The Danger of Viewing Mitzvos as Difficult

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

Parshas Beha’aloscha documents the Jewish people leaving Har Sinai, where they had received the Torah. The Midrash (cited by Tosfos in Shabbos 116a) says that the Jews left Har Sinai in the manner of a child running out of school at the end of the day, eager to leave. Yet the verse simply states (Bamidbar 9:23) that they traveled according to Hashem’s word, in the orderly way that Hashem commanded. What is Chazal’s source for claiming that the nation acted childishly?

The Alter of Slobodka has a surprising answer: There is no reference in the verses to this action because it never happened. However, the Jews felt a sense of relief that they were no longer receiving mitzvos. Though they did nothing wrong, something was lurking beneath the surface. On a certain level, they weren’t as happy as they should have been about receiving the mitzvos, and perhaps even saw them as a burden.

Sometimes, we can do everything right, yet lack the proper outlook. In this midrash Chazal are teaching us that such an attitude can take root in anyone—even the Jews who received the Torah at Sinai! Certainly we must be on guard, and daven that we merit to look at the world the way we should. If we start to look at kashrus as a burden, or look at the clock during our learning seder waiting for it to be finished, we should realize that we are acting like the people that we don’t want to be! We want to be inspired, and constantly strive to do more mitzvos. We learn from the midrash to be on the lookout for these negative attitudes.

Viewing Hashem’s service as a burden is clearly not the right way. Worse, it can lead to more severe things. Rav Moshe Schwab, mashgiach of Gateshead Yeshiva, points out that in the parshiyos to come, the Jewish people complained about their situation in the desert. Some even voiced regret for having left Mitzrayim. Rav Schwab explained that these issues didn’t develop on their own. Rather, when the Jews first left Har Sinai and experienced a sense of relief that it was over, this planted the seeds that would later develop into dissension against Hashem Himself! It’s a difficult message to hear, but not being excited about Torah today can mean being completely derailed from Judaism tomorrow.

Rav Moshe Feinstein once said that the most destructive phrase a parent can say in front of his child is, “It’s hard to be a Yid.” Though most of us are careful not to say such negative comments, we should realize that even a sigh, and surely a moan or groan, impart a clear message to our perceptive and impressionable children. When we don’t view service of Hashem as the source of inspiration in our lives, we convey the message that we don’t value a relationship with Hashem. The midrash is teaching us that anybody can fall into such an outlook, and a slight leaning in this direction is already a dangerous step in the wrong direction.

The Gemara (Avodah Zarah 3a) chronicles a dialogue between Hashem and the gentile nations, who argue that they too should have a share in the World to Come. “Give us the Torah and we’ll keep it,” they say. Hashem gives them a small test. If they can keep the mitzvah of sukkah, they can earn their place in the World to Come. All the gentiles hurry to build sukkos and sit inside. Everything seems to be going fine until high noon, when the sun starts beating down on them and it is no longer pleasant to dwell in the sukkah. When the heat becomes unbearable, they leave their sukkos, kicking them on their way out. With this, the Gemara says, the gentiles fail their test.

The question is, why? We know that the halachah is that one is exempt from the mitzvah of sukkah in extreme heat! The answer is: they failed their test by doing something unwarranted—kicking the sukkah when they left.

Still, is this fair? Just because they expressed their dissatisfaction with the sukkah, they lose the World to Come entirely? They want to do mitzvos! Give them another mitzvah and they’ll do it!

The Michtav M’Eliyahu answers that by kicking the sukkah, the gentiles are showing that they don’t belong in the World to Come. The Mesillas Yesharim states that the World to Come is a place where closeness to Hashem, achieved through the performance of mitzvos in this world, comes to a climax of cleaving to Hashem completely. By leaving the sukkah when the mitzvah becomes too hard and kicking it too, they are showing that they did not perform the mitzvah in order to achieve closeness with Hashem, but rather to get the reward. They will never be able to connect to Hashem with that attitude. On the other hand, we understand that the greatness of mitzvos is in the opportunity they provide of getting closer to Hashem.

Rav Aharon of Karlin once told his followers, “There’s a big difference between the way you make a blessing and the way I make one. When you want to eat, it just so happens that, halachically, you need to make a blessing before you do, and that is why you make it. However, when I see an apple, I just want to bless Hashem for making such a wonderful creation. The problem is, I am only permitted to say a blessing if I eat the apple. That is why I eat!”

May we be zocheh to appreciate the preciousness of every mitzvah!