"Your Statutes Were Songs for Me"
Someone once approached HaRav Moshe Soloveitchik zt'l
and asked: "How could Chazal have stated, `Talmidei
chachomim increase peace on earth'? Doesn't reality prove
the very opposite? Don't we often see Torah scholars
maintaining differences of opinion and even fomenting
dissension?"
R' Moshe replied with a parable, "Two people once attended a
musical concert. One of them was a connoisseur, while the
other was a virtual philistine. During the course of the
concert, the connoisseur detected a dissonance by one of the
musicians and it disturbed him immensely. He squirmed
uneasily and was on the verge of leaving the concert hall, so
greatly did it irk him. The other man in the audience could
not understand what was bothering his seatmate.
"Our Torah scholars can be compared to the man whose musical
appreciation was very sensitive and highly developed to the
point that one or two false notes unnerved him. A slight
aberration from the true halochoh similarly disturbs
Torah scholars to a great degree and causes them to raise a
furor.
"They rant against it with words of reproof and rebuke in the
hope of rectifying the matter while the simple folk cannot
understand why they are raising such a fuss over something
that is negligible in their eyes. But this is because they
are not sensitive to the broader ramifications of the issue
and its far reaching implications. They do not see the danger
and damage that can result from what seems to them a small
infraction."
(Veho'ish Moshe)
Train the Child
Maran HaRav Chaim Halevi of Brisk once saw a little boy
drawing near to the candles on Shabbos and he struck him on
the hand. "But the boy hasn't even reached the age of
understanding! One is not even obligated yet to educate him,"
protested those who were present.
Replied R' Chaim, "We will see . . . "
The following Shabbos, R' Chaim took the little child and led
him close to the candles. Instinctively, the boy drew his
hand back.
"Nu," said R' Chaim knowingly, "now you see?"
(Veho'ish Moshe)
"And We Shall Rejoice in the Words of Your Torah"
Hatzaddik HaRav Hillel Kagan ztvk'l once noticed that
a student of Yeshivas Grodno was not attending the
shiurim of HaRav Shmuel Rozovksy zt'l and asked
him for an explanation. The student replied that he didn't
understand the shiurim.
R' Hillel thereupon invited the student to his room and
delivered a detailed review of R' Shmuel's shiur
klolli. He enthusiastically presented the opening
question and the ensuing development of the lecture.
When he was finished, he turned to the student and asked,
"Did you understand that?" The student nodded but R' Hillel
said, "You could not have understood it because if you had,
you would surely have been happy. Come, let me review the
question once more."
And he did. "Nu, and now do you understand it?" he asked
again.
"Certainly," said the student, preparing to repeat it to
prove it. But R' Hillel interrupted him and said, "You don't
understand it. Else, why aren't you happy?"
He went back to the beginning and reviewed it repeatedly
until the student finally smiled in enjoyment. When he saw
this, R' Hillel conceded, "Fine! Now I know that you
understand!"
(Zecher Hillel)
The Difference Between a Man and a Great Man
A student once apologized before HaRav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach
ztvk'l, excusing himself for staying so long by the
weddings of his friends. He added that he was surprised that
in the brief fifteen minutes duration that R' Shlomo Zalman
stayed at weddings, he caused such great joy to the
chosson while he, a good friend, had to remain a full
three hours to bring such jubilation to him.
R' Shlomo Zalman replied, "You should know that this is so
only because in my youth, I concentrated upon my studies and
did not attend many weddings. Now when I attend a wedding, my
brief quarter of an hour stay is enough to bring joy to
others."
(R' Yitzchok Yeruchom Borodiansky: Darka Shel
Torah)
