Hashem’s Justice and the Purpose of Life

Matt Schneeweiss

The first three berachos of the Shmoneh Esreh are berachos of shevach - praise to God. The theme of the first berachah is Avos: Hashem's special providential relationship with the patriarchs (Avraham, Yitchak, and Yaakov) and their offspring (Bnei Yisroel). The theme of the second berachah is Gevuros: Hashem's omnipotence, which is exemplified by the resurrection of the dead. The theme of the third berachah is Kedushas ha'Shem: the Uniqueness of Hashem and the uniqueness of His Name (i.e. knowledge of Hashem).

During the Aseres Ymei Teshuvah (the ten days between Rosh ha'Shanah and Yom Kippur) the theme of Kedushas Hahem is viewed in the framework of  HYPERLINK "http://kankanchadash.blogspot.com/2007/05/malchus-hashem.html" Malchus Hashem, as expressed by an alteration of the berachah's conclusion: "ha'Melech ha'Kadosh" (the Holy King). In the tefilos of the Yomim Noraim (Rosh ha'Shanah and Yom Kippur), the third berachah undergoes a drastic transformation and expansion. Whereas the year-round version is a single-sentence declaration of the idea of kedushas Hashem, the Yomim Noraim version is a six-paragraph beatific vision of the ideal human civilization centered around the acceptance of Malchus Hashem.

This special version of the third berachah may be beautiful, but there is something about it that bothers me. I wouldn't call this a major problem, so much as a nagging one. Perhaps it will not bother you as much as it bothers me, but I hope that you will still find the idea enlightening.

According to the laws of berachos, the penultimate statement of a berachah must correspond to the essential theme of the berachah. Chazal refer to this requirement as "me'ein ha'chasimah samuch l'chasimah." In the tefilos of the Yomim Noraim, the penultimate statement of the third berachah is a pasuk from the prophet Yeshaya: "Hashem, Master of Legions, will become exalted through judgment, and the Holy God will be sanctified through justice" (Yeshaya 5:16).

The question is: How does this pasuk satisfy the requirement of me'ein ha'chasimah samuch l'chasimah? Sure, this pasuk says "the Holy God will be sanctified," but that doesn't seem to be the only theme of the pasuk. Equally prominent is the theme of Mishpat Hashem (Hashem's Judgment). One might even argue that Mishpat Hashem is the essential theme of the pasuk, and Kedushas Hashem is only secondary. My question is: How does the idea expressed in the pasuk correspond to the theme of the berachah, which is Kedushas Hashem as viewed from the perspective of Malchus Hashem?

This question can be answered simply by understanding the pasuk in its context. Rashi comments as follows: 

"Hashem, Master of Legions will become exalted through judgment:" When He exacts judgment from them, His Name will be exalted in the world; "and the Holy God will be sanctified through justice:" He will be sanctified among the remaining tzadikim.

In other words, knowledge of Hashem will be spread throughout the world when He exacts judgment with the reshaim (wicked). The question is: Who are these reshaim? One might assume that the reshaim in the pasuk are murderers, thieves, liers, rapists, slanderers, tyrants, those who take advantage of the weak, etc. - in short, stereotypical reshaim. But does this theory stand up to the facts? Let us look at the pasuk in context. The underlined and bold phrases contain the answer to this question

Woe to those who arise early in the morning to pursue liquor, who stay up late at night while wine inflames them. There are harp and lyre and drum and flute, and wine at their drinking parties; but they would not contemplate the deed of Hashem, and would not look at the work of His hands. Therefore, my people is being exiled due to lack of knowledge; its honored ones dying of starvation, and its multitude parched from thirst. Therefore, the netherworld has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth wide without limit; and [into it] will descend her glory and her multitude and her horde, and whosoever revels within her. Man will be humbled and people will be brought lower, and the eyes of the haughty will be brought low. Hashem, Master of Legions, will become exalted through judgment, and the Holy God will be sanctified through justice. Then the sheep will graze in their usual way, and sojourners will eat of the ruins of the fattened animals.

Which reshaim did the Navi choose to discuss as the object of Hashem's judgment? Not evildoers, criminals, and villains, but (what we would call) drug addicts! People who drink liquor and wine from dawn to the wee hours of the morning, and whose lives revolve around drinking parties.

This leads us to an even bigger problem: Why are these the reshaim whose destruction by Divine Judgment best exemplifies the theme of Malchus Hashem? After all, these people don't seem like the biggest reshaim. They don't hurt anyone, nor do they harbor any malicious or hateful intentions. Not only that, but it is hard to see how the Name of Hashem will be exalted through their destruction. When Hashem destroys Paroh or Hitler, that is a Kiddush Hashem - not when He punishes the alcoholic.

The solution to this problem rests on the Torah's definition of rasha. We are raised to believe that a rasha is a villainous character - like street thugs, mean bullies, or the bad guys in Disney movies. The Torah has a completely different idea. According to the Torah, a rasha is a person who lives contrary to his nature as a human being - a person who uses his bechirah to negate his humanness.

What does this mean? The Rambam explains the nature and purpose of man in his Introduction to the Mishnah:

Man engages in many different activities. Therefore, the philosophers investigated each one of his activities in order to know which one of them is his purpose. They found that his purpose is one activity alone, and the rest of his activities are only so that he can continue his existence in order to perfect within himself that unqiue activity: namely, the understanding of ideas and clear knowledge of reality. For it is impossible that the purpose of man is to eat, drink, have sex, built a house, or to be king - for all of these are accidents which pass over him, and do not add to his essence. Furthermore, man shares these actions with the other species of animals. The knowledge is the only thing which adds to his essence and elevates him from a lower level to a higher level, for he was only a potential man and [after acquiring knowledge] has become an actual man, for before man learns he is only like an animal, since man is only differentiated from other animals by virtue of his rational faculty. Man is the rational animal - by "rational" I mean the ability to understand concepts. The greatest of the concepts is an understanding of the Oneness of the Creator - may He be exalted and praised - and everything related to this from the sciences of metaphysics, for all other sciences only exist to prepare man to reach the metaphysical sciences - but this is a very extensive topic.

The nature and purpose of man is to pursue knowledge of reality, the highest level of which is knowledge of God. To the extent that a man excercises his free will to live contrary to his nature, he is a rasha.

Now we can understand why Yeshaya chose drunkards as the paradigmatic reshaim: their entire lives are an attempt to escape from reality. In the language of the Navi: "They would not contemplate the deed of Hashem, and would not look at the work of His hands. Therefore, my people is being exiled due to lack of knowledge." As soon as they wake up in the morning, they get drunk so as not to have to face the reality of life. They go about their work in a drunken stupor. When they get home, they indulge in wine, staying up late into the night to revel in their escapism. When they get together, it is in the context of drinking parties; their social lives are nothing more than a mutual attempt to escape from reality.

The stereotypical rasha may be bad, but at least his life is an attempt to pursue pleasure and avoid pain. He must operate within reality to a certain degree in order to maintain this pursuit. In the eyes of the Torah, this could be transformed into a good lo lishmah. After all, as Shlomo ha'Melech says about the life of Torah:

Praiseworthy is a person who has found wisdom, a person who can derive understanding, for its commerce is better than the commerce of silver, and its produce than fine gold. It is more precious than pearls, and all your desires cannot compare to it. Length of days is at its right; at its left, wealth and honor.

Satisfaction of desires, length of days, wealth, honor - the very goods which the rasha desires are those which Shlomo ha'Melech uses to advertise the life of Torah! At least there is hope for the rasha. The drunkard, on the other hand, doesn't want to have the most pleasureable life - he just wants to escape life. He will never be interested in yedias Hashem because he finds reality abhorrent. The drunkard is the quintissential Anti-Man.

Now we are in a position to understand how this pasuk fits into the theme of Malchus Hashem. It is true that this pasuk is about Mishpat Hashem, but Mishpat Hashem aims at one goal: to bring mankind in line with its nature, which is the pursuit of knowledge of Hashem. So long as the reshaim described in the pasuk exist, Malchus Hashem will never be realized. They are an obstacle to the pursuit of yedias Hashem in mankind.

Thus, Hashem's exacting judgment from the drunkards - moreso than any other type of rasha - is a fulfillment of Malchus Hashem. This type of Mishpat Hashem not only teaches the idea of Mishpat Hashem (bringing mankind in line with its nature), but effectively brings about a Kiddush Hashem in mankind (by removing obstacles to yedias Hashem), bringing us one step closer to a full realization of Malchus Hashem on earth.