A Tzadekes in Our Time

This article here was published in 2002 about Mrs. Henny Machlis a'h and this one here in 2009.  I read them back then, and was amazed.

To my dismay, I read of her tragic passing at the young age of 58 on October 16 - 3 Cheshvan, after a horrible illness here.

I'm seeing new articles about her, here and there.  They tell about her remarkable outlook on life, how she truly believed and did not merely say that Hashem is in charge, how she loved children so that nine out of her fourteen children were born via C-section, how she excelled bein adam la'Makom and bein adam la'chaveiro.  And she was born in Brooklyn, to kind parents to be sure, but it wasn't like she came from an exotic locale, born to a kabbalist, and raised in unusual circumstances.  That's what make her accomplishments that much more incredible as well as doable. 

Not Doing the Best He Can!

Years ago, when I read the line, "S/he's doing the best s/he can with the tools s/he has," to put a positive spin on a negative situation, I didn't buy it.  Who said he's doing his best? I know I'm not doing my best, so why would I think others are?

I recently read an article by R' Fishel Schachter in which he describes preparing a shiur on a daf of Gemara with a Rashi that contains a lengthy mathematical calculation.  He wanted to avoid it altogether but was forced to tackle it.  He spent days on it until he finally mastered it.

He asks, what if he did not have to prepare the shiur? If he had been learning that Rashi with a chavrusa, he would have read it through superficially and moved on.  His thinking would have been, these mathematical calculations are not for me.  He would have believed that he could never understand it and forget about teaching it to others.

So he asks, what do we mean when we say we can't do something? He answers:

"Perhaps we mean: Given my current level of motivation, I can't.
Or, given the amount of resources and time I am willing to invest in whatever it is, I can't.
Or, given my existing level of emuna as to whether the success at the end will justify the effort, I can't.
Or, I am so concerned with failing that I am not willing to really apply myself properly.
Or, I don't fully understand that for all practical purposes I can't do anything without siyata dishmaya."

He concludes, "Let's stop thinking whether we can or can't.  Let's just engage and wait for help to come from Above.  The next time you hear yourself saying, 'I just can't do it,' take a moment to reflect on what you really mean.  The greatest opportunity of your life may be at hand.  Don't miss the call."

Even More Examples

continued from previous post

According to the Arizal, sweating in the preparation of matzos is a tikun for sin and sweating in the preparations for Shabbos is a source of kapara like tears.

The sweat and energy one expends in preparing for Pesach can destroy evil malachim and provide a person with tikun (Kav Ya'Yashar perek 90).

The Tzemch Tzedek declined his grandfather (the Baal Ha'Tanya)'s offer of a bracha for an understanding of Torah, reasoning initially that acquiring Torah needs to be through toiling.  He later regretted this, saying that since Torah is infinite, so no matter how much the bracha would do for him, there was still limitless room for growth.

Likewise, using the available anthologies, compilations, and encyclopedias doesn't mean that effort cannot be applied to learning on a deeper level.

This, and the examples in the previous posts, make me think of ready-made oil and wicks for the Chanuka menorah, ready-made ten pieces of chometz, ready-made salt water, pop-up succas and schach mats, roll-back roofs with no need to construct a succa. 

Should challos be homemade or bought?

Does it make a difference if Shabbos foods are homemade or bought? After all, it's not a "given" that homemade always equals a superior Shabbos experience. 

Sometimes family and guests don't even know the difference if you've made something or bought it! In that case, for the person who made it, making it was significant, it was part of their Shabbos preparations, but for the others? It may make little or no impact (for another angle see: this post )

Then again, if Mommy's special culinary efforts delight her family and guests and they know it can't be bought in a store, it greatly adds to oneg Shabbos and appreciation for her work.

More Examples of Exertion

continued from two posts ago about Exertion

1) In "Once Upon a Chassid" on parshas Naso, there is the story of an old Chassid who refused to drive to Lubavitch but walked despite the difficulty, figuring this is the only zechus he will have, and he doesn't want to share it with a horse. He brings the story on the pasuk which describes Kehas carrying the keilim for the Mishkan on his shoulder rather than on wagons like Gershon and Merari, as Rashi says - because they were carrying holy things, it had to be carried on their shoulder.

2) Rashi parshas Bo 12:34 – they put the remaining pieces of matza and maror on their shoulders even though they had many animals, because they cherished the mitzva.

3) R' Ben-tzion Yadler, a well-known maggid in Yerushalayim, told this story:

I once went with the Rav [Kook] to pay a sick call to one of the founders of the Mussar movement, the brilliant and righteous R' Yitzchok Blazer of Petersburg who lived in Yerushalayim at the end of his life.

Since it was a long walk, I offered to take him by coach.  He refused, saying, "To perform the mitzva of bikur cholim for the sake of a great Torah scholar, I want to go by foot."

4) R' Moshe Alshich comments on the pasuk that tells us to wear tzitzis and assures us that by doing so, we will, "See it and recall all the mitzvos of G-d and perform them." He points out that the reality would appear to be otherwise. Many people wear tzitzis and yet ignore mitzvos on a regular basis?

The Alshich explains that, indeed, merely donning a four-cornered garment that happens to have strings hanging from its corners, will do little to prevent against sin. After all, what special power does such a garment possess to enable us to fend off the overtures of the yetzer hara? Rather, what the Torah intended is for a person to first recognize that he is in the midst of a fierce battle with his yetzer hara and that he needs all the weapons he can muster in this battle. He then must decide that one of the weapons he'll employ in the battle will be a garment that will serve as constant reminder of the need to be vigilant and fight off the yetzer harrah. He then must set about creating such a garment by tying tassels to the four corners of his garment and then, each time he wears the garment and sees the tassels, he'll be reminded of his objective. One who approaches the mitzvah of tzitzis in this manner, will certainly be reminded constantly of the mitzvos and find it a very effective tool against the persistent onslaught of the yetzer hara.

In this comment, Alshich teaches us an important rule about mitzvos and their intended effect. In order to fully experience the benefits of a mitzvah, one must fully engage himself in the performance of the mitzvah. Merely "fulfilling" the mitzvah through an expedited process utilizing off-the-shelf components that have little personal meaning to the individual, will fail to inspire the person or elevate him spiritually. Creating a pair of tzitzis from scratch with the understanding that it is meant to achieve a specific goal, is the only way to reap the benefits from the tzitzis; not by donning a manufactured garment that happens to meet the halachic specifications.

What is True Exertion?

 

A number of years ago, someone wrote an article in a Jewish publication about how wonderful it is that we now have the computer capability to quickly search and find what we're looking for, while learning Torah.

The way he put it was, "no more wasting precious time trying to locate the Rambam, Shulchan Aruch etc", and "no more time wasted finding a sefer or trying to figure out the translation of difficult words."

There was a response in the next issue which took exception to the whole article, bringing up the issue of having computers altogether, as well as the issue of ameilus ba'Torah (exertion in Torah study), that clicking a couple of times to find a source eliminates ameilus ba'Torah.

The author's response was 1) that which is invented can be used for good or bad 2) it got approval from gedolim etc. and 3) "ameilus" does not really refer to hours spent looking around for the right sefer or trying to figure out a translation. He called that bittul zman (wasting time).

My question is: what is true ameilus or yegiah (exertion)?

Over the years, I've collected examples of people exerting themselves for a mitzva when their actions are ostensibly unnecessary:

The story of the Rebbe walking to get mayim sh'lanu (water for matza baking) when overtaken by another Rebbe in a wagon who asked him to join him on the wagon. The one walking said he didn't want to share the mitzva with a horse.

What is the justification for saying this? Would he really be sharing his mitzva with the horse if he rode rather than walked? And maybe if he conserved energy by riding, he could learn more Torah later on?

Or in "Guardian of Jerusalem", p. 134 , R' Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld says he doesn't want to get into the carriage because, "We are involved in saving a Jew's life. I prefer to perform this mitzva on my own, without the help of a carriage."

Or R' Y.Y. Herman ("All for the Boss"), who got out of the wagon to walk in the mud to the Chofetz Chaim.

Or Chasidim walking to their Rebbe instead of riding, or walking to the Kosel (in a story written by Meir Wikler) which took all day for Reb Elya. Was that a waste of time? Maybe he should have taken a taxi and spent the rest of the day learning?

Or the Terumas Ha'Deshen (who precedes the Beis Yosef and is constantly quoted) who objected to the "lazy susan" (a revolving platform) in the beis medrash to make it easier to get sefarim. He certainly wouldn't approve a Torah CD Rom!

Then there is the Gemara in  Menachos about the rav who went to talmid to learn something he (the rav) forgot. Why did he go to the talmid rather than the talmid going to his teacher? Because the yegia would help him.

more examples to follow