By Rav Mordechai Gifter zt”l
In honor of the Yahrtziet of Rav Modechia Gifter – 23rd of Teves.
Prepared for publication by Malkeal Yusupov, on behalf of the Telshe Yeshiva Alumni Association
To what extent are we coming closer to achieving our purpose as creatures created in the image of G-d? Indicative of our times is the fact that the demise of men of stature in the spiritual realm makes but small ripples. However, the violent death of one whose life meant nothing for even the physical advancement of Mankind becomes a world-shattering event. It rates front-page news and editorials for over a week of greater significance than that of our hostages in Iran. It’s time to begin thinking just where are we going. Are we moving forward, or are we rushing backward? What is our life perspective? Is it neshamah – the world of the spirit, or is it guf – pleasure steeped in our mundane lusts and passions? I believe that in those rare moments of truth which sometimes stop us, we feel what the answer is, but the rush backwards overpowers our senses and extinguishes the light of truth. And yet the Rambam teaches us (Introduction to Moreh Nevuchim) that it is these moments of truth, as bolts of lightning in the darkness of night, which must determine the progress of humanity.
In the parshiyos which discuss how Klal Yisroel emerged as a nation on the screen of history, one and alone there stood Avraham Avinu. One against an entire world, ever climbing, ever reaching towards Hashem Yisborach. And in the course of his never-ending journey he infected others with his enthusiasm for the upward thrust. What became of these others we don’t know. Perhaps they were the ones who sowed the seeds of the geirei tzedek of future generations. Avraham Avinu became the father of Yitzchak Avinu of whom we do know, a son who continued the task of seeing a universe through the perspective of a G-d consciousness. Yitzchak Avinu in turn handed on the heritage to Yaakov Avinu. Yaakov Avinu built the first family, Klal Yisroel. When this family numbered seventy members, circumstances planned by Hashem Yisborach took them to the exile of Egypt from the homeland – proving in the words of Ramban that Divine decree is truth. Man’s most ambitious plans to the contrary are worthless. One of the greats of the non-Jewish world wrote that men think that they are masters of their destiny, but, in reality, they are but pawns on the Divine chess board of history.
There, in Egyptian exile, the family grew and there they became a people. One, all alone, then a family and then a people. And with peoplehood there came Egyptian persecution. Originally, they were accepted in Egypt with open arms, given one of the most prosperous regions in Egypt in which to live, the city of Goshen.
They spread forth and became part of Egyptian life and culture, taking full advantage of the freedom given them. Chazal expressed it on the passuk “and the country became filled with them.” They were seen in the theatres and circuses. Chazal were using the cultural milieu of their day, when Jews succumbed to the Greek culture of the theatre and the Roman culture of the circus.
In a chapter in Tehillim devoted to the chesed, the grace and loving-kindness of Hashem Yisborach to His people, Dovid Hamelech mentions Egyptian discrimination as a chesed. Freedom in an alien world, with its own beliefs and ideals, not in consonance with the heritage of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov Avinu, leads ultimately to assimilation with the alien culture and the loss of self-identification. Where there is no self-preservation, G-d then creates the barrier of preservation of hatred of the Jew; don’t mingle with us, live your own life. History has taught us time and again that the Emancipation of Exile has led to “I have nurtured alien vineyards to the neglect of my own Torah vineyard.”
I recall a comment of my mentor, the Telsher Rav zt”l. The revelation of Torah to Klal Yisroel as a whole came in the form of the Aseres Hadibros. An examination of these ten mitzvos shows them to be quite accessible to human logic and reason. Would it not have been to greater advantage to have Klal Yisroel hear Hashem Yisborach Himself say those mitzvos which are in essence chukim – beyond our understanding, such as the mitzvos of the dietary laws of Torah and others. Hearing them from Hashem Yisborach Himself at Sinai, they would have become indelibly impressed upon us. And the Rav answered: No, to the contrary, those mitzvos which by their very nature are beyond our understanding are accepted by the ma’amin, the person of faith, as they are. We are not apt to give them interpretations of our own. However, mitzvos which are in the realm of our understanding are apt to become our mitzvos, not G-d’s mitzvos. For instance, we know that murder is a terrible crime prohibited by all legal systems. But only killing millions for a political ideal, that’s not murder, that’s patriotism. And when it’s prompted for the sake of a religious ideal, then it becomes a holy war. However, “When one hears from G-d Himself, he hears: He who shames his fellow-man publicly has shed his blood and therefore if my life can be saved only by shaming my fellow-man, I must be prepared to lose my life, because of the principle involved in retzichah.
All civilized nations recognize the validity of Lo Sinof – the prohibition against adultery. However, the arousal of those base desires and passions which are the very cause of ne’uf is called Art, whether it be in painting, sculpture or photography – all forms of glorified pornography. When one hears Lo Sinof from Hashem Yisborach Himself, then unlawful competition – the recognition of what is mine and what is not mine goes far beyond geneivah and gezeilah. These are views deadened by assimilation into alien culture wittingly and unwittingly out in this sense Klal Yisroel in Egypt were termed ovdei avodah zarah.
Together with peoplehood, there came forth a nation and they are recognized as such by the Egyptians. The teachings of the Avos are the essence of their being even when circumstances engrave assimilatory influences upon them. And He Who determines historic consequence sees the need for the moment of geulah – of redemption and rejuvenation. As a people and a nation redeemed we received Torah at Sinai – creating the eternal framework of Klal Yisroel nationhood. The national essence of Klal Yisroel is the Torah and Torah alone, in the words of Rav Modei Gaon. The pre-Torah heritage of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, perceived by them in the very fabric of Creation, becomes indelibly impressed through the giving of Torah at Sinai – the bris – the covenant between G-d and the nation.
However, prior to receiving Torah we had to express our willingness to accept it, our willingness to enter into a covenantal bond, by declaring na’aseh v’nishma, we shall do and we shall seek to understand. Our acceptance of Torah was not predicated upon our understanding of Torah. The highest expression of human intelligence lies in the recognition of the limitations of human intelligence. The wise man is not one who says as the philosopher said: “What I understand is, and what I don’t understand is not,” but rather: Who is wise, he who is conscious and aware of the fact that he does not understand. Understanding is then a gift of G-d to be used as ordained to recognize that there is intelligence far above and beyond that of Man.
When Torah is studied and its mitzvos performed with this approach we gain insights into worlds beyond us the Olam Haba of our Olam Hazeh, mentioned by the Ramban in his igeres (letter). This is the world of the true Torah Jew in whatever field or endeavor he finds himself. Torah is not limited within the walls of the yeshivah. Then the four amos of halachah are world encompassing. Remember, the Rambam, Ramban, and many others of the Rishonim were by profession doctors and men of science. In a later age that great gaon, the Beis Efraim, was a successful businessman, not a practicing Rav. He was known as the Broder Baal Habos. Reb Yaakov Emden was a printer by profession. A successful businessman in Grodno, Rav Zalman Lipshitz, was a gaon who left the legacy of one of the finest works in Kodshim, the Olas Shlomo. But all of them were endowed with their Torah perspective because of their years spent at the yeshivah steeped in Torah and Torah alone without thought of what would later be the means of their livelihood.
Much of what is taken for granted today, bringing professionals interested in Yiddishkeit to the community, is a result of the yeshivah and its beneficial influence. There are those who are critical of the yeshivah in one way or another. But this is quite natural. We must remember that even Moshe Rabbeinu had to suffer such criticism. And when he handed on the mantle of leadership to Yehoshua, he told him: “Remember, you have to be prepared to take it.” The criticism doesn’t make one smaller; rather it does make him greater.
In a world which seems to be rushing backward, the yeshivah stands as a bastion to move ever forward, ever to rise to greater heights as part of the general staff of an army known as Legion of Him Who rules the universe. We look forward to the help of Hashem Yisborach, in an ever-larger increase in members of this legion. May we all be privileged to fulfill our purpose l’kadesh Shem Shamayim – to sanctify the Name of Heaven.
