Yitro(Exodus 18-20)

Ignorance is Bliss?

"I've checked every drawer and every suit in the house, and I just can't find that hundred dollar bill", Jonathan said dejectedly.

"Well," his wife Jane began, "have you tried your pants in the washing machine?"

"Yes." Jonathan's answer was curt.

"Well, what about your car? Have you checked there? Maybe it fell out in your car."

"Yes, I've searched the entire car."

"Well, what about the pants that you left out for the dry cleaners. Maybe it's there."

"I haven't checked there."

"Why not?"

"Because that's the only place left!"

"Well, "try it then!"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because if I look and it's not there, then I'll be really depressed. Then I'll know I really lost it!"

Could there be any greater experience in life than having a direct communication with God Himself? Even the atheist would agree: If God exists, then talking with Him would be an incredible, mind-boggling experience.

In this week's parsha the Jewish people enter into direct communication with God. The entire nation stands at the foot of Mount Sinai and hears God tell them the Ten Commandments. An experience of such magnitude that it was never repeated before or since!

But there is one difficulty. Because at the height of this whole encounter, the Jewish People back off in their communication with God. The Torah tells us:

"They said to Moses: 'You speak to us and we shall hear. Let us not speak with God lest we die.'" (Exodus 20:16)

If God would speak with you, would you expect to die? Furthermore, the people say that Moses should speak with God and then report back what God said. But if Moshe won't die, why will they?

There is an old saying that "ignorance is bliss." Some people believe that it's better not to know (and therefore not be culpable), than to know and - because of that knowledge - become responsible.

Now of course, you wouldn't be reading this right now if you believed "ignorance is bliss." You don't know what I might throw at you next! And knowledge equals responsibility.

The truth is, ignorance is not bliss, it's a curse. We would much rather suffer the pain of knowledge than the torture of living in ignorance. On one level there is comfort in not knowing whether you've lost a hundred dollars. But awareness is far more rational.

Ignorance is a dark cloak, whose shadow engulfs many ills: frustration, impatience and hate, to name but a few. If someone close to you was terminally ill, would you want to know? "Tell us", we plead. "But you'll only worry" they answer. True, but we'd still rather know.

To think that one day we might realize that our whole life had been lived in lies is a torturous thought. It's hard to carry on living today, when we know yesterday was a lie. Knowledge forces us to change. Truth rings from a mighty steel bell, its reverberations can rip open the hardest of hearts and melt the most stubborn of temperaments.

Have you ever had the sense that you are about to hear something that will change your life forever? Sometimes, it seems, you'd rather stay comfortably ignorant. You've been living this way for so many years, who wants to change now? "I'll pretend I didn't know there was truth around the corner and just turn the other way." The fact is, it's easier not to listen in the first place, then to have to deny a truth we already know.

Do this sound familiar? "I would rather not listen, I would rather not read the books." Why? "Because it might be true." So? "Then I will have to change"! But if it is true won't it be better for you? "Yes, but at this moment I don't know it's true!"

As funny as this sounds, we all do it - every day! We avoid looking. Because we don't want to know. We distort reality to conform to what we feel like doing. Our definition of "good" becomes that which we happen to be doing.

"Two people shoot their arrows in the bulls-eye. One is a master archer, the other draws a circle around wherever the arrow lands."

This is like the man who's on a winning streak at the roulette table on the Titanic. He'd rather keep playing than listen to the warnings of "abandon ship!" Ultimately truth catches up with everyone. Denial can only be temporary.

We can now understand what the Jewish People were thinking at Mount Sinai. They knew if they were to continue listening to God then they would hear things that would affect their pursuit of desires. God is convincing, the most convincing. He knows what to say to make you change. If they were to listen they would have to change. They would see too clearly that they were living a lie.

Gone would be the days of living for nothing. No more selfishness, no more pettiness. Living with an ultimate awareness of truth is a heavy responsibility. They opted not to know.

BE CAREFUL: Don't go looking in places you know won't give answers, in order to avoid the places that will.

BRAINSTORMING QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Question 1: Would you really like to know what you are doing wrong in life? If you're serious, then you'll ask a friend to tell you.

Question 2: Is the Torah the word of God, or was it written by a committee? Have you examined the evidence?

Question 3: Why aren't Jews supposed to "work" on Shabbat? Is that just a ritual, or is there a deep spiritual benefit? Have you made the effort to find out?