Public Displays of Mitzvot

One afternoon in Jerusalem, Rabbi Yakov Vann was on his way to the synagogue for the afternoon prayers when somebody called out from a doorway asking him to complete a minyan in a house of mourning. He gladly agreed to pray with the mourners, but upon entering the apartment, he was surprised to observe that although it was full of seforim (sacred Jewish books), the mourners themselves did not appear to be religiously observant.

After the prayer service had concluded, Rabbi Vann took out a Mishnah Berurah to examine it, and he was even more taken aback to see that its margins were full of astute insights and comments. He inquired about the owner of the seforim, and one of the mourners replied that they all belonged to the deceased, his father. Rabbi Vann probed further, asking whether any of the other family members used the books. Sadly, the son responded that although his father had been a very pious and learned Torah scholar, none of his children had followed in his ways. He explained that when his father came home each night, he would lock himself in his study and spend hours poring over his beloved tomes. However, because his Torah study only occurred behind closed doors and not in the presence of his family, his children never observed him learning and therefore did not absorb his passion for Torah and mitzvot.

As Rabbi Vann left the mourners, he realized that this encounter gave him a newfound appreciation of a novel Torah thought that he had recently heard. In Parshat Nitzavim, Moshe told the Jewish people.

הַנִּ֨סְתָּרֹ֔ת לַה אֱלֹ-הֵ֑ינוּ וְהַנִּגְלֹ֞ת לָֹ֤נוֹּ וֹּלְֹבָֹנֵֹ֨יֹנֹוּ֨ עַד־עוֹלָ֔ם לַֽעֲשׂ֕וֹת אֶת־כָּל־דִּבְרֵ֖י הַתּוֹרָ֥ה הַזֹּֽאת:

The hidden things belong to the Lord, our God, but the revealed things apply to us and to our children forever: that we must fulfill all the words of this Torah.

Rashi understands this verse to be referring to sins. We believe that Jews are responsible for one another, not only on a physical level but on a spiritual level as well. This means that if a Jew witnesses a fellow Jew doing something wrong and does not speak up to correct the situation, then the bystander shares in the guilt of the sin. Rashi explains that this verse is teaching us that this is only true for public sins. We might be worried that we all share in the guilt of hidden sins as well, even though we don’t know about them. That is why the verse says that hidden matters belong to Hashem. God will take care of the secret sins. But each of us must step up and address those sins that are done in public.

However, Rav Aharon Rokeach, the fourth Belzer Rebbe and uncle of the present Belzer Rebbe, suggested that the verse can be interpreted as referring to mitzvot: “Hidden things belong to God”- if we hide our mitzvot by doing them privately, then only Hashem will know about our righteous ways. On the other hand, “the revealed things apply to us and to our children.” If we take a different approach and reveal our good deeds to our children, then our religious priorities and values will remain ad olam - for all eternity, as they will be carried on by our children and descendants for all generations.

Humility is a valued character trait. But when it comes to performing mitzvot we need to have some ego. We need to proudly exhibit, even flaunt at times, the mitzvot that we do, so that it can positively impact our children and our community.