Dear Friends:
Recently, we have witnessed the sudden and frightening demise of great rabbis and other tragic events which have affected all of the Children of Israel. We are deep in Golus, a dark and frightening world. We are today like orphans; our leaders, our guides, our “parents” are leaving us one by one.
The parallels with this week’s Parsha are amazing.
“And Yaakov departed from Be’er Sheva….” (Genesis 28:10)
Rashi famously comments: “The departure of a righteous person from a place makes an impression, for at the time that a righteous person is in a city he is its magnificence; he is its splendor; he is its grandeur. Once he has departed … its magnificence has gone away; its splendor has gone away and its grandeur has gone away.”
Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel ZT”L, Rabbi Dov Schwartzmen ZT”L and so many others have left us and the grandeur is fading from our world. Parshas Vayeitzei tells us much about what a great person is. We can learn from our Father Jacob’s dream that a gadol’s feet are on the ground, but his head is in Heavens.
The nations of the world live an “earthy” life; materialism consumes them. The existence of the vast majority of the world’s inhabitants consists of trying to enhance their material existence. At this time of year, for example, shopping becomes a frenzy; the “success” of this season is measured in store sales.
America is asking, “What presents am I getting?”
Our gadolim live in a totally different realm. I know several holy Jews, for example, who absolutely refuse to accept gifts. They follow the wisdom of King Solomon, who says, “He who hates gifts will live.” (Proverbs 15:27) I tried to give Shaloch Manos to a particular tzaddik on the day before Purim, but he refused it because it wasn’t yet Purim. I tried to give a copy of one of my books to a tzaddik in Yerushalayim, but he insisted on paying, even though he has almost nothing himself.
As our Father Abraham says to the King of Sodom, “If so much as a thread or a shoestrap; or if I shall take from anything of yours, so you shall not say, ‘It is I who made Avram rich.’” (Genesis 14:23)
“Avraham gave gifts…” (Genesis 25:6)
A gadol’s life is spent distributing blessings to others. “Your offspring shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out powerfully westward, eastward, northward and southward, and all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you and by your offspring.” (Genesis 28:14)
Imagine the students of Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel and Rabbi Dov Schwartzman and the countless other gadolim in our long and spectacular history. Are they not perfectly described by that passage from the Torah? There is literally no blessing in this world except the blessing bestowed by the gadolim and their students as they spread out “powerfully westward, eastward, northward and southward.”
How does someone become a gadol, a great person? Are they born that way? Are they created on a different plane from “ordinary” people?
A remarkable document (brought to my attention by my dear friend Shmulie Gross) surfaced after the passing of Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel. Many of you may have seen it already, but I am going to reprint it here anyway. This yearbook page shows “Nathan ‘Natie’ Finkel” as he appeared when he graduated from high school in Chicago. You can see how fine he is, how beautiful the smile and how bright and eager the eyes. But he is basically a “modern” American Jewish boy.
Compare this with the picture of Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel ZT”L as we all knew him recently! A patriarch! A giant! A man of superhuman strength who let nothing stand in the way of his epic battle for the triumph of Torah! Through this battle he elevated uncounted thousands of Jewish souls! I remember hearing him speak years ago at the Yeshiva of Far Rockaway, his arms flailing against the lectern because of his physical condition. With a booming voice he challenged the yeshiva boys to develop a “tshuka” for Torah.
Frumspeak (“The First Dictionary of Yeshivish”) defines “tshuka” as a “deep and sincere desire, a longing!” Who had it if not Reb Nosson Tzvi? He overcame every obstacle to spread Torah, like his father Abraham!
Here is a description of another gadol: “Reb Moshe [Feinstein ZT”L) was extremely mild mannered; in the most tense and provocative situations he would show not a trace of anger. In reference to this he once remarked, ‘Do you think I was always like this? By nature, I have a fierce temper, but I have worked to overcome it.’” (Artscroll “Reb Moshe,” page 228)
The Rambam says, “every person has the potential to become a tzaddik like Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses).” (Hilchos Teshuva 5:2)
Every gadol began life as a child. We all have the ability to work on ourselves. These great people worked with single-minded devotion their entire lives. Do we understand what it means? “During the fourteen years that [our Father Jacob learned] in the Yeshiva of Ever, he did not lie down at night because he was occupied with the study of Torah!” (Rashi on this week’s Parsha, Genesis 28:10)
But he became our Father Jacob, and we are all his children!
My friends, we cannot allow the materialism of the surrounding culture to impede our pursuit of the very highest levels of Torah and mitzvos. It doesn’t matter where we started or where we are now.
Our Father Abraham’s father manufactured idols!
Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s palace.
It doesn’t matter!
We have no excuses!
May we soon see the day all the Children of Israel become once again a living fountain of blessing. Then the entire world will acknowledge, “Ki Mi Tzion Taitzae Torah u’d’var Hashem Mi Yerushalayim… from Zion will come forth Torah and the Word of G-d from Jerusalem”!
© Copyright 2011 by Roy S. Neuberger
