Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi at Avot 2:1 offers the following cautionary advice:
הִסְתַּכֵּל
בִּשְׁלֹשָׁה דְבָרִים, וְאֵין אַתָּה בָא לִידֵי עֲבֵרָה, דַּע מַה לְּמַֽעְלָה
מִמָּךְ, עַֽיִן רוֹאָה וְאֹֽזֶן שׁוֹמַֽעַת, וְכָל מַעֲשֶֽׂיךָ בְּסֵֽפֶר
נִכְתָּבִים
Contemplate three things and you
will not come to the grip (literally ‘hands’) of transgression. Know what is
above from you: a seeing eye, a listening ear, and all your deeds being
inscribed in a book.
With modern technology and the widespread use of
surveillance devices and data capture, most of us have spent so long being watched,
recorded and digitally summarised that we have become accustomed to this state
of affairs and are little concerned with it. Our indifference is a product of
the fact that we do not feel personally watched, listened to or data-captured:
all of this is done by third parties for their interest. We are watched and
overheard in the name of public safety and security, and our data is stored and
retrieved principally by online businesses that offer a quasi-symbiotic
relationship: we give them our data and they, in return, seek to offer us news,
opinions and products that are more likely than not to appeal to our
preferences and our prejudices.
Our mishnah supports this practice and goes further. Surveillance
and the compilation of a permanent record is the prerogative of God Himself. It
is axiomatic that God is omniscient and therefore possesses a perfect record of
every facet of our existence in this world. Since He is also our judge, his
perfect record of our every moment constitutes the evidence upon which our
lives are assessed. The evidence is incontrovertible and there is no mechanism
by which it might be challenged. All we can do, when faced with it, is offer an
explanation or excuse.
Arguably, even the attempt to explain or mitigate our more
reprehensible conduct is futile since there is nothing we can say, or even
think, that is not already known to God. The Sefat Emet derives support for
this proposition from our mishnah. Expanding on his words, it seems that the
three-part list of a seeing eye, a hearing ear and a complete record
corresponds to the three ways a human can serve God: through actions, speech
and thought. The divine seeing eye can perceive the innermost and most private
thoughts we harbour in our brains; the divine ear catches every syllable and
every sound we generate when communicating with God, with others and even with
ourselves; and God also records for eternity. We should strive to bear all
three in mind. Our consciousness of the seeing eye and the hearing ear should
be sufficient to motivate us to do that which is correct and good in at least
our own eyes—but if that doesn’t inhibit us from doing wrong, we should remember
the perfect record.
Other commentators have read this mishnah differently. The
Me’iri, for instance, sees the references to the seeing eye, hearing ear and the
record book as having a less practical but more theologically focused meaning.
In a lengthy and detailed appraisal of Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi’s words, he
connects their three reference points, respectively, to belief in God’s
existence, belief in God’s providence and belief that sin is followed by
punishment. He specifically rejects the Sefat Emet’s approach, objecting that
if the record book refers to God’s knowledge, it effectively duplicates the
role of the seeing eye, and it is presumably in response to this objection that
the Sefat Emet crafts his explanation that the eye, ear and record correspond
to the thoughts, words and actions through which we serve—or disobey—the Almighty.
Of the two approaches, I confess that I do prefer that of
the Sefat Emet, if only because, in addressing the way to avoid sin, it
obliquely embraces the prospect of God recording the good things we do, say and
think too.
For comments and discussion of this post on Facebook, click here.
