Terumah 5631 Second Ma'amar

How to Succeed in Torah and Mitzvos

Advice from the Sfas Emes

In this week’s parasha, God describes the Mishkan and its vessels to Moshe Rabbeinu.  The Midrash[1] tells us that because Moshe Rabbeinu had difficulty understanding the intricacies of the Menorah, God showed him a virtual Menorah.  Even so, Moshe Rabbeinu found it too difficult to make so God told him to throw a talent of gold into the fire and God Himself would fashion it.

The Sfas Emes asks that if Moshe Rabbeinu could not make the Menorah why did God bother showing it to him in the first place?  God, after all, certainly knew the limits of Moshe Rabbeinu’s capabilities.  The Sfas Emes explains that it was crucial for Moshe Rabbeinu to desire to make the Menorah, even if he could not. But if Moshe Rabbeinu had trouble picturing the Menorah from God’s description of it, then he was not able to properly desire it.  So, God showed Moshe Rabbeinu a virtual Menorah so that he would know what he must desire.  Moshe Rabbeinu then did whatever he could to the best of his ability.  Because of Moshe Rabbeinu’s desire to see the completed Menorah, God helped and finished the job.   

The Sfas Emes says that this is an important lesson that applies to every Jew and to every mitzvah for we certainly do not have the power to achieve the will of God.  How could we?  God is infinite and we are finite.  However, we are required to yearn to achieve the will of God and to work towards that goal to the best of our abilities.  According to the intensity of our desire, we can achieve the will of God with His help even if it is beyond our capabilities.

Along these same lines the Chiddushei HaRim explains a Gemara in Maseches Megillah (6b).  Rebbi Yitzchak says that if someone tells you that he worked hard in Torah and he found success, believe him – יָגַעְתִּי וּמָצָאתִי תַּאֲמִין.  The Chiddushei HaRim points out the incongruity in Rebbi Yitzchak’s words.  Rebbi Yitzchak’s choice of words connotes a found item.  Chazal[2] tell us that items are found unintentionally – ג' בָּאִין בְּהֵיסֶח הַדָעַת ... מְצִיאָה – the exact opposite of focused work towards a goal.  Conventionally, if a person works hard and says that he succeeded and realized his goal, then we can believe him because we believe that his hard work caused his success.  Why does Rebbi Yitzchak say that if a person works hard to attain Torah and succeeds, he “found” success, implying an unintentional find not directly resulting from his hard work?

The Chiddushei HaRim answers that Rebbi Yitzchak is teaching us a profound lesson about success in Torah.  The reality is that an understanding of the ultimate truth in the Torah is beyond our capabilities.  The only way to reach this understanding is for it to be given to us.  Rebbi Yitzchak is teaching us that God gives the gift of understanding and connecting with Truth to those who try hard to acquire it.

We see this clearly when Moshe Rabbeinu ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Torah.  He worked hard.  He did not eat or drink for forty days.  At the end of the forty days the pasuk relates, “וַיִּתֵּן אֶל־מֹשֶׁה ... שְׁנֵי לֻחֹת הָעֵדֻת/He gave Moshe … the two tablets of testimony …” (Shmos 31:18)  The Midrash[3] says that the Torah was given to Moshe Rabbeinu as a gift. 

When it comes to serving God, He helps us to attain goals that are beyond our abilities.  The key to success is to cultivate a strong desire for it.

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[1]Bamidbar R. 15:4

[2]Sanhedrin 97a

[3]Shmos R. 28:1

Terumah 5632 Second Ma'amar

Today and tomorrow are Rosh Chodesh Adar I.  The root of the name of the new month, Adar, means, “dwell.”  The Chiddushei HaRim relates the word, “Adar”, to a Midrash which explains a pasuk in the beginning of this week’s parasha, “ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם/Make for me a sanctuary so that I will dwell in your midst.” (Shmos 25:8) The Midrash[1] explains that God wanted to give us the Torah but did not want to leave it, as it were.  So He asked us to build for Him a sanctuary so that He could dwell – אדור בתוכו – in it and thus be close to the Torah and to us, so to speak.

This is quite an enigmatic Midrash!  God is infinite and everywhere at once.  God certainly has no need for a dwelling place.  What is this Midrash teaching us?  The Chiddushei HaRim explains that the concept of God dwelling among us makes sense only from our perspective and our relationship to God.  God dwelling among us is revelation to us.

 

But God will only reveal Himself to us to the extent that we realize that everything comes from Him.  This requires humility from us.  When we humble ourselves to internalize the idea that everything is from God, God can dwell among us and we merit revelation.  Chazal[2] allude to this idea.  They teach us that of an arrogant person God says, “He and I cannot dwell – לדור – together in the world.”  Arrogance can only happen when there is a lack of belief that everything is from God.  Arrogance is the opposite of this belief.  Arrogance implies an autonomous existence outside of God.  Obviously, there can be no revelation in the presence of arrogance.  

The Sfas Emes teaches that this idea is alluded to in the name of this month.  אדר/Adar is an acronym for א – the One, דל – inadequate, רש – poor.  When we realize our own inadequacy vis a vis God, when we understand that everything we have, see around us and do come from God, we can connect to Him and experience Him in our lives.

Chazal[3] allude to this concept when they say that God is the “place” of the world.  He contains the world, not the other way around.  Chazal[4] also teach us that there is nothing that has no place.  To the extent that we understand that everything that exists only exists because it is from God, the Godliness is revealed.  In the words of Chazal, God is the place of the world.

It really cannot be any other way.  The world is simply a screen that hides God.  It is not autonomous and can only exist because of the Godliness within.  As the prophet Yeshayah teaches us, “אשכון את דכא/I will dwell with the downtrodden.” (Yeshayah 57:15)  The world exists only because God dwells with it.

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[1] Shmos R. 33:1

[2] Sotah 5a

[3] Breishis R. 68:9

[4] Avos 4:3

Terumah 5631 Third Ma'amar

Two pesukim in Tehillim apparently contradict each other.  The first pasuk states, “... לַה' הָאָרֶץ וּמְלֹואָה תֵּבֵל וְיֹשְׁבֵי בָהּ׃/The earth and its contents are God’s, the inhabited land and those who dwell in it.” (24:1)  Everything obviously belongs to God.  That David HaMelech makes a point of mentioning it implies that we cannot use the world for our own benefit without permission.  Another pasuk however states, “הַשָּׁמַיִם שָׁמַיִם לַה' וְהָאָרֶץ נָתַן לִבְנֵיֽ־אָדָֽם׃/As for the heavens, the heavens are God’s, but He has given the earth to mankind.” (115:16)  This pasuk seems to be teaching us that God gave us the earth to use as we see fit, a clear contradiction to the first pasuk. 

Chazal learn from this contradiction that before benefitting from this world, we must say a blessing.[1]  Before we say a blessing, the earth belongs to God and we may not benefit from it.  It is not ours.  When we say a blessing, God gives it to us.  It becomes ours and we may benefit from it.  What is the significance of the blessing?  By what mechanism does saying a blessing transfer ownership, as it were, from God to us? 

We can glean an understanding of the significance of blessings from the continuation of this ma’amar Chazal.  Chazal say that deriving benefit from this world without saying a blessing is like receiving personal benefit from sacred items of the Beis HaMikdash.  We can clearly understand that we must ask permission to use something that is not ours.  Why, though, do Chazal compare deriving unauthorized benefit from the physical world to deriving unauthorized benefit from sanctified items of the Beis HaMikdash?  Chazal are teaching us that there is holiness in the entire world.  Every creation is imbued with holiness. 

When we think about it, we realize that it must be this way because God is everywhere giving life to everything.  How, then, can we derive personal pleasure from anything?  The answer, the Sfas Emes explains, is by accepting the holiness, the Godliness, in everything.  When we acknowledge that the apple we are about to eat is imbued with holiness, we connect with that holiness when we eat it even as we derive physical pleasure from it.  The mechanism for recognizing this holiness is the blessings that Chazal established before benefiting from this world. 

God wants us to use the physical world to do His will.  By accepting the holiness in the physical, God gives us the physical to use.  The Sfas Emes explained this in the first ma’amar on this week’s parsha.  There he explained the pasuk in our parsha, “וְעָשׂוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ וְשָֽׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָֽם׃/You shall make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell among them.” (Shmos 25:8)  The Sfas Emes explains that this pasuk is not just a command to make a physical sanctuary, a building, for God.  It is a command to recognize that God is in everything, every creation and every action.  By recognizing this, we are making everything in the world a sanctuary for God.  When we do this, God reveals Himself as the end of the pasuk implies, “וְשָֽׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָֽם/I will dwell among them.”  God is here whether we recognize Him or not.  Dwelling among them, though, implies that we will feel His presence.

The key point is that in order to benefit from the world in a way that connects us to God, it must be given to us.  We cannot take it.  This is why the pasuk states, “וְהָאָרֶץ נָתַן לִבְנֵיֽ־אָדָם/and He gave the earth to mankind.”  We find this concept in an interesting law regarding divorce.  If a man tells his wife, “Take your get (divorce certificate),” the divorce is invalid.[2]  He must give her the get.  The pasuk says clearly, “וְנָתַן בְּיָדָהּ/he shall give it into her hand.” (Devarim 24:1)  Freedom cannot be taken.  It must be given.  May we merit using the world that God has given us to fulfill His will thereby basking in His presence in this world.

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[1] Brachos 34a-b

[2] Gittin 78a

Terumah 5632 Third Ma'amar

Chazal[1] teach us that we are required to say one hundred brachos each day.  Furthermore, Chazal[2] teach us that we may partake of the pleasures of this world only after reciting the appropriate bracha.  What is the significance of brachos?  What is so important about brachos?

We can gain understanding from the pesukim whence Chazal learn we must recite a bracha before partaking of this world.  According to one pasuk, "... לה' הארץ ומלואה .../… The earth and its contents are God's …" (Tehillim 24:1)  According to another pasuk, "... הארץ נתן לבני אדם/… He gave the earth to the children of Adam." (Tehillim 115:16)  Chazal reconcile these contradicting pesukim.  The first pasuk is true before we recite a bracha.  The second applies afterwards.  From these pesukim we see that the bracha is our acknowledgement that the earth and all its contents are God's.  Only after this acknowledgement may we partake of it.

The Chiddushei HaRim takes this idea further and teaches that the very purpose of the Creation is to recognize that everything in it is from God – to reveal Him within it – and to thus subordinate ourselves to Him.  This explains Chazal's[3] statement that eating without reciting a bracha is akin to מעילה – making inappropriate personal use of kodashim.  If a person brings an animal as a peace offering, he may eat the meat of the animal only following the mitzvah of throwing its blood on the wall of the altar.  Eating of the meat beforehand is a serious transgression – מעילה.

Not only kodashim but all food has a mitzvah that must be performed before partaking of it.  That mitzvah is reciting a bracha, acknowledging that the food we eat is from God, making the connection between the physical food and its spiritual source.  Furthermore, since we may partake of the food only upon making this connection, it is through this connection that bracha is drawn into this world and to us.  The brachos that we recite, then, are the foundation for drawing bracha into the physical world.

The Chiddushei HaRim therefore said that the one hundred brachos that we are required to say each day are associated with the one hundred silver sockets – אדנים – that were the base for the beams of the Mishkan.[4]  The silver sockets were the foundation of the Mishkan and brachos are the foundation of bracha in the physical world.

Further on the concept of subordination to God through the recitation of brachos, Chazal learn of the requirement to recite one hundred brachos each day from the pasuk, "מה ה' שואל מעמך .../What does God ask of you …" (Devarim 10:12)  In a play on the word מה/what, Chazal read this as, "מאה ה' שואל מעמך/God asks one hundred of you."  This seems somewhat arbitrary however the Sfas Emes explains the connection between the word מה/what, and reciting brachos.  As we've said, the purpose of reciting brachos is to acknowledge God's rule over the physical world, thus, subordinating ourselves to Him.  The word מה/what, brings to mind subordination as in, "What are we?"  The pasuk could thus be understood as, "God asks us to subordinate ourselves."  Appropriately, Chazal learn the requirement for one hundred brachos from this pasuk.

May we merit having the proper intent as we recite brachos during the day, drawing bracha into the world and onto ourselves.  Amen.

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[1] Menachos 43b

[2] Brachos 35a

[3] Ibid.

[4] The source is Sha'arei Ora, Shaar Rishon, of the medieval Kabbalist Rav Yosef Gikatilla.  See there for an extensive and fascinating discussion of brachos and their connection with the name of God – aleph, dalet, nun, yod.