You fear identity theft. You don't want a thief to convince your bank that he is you. Now imagine a thief has convinced you that the account belongs to him. What if he convinced you that everything you own is really his? You would no longer be sure of who you are.
Every day we are susceptible to a profound type of identity theft, and it's all because of something that happens in Parshat Bereishit this week.
The serpent said to Chava, "For G-d knows that on the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like G-d, knowing good and evil."
Notice that there is no internal yetzer hara speaking to her. The serpent is an outside force, speaking in the second person to "you." That changed after the first sin was committed. Adam "was not imbued with the evil inclination until he ate of the tree, and the evil inclination entered into him and he knew the difference between good and evil." (Rashi, 2:25)
On this basis, Rav Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler (Michtav M'Eliyahu vol. 2, p. 138) explains that this is why the yetzer hara now speaks in the first person. "I want to do this transgression." We mistakenly identify its message with our very selves. To stop ourselves, we say "you shouldn't do that" or "you can do better," as if the will of G-d is removed from us. This is the opposite of Adam's situation before he sinned. "I" and "you" have switched places. Rav Dessler is talking about identity theft.
Religious alienation is often rooted in the illusion that what G-d wants is contrary to what we want. Seeing through this illusion is hard work, but it can be done. In truth, we are entirely creations of G-d's will and built to fulfill G-d's will. By doing G-d's will, we express our essence. The drive to act contrary to G-d's will is not really who we are. Evidence for this can be seen in the fact that when we drop behaviors contrary to G-d's will, we feel more like ourselves. We are living authentically. The message of the Torah is not self-denial but a return to our true selves.
A healthy relationship with Hashem starts with recognizing that what He wants is what you want deep down. He wants you to become who you are. "For this thing is very close to you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, to do it." (Devarim 30:14) This is the goal of Jewish education.
