In this week'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 – And He Went
This week’s daily reading is called Vayeilech, which means “and he went.”
The Story
G-d told Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses):
“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).”
Moshe then passes his leadership to Yehoshua.
After this, G-d warns Moshe:
“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—which is next week’s reading—warning them. And the song should be a witness that I warned them.”
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.
This teaching is brought in two ways:
- in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, regarding a different story in the Torah,
- and in the name of the Rabbi DovBer Mezeritch, regarding this week’s verse.
The Verse
G-d tells Moshe:
“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’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”—and this is the important part—
“Because G-d is not inside of me, these things happened to me.”
The Torah continues:
“I am going to hide Myself from them until they find Me and repent.”
The point is: they will say, “Because G-d is not inside of me, all these bad things happened to me.”
A Simple Explanation
People didn’t feel G-dliness. They didn’t feel that they had a connection to G-d because they abandoned Him. And therefore G-d said: “You abandoned Me, I’ll abandon you.”
It’s like a mirror:
- The closer you get to the mirror, the closer the reflection comes to you.
- The further you go from the mirror, the further the reflection moves away.
So too with G-d: 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.
This is the basic idea the Torah shares here.
A Deeper Idea
There is also a very deep idea in this verse about how we see ourselves and others.
Human nature is that we love ourselves. Because of this:
- We don’t see the bad within ourselves.
- We make excuses: “It was okay… it’s not so bad.”
- But when we see the same behavior in someone else, suddenly it looks terrible.
So how does G-d show us our own flaws? By letting us see them in other people.
The Baal Shem Tov explained:
- When you see something bad in someone else, that is proof that you have that same flaw within yourself.
- You wouldn’t notice it otherwise—unless you had already worked on it deeply.
There is one exception:
- If you see the flaw and your instinct is to help the person, that is not proof that you have it yourself.
- But if you only point fingers and say: “Look at him! I’m not like that,”—then that is proof that you do indeed carry the same fault inside.
Back to the Verse
The verse says: “Because G-d is not inside of me, all these bad things happened to me.”
On a deeper level:
- When a person does not feel G-dliness, when he is not sensitive to his own growth, he is blind to his own flaws.
- So, his flaws appear externally—through other people.
It’s not that people have different levels of G-dliness. Every Jew has G-dliness inside. The question is:
- How much do you feel it?
- How much work have you done to uncover it?
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—they “find him” by appearing in others.
The Lesson
How to look at ourselves:
- We must search honestly for the truth within.
- Where is the G-dliness inside us?
- Once we find it, we will also notice the parts of ourselves that are not so nice.
- We must be honest and work on those areas.
How to look at others:
- When we see something negative in others, we should not gossip or point fingers.
- Instead, we should look for ways to help.
- If our instinct is to help, that is pure.
- But if we only criticize, then we must turn inward and ask: “Where is this inside of me?”