Rabbi's Blog

Chessed, doing kindness is a wonderful Midda -character trait - that many people do and more should be doing. When it comes to doing a chessed and other such Mitzvos, a person must use good, old-fashioned, common sense in attempting to fulfill this Mitzva. For example, performing a chessed, a kindness, for someone must be done in a manner that does not embarrass the recipient. A second, and perhaps more poignant illustration, is when someone offers to do a kindness for someone but the receiver really does not want or need it. The giver sometimes forces the situation, and sometimes negative results are produced instead of something positive. Parallel to this is if the giver is not qualified to do that particular act but insists on doing it anyway, and the beneficiary ends up losing more than he gained from that intended kindness.

Perhaps I can suggest that the concept of this lies in the principle of Baal Tosif. Baal Tosif means we are not permitted to add more Mitzvos than there already are and not to add onto an existing Mitzva itself. For example, adding a fifth specie to the four species on Sukkos or adding a fifth corner of Tzitzis onto a garment). Chazal, the Rabbis of blessed memory, taught a concept of "Shekal Hamosif Gorea": whoever adds is sometimes actually taking away. Sometimes it's better just to leave things just the way they are instead of trying to add something, tweaking it where it can lead to lessening of something.

The Gemara Sanhedrin 29a states: Chizkiah said: From where do we know or derive the concept of Shekal Hamosif Gorea that one who adds to God's words actually detracts from them? The Gemara gives two opinions. The first tells over the story in Gan Eiden when Hashem only told Adam and Chava not to eat from the Etz Hadaas, but Chava added the restriction of not touching it either, whereby the snake pushed her causing her to touch the tree. Upon doing so, nothing happened, so the snake convinced her that eating from it would also be fine. Having added the restriction of touching caused the entire history of the world to change course.

The second source is taken from this week's Parsha. Rav Mesharshey says from Shemos 25:10, the Torah states in this week's Parsha Teruma: "Amasayim Vacheitzi Archo, two amos and a half, its length". This verse refers to the dimensions of the Aron in the Mishkan. The word 'Amasayim' means two amos (cubits). Deleting the first letter of the word renders the word 'Masayim', which means two hundred. Thus had the first letter been deleted from the word, it would have been understood as setting the length of the Aron at two hundred and one half cubits. By adding the first letter, the Torah lessened the meaning of the word to a mere two and a half cubits.

The Gaon of Vilna* records this Gemara according to Rashi's understanding. The Vilna Gaon, in his commentary Kol Eliyahu, brings a Maharsha** which questions Rashi's understanding of that verse. He says that is not the place we learn this concept from because if you remove the aleph from the word 'Amasayim' (two) and read it 'Masayim' (two hundred), we still do not know which measurement is being referred to. Is it the Talmudic measurements of Etzbaos (fingers), Tefachayim (handbreaths), or Amos? (There are a number of other questions the Maharsha has regarding Rashi. The Vilna Gaon answers the question as follows: since it states two and a half was its length, meaning the entire length of the Ark was two and one half amos. But if you were to take away the letter 'Vav' (to as a prefix the letter vav meanings AND) from the word Chatzi - half - then the Passuk would read 'Amasayim Chatzi Arko', which would mean that the entire length of the Aron would be two Amos, its half in reality four Amos. It comes out that the Vav, on the word Chatzi -half- actually takes away from the four, making it into two.

This reminds me of my experience in elementary school when I was learning fractions. One of the primary hints to remember with regard to the concept of fractions was the higher the bottom number is the smaller the actual number is. The perception that things which are bigger and higher are better isn't necessarily true. This is also true and important to remember when we put too much time into something which may have negative effects. When a person studies, there comes a point and time when he must stop. Obviously, we are speaking of situations when adequate and proper studying was done, but the person wants to do more at the expense of getting some necessary sleep. There is a certain breaking point to respect: if a person goes overboard, even though that which he is doing in principle is good it will hurt him at the end.

The delicate balance is even noticed in the beginning of the Parsha where a person contributes to charity and the people in the desert donated to the Mishkan. There are limitations even when it comes to the giving of Tzedaka lest the rich person give away everything and become a needy person himself. This is but just one more example of the delicate balance that we need to work on in our lives.

Whether it is efforts being put into our own lives or the chessed we are doing for someone else, a delicate balance must be found. I believe the constraints of the halachik guidelines were created for us to manage this equilibrium. Unfortunately, I have seen many people go overboard with others and within their own personal lives to their detriment as well as others. Let us learn the critical lesson of how much to add before we start subtracting.

Ah Gut Shabbos Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky

*Elijah ben Shlomo Zalman Kremer, known as the Vilna Gaon or Elijah of Vilna, or by his Hebrew acronym Gra ("Gaon Rabbenu Eliyahu") or Elijah Ben Solomon, Vilnius April 23, 1720 - Vilnius October 9, 1797, was a Talmudist, halachist, kabbalist, and the foremost leader of non-hasidic Jewry of the past few centuries. He is commonly referred to in Hebrew as ha-Gaon ha-Chasid mi-Vilna, "the saintly genius from Vilnius.

** Samuel Eidels (1555 - 1631) was a renowned rabbi and Talmudist famous for his commentary on the Talmud, Chiddushei Halachot. Eidels is also known as Maharsha a Hebrew acronym for "Our Teacher, the Rabbi Shmuel Eidels" The Maharsha was born in Kraków, Poland. His father, Yehuda, was a Talmudist. Both parents were descendants of rabbinic families. His mother, Gitel, was a cousin of Rabbi Yehuda Loew, the Maharal of Prague. From early childhood, the Maharsha's remarkable talents were evident. When he came of marriageable age, the Maharsha was offered many prestigious shidduchim (marriage partners), but he rejected them, asserting that he wanted to devote himself solely to Torah study.

He married the daughter of Edel Lifschitz of Posen and the late Moshe Lifschitz, rabbi of Brisk. The Maharsha then moved to Posen where he established a yeshiva. For twenty years all the expenses of the yeshiva were assumed by his mother-in-law. In appreciation of her support, the Maharsha, Rabbi Eidels adopted her name. After her death, he served as rabbi in the following prominent communities: Che?m, Lublin and Ostrog. Eidels was also active in the Council of Four Lands. The Maharsha's son-in-law was R. Moses ben Isaac Bonems of Lublin, who authored his own novella on the Talmud, published with the Chiddushe Halakhot, last recension (Mahdura Batra).