Striking the Right Balance - Teruma

The Torah states regarding the walls of the Mishkan: “The center crossbar shall go through the middle of the beams, from one end to the other.” The Targum Yonasan writes that the center crossbar was made with wood that came from the trees that Avraham Avinu planted for the purpose of doing chesed for the travelers. Why was this wood in particular used to take such a prominent position in the Mishkan? Rav Zelig Pliskin Shlita explains that it is to remind us that even whilst we are devoting ourselves to Hashem, we should never forget to have compassion for our fellow man, who is created in G-d’s image.
This lesson is stressed in the teachings by the Baalei Mussar: One of the great contributions of Rav Yisroel Salanter zt”l was that whilst it is highly commendable to place great care on dikduk hamitzvos in the realm of Bein Odom leMakom nevertheless we should be very careful that this should not be at the expense of others. There are numerous examples of how he put this teaching into practice. On his way to get water for netilas yedayim, a talmid passed through some rooms in which people were sleeping. “Netilas yadayim is a mitvo instituted by our Sages,” commented, R’Yisroel, “but robbing others of their sleep is forbidden by the Torah.” On another occasion a talmid began davenning a spirited Shemoneh Esrei whilst standing by the open window on a hot day. R’Yisroel scolded him for blocking the air for the other people in shul. Another of the great Baalei Mussar, the Alter of Slobodka, also placed great emphasis on mitzvos’ bein odom le chaveiro. He taught that, in doing a mitzvo, we must be very careful not to cause unpleasantness or harm to anyone to avoid forfeiting its rewards. He never gave shmusen during mealtimes and when he prayed with a minyan, either he finished the Shemoneh Esrei with everyone, or he knocked on his shtender to indicate that the congregation should not wait for him.
On one occasion one talmid standing in prayer among the others was fervently shaking in every direction with his whole body. After the tefillo, the Alter called the talmid over and said to him, “A person who hits another, even without inflicting damage, is called a ‘rasha’ and is punishable by malkus. Now when you shake you are liable to bump into our neighbor who is standing beside you, and thereby commit - in the midst of your fervent tefillos - a serious transgression for which you will be called a ‘rasha’!
We may never daven in such a way but there are situations where we may unwittingly cause pain or inconvenience to others amidst our Avodas Hashem: For example, it is not uncommon for a person in shul for Shacharis to suddenly be struck by the flying tallis strings of someone who is donning his tallis - this is a classic example of how we must maintain our awareness of others during our own Avoda. Another case is when the Sefer Torah is brought out. It is certainly praiseworthy to kiss it, however, if one is likely to push or shove others on the way then the poskim write that the hidur of kissing the sefer Torah is over-ridden by the requirement not to risk harming our fellow Jew. Another common example of this is that a person who davens a long Shemoneh Esrei can cause a considerable amount of inconvenience to the person standing in front of him. The poskim say that it is recommended for a slow davenner to pray in a place where there are no passers-by.
Another aspect in which bein adam lechaveiro can sometimes take second place behind bein adam leMakom is in the areas of chumros. There is a well-known Ramban on the passuk of “be holy” where the Rambam tells us that it is not enough to keep the ikar hadin in terms of our Avodas Hashem, rather we should strive to reach ever higher levels in our relationship with Hashem. There is a less well-known Ramban that makes a similar point with regard to bein adam le chaveiro. The Torah says, “And you should do what is fair and good in the eyes of Hashem..” Chazal say that this passuk teaches us that we should go beyond the letter of the law in our dealings with other people. The Ramban explains that it is not enough to simply keep the ikar hadin of mitzvos bein adam lechaveiro, rather we must realize that Hashem wants us to treat people with a heightened sensitivity to their needs.
A person may have a tendency to emphasize chumros in mitzvos of bein adam leMakom such as kashrus. This is highly commendable but it is equally important to keep ‘chumros’ in the realm of bein adam lechaveiro. There is a well-known episode with Rav Chaim Soloveitchik; he was known as being particularly stringent in his halachic rulings, however one exception was his rulings in the area of breaking Shabbos for health reasons. When asked why he was so lenient in chillul Shabbos, he answered that in fact he was being machmer for the mitzvo of ‘Chay bahem’ that obligates us to break mitzvos in order to save the life of a fellow Jew.
In a similar vein the Imrei Emes understood that the concept of ‘hiddur mitzvo’ applies just as much to our dealings with other people as to out relationship with Hashem. A chassid once asked him if he could borrow a pair of tefillin since he had misplaced his own. The Rebbe lent him a pair, but not just any pair. It was his own set of tefillin, which had belonged to his father, the Sfas Emes. When asked why he gave the chassid his most precious set, he answered that, “the passuk says, ‘Zeh Keili v’anveihu’ from which we learn that one must do a mitzvo in the most beautiful way possible. This concept applies to chesed as well. That is why I gave him the priceless tefillin.” The center crossbar in the Mishkan stood as an eternal reminder that there are two pillars of Avodas Hashem - bein adam le Makom and bein adam lechaveiro, and even at times of the highest devotion to Hashem it is essential to remember our obligations to our fellow man. May we all be zocheh to strike the right balance.

Persistence - Beshalach

The Torah tells us that when the Jewish people were preparing to leave Mitzrayim, Moshe Rabbeinu was being osek in the mitzvo of taking the remains of Yosef Hatzadik to be buried in Eretz Yisroel.  The Gemara in Sotah quotes a passuk from Yehoshua which seems to contradict the Torah’s account here; the passuk there states that the Jewish people, not Moshe, brought the bones of Yosef to Eretz Yisroel.  The Gemara answers with a principle that if a person begins a mitzvo and does not complete it but then someone else does so, then the Torah credits the completer (‘gomer’) with having fulfilled the mitzvo.  Moshe only began the mitzvo of burying Yosef but did not complete it, therefore it is not credited to him, rather to the Bney Yisroel, who completed it.   

There is another Medrash that seems to contradict this concept:  The Medrash Shocher Tov says that David HaMelech is credited with building the Beis HaMikdash as it says in Tehillim, “Mizmoor shir Chanukas habayis leDavid,¹” even though David only began the building but did not complete it.  This implies that the main credit is attributed to the ‘beginner’, (‘maschil’) not the ‘gomer’².  Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l resolves this contradiction:  He writes that if the maschil did not complete the mitzvo through no fault of his own then he is credited with it even though he did not finish it.  However, if he bears even the slightest guilt for not completing the mitzvo then it is credited to the gomer.  David HaMelech bore absolutely no responsibility for his inability to complete the binyan Beis Hamikdash.  Hashem told him that he could not do so, therefore, its binyan is attributed to him.  In contrast, Moshe Rabbeinu could not complete the mitzvo of buying Yosef because he did not enter Eretz Yisroel.  He did not enter Eretz Yisroel because of the chet at Mei Meriva, consequently his inability to complete the burial of Yosef was somewhat due to his actions.  This explains why the burial of Yosef is not attributed to him³.   

Moshe Rabbeinu’s guilt in this instance is minimal, and yet it is sufficient to deny him the merit of the mitzvo of the burial of Yosef.  The same is surely true of situations in our lives when we have the opportunity to complete some kind of mitzvo but we fail to do so because of our lack of persistence.  This applies greatly to learning - when a new shiur begins there are often large numbers of people present but as the weeks go on, gradually less and less appear.  Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky zt”l noted this phenomena with regard to daf yomi - he joked that many people being the new cycle with Berachos, but by the next Masechta, ‘ba Shabbos ba menucha’.   

Another common area of failing in persistence is growth.  For example, on certain occasions such as the Aseres Yemay Teshuva or times of suffering, people are inspired to make kabbalos to grow in a certain way.  However, with the passage of time, these kabbalos often become distant memories.  What aitsos are there that can make it more likely that we will be able to persist with our commitments? 

The Chofetz Chaim zt”l wrote the Mishna Berurah over the course of twenty-five years - during this time he suffered many tribulations which hindered the writing of the sefer.  The vast majority of people would have capitulated under such travails, seeing them as a simun that this undertaking was not meant to succeed.  However, the Chofetz Chaim realized that all the challenges were all sent by the yetser hara to prevent the Mishna Berurah being written.  Accordingly, he persisted and succeeded in writing one of the most important sefarim of the past hundred years.  He was able to persist because he recognized the vital importance of what he was trying to do - this enabled him to overcome all the challenges and complete the Mishna Berurah. This provides us with one aitsa of how to succeed in our undertakings - if we can remain focused on the significance of what we are trying to do then we will have more chance of persisting. 

One may argue that we do indeed have moments of inspiration where, like the Chofetz Chaim, we recognize the significance of our projects.  However, with time it is difficult to maintain this level of inspiration and we are unable to persist.  Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz zt”l addresses this problem⁴.  He discusses the case of Palti ben Layish.  David married the daughter of Shaul HaMelech but Shaul believed that it was an invalid kiddushin and he gave Michal to be married to Palti.  Palti suspected that David’s kiddushin was valid and therefore undertook not to touch Michal.  Right at the beginning of their ’marriage’ he stuck a sword between them and said that anyone who acts improperly should be struck by this sword⁵.  Rav Shmuelevitz asks, what exactly did this act achieve?  If his yetser would overcome him how would the sword stop him?  He was the one who stuck the sword and he could remove it whenever he wanted.  

Rav Shmuelevitz explains that at the beginning of this nisayon Palti attained a powerful recognition of how terrible it would be to do such an impropriety.  However, he feared that over the course of time this clarity would weaken and he may fall to the temptations of the yetser hara.  In order to prevent his from happening, at the very moment of inspiration he stuck the sword in between them and that sword would serve as a reminder of the power of his initial convictions.   

In a similar vein, Rav Yisroel Reisman Shlita tells a story of a bachur in Volozhin Yeshiva who was known as being fluent in Shas.  On one occasion he was eating a meal, and a friend came in asking for the location of a certain opinion.  Whilst the bachur was struggling with this question someone else pointed out that Tosefos explicitly expressed this opinion.  The bachur was so shaken by the fact that he missed an open Tosefos that he immediately left in the middle of the seudah and ran to the beis medrash.  He continued learning with super-human hasmada, never leaving the beis medrash for the next 7 years and he became a Gadol.  Someone present at the time noticed that the bachur left his meal so quickly that he did not bentsch!  He asked Rav Chaim Volozhin zt”l if it was mutar to not bentsch in such a scenario.  He answered that he could not say whether it was mutar or not, but that had the bachur bentsched and not left the seudah immediately then he would not have become a Gadol.  At that moment he was struck by a deep sense of pain at his lack of knowledge and he utilized the power of this moment to begin learning on a new level.  Had he waited even a few minutes he would have lost that inspiration forever. 

So too in our lives we experience moments of inspiration where we attain a heightened sense of awareness of an important inyan.  But the inspiration often wears away - we see from the above stories that one way of maintaining the inspiration is by doing a concrete act right away, and hopefully this act will help keep the momentum. An example of this is when we hear a powerful piece of mussar that we should act upon it by immediately beginning to put it into action.  Another example is when  we attain a heightened sense of closeness to G-d that we try to do something to help remember and tap into that moment.  Rav Noach Orlowek Shlita suggests taking an internal ‘photograph’ of that moment so that you can always ‘look at it’ when you want inspiration and tap into that powerful moment.  These are possible ways in which we can strive to not just begin endeavors but to complete them as well. 

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1 Tehillim, 30:1.

2 Medrash Shocher Tov, 122:1.

3 Igros Moshe, Choshen Mishpat, 1st Chelek, Simun 49, Anaf 2, dh:uleanitus daati. See there for the answer of Shevus Yaakov and Rav Feinstein’s kashas on it. Also see Otsros Megadim, Beshalach, for a third approach.

4 Sichos Mussar, Maamer 11, p.46.

5 Sanhedrin 19b.

Long-Term Consequences - Bo

Parshas Bo sees the culmination of the ten plagues which devestated Mitzrayim.  However, Chazal tell us that during the Plague of Darkness, the Jewish people suffered terrible losses; Rashi cites the opinion that four fifths died and only one fifth remained¹.   The Mechilta that Rashi quotes actually brings two other opinions as to what proportion of the Jews were killed; one holds that only one fiftieth survived,  and another holds that only one five hundredth were left.  Rav Shimon Shwab zt”l cites a number of problems with the literal understanding of this Medrash². 

Firstly, according to the two later opinions, there were 30 million or 300 million Jews in Mitzrayim before the plagues.  It is very hard to fathom that there were this many Jews there.  Secondly, according to all the shitas, millions of Jews were killed and consequently this single disaster was far greater than all the plagues that the Mitzrim suffered, Rav Shwab also finds this very difficult to accept.  Thirdly, he quotes Rashi that they died and were buried during the darkness so that the Mitzrim would not see that so many Jews died.  He argues that if we accept this Medrash literally that millions died, then surely the Mitzrim would have noticed such  significant loss. 

Because of these problems Rav Shwab says that the Medrash should not be understood literally - rather only a relatively small number died, but had they lived they would have given birth to millions of people over several generations.  The three opinions are arguing about how many descendants would have come from those that died.  He suggests that perhaps all they disagree about is how to make an accounting of the survivors - one holds that we measure up to a certain point in time such as the building of the Beis HaMikdash, and another  measures to a later point and consequently there are more descendants over that longer period. 

He compares this interpretation to the Gemara which discusses the aftermath of the murder of Hevel.  Hashem tells Kayin that, “the bloods of your brother are crying out to Me from the ground.³”  The Gemara says that not only Hevel’s blood was crying out - so too were all his potential descendants who would now never attain life.  Kayin did not just murder one man, he destroyed millions of lives through his single heinous act.  Rav Shwab cites the recent tragic example of this concept in the Holocaust.  He says that the Nazis did not kill six million people, rather they murdered untold millions in the form of their descendants who will never live. 

So too, the tragedy of the death of the Jews in Mitzrayim was to be its long-term effect - only a small number may have died then, but over the generations, millions were lost.  Rav Shwab’s pshat provides a whole new perspective to this death of the Jews in Mitzrayim.  We know that the reason they died is because they were not on the level to leave Mitzrayim and become part of the Am Hashem.  Rav Shwab argues that these people must have been complete reshaim to have to meet such an end.  Based on the fact that they were relatively small in number and were so evil, it seems surprising that the Medrash gives so much emphasis to the long-term consequence of their death.  We see from here that the loss of any Jew is cause for unlimited pain, no matter how far he is from Yiddishkeit.  Moreover it is very likely that righteous people would descend from him and they are lost forever. 

The Torah tells us that Moshe Rabbeinu demonstrated his awareness of this concept; when he saw a Mitzri striking a Jew, the passuk says that, “he looked this way and that way but saw no man.⁴”  Rashi explains that Moshe looked into the future to see if any convert would descend from this Mitzri.  Moshe knew that killing him would have long-term consequences and acted accordingly.   

More recently, Rav Shlomo Heimann zt”l recognized this to a very high degree;  he gave a shiur to dozens of talmidim which was characterized by his energetic style..  One day there was heavy snow and only four talmidim attended the shiur, yet Rav Heimann gave the shiur with the same energy as always.  His talmidim asked him why he was putting so much effort into teaching such a small number of people.  He answered that he was not merely teaching four students, rather all their future descendants and talmidim.   

If Chazal see such a tragedy in the deaths of a few reshaim how must we feel when we look at the situation in Klal Yisroel today?  We live in a world where there are very few genuinely ‘evil’ Jews - people who purposely turn their back on Torah.  There are millions of Jews who, through no fault of their own, were brought up with no knowledge of Torah and very little sense of the importance of being Jewish.  Every day, dozens of Jews intermarry, and their Jewish descendants are lost forever⁵.  Some people argue that despite the intermarriage rates, we know that the Jews will never be wiped out and Mashiach will come, consequently there is no need to be so alarmed at the current trend.  This attitude is severely mistaken - the reason that we should mekarev secular Jews is not to prevent the destruction of Klal Yisroel - there is no fear of that happening.  But we want to give every Jew and his potential descendants the chance to remain part of Klal Yisroel so that they too can be present at the geulah.  Rav Shimshon Pinchus zt"l writes that more Jews have assimilated since the Second World War than were lost in the Holocaust⁶. six million Jews.  In effect that means that untold millions who would have been theri descendants have been lost to Yiddishkeit   A person who is mekarev one Jew is in fact saving dozens of souls, giving them the chance to live a Torah life.  May we all be zocheh to recognize the true value of every Jew and his potential offspring.

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1 Beshalach, 13:18.

2 Me’eyn beis hashoeva, Beshalach, 13:18.

3 Bereishis, 4:10.

4 Shemos, 2:11.

5 We all have a vague, intellectual awareness that things are not as they should be but how bad is it? The intermarriage rate in USA in 1950 was 6%, by 1990 it was 52% and rising. 2 million Jews of Jewish origin do not identify themselves as Jews. 2 million self-identified Jews have no Jewish connection whatsoever. For every wedding between two Jews, two intermarriages take place. 625,000 US Jews are now practicing other religions. 11% of US Jews go to shul#. Every day dozens of intermarriages take place which means that in the time it took you to read this, some Jews were lost forever. (it should be noted that since these statistics were taken, the situation has further markedly deteriorated.

6 Tiferes Shimshon, Chanukah.