Rabbi's Blog

We live in a fast-paced world that too often forces us to do things quickly. So often we may feel the need to take a short cut and do things not according to the book just to get through the day. Unfortunately, the reality is quite the opposite. Whatever time you think you are saving will sooner or later cost you somewhere else. To our own chagrin the blame for this way of life isn't always our own fault. The blame lies with a society that drives us to think, act, and re-act in a hasty, unthinking manner.

Two poignant examples come to mind, both of which occurred just last week. The office in Shul has (had) a small refrigerator that we keep (kept) to hold small items for the staff. The fridge had a small freezer section that did not automatically self-defrost. It required manual defrosting the old-fashioned way by taking out all the food and leaving the unit unplugged in order to allow the ice to melt, making a mess. Well, the Chochom (wise person) that I am decided this method takes too long and requires too much effort. Instead I decided to take a letter opener (why bother using a real ice pick? And who has one of those, anyway?) and chop away at the ice to break it up. I was actually very successful. It took me way less time, except for the little detail which was unbeknownst to me: I punctured the cooling line and effectively broke the entire fridge! A second episode occurred while preparing for Shabbos. I was in a hurry and quickly grabbed a bag containing two cartons of eggs, both of which proceeded to fall on the ground, effectively leaving me with only one surviving carton of eggs. The amount of time it took to clean up the now sprawling, slithering mass of broken eggs and go back to the store to buy more eggs was certainly longer than it would have taken to carefully handle the original bag containing the cartons of eggs.

Why do we sometimes act in irrational, unthinking ways? Experts will tell you our behaviors can be caused for a few different reasons, but I have found that when a person is physically tired, mentally strained, or just zinging out of focus, he is likely to do brash things that usually end up causing more damage than good. I'm not sure why the world thinks we need psychologists and other mental health professionals to tell us this while the sources are found in the Torah.

The synthesis between the Torah's teaching of life and the secular lives we lead are mirrored through our daily lives.

As we begin Sefer Vayikra, the Torah states in Vayikra 4:1 "Dabeir El B'nei Yisrael laymor Nefesh Ki Secheta Bishgaga Mikol Mitzva Hashem Asher Lo Sei'Asena V'Asa Mei'Achas Meiheina". "Hashem spoke to Moshe saying, 'Speak to the Children of Israel, saying: When a person will sin unintentionally from among all the commandments of Hashem that may not be done, and he will commit from one of them". The Alshich HaKadosh explains the nature of sin through this verse. The aim of the Torah is that if a person sins accidentally, he should not say 'What did I do?' Furthermore, even if he admits to wanting to do that particular act, the sin was not done with the purpose of rebelling against Hashem, heaven forbid.

When a person sins without Daas - knowledge or consciousness or awareness - it's a sign that something is wrong with his/her Nefesh. The sin was committed was a result of a previous sin. It is even possible that this sin was committed due to a foreign thought that was only contemplated in the person's heart. The Alshich suggests that it was a previous sin or the thought of a sin that brought the person to sin accidentally now. If someone does not have an iniquity that he violated first, it would not be possible to come to sin accidentally.

We know of a similar principle which explains that Hashem does not bring the opportunity of sin to come among the animals of Tzadikim. How much more so would God not allow a takalah - a mistake - to come upon their owners, who are the actual righteous individuals., takalah/ a The concept of the animal not sinning (for example not eating of grain that was not tithed properly) is the idea in our pasuk 'and the soul that sins accidentally' from where did it come from? It comes from the end of the pasuk that from all of the commandments that he did not violate BUT he did do one of them! As a result of doing one LoTaaseh (do not do's) this is the cause to sin, B'shogeg, committed inadvertently again.

The general rule being proposed is if the soul of a person remains pure and does not become tainted with sin, there is less chance to sin in the first place. But once the soul does sin, a precedent has been set, establishing a platform for other sins to be committed without awareness. This Tumah - impurity - causes yet another sin. Now we can understand the principle of 'aveira goreres aveira' - one sin causes another sin.

In the introduction to Sefer Vayikra, the Abravanel, Reb Don Isaac, writes that Hashem wanted to warn His children not to sin in front of Him and not to violate any of His commandments. Since we are only human and are therefore susceptible to sinning, Hashem gave us the opportunity to rid ourselves of physical or, worse, spiritual punishment by requesting a Korban/ an animal sacrifice that is only a monetary punishment so that our neshamos can remain as pure as possible in order not to get into the habit of sinning.

Why would anyone choose to make a mistake, causing himself grief and extra work? Why would anyone choose to sin knowing the consequences of his actions? People make poor choices when their guard is down, perhaps due to fatigue, irritability or just being in a rush. Whether it is in the physical world or in the spiritual world, the reasons and causes can be traced and linked to the same issues.

Let us all slow down and think before we act. Let's change the motto from 'haste makes waste' to 'thinking makes it lasting'.

Ah Gut Shabbos

Rabbi Avraham Bogopulsky