Category: Inspirational

Adapted from: The Power of Shema by Rabbi Meyer Yedid

Torah brings so many benefits and Torah itself is so beautiful, so enjoyable, so great to be around as much as we can. But, like everything else in life, if you don’t give it the proper kavod, respect, you will not realize that potential.

We see this principle with regard to David HaMelech: When he was older, he no longer derived warmth from his clothing. Chazal tell us that this was because, on one occasion, David did not show respect to clothing the way he should have, at his level. On that occasion, he cut off a piece of Shaul HaMelech’s robe. He did it for a good reason. But again, Chazal saw in that a bit of disrespect for clothing. As a result, clothing was no longer able to benefit him.

And we learn a rule from that. The rule is that if you give honor to something, it will give you something back, and if you disrespect something, it will give you little, if anything, back. Whatever you respect in life will reciprocate. If we expect to have the Torah light up our life and light up our insides and outsides and light up our relationships and light up our middot, we first have to show it kavod. We have to respect it.

How do you respect Torah study? I saw a beautiful story about R’ Moshe Shmuel Shapiro. Somebody invited him to be the sandak at a bris taking place in a city nearby in Eretz Yisrael and he declined. One of the people who were close to him questioned why he declined. R’ Shapiro explained, “It’s true that when you go to a brit milah you meet Eliyahu HaNavi, but when I go to the Gemara, I meet the Ribbono Shel Olam! How can I leave the Ribbono Shel Olam in the Gemara in order to meet Eliyahu HaNavi?”

R’ Shapiro’s attitude was: When I’m learning, I’m learning with Hashem.

Is that the attitude we have when we open a Gemara, when we open a Chumash? Do we say to ourselves: We’re with Hashem? Do we give kavod to the Torah in that way?

That’s what we need to do.

We need to understand where the Torah comes from and Who we’re with when we learn it.

A person who loves the Torah makes sure he has time to learn it, whatever he’s capable of doing. Some people are capable of learning only twenty minutes a day. That’s it. They’re only capable of twenty minutes. But if they make sure to use those twenty minutes for learning, they’re giving kavod to the Torah. And some people can learn an hour and some people can learn two hours and some can learn ten hours. Whatever a person can do. The point is not how much; the point is to be mechabed the Torah, to honor it and recognize its value.

When you are mechabed the Torah, the Torah is mechabed you. It gives you all the benefits that you need.

How else are you mechabed the Torah? When you clarify things, when you try to understand things, when you do chazarah (review). Recently, I saw someone sit down and write notes on something he had just learned. That’s called kavod haTorah. When you see someone writing notes as he reviews, that’s called honoring the Torah: I didn’t come here just to show my face. I didn’t come here to check in and check out. I’m doing chazarah because it’s actually important to me. I want to understand it. I don’t want to forget it. That’s called kavod haTorah.

When you are mechabed the talmidei chachamim, when you are mechabed those who learn the Torah, that’s also called kavod haTorah. When you buy beautiful sefarim, when you don’t throw them around, when you have your own Gemara that you take with you — do you know how precious it is when someone brings his own Gemara from home and proceeds to learn with it? There’s nothing wrong with finding a Gemara on a shelf and using that, but when you bring your own, that’s kavod haTorah!

The more kavod haTorah we have, the more we will be able to learn and enjoy the Torah. 

 

Adapted from: Living the Parashah — Shemos by Rabbi Shimon Finkelman

וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֶל מֹשֶה לֵאמֹר מַרְבִּים הָעָם לְהָבִיא … וַיְצַו מֹשֶׁה … אִישׁ וְאִשָּׁה אַל יַעֲשֹוּ עוֹד מְלָאכָה לִתְרוּמַת הַקֹּדֶשׁ

They said to Moshe as follows: “The people are bringing more than enough … [Therefore] Moshe commanded … “Man and woman shall not do more work toward the gift for the Sanctuary” (Shemos 36:5-6).

The builders and artisans informed Moshe that there were more than enough materials for the construction of the Mishkan, its vessels and the making of the Kohanim’s vestments. Moshe therefore issued a call which brought the preparation of materials to an end.

Why did Moshe say, “Man and woman shall not do more work”? Why didn’t he say, “Man and woman shall not bring any more materials”? Sefer Kli Chemdah suggests the following:

Picture a person who had prepared materials for the Mishkan, was getting ready to transport them to where the construction was taking place, and then heard the announcement that nothing more was needed. Surely, he would be hurt to see that his efforts were for naught. Moshe Rabbeinu did not want this to happen. Therefore, he announced that no more “work,” meaning preparation of materials, was needed. However, if someone had already prepared the materials, he was asked to bring them. They could be used for future repairs or to make additional vessels.

It is upsetting and frustrating for a person to see that his efforts were fruitless. Great people are careful to recognize the efforts of others on their behalf and to make them feel appreciated.

For Yonason Goldberg, it was a moment for which he had been waiting for a long time. He had traveled from Queens to Monsey to seek advice on an important matter from one of the generation’s luminaries, Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky.

The discussion did not last as long as Yonason had expected. With his keen insight and unparalleled wisdom, R’ Yaakov quickly cut through to the heart of the matter, resolving it clearly and succinctly. With the discussion apparently over, the sage asked his visitor, “Are you returning from here to Queens?”

Yonason nodded in the affirmative.

“Well, then,” R’ Yaakov went on, “I have a favor to ask of you. Our grandchild has been staying with us and needs to go to the airport in Queens. We already arranged for a neighbor of ours to undertake this mitzvah. But for whatever reason, he is not comfortable driving alone. My rebbetzin and I had said that we would accompany him on the round trip. However, if you can take our grandchild, there will be no need for us to go along.”

Yonason was only too happy to save R’ Yaakov and his rebbetzin from having to make such a trip. However, he was not ready to leave just yet. He had waited so long for this opportunity; there were other questions, none of them terribly urgent or important, that he wanted to ask R’ Yaakov. He proceeded to ask his questions, one by one. As soon as R’ Yaakov answered a question, Yonason had something else to ask. Only later did he realize that R’ Yaakov had been trying, in his very polite and friendly way, to draw the visit to a close.

Then the doorbell rang. It was R’ Yaakov’s neighbor, who had come to make the trip to the airport. R’ Yaakov had been unable to reach him at home and cell phones did not yet exist. “We’ll be with you shortly,” R’ Yaakov told his neighbor with a smile.

Then he said quietly to Yonason, “We will have to go with my neighbor. Had you left before he came, I would have explained to him that we found a ride that made it unnecessary for my rebbetzin and me to come along — and he certainly would have understood. But now that my grandchild is still here and the neighbor is ready and eager to make the trip, I think that he will feel bad if we tell him that we have found a different ride.”

And so, to avoid hurting the feelings of their neighbor, R’ Yaakov and his rebbetzin made the trip to Queens and back. 

Adapted from: Living Chessed by Rabbi Avrohom Asher Makovsky

Moshe Walkin, a 21-year-old bachur from Lakewood, was learning at Yeshivas Mir in Yerushalayim. A few days before Lag B’Omer, his close friend ran to him bursting with excitement. “You’re not going to believe it!” he said. “I got a few VIP passes to pour the oil for lighting the Toldos Aharon bonfire in Meron!”

Moshe and his friends would be up-front and close to the center of the action. They would be able to pour the oil that the Toldos Aharon Rebbe would light!

The boys reserved an apartment in Meron and thought about little else but their thrilling upcoming adventure. However, Moshe got a call from his father, Rabbi Aharon Walkin, that would change the plan. Reb Aharon had been putting in a concerted effort to obtain all the permits needed during those times of Covid-restricted travel to come to Yerushalayim and pay a long overdue visit to his elderly father. He would be arriving right before Lag B’Omer and he wanted his son to come with him to visit his zeidy.

Moshe was disappointed. Instead of spending the night with his friends in Meron, he would be spending it with his father and Zeidy in Yerushalayim. However, Moshe knew what his priorities had to be. He told his father about his arrangements for Meron, adding, “But of course I’ll stay with you, Totty.”

On Erev Lag B’Omer, at 5 p.m., Reb Aharon arrived at Ben Gurion airport. He took a cab directly to his father’s apartment in Yerushalayim, where he and Moshe spent several hours. At about 10 p.m., Reb Aharon told Moshe that he would drive with him to Meron to catch the remainder of the celebration.

However, by the time they arrived in Meron, several hours later, the police were stationed along the road turning everyone back. “No one is allowed into the area,” they were told. The Walkins had no choice but to return to Yerushalayim. They awoke the next morning to the shocking news. The combination of overcrowding and limited exits had resulted in causing the people to lose their balance, fall upon and crush each other. The epicenter of the tragedy was the Toldos Aharon bonfire, and the two friends with whom Moshe was supposed to share the experience — Dovi Steinmetz and Yossi Kohn— had perished in the crush.

The Torah gives us two ways to merit arichus yamim. One is the mitzvah of kibbud av v’eim. As Reb Aharon so eloquently stated, it took two hefty doses of this mitzvah to save Moshe’s life. “For me, leaving Lakewood to go visit my father in Eretz Yisrael was very hard to arrange. For my son, he had to give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It was with magnificent mesiras nefesh that he did kibbud av v’eim for me. With these two zechusim, he merited to be saved.”

No matter what happens, we have to look for the ray of light Hashem will always show us. In our present times, we often see it against the darkness, but we will soon arrive at the time when Hashem’s light will forever drive the darkness away.