It then occurred to me that had there been a patient who was in imminent danger of death, the doctor would have rushed over and worked strenuously to save him despite the strike. This is indeed virtuous. But why would the doctor do it? Because it is accepted policy that even during a strike, real cases of life and death are handled nonetheless. Failure to do so is considered tantamount to murder.
Let’s imagine for a moment that the accepted policy would be different, and even cases of life and death would be ignored when there is a strike. Then, what would this same doctor do if a patient was dying? Assumedly, he would smile smugly and keep on walking, just as he did with the bleeding child. It would not bother him to do so, because his behavior would be considered acceptable. So in the end, it is only the mores of society that cause him to care. It is not coming from his inner nature.
The proof is that when he encounters a bleeding child he does not bat an eyelash and even smirks as he walks away. It doesn’t affect him, and he doesn’t care. Why? Because it is accepted!
When the Day of Judgment arrives, Hashem will evaluate us not just according to our external actions, which might be very meritorious — thanks to the social atmosphere and other external factors — but also according to our true inner nature. In other words, Hashem takes a deep look at us. He sees not just what we did, but also why we did it. And He judges us accordingly.
Who We Truly Are
We must realize that Hashem judges “each person according to what he is.” Because of this, “Woe to us when it comes to the Day of Judgment.” Who among us knows his true inner nature, and what he might be capable of doing if he were in a different place and time? Hashem wants us to purify our inner nature. He wants us to sanctify our very beings. It is not sufficient to do good; we are required to be good.
Chazal often use the expression מעלה עליו הכתוב – “Scripture considers him as if he did such and such...” What does this mean? When used in connection with a negative act, it means that normal people don’t actually commit that particular sin – they would rather sacrifice their lives than do it. However, there is a more subtle sin that bears a similarity to it. And whoever does the subtle sin shows that in truth, hidden deep within, he has the ability to do the gross sin, too.
For example: Whoever disgraces the holidays is considered as if he worships idols.
This Chazal is talking about someone who did melachah on chol hamoed when he shouldn’t have. He is considered as if he served avodah zarah. Now, none of us would think of going and worshiping an idol. We would willingly give up our lives rather than commit the sin of idolatry.
However, idol worship is not the nisayon of the person about whom Chazal are speaking. He would never do such a gross sin because the society in which he lives strongly disapproves of idolatry. His nisayon is to properly honor chol hamoed and to refrain from forbidden melachah during the entire holiday. If he does not sufficiently honor chol hamoed, this is a sign that he does not care sufficiently about honoring Hashem. Therefore, if avodah zarah would be “acceptable,” he would do that, too. If he would be evaluated “according to what he is,” he would be considered an idol worshipper.
