Chazal tell us that when Yaakov Avinu left his parents to go to the home of Lavan, he learnt Torah in the Yeshivos of Shem and Ever for fourteen years. During that time he was so engrossed in his learning that he never once slept ! This poses a difficulty - the Torah tells us that for the previous 63 years of his life Yaakov was a ‘yosheiv ohalim’, he spent all his time learning Torah. However, we do not see that he never slept. What happened that enabled Yaakov to attain such a level of mesiras nefesh to forgo sleep in those 14 years that surpassed what he had achieved up till that time? My Rebbi, Rav Yitzchak Bervkovits Shlita answers, that Yaakov knew that he would be faced with great challenges during his time living with the evil Lavan; Lavan would provide great tests to his midos and his spiritual level and he would need to rise to a higher spiritual level in order to be able to withstand being influenced by Lavan. Consequently, he recognized that he had to utilize every available second in these 14 years of Torah learning. There is no doubt that in the previous 63 years of his life, he learnt with great hasmada, but there was a far greater sense of urgency that permeated his learning in the 14 years before he went to live with Lavan. We learn from here that being in a challenging situation can be a great motivating factor in increasing the level of mesiras nefesh in one’s Avodas Hashem.
This can also help explain an interesting halacho brought by the Rambam. During a war, a common tactic is to beseige the enemy, thus starving him of vital supplies. The Rambam writes that a Jewish army may not surround the enemy from all four sides, rather it must leave one side open so that the enemy soldiers have the option of fleeing to safety . This seems like a strange hanhago in the midst of a war! The Meshech Chochma explains that this is indeed a shrewd tactical move; when a person is placed in a highly pressurized situation such as being besieged on four sides he has no option but to find new cochos that can enable him to fight with far greater courage and zeal . Therefore the Torah commands us to leave one side open so that the enemy will not be forced in a situation where it can pose a real threat. This also explains the behavior of the Zealots at the time of the Roman siege of Yerushalayim that led to the destruction of the Second Beis HaMikdash. The inhabitants of Yerushalayim had great food supplies that would enable them to last a very long time even whilst under siege. However, the impatient Zealots wanted to arouse everyone to fight the Romans, so they burnt all the food supplies with the intention of forcing everyone to fight for their lives with a great sense of urgency.
Rav Yissochor Frand Shlita explains that this phenomena led to the incredible mesiras nefesh of Jews who lived through the Communist rule in the Soviet Union. He tells of how Jews that were trying to learn Torah were faced with incredible nisyonos - they would suddenly be visited by KGB agents who would warn them that their jobs were at stake if they would continue in their ‘foolish ways’. If they continued anyway, they would be paid another visit, and this time the safety of their children would be threatened. And yet, amidst such pressure, they were able to find the strength to continue regardless. The following story demonstrates how far their mesiras nefesh went. It was forbidden to perform bris mila on babies, nonetheless many Jews tried to do so at great risk. On one occasion a baby boy had been unwell for the first several months of his life, until finally, aged 10 months the bris was performed. After the bris, the baby’s mother went up to him and kissed him, she then promptly fainted! When she awoke she explained to the bewildered onlookers what had led her to faint. When her baby was born she promised herself that her baby would have bris mila. But she knew that this was no easy task and she feared that she may not have the courage to go through with it. In order to ensure that she would not give up, she swore that she would never kiss or hug her baby until bris was performed! That is why, after waiting so long, she fainted after kissing her little boy! Rav Frand wonders whether we -who are able to practice our religion with ease and in freedom - could contemplate not kissing or hugging our children for so long for the sake of a mitzvo. We do not live with that same sense of urgency that Yaakov Avinu felt as he headed to the house of Lavan, and we cannot relate to the levels of mesiras nefesh that the Jews in the Soviet Union attained.
But how can we tap into the koach of urgency to help improve our own Avodas Hashem? The Mishna in Avos provides a number of answers:“Rebbi Tarfon says; the day is short; the workload is great; the workers our lazy; the reward is great; and the Baal Habayis is pushing. ” In this Mishna, Rebbi Tarfon is trying to imbue us with that sense of urgency that will motivate us to learn and grow more. He begins that “the day is short.” Life is short, before we know it, it has passed us by and all of that time is lost forever. Moreover, we never know when our life will end - a recognition of this should certainly help motivate us. Rav Aharon Kotler zt”l notes that the Mishna does not say that our ‘days’ (in the plural) are short, rather, ‘the day.’ He says that this comes to teach us that each individual day has its own function and potential - if a person wastes one part of one day then he has lost that time forever - when a person recognizes that each moment is passing by and will never return he will surely be more careful with his time .
The Mishna continues that, “the work is great“. It is self-evident that every area of Avodas Hashem requires great effort for the workload is endless. This most obviously applies to learning where there is no limit to the depth and breadth that a person can attain. But it also applies to growth - the ladder of Avodas Hamidos is never-ending - there are always more opportunities for character refinement. Moreover, we are also judged as to whether we fulfill our potential - Chazal tell us that there is a heavenly image of each person - this is the image of what he can become if he reaches his full potential. When we proceed to shamayim at the end of our lives, we will be shown that that image and judged as to why we did not fit it.
“The reward is great.” If we were more real of how much reward we receive for mitzvos then our Avoda would drastically improve. Other Mishnayos in Avos discuss this concept: “Be careful with a light mitzvo just as you are with a serious mitzvo, because you do not know the reward for the mitzvos. ” Rabbeinu Yonah explains that the reason one should be extremely careful with even the ‘lighter’ mitzvos is because he has no real conception about how great the reward is even for that. Later in Avos, we are told that, “one moment of peripheral pleasure in Olam Haba is greater than all the pleasure of Olam Hazeh. ” Rav Dessler zt”l goes to great lengths to demonstrate how all the pleasure that was ever experienced in Olam Hazeh cannot match one whiff of Olam Haba .
It is understandably difficult to make this concept real but we can at least act in accordance with an intellectual recognition of this. Rav Noach Weinberg Shlita suggests a way of doing so; when a person is tired and ready to head off for bed after the Friday night meal, he should try to motivate himself to learn for an extra five minutes and say to himself - “if I could receive $1000 to learn for another five minutes then I would certainly do so. I realize, at least intellectually, that the reward in Olam Haba for doing so is worth infinitely more than that .”
“The Baal Habayis is pushing.” Hashem is expectant of us to do our job and play our role in perfecting the world. The Gemara says that each person should say that “the world was created for me” - this means that responsibility for the world is placed upon me and I must act with that recognition. Hashem expects a great deal from us and we must produce results.
Baruch Hashem, Jews who live in democratic countries can practice our religion with total freedom. However this can lead to a sense of comfort that can prevent us from tapping into the sense of urgency that is needed to motivate ourselves to strengthen our Avodas Hashem. Gedolim became who they were because they did feel this sense of urgency. Rav Mordechai Gifter zt”l was once asked how he became such a great talmid chochom. He answered that he looked at every day of his life as if it could be his last. With such an outlook he was able to push himself to reach incredible heights . May we too find it in ourselves to tap into this tremendous koach.
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Showing posts with label Yaakov Avinu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yaakov Avinu. Show all posts
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
SUKKOS AND YAAKOV AVINU
The sefarim tell us that each of the shalosh regalim of Sukkos, Pesach and Shavuos correspond to the three forefathers (avos). Pesach corresponds to Avraham Avinu, Shavuos to Yitzchak Avinu, and Sukkos to Yaakov Avinu. The scriptural source for this is the passuk in Vayishlach, which tells us that after Yaakov's encounter with Esav, he went to a place called, 'Sukkos' and he made sukkos for his animals. This teaches us that there is some kind of connection between Yaakov and the festival of Sukkos . What is the link between the two?
In order to answer this, it is instructive to examine an interesting feature of Sukkos. On Sukkos, even the most mundane activities, such as eating and sleeping, become Mitzvos. The mere act of sitting the in the Sukkah turns these activities that are normally devarim shel reshus into mitzvos, that obligate one to say the bracha of 'leysheiv basukkah'. Therefore, a person who spends most of his time in the sukkah, is constantly performing the mitzvo of living in the sukkah. In this way, Sukkos has a tremendous power in that it elevates a person's daily activities into acts of great kedusha (holiness).
This aspect of Sukkos can help understand some differences between Sukkos and the other chagim. The Kol Bo notes that one says the bracha for being in the Sukkah throughout the whole chag. In contrast, on Pesach, the Kol Bo holds there is also a mitzvo to eat Matzo for the whole 7 days, and yet we only say a bracha on the first day - why do we not say every day? He answers that when a person eats matzo on the later days of Pesach, it is not apparent that he is doing so because it is a Mitzvo. He could be eating the matzo simply because he is hungry and has no option to eat bread. In contrast, on Sukkos, there is no practical reason to eat in the sukkah, one could equally easily eat in his home. The fact that he davke eats in the sukkah indicates that he is doing so purely for the sake of the mitzvo. He can say a bracha throughout the whole of Sukkos, because he demonstrates that he is only performing the normally mundane acts in of sleeping and eating because it is a mitzvo to do so in the sukkah.
The Ben Ish Chai applies the concept that merely living in the sukkah is a mitzvo to answer a different question about Sukkos. Unlike Pesach and Shavuos, Sukkos is described as zman simchaseinu,(the time of our joy). The other chagim also represent times of great happiness, so why is Sukkos considered more joyful than them? He answers that the extra joy of Sukkos is because of the mitzvo to sit in the sukkah that applies throughout the whole festival. This constant ability to perform mitzvos for the honor of the festival arouses a great sense of joy. He writes that this on the other festivals there is no essential difference between a person's daily life from the rest of the year. Accordingly, one may not have the constant awareness of the festival that he has on Sukkos, resulting in a lower level of joy. This is the reason that Sukkos in particular is mesugal for simcha. Thus, we see that Sukkos is unique in that it elevates normally non-holy activities into mitzvos, and enables us to have a constant awareness and joy of the festival.
How is this aspect of Sukkos connected to Yaakov Avinu? Of all the avos, Yaakov Avinu was the one who was most required to be deeply involved in the daily vicissitudes of life such as dealing with dishonest people, spending long hours at work, and bringing up a large family. For many years he was forced to deal with areas of reshus, unable to devote all his time to learning and prayer. One aspect of Yaakov's greatness is that he was able to live in such an environment and elevate his daily activities into acts of holiness. This is what he declares to his brother, Esav, when he returns from his long years in exile. "I lived (garti) with Lavan". Chazal tell us that the word, garti, spells, taryag, which represents the 613 mitzvos. Yaakov was alluding to the fact that he had remained steadfast in his avodas Hashem, despite living in adverse conditions.
It seems that many aspects of Yaakov Avinu relate to the fact that he was able to elevate the mudane into kedusha. Chazal tell us that the avos desribed the Beis Hamikdosh, (and avodas Hashem by extension), in different ways. Avraham described the Beis Hamikdosh as a har (mountain), Yitzchak as a sadeh (field), and Yaakov as a bayis (house). These various descriptions represent the different ways that the avos related to avodas Hashem. Why does Yaakov describe it as a house? A house is the location of all the mundane activities that a person performs throughout his daily life, including eating, sleeping, and forms of work. Yaakov elevated all such activities because he saw them all as opportunities for holiness. Accordingly, he viewed a house as a vehicle of avodas Hashem.
In a similar vein, the avos represent the three daily prayers. Avraham corresponds to shacharis, Yitzchak to mincha, and Yaakov to maariv. Maariv is different from the other prayer services in that it is described as a reshus, a non-obligatory prayer. Why is Yaakov, in particular associated with an optional prayer? In light of the aforementioned explanation of Yaakov's ability to turn non-obligatory activities into mitzvos, we can also understand why maariv corresponds to Yaakov It represents the fact that a person wants to connect to Hashem even though he is not obligated to do so.
Yaakov also corresponds to the third bracha in the shemoneh esrei, that of kedusha. This also fits in with the above explanation. The Torah definition of kedusha is not merely avoiding the physical world, rather it is sanctifying it so that it too can be used a tool of avodas Hashem.
With this understanding of Yaakov and Sukkos, their connection is obvious. Both represent taking optional activities and making them holy. It is easier to feel pious when involved in obviously spiritual activities such as learning and praying. However, it is far more difficult to connect to Hashem whilst eating, sleeping and working. Sukkos is the only time of the year when such actions become mitzvos merely by doing them in the sukkah. Of course, this does not mean that we can indulge in gluttony and over-sleeping whilst being in the sukkah. Rather it obligates us to focus on the fact that our mere dwelling in the sukkah is a great opportunity to help us develop our awareness of Hashem and to be more lishma in our going about our daily lives. If we do this, then we can take the recognition that mundane acts are great opportunities for kedusha, into our daily lives even when the festival has left us.
In order to answer this, it is instructive to examine an interesting feature of Sukkos. On Sukkos, even the most mundane activities, such as eating and sleeping, become Mitzvos. The mere act of sitting the in the Sukkah turns these activities that are normally devarim shel reshus into mitzvos, that obligate one to say the bracha of 'leysheiv basukkah'. Therefore, a person who spends most of his time in the sukkah, is constantly performing the mitzvo of living in the sukkah. In this way, Sukkos has a tremendous power in that it elevates a person's daily activities into acts of great kedusha (holiness).
This aspect of Sukkos can help understand some differences between Sukkos and the other chagim. The Kol Bo notes that one says the bracha for being in the Sukkah throughout the whole chag. In contrast, on Pesach, the Kol Bo holds there is also a mitzvo to eat Matzo for the whole 7 days, and yet we only say a bracha on the first day - why do we not say every day? He answers that when a person eats matzo on the later days of Pesach, it is not apparent that he is doing so because it is a Mitzvo. He could be eating the matzo simply because he is hungry and has no option to eat bread. In contrast, on Sukkos, there is no practical reason to eat in the sukkah, one could equally easily eat in his home. The fact that he davke eats in the sukkah indicates that he is doing so purely for the sake of the mitzvo. He can say a bracha throughout the whole of Sukkos, because he demonstrates that he is only performing the normally mundane acts in of sleeping and eating because it is a mitzvo to do so in the sukkah.
The Ben Ish Chai applies the concept that merely living in the sukkah is a mitzvo to answer a different question about Sukkos. Unlike Pesach and Shavuos, Sukkos is described as zman simchaseinu,(the time of our joy). The other chagim also represent times of great happiness, so why is Sukkos considered more joyful than them? He answers that the extra joy of Sukkos is because of the mitzvo to sit in the sukkah that applies throughout the whole festival. This constant ability to perform mitzvos for the honor of the festival arouses a great sense of joy. He writes that this on the other festivals there is no essential difference between a person's daily life from the rest of the year. Accordingly, one may not have the constant awareness of the festival that he has on Sukkos, resulting in a lower level of joy. This is the reason that Sukkos in particular is mesugal for simcha. Thus, we see that Sukkos is unique in that it elevates normally non-holy activities into mitzvos, and enables us to have a constant awareness and joy of the festival.
How is this aspect of Sukkos connected to Yaakov Avinu? Of all the avos, Yaakov Avinu was the one who was most required to be deeply involved in the daily vicissitudes of life such as dealing with dishonest people, spending long hours at work, and bringing up a large family. For many years he was forced to deal with areas of reshus, unable to devote all his time to learning and prayer. One aspect of Yaakov's greatness is that he was able to live in such an environment and elevate his daily activities into acts of holiness. This is what he declares to his brother, Esav, when he returns from his long years in exile. "I lived (garti) with Lavan". Chazal tell us that the word, garti, spells, taryag, which represents the 613 mitzvos. Yaakov was alluding to the fact that he had remained steadfast in his avodas Hashem, despite living in adverse conditions.
It seems that many aspects of Yaakov Avinu relate to the fact that he was able to elevate the mudane into kedusha. Chazal tell us that the avos desribed the Beis Hamikdosh, (and avodas Hashem by extension), in different ways. Avraham described the Beis Hamikdosh as a har (mountain), Yitzchak as a sadeh (field), and Yaakov as a bayis (house). These various descriptions represent the different ways that the avos related to avodas Hashem. Why does Yaakov describe it as a house? A house is the location of all the mundane activities that a person performs throughout his daily life, including eating, sleeping, and forms of work. Yaakov elevated all such activities because he saw them all as opportunities for holiness. Accordingly, he viewed a house as a vehicle of avodas Hashem.
In a similar vein, the avos represent the three daily prayers. Avraham corresponds to shacharis, Yitzchak to mincha, and Yaakov to maariv. Maariv is different from the other prayer services in that it is described as a reshus, a non-obligatory prayer. Why is Yaakov, in particular associated with an optional prayer? In light of the aforementioned explanation of Yaakov's ability to turn non-obligatory activities into mitzvos, we can also understand why maariv corresponds to Yaakov It represents the fact that a person wants to connect to Hashem even though he is not obligated to do so.
Yaakov also corresponds to the third bracha in the shemoneh esrei, that of kedusha. This also fits in with the above explanation. The Torah definition of kedusha is not merely avoiding the physical world, rather it is sanctifying it so that it too can be used a tool of avodas Hashem.
With this understanding of Yaakov and Sukkos, their connection is obvious. Both represent taking optional activities and making them holy. It is easier to feel pious when involved in obviously spiritual activities such as learning and praying. However, it is far more difficult to connect to Hashem whilst eating, sleeping and working. Sukkos is the only time of the year when such actions become mitzvos merely by doing them in the sukkah. Of course, this does not mean that we can indulge in gluttony and over-sleeping whilst being in the sukkah. Rather it obligates us to focus on the fact that our mere dwelling in the sukkah is a great opportunity to help us develop our awareness of Hashem and to be more lishma in our going about our daily lives. If we do this, then we can take the recognition that mundane acts are great opportunities for kedusha, into our daily lives even when the festival has left us.
Monday, November 23, 2009
THE KEY TO MESIRAS NEFESH - VAYEITSEI
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Chazal tell us that when Yaakov Avinu left his parents to go to the home of Lavan, he learnt Torah in the Yeshivos of Shem and Ever for fourteen years. During that time he was so engrossed in his learning that he never once slept! This poses a difficulty - the Torah tells us that for the previous 63 years of his life Yaakov was a ‘yosheiv ohalim’, he spent all his time learning Torah. However, we do not see that he never slept. What happened that enabled Yaakov to attain such a level of mesiras nefesh to forgo sleep in those 14 years that surpassed what he had achieved up till that time? My Rebbi, Rav Yitzchak Bervkovits Shlita answers, that Yaakov knew that he would be faced with great challenges during his time living with the evil Lavan; Lavan would provide great tests to his midos and his spiritual level and he would need to rise to a higher spiritual level in order to be able to withstand being influenced by Lavan. Consequently, he recognized that he had to utilize every available second in these 14 years of Torah learning. There is no doubt that in the previous 63 years of his life, he learnt with great hasmada, but there was a far greater sense of urgency that permeated his learning in the 14 years before he went to live with Lavan. We learn from here that being in a challenging situation can be a great motivating factor in increasing the level of mesiras nefesh in one’s Avodas Hashem.
This can also help explain an interesting halacho brought by the Rambam. During a war, a common tactic is to beseige the enemy, thus starving him of vital supplies. The Rambam writes that a Jewish army may not surround the enemy from all four sides, rather it must leave one side open so that the enemy soldiers have the option of fleeing to safety. This seems like a strange hanhago in the midst of a war! The Meshech Chochma explains that this is indeed a shrewd tactical move; when a person is placed in a highly pressurized situation such as being besieged on four sides he has no option but to find new cochos that can enable him to fight with far greater courage and zeal. Therefore the Torah commands us to leave one side open so that the enemy will not be forced in a situation where it can pose a real threat. This also explains the behavior of the Zealots at the time of the Roman siege of Yerushalayim that led to the destruction of the Second Beis HaMikdash. The inhabitants of Yerushalayim had great food supplies that would enable them to last a very long time even whilst under siege. However, the impatient Zealots wanted to arouse everyone to fight the Romans, so they burnt all the food supplies with the intention of forcing everyone to fight for their lives with a great sense of urgency.
Rav Yissochor Frand Shlita explains that this phenomena led to the incredible mesiras nefesh of Jews who lived through the Communist rule in the Soviet Union. He tells of how Jews that were trying to learn Torah were faced with incredible nisyonos - they would suddenly be visited by KGB agents who would warn them that their jobs were at stake if they would continue in their ‘foolish ways’. If they continued anyway, they would be paid another visit, and this time the safety of their children would be threatened. And yet, amidst such pressure, they were able to find the strength to continue regardless. The following story demonstrates how far their mesiras nefesh went. It was forbidden to perform bris mila on babies, nonetheless many Jews tried to do so at great risk. On one occasion a baby boy had been unwell for the first several months of his life, until finally, aged 10 months the bris was performed. After the bris, the baby’s mother went up to him and kissed him, she then promptly fainted! When she awoke she explained to the bewildered onlookers what had led her to faint. When her baby was born she promised herself that her baby would have bris mila. But she knew that this was no easy task and she feared that she may not have the courage to go through with it. In order to ensure that she would not give up, she swore that she would never kiss or hug her baby until bris was performed! That is why, after waiting so long, she fainted after kissing her little boy! Rav Frand wonders whether we -who are able to practice our religion with ease and in freedom - could contemplate not kissing or hugging our children for so long for the sake of a mitzvo. We do not live with that same sense of urgency that Yaakov Avinu felt as he headed to the house of Lavan, and we cannot relate to the levels of mesiras nefesh that the Jews in the Soviet Union attained.
But how can we tap into the koach of urgency to help improve our own Avodas Hashem? The Mishna in Avos provides a number of answers:“Rebbi Tarfon says; the day is short; the workload is great; the workers our lazy; the reward is great; and the Baal Habayis is pushing.” In this Mishna, Rebbi Tarfon is trying to imbue us with that sense of urgency that will motivate us to learn and grow more. He begins that “the day is short.” Life is short, before we know it, it has passed us by and all of that time is lost forever. Moreover, we never know when our life will end - a recognition of this should certainly help motivate us. Rav Aharon Kotler zt”l notes that the Mishna does not say that our ‘days’ (in the plural) are short, rather, ‘the day.’ He says that this comes to teach us that each individual day has its own function and potential - if a person wastes one part of one day then he has lost that time forever - when a person recognizes that each moment is passing by and will never return he will surely be more careful with his time.
The Mishna continues that, “the work is great“. It is self-evident that every area of Avodas Hashem requires great effort for the workload is endless. This most obviously applies to learning where there is no limit to the depth and breadth that a person can attain. But it also applies to growth - the ladder of Avodas Hamidos is never-ending - there are always more opportunities for character refinement. Moreover, we are also judged as to whether we fulfill our potential - Chazal tell us that there is a heavenly image of each person - this is the image of what he can become if he reaches his full potential. When we proceed to shamayim at the end of our lives, we will be shown that that image and judged as to why we did not fit it.
“The reward is great.” If we were more real of how much reward we receive for mitzvos then our Avoda would drastically improve. Other Mishnayos in Avos discuss this concept: “Be careful with a light mitzvo just as you are with a serious mitzvo, because you do not know the reward for the mitzvos.” Rabbeinu Yonah explains that the reason one should be extremely careful with even the ‘lighter’ mitzvos is because he has no real conception about how great the reward is even for that. Later in Avos, we are told that, “one moment of peripheral pleasure in Olam Haba is greater than all the pleasure of Olam Hazeh.” Rav Dessler zt”l goes to great lengths to demonstrate how all the pleasure that was ever experienced in Olam Hazeh cannot match one whiff of Olam Haba.
It is understandably difficult to make this concept real but we can at least act in accordance with an intellectual recognition of this. Rav Noach Weinberg Shlita suggests a way of doing so; when a person is tired and ready to head off for bed after the Friday night meal, he should try to motivate himself to learn for an extra five minutes and say to himself - “if I could receive $1000 to learn for another five minutes then I would certainly do so. I realize, at least intellectually, that the reward in Olam Haba for doing so is worth infinitely more than that .”
“The Baal Habayis is pushing.” Hashem is expectant of us to do our job and play our role in perfecting the world. The Gemara says that each person should say that “the world was created for me” - this means that responsibility for the world is placed upon me and I must act with that recognition. Hashem expects a great deal from us and we must produce results.
Baruch Hashem, Jews who live in democratic countries can practice our religion with total freedom. However this can lead to a sense of comfort that can prevent us from tapping into the sense of urgency that is needed to motivate ourselves to strengthen our Avodas Hashem. Gedolim became who they were because they did feel this sense of urgency. Rav Mordechai Gifter zt”l was once asked how he became such a great talmid chochom. He answered that he looked at every day of his life as if it could be his last. With such an outlook he was able to push himself to reach incredible heights. May we too find it in ourselves to tap into this tremendous koach.
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