Divrei V'Zos HaBracha
Aish Dos
As we celebrate Simchas Torah, our annual siyum on Chumash, this week's parsha plays an integral role, with everyone in the shul – including children – receiving an aliyah. It is worthwhile, therefore, to look for meaningful connections between this parsha and the Torah itself, not only for the sake of this joyful day, but also in order to grasp a deeper perspective of the upcoming cycle of parshios haTorah.
One approach comes from HaRav Aharon Kotler, zt”l, in Mishnas Rebbi Aharon, on the posuk (33:2) “From His [Hashem’s] right hand He presented the ‘aish dos,’ the fiery Torah, to them.” Comments the Sifri: The word “aish dos” refers to the Torah, which is all fire; if “dos” [which is related to ‘da’as’ – understanding] were not given with it, no person would be able to endure it.”
Explains Rav Kotler: Our understanding of the Torah is exceedingly small, for every incident recorded in the Torah contains within it endlessly deep concepts, as Chazal tell us at the beginning of the Midrash (Rabbah Bereishis 1:2), “He looked into me [the Torah] and created His world.”
Now, to get a slightly better idea of the implications of that Midrash, it is useful to make a secular analogy prevalent at the time of this writing. There is a company, Google (named after an enormous number), which has as its corporate goal “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Google seems to be making a strong try; its “latest” offering (no doubt, by the time this article comes to print, that offering will be old-hat and obsolete) is a program called “Earth” which presents and connects so many airplane and satellite views of our planet’s surface that a user can undertake a virtual flight over nearly every inhabited area, and a decent part of the desolate lands as well, recognizing objects as small as automobiles. Now, Google's pictures are out of date; even as the programmers are adding new pictures, real-life people are constantly changing the world's landscape. What's more, the non-geographical aspects of the Earth are not represented, for every day, millions of changes occur – “new” species, births, marriages, yet another part of the atom, the latest medical treatments, etc. Despite its lofty goal, Google is still barely a scratch of the wisdom that goes into the day-to-day workings of this physical world. In other words, Google Earth (and Google itself) is not even ABC, compared to the encyclopedia of Earth which it attempts to cover. Similarly, the Earth itself is a bare reflection of the greatness of Torah, its blueprint which incorporates everything that has and will happen.
Of course, the non-Torah world also is utterly missing the entire spiritual dimension of this world, which makes the physical dimension look puny.
Beyond space, there is the dimension of time: everything that happened, is happening, and will happen, seemingly significant or seemingly not, is recorded in the Torah. We are able only to access a miniscule part of it, trying our best to apply ma’aseh avos siman labanim, but that doesn’t make the Torah any smaller.
With all this complexity, one would think that the Torah would by necessity be so esoteric that it would be unreadable, even at a single level. As we all know, the opposite is true. We can readily relate to the ma’asim of the Torah, for not only is its language easy to understand, but also the issues that our ancestors grapple with are the same in essence as our own. Every possible situation that a person might find himself in -- from cringing in the depths of jail to wielding the power of absolute monarchy, as happened to Yosef HaTzaddik, is described, along with a ready guide as to how to properly react to it. Of course, each of these incidents recorded in the Torah has infinite depth and numerous levels of complex meaning, but our simple human minds can derive some level of understanding from even a superficial reading.
Says HaRav Kotler, another message of this Sifri is that the only way to acquire any of the Torah’s infinitely deep knowledge is to learn and apply the seemingly mundane halachos in it which guide our actions in this world. Through that das–understanding, we can then come to the aish, the fiery secrets of the Torah. Anyone who tries to shortcut this route – from the well-intentioned who are lax in the fine details of Torah observance to the outright frauds (and their rubes) who indulge in pop “kabbalah” classes – should know that their efforts to gain True Knowledge are in the end utterly fruitless, for that path must by definition lead through the Shulchan Aruch, and there is no bypass.
This concept of aish dos continues as we listen to the Chazan Breishis's aliyah. As we turn to another cycle of parshios, there is a mistaken tendency to look at Sefer Breishis as a book which is scarce in mitzvos. No doubt at least part of this attitude stems from our first exposure to Breishis, via the stories that fill it, from the Creation of the universe, to the petira of Yosef. However, HaRav Avraham Kramer zt”l, the author of Ma’alos HaTorah, cites his brother, the GR”A, as saying that the Torah contains far more than 613 mitzvos. His proof comes from none other than a diligent analysis of Sefer Breishis, which if earned, absorbed, and utilized, can give a person complete instructions for living successfully in this world. For every single situation that a person finds him or herself in, the Torah provides a counterpart ma’aseh as a guide – and the vast majority of these are found in Sefer Breishis. For example, anyone ensnared by sibling rivalry would do well to read over Breishis's accounts -- Kayin and Hevel, Yitzchok and Yishmael, Yaakov and Esav, Yosef and his brothers -- to realize the tremendous destruction unleashed when these disputes are allowed to fester. These guides to our conduct are mitzvos, as well.
Furthermore, Breishis also gives us a glimpse into results – the power of a good choice, its reward, and how it can benefit one’s future generations; and the opposite, that one sin can destroy a great amount of good, both immediately and in the future. For example, when Hashem rewards Avram for his diligence and courage in spreading the knowledge of Hashem, by ordering him to leave Haran and settle in Canaan, He makes several promises to him, among them “Be a blessing” (Breishis 12:2-3) Thus, a special power of blessing was given to Avraham and his children; through speaking out their desires with concentration, they could now access special powers of Hashem which could make these wishes come true. HaRav Avigdor Miller zt”l compared the effect of a blessing, properly done, to a nuclear explosion, so great that when Esav heard that Yaakov had received their father Yitzchok’s blessings, his devastated scream still resounds in our ears. Esav knew all too well what Yitzchok’s words had done. In other words, giving a fellow Jew a heartfelt blessing is not just a courtesy; rather, it is a genuine act of chesed, as real as if we had invited him in and served him a meal.
Rav Miller taught his students to focus upon the many “throwaway” blessings that they gave every day -- “Good Morning,” “Have a nice day,” “Mazel Tov,” “Kol Tuv” etc. – and transform them into concrete acts of lovingkindness. He would even bestow brachos as he passed by houses, without even seeing their occupants. (Walking with Rabbi Miller 50-53) Hashem also promised Avram, “I will bless those who bless you, and he who curses you I will curse” (ibid. 12:3). To this very day, anyone who feels a need for Divine blessing does not have to receive one from a tzaddik (although such a practice certainly is meritorious). Rather, he can bless other Jews and -- immediately and automatically -- he himself is blessed. On the other hand, whenever someone curses us, we can take heart in the fact that this person has in effect shot himself in the foot, for while his curse may or may not affect us, certainly Hashem’s curse will affect him! All this comes from Avram’s good deeds in Ur Kasdim and Haran.
This concept is but one reflection of aish dos, for thru our learning these ma’asei avos as living messages, we breathe in the fiery power of the Torah and realize the great potential that we all possess.
Perhaps the most common manifestation of aish dos comes from lifnim meshuras hadin, going beyond the letter of the law. Says HaRav Kotler, halacha forms guidelines to follow; however, aish dos obligates us to go further. For example, the Gemara (Bava Metzia 83a) tells of Rabbah bar Bar Chana, who had hired two porters to carry a barrel of wine. When they broke the barrel and lost the wine, he took their coats as payment for the damages. They took the case to the beis din of Rav, who ordered Rabbah to return the coats. When he protested that the law was with him, Rav answered him: “'In order that you may walk in the way of the good' (Mishlei 2:20) you should be mevater, give in to them.” After they had received their coats, the porters then cried, “We are poor! We worked, but earned nothing!” Rav told Rabbah to pay them. When Rabbah again questioned Rav, noting that the law was on his side, Rav responded with the second half of the posuk: “And keep the paths of the righteous.” The GR”A notes that the first half of Rav’s judgment tells us that everyone is required to act beyond the letter of the law. He then notes the bitter consequences of sticking to the strict din: “Yerushalayim was destroyed because the people stood their words by the law” (Bava Metzia 30b). The end of the posuk brings a higher level, that not only in terms of damages, but also in terms of payment, “beyond the letter of the law” is the law! Neighbors are a classic example; Harav Kotler notes that while the Torah specifies our legal obligations to neighbors, we must pursue the ideal of a shachen tov, a good neighbor, brimming with chesed.
HaRav Nota Schiller, shlit”a, Rosh HaYeshiva of Ohr Somayach, said, “Where is creativity in Torah?” He answered, “Creativity is found when we apply the laws and concepts of the Torah into our daily lives, thus making them reflections of the Torah itself.” When we area able to take the dos of Torah, use our minds to bring out its aish, and then bring that fire into our lives, we become truly transformed in the way that Hashem intended.