Finding our way in the dark

The mishnah that opens the second perek of Avot concludes with a theme that we have often discussed: God’s ability to see and hear whatever we do and say, and then to keep a record of it. At Avot 2:1 Rebbi (R’ Yehudah HaNasi) teaches:

הִסְתַּכֵּל בִּשְׁלֹשָׁה דְבָרִים, וְאֵין אַתָּה בָא לִידֵי עֲבֵרָה, דַּע מַה לְּמַֽעְלָה מִמָּךְ, עַֽיִן רוֹאָה וְאֹֽזֶן שׁוֹמַֽעַת, וְכָל מַעֲשֶֽׂיךָ בְּסֵֽפֶר נִכְתָּבִים

[Translation] Contemplate three things, and you will not come into the grips of transgression. Know what is above you: a seeing eye, a listening ear, and all your deeds being inscribed in a book.

This message is clear: God knows everything you do. If you want to keep on His good side, and literally in His good books, all you have to do is behave in accordance with His wishes.

There is another, quite different message. In his Avot Yisrael, the Kozhnitz Maggid gives this teaching a historical perspective.

From the days of Moshe Rabbenu till the beginning of the Second Temple era we had the benefit of prophetic guidance from above; our lives were permeated by the light of the Torah as refracted through the prism of prophecy. Our sages and seers could clearly discern God’s will and guide us accordingly. This is the mishnah’s seeing eye.

Later in the Second Temple period, when prophecy was removed from the world, we were metaphorically in the dark. Our sages however, through their ruach hakodesh—holy spirit—could still tune in to the sound of a bat kol, a Heavenly voice that steers us along the path God marks out for us. This is the mishnah’s listening ear.

Now, for our sins, we have the benefit of neither prophecy nor bat kol. But all is not lost. We still have something special to guide, strengthen and inspire us in our attempt to get closer to God. That is the written text of the Tanach, the 24 canonical books of the Jewish Bible, together with their commentaries. Here we find a reference to the final part of the mishnah. By implication, the deeds to which Rebbi refers are those we should be doing if we correctly discern the message.

So even without the light of prophecy or a Heavenly voice to guide us, we can’t just give up the task of doing God’s will in a changing world. It’s up to us to do the best we can—and it is for us to provide a seeing eye and listening ear of our own when seeking to trace God’s will through exposition of His literature.