Devarim

In our sedra, Moshe recounts the events of the past years & the travels that the Jews had taken. When they passed הר שעיר , Moshe relates that Hashem told him רב לכם סב את ההר הזה פנו לכם צפנה - literally translated, you have circled this mountain long enough; turn northward.

The כלי יקר explains that this posuk has a much deeper meaning which was important then as well as for all future generations. The concept of circling implies that one who is circling can’t step into the center. The Jews were circling הר שעיר (Eisav’s territory) but couldn't even step in because the Toarh says  פנו לכם צפנה which chazal expound to mean הצפינו עצמכם , hide yourself.

When Eisav is in power, hide yourselves. As the כלי יקר continues, הצפנה here means that if a Jew finds himself being successful in golus, when we are not in our own land, he should hide it from Eisav (the goyim). Since they feel that we stole the beracha from Eisav, any success that we Jews have causes immediate jealousy that we are stealing that success from them.

Similarly, Yaakov told his sons to go down to Egypt to buy food even when they had. He said, “why should we look better off than Eisav & Yishmael who think our success belongs to them”.

Unfortunately, continues the כלי יקר, that's the opposite of what people do in the exile. Even those who have limited income, manage to make themselves appear as if they have millions thereby causing the gentiles to detest them which is a cause for all the evil that befalls the Jews.
How can we not fall into this trap? How can we overcome the need to be ostentatious?

When רבי חיים מצאנז expounded these words, he said ההר is the yetzer hara, as it says: after the Tzaddik's life he will see his yetzer hara appearing to him as a mountain symbolizing the great climb up & the obstacles that were surmounted. צפונה is the purest form of יראת שמים which is embedded in the innermost recesses of the heart. This is what Moshe was telling the Jews: רב לכם , the abundance of Mitzvos & good deeds is in reality only to ward off the yetzer hara, for the essence of service to Hashem is to reach the level of pure  יראת שמים.

Perhaps, if we could strive to attain these levels of yiras shomaim by learning & doing mitzvos, then our focus would be on how we could sanctify the name of heaven rather than trying to outdo our friends & showing off which not only causes our friends to be jealous but also incites the nations against us. This is especially true nowadays when anti - semitism is at an all-time high & the nations of the world are all watching us. Let's take this lesson to heart & act in a way that doesn't draw attention to ourselves, thereby reducing the hatred until Hashem redeems us from this final exile!