Part II
In the first part, HaRav Schwadron explained that Hashem
stressed that Klal Yisroel saw by themselves that Hashem
took them out of Mitzrayim and only punished Mitzrayim
because of what they did to the Jews, though they richly
deserved it for other things. This was to show Klal Yisroel
Hashem's great love for them. Also, at matan Torah
and afterwards, once can hear the echo of Hashem's voice in
his Torah study. This is one of the prefaces to the Torah.
Furthermore, Hashem said that not only is the Earth full of
spirituality, but earthliness itself can rise to a
tremendous level of spirituality. That is the meaning of
the posuk, Ki Li kol ho'oretz — that all the world
and the worldliness itself can come unto Hashem.
A Kingdom of Cohanim
We now come to the third posuk in the preface to
receiving the Torah. "And you will be a kingdom of
cohanim for Me." Why does the Torah repeat the word
"ve'atem" and you, when it was already written at the
outset? After having been bothered by this question, I saw
that the Or HaChaim HaKodosh asks it and gives an
answer based upon hidden Torah teachings, as is his holy
custom. We shall advance an answer in light of the revealed
Torah, to which the words of the Or HaChaim in fact
allude.
Up to this point, we have explained the difference between
Klal Yisroel and the nations — "Then you will be
precious to Me, from [among] all the nations" — as being a
result of the great love which Hashem bears us and the
presence among Klal Yisroel of the aforementioned
attributes, which other nations do not possess. The Torah
now comes to tell us that even within Klal Yisroel
there are divisions — such as those between ordinary
yisroelim and cohanim or nevi'im —
similar to those that exist between our nation as a whole
and other nations.
There are Jews who are classed among a "kingdom of
cohanim" and others who belong to a "holy nation."
The first group are the talmidei chachomim who are
continuously involved with Torah study. They are referred
to as kings, as the Rambam writes at the end of Hilchos
Shmittah Veyovel: "Any man... whose spirit moves him...
to separate [himself in order] to stand before Hashem... to
serve Him... and to proceed upright, as Hashem made him...
removing from his neck the yoke of the multitude"s
reckonings, which men have sought, such a man is sanctified
like the Holy of Holies..."
The gemora (Ta'anis 10) also refers to talmidei
chachomim as a special group: "Who are the
yechidim, the individuals [who are mentioned in the
mishna there]? The rabbanan." They are special,
unique individuals — royalty, who are called "a kingdom of
cohanim."
The second group, "a holy nation," is the rest of Klal
Yisroel, who, though they are a nation, are separate
from all the other nations on account of their holiness.
This is the meaning of the brocho which we make every
morning, "Who has chosen us from al the nations," because
He, "has given us His Torah," thus making us a holy,
beloved and unique nation.
Thus Klal Yisroel approached kabolas haTorah —
with an awareness of the extent of HaKodosh Boruch
Hu's love for us and of our innate greatness of spirit.
When they actually received the Torah, Klal Yisroel
were elevated to the most exalted heights of holiness,
receiving it in love, fear and awe, as the Torah's
pesukim relate.
This is the import of the conclusion of Hashem"s message to
Moshe Rabbenu: "These are the things which you shall tell
bnei Yisroel" — which Rashi explains as, "These, no
more and no less" — such is the extent of Hashem"s love
for us.
The Luster of Torah
Before I end, I am unable to hold myself back from
imparting a wonderful interpretation, a "chassidishe
thought," to you in the name of the Vilna Gaon
ztvk'l, on the posuk (Tehillim 19:11-12), "More
precious than gold and many gems... gam, also Your
servant is nizhar, careful with them, for they guard
eikev rav, great reward." The Gaon asks why the second
posuk begins with "also," or "even Your servant..."?
It could simply have said, "Your servant guards them..."
He explains the word nizhar as meaning shining, or
luster. The posuk therefore means that if a person is
involved with Torah study, he merits receiving a great
light, as the Torah tells us about Moshe Rabbenu, whose
face was so radiant that bnei Yisroel were afraid to
approach him. In the same way, Hashem radiates such a light
onto the face of anyone who involves himself in the study
of Torah, so that his face cannot be looked at. Although
the Gaon's words are few and brief, as is his holy custom,
this appears to be his intention.
"Even Your servant shines through them, for they guard
great reward." The word eikev, which means a heel, or
more generally, the end or lowest point of something, is
explained here as reward. In the light of the above, the
posuk therefore means, that although the heel is a
person's lowest and simplest point, he can elevate even his
lowest and coarsest impulses, through serious, intensive
Torah study, sublimating and sanctifying them.
We expressed this thought earlier. "For all the earthliness
is mine" means that great potential has been put into us
through our neshomos and through the Torah. By
developing these we can reach for the summit of spiritual
attainments. It is truly wonderful to reflect upon the
amazing power of Torah!
We can add to the posuk's plain meaning in the light
of Chazal's comment on the words (Devorim 7:12), "And
it will be if you hearken to the eikev," which they
explain as taking care to fulfill those mitzvos which
are usually treated scornfully and trodden beneath people's
heels. We can understand our posuk like this too.
`Even Your servant is careful with them' — not to
transgress lenient aveiros — `guarding those
mitzvos that are treated lightly.' He will thus merit
the reward promised by the Torah for eikev tishme'un.
This is also the meaning of Dovid Hamelech's statement
(Tehillim 49:6), "What should I fear during evil
times? The sin of my heels that encircles me." Chazal
comment, "I am not afraid of stringent aveiros, for
they are very strict [and I was careful to avoid them] but
I am afraid of the lenient aveiros because of their
leniency."
This then, is the explanation of our posuk: Your
servant also shines though learning Torah, for he is
careful to avoid transgressing lenient aveiros, for
the lowest aspects of the personality are also elevated
through Torah.
The Greatness of a Kingdom of Cohanim and of a Holy
Nation
I will now briefly relate two stories, which illustrate the
distinction we made between the two divisions of Klal
Yisroel, "the kingdom of cohanim" and "the holy
nation." The first story is about the late Tschebiner Rov
zt'l. The rov had a gabbai who used to take
care of him. Once, when he was helping the rov put on his
coat, a pin that was sticking out of the coat pricked the
gaon. The Tschebiner Rov shuddered and emitted a
slight sigh because of the pain. When the gabbai
noticed, he was aghast and began to tremble. Wasn't he too
a member of the holy nation? Didn't he always take care to
serve the rov properly? In his agitation over having hurt
the rov, the gabbai exclaimed, "Oh! Who knows whether
I will leave Gehennom for my carelessness in having
hurt the rav?"
The Tschebiner Rav said to him, "Don't be frightened. I
will take you out of Gehennom."
The rov was known for his happy and joyful manner and at
the time, his remark to the gabbai was taken in a
humorous vein.
Approximately twenty years later, when the rov was sick and
had only a few more days to live, he called the
gabbai and said to him, "Do you remember the incident
with the pin twenty years ago, when I promised I would take
you out of Gehennom? See that I won't have to go to
too much trouble for you!"
We had thought that the rov was joking when he told the
gabbai that he'd take him out of Gehennom. Yet
he remembered what he had said twenty years earlier and we
saw that it had been a full promise, to the point that he
warned his gabbai to see that he wouldn't have to
toil too hard so that he would be able to keep his word. A
king's word is his promise! Who are the kings? The
rabbonon! Utterly amazing!
I heard the second story, which illustrates the greatness
of our holy nation, from a contemporary tzaddik, who
mentioned it to me it as an aside to another matter, which
is not for repeating at present. This avreich, an
English speaker, travels regularly to chutz la'aretz
on behalf of one of the holy yeshivos over here.
One day, in Eretz Yisroel, someone he met greeted him and
asked him, "Rabbi do you know me?"
He replied in the negative. The man said, "I'll tell you
how I know you.
"Years ago you were in London and on Tisha B'Av afternoon,
you were asked to speak about the day's message. I was then
passing by the beis haknesses and I heard someone
speaking in English. I stood behind the window and was
attracted by what you said, so I went inside to listen to
your speech. Afterwards, I felt compelled to do
teshuvah. However, my wife was a gentile R'l,
and so were my two children.
"When I went home, I was able to persuade my wife and my
children and I converted them. We came here and boruch
Hashem we conduct our home in complete accordance with
halacha. My children learn in talmud Torah and we run
our home like my ancestors ran theirs, on the wellsprings
of Torah and yiras Shomayim. May it be Hashem's will
that I see the fruits of my labors, as Hashem
yisborach wishes."
See what the true meaning of "a holy nation" is! After
hearing the Rabbi's address, this man was aroused enough to
effect a complete transformation in his own and in his
family's lives, doing complete teshuvah. This is what
the posuk means by "a holy nation." Every member of
Klal Yisroel can elevate and sanctify himself in a
single moment.
"These are the things which you should say to bnei
Yisroel." How wondrous and fearsome! May Hashem help us
and all of Klal Yisroel and speedily bring us the
complete redemption!
