Self- Deception, and the Ohr HaChaim (It’s his Yartzeit)

by Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5tjt.com

Today, the 15th of Tammuz is the yahrtzeit of Rabbeinu Chaim Ben-Attar (1696-1743), better known as the “Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh.”

He was one the greatest biblical commentators of the Acharonim, a mekubal, a Talmudic commentator, and a posek. For most of his life, he lived in Morocco and was primarily known amongst Moroccan Jewry. He ascended to Eretz Yisroel at the age of 43.  His remarkable work was printed as he passed through Italy.  Eventually, he settled in Yerushalayim, where he established his yeshivah, Midrash Knesset Yisrael.

The entire spectrum of the Torah community, from Litvish Roshei Yeshiva, to Chassidic Rebbes to Sefardic luminaries focus on every word of the holy Ohr HaChaim.  A few years ago, a ksav yad was discovered that was written by Rabbeinu Chaim ben Atar zt”l.

INSIGHT ON THE PARSHA

There is an interesting insight that has been made on this week’s Parsha of Balak from the words of the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh.

After Bilaam invited Balak’s messengers to sleep over at his house, Hashem asked Bilaam who the  messengers were.  Bilaam responded:

“And Bilaam said to Hashem, ‘Balak Ben Tzipor, the King of Moav, sent them to me.’”  (BaMidbar 22:10)

Why did Bilaam feel the need to add that Balak was the king of Moav?  didn’t Hashem know who Balak was?

The Ohr HaChaim explains that by adding that Balak was the king of Moav, Bilaam was telling Hashem that he had invited Balak’s messengers to sleep in his home out of Kavod Malchus – respect for the royalty.  We know in fact, from Rashi earlier in the parsha that Bilaam’s underlying motivation was far less noble – he was interested in obtaining money to curse Klal Yisroel.

There are two very interesting natural tendencies that Hashem has placed within the psyche of the human being.  The first one is the feeling of guilt.  Guilt is a means by which we can get back on track to do the right thing.  For example, it is the feeling of guilt that often brings us to make a phone call that we should be making, or to visit someone who needs a visit, even though we may not feel like it at the moment.

The second natural tendency is a protective one, which we use to avoid pain.  The protective tendency to avoid pain is both on a physical level as well as on an emotional level.  Thus, we quickly move our hand away from intense heat so that we will not get burned.  By the same token, it is natural to avoid the pain of guilt.  In order to avoid the pain of guilt, we often engage in self-deception.

This is what happened with Bilaam, according to one understanding of the Ohr HaChaim.  To avoid the pain of guilt he felt about cursing klal Yisrael, Hashem’s chosen nation, He engaged in an act of self deception.  when he told Hashem that he invited Balak’s messengers to stay the night, he actually believed, as he stated to Hashem, that it was on account of respect for royalty.

Part of our mission in life, is to understand when we are deceiving ourselves.  We must always remember that Hashem’s seal is Emes – truth, and that we must extend effort to remove all thoughts of self-deception.  We should replace those thoughts with an honest assessment of who we are, and with the realization that we are a combination of positive, neutral, and negative traits.

The author writes a weekly parsha commentary on the topic of Emes – honesty.  If anyone wishes to subscribe, please email the author at [email protected]