Behar: Torah and Work, Hand in Hand

by Rav Naim Ben-Eliyahu ZT"L, Former Rosh Yeshivat Ben Ish Chai, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

One of this week's two Torah portions, Behar (Vayikra 25), begins with the laws of the Shemittah year: "In the seventh year, the land shall have a Sabbath-Sabbatical to G-d; do not plant your field or prune your vineyard…" Laws of Shemittah deal not only with agriculture, but also with business, inheritances, loans, and more. Let us therefore discuss the Torah outlook on the concept of work.

The Gemara (Shabbat 30b) tells us that in future times, the Land of Israel will produce cakes and fancy clothing. That is, during the times of Redemption, we will not have to plant and thresh and harvest, because our needs will come directly from the earth. We will then be free to spend most of our time studying Torah, in fulfillment of the teaching of R. Meir (Pirkei Avot 4,10): "Spend little time on our business and engage in Torah instead."

How can we fulfill this Mishna even nowadays, before the arrival of the Redemption? Let me recount a story that happened to me. I was once asked to perform a wedding during morning hours. I arrived on time, everything was ready – but the bride's father, who made his living by selling watermelons, had not yet arrived, and we could not begin. Finally he came, and his family asked him, "What happened, where were you?" He said, "I ordered 14, but sold only 12, and I had to wait to sell the other two." I asked someone, "He ordered 14 watermelons, and for two of them he was late for his daughter's wedding?!" He told me, "No, he ordered 14 truckloads of watermelons – and he had to sell the last two!"

When I spoke to the father later, I understood that he wakes up early each morning, works for two hours, and then has the rest of the day off… [I also know of] a young Torah scholar who specifically chose to learn dentistry so that he could work half a day and learn Torah the other half.

The point is that people can choose to plan their lives in such a way that they can both earn a living and engage in Torah study.

The above Mishna continues: "Be of lowly spirit before every person." People who plan their lives as above know what is important and what is not, and they are therefore not arrogant or haughty.

And the Mishna concludes: "If you distract yourself from Torah study, there will be many other distractions as well. But if you invest efforts in Torah, you will receive much reward." When I lived in the Old City of Jerusalem as a child, I remember a man who would sit alone in a coffee house, and then people would come and sit next to him to play cards and shesh-besh (backgammon). That was like the first part of the Mishna's concluding advice. On the other hand, we used to see in the Zohorei Chamah synagogue [still active today on Yaffo St. across from the Machaneh Yehuda shuk] that one man would sit and say Psalms – and then another two people would come and join him, and then a few more. If you want to learn Torah, others will join you!

This week we celebrated Lag BaOmer, in honor of the saintly Mishnaic sage Rabbe Shimon bar Yochai. He and his son were forced to run away from the Romans, and they hid in a cave for 12 years! Miraculously, a carob tree and spring appeared there, and they survived immersed in Torah study and eating only carobs with water. When they finally emerged from the cave, they were shocked to see people busy farming and doing ordinary work instead of being engaged only in Torah. Rashbi’s intense reaction caused destruction, and a heavenly voice rebuked them: "Have you come out to destroy My world? Return to your cave!”

After another year in the cave, Rashbi's reaction was different. Though his son still reacted very sharply to "ordinary life," Rashbi repaired whatever damage his son caused – accepting that regular human life and work also have a legitimate place alongside Torah and spirituality. Rabbe Shimon told his son, "Let the world run as it does, and our Torah study will protect it."

We learn from this story that there are three levels: The simplest is that of "regular" people, those whose first priority is to plant and thresh and work. Above them is the holy level of R. Shimon's son R. Elazar, who was so steeped in Torah study that he could not understand how people could do other things. But above all is the level of Rabbe Shimon bar Yochai, who understood that despite the great importance of Torah, there is also a valued place for those who work in other productive endeavors.

People tend to view things from their own vantage point. For instance, one who studies all day literally cannot grasp how people can waste their time on nonsense. A wealthy person as well: He works hard to earn money, and then cannot fathom how someone else can't afford to make a wedding for his daughter. He gives them 30 shekels, even though he can easily afford ten times that! Why? Because he sees them from his own vantage point: "If I can earn money, why can't they?" He doesn't think of the difficulties that others might be facing – perhaps someone is sick in the family and requires expensive medicines and care, or maybe they are carrying heavy debts from the past. Too often it happens that people have trouble understanding the other's situation.

Not Rabbe Shimon bar Yochai: He was able to understand the simple greatness of those who worked.

Rav Aryeh Levin, known as the Tzaddik of Jerusalem in the previous century, was once walking in the street when a man stopped him and asked, "Can you join us for the afternoon prayers? You'll be the tenth man for our minyan." Reb Aryeh said, "I have already prayed, but I'll be happy to help you out." Then another man came along, and Reb Aryeh asked him if he would like to join, and the man agreed. However, the sexton of the synagogue protested: "Such a man should fill out our minyan!? He's just a simple street-cleaner!"

Reb Aryeh, "What?! You're willing to take a thief for a minyan, but not this man?!" The sexton said, "What do you mean? Who's a thief here?!" Reb Aryeh said, "I’m a thief, stealing people's opinions – they think I'm a tzaddik! Instead of me, you should take this man, who works hard all day to earn his daily bread in an honest manner! Don't make light of a Jew such as him, who is very worthy to fill out your minyan!"

In short, we have learned:

* The great tzaddikim recognize the worth of those who work hard.
* One must engage in work that will allow him to spend time studying Torah.
* We must try to see things from the vantage point of others, not only of ourselves.

Tazria-Metzurah: The True, Shining Face of Humbleness

by Rav Naim Ben-Eliyahu ZT"L, Former Rosh Yeshivat Ben Ish Chai, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

One of this week's two Torah portions, Tazria (Vayikra 12-13), begins with the sacrificial offering that a birthing mother must offer, but then continues with the laws of various bodily impurities.

The Torah tells us here that the purity or impurity of a leprosy-like lesion is determined exclusively by a Priest, based on his on-site examination. This is because of the Priest's high spiritual level; he is able to see a superficial phenomenon and understand its depth, for he is like a Divine angel – as is written, "For the lips of a Priest will guard knowledge, and teaching should be sought from his mouth - for he is a messenger [angel] of the Lord of Hosts" (Malachi 2,7).

In Torah law it is clear that the color of a skin that is touched with leprosy is evidence of an inner and deep problem, and only a Priest graced with deep vision can uncover and diagnose the issue and its solution.

We might well ask: This entire matter of lesions and leprosy appears to be rather sordid; why does the Torah give so much attention and space to this matter? And how is it that the Priests must leave their holy priestly duties in the Holy Temple to deal with it?

King Shlomo describes the beauty of the "beloved" with these words: "His head is as the finest gold; his locks are curled, as black as a raven [Heb.: orev] (5,11)." And the Medrash explains that even these matters - discharges, afflictions, and the laws of menstruation and childbirth, which are considered “dark” and unpleasant, are like an orev before the Holy One, blessed be He – from the same root as arev, meaning pleasantness and sweetness. These matters are actually pleasing and sweet before G-d, as written: “Then shall the offering of Yehuda and Yerushalayim be pleasing [arvah, from the same root] to the Lord…” (Malachi 3,4).

But why, actually, are these matters so pleasing to G-d?

This can be explained with a parable:

There was once a king’s son who was born with extremely delicate and fair skin. Everyone marveled at his complexion and his skin's pure radiance. One day the child fell ill with chickenpox. All of his skin began to take on a strange color, the sores opened, and blood and pus oozed out. The king immediately summoned a doctor, who applied various kinds of ointments, iodine-based treatments and the like to the skin. Seeing his son in this condition, the king was very happy – because he knew that his beloved son was in the process of healing via the doctor's treatments.

A few days after the prince recovered, the king called him and, with great love and affection, began to teach him the laws of skin afflictions: how they come about and how they are healed, so that his cherished son would know how to guard himself against them.

Precisely in this manner does Hashem teach us the laws that are explained here in Parashat Tazria. "What do they stem from, spiritually? How are they healed? And how can we protect ourselves from them?" And this is why they are pleasant and sweet before Him.

The Torah describes the appearance of the leprous growths as being "deep under the skin" and "not deeper than the skin" (13,3-4), about which even Rashi says that he does not quite understand what it means. The holy Ohr HaChaim, however – R. Chaim ben Atar (early 18^th century, Morocco) – explained it very profoundly, as follows: 

A person's skin reflects his spiritual state, for he was created in G-d's image. If one does good deeds, speaks good things, and is steeped in Torah and mitzvot, his face shines and his skin is radiant. And if he is a sinner, his skin will reflect this as well. And if then repents, G-d Himself will forgive him, erase his sin from his body, and cleanse and polish his skin.

The Ben Ish Chai (R. Yosef Chaim of Baghdad, d. 1909) was asked how it could be that Moshe Rabbeinu did not know that his face shone after he spoke with G-d (Sh'mot 34,29), whereas R. Shimon bar Yochai – who was certainly not greater than Moshe – said about himself that he saw that his countenance shone?

The Ben Ish Chai's answer is very deep – a concept that “no ear has heard and no eye has seen.” He first cites the Talmud (Gittin 36b) which states: “Those who are insulted but do not insult in return, who hear their disgrace but do not respond… Scripture says about them, ‘But those who love Him are like the rising of the sun in its might.’ (Judges 5,31)."

This alludes to Moshe Rabbeinu, the Talmud states, who was humble and did not take offense at or respond to insults. However, this high level is actually not the highest – for it means that he felt insulted, and understood that his honor was impugned, but simply worked on himself not to respond.

An even higher level is one who does not even know that he was insulted! He is so far from feeling arrogance or self-importance that he does not feel there is anything about him that is "good enough" to be insulted. This was the true level of Moshe Rabbeinu, explains the Ben Ish Chai: that he did not even know that his face radiated and shone, felt nothing different, and could not understand why he was being looked at strangely.

This helps us understand what the Holy Ohr HaChaim explained here: One's skin is a testimony to the depth of his character. If he is insulted yet does not even notice it, his character is so profound and deep that it is recognizable on his skin – as with Moshe, to whom we can apply this verse: "A man's wisdom will light up his face" (Kohelet 8,1). 

Metzora: The Tongue and the Heart

by Rav Naim ben-Eliyahu, of saintly blessed memory, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

The Torah tells us that two birds must be taken for the purification ceremony of the leper. Why two birds? R. Yehuda ben Levi answers in the Talmud: "The leper did an act of pitter-pattering, therefore the Torah says that he should bring a sacrifice of something that pitter-patters."

The Sages have cited many allusions to the fact that leprosy is a Torah punishment for sins of speech, such gossip, speaking ill of others, and the like. This is seen here as well: When a person gossips about others, he is actually behaving like a sparrow – called a "bird of freedom" in Hebrew – chirping with no limits. When a person speaks lashon hara or maligns another, he is acting like a sparrow, which does not accept authority from anyone, has no discipline, and spouts off whatever comes to it. It chirps all over the place with no restraints, always squeaking and making noise – just like a person who does not watch his mouth, speaks whatever and wherever he wants, without regard to whether it might harm someone or cause damage. 

The Medrash tells us a story about a king who once took ill, and was told that only milk from a lioness could cure him. This presented a major challenge, as who would ever dare to come close to a lioness, let alone obtain her milk? The king announced that whoever would succeed in bring him a cup of lioness milk would receive a large fortune and be appointed his highest advisor to boot. One man came forth and said he could do it – but that he required a flock of sheep. He went to the lions' den and, from a distance, threw a lamb to the lioness. The carnivore was puzzled but happily ate the lamb. The next day the man came a bit closer and threw the lioness another lamb, and the same thing happened. Each day he came closer and closer, until after a month the lioness allowed him to come very close and even to pet her. At that point, the man took out a bottle from his pocket, and while the animal was busy eating, he gently milked her until the bottle was full.

On his way back to the king, he dreamt a strange dream, in which all his organs were arguing amongst themselves about who deserves the credit for this great accomplishment. The legs said, "If not for us, how would you have ever gotten there?!" The hands said, "We milked her!" The eyes said, "We showed you the way!" Etc. etc., until the tongue tried to speak up, but got shouted down by the others: "You're the smallest among us, you have no bones, and you live in a dark, wet place!" The tongue said, "Tomorrow you'll see how I actually totally control all of you."

The next day, the man arrived in the king's palace, and announced dramatically: "I have returned, and I have the dog's milk that you requested!" Predictably, the king was infuriated, and ordered the man thrown into the dungeon. His organs took up from where they had reached in the previous night's dream, but with the new-found understanding that it was the tongue that had the final word over them. 

The tongue said, "OK, now you'll see how I can save you." The man asked the dungeon-master to return him to the king so that he could appeal. He explained: "O master and king! Whatever I said before – what does it matter? Drink the milk, and if it heals you, that's what's important! And anyway, there are some languages in which a lioness is called a dog, which is why I said dog instead of lioness…" The king agreed to drink the milk, and lo and behold, he was cured of his disease, and rewarded the man as he had promised. 

We thus see that "death and life are in the hands of the tongue" (Proverbs 18,21). Regardless of its small size, it has a tremendous effect on our lives. The same is true with a sparrow that weighs but a few grams, but its sound, its influence, can be heard and felt from afar. Let us not make light of what our mouths can do. 

And now a word about Fear of Heaven: "The beginning of wisdom is Fear of Heaven," we read in Psalms 111. It is the first gate one passes through on his way to effective Torah study. What exactly is this trait?

We answer this question from the story of the Ten Plagues, and specifically the plague of Hail: "He who feared G-d's word among Pharoah's slaves gathered his servants and livestock into the houses; and he who did not pay attention to G-d's word, left his servants and livestock in the field [where they were smitten]."  

We see clearly that the opposite of "fear of Heaven" is simply apathy, not paying attention – and he who notes and lives by G-d's word is a G-d-fearing person. And what does G-d expect from us, primarily? We read in D'varim 5: "Would it be that their heart would be this way, to fear Me, and to keep My precepts…"

One who has fear and awe of Heaven is one who knows that he is not alone, and that G-d is with him everywhere – and this keeps him from behaving in an unseemly manner, and specifically from speaking wantonly and badly about others. As R. Moshe Isserles writes in the first paragraph of the classic Shulchan Arukh that he co-authored with R. Yosef Karo: 

"The verse I have placed G-d before me always is a great principle in the Torah and among the righteous, for a person who sits alone at home does not behave or speak the same way he does when he stands before a king… And all the more so when he imbues himself with the idea that he is standing before the King of Kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He – this will bring him fear and awe and surrender to G-d…"

R. Chelbo states in the Talmud: "Whoever has fear of Heaven, his words are heard, as is written in the end of Ecclesiastes: "The bottom line is that everything is heard; fear G-d and heed His commandments" – for his words are not like the chirping of a bird, but are rather thought-out and positive.

It is told about Rav Tzvi Yehuda, the son of HaRav Kook and Rosh Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav, that he rebuked his students for something – and yet a few days later, they did the same thing. He admonished them again, and yet again they did not listen. When it happened a third time, he quickly left and went into a side room. The students were greatly taken aback, and followed after him, and found him there crying. In shock at what they had done, they sought to mollify him: "We're sorry, we made a mistake, we will do teshuvah!" Rav Tzvi Yehuda said, "I'm not worried only about you – but also about myself! After all, if my words are not heard, it must mean that my Fear of Heaven is not strong enough! That's why I am crying!"

This is the extent to which the great giants of Israel were concerned for their fear and awe of Heaven. How much more so must we seek to strengthen this attribute in ourselves!

Emuna: G-d's Daily Renewed Love's for Israel

by Rav Naim Ben-Eliyahu, of saintly blessed memory, Rosh Yeshivat Ben Ish Chai and brother of the late Chief Rabbi of Israel Mordechai Eliyahu, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

As we enter the new month of Shvat, it is appropriate to take a look at a verse from Isaiah 66 - the haftarah reading when Sabbath and the New Month coincide – which refers indirectly to this month's holiday: Tu B'Shvat, the New Year for Trees. 

The verse, at first glance, is tremendously puzzling: "For, as the new heavens and the new earth that I am making, stand before Me, says the Lord, so shall your seed and your name stand" (66,22). One who read this verse understands that G-d will expand the world, will build a new heaven and a new earth, and Israel's generations will never cease forever. 

How is such a thing conceivable? Will there then be a new world, with new heavens and a new earth, to which Israel will be relocated and then last forever?!

Many commentaries have been written on this verse, and the Medrash Yalkut Shimoni cites several of them. However, the Radak (R. David ben Kimchi, France, d. 1235), ignored all the other explanations and provided his own. To understand it, let us begin with the following story. A nice and gentle man got married and had a son, whom he loved mightily with all his heart. When he would leave every day for morning prayers, he would look at the boy with overpowering love, and would say, "My son! How cute you are, how beloved!" He would then embrace and kiss him. Upon his return from the synagogue, he would see him and again exclaim, "My child, how I love you!" while kissing and hugging him. And so he would do every day. 

One day his father-in-law came to visit, saw how his son-in-law behaved to the child, and asked, "What's this?" The young father answered, "For me it's as if he was just born today; my love for him is renewed each day as if it were totally new, and that's why I love him so much." The father-in-law said, "I see. OK, we'll give it another year or two, and then you'll be over it…" But of course the young father continued along the same path.

We recite about G-d in our morning prayers, "He renews in His goodness every day, always, the act of Creation." G-d created His world, as we see – but we don't really look. Today's sky is not the same as yesterday's. We arise in the morning, look around outside, and see the earth flowering and the trees growing – but every day is different. You can go out each day and see a new growth, as if it were Tu B'Shvat each day!

 

We should know that when we speak of G-d's renewing "in His goodness every day, always, the act of Creation," we mean that it is as if He constantly fashions a new heaven and a new earth; He will not destroy the old world, but it will rather look as if it is new. And this is how our children will be forever to Him – as beloved as if we were just now born to Him! G-d's love for us will always remain before Him; everything is new, nothing is the same old thing as it was before. O Nation of Israel: your descendants and name will last forever and ever.

Another explanation of this verse – it is cited in the Yalkut Shimoni – is that when G-d created His world, He considered that, in fact, He would create new heavens and a new earth, and that Israel would remain as it is. And the Medrash states there that if the heavens and earth, which were created for Israel's honor, last forever, how much more so is this true for the tzaddikim [and Israel], for whom the world was created, that they will last forever. 

In any event, the Nation of Israel will be in existence for all time. As the verse states: As the new heavens and the new earth that I make stand before Me, so shall your seed and your name stand."