Torah Study is Not Like Calculus

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By Rabbi Moshe Meir Weiss

As we make final preparations for Shavuos, including a fervent desire to come away from the yyom Tov with a renewed commitment to the “learning” of Torah, we need to understand a unique aspect about Torah study.  In the sixth perek of Pirkei Avos we are taught “HaTorah niknis b’mem ches devorim – The Torah is acquired through 48 qualities.”  The Rachmastrivka Rebbe, Shlit”a, asks why the Mishna did not state more directily, Konin haTorah b’mem ches devorim – One should acquire the Torah with 48 tools.  He answers with a comparison to a Gemora in Kedushin which says, Ha’isha niknas, a wife is acquired.

  There also, the Gemora poses the question why doesn’t it say, Konin es haisha, one should acquire a woman, and the Gemora answers that this language would imply that she can be acquired even against her will.  

 So too, concludes the Rebbe, haTorah nikneis conveys that the Torah can only be acquired if It, the Torah itself, is agreeable to mesh with the person who is studying it, and the conditions to be compatible with the Torah are the 48 traits mentioned in the Mishna.

This is an anomaly for when it comes to acquiring Torah knowledge, one of the 48 traits is a lev tov, a kind heart.  Now, one doesn’t need a kind heart to study calculus or learn a new language.  But, if one wants to truly absorb the Torah, one needs to have a character makeup that the Torah agrees to join with.  This is the meaning of the famous Talmudic adage, Derech eretz kodma l’Torah, developing a refined character has to precede a Torah career.  Or, as the Mishna puts it in the third perek of Pirkei Avos, “Im ein derech eretz, ein Torah – Without proper behavior there can be no Torah success.”  

As the Rav explains on this Mishna, if one’s dealings with their fellow man are not pleasant, eventually they will forget their Torah knowledge. This explains why sometimes the very bright and promising boy in yeshiva, with an acute mind for Talmudic didactics and who asks the best questions in class, never amounts to anything.  This is because the boy in question is not well behaved and the Torah shuns he who does not practice the ways of mentchlichkeit.  

In a telling posuk in Devorim, it says, Lo meirubchem mikol ha’amim, I did not choose you, because you were the largest of all the nations – ki atem ha’m’at mikol ha’amim, because, to the contrary, you were the smallest of all the nations.  The simple understanding of this verse is that selections many times are made based upon what most people do.  The most popular car is a Camry, so let me buy one.   That’s the restaurant that everyone goes to, so let’s go there.  Hashem says, That is not why I chose you.

However, Rashi cites a different interpretation from a Gemora in Chulin.  There the Gemora explains that I (Hashem) chose you because you do not aggrandize yourselves.  Rather, you practice humility and minimalize yourselves.

 Thus, we see that we were chosen by Hashem because we have the noble character trait of being humble.  This is also a prerequisite for successful Torah study for this is why, when Hashem gave the Torah, He shunned the majestic Mt. Carmel and the towering Mt. Tavor and gave the Torah instead on the lowly Mt. Sinai.  So too, He gave the Torah through the agency of Moshe Rabbeinu, about whom the Torah testifies, “He was the most humble of all men.”

 It is therefore imperative that when we send our children for a Torah education, we make sure that their yeshiva has a solid curriculum of mussar study, that they will be well grounded in mentchlich behavior, for it is only then that they will have a hope of becoming true talmidei chachomim.  Likewise, it goes without saying that if a husband is a brute at home to his wife, no matter how smart he is, his Torah ambitions are doomed to failure.

When we think this Shavuos about the revelation at Sinai, let’s remember that the Torah was given surprisingly in the midsts of  billowing smoke and blackness.  This is strange since the Torah is the True Light of the world.  But, the Tosfos HaRosh says that since the B’nei Yisroel would sin with the heinous crime of the golden calf, they weren’t able to enjoy the true radiance of the Torah.  So, as we make new commitments to Torah study this Shavuos, let’s also make a renewed effort to refine our behavior and in that merit may we be blessed with great Torah success, good health, and everything wonderful.

 

Please learn and daven for the refuah sheleima of Miriam Liba bas Devorah, b’soch shaar cholei Yisroel.

 

Sheldon Zeitlin takes dictation of, and edits, Rabbi Weiss’s articles.

Start the cycle of Mishna Yomis with Rabbi Weiss by dialing 718.906.6471. Or you can listen to his daily Shiur on Orchos Chaim l’HaRosh by dialing 718.906.6400, then going to selection 4 for Mussar, and then to selection 4.   Both are FREE services.

Rabbi Weiss is currently stepping up his speaking engagements.  To bring him to your community, call 718.916.3100 or email [email protected].

To receive a weekly cassette tape or CD directly from Rabbi Weiss, please send a check to Rabbi Moshe Meir Weiss, P.O. Box 140726, Staten Island, NY 10314 or contact him at [email protected].

Now back in print is a large size paperback edition of Power Bentching. It is also a great time to get his 12 CD Album on Pirkay Avos. To order call him at 718-916-3100 or email at above.

Attend Rabbi Weiss’s weekly shiur at the Landau Shul, Avenue L and East 9th in Flatbush, Tuesday nights at 9:30 p.m.

Rabbi Weiss’s Daf Yomi and Mishnah Yomis shiurim can be heard LIVE on KolHaloshon at (718) 906-6400.  Write to [email protected] for details. They can now also be seen on TorahAnyTime.com. Recently he has also put select shiurim on his Facebook page.

 


1 COMMENT

  1. Free your cash in on anti-secular study. Hashem is a king that designed the world.

    The calculus I learned has helped me find higher sefirot. All learning can incorporate into torah study. Torah is lifelong. Academics are but only the first portion of your soul.

    Learn and be brave. Hashem will return the favor.

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