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THE WEEKLY PARSHA

RE'AIH

[ Dvar Torah ] [ Passages on Prayer ]
[ Stories of the Sages ] [ Education ]

(Taken from a weekly publication of Hammaayan Institutes.
Translated by Rabbi Shabtai Teicher)

THE WEEKLY PARSHA
"When the L-rd your G-d shall expand your borders..., and you will say, `I shall eat meat,' because you desire to eat meat, then you may eat meat according to all that you desire" (Deuteronomy 12:20).

There is a very interesting commentary which appears in the Chumash Rav Peninim. A person becomes accustomed to some pleasures, or a particular pleasure. However, as time goes by, the pleasure that he derives from the thing becomes less and less, and his desrie for it also undergoes progressive reduction. Indeed, the pleasure undergoes transformation into a necessity, and the consumption of necessities is much less enjoyable than the consumption of luxuries. Furthermore, a pleasure which has become a necessity is sorely missed if it should not be available, and then it is even a cause of anxiety and sorrrow.

On the other hand, delicacies which have not become accustomed habits are not missed so much. Rather, when they are avialable, they are a source of pleasure.

The verse under discussion warns us that the eating of meat should not become an accustomed habit. We should not eat so much of it that it becomes a necessity and we lose our desire for it. Instead, "...eat meat according to all that you desire." In other words, when you really desire to eat meat, then eat it, but do not become so accustomed to eating it that you lose your desire for it.

Underlying this brief commentary is a very important realization about the nature of desires in general. They are really empty chimeras. One who runs after them, runs after a delusion and something that turns out to have much less content than he believed. When he runs after them he believes that when he gets them he will fulfill his desires and achieve happiness, but when he does get what he wants, the happiness quickly dissipates, desire is blunted and satisfaction turns into frustration. Suddenly he finds himself burdened with the need to run after something that he does not desire, but for which he cannot do without.

Furthermore, what does a person tend to do? He begins to pursue new pleasures, until he achieves them and finds that they, too, have lost their tang, and he goes through the whole cycle over and over again until the day comes that he no longer has the strength and he can no longer avoid the realization that his whole life has been a pursuit after a handful of... nothing.

A rabbi working in outreach once said that it is a mistake to try to explain to people that their transitory pleasures are really worthless and have no value. They themselves already know about the illusory value of what they have. Instead, people must be brought to realize that the desrires that they have not yet attained are exactly like those that came beforehand. The latter, like the former, are also frustrating delusions.

Chazal said, "A person does not die with half his desires in his possession. If he has a hundred, then he wants two hundred...." It was asked why Chazal said that a person does not achieve half his desires? "If he has a hundred, then he wants two hundred...," but that means that half the two hundred he already possesses!

The answer is exactly along the lines of what has been discussed here. If the hundred is securely in his possession and he is satisfied with it, then he has attained half his desires. But if, by the time he achieves the hundred, it has already lost its value and dissipated, and his eyes are still glued unto the "two hundred," then he has not achieved even half his desire.

On the other hand, anyone who has tasted the absolute and true pleasure of Torah knows the difference between transient enjoyments and pleasure which becomes an inalienable and unchanging part of a person. It does not dissipate; it becomes part of him and changes him. Therefore, we pray every day, "L-rd, our G-d, please make the words of Your Torah sweet in our mouths...." In other words, may our natural proclivity for pleasure be turned towards true pleasure and not towards the transitory kind which come and go in an instant, and which leave behind them a taste of bitterness and frustration.

THE PRAYERS OF OUR MOUTH

"Ani ledodi vedodi li": "I am for my beloved and my beloved is for me..." (Song of Songs 6:3). The first letters of the four Hebrew words comprising this verse spell the word Elul, which is the name of the Hebrew month preceding the High Holy Days. In this month of Elul Israel strengthens itself through the process of teshuvah (repentance), and thereby draws close to their beloved, G-d. At this time G-d also draws close to Israel, extends His hand to her, and draws her close.

These four words whose first letters spell the name of the month all end with the Hebrew letter "yod". The numerical value of the letter "yod" is ten, and 4 x 10 = 40. This indicates the fourty days from rosh chodesh Elul (the first day of the month of Elul) until Yom Kippur. These days are set aside for teshuvah.

There is another verse where the first letters of four of its words ("et levavcha ve'et levav...") also spell the name of the month Elul: "The L-rd your G-d will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your offspring..." (Deuteronomy 30:6). In the month of Elul G-d assists a person to do teshuvah.

There is also a third verse where the first letters of four of its words ("Ish lere'aihu umatanot le'evyonim...") spell the name of the month, Elul: "...Sending presents, each person to his friend, and gifts to the poor" (Esther 9:22). This indicates that the month of Elul is a time to increase the giving of charity. Charity, together with teshuvah and prayer, nuetralize an evil decree.

The word Elul is a construct of an Aramaic word which means to contemplate, examine, analyze. For example, it is used in the translation of the verse, "...They searched the Land" (Numbers 13:21). The month of Elul is set aside for mental contemplation and examination of the deeds of the entire year. A person should search and analyze his misdeeds in order to uproot the evil tendencies in his heart and return to G-d.

(The Book of Our Heritage, Elul)

STORIES OF THE SAGES

"If your brother, the son of your mother... entices you" (Deuteronomy 13:7). Chazal learned from this verse a biblical corroboration for the prohibition of yichud: i.e., the prohibition for men and women who are not closely related one to the other to be together in a closed room or in a secluded place that is far away from other people lest one entices the other to commit an immoral act. The details of this prohibition are recorded in the Code of Law.

Rebbe Yisrael Salanter once told a relative that it is prohibited for him to travel alone on a train. "What will you do if in the middle of the journey you become entangled in a question of yichud?"

His relative asked Rebbe Yisrael, "What would you do if you fell into such a test?"

He answered, "I would jump out of the window of the train even if it was traveling at full speed."

Rebbe Ya'akov, the author of Netivot Hamishpat, lived in the town of Lissa. The following story is recorded in the diary of the congregation of Lissa.

The daughter of Rebbe Ya'akov was a widow, and it came time for her daughter to marry. The two of them traveled to a nearby city to buy things for the wedding. They journeyed in the wagon of a gentile. The driver realized that they had a considerable amount of money in their possession. He tricked them into making a detour from the road, and when they arrived at a certain place (actually, the driver's house) he called to some others to come and rob their money.

The robbers tied the two women up. They lit a fire in the furnace with the intention of murdering the women and incinerating their bodies in order to cover all traces of the crime. In the meantime they put the money on the table and sat down to decide how to apportion the loot.

Suddenly, the door opened and a German officer entered the house. The murderers ran away. The officer released the women, returned their money and took them to a hotel in the city.

During the night Rebbe Ya'akov appeared to his daughter in a dream. He said to her, "Your trouble became known to me, and I went to a very high place to beseech mercy for you. However, it did not help because you had transgressed the prohibition of yichud, and had allowed yourself to be taken to a secluded place with the gentile. Nevertheless, I went to a higher place to plead on the merit of the Torah which I disseminated throughout Israel by virtue of my sefer Netivot Hamishpat. Thus, I saved you, but you must be very careful about the prohibition of yichud."

The daughter of Rebbe Ya'akov related this story to the people of Lissa, and they wrote it in the diary of the congregation to be remembered.

EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN

We have learned that improvement of the learning schedule is a positive thing. Now we will quote from Chovat Hatalmidim, from the essay, "A Conversation With The Teachers and Parents of the Students". This essay is a call to improve the education of the generation.

"We are accustomed to look at wayward youth as if they are the guilty ones, and we are absolutely innocent. However, consider one of the righteous qualities of our father, Avraham, mentioned by G-d: `Because I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, to guard the way of G-d...' (Genesis 18:19).

"Why should we fool ourselves with all kinds of fanciful excuses such as `we really want to transmit to them, but they are at fault because they do not want to accept.' The guilt of this generation of youth is great, and they refuse to listen, but imagine if these guilty ones were alive in an earlier generation. Would they still refuse to receive?

"Previous generations were more fearful of the word of G-d. In the instance of educating the youthful generation they were also more fearful and they burned like fire. They were not negligent, and they did not look cooly and calmly while a generation of youth sank into the mire and the people of G-d fell into atheism. They arose in thunder, and dedicated all their lives and all their strength to save the youth and educate them in the way of G-d using all kinds of devices and strategems to accomplish it.

"Consequently, we, the older generation, who are responsible to educate the youth and transmit to them the holiness of G-d and His Torah and His service, can we say, `Our hands did not spill this blood,' we did not spill these Jewish souls into the pit of destruction?

"We also need to recognize our own guilt in this matter. Why do we abandon them, without doing something about their sickness while they are still young and it is within our power to do something to cure them? We must not cast all the guilt upon youth, excusing ourselves, saying, `Oh, these kids!' We must feel their pains, and their worries about our own negligence. Only then we will be able to seek and find some way, some advice about what to do to rectify and heal the sickness of our people and pray to G-d that He should show us His way...."

From these words we can see that in every period we must find ways to improve and perfect the systems of education in order that they will be fitting for the needs of their times. However, these things need to be done with proper deliberation and awareness, and together with the guidance of gedolim.

We can cite here an example of how these things depend upon proper deliberation and awareness. The question was raised in one educational institution whether a mechanism for warming water should be attached to the fountains from which the children take water for netilat yadayim. This question was finally decided by the senior educator of the institution who said, "If we educate the children to wash their hands when it is comfortable, when will we educate them to do mitzvot when it is difficult and not so comfortable! It is better to leave the water as it is, and teach them that they must give their lives to fulfill the mitzvot."

(Bishvilai Hachinuch Vehahora'ah, p.25)

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