Q:
You said before that a Jew is so created that he naturally seeks the nearness of Hashem and finds pleasure in being close to Him. Then why is it that we see many people who when they perform a mitzvah or daven or whatever it is, they don’t always feel a sense of happiness and fulfillment?
A:
A good question.
Every man, every human being – not only Jews – are born with an urge to seek Hashem. But that urge can be overlaid with a heavy sediment of materialism. It’s possible to become so satisfied with worldly things and so interested in them that after a while his senses are dulled and he no longer feels that urge to Hashem.
When a man, however, practices this sense, when he employs and utilizes this sense, it becomes sharper and more sensitive and that person is going to react to a mitzvah in the proper way.
So when somebody reacts with insensitivity to a mitzvah, it’s merely a sign that he is overlaid with a thick sediment of materialism. He’s megushem.
TAPE # 77 (July 1975)
