And if we get bad news, we're struggling with difficult situation, we're con- confronting a challenging time, He's by our side. Cling to Him. Cleave to Him. The Meshech Chochmah of Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk has a very beautiful devekus. The Meshech Chochmah of Meir Simcha of Dvinsk says, "Devekus, what's the Hebrew word for glue?" Devek. Devek is glue. So devekus means glue yourself to God. Attach yourself to God. You know, if you have a friend who's starting work at your company, and they come that first day, they're very nervous. They don't know anyone. They don't know where to go. They don't know what to do. They don't know how to fit in. They don't know what to look like. And they come on shpilkes. They come that first day, they come to work, and they're all nervous, they're all on edge. What do you say to them? Say, "Stick with me. Just stick with me. I got your back. Stick with me, you'll be fine. Follow me. Act like I do. Sit at the table I sit at at lunchtime. Do what I do. Stick with me and you'll be fine." Devekus says the Meshech Chochmah of Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, devek us is God saying to us, "Stick with me. I got your back. Glue yourself to me. Devek. Attach yourself to me. Stick with me. I'm the omnipotent, infinite God. I'm the source of all existence. I've programmed the entire world. And whether it's in your moments of greatest triumph, success, or whether it's in your moments of your biggest struggle, of your biggest pain, devek, devekus, glue and attach yourself to me because I've got your back. All you have to do is stick with me." Rami bar Nachmani Rav Shimon ben Lakish b'shlosh lishanos chibah chibevahu Hakadosh Baruch Hu es Yisrael. There are three expressions of love, of affection that God has, three ways that He affectionately describes His relationship with us. V'anu l'meidin oso miparshes Shimon ben Chamor. And we learn it from the story of Shimon. They are b'dvika, b'chashika, u'vachafitza. What are those three emotions? Those three expressions of affection? They are cleaving, longing, and desire. In any relationship when those three ingredients are present, you have a healthy relationship. In a relationship where those three ingredients are absent, when they're struggling, you've got a challenging relationship. Not only in your courtship, but not only in shana rishona, but throughout marriage, there should be cleaving, longing, and desire. That electricity, that romance, that is the cornerstone of a healthy relationship. And our relationship with Hashem is a romantic relationship. Rebbi Akiva tells us it's kodesh hakodashim. Of all the metaphors of a relationship with God, a master and a slave, a boss and an employee, a king and a servant, even a parent and a child, the greatest, the highest metaphor says Rebbi Akiva, the kodesh hakodashim metaphor, is that of a husband and wife. Of two people loving and longing, of looking and cleaving, of desiring one another. V'heim hamamash anfei ahavah ikaris. These are the essential ingredients in the principle of love. Talked about before, when the other party's name comes up on your caller ID and you go, "Ugh, again? I have to? How many times can I press ignore before it'll catch up with me?" Then your relationship is is in trouble. But if the other party's name comes up on their caller ID and your heart skips a beat, you say, "Oh, I'm so excited. Yeah, answer. I can't wait to fill them in on my day and hear about their day. Can't wait to just hear their voice. I can't wait to connect. I can't wait for that cleave, for that longing, for that desire." Then the relationship is strong. Same is true in our relationship with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. It's devekus. I want to cleave to Hashem. I want to attach myself to Hashem. In the words of the Meshech Chochmah, devek, glue. I want to attach myself to God. Everywhere at all times. On my way into the boardroom, the operating room, on my way into whatever room I'm going in. In every moment and every circumstance of life. "Anu atzei shukim she'azachiti." Says the Ramchal, "This is the cleaving that I described." Hadvekus v'hanachas ha'oneg im tzelem ha'adam k'shehu ne'hav. This is the joy, the pleasure that comes from preoccupation with matters pertaining to your beloved. So, when you have to do a task or you have to compromise or sacrifice for someone that you barely know, who's an associate, with whom you have a casual relationship, then you're extending yourself, it could be a pain. It's difficult. You don't really want to do it. But when you're doing it for someone that you love, and now taking out the garbage is not a mundane task, but putting a smile on the face of the person that you long for, that you love, that you connect, that you attach yourself to, now taking out the garbage by putting a smile on the other person's face, now it's an act that's not mundane. Now it's an act that's an expression of love. It's a preoccupation with your beloved that puts a smile not on their face, on your own. And the same is true in our attitude and our relationship with God. You see, the non-Chassid puts a check next to every box of Judaism. I put on tefillin this morning, I davened, check. Maybe I went to the daf yomi already, if not, I'll listen to it in the car while my mind wanders, check. I gave money to tzedakah, check. By the way, Yishar Koach, the global campaign surpassed its goal. A mazel tov. There is still room for more giving. Nobody will turn anyone away. This is not parshas Pekudei. But it did hit its goal, so thank you to all those who participated. But check. Shofar, check. Chanukah candles, check. Pesach's coming up, matzah, check. This is the checklist Jews. Bare minimum. Get away with good. And then there's the Chassid that the Ramchal is describing. And the Chassid says, "I don't want good. I want great." I don't want a casual association with God. I want a loving, romantic relationship. I want to cling and cleave to Him. I want to feel His presence everywhere and at all times. I want Him to be by my side. I want to be able to lean on His shoulder. I want Him to be able to lift and support me. I want to be able to feel His presence in all that I do." So, the rishon, the first thing he says here is devekus of love. Hashaini, we'll just read the opening sentence of this. Hashaini u'simcha. The second division of love, second expression of love. So, the first way that you love God is you cling to Him. If your wife or children say, "You keep telling me you love me, but you make no time for me. You never attach yourself to me in the sense you don't answer my calls. You're never available. We barely overlap. We have no time together. We don't share or confide in one another. How can you say you love me? That's not love. The first expression, manifestation of love is devekus. Cling to me. Cleave to me. Connect to me. Attach yourself to me. Make time for me. If you're not doing those things, how can you claim to be love? The second manifestation, expression is simcha. Now, this is counterintuitive. How could you Why does loving God depend on being happy? Can't you love God and still be a miserable, negative, hypercritical, complaining farbissener? Why do you have to be a smile and happy and b'simcha to love God? So, listen to the Ramchal's words. Listen to the words he uses. Hu ikar gadol ba'avodah. Being happy, being b'simcha, is a core, is an enormous fundamental precept in serving Hashem. I would have thought being happy is good for your mental health. Turns out being happy is also good for your physical health. And being happy is good for your relationships. What does that have to do with God? I daven, I did the daf, I put my tfillin on, I give my tzedakah. God, I got you covered. Now let me go sit and be miserable and farbissin and complain and be negative and be unhappy. What does happiness have to do with God? So much so that I'm called an ikkar gadol ba'avodah. If you're unhappy, you could shuckle, you could have the longest shmoneh esrei in the in the community. You could learn the most hours in the community. You could give the most tzedakah in the community. But if you're unhappy, you're missing an ikkar gadol ba'avodah. You're missing a core fundamental principle in serving Hashem. If there was Hashem b'simcha. You have to serve Hashem b'simcha, tamid, always. Why? How does that connect to God? We'll continue next week. Stay happy, stay healthy, and stay holy. Loving with emunah in at 15 minutes. Have a great day.