Is It “Where Are You”???!!! Or, Is It: “Where Are You?”

There are two ways of posing a challenge to another. We can either shout the question angrily or ask it softly and lovingly. The latter approach is the more successful one.

IS IT “WHERE ARE YOU”???!!!

OR, IS IT: “where are you?”

Doesn’t G-d know?

When Adam and Eve partake of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge they discover that they are naked and hide when they hear G-d’s voice. G-d then calls out to them and says, “Ayekah-Where are you?”

The obvious question here is: does G-d need to ask where they are? Is G-d not omniscient and omnipresent?

This question is addressed by Rashi, who states that G-d asked about his whereabouts, “to enter into conversation with him so that he should not be startled to respond where he to punish him suddenly.”

There is a famous story (See preceding essay) told of the Alter Rebbe (R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the author of the Tanya and the founder of the Chabad Chassidic movement) when he was incarcerated by the Czarist regime accused of treason. The Deputy Minister of Culture heard of the rabbi’s brilliance displayed during his interrogation sessions and came to “pick his mind.”

When the Minister presented the foregoing question to him, the Alter Rebbe replied by citing Rashi’s explanation.

The Minister was not satisfied. He told the Alter Rebbe that he was familiar with Rashi’s answer but he wanted to hear the Alter Rebbe’s original explanation.

An Existential Question

The Alter Rebbe acceded to his request and asked him if he believed in the eternal nature of the Torah, to which he replied in the affirmative.

“If so,” the Alter Rebbe continued, “we are to understand G-d’s question to Adam as an existential question asked of each and every one of us: where are you; what have you accomplished in your life. You have lived so many years (and the Alter Rebbe actually mentioned the exact age of the Minister), G-d asks you where are you in terms of fulfilling your life’s mission.”

The Minister of culture was impressed!

The Need for Rashi’s Explanation?

One could ask a simple question upon closer examination of this story. The Alter Rebbe obviously knew that the Minister of Culture wanted to hear his original explanation; one that would convey a profound message, not just a social nicety as not startling the accused. Why then did he first cite Rashi’s answer? Was it simply borne of his humility? Or perhaps, the Alter Rebbe felt it would be disrespectful to ignore Rashi’s explanation, implying somehow that is was inadequate?

There is possibly a third alternative. He wanted to first impress upon him that G-d does not want to overwhelm His creations, even when he is displeased with them. Perhaps it was also a subtle hint to the representative of the Russian government that they should emulate G-d’s patience and provide him with the opportunity to defend himself against the trumped up charges of treason.

There might also be a fourth explanation as to why he cited Rashi’s explanation before giving his own that helped to put the Alter Rebbe’s explanation in proper context.

Two Forms of Ayekah

When confronted with the question by none other than G-d “where are you?” we can be overwhelmed and rendered helpless. A powerful rebuke by G-d can be terrifying, depressing and paralyzing. Rather than spurring the person who receives the message to change course in life it can destroy any prospects of growth.

With his prefacing of Rashi’s explanation he was essentially telling the Minister that when G-d comes to us with the powerful question of “where are you?” He says it not in bold capital letters, “WHERE ARE YOU???!!!. but rather in a soft and pleading tone: “where are you?” I beg of you, please reflect on who you are and where you are going. Recognize your unique place in the scheme of creation.

G-d wants us to certainly come to grips with our shortcomings in fulfilling our mission, but he doesn’t want us to deny our positive accomplishments that may seem trivial in the intense light of Divine scrutiny while the faults are magnified.

The Talmud declares: “G-d does not tyrannize over his creations.” He did not create us so that He can punish us. And even when He does punish us, it is tempered with mercy, and it is done, exclusively, for the ultimate good that will come to us and to others who will learn a lesson from this experience.

G-d’s “Ayekah” thus conveys a twin message to us just as it did to Adam. First and foremost, the Ayekah is a vote of confidence in our essential innocence; that we have the means to defend ourselves. And secondly, it is a challenge to us to recognize that we are on a journey and that we may have strayed. It then induces us to get back on the path that leads to our destination.

The Modern Day Ayekah

We are standing on the road that leads to the final Redemption. From the beginning of time we were placed on this road and told that our goal is to traverse it until it leads to the ultimate destination: the Messianic Age, at which time the world will realize its G-d given purpose. To travel on this road that would lead inexorably to the Redemption was our mission and the very reason we exist. This road, however, had many turns and twists in it. When we become distracted and we veer off course, G-d’s calls out to us “Ayekah?” This is a wakeup call in which G-d says to us: “Where are you.” Do you not realize that you are on a journey towards a very specific destination? How could you have strayed so far from it?

Moreover, we are not just on the road to the final Redemption, we have, as the Rebbe told us, arrived at the very end of the journey, “the time of your Redemption has arrived,” and that “all that is necessary now is for us to seize it and bring it into our homes.” And the Rebbe issued the clarion call of Ayekah to awaken us to prepare ourselves and the entire world for the Redemption.

One could erroneously interpret that wakeup call as a harsh rebuke intended to deny us the opportunity to continue on our mission or that, G-d forbid, the mission was aborted.

Rashi’s explanation of Ayekah is there to negate that unsympathetic interpretation of G-d’s calling out to us. Rather than a means to startle, frighten and punish us for our lack of direction, G-d wants us to get back on course. This is so because He cares for us. He wants us to realize that going back on course will allow us to experience the ultimate in good, and the very raison d’être for our existence: the Messianic Age to be ushered in imminently by our righteous Moshiach!

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Breishis by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.