In this weeks Haftarah, we read about Shimshon. Rav Blachman explained that it is a story of a time when Hashem decided that for the Jews to exist, there must be a person who embodied enormous physical strength - and through that, Hashem would express himself.
In other words, G-d’s will was to take on the form of BIG Gashmiyus. The idea was to beat the Philistines at their own game. Shimshon was to take on the physicality of the world and overcome it. However, one attempting such a feat requires a strong counterbalance of religiosity. It’s easy to be a Jew in the Bais Medresh, but on the streets of L.A., it’s a bit more challenging. Shimshon had to be very aware of his creator.
Hashem tells his mom not to interfere with him at all. “Don’t cut his hair, etc. (Shoftim 13:5),” let him be aware of his source. The idea of letting his hair grow is not vanity, rather it is to give Shimshon an awareness that he is “nature-boy.” He has a job to do as long as he maintains this awareness.

The means to this awareness is rather surprising. For Shimshon to have such a constant awareness, he had to do something above and beyond normal Mitzvos - after all, everyone has to do the Mitzvos. Therefore, he was a Nazir from the womb (Shoftim 13:5), a Kiyum (voluntary) Mitzvah which is above and beyond the norm. However, a Nazir doesn’t do anything extra, all he does is restrain himself to a greater degree than others. A Nazir doesn’t consume wine products, he doesn’t cut his hair, he doesn’t become impure, etc.. So why is it that Shimshon’s sense of balance between physicality and spirituality takes the form of restraint, and not active cultivation?

Obviously, this brings up many issues regarding how to relate to the physical world. The idea that to control the physical, one must exercise complete self-restraint, is certainly being taught here, among many others. However, the issue that we will focus on, is how to achieve love and fear of Heaven.

The Rama begins the Shulchan Aruch, Aruch Chaim, by quoting the Rambam’s Guide to the Perplexed: “Shivisi Hashem LeNegdi Samid - I have set Hashem before me always (Tehillim 16:8)” is an essential principal in Torah... because a person does not act the same when he is alone in his house as he would in the presence of a human King. A person doesn’t speak the same around his family, as he does before a kingly figure. How much more so, when a person internalizes the idea that the greatest King, Hakadosh Baruch Hu, who fills the world with his glory, stands over him and sees his every action... immediately, he will be overcome with awe, and recoil in fear of Hashem...
Rav Twersky taught us that the key word here is “Miyad - Immediately.”
The Rambam repeats this language in Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah (2:2), when he discusses the Mitzvos of love and fear of G-d: When a person will understand all of these things, immediately he will love, praise, wonder, and be stricken by a great desire to know Hashem... and when he thinks about these things themselves, immediately he will recoil in fear and realize that he is a small creation, with minute knowledge, etc. - Ayein Shom.

Rav Twersky used a Kotzker Vort to illustrate the significance of the word “immediately:” The question of how to deepen one’s fear of G-d was posed to the Kotzker Rebbi. He responded with a Mashal. You are walking through the forest alone, at night. Suddenly, you find yourself surrounded by bandits. Would you need to arouse yourself to fear, or would you just be scared? If you are surrounded by wild animals, would you have to ask how to be afraid?

What is the Kotzker Rebbi telling us?
Fear of G-d is not achieved through active building, but rather, through an increased G-d awareness. Fear of Heaven is not something you need to create. It is the natural, instinctive response to an awareness, a perception, of G-d. Love and fear of Heaven do not require cultivation, we all have this Ahava and Yirah within us. The problem is that our sense of love and fear become overlaid by so many layers of insensitivity, that we have to work to re-acquire them. The Rambam uses this language of “Miyad - immediately,” to teach us that once a person achieves a certain awareness of G-d, love and fear are the instinctive responses. They are immediate, they are the result of one’s awareness. They are the instinctive response to “Shivisi Hashem LeNegdi Samid.”

Perhaps this is something we can learn from Shimshon. He did not have to actively cultivate his love and fear of G-d, he simply had to be aware. As long as he maintained his awareness, he was fine.
The problem was that once he dug into the physicality, he found it to be sweet. Rav Blachman explained: When Shimshon first rips apart the lion (14:6), when he first rips into the physicality of the world, he remains steadfast in his awareness. However, upon returning, he finds the lion to be filled with honey (14:8). The physical that Shimshon first ripped into with a purpose, now tastes sweet to him, he likes it.

Shimshon had Ruach HaKodesh, he was a prophet of Hashem. He was given tremendous gifts to be able to balance the physical with the spiritual, but he couldn’t do it. We don’t have Ruach HaKodesh, we certainly don’t have Nevuah anymore, yet we think that we can deal with physicality without a problem.
At Seuda Shlishis, someone told over a Midrash on the Pasuk, “Yivarechecha Hashem VeYishmarecha - May Hashem bless you and guard you (Bam. 6:24).” First the Pasuk says that Hashem should bless you, so why should you need guarding, if you are already blessed?
He answered that “blessing” refers to money (Beracha often means a physical increase in something). After a person gets money, he requires another Beracha to guard him from it. We think that we control our money, but how often does our money control us?

The solution is to work on our awareness of Hashem. Do we really think about what we are saying when we Daven? Do we really mean it when we thank Hashem for giving us food to eat? Do we realize how much blood sweat and tears went into making a stupid Styrofoam cup? There’s a long history and a lot of work that went into the creation of that dumb little cup. Do we ever stop to think about that?
It’s easy to be a good Jew in the Bais Medresh, but on the streets of America, or wherever you are, it a big challenge. We have to be able to see G-d everywhere, even in a Styrofoam cup. “Shivisi Hashem LeNegdi Samid. Ze Clal Gadol BaTorah.”

Good Shabbos.

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