WHY FOCUS ON THE OUTER LAYER, WHEN THERE IS SO MUCH GOOD TO BE FOUND DEEP WITHIN.
People can be generally divided into two categories. Whether physically or spiritually, they are either rich or poor. By the rich, everything is gold, and by the poor, their money is copper.
Every Jew, irrespective of how he or she feels inside or acts on the outside, the essential Jew – the Pintaleh Yid – can never be touched; it can never become impure. And that is the altar of the person, on which we sacrifice the evil inclination and come closer to Hashem. When we connect with the Pintaleh Yid, we become totally pure.
Why do we become totally pure? “Since they are like earth,” and earth cannot become impure. What is the symbolism of earth? The earth is nullified before everyone, as we all tread on it. When we connect with the Pintaleh Yid, we are totally nullified before Hashem, as we say at least three times a day, “And my soul should be like earth before all.” When we are nullified, there is no self; there is only Hashem’s will, which is revealed in the Torah.
“Since they are like earth,” are the words of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hurkanus, who was known as Rabbi Eliezer Hagadol (the great), who was greater than all the sages of Israel together, and still, he had no ego, as the Talmud tells us, “He never said anything that he hadn’t heard from his teachers.” He was like earth, nullified before Hashem, and that was the path of service he taught his students to follow. On a deeper level, Rabbi Eliezer Hagadol was at such a high plane that he only saw that everything was the essence of Hashem; he didn’t see the external shell, whether it was gold or copper. He only saw the essence, the earth.
The sages say, “since they are [only] coated [with gold and copper]...” – They are saying that not everyone is at Rabbi Eliezer’s level. Most of us recognize the exterior, and at times, we will have failings. The wealthy see the gold, and they may be tempted to follow the desires that come with affluence. And the poor, since all they have is copper, may be tempted to do something dishonest to get ahead.
Whether rich or poor, we must realize that the gold and copper are only an exterior shell, which is nothing and nullified to what is underneath, the Pintaleh Yid. Ultimately, we will come to realize this and do Teshuva, and we will merit to see the coming of Moshiach. May he come soon.
