פרשת בהר
This week’s Parsha opens with the laws of the Shmitah year in which the Torah commands us to work the land for six years, and on the seventh year, to allow the land to lay completely fallow. The Midrash attempts to give us a proper understanding of the strength needed to adequately fulfill this commandment by quoting another verse which says, “The legions of Hashem bless Him, and these are His servants who do His will with tremendous might”. The Midrash is demonstrating to us that to keep the laws of Shmitah requires great inner resolve because it is not a one time commandment like most of the ones mentioned in the Torah, but rather it demands constant determination over the course of an entire year. A farmer literally has to watch his produce rot in the field, knowing that with a little care, he can ensure his families’ sustenance for that year. He must ignore that sentiment and put his trust in the Creator of the Universe that even though neglecting his field makes no sense on a practical level, everything is going to turn out okay. This is truly a great act of fidelity, and is not for the faint of heart. Only a Jew who has completely subjugated his heart to serving Hashem will be successful in mustering the strength needed to properly observe these challenging laws.
Later on in the Parsha, the Torah discusses the chapter dealing with the laws of a Jewish slave, who must indenture himself to feed his family or to repay a debt. The Torah is very clear however, that this period of servitude must end after six years, and that a Jewish slave should not opt to continue his servitude at the end of the six year period. This is because doing so would cause a Jew to forget the fact that he is already a slave to the Master of the World, and in order to fulfill his Heavenly obligations, he needs to be a free man. This is because even though a Jew may be able to physically keep the commandments of the Torah while being an indentured servant, his mind and his heart will not be free to serve Hashem. If a Jew forgets this fact, he is treated very harshly and must have his ear pierced by a large awl as an acute reminder that he is deviating from his true purpose on this earth.
What does it mean to be a servant to Hashem? A true servant must not only give all of his physical and spiritual energy to his master, he must also completely subjugate his opinions to his master’s will. Even when his master commands him to do things that make no sense to him, he must fulfill these rules with the same alacrity and enthusiasm as he would a command which appealed to his intellect. This demonstrates a complete humility and trust in the master that although the master’s words seem counterintuitive, he is confident that the master’s ability to understand the situation is superior to his own. We too have a responsibility as Jews to treat Hashem in this manner, as we demonstrated at Mt. Sinai when we said those fateful words, “Na’aseh V’nishmah”. We committed ourselves to serving Hashem completely, regardless of whether or not that service appealed to our feeble intellect because we accepted Him as our uncontested monarch.
R’ Goldvicht used to expound on this point by quoting a Gemorah in Megilah, (14) which asks why we do not say Hallel on Purim. The Gemorah explains that since we were still under Achashverosh’s dominion, it would be inappropriate to say Hallel. R’ Goldvicht explains that when we are under the authority of a ruler of flesh and blood, there is no way we can be in the necessary headspace to properly serve Hashem. This is because a true servant can only have one master. As pleasant as any country may be to live in, and as nice as that particular ruler may be, a human heart is incapable of bifurcating itself in such a way in which it can be fully faithful to two different masters. However, he goes on to explain that while this is true for the masses, there are unique individuals who are capable of seeing beyond the physical ruler of any given time, and coronating Hashem as their uncontested ruler. This can be illustrated by the Mishnah in Avos which says, “Anyone who accepts upon himself fully the yoke of Heaven, is exempted from the yoke of livelihood and government”. This Mishnah is saying that if a person chooses to view Hashem and His statutes as his sole modus operandi, even in the face of powerful external influence, than by definition he will always be a free man because he is only subjugated to the laws of the Torah. The Gemorah says that there is no such thing as freedom accept for a person who sits and toils in Torah. This is because if a person has chosen to make the Torah his law, and Hashem his ruler, than he accepts initiative from nothing and no one else. If, on the other hand, his commitment to Torah study and observance is dependant on his level of comfort, and the myriad of other possible excuses and hindrances that could come his way, then by definition he will never be truly free because he will always be partially subjugated to those other influences.
Many Bar Mitzvah boys celebrate that momentous occasion by completing a tractate in the Talmud, or a quantity of Mishnayos, but there was a unique young man around a century ago, who had something else in mind. The Chazon Ish at his Bar Mitzvah, got up at the podium, and quietly announced that from then on, he was accepting upon himself to study Torah solely for the sake of Heaven for the rest of his life. At his funeral, one of the speakers got up and said that every great accomplishment the Chazon Ish managed to achieve, was due completely to that one decision which the Chazon Ish had made so many years ago. When R’ Dovid Soloveichik from Brisk heard about this eulogy, he explained to his students that the man giving that speech was trying to pacify himself and all the other funeral goers as to why the Chazon Ish reached such incredible levels in his learning, and none of us can come near him. When the Brisker Rav heard this explanation from R’ Dovid, his son, he agreed with it, but he added that he had a much simpler explanation. Because the Chazon Ish had accepted upon himself to learn Torah under any circumstances, he therefore did not allow anything else to distract him and spent his life learning consecutively without ever stopping. For this reason, he was able to merit to reach such incredible levels notwithstanding his other commitment to learn for the sake of Heaven. We, who learn only when it is convenient for us, can never reach that level.
May we all merit to muster the strength it takes to serve Hashem faithfully, with all our being!