But if you do not listen to Me and do not perform all these commandments and if you despise My statutes and reject My ordinances, not performing any of My Commandments, thereby breaking My covenant then I too, will do the same to you; …Your enemies will rule over you; you will flee, but no one will be pursuing you. And if, during these, you will not listen to Me, I will add another seven punishments for your sins: (Vayikra 26:14-18)
1) But if you do not listen to Me: to toil in the study of Torah in order to know the understanding of the Sages 2) and do not perform: If you do not learn the Torah, you will not perform its Commandments properly 3) and if you despise My statutes: This refers to one who despises others who perform the Commandments 4) and reject My ordinances: refers to one who hates the Sages 5) not performing: refers to someone who prevents others from fulfilling the Commandments 6) any of My Commandments: refers to one who denies that I (G-d) Commanded them. This is why the verse says “any of My commandments” and “not any of the commandments.” 7) thereby breaking My covenant: This refers to one who denies the main tenet, namely, that G-d is the Omnipotent Creator of all existence. – Rashi
How does someone get to this point of denying HASHEM?! It is all a very natural and predictable progression from ceasing to learn Torah with earnestness. What happens to even a top athlete when he stops working out? What shape is a serious dieter in when they go off of their food plan? You don’t have to be a coach or medical doctor to answer those questions. Things that are left to chance go to chaos.
However, the degeneration described here is intensely negative. A person will come to reject HASHEM’s ordinances and hate the sages and eventually deny the existence of HASHEM. That is a very steep and ever accelerating decline. Why is there no even plateau or neutral stance? How can a person devolve from absolute positivity to such extreme negativity?! That’s a huge wonder!
A young Rabbi was standing by the side of a busy road in Israel shouting, “Shabbos!” as cars raced by. (An editorial note: I am not endorsing this approach.) A car came to a screeching halt and a big tough guy stepped out holding a tire iron in his hand. He approached the Rabbi threateningly advising him to say his last prayers because he’s about to meet his Maker. The Rabbi asked him why he was so violent and angry. The man growled back at him, “Because you’re out here shouting ‘Shabbos’?!” The Rabbi answered him softly, “You didn’t stop your car because I shouted ‘Shabbos’!” Angrier than ever, the tough fellow shouted, “Don’t tell me why I stopped my car!” The Rabbi tried again, “I can prove it to you! If I was out here on Tuesday yelling, “Yom Shlishi!” would you have stopped your car?” “No!” the fellow admitted. “You would just think I’m crazy, right!?” So, the Rabbi concluded, “When I shouted “Shabbos” something inside you shouted “Shabbos”. That’s why you stopped your car!”
Guilt is good! Lingering guilt is not. Guilt is to the soul what pain is to the body. Imagine what life would be without pain. Our limbs would be mangled and missing due to slight incidents of clumsiness. We’d be leaning on the stove wondering why we smell something burning. What a benefit to have a hand that is reactive to a hot stove and learns to stay away. In a guiltless world, people will tend to do many destructive deeds with total unawareness.
Guilt becomes most damaging when it is ignored. A person cannot remain in pain, and so in order to quiet the conscience one begins to employ their genius to justify and to rationalize their choices. Now, he imagines, without a Torah and a G-d to make him feel bad, the illusion is that the problem has been eliminated. Ignorance provides a temporary bliss.
In that mean time, he may run very far away, compartmentalize, turn up the volume, and do many wild things to distract himself, just not to hear that small thin voice within crying out, “Shabbos”. As muted as it becomes, yet even till his very last breath it still whispers, “Shabbos”.