“This … that I command you today - it is not hidden and not distant. It is not in heaven . . . Rather it is very near to you - in your mouth and your heart to perform it".¹

In psychology we find discussion of ''the disowned self;'' i.e., facets of an individual's personality which one may deny having. There may be a feeling that is so repulsive that we cannot admit, even to ourselves, that we are capable of having. Ideas and feelings such as these may be repressed; i.e. buried in the subconscious part of the mind, hopefully never to come to one's awareness.

An idea buried in the subconscious does not just remain dormant. Rather, it seeks to break into consciousness. A person must exert energy to keep the idea repressed, and sometimes one may develop one or more defenses to reinforce the repression. These defenses are often the cause of psychological symptoms.

Lust can be transformed into desires for spiritual goals, anger can be converted to intolerance of injustice, envy can be directed to wishing to achieve the spiritual heights of the truly righteous Tzaddik, etc.

Lust can be transformed into desires for spiritual goals, anger can be converted to intolerance of injustice, envy can be directed to wishing to achieve the spiritual heights of the truly righteous Tzaddik, etc.

Every impulse can be sublimated, but instead of sublimation on a subconscious level, it can be a conscious process. As long as an impulse is in the subconscious and a person is not aware of its existence, there is an internal struggle against an unknown enemy. If the idea or feeling can be admitted to consciousness, one is then in a better position to deal with it.

The Midrash says that when Moses ascended to heaven to receive the Torah, the heavenly angels objected, saying to G-d, ''Torah is too holy to be given to mortals who will not appreciate it and revere it. Let the Torah remain here, among us.'' G-d told Moses to rebut the angels' argument. Moses said, ''The Torah says 'You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.' Does that apply to you? The Torah says, 'You shall not steal.' Are you capable of stealing anything? The Torah says, 'You shall not murder.' Can you kill one another?'' With this argument, Moses triumphed over the angels and brought the Torah down to us.

Why, then, should a person disown any feeling as though having it means that one is decadent? There is no reason to disown any thought or feeling. We need only realize that it originates from our animal-like body, and that it is our duty to master it.

The Midrash tells a story of a king who had heard of Moses' greatness sent his artists to the Israelite encampment in the desert to draw a picture of Moses. When they returned, he gave the picture to his physiognomists, wise men capable of describing a person's character by a study of his face. The physiognomists reported that this picture was of a person who was narcissistic, arrogant, lustful and capable of the worst kind of behavior. This was so incongruous with what he had heard about Moses that he decided to see for himself.

The Torah is not in heaven and was not intended for angels. It is a Torah for mortals, for human beings whose animal bodies can generate desires that a person may wish to disown as alien.

Moses tells the Israelites. ''The Torah is not in heaven and was not intended for angels. It is a Torah for mortals, for human beings whose animal bodies can generate desires that a person may wish to disown as alien. It is not necessary to do so. We have the strength and capacities to be master over our behavior.

“It is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart to perform it.”

Maimonides says that every person can be like Moses. Every person is capable of consciously sublimating the drives that originate from our physical bodies. There is no need to disown part of one's self.