Wednesday, September 22, 2004
What do you know?
That Talumd talks about the Catholic concept of Hell
Point being, self-centerdness is really the root of all sin, and the thing that gets you in the end, because ultimately, if I may vulgarize for a moment, when it's balls to the wall, you either have to love God or yourself. If you choose yourself, "G-d says, "I cannot coexist in his presence" (Talmud, Sotah 5a)". If you choose Him, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love him." (1 Cor 2:9)
The great works of mussar (ethics) and Chassidic thought stress that people must efface themselves before G-d, because to the degree that they are occupied with their own importance, to that degree they separate themselves from G-d. Even sin cannot separate a person from G-d the way vanity does. It is of the vain person that G-d says, "I cannot coexist in his presence" (Talmud, Sotah 5a).-- From Rabbi Twerski's book "Growing Each Day", stolen from JWR.
Point being, self-centerdness is really the root of all sin, and the thing that gets you in the end, because ultimately, if I may vulgarize for a moment, when it's balls to the wall, you either have to love God or yourself. If you choose yourself, "G-d says, "I cannot coexist in his presence" (Talmud, Sotah 5a)". If you choose Him, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love him." (1 Cor 2:9)
