Do Not Take The Name Of The Lord Your God In Vain
T
he great Chassidic master, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, would say:
“People are accustomed to looking at the heavens and wondering what happens there. It would be better if they would look within themselves to see what happens there.”
It is true: we can only live up to what we have potential for. But more often than not, we underestimate that potential.
We are the distracted generation—and worst of all, we are distracted from ourselves.
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch writes in Horeb (Mitzvot 97): “I am the Lord, your God”—He is the God of Israel. The sacred Name of God which you bear should call you to everything that is beautiful and good: to truth, to justice, and to love. The prohibition of Chilul HaShem—desecrating God’s Name—must accompany us constantly, reminding us to revere the Holy Name we bear.
To carry God’s Name is not a burden. It is a calling. We have the capacity to live nothing less than Godly lives.