HaRav Wolbe writes (in Ho'odom Biyekor, his
biographical work on Reb Yeruchom), "We will never forget
Simchas
Torah with him. He used to give a rousing talk, in
great excitement.
He would end each section of the
ma'amar with the melody of
Ashreichem Yisroel,
[which] he would sing and dance [to on the
platform in front
of the Oron Hakodesh], his hands raised
heavenward. The
group of his talmidim, who were crowded
together below,
would dance in front of him.
When he finished
speaking he came down from the Oron
Hakodesh and a dance took
place, as tears, prompted by the
extreme emotions of holiness,
streamed from everybody's eyes.
What a glorious sight, to see his
hundreds of talmidim,
among them truly great men, dancing in
tears and in song. Our
master and teacher himself once cried out in
the middle of one
of these rousing ma'morim, "Ich veis nit voss
is helter
bei'em Borei Olom, der Yom Kippur unzerer, tzu der Simchas
Torah! (I don't know which the Creator prefers, our Yom
Kippur or
our Simchas Torah!)"
Ashreichem Yisroel!
There
is a widespread mistake, whereby people think that
Hakodosh Boruch
Hu loves Yisroel because of the
nation's virtues. The truth
however is that Hakodosh Boruch
Hu's love is not dependent
upon any reason whatsoever. His
love is that of a father for his son.
A father does not love
his son because of the son's beauty or
goodness. His
love springs from a natural feeling that isn't
dependent on
anything but which results in the father wanting
his
son to be beautiful and good. Hakodosh Boruch Hu's love
for us is the same; it is independent of any reasons.
Love is the
secret of the Israelite nation! If this is what we
have merited, it
is a cause for rejoicing.
Ashreichem Yisroel! Ashreichem
Yisroel! Ashreichem Yisroel!
Ki becho bochar
Elokim!
With this, the Ramban's question on the posuk
(Devorim
7:7), "For it is not on account of your numbers . . . "
is
answered and his question is understood. Hashem
yisborach's love is not dependent upon anything -- not on
our
exalted level and not on anything else! It is independent
of
absolutely everything! If we have merited that, then
Ashreichem
Yisroel!
Ashreichem Yisroel! . . .
The
Sifrei comments on the blessing that Moshe Rabbenu
gave just
before he died, "If not now, when?" This apparently
means, that [for]
Moshe Rabbenu, who chastised Yisroel
throughout his life, from whom
not a single word of praise was
ever heard, [particularly now,]
before he died, [was when he]
said "Ashreichem
Yisroel"?
Ashreichem Yisroel! . . .
The
entire Torah consists of justice. There are rewards for
mitzvos and
punishments for aveiros. If we have
transgressed, how does it
help us if we are "a nation that is
saved by Hashem"? (Devorim
33:29)
But the truth is that there is no contradiction. It's
true
that the whole Torah consists of justice but at the same time,
the nation's secret is love -- the love of a father for his
son. If
the son is unsuccessful on one path, his father leads
him along
another, until the son ultimately succeeds. This is
how Hakodosh
Boruch Hu behaves with Klal Yisroel
and if this is what we
have merited, then
Ashreichem Yisroel! . . .
Were
this not the case, we would have a grave problem: how can
we merit
the times of Moshiach if justice is followed?
How can he come,
in view of our many sins? However, our secret
is that we are "a
nation that is saved by Hashem" and this is
also the secret of, "Who
is a G-d like You, who forgives sin
and who passes over disobedience,
to the remnant of His
possession," (Michoh 7:18). Vos zenen mir?
Ober Yidden
zenen mir! (What are we? But we are Yidden!) And if
we
have merited this then we should be happy.
Ashreichem
Yisroel! . . .
When Moshe Rabbenu went up to receive the
Torah, he learned it
and forgot it, again and again, until
Hakodosh Boruch
Hu gave it to him as a gift. "A gift" implies
something
different, it implies being given something utterly
free.
The holy Torah is so pure and gleaming, that Moshe Rabbenu
was
unable to grasp it and Hakodosh Boruch Hu gave it to
him
as a free gift. We don't need to do anything at all, just
to open our
hands and say, "Give us!" And He'll immediately
bestow limitless
blessings upon us from never ending sources!
If we have merited this
then,
Ashreichem Yisroel! . . .
The Torah, which
is so vast, can be obtained so easily. The
entire Torah, its mitzvos,
its commands and its attributes
[that it teaches us], are all like
matches with which to
ignite fire in the soul of Am Yisroel.
The fire is
already there, all it needs is a spark from the matches
to
bring it out.
The Israelite nation abounds with light and
fire. The Torah,
with all its mitzvos and its virtues are matches to
the soul
of Klal Yisroel. And if we have merited this,
then
Ashreichem Yisroel! . . .
If Torah and
mitzvos, and its characteristics and traits,
which are exalted and
esteemed beyond imagination, are simply
matches to ignite the fire
within the soul of Yisroel, we can
infer from this the tremendous
distinction of the soul of
Yisroel! And if we have merited this,
then
Ashreichem Yisroel! . . .
The Torah is our
inheritance, as the posuk (Devorim
33:4) says, "Moshe
commanded us Torah, moroshoh, an
inheritance, for the assembly
of Yaakov." Chazal tell us,
"Don't read it moroshoh,
inheritance, but
me'orosoh, betrothed," for each Jew has a
portion in
Torah. And even the learning itself is a side issue in
view of
this fundamental principle! And for meriting
this,
Ashreichem Yisroel! . . .
Chazal tell us
about an am ho'oretz who met Rabbi
Yanai, and told him, "You
look after my inheritance." This
means that [even] an am
ho'oretz, who has never learned
any Torah, is still a part of the
soul of Klal Yisroel
and has a portion in Torah. If we have
merited this then,
Ashreichem Yisroel! . . .
Today is Simchas Torah. The foundation of this festival
is
[Hashem's declaration to Klal Yisroel], "It is hard for
Me
to part from you." Its foundation is Hashem's love for us.
Now that
we must part from Him -- one last kiss and one
embrace with Him! Our
joy is great at the forgiveness and
pardon which He bestowed upon us
during the Days of Judgment,
and at the love which His kissing us
during this holy Yom Tov
of Succos represents. Our joy is
great and this is our
prayer to Him yisborach - - that we
merit being in the
same, wonderful position in a year's time, as we
are today;
that He sustain us and bestow an abundance of blessing
upon
us; that we unite to become one unit, to praise Him and to
exalt Him! And if we have merited this then,
Ashreichem
Yisroel! . . .
This is what Luzatto refers to when he
writes, "Even if you
have sinned greatly, my son, do not give up
hope, for you are
descended from Yisroel, and Hashem will make your
path
successful. This is the prayer of a rishon who prayed,
`I have rebelled and sinned and been remorseful many times,
yet I am
descended from Yisroel, from the Ovos, Avrohom
. . . ' " for
Hashem's love of us is independent of anything
else. He loves us and
is good to us in every situation. If we
merit this,
then
Ashreichem Yisroel! . . .
There is an idea,
concerning how easy it is to attain Torah,
[stated in] an explicit
posuk -- one of the
pesukim of Malchuyos --
which nobody can argue
with: "And [Hashem is] King of
Yeshurun, when the
people gather, and the tribes of Yisroel
are together"
(Devorim 33:5). When Chazal tell us that Hashem
wants
us to [say Malchuyos, "so that you should] make Me rule
over you," how are we to make Him our King? How are we to
attain
this? "And [Hashem is] King of Yeshurun." If there is
even a small
force standing united -- it doesn't need a lot --
then His
rule is apparent. [Even if] just one kind,
Yisroel, gathers, because
of this -- "And [Hashem is] King of
Yeshurun"! It is so easy to make
Hashem King! And if we merit
this then,
Ashreichem Yisroel! .
. .
The posuk (Malachi 3:16) says, "Then those
who fear
Hashem spoke, one to the other, and Hashem listened and
heard." The posuk doesn't say what they were speaking
about,
what they said and what advice they gave the community.
All it says
is that those who feared Hashem were speaking and
immediately,
"Hashem listened and heard." If we merit this
then,
Ashreichem
Yisroel! . . .
And how much more does this apply to us,
who have been
designated by Klal Yisroel to devote ourselves
solely
to avodas Hashem! How wondrous is the ease with which
we can attain the holy Torah! If we merit this -- and how
great is
this merit of ours if we do -- then
Ashreichem Yisroel! . . .
May Hakodosh Boruch Hu help us to meet here in a
year's
time, with the same countenances and let none of us be ashamed
by any other of us and we say -- if we merit this,
that
Ashreichem Yisroel! . . .
