LEV1101 In the Jewish view, the spiritual seeker is meant to be a servant of God. Our paragon here is Moses, who is called just that: eved HaShem, a servant of God. (Deuteronomy/Devarim 34:5). The first line of the book of Joshua repeats this phrase, again calling Moses eved Hashem. Psalm 36 begins: "To the chief musician, a Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord." In Leviticus God says: "For to me are the Israelites servants, My servants that I have redeemed from Egypt" [this verse]. That the proper attitude for spiritual living should be that of a servant is very counter-cultural to the modern mind. The French, Russian, and American revolutions that set the course for the modern era, as well as innumerable anti-colonial wars of independence, were all attempts to overthrow regimes that propagated servitude. So to the American Civil War. Not many national constitutions laud the value of being a servant. But the Jew is meant to serve. Our answer to God's commandment is "we shall do and we shall hear." [Exodus 24:7-AJL] Doing comes first. We will serve. … Being a servant of God means striving to align my will to that of the Master. I desire to unify my will with God's will within my own life and to delight in that unification. ... Being a servant who aligns his or her will with the divine will makes you very useful human being. In time, your efforts will be judged to have been right and good. Right alongside, the doors to personal happiness will be open wide to you. There is no long-term satisfaction to be gained by pursuing and even temporarily gratifying the desires of the little personal will.