When my eyes first became opened to the greatness of the holy Torah, HaKadosh Baruch Hu sent me the distinguished rabbi Eli Chaim Carlebach זצוק”ל to shepherd me through the ways of tshuvah. He came from a major rabbinic family who were famous for their wisdom and devotion. Eli Chaim was a ben bayit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn and married his beautiful niece, Hadassah. His brother was the popular singing rabbi, Shlomo Carlebach.
Like many chozrei b'teshuva I was filled with religious enthusiasm, and I believed that the truths of the holy Torah were so strong and apparent that they simply stood by themselves. Not only that I believed any powerful truth would stand by itself and that presentation and certainly not the clothes of the presenter made any difference.
Rabbi Eli Chaim with his years of experience knew was not true. He knew my feelings were firm so he started to correct me gently. It was parshas Mikaytz and he quoted the verse, “Pharaoh sent a messenger and called for Joseph, and he was quickly brought out of the dungeon; and he shaved and changed his clothes, then came to Pharaoh”, (Genesis 41:14). The rabbi then posed the question, why did the Torah mention something so mundane and trivial like dressing up and taking a shave. He explained that when you see a big man about something important you must look the part. With a rasha like Pharaoh if you look like a slob and don't smell so good, he may throw you on the floor, say interpret the dream, then put you back in jail. The hint was that the beautiful truths of the Torah should be beautifully presented.
We see that also in parshas VaEra. Moshe brings the happy word of HaKadosh Baruch Hu to the children of Israel saying that He has heard their cries, is taking them out of the sweat shop called Egypt, giving them the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. However, they don't listen to him because of being short spirited and because off hard work.
Rashi explains that the children of Israel were so overworked that they could not even take a deep breath. As a result they had despaired of ever being redeemed and could not accept consolation. Nachmanides comments that they did not lack faith in God or His prophet. Rather they didn't pay attention because they were constantly in pain, fearful of getting killed by Pharaoh, and always under pressure. The Sforno says that they did not contemplate on what they heard from Moshe and that to believe at this point in the salvation of the Almighty would have been an act of charity.
It says in the Talmud (Brachos 57:) three things expand the mind of a man: a nice apartment, a nice wife, and nice possessions. Not only that if a Jew wants to be taken seriously he needs a nice suit, a nice beard, and a nice hat. It comes out if a person is subjected to things like crude loudspeakers, blaring jackhammers, garbage all over the place, and obnoxious neighbors, it will impair his ability to learn Torah. Subtle truths may fall on deaf ears and hopes for a happy future may sound like foolish fantasies. On the other hand a comfortable home, lovely family, and a nice neighborhood opens the mind to high heavenly wisdom, and to the visions of the prophets of a wonderful world to come and allows him to share these insights with others.
לע"נ האמא מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז ניסן תשנ"ח
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