Saturday, October 27, 2012
Living for Others
12:29 PM | 
Posted by
Rabbi Chaim Coffman |
By Rav Moshe Sternbuch
Types of greatness
“Noach
was a righteous man” (6:9).
Rashi quotes the gemoro (Sanhedrin
108a) that some people interpret this phrase as a tribute to Noach, and in a
generation of righteous people he would have been on an even higher level
whereas others argue that it is derogatory, because in the generation of
Avrohom he would not have been considered righteous. Since the Torah testifies again
below that Hashem said: "For you I have seen righteous before me in this
generation” (7:1) how can we understand the view which maintains that the
phrase at the beginning of the parsha is derogatory contrary both to its
plain meaning and that possuk below?
In truth, according to
both opinions Noach was righteous because he withstood trials on a daily basis
surrounded as he was everywhere only by wicked people, and this alone entitled him
to be awarded the title of a righteous person, and if he would have had the
opportunity to engage in avodas Hashem in a generation which did not
require him to constantly withstand tests, he would have been even more
righteous, whereas those who say that he would not have been considered to be a
person of stature had he lived in the generation of Avrohom contend that
although he was righteous in his generation specifically because he exercised tremendous
dedication, determination and self-discipline by refraining from sinning in
such a challenging environment, if he would not have had to face such
challenges he may not have attained such high levels. It therefore turns out
that both opinions praise Noach for his actual behavior during his lifetime.
Moreover, according to
the latter opinion, since Noach did not engage in chesed with his fellow
human beings by beseeching Hashem to save them (see more on this below), he
would not have been considered of any importance in the generation of Avrohom,
who dedicated himself to the spiritual and material well-being of the members
of his generation. We conclude the first brocho of the shmona esrei with mogen Avrohom,
in order to emphasize the fundamental importance of this trait, and that when we excel in it, we are entitled to ask
Hashem to reciprocate by activating His middo of chesed in our favor.
Outreach candidates
“Noach
walked with Hashem” (ibid).
Rashi: Noach required Hashem’s support to uphold him, but Avrohom strengthened
himself and walked in his righteousness by himself
Noach
may have required Hashem’s support because he was only righteous for himself,
and did not get involved in the affairs of his fellow human beings, as opposed
to Avrohom, who attained his faith through intellectual enquiry. Although
Noach’s righteousness prevented him from becoming enticed into participating in
the wicked deeds of his contemporaries, it was not sufficient to attract them
to follow the righteous path. Avrohom, on the other hand, who understood the
internal wisdom of the Torah was capable of influencing others to follow his
path.
We
have often emphasized the importance of simple unquestioning faith, but someone
who has a thorough grasp of the fundamental principles of Judaism, having
delved and enquired into them, and who possesses the talent for disseminating them,
may be more successful in doing outreach work. A person who combines a deep
inner faith independent of intellectual enquiries, who has nevertheless
undertaken such studies, would make the ideal candidate for outreach work.
the power of REPENTANCE
“And
the rain was upon the earth for forty days and forty nights” (7:12). Rashi:
He brought them down with mercy, so that if they would repent, they would be
rains of blessing
Noach’s
contemporaries committed all the cardinal sins, and (unlike the generation that
built the migdal Bovel) even their character traits were totally corrupt,
and yet Hashem still waited 120 years to see if they would repent. Had they
done so, they would have been forgiven, and the rains would also have turned
into rains of blessing, even though the repentance would only have been motivated
by fear of an impending deluge. How much more so is the power of teshuva
me’ahavo, when a person repents out of love of Hashem and a desire to do
His will. When that happens Hashem showers us with unlimited blessings.
Noach’s ATonement
“Come
out of the ark” (8:16)
The
Zohar contrasts Noach’s conduct with that of Moshe Rabbeinu, who asked Hashem to delete him from His Book
rather than found a new great nation. Noach too after having been
told about the forthcoming mabul should have pleaded for his
contemporaries to remain alive until they repent, instead of thinking only of
himself and his family.
Hashem could have found another way to keep the
animal world alive other than the ark, but it was a way for Noach to achieve atonement for his sinful conduct
in the period leading up to the mabul.
Hashem was telling Noach: “You wanted to live a solitary life, and did
not care enough for your fellow men, now you will be forced to live for an
extended period on your own with your family in ‘solitary confinement’ from the
rest of the world. Moreover, you refused to act with kindness to your fellow
men, now you will be forced to perform ceaseless acts of chesed for an
entire year for all the animals”.
Noach
suffered terribly in the ark, from the stifling heat (the water outside was boiling
and there was no ventilation inside the ark), from the stench emanating from
the animals, from the attack by the lion and so on. This suffering facilitated
the process of atonement. However, since the period he was to spend inside the
ark was a punishment to atone for his previous behaviour, Noach was not permitted
to leave it until commanded to do so, so that he could be sure that his sin had
been forgiven.
UNJUSTIFIED MOdestY
“And
he took of all the clean animals and of all the clean fowl and brought up burnt
offerings [olos] on the mizbeach” (8:20)
Once
he had left the ark, Noach offered up olo offerings. This type of korbon atones for sinful thoughts, and in this
case Noach, after having witnessed all the destruction, regretted not having
prayed for his generation, having deemed himself to be unworthy of affecting
the divine decree. Modesty in and of itself is one of the most important
character traits to develop, but we see here the disastrous effects of failing
to act or to pray on behalf of others due to unwarranted modesty. Only once it
was too late did Noach realize his mistaken attitude, and wished to atone for
it through these korbonos.
FAith
“But
your blood, of your souls, I will demand” (9:5)
It is
forbidden to murder someone else in order to shorten their suffering or even to
commit suicide in order to shorten one's own suffering.
In the Warsaw ghetto the rabbonim
that still remained issued a proclamation that our wicked
enemies had made us despise this world, but they could not deprive us of the
world to come, and someone who committed suicide would not have a share in the
world to come. According to reliable witnesses the vast majority, being imbued
with complete faith, withstood the test and did not commit suicide.
Rav
Yaakov Yechiel Weinberg, the Seridei Esh zt”l, told Rav Sternbuch that it was a common
phenomenon in the Warsaw ghetto for people to get married in the afternoon, in
the full knowledge that they might be taken to their deaths before the day was
over. They refused to let their circumstances deter them from performing mitzvos as much as they could.
The emuno of those people, who
almost went out of their minds due to the suffering they had to endure, was astounding,
all the more so since these events took place not many centuries ago, but very
close to our own times. May they inspire us to withstand the more mundane trials
of our own generation.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Partners with Hashem
By
Rav Moshe Sternbuch
HERESY
“In
the beginning G-d created” (1:1)
The
gemara (Masseches Megila 9a) says that in the Septuagint (the targum
hashiv’im when 70 Sages were forced to translate the Torah by the Greeks)
the words bereishis boro elokim were rendered as elokim boro
bereishis in Greek lest anyone should think that bereishis is one
divine power who created another one called elokim (see Rashi ibid).
Why,
in fact, did the Torah at the very beginning use an ambiguous phrase, which
seems to leave open the possibility of a heretical interpretation?
Someone
who used to be religious once met Rav Chaim Brisker zt”l and told him that he had various questions about Hashem's
conduct in this world. Rav Chaim answered him that if he had questions, he
would be willing to answer them, but he suspected that these so-called
questions were not genuine ones but rather excuses to justify his own conduct
and lifestyle, and for such excuses he had no answers.
In
other words, heretics do not usually become what they are because of
intellectual or theological doubts. It is rather a matter of character traits.
Preferring to live an unbridled lifestyle without the yoke of Torah, they come
up with supposed problems in order to justify their neglect or abandonment of
religion.
MIDDAS HADIN
“In
the beginning G-d [Elokim] created” (1:1)
Hashem
created the world using the trait of strict justice symbolized by Elokim,
but was "forced" to join the trait of mercy to the trait of justice
in order to ensure the continued existence of the world. The question is why
Hashem did not do this at the outset, since He obviously has no need to
"experiment".
Rabi
Akiva wanted to be judged according to the strict trait of justice only, and
that was why he was killed in such a terrible manner. Although few people can
follow in his footsteps Hashem wanted to leave open the possibility for select
individuals to be judged solely by the strict trait of justice untempered by rachamim,
and also to teach those who cannot
reach such heights to at least strive for perfection in other more feasible areas
based on their specific levels.
Divine image
“Let
us make man in our image” (1:26); Rashi: Even though they [the angels] did not assist Him in
His creation, and there is an opportunity for the heretics to rebel (to
misconstrue the plural as a basis for their heresies), the possuk did not refrain
from teaching proper conduct and the trait of humility, that a great person
should consult with and receive permission from a smaller one”.
Hashem
is speaking to the angels, who were created on the second day (see Targum
Yonoson), since they had a personal interest, so to speak, in the creation of
man, because the status of the upper worlds, including that of the angels,
depends on the actions of man in this world. Of course, Hashem does not need to
hear the opinions of any being, but wished to teach us that even people less
important than us must be consulted concerning any matter in which they have a
personal interest.
We see here once again that the Torah is not
concerned with potential misconstructions on the part of heretics. Similarly,
we do not "dress up" the Torah for the sake of finding favor in the
eyes of the non-religious. This forbidden method has been tried in recent
generations and has invariably failed in its aim of increasing religious
observance amongst our skeptical brethren. Moreover, the advocates of
compromises or unwarranted leniencies, or at least their descendants,
eventually departed from the path of the Torah themselves.
However, the main message of this possuk is that
we are partners together with Hashem in creating ourselves. The Zohar explains
that the food of the neshomo is Torah and its clothing are mitzvos and
good deeds. Hence, each one of us creates the form of our neshomos on a
daily basis, together with Hashem. Just like no two individuals have identical
faces, even though billions of inhabitants currently populate the planet, so
too do each of our neshomos look different in accordance with the Torah
and mitzvos which become an eternal part of them. The Arizal had
the ability to discern a person's spiritual form and could perceive the effects
of even seemingly insignificant mitzvos or transgressions on a person’s spiritual form. We too will
possess this ability in the future.
Quality before quantity
“It
is not good that man is alone” (2:18)
This
phrase seems to imply that although it was not an ideal state for man to be on
his own, the alternative was nevertheless a possibility. That being so, what purpose
would there have been to creation if Odom had remained alone and lived forever?
We
see from this possuk that since a righteous person is the foundation of
the world (Mishlei 10:25) we might have thought that it would have been
worthwhile for Hashem to create the whole universe for the sake of one zaddik
who subjugates all his desires to serve Hashem on his own. Although this possuk
makes it clear that it is better to lead a married existence and to procreate,
the fact that the Torah finds it necessary to clarify this teaches us the
importance of quality as opposed to quantity. The Chazon Ish zt”l explained that quality can eventually result in quantity too, but
quality cannot result from quantity alone.
the evil inclination
“The
serpent was cunning”
(1:3)
How
can we understand that the snake once walked and talked like a human being?
In
order to maintain the balance of free choice, the greater a person is, the
greater must be the forces inciting him to evil. Odom Horishon (the
first man) before the sin was so great that he needed an external persuasive
being to incite him away from holiness to the path of evil.
The nochosh (snake) argued that
it would be worthwhile to eat from the forbidden fruit because that way Adam
and his wife would attain hitherto unobtainable divine levels. He claimed that
Hashem had only warned them against eating from the spiritual fruit, because it
would be too difficult to live on such a high spiritual level, but they should
do so anyway. It was an argument clothed in the guise of leshem shomayim.
To this day, the yetzer horo still sometimes attempts to incite us
into aspiring towards levels totally beyond our capabilities in the hope of
causing our downfall. Furthermore, the technique of disguising prohibitions as mitzvos
is also still prevalent.
Once
he failed this test, Adom’s greatness declined and he no longer had the spiritual
power necessary to overcome the nochosh in its original form. Instead, Hashem
created the yetzer horo in its current form
of a spiritual power inside us inciting us to evil, and our task is to overcome
it. We are assisted in this task by the very fact of our mortality, which was
decreed at the same time, since the thought that we are destined to end up as
dust serves as a deterrent to sin.
Kayin and Hevel
“Kayin
rose up against Hevel his brother and slew him” (4:8)
Why
was Kayin jealous of his brother and how did he descend to the level of killing
him?
Kayin
and Hevel had different outlooks as to what a person's duty was in this world.
Kayin thought that since this was a material world, it made sense to enjoy it
and subsequently thank Hashem for His goodness, as it says: “It came to pass at
the end of days, that Kayin brought of the fruit of the soil an offering to Hashem”,
“the end of days” meaning that only after he had enjoyed the food did he bring an
offering, and specifically one from vegetables, to show that even the most
basic food essential for the body’s health is a present from Heaven. Hevel, on
the other hand, thought that the spiritual could not be separated from the
material, and everything in this material world had to be used for the sake of
heaven. He therefore brought an offering before enjoying the products of this
world from the "firstborn of his flocks and of their fattest” and not only
"at the end of days" like Kayin.
Kayin
killed Hevel in the belief that his brother's place was anyway in the upper
worlds which was completely spiritual, so that he had not harmed him. Perhaps
that is why he responded, "Am I my brother's keeper", meaning is it my
job to ensure that he stays in the lower than Gan Eden, as opposed to partaking
of the greater pleasures of the upper Gan Eden. Hashem responded that this
material world does not tolerate murder, and as a punishment the soil would not
continue to give its strength to him, and he would be forced to live without
agricultural work, which was of such crucial importance according to his
outlook. He would become a wanderer and an exile, and would therefore be forced
to constantly pray to Hashem for his very subsistence. This was Hashem's way of
demonstrating to Kayin that Hevel had been right, and that even material
actions such as eating and physical enjoyments are like sacrifices and must be
connected to spirituality. All our actions must be for the sake of Heaven, and
we must constantly beseech Hashem for our livelihood and all our requirements.
Repentance
“And
he was building a city, and called the city after the name of his son, Chanoch” (4:17)
Why
does the Torah find it necessary to mention the fact that Kayin built a city?
Moreover, this Chanoch, the son of Kayin, was wicked, so why would his father
have wanted to name the city after him? Does it not say "the name of the
wicked shall rot"?
One
of the best forms of repentance is to benefit others, and therefore Kayin
wanted to build a city for others to live in, especially as he had sinned by
killing his brother Hevel, thereby limiting population growth. That is also why
it says "and he was building" (in the present tense) to show that by
the very act of building he hoped to make amends for his sin. He called the
city in the name of his son in the hope that Chanoch would continue in his path
and busy himself with increasing the population and settlement of the world.
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