{"id":31214,"date":"2025-09-26T15:51:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T18:51:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/?p=31214"},"modified":"2025-09-26T15:51:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T18:51:30","slug":"parashat-vayelech-look-at-youself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/en\/parashat-vayelech-look-at-youself\/","title":{"rendered":"Parashat Vayelech \u2013 Look at yourself!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>In this week&#039;s Torah reading we find a verse that teaches us how to look at ourselves and others in regards to bad behavior. Based on Sefer HaSichot 5705, p. 92<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Vayeilech \u2013 And He Went<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This week&#039;s daily reading is called <strong>Vayeilech<\/strong>, which means <em>\u201cAnd he went.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Story<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gd told Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c<em>You are going to pass away, and you are not going to bring the Jewish people into the Land of Israel. So pass your leadership to Yehoshua (Joshua).\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Moshe then passes his leadership to Yehoshua.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After this, God warns Moses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c<em>I know that in the future these people are going to go away from the path of mitzvah, of G-dliness, and so on. I know this is going to happen, and I want you to write down a whole song\u2014which is next week&#039;s reading\u2014warning them. And the song should be a witness that I warned them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In between these words of warning, there is one verse that brings a very interesting idea about how we look at ourselves and how we look at other people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This teaching is brought in two ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, regarding a different story in the Torah,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>and in the name of the Rabbi DovBer Mezeritch, regarding this week&#039;s verse.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Verse<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">God tells Moses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c<em>You are going to pass away, you are going to go back to your parents, and these people are going to stand up and go after the G-ds of the nation&#039;s whose land they are entering to conquer. They are not going to keep My covenant, and I am going to be angry at them, and I will abandon them. Many bad things will happen to them because I abandoned them. And they will say\u201d\u2014and this is the important part\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c<strong>Because Gd is not inside of me, these things happened to me.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Torah continues:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c<em>I am going to hide Myself from them until they find Me and repent.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The point is: they will say, <em>\u201cBecause Gd is not inside of me, all these bad things happened to me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A Simple Explanation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People didn&#039;t feel G-dliness. They didn&#039;t feel that they had a connection to Gd because they abandoned Him. And therefore Gd said: <em>\u201cYou abandoned Me, I&#039;ll abandon you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#039;s like a mirror:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The closer you get to the mirror, the closer the reflection comes to you.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The further you go from the mirror, the further the reflection moves away.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So too with Gd: your relationship depends on you. The closer you get to Him, the closer He comes to you. The further you move from Him, the further He seems from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the basic idea the Torah shares here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A Deeper Idea<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is also a very deep idea in this verse about how we see ourselves and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Human nature is that we love ourselves. Because of this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We don&#039;t see the bad within ourselves.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We make excuses: <em>\u201cIt was okay\u2026 it&#039;s not so bad.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>But when we see the same behavior in someone else, suddenly it looks terrible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So how does Gd show us our own flaws? By letting us see them in other people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Baal Shem Tov explained:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>When you see something bad in someone else, that is proof that you have that same flaw within yourself.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You wouldn&#039;t notice it otherwise\u2014unless you had already worked on it deeply.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is one exception:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If you see the flaw and your instinct is to <strong>help<\/strong> the person, that is not proof that you have it yourself.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>But if you only point fingers and say: <em>\u201c&quot;Look at him! I&#039;m not like that,&quot;\u201d<\/em>\u2014then that is proof that you do indeed carry the same fault inside.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Back to the Verse<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The verse says: <em>\u201cBecause Gd is not inside of me, all these bad things happened to me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On a deeper level:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>When a person does not feel G-dliness, when he is not sensitive to his own growth, he is blind to his own flaws.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>So, his flaws appear externally\u2014through other people.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#039;s not that people have different levels of G-dliness. Every Jew has G-dliness inside. The question is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>How much do you feel it?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How much work have you done to uncover it?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If a person does not work on himself, he does not feel the G-dliness within. And so, he cannot see his own flaws directly\u2014they \u201cfind him\u201d by appearing in others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Lesson<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>How to look at ourselves:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We must search honestly for the truth within.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Where is the G-dliness inside us?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Once we find it, we will also notice the parts of ourselves that are not so nice.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We must be honest and work on those areas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>How to look at others:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>When we see something negative in others, we should not gossip or point fingers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Instead, we should look for ways to help.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If our instinct is to help, that is pure.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>But if we only criticize, then we must turn inward and ask: <em>\u201cWhere is this inside of me?\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In this week&#039;s Torah reading we find a verse that teaches us how to look at ourselves and others in regards to bad behavior. Based on Sefer HaSichot 5705, p. 92 Vayeilech \u2013 And He Went This week&#039;s daily reading is called Vayeilech, which means \u201cand he went.\u201d The Story Gd told Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses):\u2026&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/en\/parashat-vayelech-look-at-youself\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Read More \u00bb<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Parashat Vayelech \u2013 Look at yourself!<\/span><\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3338],"tags":[3165],"series":[],"class_list":["post-31214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vayelech-en","tag-torah"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Vayelech.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/avatar1400.jpeg","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"castbox":{"key":"castbox","url":"","label":"CastBox","class":"castbox","icon":"castbox.png"},"rss":{"key":"rss","url":"","label":"RSS","class":"rss","icon":"rss.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/en\/feed\/podcast\/rabino-tuvia-serber","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"JCMWISxLR5\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/en\/parashat-vayelech-look-at-youself\/\">Parashat Vayelech &#8211; Look at youself!<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/en\/parashat-vayelech-look-at-youself\/embed\/#?secret=JCMWISxLR5\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Parashat Vayelech &#8211; Look at youself!&#8221; &#8212; Rabino Tuvia Serber\" data-secret=\"JCMWISxLR5\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! 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