The Disguise

A Hassidic rebbe had many followers. However, one was a successful businessman, and needed to look acceptable,and be acceptable, to the outside world. When he came to prayer, or to Hassidic gatherings, he would dress in the Hassidic fashion. But when he was involved in business, he dressed in accordance with the latest European styles. One day he thought it over, "why am I trying to fool the other Hassidim, and especially my Rebbe? I put on a "disguise" as though I'm something I'm not!" The next time, he came to his rebbe dressed like a Paris gentleman. The rebbe asked him about this. He said "I don't want to fool you by coming in disguise. This is who I am". The rebbe replied "Oh, until now, I thought that the Jewish you is the real you, while you wear a non-Jewish disguise for the outside world. Now you're telling me that it is just the opposite?"
We all live in many worlds. But which is the real "me"? When I was in my twenties, I knew a gentleman who was an executive at IBM. Once, I visited him in his office. His advanced computer (which required no punched computer cards!) was programmed to allow a game of "rolling dice". (This was long before Pac Man!) We played at this for about an hour. Then he said "Let's check how much core time we used during this hour". He pushed some buttons. We had used less than a second of core time! We must do many things in this world...but where is the core time? Is our innermost soul dedicated to amassing wealth, and our prayers and Torah study are there in order to "convince G-d" to make us successful? Or is my core time directed towards G-d, towards the spiritual aspects of existence? Even if that is a fraction of the day, if that's the core of my being, than that is the real me. At that point, I disguise myself for the world, and remove the disguise before G-d, and before my self.