Shabbat Parashat Shemot 5786

Moreshet Shaul: Addresses to Students at Kfar Haroeh (1942, 1944)

1.    “‘Avraham returned with his youngsters’ (Bereishit 22:19). Where was Yitzchak? [Avraham] sent him to the study hall of Shem and Eiver” (Bereishit Rabba 56:11). We see from this that prior to his akeida (binding), Yitzchak was not ready to be sent to yeshiva. This demonstrates that yeshiva requires great, deep, personal preparation, up to and including such a great trial as Yitzchak’s binding.

The power of Torah is great only to the extent that we feel that it was given to us and that we can be not only continuers but also initiators. Avraham did not have to undergo a trial such as being bound before he went to learn. But Yitzchak was different, in that he came to yeshiva because his father sent him, as a result of always being in an atmosphere permeated with the Torah of Avraham. He could not have taken the critical value out of his study as long as he did not personally undergo the great trial of the akeida.

The first students who studied in the yeshiva have already moved on, so what connection is there between those who are here and those who used to be? Why would one mention the years one studied in the yeshiva? We can deduce that the earlier students left us something of value. What they created still exists – a tradition and a mold. It is a tradition of consistency, a mold of reliability and close friendship. You new students came to something that had been prepared, and you are charged with the task of continuing it. The continuation can live up to this distinction only if it contains some of the “fragrance” of the beginning. In other words, if the yeshiva did not already exist, you would have been capable of founding it.

The main thing that pushed the founding class was the recognition that something important was being created – whether it was them as people or the institution. That is why people were careful about the details and there was concern that there should not be anything improper or “unhealthy.” That is why there is a connection with those who followed, even after they left, and why they have concern about the “face of the yeshiva” even today. These are “the righteous within the city” (see Bereishit 18:24), whose activities are not limited to themselves but also their environs. It is not a chance get-together of friends, but an organic growth of a living thing, so that each part does its part. This is what we need in the future, as well, and you will be able to prove yourselves in this.

2.    “The Torah taught us the proper practice – a person should not switch his innkeeper” (Rashi, Bereishit 13:3). One should show good manners toward an innkeeper even though he was only an innkeeper and even though the nature of the relationship is transient, until he moves on. It is even though the passerby does not leave an impact and others take his place. Sometimes, the visitor does not care what happens at the inn. It is still good manners to remember even one’s temporary abode, as he still received benefit from the inn and the innkeeper.

Perhaps the Torah was teaching that there is no experience in the world that is totally lost. Even if it was just in passing, you were there, and you probably left some “fragrance” of yourself there. Within those walls, something was received from the life that passed through. You left some part of your soul, and perhaps it is still “wandering there waiting to be fixed.” Maybe it is still “clinging to the walls,” making “fruit and fruit of fruit.”

It is possible that you recognize that you had a feeling, a flutter of the spirit before it took a firm form. Perhaps you dreamed a dream and you thought it was just a dream, but the dream came true. It is worthwhile to return and remember, to see and compare.

Top of page

Print this page

Send to friend