Sunday, December 18, 2011

Ani Hashem

When the mitzvot are followed by the phrase "Ani Hashem" they are focusing on the mitzvot that establish and strengthen our relationship between mand and G-d. These mitzvot put Hashem at the center of our universe. Hashem is obviously all-knowing, all-powerful, and He's depicted as a paradigm of good. These mitzvot show us that we can strengthen our relationship with Him by being more moral, and spreading ethical monotheism. Establishing social justice and being moral people don't seem like they have anything to do with Hashem because they aren't religious, but in fact it's essential that we carry out the principles that we find in our "religious" lives and incorporate them into our moral, everyday lives. As the perek goes on, there's a progression on how to establish these interpersonal relationships.
For example. the first Mitzvah that we find before "Ani Hashem" is don't steal, don't distort the truth, don't lie, don't swear falsely in Hashem's name in court. These mitzvot are all in how we communicate with our peers. This is setting up a structure for our society. This mitzvah is followed by Ani Hashem because we need to create a society by which we interact in a moral, just way because that's what is right and good. This doesn't focus on a religious practice at all.
We find Ani Hashem after things like treating everyone properly, justice, R'Chilus, Lo Ta'amod al Dam Raecha, don't hate your brother in your heart, rebuke your friends, don't take revenge on people, love everyone like you loved yourself, don't eat blood, can't use a razor, can't make a tattoo, don't let your daughter be a prostitute, and keep shabbos and fear the mikdash. Although it's obvious that most of this is showing that even when no one is around we must act morally because Hashem's watching, and focusing on our interpersonal relationships with each other and how we treat one another. It goes beyond just this by saying that we are going to go beyond just not harming someone, but we want to trea them how we would want to be treated. However there are things that don't seem like they go in this section like not eating blood, not making a tattoo, and not using a razor. However, these things are considered moral because they were things that were commonly found in paganistic societies. They were all about self-worship and we wanted to create ethical monotheism. There are two that are just so obviously religious: Keeping Shabbat and fearing the Mikdash. We aren't focusing on the religious aspects of these Mitzvot. We're using their principles to show how they will help us become a moral person. We want to create this moral compass that is based on a knowledge of what Hashem expects. In order to achieve true morality we must place Hashem at the center of our world.

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