Closed Circuit: Know What is Above You

"Consider three things and you will not come to sin: Know what is above you - an eye that sees, an ear that hears, and all your deeds are recorded in a book" (Avot 2:1).

In our words: Beware, you are being watched, you are on closed-circuit camera! No one would commit a shameful or inappropriate act if they knew they were being recorded, and that eventually there would be a public screening in front of them and all their acquaintances, as illustrated by the following story:

A young couple got married, at a good hour. An elaborate wedding was held with many guests. The groom's father brought ten thousand shekels to the hall to settle his debt with the venue owner and the band, and placed the money in his suit pocket. During the celebration, the father was called to dance with the groom. He took off his jacket and placed it on the back of his chair. The joy was great, with father and son dancing, jumping and prancing. After the exhilarating dancing, the happy father returned to his seat, put on his jacket, and as he felt around... the money was gone!!! The father turned pale and was beside himself. He thought about calling the police to search the crowd, but ultimately decided not to disrupt the celebration.

The wedding passed, the celebration ended, the video and pictures were ready, and the happy family was invited to the in-law's house to watch together, for the first time, the wedding video. The bride and groom, the groom's parents, the bride's parents, the brothers and sisters, the uncles, relatives and children all sat watching the professionally produced and tasteful video. Here's the chuppah... here's the kiddushin, the food and dancing, what joy... such beautiful shots... the camera pans momentarily across the hall, and then, lo and behold, they see how the bride's father sneaks over to the abandoned jacket, reaches in, and removes the money from the pocket... They immediately stopped the video, turned on the lights, and looked at him. What shame, what humiliation! How much would the bride's father have given to erase this segment from the video?! There they all were, sitting and watching how he put his hand in another's jacket pocket, how he sneaks away. How much would he have given to stop the screening?!

When a person passes from this world and ascends before the heavenly court, they show him and all his relatives who have already passed away everything that happened to him throughout his life, like in a movie, and he cannot deny it, and the shame for the sins is great [as testified by Sharon Nachshoni, who experienced a near-death experience, in his story published at the time in the newspaper "This Week in Jerusalem" 10/26/03: "... and while this is happening I feel my entire life passing before me like a moving picture, it's much stronger than video, it's like you're experiencing all the events again, from childhood to adulthood, you see everything. The shame was terrible, the scenes ran there and everyone saw what I did, both the good things and the bad things. Everything was open before them: the sin of hatred, honoring parents, slander, theft, modesty and more].

Therefore the Mishnah informs us: "Know what is above you! An eye that sees, an ear that hears, and all your deeds are recorded in a book."

When a person departs from this world, all his deeds are detailed before him, and they say to him: "You did such and such in such a place on such a day," and he says: "Yes." And they say to him: "Sign," and he signs. As it is said (Job 37): "By the hand of every man He seals." (Taanit 11a)