Torah Determines Nature

In Parshas Beshalach, the Red Sea splits and allows the Jews to pass through it. The Medrash (Shemos Rabba 21:6) states that when Hashem commanded Moshe to split the sea, Moshe asked: “Hashem, You swore that the land would always remain the land, and the sea would remain the sea. How can I change this?”

Hashem replied that from the beginning, the sea had been created on condition that it would split for the Jews when they left Egypt.

However, when Moshe approached the Red Sea, the Medrash states that it refused to split, claiming that it had been created on the third day, whereas man was created on the sixth day, and therefore it did not have to follow Moshe’s orders.

Concludes the Medrash, Hashem stood at Moshe’s right side and the sea split.

The Ohr Hachaim (Shemos 14:27) asks: 1) If Hashem made a condition that the sea would split before the Jews, how could the sea refuse to do this?

2) The sages (Chulin 7a) say that the Tanna, Rebbe Pinchas Ben Yair, split a river in order to continue on his way to fulfill a mitzvah. Why didn’t the river refuse to split for him, too?

Rather, the Ohr Chaim answers that the condition Hashem made was that all of nature is subservient to the Torah and those who toil in its study. Therefore, the river split willingly before Rebbe Pinchas ben Yair. For Moshe, however, the Torah had not yet been given, and the sea was unwilling to alter its nature. Hashem stood to the “right” of Moshe (see Devarim 33:2, where the Torah is referred to as Hashem’s “right”), to show that Moshe was already connected to the Torah he would soon receive.

Nature is subservient to Torah because Torah is the purpose of creation (Rashi, Bereishis 1:31). More specifically, Hashem desires the toil of Jews in Torah (Toras Kohanim, Vayikra 26:3), and therefore those who toil in Torah day and night are the purpose of creation. It makes sense, therefore, that Hashem is ready to change nature in order to help such great men fulfill the world’s purpose. This enabled Rebbe Pinchas Ben Yair to split a river, and throughout the generations, there were gedolim who merited open miracles for the sake of Torah and mitzvos.

It would seem as though affecting creation through Torah study is something possible only for the rare Torah giants of our nation. We see from Pirkei Avos (3:5), however, that to a lesser extent, every Jew can cause the natural world to assist him in his Torah study. “Whoever accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah removes from himself the yoke of the government and the yoke of ‘derech eretz.’” The Midrash Shmuel translates ‘derech eretz’ as “the normal operations of the world.”   When a Jew takes on Torah study as a yoke, the normal operations of the world change to accommodate him.

Rav Chaim of Volozhin adds (Nefesh Hachaim 4:16) that this applies even to a person who cannot accept upon himself the yoke of Torah study at all times. A Jew who must allot certain hours of the day to engaging in a livelihood — if during the time he devotes to learning he immerses himself in it fully, not letting anyone or anything interrupt him, “according to his level he merits that the troubles of this world will not bother him, Hashem will provide him with special protection and will carry out his will” (based on Avoda Zara 19a).

For example, Rav Zilberstein relates that one of the regular participants in a daily Gemara shiur in Bnei Brak was once out of town when he heard a report that traffic on the only road back to Bnei Brak was at a standstill. He prayed to Hashem that he not miss his shiur, and somehow, when he reached the area of the reported traffic jam, he found only smooth flowing traffic.

Also, many Jews can tell of unexpected financial benefits that came their way and made it possible for them to keep to their learning seder.

The Nadvorna Rebbe would tell his talmidim: “Even those of us whose prime or sole occupation is Torah study and teaching must not assume that we have accepted the yoke of Torah. Each of us must make sure that for a few hours every day he learns with every ounce of his concentration, without letting any distractions or even one word of divrei chol in. Even if we cannot learn this way the entire day, these hours are our acceptance of the yoke of Torah.

“How can we reach this level? Think to yourself before you start learning, or even say the words: ‘I am about to embark on the most important deed one can do in this world.’ Imagine two businessmen about to close a major deal. Let’s say one of them gets a phone call, even about something important, will he put the business deal aside and deal with the call? We have to feel at least this strongly about Torah study. If a person develops this attitude, he will be able to learn with such concentration that nothing can distract him!” said the Nadvorna Rebbe.

Rav Elyashiv lived this way. All those around him knew that during his learning sedarim, no one was allowed to disturb him unless it was a matter of life-and-death. Rav Morganstern recalls that once, he was allowed to ask Rav Elyashiv a question as he was learning. He began by politely asking if he could interrupt the Rav for just a moment. Rav Elyashiv did not respond. He raised his voice somewhat, and tried gesturing to get the Rav’s attention, but to no avail. Family members noticed this and told him: “If you don’t go over and tap the Rav on the shoulder, he won’t know that you’re here.”

Once, construction was being done in the room adjacent to where Rav Elyashiv was learning. The deafening noise of a drill was heard throughout the neighborhood, but when Rav Elyashiv was asked later if the noise bothered him, he replied: “Noise? What noise?”

May we be zoche to accept the yoke of Torah!