D'Var Torah - Yisro (5762)
By Rabbi Baruch Lederman
The generation that stood at Har Sinai was the greatest generation
of all time. Their leader was the greatest leader of all time. This was not a
coincidence. Hashem gives us leaders in proportion to the generation. The
greater the generation, the greater the leader.
Young Rabbi Yechezkel Landau, who would eventually become world
famous as the Nodeh B'Yehuda, had a challenging beginning to his
illustrious Rabbinic career. After being appointed Rabbi of the great city
of Prague, there were men who sneered at the idea of having such a young man
hold the mantle of spiritual leadership. They never stopped seeking ways to
undermine him.
They once sent a woman to ask the Rabbi a question about the kashrus
of a chicken. In those days, stores did not stock
prepackaged pre-inspected chickens with a kosher seal. A woman would buy
a live chicken and bring it to a shochet (trained butcher) who would
slaughter it for her. If there was some question as to the kashrus of the
chicken, she would bring the chicken to show it to the Rabbi.
Rabbi Landau ruled that the chicken in question was kosher. There was
however, a very obscure commentary which discussed this exact case and ruled
that such a chicken was rendered unkosher by this particular blemish. Since
in those days printed sefarim (books) were very expensive and rare, Rabbi
Landau was unaware of that particular ruling. His detractors did have a copy.
The men now used this incident as a springboard to publicly humiliate
the Rabbi. They confronted the Rabbi with the printed ruling in a most
condescending manner. Arrogantly pointing out that it contradicted Rabbi
Landau's decision, all the while intimating that perhaps the venerable Prague
community would be better served with a more experienced Rabbi at the
helm. Everyone present waited for the Rabbi to respond.
The Nodeh B'Yehuda thought about the issue and replied, "When a
Rabbi, who is a competent Torah authority, issues a ruling on a shailah
(inquiry), Hashem (G-d) gives him Divine assistance in the merit of the
Jewish community which he serves, so that even if he errs in his reasoning,
his ruling will wind up being correct. This did not happen with the case at
hand. The only logical conclusion is that the shailah was not a real shailah
at all, but rather an invented case made up in an attempt to simply vex me.
That is why I had no special Siyata D'Shmaya (Divine assistance) - it is only
sent from Heaven when the question is real."
The schemers were stunned that the Rabbi had seen right through them,
and they shamefacedly admitted to their ploy. As a result, Rabbi Landau's
public esteem was increased, not decreased, by this spiteful plot.
D'Var Torah - Yisro (5761)
By Rabbi Baruch Lederman
When Hashem (G-d) gave the Torah at Har Sinai he asked the Jews
for collateral. The only collateral he would accept was the Jewish children.
Hashem wants the Torah to be loved and learned by the Jewish people and their
children forever. Torah must be delved into with depth and passion. That is our
past, present and future.
A great 19th century Rabbi sought a suitable match (shidduch) for his fair daughter He
let it be known throughout Eastern Europe that he would settle for nothing less
than a true talmid chochem (Torah Scholar). In fact, the Rav set out to travel
by wagon from town to town, asking top yeshiva students a most spectacularly
difficult talmudic question. The first to correctly answer this question would
wed his daughter!
Needless to say, throngs of eager
candidates sought out the Rav everywhere he went, hoping to answer the question
and thus win the hand of his daughter-- arguably the most beautiful girl in the
region-- let alone the daughter of such a celebrated torah luminary! Not
surprisingly, however, no one could come up with the correct answer-- not even
close! In every yeshiva in the land it was the same story over and over again--
the eager students, upon hearing the Rav's question, would simply stare
blank-faced at the great man in stony silence and utter
hopelessness.
In one small town in a remote part
of the country, the weary Rav entered a small yeshiva where he encountered
a group of students huddled over their texts. When they recognized the great
Torah sage they rushed to greet him. Once settled, the Rabbi asked his question.
Once again, the answer was as elusive as a rainbow at night. Sadly, the great
Rabbi bid them a goodnight and made his way back to his wagon.
He was barely a mile or
two away when he heard running and a breathless shout coming from behind him--
"Rabbi, Rabbi! Wait! Please WAIT!!" It was one of the young men from the
village.
"Yes, my son? You thought of the
answer to my question?", the great Rabbi asked with much hope in his
voice--
"No, Rabbi, I am sorry to say I did
not. But I can't stand the thought of not knowing the answer to such a great
question! PLEASE, Rabbi! Shidduch or no shidduch, you MUST tell me the
answer!"
With that, the great sage smiled at
the young man and grabbed his shoulders-- "YOU shall be my son-in-law!", he
declared, "Such a burning, insatiable desire for knowledge is the very ESSENCE
of the man I have been seeking!"
We thank Cliff Alsberg for submitting the above
story, heard from Rabbi M. Cohen. HAVE A GREAT STORY? We would love to publish
it. Please send it to us. If we can use it, we will contact you.
DVAR TORAH:
Yisro
By
Rabbi Baruch Lederman
In Parshas Yisro, we
read of the most significant event in human history - the giving and
receiving of the Torah. The Children of Israel, agreed to follow the
mitzvos (commandments) of the Torah sight unseen. They understood
the deep love that Hashem (G-d) had for them, and had no problem making
a commitment.
Torah is so unique in
that men, women, and children of all ages and educational backgrounds
find it engaging and meaningful. A five-year-old girl, a twenty-year-old
student, or a fifty-year-old Rabbi will find the Torah
fascinating, appealing, and relevant to their lives in the most
beautiful and profound ways. There is no other book like that - so
significant and so personally moving to so many people on such a broad
spectrum.
A twelve-year-old boy
once approached me and asked: “Rabbi Lederman, may I ask you a question?
The verse says (Ex.18:2-3), ‘And Yisro took… Tzipora, the wife of
Moshe... and her two children.’ What about Moshe? Weren't they his
children as well?” I answered that since the subject of the sentence is
Tzipora, it says 'her children,' but that is not meant to exclude that
they were Moshe's as well.
What struck me
about this was that the parents of this boy were in the midst of a
divorce. In essence, the child's question reflected his own fears and
queries as to his own situation and his own status - to whom would he
belong. He was more sensitive to this nuance than the average person
might be.
Everyone processes
Torah in terms of his/her own experience and temperament. The Torah
speaks to each person in every generation in a truly meaningful relevant
way. What a precious gift Hashem has given us!
The events of Matan
Torah (giving of the Torah) were beyond anything Cecil B. DeMille could
possibly portray. The entire mountain floated up in the air, and hovered
over the Jewish people like a wedding canopy. Even people who were deaf
and blind could see and hear the Ten Commandments. Each letter was
visible in fire. They could actually see the alef wearing a fiery
crown. The tablets were remarkable: the commandments were carved through
and through, yet if you looked at the tablets from behind, you could
still read them. The Jewish people of that generation attained a
closeness with G-d and a sense of holiness, unparalleled in Jewish
history.
Yet today we see a
greater miracle than they saw. For while they were assembled, basking in
the glorious inspiration, one thought rankled in their minds. "We who
are standing here and witnessing Hashem's glory are filled with
inspiration. What about our children who are not here today? What about
their children and grandchildren, and their grandchildren's
grandchildren who will never even know anyone who witnessed this event
first hand? How will they be inspired? Will they cling to the Torah as
we are?"
Today we see that
the descendents of those noble souls who stood at Har Sinai (Mount
Sinai), have indeed clung to the way of Torah. Torah has served as the
lifeblood of the Jewish people for over 3,000 years! To this day, Jews
all over the world are connected to each other and connected to Har
Sinai through their devotion and observance of Torah and mitzvos. The
Jews of the Sinai generation would have given their right arms to know
and to see what we see today - that Torah has stood the test of time and
continues not just to be remembered, but to flourish.
Dedicated in memory of Leo and Marian Goldman by their
daughter Judy Goldman.
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