Shabbat Parashat Bereishit 5786

Moreshet Shaul: To Learn and to Be Happy – part II

[These come from notes from addresses at a Torah symposium at Yeshivat Bnei Akiva, 5702 (1942).]

Continuation of previous installment – [Joy has an important place in Judaism.] King Chizkiyahu would have been Mashiach if he had sung praises to Hashem (Sanhedrin 94a). On the other hand, King David was punished for calling the Torah’s laws, songs (Sota 35a, based on Tehillim 119:54). It was not enough that even the children in Chizkiyahu’s time were experts in complex Torah laws (ibid.), if it was not accompanied by happiness and song over mitzvot. On the other hand, if one wants to focus only on happiness connected to Torah, he turns the laws into songs and is punished for this. One must know to follow the Torah’s laws with seriousness and a clear mind, with good manners and fear of Hashem. The idea of “exult in trembling” (Tehillim 2:11) is the dichotomy of Torah. We must hear the words of Hashem with trembling, and we should be overjoyed that we merited it. The joy must be a joy of Torah – grasping it is his goal. His goal must not be like the goal of “conquering a city” but of conquering one’s inclination.

From the closing of the symposium:

One of the six matters the Torah commands us to remember is the giving of the Torah. It is a wonder that not a word is written in this context about the Torah itself, but just the special way in which it was given – “the day you stood before Hashem at Horeb” (Devarim 4:10). The truth is that not much Torah content was transmitted that day, as they heard only two of the Ten Commandments directly from Hashem. In truth, though, the very fact that they heard something from Hashem caused every element of it to be engraved on the heart of every Jew. This is the main thing, and actually it is everything. It created a special link between man and his Maker, and everything else is but details, in comparison.

The events at Sinai created a new reality for the spirit of the people. Hashem opened a wide opening after we were purified. If the opening was already opened, then clearly it is no longer difficult to go in. The difficult thing is creating the opening. Periodically there are “Sinaitic-type events,” and every year we experience them. [This is especially so] in the days when there was a Beit Hamikdash, which is described as “the place that Hashem will choose.” When one made the pilgrimage to the Mikdash, he would see a new light, and all the laws of the Torah, which during the course of the year became part of his routine, were renewed and became brighter. The Rabbis describe the renewal, “as happy as when they were given at Sinai” (see Shir Hashirim Rabba 1:10).

This phenomenon still exists today – in the study halls, which take the place of the Temple. About them as well (in addition to synagogues) we should apply, “I will make desolate your sanctuaries” (Vayikra 26:31), about which the Rabbis derive that even when they are desolate, they will maintain their sanctity (Megilla 28a), all the more so when they are intact. I do not know how much [one has to learn in the study hall,] and perhaps this is not such a new idea, but it is a different type of study – study that comes from a special event, which can be compared to the giving of the Torah.

An element of the pilgrimage to the Mikdash was to sleep over – to digest the impressions and protect them in his memory. We must do the same in our gathering. I conclude with the promise that a divine voice gave to those who brought the first fruit to the Temple: “So shall you do again next year” (Tanchuma, Ki Tavo 2). It is my blessing and my hope, that we will see each other next year if not earlier, so that we can spend more time sanctifying ourselves. May the light of Torah end the fire of the great destruction (ed. note – the Holocaust, which was then going on), and we shall merit the light of Mashiach.

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