Take the Ego Out
By Rabbi Michael Skobac
“Jacob awoke from his sleep, and said: Behold, Hashem is in this place and I did not know” (Genesis 28:16).
According to the Tifferes Shlomo, Jacob is exclaiming that he was able to sense the presence of Hashem in this place because he didn’t recognize or give importance to his “I”. When he took his ego out of the way, there was more space available in his consciousness for the Almighty.
This is how the Maggid of Mezeritch explained the verse (Deuteronomy 5:5) where Moses said: I was standing before Hashem and you at that time…” It is the “I”, the ego, the focus on self, which causes a separation between man and His Creator.
By Rabbi Michael Skobac
Rabbi Michael Skobac had been involved with Jews for Judaism (Canada) since 1989 and currently serves as its Director of Education and Counselling. He is a leading authority on missionaries, cults and issues relating to Jewish continuity and Jewish spirituality. Rabbi Skobac's publications include Missionary Impossible; Counter-Missionary Survival Guide; The DaVinci Code: A Jewish Perspetive; and Intermarriage: Is There Ligth at teh End of the Tunnel?
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Republished by Angelique Sijbolts with permission for the Noahide Academy.
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