The Mishna in Pirkei Avos
(6:9) tells the story of Rabbi Yosi ben Kisma. During his travels a rich man
once offered him gold, silver and precious stones, if he would move to his
town. Rabbi Yosi explained with pride that he lived in a town of rabbis and
sofers and he would not live in a place without Torah even for all of the money
in the world. He then quoted the book of Psalms (cf. 119:72) that it is better
to have the guidance of the Holy One blessed be He, than millions of dollars.
Not only that, but when a man passes away the only things that he takes with
him are Torah and good deeds. After that he expounded on a verse from Proverbs
(6:22)
בְּהִתְהַלֶּכְךָ
תַּנְחֶה אֹתָךְ
בְּשָׁכְבְּךָ
תִּשְׁמֹר עָלֶיךָ
וַהֲקִיצוֹתָ
הִיא תְשִׂיחֶךָ
|
In your travels it will be with you
When you lay down it will preserve you
When you awake it will speak for you
|
He continued to explain the
various components of the verse:
“In your travels it will rest
on you” refers to this world
“When you lay down it will
guard you” refers to the grave
“When you awake it will speak
for you” refers to the world to come
This Mishna is similar to an
earlier one (Avos 6:7) which praises the Torah for its benefits
both in this life and the afterlife. Its many worldly blessings include a long
healthy life filled with wealth, status, and peace. Similarly the Teferes
Yisrael says that both worlds are only acquired by means of the Torah.
The narrow definition of the
Torah is the five books of Moses. Slightly more broadly it can be looked at as
the Tanakh. More generally it is all religious literature. Much of it is
stories of righteous individuals and specific guidance for life’s situations. When
a person learns it, he develops a healthy mentality, healthy attitudes, and a proper
physical approach to their conduct of life. If the Torah is deeply absorbed it
becomes part of a person’s intuition. This causes him to be drawn to good
things and stay away from bad things.
Some maladies are caused by
being in the wrong place. Also being in the right place can promote a person’s
health. Similarly a person can contract an illness because he was stupid or
frivolous. Still others can be caused by aggravation, arrogance, and anger.
People can get into trouble because they are in the wrong place or with the
wrong person. Some accidents can be the result of a moral perspective. It’s
possible to go on and on about this. The Machzor Vitry comments that the Torah
is something that is with a person to protect them and rescue them.
The idea of Torah preserving a
person in the grave is similar to the concept of purgatory. The idea is that a
person during their life should be disposing of inherent bad characteristics
and acquiring good characteristics. This idea can also be applied to beliefs
and opinions. Belief and character are a product of what the person was born
with, their experiences, and most important their free will. There are five
levels of soul in a man. The highest is the יחידה
(yechida), literally their uniqueness. The second is חיה
(chaiya) or life. The third is נשמה (neshama) which is
more or less mentality. The fourth is רוח
(ruach) which is basically the emotions. The fifth is נפש
(nefesh) which is basically a person’s physical desires. These are preserved
and protected by the Torah and good deeds which are in them.
The next subject is about
waking up meaning in the world to come. In
regards to one’s Torah the Mishna uses the term “converse”, but its use תְשִׂיחֶךָ lends itself, perhaps intentionally, to
varying interpretations. The Machzor Vitry remarks that, “it will talk
for you” seeming to understand it as an advocate. The Midrash Shmuel comments,
concerning the Torah a person acquired in his lifetime, “it will teach you and
reveal to you all of its secrets as if it is talking to you”, meaning it will
be your teacher. A straight grammatical
analysis can yield, “your future conversation”, meaning that when a person is
in heaven he will talk about what he knows about the highest of truths and how
he applied it to his life. This is like the Talmud (Brachos 17a) which says
that the world to come will not be like this world. There will be no food,
drink, or being fruitful and multiplying; and no business, jealousy, or
competition; rather the righteous will sit with their crowns on their heads and
take pleasure from the radiance of the sacred presence.
לע"נ בן דוד שמואל בן נח ז"ל
נלב"ע טו באב תשס"ט.
http://dyschreiber.blogspot.co.ilניתן בדואר אלקטרוני וגם באתר
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