In this week’s Parsha, Moshe Rabbeinu warned Bnei Yisrael about the spiritual trap of idolatry (Devarim 13:5). He then spoke about the prohibitions concerning false prophets and the necessity to maintain loyalty to Hashem. When the Torah commands us to follow Hashem, the term אַחַרי Acharei is used. The word Acharei (after), implies distance. A similar term, אַחַר Acher, implies proximity. Why does the Torah command us to follow Hashem with the term אַחַרי, which implies distance? It should have employed the term אַחַר, which would have demanded that we maintain a close spiritual and emotional proximity to Him.
I saw in Sefer Otzar Hatorah (Torah Treasury) that the Chafetz Chaim explains that the Torah is encouraging us to make the effort to come close to Hashem even if we feel removed from Him. Even if one sees himself as אַחַר, distant from Hashem, one should still put all his energies into seeking His closeness. His efforts will be rewarded.
While traveling to the first Kenessiah Gedolah (world convention) of Agudas Yisroel, the Chofetz Chaim met the Imrei Emes, Rav Avraham Mordechai of Ger, and asked him this very question. The Gerrer Rebbe replied, “Allow me to give a Chassidic answer to this question: One who thinks he is already so close to Hashem is actually far away from Him. While one who realizes how distant he is from Hashem is actually quite close to Him. One can cleave to Hashem only if he views himself as אַחַרי, removed.” As Dovid Hamelech writes in Tehillim (34:18), Hashem is close to the brokenhearted; and those crushed in spirit, he saves.”
Another answer that I saw was that according to Rav Shmuel Rozovsky zt”l, this pasuk teaches us that we must combine love and fear in our service of Hashem. While serving Hashem out of love is certainly the optimal, and most ideal path, if it is not tempered by fear, it can easily lead to the formality that breeds contempt. In order for one to properly maintain his love for Hashem, one must maintain a spiritual posture of אַחַרי – close yet removed, positively transforming one’s surroundings.
We must bring Hashem into our lives! One way to do this perhaps may be to increase awareness of Hashem’s greatness. Rav Elimelech Biderman shlita said over the following story about Rav Sadyah Gaon zt”l which illustrates this idea: Rav Sadyah Gaon was a guest in someone’s home, and his host wasn’t unaware that he was hosting one of the greatest people in his generation. When he found out, he asked forgiveness for perhaps not honoring him properly. Rav Sadyah Gaon responded that he was properly honored and that there was no reason to apologize. The man replied, “Had I known who you were, I would have honored you much more!”
Rav Sadyah Gaon took from this episode an important lesson in serving Hashem. Each day, he perceived Hashem more clearly than the previous day. Each day, he understood the greatness of Hashem on a deeper level, and therefore did teshuvah (repentance) every day. Although he honored Hashem yesterday, now that he understood even more about our Hashem’s greatness, he realized that yesterday’s serving was insufficient.
