פרשת דברים וענייני עמל התורה

This week’s Parsha opens with a very interesting chapter in Jewish history.  The nation pointed out to Moshe how difficult it would be for him to single-handedly judge them and he agreed to set up a court system in which each case would be arbitrated by a different judge depending on its severity.  Rashi comments on this verse “Moshe was in fact giving the Jews a subtle rebuke – i.e. that they should have wanted to hear the Torah directly from Moshe who had toiled diligently to acquire it.”  R’ Meir Bergman, the renowned son in law of R’ Shach always used to marvel at this Rashi.  He would explain that we see from here what Rashi considered to be Moshe’s most desirable trait as a teacher – that he worked hard on the Torah and that learning from such a Rebbe has a greater effect on a person than learning from a Rav who has not toiled so much over the Torah. 

R’ Meir explains that this works on two levels.  Firstly, when a student knows how difficult his Rebbe worked to acquire the Torah that he is trying to give over, he will be far more receptive to it, realizing its value, and will have a much better chance at inculcating that piece of Torah into his heart.  And Secondly, when the piece of Torah that the student is trying to fathom is particularly difficult, if the student is aware of the amount of effort his Rebbe himself needed to put in to understand it, he himself will also put in the extra effort, realizing that this is what is required. 

With these two principles, R’ Meir explains the famous Gemorah in Shabbos (33b).  The Gemora says that before Rashb”y went into the cave to hide from the Romans for 14 years, his son in law, R’ Pinchas used to answer any question he had with 12 answers.  But after he emerged from his fissure, Rashb”y would reply to any question R’ Pinchas had with 24 answers.  R’ Meir explained that when R’ Pinchas saw the tremendous self-sacrifice Rashb”y had performed to learn the Torah, such as subsisting on raw carobs and water and sleeping in the sand for 14 years, he was so inspired by him that he was able to accept Rashby’s answers.  In other words, R’ Bergman is learning that really, Rashb”y was offering those same answers before he entered the cave, but R’ Pinchas wasn’t able to accept them from him.  Only after he witnessed such an awesome display of forfeit of worldly pleasures was he able to accept those answers from his father in law in his heart and toil to understand them. 

It is widely known that for a long time, R’ Shimon Shkop, who was the progeny of the Veloshiner Yeshiva, did not used to attend the Shiurim of the Netziv, who was the Rosh Yeshiva at the time.  One night, R’ Shimon was learning late and sweating over a difficult Rashbam which he could not figure out the Pshat.  Suddenly, The Netziv came into the Beis Midrash to learn, as was his long standing custom.  R’ Shimon approached the Netziv to seek out his aid in the Rashbam that he was learning.  The Netziv responded to this request by sighing deeply and commenting, “My precious son, do you know how many graves of our holy ancestors I have been to in order to beg for help in understanding that Rashbam!”  From that day forward, R’ Shimon never missed a Shiur given by the Neztiv!

Truthfully, one cannot compare Torah learned with toil and difficulty to learning which comes easy.  This brand of Torah becomes part of one’s blood and fundamentally changes a person!  This is clearly evident to oneself and to those around him.  Chazal themselves teach us this when they say, “This is the way of Torah – eating only bread and drinking only water and sleeping on the floor”.  Chazal are revealing to us that learning Torah under these conditions is the ideal way to acquire it and instill it in our very being.

The Gemorah in Berachos (6) says that the primary reward for learning comes from “hustle”.  The Maharal explains that this is not only true for a young aspiring novice, but even for and accomplished Torah scholar “hustle” is required.  The Maharal goes on to explain that Torah learned with fervor is a completely different type of Torah and yields results which are incomparable to the alternative.  Similarly, one who is successful at imbuing the Torah in his heart is referred to a “Ben Torah” – a son of the Torah.  Just as a son has his father’s blood, so to one who works hard to put the Torah in his blood earns the title of a “Son of the Torah”. 

The Gemorah in Menachos (7) tells us that Avimi, the Rebbe of R’ Chisda forgot some of his learning at one point in his life due to an illness.  He decided to travel to his student, R’ Chisda’s town in order that R’ Chisda should re-teach him the material.  The Gemorah asks, why couldn’t Avimi send for R’ Chisda to come to him?  Wouldn’t this be the more appropriate conduct for a student?  The Gemorah answers that Avimi felt that the extra effort that he exerted by going out to his student and the embarrassment he would be forced to suffer would earn him the extra heavenly aid that would be necessary to comprehend his forgotten material.  We see from this Gemorah that when one sacrifices for the Torah, even though he could have circumvented it, he has a much better chance at inculcating it into his heart.

I would just like to conclude with a personal account which demonstrates how true this principle is.  During my life, I have had many teachers and Rebeiim.  But I think the one who made the deepest and most long-lasting impression on me was R’ Reuven Gershonovitz.  R’ Reuven was a quiet, humble person with sterling character traits and on top of everything, he was tremendous Masmid.  He would leave his family in the city from weekend to weekend to be in the little town where Bais Midrash was, claiming that a person needs to exile himself to a place of Torah.  He would sit in the Bais Midrash until the wee hours of the night quietly learning Torah with great diligence.  He would always rise with the sun and partook very little of the worldly pleasures.  His home was an old dilapidated building with cracked walls and floors.  When they would bring him food from the dining room of the Yeshiva, he would eat a very small portion, returning his plate mostly untouched.  I’m sure there is much more to say about such a holy man, but these are a few of the things that I noticed about him.  The interesting thing is, as the years pass, my impression of his righteousness keeps growing, as opposed to his memory in my mind fading with the passage of time.  Although I don’t know if we are all capable of living such a life, I think we can all reach a certain level of self-sacrifice for the Torah.

May Hashem help us to learn the Torah with holiness and devotion!