Thursday, August 30, 2012
Preparing for the diagnosis
10:53 AM | 
Posted by
Rabbi Chaim Coffman |
By
Rav Moshe Sternbuch
Judges and policemEn
“You
shall set up for yourself judges and officers in all your gates” (16:18)
We must
erect gates to control all our limbs, such as our eyes, ears and mouths, and
ensure that they are subjected to the scrutiny of “judges” (our minds) whose
job it is to decide whether a certain action is appropriate, for example,
whether it is worthwhile to hear or speak a certain thing. Once we have done so
our limbs act like police officers and enforce this “judgment”.
Beware oF externals
“You
shall not plant for yourself an asheirah, [or] any tree, near the altar of Hashem” (16:21)
Chazal say
that someone who appoints an unworthy dayan, it is as if he has planted
an asheirah. (Masseches Avodo Zoro 52b). Why is this compared to
the act of planting an asheirah?
Other
types of avodo zoro, such as a stone or the sun, are static, but an asheirah
is a type of tree, which grows. Similarly, incorrect judgments issued by an
unworthy dayan have both immediate negative consequences and also cause
long-term damage, which constitute a stumbling block for the public.
Furthermore, the asheirah, as a tree, was planted for beauty, and may
have been further embellished subsequently, like the tree used by non-Jews on
their holiday. This teaches us that when it comes to appointing a dayan
or rav we
should not look at external trappings, such as expertise in secular knowledge
or academic titles, but only at his Torah knowledge and yiras shomayim.
Spiritual vitality
“And
you shall not set up for yourself a monument, which Hashem, your G-d hates” (16:22)
The word
"monument" also means "gravestone". A person who performs mitzvos
by rote may be compared to a gravestone. We must maintain our spiritual
vitality by endeavoring to constantly elevating our levels of avodas Hashem.
This possuk warns us to avoid a situation where our davening,
learning, or other mitzvos are not accompanied by any devotion or emotion.
Zoken mamre
“And you
shall abolish evil… and all the people shall listen and fear” (17:12-13)
Rav
Yecheskel Sarna zt”l commented on the
possuk: “Do not be too righteous… do not be too wicked” (Kohelles
7:16-17) that on the face of it, we would think that it is worse to be too
wicked than too righteous, but in reality someone who is too righteous is worse,
because he is less likely to do teshuva, since he may not even be aware
of his need to do teshuva.
Chazal
tell us that the zoken mamre is a major talmid chachom who is
likely to mislead people with his rulings running counter to the views of the
members of the Sanhedrin, and that is why he has to be publicly executed during
a regel so that the message of the paramount of the Sanhedrin can
receive the greatest possible publicity.
Torah interpretations
“He
shall write for himself two copies of this Torah on a scroll out of that which
is before the kohanim the leviyim” (17:18)
The King
had a sefer torah, which he carries on him at all times, in addition to
the Sefer Torah, which every Jew possessed, to remind him to observe all
the mitzvos meticulously.
Many non-practicing
Jews as well as non-Jews study and believe in the Torah, interpreting it at
will in a way that conforms to their false views. The possuk therefore
warns the King that he must only accept the interpretation of the kohanim,
who represented the talmidei chachomim during the time of the Beis
Hamikdosh, because only they, who served Hashem faithfully, know the true
interpretation of the Torah.
False MOshiach
“A
prophet from among you, from your brothers, like me, Hashem, your G-d will set
up for you, to him you shall hearken” (18:15)
In the
days of Rav Chaim Volozhiner zt”l there was a person who managed to convince some Jews that he would soon
reveal himself as moshiach. Rumors of his imminent revelation and an
ensuing mass emigration of the entire Jewish population from his town spread to
the mayor. Fearing for the fate of all the taxes owed by the Jews, he enacted a
regulation forbidding any Jew from leaving the town at any time. This
legislation naturally caused major chaos.
The mayor then decided to visit the greatest local rabbi, Rav Chaim, to ask him what
the rumors were all about. Rav Chaim responded by asking the mayor whether he
believed this fellow was moshiach, and
he responded in the negative. Rav Chaim told him that he also thought the whole
thing was nonsense since our Torah says that the real moshiach the whole
world will believe in without any exceptions, since it says, "you shall
hearken to him”. This is not a commandment, but an indication that there will
not be anybody who will doubt the true moshiach, and that is not the case
with this person. The mayor was convinced by Rav Chaim’s explanation, and
immediately revoked the decree forbidding the Jews from leaving the town.
Utilizing the Siyata Dishmaya of elul
“Be
wholehearted with Hashem, your G-d” (18:13)
One screw
missing in a rocket sent to space may affect the functionality of the whole
system. Similarly, we have to act with completeness and wholeheartedness in our
avodas Hashem. We cannot "cut corners" by being lax in our
observation of certain mitzvos or compromising here and there.
“I am my
beloved’s, and my beloved is mine”. During Elul we must increase our awareness
that our relationship with Hashem depends on our own spiritual status, and is a
reflection of it. According to the Vilna Gaon zt”l the main din on Rosh Hashono, of
which we are apprehensive, is not the one which decides our material fate, our
health, financial status, and, in fact, our very lives. That judgment can be
overturned through teshuva, tefillo and tzedoko.
What we
must be most concerned about in the current period is the annual analysis of
our spiritual status undertaken by Hashem every Rosh Hashono. This may
be compared to the medical diagnosis pronounced by a renowned professor who states
his opinion on the physical reality of the patient as he sees it. Similarly, on
Rosh Hashono Hashem makes
a "diagnosis" of the state of everybody's neshomo. This
is not a judgment, which can be tempered by mercy, but rather the
expression of a spiritual reality.
People of
the stature of the Arizal could detect such a reality even with their physical
eyes. Although this reality cannot be tempered by mercy, it can be changed in
the weeks of Elul leading up to Rosh Hashono. On Rosh Chodesh Elul, we are sent a summons telling us that we are
to appear before the Creator in one month’s time, and that we have 30 days
during which we can change our spiritual reality for the better.
It is a
sobering thought, to say the least, that someone may be keeping all the mitzvos,
and yet be spiritually dead if he is observing them completely by rote; in fact
he may already be in the status known as koreis. Our task in the days
remaining before Rosh Hashono is
to inject vitality and enthusiasm into our avodas Hashem with joy and
gratitude for the opportunity we have to utilize the special siyata dishmaya of this period to rejuvenate our neshomos.
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