To all Bat Zion Bogrot: Hashem Imachem! It's been a long time ... every once and a while I bump into a former student and we have a great time catching up! I would love to hear from you all though – you don`t have to wait for an official newsletter!
I thought that for a Dvar Torah I'd choose something quite relevant, to my mind:
The Gemara (Ta'anit 20b) relates the following fascinating story:
The Rabbis taught: "A person should always be soft like a reed and not hard like a cedar." Once R. Elazar the son of R. Shimon was coming from his teacher's house in Migdal Gedor, riding on a donkey. He was traveling along the bank of the river with a feeling of great joy and a sense of arrogance, because he had learned a great deal of Torah. A very ugly person happened upon him. The ugly person said: "How are you Rebbe?"R. Elazar did not respond. [Rather,] he said: "Empty one - how ugly this fellow is! Are all the people of your town as ugly as you?" The ugly person responded: "I don't know, but you should go to the craftsman who made me and tell him how ugly is the vessel that he made." R. Elazar knew that he had sinned. He got off the donkey, prostrated himself before the other fellow and said: "I have pained you. Forgive me." The man said: "I will not forgive you until you go to the craftsman who made me and tell him how ugly is the vessel he made."
R. Elazar followed him until they came to his town. All the townspeople came out to greet R. Elazar and they said: "Welcome, our Rabbi, our Rabbi, our teacher, our teacher." The ugly fellow said: "Who are you referring to as your rabbi?" They said: "The one who is walking behind you." He said to them: "If this is a rabbi, let there not be more like him in Israel." They said: "Why?" He said to them: "This is what he did to me." They said to him: "Nevertheless, forgive him because he is a great Torah scholar."
He said to them: "For your sake I forgive him, but on condition that he not become accustomed to act this way."
R. Elazar immediately entered [the study hall] and taught: "A person should always be soft like a reed and not hard like a cedar."
This anecdote raises many questions: To which individual did R. Elazar refer to when he spoke of one who is “hard like a cedar"? What caused R. Elazar to respond as he did? Why was the ugly man so reluctant to forgive the Rabbi? What, indeed, is the moral message the Aggadah wishes to teach us? Certainly, that even great men can make mistakes. But there seems to be more. I have learnt this Aggadah many times with different groups of students (but not with Orot girls! Hence the choice of Aggadah!); every time we have uncovered new messages. Many layers of understanding and interpretation can be found in this story; I will suggest only one.
The Talmud (Shabbat 33b) tells us that Rav Shimon bar Yochai disturbed the Roman authorities, and was compelled to go into hiding in a cave, accompanied by his son and closest student, Rav Elazar. A carob tree and a spring miraculously appeared to provide them with food and water. The Gemara continues: They stayed twelve years in the cave. Then Eliyahu came and stood at the opening of the cave, and said "Who will let Bar Yochai know the Caesar has died and his decrees are nullified?" They went out [of the cave] and saw people who were plowing and sowing. He [Rav Shimon] said, "These people are neglecting eternal life and occupying themselves with transient life?!" Every place they gazed was immediately burned up. A Bat Kol [heavenly voice] declared to them, "Did you go out to destroy My world?! Go back to your cave!" They went back in and lingered twelve months, saying, "The wicked are judged in Gehinnom for twelve months." Then a Bat Kol declared, "Go out of your cave."
Rav Shimon bar Yochais` personality deserves an article in his own right; he was an incredible individual, totally devoted to Torah study and removed from the mundane (See for exp. Berachot 35b). But if indeed the “R. Elazar the son of R. Shimon” mentioned in our story is none other than Rav Shimon bar Yochais` son, who hid in the cave with his father, then an amazing message is revealed.
Note the location of his teachers` house: “Migdal Gedor”. A “migdal” is a tower; “gedor” means “fenced in”. Perhaps R. Elazar felt that the Torah was meant to be studied in the proverbial ivory tower, distanced from the people; only selected elite individuals should be privileged to delve into it. That is why he couldn't relate to the simple, earthly, ugly man; nor could he and his father at first, when they left their cave, understand that in this world, people actually do need to plow and sow! R. Elazar was so holy, so far removed from this world, that he couldn't accept that. It took him and his father another year in the cave, and a rebuke from an ugly man, to realize that although certain individuals should certainly commit themselves wholly to Torah, nevertheless the majority are not like that. Most people do involve themselves in the world around them, and so it should be – as long as they themselves are committed to Torah, and find a place for Torah in their daily lives. The message then is that Torah is not meant to be restricted to “Migdal Gedor”, but is relevant to everyone, at all times and in all places. How important is this as we pursue our college careers, join the workforce, and get involved with the world around us! We all have a special Chelek of Torah, and we must keep this as part of our lives, in all our endeavors!
Please be in touch, you are always all welcome for shabbat or just to come and shmooze! 054-3090892, or ravnoam@orayta.org.
Kol tuv,
Noam Himelstein
I thought that for a Dvar Torah I'd choose something quite relevant, to my mind:
The Gemara (Ta'anit 20b) relates the following fascinating story:
The Rabbis taught: "A person should always be soft like a reed and not hard like a cedar." Once R. Elazar the son of R. Shimon was coming from his teacher's house in Migdal Gedor, riding on a donkey. He was traveling along the bank of the river with a feeling of great joy and a sense of arrogance, because he had learned a great deal of Torah. A very ugly person happened upon him. The ugly person said: "How are you Rebbe?"R. Elazar did not respond. [Rather,] he said: "Empty one - how ugly this fellow is! Are all the people of your town as ugly as you?" The ugly person responded: "I don't know, but you should go to the craftsman who made me and tell him how ugly is the vessel that he made." R. Elazar knew that he had sinned. He got off the donkey, prostrated himself before the other fellow and said: "I have pained you. Forgive me." The man said: "I will not forgive you until you go to the craftsman who made me and tell him how ugly is the vessel he made."
R. Elazar followed him until they came to his town. All the townspeople came out to greet R. Elazar and they said: "Welcome, our Rabbi, our Rabbi, our teacher, our teacher." The ugly fellow said: "Who are you referring to as your rabbi?" They said: "The one who is walking behind you." He said to them: "If this is a rabbi, let there not be more like him in Israel." They said: "Why?" He said to them: "This is what he did to me." They said to him: "Nevertheless, forgive him because he is a great Torah scholar."
He said to them: "For your sake I forgive him, but on condition that he not become accustomed to act this way."
R. Elazar immediately entered [the study hall] and taught: "A person should always be soft like a reed and not hard like a cedar."
This anecdote raises many questions: To which individual did R. Elazar refer to when he spoke of one who is “hard like a cedar"? What caused R. Elazar to respond as he did? Why was the ugly man so reluctant to forgive the Rabbi? What, indeed, is the moral message the Aggadah wishes to teach us? Certainly, that even great men can make mistakes. But there seems to be more. I have learnt this Aggadah many times with different groups of students (but not with Orot girls! Hence the choice of Aggadah!); every time we have uncovered new messages. Many layers of understanding and interpretation can be found in this story; I will suggest only one.
The Talmud (Shabbat 33b) tells us that Rav Shimon bar Yochai disturbed the Roman authorities, and was compelled to go into hiding in a cave, accompanied by his son and closest student, Rav Elazar. A carob tree and a spring miraculously appeared to provide them with food and water. The Gemara continues: They stayed twelve years in the cave. Then Eliyahu came and stood at the opening of the cave, and said "Who will let Bar Yochai know the Caesar has died and his decrees are nullified?" They went out [of the cave] and saw people who were plowing and sowing. He [Rav Shimon] said, "These people are neglecting eternal life and occupying themselves with transient life?!" Every place they gazed was immediately burned up. A Bat Kol [heavenly voice] declared to them, "Did you go out to destroy My world?! Go back to your cave!" They went back in and lingered twelve months, saying, "The wicked are judged in Gehinnom for twelve months." Then a Bat Kol declared, "Go out of your cave."
Rav Shimon bar Yochais` personality deserves an article in his own right; he was an incredible individual, totally devoted to Torah study and removed from the mundane (See for exp. Berachot 35b). But if indeed the “R. Elazar the son of R. Shimon” mentioned in our story is none other than Rav Shimon bar Yochais` son, who hid in the cave with his father, then an amazing message is revealed.
Note the location of his teachers` house: “Migdal Gedor”. A “migdal” is a tower; “gedor” means “fenced in”. Perhaps R. Elazar felt that the Torah was meant to be studied in the proverbial ivory tower, distanced from the people; only selected elite individuals should be privileged to delve into it. That is why he couldn't relate to the simple, earthly, ugly man; nor could he and his father at first, when they left their cave, understand that in this world, people actually do need to plow and sow! R. Elazar was so holy, so far removed from this world, that he couldn't accept that. It took him and his father another year in the cave, and a rebuke from an ugly man, to realize that although certain individuals should certainly commit themselves wholly to Torah, nevertheless the majority are not like that. Most people do involve themselves in the world around them, and so it should be – as long as they themselves are committed to Torah, and find a place for Torah in their daily lives. The message then is that Torah is not meant to be restricted to “Migdal Gedor”, but is relevant to everyone, at all times and in all places. How important is this as we pursue our college careers, join the workforce, and get involved with the world around us! We all have a special Chelek of Torah, and we must keep this as part of our lives, in all our endeavors!
Please be in touch, you are always all welcome for shabbat or just to come and shmooze! 054-3090892, or ravnoam@orayta.org.
Kol tuv,
Noam Himelstein
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