The Parsha begins with a description of how the Jewish people finally left Egypt and the yoke of Pharaoh. As they faced the Yam Suf (Sea of Reeds) they suddenly saw that the Egyptian army was chasing after them. After cyring out to HaShem and then complaining to Moshe, they walked into the sea and the miracle of Krias Yam Suf (the Splitting of the Sea) took place. After crossing the sea, they witnessed the final destruction of the Egyptian army. At this point, the Torah tells us; “On that day HaShem delivered Israel from the hand of Egypt, and Israel saw the people dead on the seashore”. The Ibn Ezra notes the Torah’s emphasis that it was only on that day that the Jews were fully free of the yoke of the Egyptians. He explains that even after they left Egypt, they still felt a great sense of fear of Pharaoh and only became completely free of the Egyptian yoke once they saw the final destruction of the might of the Egyptians at the Yam Suf. Their feelings of subjugation (shibud) to the Egyptians were not allayed by merely ‘escaping’ . It was only when they saw the Egyptians destroyed that they were were now able to be fully free of their self-image as ‘Pharaoh’s slaves’.
The Hagaddah’s description of the nature of the subjugation to the Egyptians teaches us a similar lesson to that of the Ibn Ezra. The Hagaddah tell us: “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt; HaShem, our G-d took us out from there with a strong Hand. And if HaKadosh Baruch Hu did not take our fathers out of Egypt, we and our children, and our children’s children would be enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt.” The obvious question on the Haggadah’s assertion is that it is very difficult indeed to imagine that had the Exodus not taken place, then we would all still be slaves to the Egyptians – indeed the Egyptian Empire disintegrated thousands of years ago! One answer given is that the Hagaddah does not mean that we would be physically enslaved (meshubad) to Egypt, however there would still remain an element of a physchological shibud to Pharaoh and his people. We would have become physically free, but we would never have escaped from, and overcome, the Egyptians. Rather, we would have become free by default, and consequently, we would never have fully broken the self-image of ourselves as people who are controlled by another nation and not free to fully express ourselves.
These explanations provide us with a very important foundation with regard to the challenge of how to deal with negative forces that hold power over us; this includes people who control us in an unhealthy manner, destructive addictions; and general weapons of the yetser hara such as lust (taiva). It seems from the example of the Exodus that there are two stages in freeing oneself from a negative influence. The first stage is to escape the source of negativity, in the same way that the Jewish people left Egypt. The second is to overcome or eliminate that source – this took place with the destruction of the Egyptian army in the sea. The Ibn Ezra teaches us that whilst escaping the source of shibud is often an essential stage, it is insufficient in fully freeing oneself. One can only become fully free by attaining the second stage. Accordingly, it was only when the Jewish people saw the Egyptians finally destroyed, that they were able to be fully free of the Egyptian enslavement.
There are two key lessons that can be learnt out from the above. Firstly, a person needs to recognize which stage of freedom he has attained. It is particularly important for him to be aware when he has not fully overcome the shibud to his negative influence, rather that he has only escaped it. One strategy of people who give up addictions is to acknowledge that they have not fully overcome the addiction, rather they have only removed themselves from it. For example, some people who have given up smoking for many years still describe themselves as ‘smokers’. In this way they remind themselves that they are still at risk of falling back into the trap of nicotine addiction and therefore they studiously avoid even one cigarette. If, however, they would convince themselves that they have no remnants of addiction then they would feel able to have one cigarette and not resume their addiction. However, often this is not the case, and one ‘harmless’ cigarette could easily thrust them back into the clutches of their dangerous addiction. The second, and more difficult lesson, is that one must strive to reach the second stage of fully overcoming their shibud to the degree that one is fully free.
It seems that these two stages are alluded to by the Rambam in his discussion of different levels of teshuva (repentance). He writes that complete teshuva can only be attained when a person is thrust into the exact same situation that he previously failed in, and now he overcomes his yetser hara. A lower level of teshuva is when a person goes through the four stages that are required to repent, but he still may not be at the level where he would overcome his yetser hara were he to be forced into the same situation. It seems that the lower level is the stage of escaping his yetser hara, whereas the second stage of fully overcoming it is the complete teshuva that the Rambam refers to.
We have seen from the example of the Exodus that there are two stages of freeing oneself from negative influences – escaping is the first level and overcoming it is the second. One may wonder how it is possible to fully overcome forces that exert such power over us. This is obviously no simple matter and each specific case needs to be analyzed in and of itself, however, the story of the Splitting of the Sea does offer us two vital suggestions as to how one can hope to succeed. As the Ibn Ezra pointed out, the Jewish people did not destroy the Egyptians at all, rather HaShem did it for them. This teaches us that it is beyond human capacity to fully overcome such yetser haras, as Chazal say when they assert, that, “man’s yetser [tries to] overpower and destroy him every day… and if not for HaShem helping him, he would not be able to overcome it.” Accordingly, it is essential to turn to Heavenly guidance to be able to defeat whatever force it is that holds us back. However, we also see from the Splitting of the Sea that it is insufficient to merely sit back and rely on HaShem, for when Moshe prayed for help HaShem told him to stop praying and to tell the people to step into the Sea. It was only when they made those bold first steps into the sea that it split. We learn from here that, whilst it is impossible to overcome one’s yetser hara without HaShem, nonetheless, a person must be willing to make the effort. When he shows that he is prepared to do that, then HaShem does the rest. May we all merit to emulate the Jews at the Yam Suf and completely free ourselves of those forces that hold us back from fulfilling our potential.
Showing posts with label beshalach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beshalach. Show all posts
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
TAKING RESPONSBILITY - BESHALACH
The splitting of the Yam Suf (known as krias Yam Suf) is one of the seminal events in Jewish history. Chazal and the commentaries derive numerous lessons from this great miracle. A less well-known aspect of krias Yam Suf is described in a Tosefta that recalls the events immediately preceding the first bold steps into the sea.
The Tosefta tells us that at the Yam Suf, all the tribes were arguing about who should step into the sea first, each one trying to avoid the responsibility (achrayus) to take the first brave steps. Finally, the tribe of Yehuda jumped into the sea and sanctified G-d’s name . The Tosefta explains that this was one of the actions that earned the tribe of Yehuda the merit of being the tribe of Malchus (kingship). He was willing to be proactive whilst everyone else was seeking to shirk responsibility, thus he was awarded with the eternal responsibility of leading the Jewish people.
The word, 'responsibility' sometimes arouses negative connotations in people - it is difficult and even uncomfortable to have to assume responsibility. Accordingly, a person may be content to avoid positions of achrayus throughout his life in his quest to avoid uncomfortable situations. However, it seems that a desire to avoid responsibility does not accord with the Torah hashkafa in this area.
In contrast to the negative view of responsibility, the Torah views taking achrayus as highly empowering; Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz zt"l writes about this in his description of the significance of Shevet Yehuda's first steps into the sea., “at that time the tribe of Yehuda felt personally responsible for all of Israel and that he (Yehuda) should do what was incumbent upon him - because of this feeling, he became greater than all of Israel, and was filled with a strength and power to cross the sea as if it was completely dry, it was through this that Yehuda merited to be King .” By taking responsibility for others, Yehuda inherited the most important role among the Jewish people. We see from here a crucial idea: Responsibility can often be seen as a burden, something which restricts us and forces us to do things that we do not want to do. The actions of Yehuda show us exactly the opposite is true. It was his midda of taking responsibility, for himself, his family and his nation, that enabled him to reach such exalted heights. As Rav Shmuelevitz says, at the very moment that he accepted “what was incumbent upon him”, it was then that he rose to a whole new level. The same is true for each person, if he stands up and takes responsibility for himself and his people, then he too can attain heights that he never thought possible.
Rav Shmuelevitz goes even further in another piece. He brings a Yerushalmi in Bikurim: “A wise man, a chosson (newly married man) and someone who has risen in greatness, all receive atonement for their sins .” The Yerushalmi proceeds to give the example of Esav as the source that a chosson receives atonement - he married a woman the Torah calls ‘Machlah’, but that was not her real name. The name ‘Machlah’ comes from the root word of ‘mochel’ - ‘to forgive’. From here the Yerushalmi derives that all of their sins were forgiven when she married Esav. Rav Shmuelevitz proves from the choice of the evil Esav and his idol-worshipping wife that a person who gets married receives atonement even without teshuva for they clearly did not repent their sins. Even on Yom Kippur a person only receives atonement with repentance, why here is atonement so easily attained? He answers, “it would seem that the uniqueness of the chosson is that he accepts responsibility for his wife, and there is nothing greater that someone who accepts upon himself the yoke of responsibility. Therefore they forgive him for all his sins, and give him heavenly help to succeed in his new obligation, and they remove from him all of his past, so that he can live up to his new responsibility .” Taking a new level of responsibility is such a great feat that a person is given a clean slate - he now lives on a whole new level of existence!
We have seen how predominant the midda of responsibility is in a person’s life. It is no less than the decisive factor in determining the heights a person reaches in his life. All that is required for a person is to make the free will decision to take responsibility for himself and the world around him. Free will is in essence, the ability to make choices, to decide to change, to grow, to live up to our true potential. If a person makes that choice, then he can become a totally new creation, one whose past is left behind.
Facing the raging sea, the members of the Tribe of Yehuda made a momentous decision to take responsibility and not shift it onto others. May we too merit to take responsibility and thus achieve our potential.
The Tosefta tells us that at the Yam Suf, all the tribes were arguing about who should step into the sea first, each one trying to avoid the responsibility (achrayus) to take the first brave steps. Finally, the tribe of Yehuda jumped into the sea and sanctified G-d’s name . The Tosefta explains that this was one of the actions that earned the tribe of Yehuda the merit of being the tribe of Malchus (kingship). He was willing to be proactive whilst everyone else was seeking to shirk responsibility, thus he was awarded with the eternal responsibility of leading the Jewish people.
The word, 'responsibility' sometimes arouses negative connotations in people - it is difficult and even uncomfortable to have to assume responsibility. Accordingly, a person may be content to avoid positions of achrayus throughout his life in his quest to avoid uncomfortable situations. However, it seems that a desire to avoid responsibility does not accord with the Torah hashkafa in this area.
In contrast to the negative view of responsibility, the Torah views taking achrayus as highly empowering; Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz zt"l writes about this in his description of the significance of Shevet Yehuda's first steps into the sea., “at that time the tribe of Yehuda felt personally responsible for all of Israel and that he (Yehuda) should do what was incumbent upon him - because of this feeling, he became greater than all of Israel, and was filled with a strength and power to cross the sea as if it was completely dry, it was through this that Yehuda merited to be King .” By taking responsibility for others, Yehuda inherited the most important role among the Jewish people. We see from here a crucial idea: Responsibility can often be seen as a burden, something which restricts us and forces us to do things that we do not want to do. The actions of Yehuda show us exactly the opposite is true. It was his midda of taking responsibility, for himself, his family and his nation, that enabled him to reach such exalted heights. As Rav Shmuelevitz says, at the very moment that he accepted “what was incumbent upon him”, it was then that he rose to a whole new level. The same is true for each person, if he stands up and takes responsibility for himself and his people, then he too can attain heights that he never thought possible.
Rav Shmuelevitz goes even further in another piece. He brings a Yerushalmi in Bikurim: “A wise man, a chosson (newly married man) and someone who has risen in greatness, all receive atonement for their sins .” The Yerushalmi proceeds to give the example of Esav as the source that a chosson receives atonement - he married a woman the Torah calls ‘Machlah’, but that was not her real name. The name ‘Machlah’ comes from the root word of ‘mochel’ - ‘to forgive’. From here the Yerushalmi derives that all of their sins were forgiven when she married Esav. Rav Shmuelevitz proves from the choice of the evil Esav and his idol-worshipping wife that a person who gets married receives atonement even without teshuva for they clearly did not repent their sins. Even on Yom Kippur a person only receives atonement with repentance, why here is atonement so easily attained? He answers, “it would seem that the uniqueness of the chosson is that he accepts responsibility for his wife, and there is nothing greater that someone who accepts upon himself the yoke of responsibility. Therefore they forgive him for all his sins, and give him heavenly help to succeed in his new obligation, and they remove from him all of his past, so that he can live up to his new responsibility .” Taking a new level of responsibility is such a great feat that a person is given a clean slate - he now lives on a whole new level of existence!
We have seen how predominant the midda of responsibility is in a person’s life. It is no less than the decisive factor in determining the heights a person reaches in his life. All that is required for a person is to make the free will decision to take responsibility for himself and the world around him. Free will is in essence, the ability to make choices, to decide to change, to grow, to live up to our true potential. If a person makes that choice, then he can become a totally new creation, one whose past is left behind.
Facing the raging sea, the members of the Tribe of Yehuda made a momentous decision to take responsibility and not shift it onto others. May we too merit to take responsibility and thus achieve our potential.
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, ” 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’ . 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 him .
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 problem . 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 sword . 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.
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, ” 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’ . 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 him .
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 problem . 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 sword . 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.
Monday, January 25, 2010
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 him[3].
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 problem[4]. 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 sword[5]. 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.
[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.
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 him[3].
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 problem[4]. 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 sword[5]. 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.
[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.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY - BESHALACH
The splitting of the Yam Suf (known as krias Yam Suf) is one of the seminal events in Jewish history. Chazal and the commentaries derive numerous lessons from this great miracle. A less well-known aspect of krias Yam Suf is described in a Tosefta that recalls the events immediately preceding the first bold steps into the sea.
The Tosefta tells us that at the Yam Suf, all the tribes were arguing about who should step into the sea first, each one trying to avoid the responsibility (achrayus) to take the first brave steps. Finally, the tribe of Yehuda jumped into the sea and sanctified G-d’s name[1]. The Tosefta explains that this was one of the actions that earned the tribe of Yehuda the merit of being the tribe of Malchus (kingship). He was willing to be proactive whilst everyone else was seeking to shirk responsibility, thus he was awarded with the eternal responsibility of leading the Jewish people.
The word, 'responsibility' sometimes arouses negative connotations in people - it is difficult and even uncomfortable to have to assume responsibility. Accordingly, a person may be content to avoid positions of achrayus throughout his life in his quest to avoid uncomfortable situations. However, it seems that a desire to avoid responsibility does not accord with the Torah hashkafa in this area.
In contrast to the negative view of responsibility, the Torah views taking achrayus as highly empowering; Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz zt"l writes about this in his description of the significance of Shevet Yehuda's first steps into the sea., “at that time the tribe of Yehuda felt personally responsible for all of Israel and that he (Yehuda) should do what was incumbent upon him - because of this feeling, he became greater than all of Israel, and was filled with a strength and power to cross the sea as if it was completely dry, it was through this that Yehuda merited to be King[2].” By taking responsibility for others, Yehuda inherited the most important role among the Jewish people. We see from here a crucial idea: Responsibility can often be seen as a burden, something which restricts us and forces us to do things that we do not want to do. The actions of Yehuda show us exactly the opposite is true. It was his midda of taking responsibility, for himself, his family and his nation, that enabled him to reach such exalted heights. As Rav Shmuelevitz says, at the very moment that he accepted “what was incumbent upon him”, it was then that he rose to a whole new level. The same is true for each person, if he stands up and takes responsibility for himself and his people, then he too can attain heights that he never thought possible.
Rav Shmuelevitz goes even further in another piece. He brings a Yerushalmi in Bikurim: “A wise man, a chosson (newly married man) and someone who has risen in greatness, all receive atonement for their sins[3].” The Yerushalmi proceeds to give the example of Esav as the source that a chosson receives atonement - he married a woman the Torah calls ‘Machlah’, but that was not her real name. The name ‘Machlah’ comes from the root word of ‘mochel’ - ‘to forgive’. From here the Yerushalmi derives that all of their sins were forgiven when she married Esav. Rav Shmuelevitz proves from the choice of the evil Esav and his idol-worshipping wife that a person who gets married receives atonement even without teshuva for they clearly did not repent their sins. Even on Yom Kippur a person only receives atonement with repentance, why here is atonement so easily attained? He answers, “it would seem that the uniqueness of the chosson is that he accepts responsibility for his wife, and there is nothing greater that someone who accepts upon himself the yoke of responsibility. Therefore they forgive him for all his sins, and give him heavenly help to succeed in his new obligation, and they remove from him all of his past, so that he can live up to his new responsibility[4].” Taking a new level of responsibility is such a great feat that a person is given a clean slate - he now lives on a whole new level of existence!
We have seen how predominant the midda of responsibility is in a person’s life. It is no less than the decisive factor in determining the heights a person reaches in his life. All that is required for a person is to make the free will decision to take responsibility for himself and the world around him. Free will is in essence, the ability to make choices, to decide to change, to grow, to live up to our true potential. If a person makes that choice, then he can become a totally new creation, one whose past is left behind.
Facing the raging sea, the members of the Tribe of Yehuda made a momentous decision to take responsibility and not shift it onto others. May we too merit to take responsibility and thus achieve our potential.
[1] Tosefta, Brachos, Ch.4, Halacha 16.
[2] Sichos Mussar, Maamer 20, p.84.
[3] Ch.3, hal.3.
[4] Sichos Mussar, maamer 23, p.98.
The Tosefta tells us that at the Yam Suf, all the tribes were arguing about who should step into the sea first, each one trying to avoid the responsibility (achrayus) to take the first brave steps. Finally, the tribe of Yehuda jumped into the sea and sanctified G-d’s name[1]. The Tosefta explains that this was one of the actions that earned the tribe of Yehuda the merit of being the tribe of Malchus (kingship). He was willing to be proactive whilst everyone else was seeking to shirk responsibility, thus he was awarded with the eternal responsibility of leading the Jewish people.
The word, 'responsibility' sometimes arouses negative connotations in people - it is difficult and even uncomfortable to have to assume responsibility. Accordingly, a person may be content to avoid positions of achrayus throughout his life in his quest to avoid uncomfortable situations. However, it seems that a desire to avoid responsibility does not accord with the Torah hashkafa in this area.
In contrast to the negative view of responsibility, the Torah views taking achrayus as highly empowering; Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz zt"l writes about this in his description of the significance of Shevet Yehuda's first steps into the sea., “at that time the tribe of Yehuda felt personally responsible for all of Israel and that he (Yehuda) should do what was incumbent upon him - because of this feeling, he became greater than all of Israel, and was filled with a strength and power to cross the sea as if it was completely dry, it was through this that Yehuda merited to be King[2].” By taking responsibility for others, Yehuda inherited the most important role among the Jewish people. We see from here a crucial idea: Responsibility can often be seen as a burden, something which restricts us and forces us to do things that we do not want to do. The actions of Yehuda show us exactly the opposite is true. It was his midda of taking responsibility, for himself, his family and his nation, that enabled him to reach such exalted heights. As Rav Shmuelevitz says, at the very moment that he accepted “what was incumbent upon him”, it was then that he rose to a whole new level. The same is true for each person, if he stands up and takes responsibility for himself and his people, then he too can attain heights that he never thought possible.
Rav Shmuelevitz goes even further in another piece. He brings a Yerushalmi in Bikurim: “A wise man, a chosson (newly married man) and someone who has risen in greatness, all receive atonement for their sins[3].” The Yerushalmi proceeds to give the example of Esav as the source that a chosson receives atonement - he married a woman the Torah calls ‘Machlah’, but that was not her real name. The name ‘Machlah’ comes from the root word of ‘mochel’ - ‘to forgive’. From here the Yerushalmi derives that all of their sins were forgiven when she married Esav. Rav Shmuelevitz proves from the choice of the evil Esav and his idol-worshipping wife that a person who gets married receives atonement even without teshuva for they clearly did not repent their sins. Even on Yom Kippur a person only receives atonement with repentance, why here is atonement so easily attained? He answers, “it would seem that the uniqueness of the chosson is that he accepts responsibility for his wife, and there is nothing greater that someone who accepts upon himself the yoke of responsibility. Therefore they forgive him for all his sins, and give him heavenly help to succeed in his new obligation, and they remove from him all of his past, so that he can live up to his new responsibility[4].” Taking a new level of responsibility is such a great feat that a person is given a clean slate - he now lives on a whole new level of existence!
We have seen how predominant the midda of responsibility is in a person’s life. It is no less than the decisive factor in determining the heights a person reaches in his life. All that is required for a person is to make the free will decision to take responsibility for himself and the world around him. Free will is in essence, the ability to make choices, to decide to change, to grow, to live up to our true potential. If a person makes that choice, then he can become a totally new creation, one whose past is left behind.
Facing the raging sea, the members of the Tribe of Yehuda made a momentous decision to take responsibility and not shift it onto others. May we too merit to take responsibility and thus achieve our potential.
[1] Tosefta, Brachos, Ch.4, Halacha 16.
[2] Sichos Mussar, Maamer 20, p.84.
[3] Ch.3, hal.3.
[4] Sichos Mussar, maamer 23, p.98.
Monday, February 2, 2009
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.
---------
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.
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