Rabbi's Blog

The Rabbis of Blessed memory, a.k.a. Chaza”l, had many great psychological insights into human behavior. One of those insights regarded habit-forming tasks. The more often a person does something the more likely he is to continue doing it. When it comes to the study of Torah, the Yerushalmi Brachos quotes Reb Shimon ben Lakish who said:  “I found in the Megillas Chassidim this maxim: 'If you abandon Me for one day, I will leave you for two days.’ “The rabbis teach us that if a person leaves Torah for one day, the Torah leaves the person for two days. This teaching does not speak to me any less than it speaks to anyone else. In fact,  to the contrary, it speaks volumes to me. Whenever I go away from the Shul, I am thrown off my routine and miss my regularly-scheduled learning times, making it twice as difficult for me to get back on track.

I am finally getting back to writing a weekly message after a short layoff due to circumstances beyond my control. Writing requires focus, attention, and peace of mind, all of which I have had difficulty attaining  since Pesach and my brother’s passing.  The challenge of working through these difficult weeks made it hard to get back on track. Nevertheless, the result of the challenge was that I did miss a few weeks and the effort of returning to writing my weekly message fulfilled the adage “I left it for one month but it left me for two”.

Last week Beth Jacob had the opportunity to host a mini rabbinic conference for a day and a half. Twenty-four rabbis from cities across America came together to discuss current challenges in the rabbinate, give and get ‘Chizuk” inspiration, and chill out for a day with some colleagues. One recurring concept came to mind listening to the variety of  ideas, issues and concerns was……this all sounds so familiar. The range of rabbis who attended spanned the gamut from young to old, and as we pondered the issues of the day I arrived at two conclusions: First that there are issues, challenges and problems today which also existed in the past. Perhaps the issues appear different or come in different types of packaging, but the underlying issues are the same.  Second,  (and it was spelled out in a few of the presentations) was that Chazal, in their inimitable fashion, and recognized and understood human nature and behavior.  They foresaw the challenges of the rabbinate and of leadership roles in general and laid out very specific warnings and precautions to be taken so as to avoid stumbling. A great deal of what I gained from the conference was the importance of reviewing that which we already have learned and know. Generally speaking, rabbis, despite their training and expertise, occasionally need to collectively put their heads together to rethink and refocus how to  do the right thing  in a given, difficult situation. This gathering helped to set the record straight again, pushing the reset buttons back to the way we all started out when we left  the “manufacturer’s yeshiva”.        

In this week’s Haftorah the Navi Hoshea in chapter two describes the relationship between God and the Jewish people. The description is the relationship a wife has with her husband and the fallout when she strays. The straying of a wife is symbolic of the Jews worshipping idols and leaving Hashem, their husband. Eventually, Hoshea says, there will be reconciliation between husband and wife and Hashem and Bnei Yisrael. The concluding verses repeat the word “V’Eirastich” -  “and I will betroth” no less than three times. I believe the repetition and the emphasis on the betrothal is used to solidify the relationship between us and the Almighty. Interestingly,  we recite these verses while wrapping the Tefillin around the middle finger of the left hand, representing the rings of betrothal and commitment we have to Hashem. More important than the number of times are the words of commitment itself. The words of betrothal are forever - with righteousness, justice, kindness, mercy and fidelity then you will come to know Hashem, the husband, and not stray. Interestingly,  the verse does not just say the word ‘betroth’ one time and list all the items. Rather, it’s broken up with the word “V’Eirastich”, which is said three times. We are familiar with the idea that a word or verse  that is repeated three times is called a ‘Chazaka’, something with strength and longevity. Repetition not only reminds us but strengthens the concepts more deeply.

Sefer Bamidbar is also called Numbers because the book has a second Hebrew name: Sefer HaPekudim, the book of counting the Jewish people a number of times. Rashi explains the reason Hashem counts His people so often is a result of His love for them. When a person has a wad of cash in his pocket, he tends to take it out and count it over and over again. When Hashem counts us again and again, the love He has for B’Nei Yisrael is reinforced. We, the Jewish people, are the ones being counted, and therefore feel the love Hashem is bestowing on us.

As we approach the Yom Tov of Shavuos we think about receiving the Torah….again? Didn’t we receive the Torah over 3300 years ago, and if not that at least we got it last year? The re-enactment and the review of a historical part of history reminds us and keeps us close to the original time. If we as a people continuously review the history of our people, that history will remain meaningful and fresh. If we start to stray, skipping the events from time to time, then it becomes more difficult to get back to where we were at the outset. We cannot live a day without Torah, for if we did it would be doubly hard to get back. The Chazaka and commitment is about consistency; it is about not missing a day. This is the secret to success of anything we choose to do in life.  

Many commentaries offer suggestions as to why the Torah was specifically given in the desert.  I would like to suggest that the reason the Torah was given in the desert is to remind us that the desert is a desolate, barren place: there is nothing to distract us.  It is the distractions that bring us opportunities to stray from Hashem. Let these days remind us of what we know we are supposed to do and strengthen us to keep doing all we can do to grow ever closer to Hashem.

Ah Gut Shabbos & Ah Gut Yom Tov

Rabbi Avraham Bogopulsky