בס"ד
The book "Keter Shem Tov" (כֶתֶר שֵם טוֹב - Crown of a Good Name) is a compilation of the wisdom of the founder of the Hasidic movement, Rabbi Yisrael, the Baal Shem Tov. In it he meditates on the quote, "It would be preferable if they left me and kept my Torah". Earlier sources for this are the Jerusalem Talmud (Mesechta Hagiga 1:7) and the Midrash Raba on Lamentations in the preface. The quote itself is a variant on a verse in Jeremiah (16:11), "They have abandoned me and my teachings they do not keep". The lesson that both second Temple era sources seem to learn is that a person should learn Torah even if he is not interested in it, because at some point he will value it.
In his homily the Baal Shem Tov does not focus on motivation. It seems to him that the point of learning is to know and understand the holy One, blessed be He, and that the Torah is a vehicle for this. Nevertheless such an objective may be incomprehensible to many people. Consequently some will not even try. Others will study including investigating very lofty ideas and in the end still will not get it. The conclusion of the Baal Shem Tov is that even if they cannot relate to G-d like a servant relates to the king, hopefully they will still find reason to keep the Torah.
There are also stories of those that had a personal relationship with Hashem and even so they were wicked. The story of Balaam is the story of a prophet with easy access to the Omnipresent. Nevertheless he would twist the words of G-d so as to serve his own vanity and greed. In the end he leaves the circle of holiness and is slain by the sword of Israel. Similarly the Mishna in Ethics of our Fathers (5:11) warns, "The sword comes to the world for the procrastination of justice, the corruption of justice, and because of those who distort the Torah". It seems that inside the world of Torah there are those with a tendency to arrive at nonsensical practices based on sophistry. In addition they will cling to Torah scholars causing all sorts of aggravation. In his frustration a rebbe may say about such a hasid, "Halavi, he should leave me and keep my torah".
Maimonides in "Guide for the Perplexed" (part 3 chapter 51) discusses closeness to G-d using a king as a metaphor. He says for some people it is as if they are on a distant island, others at least are in the same country. Some people are in the capital city and others circle the palace but can't find the entrance. Finally there are those that enter the palace and eventually come to the inner sanctuary of the king. However even those choiced individuals do not truly know the king. Generally people are traveling towards the king starting from a distant place. However there are others that tragically are going in the wrong direction.
King David in Psalm 73 meditates on the good fortunes of phonies and scoundrels. It can be very confusing and at times he wonders if purity of heart means nothing. He then recognizes that they are on slippery ground and can suddenly fall to disaster. Next David sees that in some ways he is crude and ignorant; and like a dumb animal in the presence of Hashem. But closeness to G-d is good and that G-d's council will guide him.
לע"נ האמא מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז ניסן תשנ"ח
העלון ניתן לקבל בדואר אלקטרוני וגם באתר http://dyschreiber.blogspot.
No comments:
Post a Comment