Opinion & Comment
Zevulun And Yissochor In Transition: A Shmuess Delivered By HaRav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro

Part I

While on a visit to Switzerland some thirty-five years ago, HaRav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro, the Rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Be'er Yaakov, delivered the following shmuess at a gathering of baalei batim, in which he discussed several issues whose relevance has in no way lessened in the interim. The current pressure generated by the recent governmental economic decrees as an attempt to draw avreichim out of kollel and into higher education, which is strongly opposed by the Torah leaders in Eretz Yisroel, lends the shmuess special interest at present. The Rosh Yeshiva's opening remarks dealt with the particular trials of the present period of Ikveseh Demeshicah and with ways of overcoming them. He continued with the following observations on the supreme importance of widespread dedication to Torah study at all times and under all conditions.

Preserving the Nation

It is well known that during every difficult period that the Jewish nation has endured, gedolei Yisroel undertook the task of preserving a nucleus of Torah scholars, so that Torah would not be forgotten. [And,] through their decrees and enactments, they prevented Klal Yisroel from being lost among the nations.

What were Chazal occupied with towards the end of the time of the Second Beis Hamikdosh, when Jewish zealots rose up against Rome? Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai asked for "Yavneh and its scholars." Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel made eighteen decrees (Shabbos 13 and 17).

Consider how the zealots [must have] viewed the Sages at that time. Jews were being killed in thousands -- was it a time for making new enactments and decrees? The Roman procurator too, thought that Yavneh was insignificant and that it wouldn't interfere with the uprooting of Torah from the Jewish nation. What transpired was that the uprising against Rome failed and Jewish blood flowed in rivers. Instead, it was the [Sages'] enactments against the gentiles' wine and oil [that afforded protection from mingling] that sustained Klal Yisroel. Yavneh and its scholars produced a yield of disciples, with the result that the Jewish nation and its Torah were again alive and well.

A New Realization

I visited Switzerland twenty-five years ago and today, boruch Hashem, my joy is compounded as I see that the crown of Jewish splendor has been restored and that Torah has been strengthened in this land. We had [Swiss] talmidim in our yeshiva twenty-five and thirty years ago, and I remember the trials that those bochurim underwent. Their parents would pay frequent visits to the yeshiva, arguing with them, "What good is your learning doing us? You've learned in yeshiva enough already! When will you all come home to study a profession in university?" They argued that "dwelling in Hashem's house" would not provide a means of livelihood and the like.

They would also argue that it was beneath their dignity to be supported by other Jews' donations and to live off communal funds [in the form of stipends] from kollelim. Why, [they pointed out,] Zevulun, who conducts a Torah life by setting times for Torah study and who supports Torah scholars, also has an important position in Klal Yisroel. This is also one of the [valid] paths that is followed by [members of] the Torah nation. Those parents felt however, that without engaging in higher studies for a profession in a university, it would be impossible to earn sufficiently to be able to do this.

What they failed to understand back then was that while Zevulun's path is indeed a fine one and Zevulun himself is a respectable Yid who can live to a ripe old age and be assured of a place in Olom Habo, it cannot be compared in the slightest to the life of a Yissochor, who has but one wish in life, "that I should dwell in the house of Hashem all the days of my life, witnessing the pleasantness of Hashem and visiting His chamber" (Tehillim 27:4). Yissochor experiences the pleasantness of Hashem and His proximity even in this world. Zevulun does not feel this. He does not live the life of sweetness that is reserved just for those who study Torah.

Swiss Jews didn't grasp this in those days but today, the botei medrash have expanded, boruch Hashem, and there are Swiss talmidim sitting in them learning, who have grown into talmidei chachomim, and also Swiss residents who take bnei Torah for sons-in-law. They have realized by themselves that Heaven is the source of livelihood. With a little trust, they have seen how university study does not insure them of their success and that the lot of someone who toils in Torah and experiences the pleasure of Hashem's proximity, is a happy one.

Not Just a Better Life

You ought to know something else -- besides the world's existing in the merit of those who are sitting and learning, Chazal also tell us that Torah is the luminescence of Hashem's countenance. "For in the light of Your countenance, You have given us, Hashem, our G-d, a Torah of life . . ." (Amidah of Shacharis).

Understanding Torah is not like understanding other disciplines. A Torah scholar who merits understanding one of the Torah's ideas has achieved no less than the absorption of a ray of light from the luminous vision of the Giver of the Torah Himself, through the light of whose countenance it is possible to comprehend and to grasp Torah's ideas. This is the effect of "the pleasantness of Hashem."

Through one's Torah, a person becomes bound to the light of Hashem's countenance. He feels these rays of light when he comprehends what he learns. He feels how this light is illuminating the entire sugya. This is the level of "face to face" (Devorim 5:4); it is attained through deep immersion in Torah study.

All this is besides what we have mentioned about Torah raising a person and building him with every fine and becoming character trait. Besides all this, he also feels the pleasure that Torah scholars feel in grasping the underlying logic in one of Rashi's or of Tosfos' ideas. No worldly pleasure equals this.

Focusing All Our Desires

The truth is that it is quite impossible to survive in this world without Torah. The gemora in Shabbos (63) discusses the words uttered by Shlomo Hamelech (Koheles 11:9), "Rejoice, young man, in your youth and let your heart gladden you during your youthful years and follow your heart's paths and go after the sights of your eyes." The gemora asks that we are explicitly warned not to stray after our eyes and our hearts desires (Bamidbor 15:39). It answers that the posuk in Koheles is referring to divrei Torah, for through Torah, a person can follow his eyes and heart.

This explanation of this is as follows: Separating ourselves from worldly desires is not one of our easier tasks in this world. Hakodosh Boruch Hu Himself implanted a yearning for the pleasures and luxuries of this world in the heart of each person. How can one possibly overcome them?

In parshas Kedoshim, the holy Or Hachaim explains how this can be done quite naturally. There is only one genuine way -- to transform our heart with its desires for this world, into a heart of Torah, which desires [only] Torah. Torah has the power to conquer and to subdue every other desire. As Chazal tell us -- "follow your heart's paths" refers to divrei Torah.

It transpires that one can only attain love of Hashem -- whom we are commanded "to love . . .with all your heart" (Devorim 6:5) -- through Torah. A person will only be able to attain the level of offering his whole heart in love to Hashem and His Torah [with no other desires competing,] if he toils in Torah. As I mentioned, the Swiss Jews have drawn closer and have internalized these values. Now they need to take a few more steps and realize the value and the distinction of bnei Torah.

Surviving the Times

The Chofetz Chaim zt'l used to say that changes and deterioration that in earlier times used to take hundreds of years to unfold, now -- this being the "end of days" -- take place within several years. During the period of Ikveso DeMeshichah, Hakodosh Boruch Hu has no time, as it were, for things to progress slowly. "The master of the house is pressing" (Ovos 2:15) and is running His world at a very swift pace.

In everyday life, we see how there is no time to travel slowly and people rush to travel by airplane. We must therefore draw ourselves closer and heighten our enthusiasm [for Torah] right now. We have to understand that the Jewish nation's survival, even in this world, is contingent upon [our experiencing] the enjoyment of Torah study.

There is no doubt that the period we are currently living in involves much suffering and many difficulties. The Chofetz Chaim once visited Warsaw at a time when sanctions were being imposed on Jewish owned stores in the form of a boycott. Gentiles were forbidden to buy from Jewish stores and a Pole was posted outside each store to check who was entering. The Jews found themselves in trouble, with the disappearance of their source of livelihood. They consulted the Chofetz Chaim; perhaps he had a solution for them. He told them that without any doubt, their troubles were due to its being the time of Ikveso DeMeshichah and for that, there are no solutions.

The Chofetz Chaim explained his response with a thought from the parshah of that week. When Lovon pursued him, Yaakov asked him why he saw fit to do so, since, he pointed out, he had more than fulfilled all his financial obligations towards him. He detailed how he had worked for Lovon faithfully for twenty years, by both day and night. Lovon simply replied, "The daughters are mine, the children are mine, the flocks are mine and everything that you see is mine" (Bereishis 31:63).

What kind of response was that to Yaakov's complaint? Yaakov had just finished explaining that he had worked for seven years to marry each of Lovon's daughters and for six years to earn his flocks of sheep.

The Chofetz Chaim explained that a logical argument only helps if the defendant is acknowledged as being a party to the case, with a right to have his say. Only if so, he may be able to dispel the case against him. Lovon however, didn't consider Yaakov as being even a party to dispute with. He could thus continue arguing that everything belonged to him, without addressing Yaakov's arguments.

The Chofetz Chaim then related an incident that took place when a governmental decree required every business owner to have a birth certificate that would show the authorities when he had been born. In one of the villages, there was a small store that belonged to a very old Jewish man, whom it provided with a meager living. The officials found him too and explained that unless he could produce a birth certificate, his store would be closed.

There was nothing he could do. His certificate had been lost, or he might never even have had one to begin with. Where could an ancient like him obtain a birth certificate?

The officials told him that they had one suggestion. He could bring two witnesses to testify that when he was born, he already owned the store. Well, to do that he would have had to find witnesses that were a hundred or a hundred and ten years old themselves, because he hadn't opened the store until he was twenty years old. Where was he going to find such old men in his little village? What was the logic in making such a demand of an old man?

The Russian government, said the Chofetz Chaim, do not consider us as having any standing whatsoever. They have no need for us. All they want is to be rid of the Jews. They tolerate us in their country against their own wishes. Since they don't regard us as being parties, they don't need to use logical arguments in their dealings with us.

Next Week: What we must do in response to this condition: immerse ourselves in Torah study.

All material on this site is copyrighted and its use is restricted.
Click here for conditions of use.