פרשת חקת ומצוות אנשים מלומדה

In this week’s Parsha, the children of Israel lodge yet another complaint with Moshe about their repetitive and dull food supply. They complained that they had no bread and no water, and only had the Manna for sustenance. Let us try to understand what exactly they were referring to. The Manna was probably the most amazing food ever to grace this earth. The angels themselves partake of the Manna on a daily basis. It was lean and tasty, and it was so efficient, that it was completely absorbed by the body and produced no waist! The Manna was so incredible that it would adopt the taste of whatever the person ingesting it was in the mood for. Bearing all this in mind, how could the Jews have complained about such a remarkable method of sustenance?

R’ Chaim Shmuelevitz gives us a deep insight into the human psyche which may help us understand the Jews’ reaction. R’ Chaim explains that there is a particular bug inside of a person’s mind which causes him to severely dislike routine. When something is done for the first time, it carries with it an aura of mystique which the human mind finds appealing. But as the days turn into years, and the years into decades, that mystique fades away, and is replaced with routine and habit. As the years pass on, this sensation of routine can slowly erode at a person’s consciousness, until if he is not careful, he can become so fed up with that previously glorious activity, that the mere sight of anything that has to do with it, can send him running in the other direction.

The prophet Isaiah (29:13) depicts what this can look like if it takes root in ones service of Hashem. “And God spoke saying, behold, they serve me with their mouth and their lips, but their hearts are distant from Me, and they are like the people who serve their masters out of habit”. Isaiah is clearly referring to a person who has become so habituated in his service of Hashem, that it is done by wrote, and with no inner feeling or excitement for that service. Hashem has no interest in such a service, as the Gemorah says, “Hashem only desires peoples’ hearts”. The actual service itself only has value if it represents what the people are feeling. For example, Hashem has no need for the sacrifices we offer Him, He is only interested in the feeling which accompanies those sacrifices, the deep desire to please Him. Many of us, when we first began to keep the Mitzvos, we did it out of a great sense of inner joy at the opportunity to come close to our creator, but after a while of this repetitive service, we found ourselves falling into this trap of monotony. I would like to try to give some advice on how to avoid this pitfall.

Before we give this advice however, one should know that habit is not always a bad thing. We pray every day in the morning blessings, “May it be your will Hashem, that you accustom us to Your Torah”. Furthermore, on the Mishnah in Avos, “It all goes according to the majority of a person’s actions” the Rambam says that it is better to give a little charity every day then to give a lot of charity at one time. This is because we accustom ourselves to Mitzvah observance, thereby making it easier to keep the Torah in the future and habituating ourselves to its demands. Nonetheless, there is a very real danger in this type of service which Isaiah warned us about and which we must find ways to avoid.

R’ Chaim offers two very practical pieces of advice on avoiding our service from becoming dull and droning on. Firstly, he says that a person must take on new activities which will in turn awaken his heart and excite him in his service. For example, a person could take on a new song to sing on Shabbos, and this may refresh his entire Shabbos observance. Or one could take on a new particular intent to have during his Tefilah. Chazal say that one should change his requests every day in order that his prayer not become a wrote activity, and this new intent can spur an entirely refreshed attitude toward his whole prayer. Or a person could take on in his learning a new commentary which contains original and insightful ideas, and learn it with depth and gusto, and really enjoy that time. This type of attitude will not only cause that time of day to be invigorating and energizing, but will cause new vitality to spread to his entire service, and will breathe new life into everything that he does. With this explanation, R’ Chaim answers another interesting difficulty. We mention the exodus from Egypt every single day. Why then do we use this venue as the paradigm of passing faith down to our children on the night of the Seder? Shouldn’t we use something more novel? Based on what we have said the answer is obvious. We take something that we are already doing every day, but we transform it into an interactive exciting experience in which everybody in the family becomes actively involved. This can turn something which may have been overlooked during the year, into an enjoyable, meaningful, for the whole family.

The other advice that R’ Chaim gives is based on in enigmatic Gemorah in Sanhedrin (19). The Gemorah tells a story about King Shaul, who wanted to marry his daughter off to a man named Paltiel. But the problem was, she was already married to David. Paltiel, who knew this, did not want to transgress with Shaul’s daughter, so he took his sword, and thrust it into the ground between himself, and Shaul’s daughter, and proclaimed in a loud voice, “Anyone who comes near her (he was referring to himself), will be pierced by this sword. R’ Chaim asks a powerful Kushya on this Gemorah. What kind of a deterrent was Paltiel trying to achieve by thrusting his sword between himself and the girl? If his Yetzer Hara would have attacked him, he could have merely sidestepped the sword, and done what he wanted. What did he gain by sticking the sword there? R’ Chaim explains that this Gemorah is teaching us a powerful lesson in understanding people. Paltiel knew that right now, his resolve was strong enough to withstand any temptation. But he also knew that that resolve might weaken in the future. So he realized that he needed to take some sort of action which would galvanize that resolve, and would serve as a reminder to himself at all future times which he could draw upon and rebuild that same resolve. This action for him was thrusting the sword into the ground. R’ Chaim concludes by saying that for us, our “Sword thrusts” are the precious Mussar books which the giants of our past set forth, like ships in the ocean to reach us in every distant corner of the earth. By constantly studying these books of Torah wisdom, we draw upon the strength and enthusiasm which those giants possessed, and use it to rekindle the tired flame which may have deteriorated in our own hearts, and utilize it to always find the innovative aspects of our service of Hashem.

May we always merit to serve Hashem with great enthusiasm!