Thursday, June 14, 2012
Types of Emuno
12:05 PM | 
Posted by
Rabbi Chaim Coffman |
By Rav Moshe Sternbuch
Pride of Bnei Torah
Let them cause a razor
to pass over all their flesh (8:7). Rashi: Since they [the leviyim] were
submitted in atonement for the firstborn who had practiced idolatry [when they
worshipped the golden calf], which is called sacrifices to the dead - and one
afflicted with tzaora’as is considered dead - they required shaving like those
afflicted with tzaora’as
It is difficult to understand why the Leviyim had to be shaved,
and not the firstborn, and, in any case, we also do not find anywhere that idol
worshippers are shaved.
A metzora who speaks loshon horo is
sent out of the camp and shaved so that he will become repulsive and other
people will keep a distance from him. That way he will learn to bridle his
speech and refrain from speaking loshon horo in the future. Similarly,
the Leviyim had to shave their hair in order to look different from the rest of the nation. Since they were the
recipients of ma’asros and other gifts some members of the nation
are likely to consider them to be "parasites" living off other people.
By shaving their heads the Leviyim are given the message that
they must be willing to endure humiliation like a metzora, and must not let
this affect their pride at being servants of Hashem who are responsible
for the nation’s continued existence against all the odds.
Nowadays,
as the Rambam tells us, anyone who
dedicates his life to Torah acquires the status of a ben Levi, and they too must have the confidence and
positive pride to be able to swim against the tide of public opinion, and
against warped ideologies and materialism. Only daas Torah guides their actions, regardless of the reactions of
people around them.
Moving and stationary Torah
When
the oron travelled, Moshe said: "Rise up Hashem, and let Your enemies be
scattered; and let those who hate You flee before You (10:35)
And
when it rested, he said: Return, Hashem, to the tens of thousands of the
families of Yisroel (10:36)
The gemoro
(Shabbos 116a) says that these two pessukim constitute two
separate parashiyos in their own right, and for this reason two inverted
nuns appear
before and after them, so that they must be conveying a message of fundamental
importance.
It is only when the oron,
i.e. the Torah, travels, only when it is being disseminated to distant
quarters, to all Jews around the globe, that the Jewish nation is worthy of
defeating its enemies and having them flee before them. It is only when bnei Torah are concerned not
only for themselves, but for the whole nation, that we are saved from
misfortunes. It turns out that outreach is a recipe not only for spiritual
growth, but also for our physical survival.
However, for the shechino to remain
with us, we must ensure that the oron rests, i.e. that the Torah remains
concentrated in and focused on its main abode, the Yeshivos and Kollelim. Without them the nation has no
hope of surviving.
indivisible Torah
This was the form of the
menorah: hammered work of gold, from its base to its flower it was hammered
work (8:7)
The
menorah was chiseled from one whole unit rather than being made piece by piece and
then connected together. Since the menorah is a symbol of the Torah this may be
taken as a reference to its indivisibility. Just like a soldier does not have
any discretion to decide which orders to obey, so too the soldiers of Hashem cannot
pick and choose between different types of mitzvos, because they all have the same divine
source.
The entire
menorah, including its base and
flowers, were part of the chiseled unit. This indicates that hidur mitzvah, the beautification of mitzvos by observing them in accordance with all
their details and embellishments, are part and parcel of the performance of the
mitzvah itself.
Early retirement
From the age of fifty he
shall retire from the service of the work, and do no more work (8:25). Rashi: the
work of carrying on the shoulders; however, he can return to [the work of]
locking the gates, singing, and loading the wagons
Why does
Rashi refer to the work of locking the gates, and not opening them? We can
understand this on the basis of the statement by the Chofetz Chaim zt”l , who said that anyone who has
reached the age of 50 has to slacken his interest in worldly matters to some
extent, and to prepare himself for the world which is completely good. In
addition to "locking" neila also means “closing”. Hence, Rashi’s
reference to locking the gates may be taken as an allusion to the work required
to be intensified as we reach the age of 50 and enter the closing stage of our
lives.
Chesed
He shall minister with
his brethren [literally:
he shall serve his brethren] in the Tent of Meeting to keep the charge, but he
shall not perform the service (8:26)
Sometimes
a person’s main task in this world is to serve his brethren by performing
charitable deeds and the like. A charity overseer once told Rav Yosef Chaim
Sonnenfeld zt”l that he had decided to
resign from his position and dedicate his life to learning Torah. So far from expressing
his delight, Rav Sonnenfeld responded that the gemara says that a levi
with the job of singing, who instead serves as a gatekeeper, is subject to
death by the hands of heaven (Masseches Arachin 11b).
Just like
the work of the leviyim was divided between gatekeepers, guards and
singers, so too some people are required to dedicate their entire lives to
Torah, whereas others are supposed put a greater emphasis on other aspects of avodas
Hashem. The main thing is that
everybody's intention should be to perform the will of our Father in
Heaven. Rav Sonnenfeld told this person that he must continue with his current
activities.
Yisro
And you shall be to us
(instead of) eyes (10:31).
Rashi: you shall enlighten us [with your guidance].
We would
have thought that the generation of the wilderness had no shortage of zekeinim
to enlighten and guide them. Why did they need Yisro?
One possibility is that righteous proselytes and baalei
teshuva who cleave to Hashem following their intellectual searches are in a
better position to teach the rest of the nation about intellectual faith and
serving Hashem with our intellect than those who have been educated from
childhood to follow in the path of Hashem and who have become accustomed to it.
This may be what chazal had in mind when they stated that baalei
teshuva are superior to tzaddikim.
Similarly, nowadays we find that many
of those involved in outreach are themselves baalei teshuva originally,
and this is only natural because they are best qualified to engage in these
activities.
Rav Sternbuch heard an alternative explanation from the late
Satmarer Rebbe, Rav Yoel zt”l. Yisro grew up amongst non-Jews, and had
been one of Paroh’s advisers. He was therefore very conversant with the outlook
and mentality of the erev rav, which were now having such a negative
influence on the Jews and giving them so much trouble and he was therefore best
qualified to advise the nation about how to deal with them.
Simple Faith
Not so is My servant
Moshe; he is faithful in all My house (12:7).
Moshe Rabbeinu, the greatest of the prophets, remained
faithful “in all My house”, i.e. in all matters relating to avodas Hashem he
maintained pure and simple faith performing mitzvos without seeking to
comprehend them with his intellect. Similarly, the Baal Shem Tov zt”l would
say that after everything he had attained, he wished to serve Hashem with
simple faith.
The Chosid Yaavetz, who was born in Spain and was
forced to leave during the Expulsion in 1492, wrote that during the period of
the Inquisition the Jewish philosophers were the first to convert or to become
Marranoes, whereas the non-intellectual population, imbued with simple faith,
refused to succumb. The philosophers just used their philosophical knowledge to
rationalize their actions. Whilst there is room for a philosophical
appreciation of Hashem’s existence, for example in the context of outreach work
as we have just seen, experience shows that simple emuno is the higher
level to strive for.
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