Overcoming Our Forgetfulness The Jewish people were rebuked for having “having forgotten God, Who formed you” (Deuteronomy 32:18).

This forgetfulness is the principle factor that distances a person from God.

In the prayer that he composed, R. Elimelech of Lizhensk states, “May our mind be pure, clear, clean and strong.”

Everyone knows that if he were to literally see with his own eyes that he is standing before God, he would cease to have an evil inclination. Instead, he would pour forth his entire spirit and soul in holy words to God until he would become nothing and be absorbed into God.

But we do not have to go so far. Everyone feels how his evil inclination ceases to exist even if he no more than focuses his mind and thought strongly upon God. Then all of its poison, which usually bubbles through his senses, is nullified before God. For example, on Yom Kippur (particularly, during Kol Nidrei and Neilah) doesn’t every Jew feel that all his lusts, fantasies and improper desires no longer exist, since at that moment his thought is clear and strongly focused on God?

The very essence of the imperfection caused by our human descent is that “you have forgotten God Who has formed you.” A person descends from his mindfulness. It is not always pure, clear and strong as it is on Yom Kippur and other such times. Even if someone wanted to strengthen and empower his mind and thought, he could not maintain this mindfulness consistently for any significant period of time.

And so all our work must center on how to strengthen our mindfulness: how to broaden it, empower it, perfect it and bind it to God—and not only during such times as shofar blowing on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but so that it will always be clear, strong and bound to holiness.