Opinion & Comment
Kabolas HaTorah Only Through Ahavas Torah

Part II

In the first part, HaRav Bordiansky discussed the fact that at Sinai there was "a strong indication of duress, which would [free one from being obligated to observe] the Torah." Hashem, so to speak, forced us to accept the Torah. Since this was the very purpose of the Creation, Klal Yisroel had no choice but to accept it. Why was it so important that we not accept the Torah under duress? Because we cannot achieve the goals without ahavoh which truly brings us to unite with the Torah and with Hashem. Fear cannot bring this closeness. Therefore we had to accept the Torah with love, without duress.

What have we gained? In the end, anyway, Hashem forced us to receive the Torah. Again we are on the same level as when we left Egypt -- serving HaKodosh Boruch Hu through yir'oh and not ahavoh.

Tosafos (Shabbos 88a, s.v. kofoh) asks why it was necessary to force Klal Yisroel to receive the Torah. When the Jews said, "We will do and we will hear" (Shemos 24:7) they made a bris with the Torah and apparently accepted it. Tosafos answers that perhaps when bnei Yisroel saw the great fire at kabolas HaTorah, they would change their mind.

But why should that fire cause bnei Yisroel to back out? The whole purpose of that great fire was to accompany the Torah!

Devorah the nevi'ah, after the victory over Sisro, sang: "Hashem when You did go out of Se'ir, when You did march out of the field of Edom" (Shofetim 5:4). Rashi (ibid.) asks: Why does Devorah mention kabolas HaTorah? Rashi answers that Devorah was saying: "It is difficult to separate from the Torah and it is good to cling to it, since it was given with awe and might."

We understand from Rashi the principle of life, the history of Klal Yisroel, the essence of the Torah, and why Yisroel have suffered so much over the years: "That in every generation they try to destroy us and HaKodosh Boruch Hu saves us from them" (Haggodoh Shel Pesach).

The Rambam (Igeres Teiman) writes that non-Jews persecute Klal Yisroel in various ways: through force, through trying to convince us to convert to their faith, and by influencing us to embrace improper ideologies. Throughout the annals of history, Klal Yisroel found itself in constant battle with enemies surrounding us on all sides. Why does this happen to us?

Rashi reveals that the Torah was given with awe and might. "All the people saw the thundering and the lightning and the sound of the shofar and the mountain smoking, and when the people saw it they were shaken and stood afar" (Shemos 20:15). "The mountain burned with fire to the heart of Heaven with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness" (Devorim 4:11). "The voice of the shofar sounded louder and louder" (Shemos 19:19). All this showed us how important the Torah was for HaKodosh Boruch Hu. The Bach writes that this demonstrates the kedushoh and ruchniyus of the Torah and how much Hashem wants it to persist.

After the Torah was given to bnei Yisroel in such an awe-inspiring way, our nonobservance raises great Divine criticism and, consequently, non-Jews are given the power to rule over us. On the other hand, when bnei Yisroel awaken and devote ourselves to observing the Torah, we are privileged to experience overt miracles.

This is the secret of why kabolas HaTorah was accompanied with awe and might: If bnei Yisroel do evil, their punishment is tremendous. But if they are obedient to Hashem there is exceptional hashgochoh for His nation, as a father to His children. Devorah in the beginning of her shirah therefore wanted to reveal to klal Yisroel the secret of their existence -- awe and might.

When bnei Yisroel came to the Revelation on Mt. Sinai and saw the great fire they understood the secret of this fire. They understood that this is the history of Klal Yisroel. Although they had a fervent will to accept the Torah, they could not accept on themselves responsibility for the coming generations. They feared that if in the future the Jews will not obey the Torah, fire would burst out and consume them.

HaKodosh Boruch Hu therefore picked up and turned over the mountain on them and showed them that anyway they have no choice. If they do not accept the Torah they will be as if forever buried. Without the Torah their lives are not life.

This gave them the courage and strength to agree, and that enabled them to accept eternal responsibility. Bnei Yisroel were afterwards joyful, and thanked the Ruler of the World for inspiring them with the strength to accept the Torah.

"Truly He loves the peoples; all His holy ones are in Your hand; and they sat down at Your feet; every one shall receive Your words" (Devorim 33:3). Why does HaKodosh Boruch Hu cherish Yisroel more than other nations, and why are they a nation of Cohanim? Rashi explains: "They are worthy of all this for at Mt. Sinai they placed themselves at Your feet."

Actually, we learned that Hashem forced bnei Yisroel on Mt. Sinai to accept the Torah. Do they deserve any reward for something they were forced to accept?

Yes, because after bnei Yisroel understood that receiving the Torah was for their benefit. They were glad that they were forced to receive it and sincerely wanted it. Afterwards, they once again had an ahavoh to receive the Torah.

*

"You have seen what I did to Egypt and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own treasure from among all peoples, for all the earth is Mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of Cohanim and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to bnei Yisroel" (Shemos 19:4-6). Rashi comments on the last posuk: "No less and no more."

We can understand not saying less, but why not more? All these miracles only helped bnei Yisroel say, "We will do and we will hear," but they still needed to be forced to complete their kabolas HaTorah at Mt. Sinai. Only in the time of Achashverosh did they accept the Torah willingly. If so, surely there was a lot to be added!

It seems that no matter how great a kabolas HaTorah they had or how strong their recognition of Torah's importance is, without coercion there will surely be some stage in life at which they would stop. Even at the time of Achashverosh, bnei Yisroel saw they had no choice. After they departed from the way of Torah they saw that no one could save them except Hashem. According to the Kli Yokor this situation was, for them, just as if a mountain was turned over them. Without actually seeing a mountain they understood they must return to the Torah.

We must realize that "they are our life and the length of our days" and without the Torah our lives are as death both in Olom Hazeh and Olom Habo. Only through that recognition can we have a kabolas HaTorah through ahavoh.

*

We pass through life without reflecting on what is happening. Without thinking, we turn the pages of the calendar. What has happened lately in Eretz Yisroel? Gedolei Torah asked us to participate in public tefilloh to beseech Hashem to save us from the gezeiros against the Torah. There are those who are deliberately trying to prevent us from living in Eretz Yisroel as the Torah commands us. They are slowly attempting to make the Jews in Eretz Yisroel forget the Torah -- not only the secular Jews but us too!

Are they doing this? No, chas vesholom. To say so is apikorsus. A person does nothing. Only Hashem does everything.

We therefore must contemplate what Hashem has done to us. What has happened that HaKodosh Boruch Hu has done this to us? It is surely because we have sinned against Hashem. This shows we are not living as we should and therefore Hashem has done this to us. If our heart has swayed from the Torah, our heart is not engrossed in Torah and we do not study Torah as we should, then HaKodosh Boruch Hu creates disturbances to our avodas Hashem. Unfortunately, this does not bother us.

In the course of a regular year there are moments of aliyah, even for ordinary bnei Torah who do not put in intense efforts to progress in avodas Hashem. One of these moments is during kabolas HaTorah on Shavuos, the Sheloshes Yemei Hagboloh preceding it, and the Sefiras HaOmer.

What has happened that this has also been taken from us and Jerusalem municipal elections in Eretz Yisroel are right before Shavuos? Are they doing this or is Hashem doing this? Are they doing something or is Hashem doing everything? Hashem our Elokim, Hashem is One, and there is no power besides Hashem. "One does not bruise his finger below unless it is decreed Above" (Chulin 7b).

In addition, the middle of the winter zman was disturbed this year because of the general Knesset elections. What will remain of a ben Torah who loses these precious times? How can he grow? We must strengthen ourselves and accept on ourselves the yoke of Torah so that HaKodosh Boruch Hu will remove all disturbances from us. "If you have been boteil from the Torah, you will encounter many excuses to be boteil from it" (Ovos 4:10). This is real pikuach nefesh, since without a proper kabolas HaTorah we have learned that "there will you be buried," Rachmono litzlan.

*

Boruch Hashem, today there are many more yeshiva and kollel students, but one point has been forgotten. There are two mitzvos in studying Torah: limud HaTorah -- comprehensive and analytical study of the Torah -- and yedi'as HaTorah -- a clear understanding of Torah, the requirement that it must remain in one's memory.

HaRav Yisroel of Salant zt'l in Or Yisroel (ch. 30) writes that one is permitted to be mevateil Torah for yedi'as HaTorah since it is the main mitzvah of talmud Torah. We should take the time to go to a rov or a friend and clarify our doubts in Torah, even though this takes up valuable time that could be used for covering more ground in Torah.

This principle is obvious. Our study of the Torah must be for the intent of doing mitzvos, so that we will know what we are studying and later fulfill it. If a person does not study to know what the Torah is telling us, how can he observe the Torah and do mitzvos properly? His Torah and mitzvos will be perverted and he will be left without a solid knowledge of Torah.

We particularly enjoy our limud HaTorah since we have been taught to study Torah analytically in the way revealed by Maran HaRav Chaim Soloveitchik zt'l -- but who will teach us how to enjoy gaining yedi'as HaTorah?

Actually, the satisfaction from our limud and yedi'as HaTorah together help us enjoy our study. HaRav Chaim of Volozhin zt'l in Ruach Chaim (ch. 6) writes: "The main limud HaTorah is to understand the Torah and mitzvos and to comprehend the secrets of Hashem's requirements and His honor. To really understand what the Torah means, one must study with extraordinary effort. By studying, a person desires to study even more and his ahavas HaTorah spirals. He will think that it is a pity he must sleep and eat. It would be better for him to engage in Torah day and night, to analyze, and drink with thirst the Torah's principles. He will then desire to understand and achieve more until he understands all of the world's secrets.

"It is possible for someone who studies only with deveikus to study even one perek or one maseches. But according to what I have written -- that studying for its own sake is ahavas Torah -- [the person who studies with love] wants to know all of the Torah, all of its details clearly, without leaving out even one detail, to know Torah as R' Yochonon Ben Zackai did."

Maran HaChazon Ish wrote (Igros HaChazon Ish 1:2): "I fervently want young students to understand what I am aiming at. I feel that the main stimulus for their studies should be extra care about what is truly important, and not knowing what this is, is the chief disturbance of their progress. This basic matter is the clear analyzing of the klolim and details in every sugya and remembering what are the initial assumptions and what are the actual conclusions, what are the well-defined halochos and which are the ones still requiring clarification. When we are awakened from Heaven to strengthen ourselves to have a proper kabolas HaTorah and the time is right, we must ensure that we know what is essential in our life. We must find time during the day to summarize and arrange what we have studied, to clarify the conclusions and the doubts, and to gain a feeling in yedi'as HaTorah until the desire to know more will be aroused and we will be able to achieve the full extent of what we are able to achieve."

Having ahavas Torah, realizing that it is our lives and the length of our days and without Torah our lives are not lives, strengthens us in our kabolas HaTorah.

Maran HaChazon Ish zt'l concludes (ibid.): "The main purpose in emunoh is knowing that everything is in Heaven's hands. Every person has the power to achieve through tefilloh. Torah study and tefilloh are linked. Laboring over Torah helps bring on the light of tefilloh, and tefilloh helps Torah study. Tefilloh done out of habit repels limud, and studying in a sluggish fashion prevents our tefilloh from being fruitful."

May Hashem help us to hear the Bas Kol from Heaven awakening us, and that we will be zocheh to a proper kabolas HaTorah, and through Hashem's chesed we will be saved from all our suffering.

HaRav Yitzchok Yeruchom Bordiansky is the menahel ruchani of Yeshivas Kol Torah in Yerushalayim.

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