A piece specifically for "the day after" Shavuos.
The Toras Chaim has a wonderful secret to reveal to us: each
and every one of us can have his own personal Matan Torah!
The secret has been right there all along in the Torah
itself, hidden in two little words.
"It was a loud clamor (at Matan Torah) velo yosof"
(Devorim 5:19). The gemora (Sanhedrin 17a)
examines the meaning of the words "velo yosof": either
they mean "it did not continue," or else they mean "it did
not cease." Since this posuk refers to the
Shechinah, it makes no sense to say that the clamor
did not continue. So lo yosof must mean that it did
not cease.
What does the posuk intend to teach us? asks the Toras
Chaim. Can it possibly be that the clamor heard at Matan
Torah never ceased, and stills goes on today and
eternally?
It could indeed. In fact, the Torah here discloses an
astounding concept that can change the course of our
lives.
The ceaseless clamor of Matan Torah alludes to the
spiritual bounty that descended from Sinai when the Jews
received the Torah. The entire Torah—the Written and
Oral Torah, the Midrash, and the
aggodoh—was bestowed by Hashem on Shavuos, a
limitless bounty that has not vanished.
It can be attained also today. Anyone who toils over the
Torah lesheim Shomayim receives the same spiritual
wealth that descended onto Sinai. This form of ruach
hakodesh aids one to delve deeper into the Torah and to
grasp new, profound insights into the Torah's wisdom.
This same concept helps us to understand what the Midrash
says (Vayikra Rabbah 22:1): "Everything that an
experienced student would someday say to his teacher was
already taught to Moshe at Sinai." This does not imply that
the student's novel insight was already known at Sinai.
Rather it means that even today a student receives the same
spiritual bounty that was present at Sinai.
The Toras Chaim encourages us to open our eyes and see:
Everyone has a chance to attain his personal Matan Torah,
for when he learns he is as if standing at Mount Sinai.
Wellsprings of Heavenly aid will be at his disposal, enabling
him to comprehend the intricacies of our Holy Torah. But of
course this will only happen if he fills the condition
required of him: learning Torah lishmoh.
What exactly does it mean, "learning Torah lishmoh?"
Is it a sublime level of deveikus to Hashem, which
only great tzaddikim can attain? Or is it within reach
of every individual?
R. Chaim of Volozhin (Nefesh HaChaim III, 3) explains
that lishmoh is the study of the Torah, lesheim
HaTorah: for the Torah's own sake — meaning
studying the Torah with nothing more than a desire to
understand it.
R. Chaim draws this interpretation from the Rosh's remarks on
Nedorim 62a: "Said R. Eliezer bar R. Tzadok: `One
should do things for the sake of their Creator and speak
about them for their own sake.'" The Rosh explains that to
"speak about them for their sake" means that "all of one's
talk about the Torah and acquiring knowledge of it should be
for the sake of the Torah—to know, and understand, and
add new explanations, and delve deeply in it; not to use it
to gain power over others or to feed one's conceit."
Thus the Rosh determines quite clearly that lishmoh is
a will to understand the Torah and not a form of
deveikus. The Nefesh HaChaim goes on to explain that
when Rashi writes that "for their sake" is "lesheim
Shomayim", he too means a desire to gain knowledge of the
Torah. This excludes study aimed at finding ways to show
one's superiority to others or at feeding one's conceited
ego, but certainly a special level of deveikus is not
required.
But then, should Torah learning lishmoh be a solemn,
perhaps even a ritualistic affair?
Certainly not, declares the Eglei Tal in his introduction.
"The main mitzvah of Torah learning is to learn cheerfully,
deriving pleasure from it; and in that way the words of the
Torah are absorbed into one's blood." The Eglei Tal
continues: "One who has pleasure while he is learning, is
learning lishmoh and all of his study is holy, since
the pleasure attained in this learning is itself also a
mitzvah."
Could anyone, then, be so foolish as not to seize this great
opportunity and gain spiritual wealth? The gates of Heaven
are wide open for one who learns Torah lishmoh, one
who learns with utmost pleasure and enjoyment. The great
clamor of Sinai will enrich him with success in his Torah
studies.
One who learns lishmoh fulfills the mitzvah of
learning Torah in its most perfect form, becomes attached to
the Torah, and merits finding new insights into the Torah.
This should be the aim of anyone engaged in chinuch:
To present the students with interesting logical concepts, to
show them the fascinating inner wisdom of the Talmudic
commentaries, and to guide them to full understanding and
novel insights into the Torah. In this way the hearts of the
students will be full with true joy and satisfaction. They
too will be privileged to hear the ceaseless clamor from
Sinai reserved for those who learn lishmoh.
"See, Hashem called upon Betzalel ben Uri ben Chur of the
tribe of Yehuda" (Shemos 35:30). How did the Jews in
the desert "see" that Hashem appointed Betzalel? asks R.
Moshe Feinstein (in Dorash Moshe).
He explains that this posuk has within it a principle
for us to learn: How a person can realize what his
destination in life should be. If Hashem has granted a man a
special power, it was for a definite reason. He is meant to
use this power to fulfill Hashem's will and to aid his fellow
Jews. This is his raison d'etre, and if he does not
devote his unique abilities to the right end he will be
chastised by Hashem.
In the following posuk, the Torah writes, "And I
filled him with a spirit from the Lord, with wisdom and
understanding . . ." Moshe told the Jews that they could
"see" for themselves that Hashem wanted Betzalel to build the
Mishkan, since Betzalel was full of wisdom and
understanding. If Hashem had filled him with a unique level
of intelligence and skill, then that was only because he was
destined to build the Mishkan, for Hashem does not
bestow gifts without reason.
In the last few years we have seen, Boruch Hashem, a
multitude of youth blessed with great intelligence, whom we
hope will become prominent Torah figures in the future. But
they must constantly remind themselves of Betzalel and the
principle we learn from him: they must remember that their
talents were granted to them for a purpose. They should
engross themselves in their Torah studies, and by learning
lishmoh, with enjoyment and pleasure, they will attain
their own Matan Torah.
