Vayikra

פרשת ויקרא

“And G-d called to Moshe and spoke to him from the Ohel Moed saying…” The Midrash in Vayikra Rabba 1:15 learns that Moshe’s waiting to be called to the Ohel Moed was a special act of derech eretz. Even though Moshe was a welcome guest and knew G-d expected him to enter the Ohel Moed, Moshe nevertheless stood outside, patiently waiting to be called in. Unless Hashem called him, Moshe would never have entered. The Midrash notes that we see from here how central derech eretz is. In fact, the Midrash even says that any Talmid Hacham who doesn’t have derech eretz is worth less than a animal carcass. The Midrash emphasises this point in an interesting way, calling derech eretz “daas”, which normally is defined as knowledge. A question we must ask is why the Midrash linked these two terms. Also, we must ask what drove the Midrash to make such a radical statement about people who lack derech eretz and why it specifically considered such people to be worse than animal carcasses. Is someone who forgets to say thankyou really more detestable than a rotting mule on the side of the road???

The Maharal and the Sfas Emes define daas as something more than just knowledge of  the intellect. In truth, daas is the integration of what one learns. To be effected and changed by the wisdom one attains is what the goal of all hachma really is. The Torah isn’t an academic subject like math or english. It’s whole purpose is to help a person evolve and relate properly to the world around him. If one’s knowlege of Torah is superficial and doesn’t lead him to change his life, he is not using the Torah in the way it is meant to be used. That’s why our first request of Hashem in the Shmone Esrei is that he “grants us ‘daas’”. Since the center of our lives is Talmud Torah and the center of Talmud Torah is integrating the Torah into ourselves, our most basic need as Jews is to have the Torah penetrate our hearts.

However, if one fails to integrate Torah on a personal level, he is missing out on the main thing the Torah is really all about. Each person has many tendencies that can pull him away from acting properly. It’s actually almost impossible for a person to not have a least one deviant character trait. The Torah was designed so that a person may use it to address his personal issues. As the gemara says in Kiddushin 31 “I created the yetzer hara and I created the Torah as an antidote”. With the Torah, a Jew is expected to apply what he learns and uproot the qualities of himself that are negative. This is our entire avoda. However, if one merely continues his life without changing and acts as if everything were normal, he is disregarding the entire purpose of why he was put here in this world. Interestingly, to work past our problems and to rise above our nature is really what makes us different than animals. Animals are purely instinctual. They behave the way they are programmed with no choice to do otherwise. There is no consciousness of self-improvement and there are no goals of spiritual perfection. They are what they are. With this we can now understand why the Midrash was so harsh about a person who disregards integrating what he has learned, even calling him more worthless than an animal carcass. An animal although completely dominated by his instincts and tendencies, at least does what he was created for. Even an animal carcass can serve some purpose. One can use its fur to make coats and non-Jews can even eat its meat. However, a person who doesn’t learn how to relate properly to the world around him, is squandering everything that makes him human. He is actually worse than an animal. He lives in a state completely guided by his instincts and despite the fact that he has free choice, he doesn’t exercise it. By doing this, he renders the very essence of his existence to be completely worthless.

What’s incredible about the Midrash that was cited above is that Moshe Rabbeinu’s waiting to be called in to the Ohel Moed was the best way to illustrate this principle. It seems that the Midrash is telling us that if Moshe had hypothetically walked into the Ohel Moed without being called in, it would have been a great fiasco. Moshe, who had such intimate knowledge and awareness of Hashem, was expected to have special sensitivity in how to behave. For Moshe to walk in without previously being invited, would have been a great violation of derech eretz and a strong indication of there being a gap between what he knew and what he had actually integrated into himself. We can see from here that not only is the Torah concerned that we have to work on ourselves when we have destructive character traits, but even when we grow to become lofty servants of G-d, the responsibility to integrate our knowledge into our behavior just becomes greater.

There are many people who struggle with their avodas Hashem and lose hope of being able to change. Whether such tendencies are natural or have been developed by way of habituation, one can come to believe that his actions have become so a part of himself that he can’t get rid of them. Some behaviors are even triggered by impulses beyond personal control. So how can Hashem expect uprooting something that is almost automatic? I believe that our Midrash gives us the answer. All a person really needs in order to change is daas. The fact that the Midrash could criticize a person for not integrating what he learns in an indiscriminate matter shows us that Hashem really believes that everyone has the power to change and gain the knowledge that will allow them to improve themselves. Even an addict is capable of acquiring daas!!! It may be true that in order to get daas for certain problems, a person must focus on those areas in particular. Rav Yisrael Salanter’s best advice for a person struggling with a specific problem, was to read various works of Mussar and sayings of Hazal that deal with the subject. Additionally, by reflecting on the trait you want to change, what’s stopping you, and what your goal is you can succeed in overcoming very difficult issues. However, the general rule is that the more daas you have, the more capable you are of dealing with any problem and of course Hashem will help.

I think it’s also important to look for role models who can inspire us to strive for the  acquisition of daas. My father z”l, is an inspiration for anyone who is truly thirsty for growth in this matter. My father had a serious seder in every mussar sefer. He would go into them with great depth and constantly review the points he would bring out from his discoveries. I also never remember him coming for Shabbos or Yontif, without bringing along a Mesillas Yesharim or some other mussar sefer. He never thought to borrow any of my sefarim. To him, his copy of Mesillas Yesharim was a real companion. A short while ago, I bumped into an old friend of my father. He started telling me how special he was and how he never met anyone who had so much self-discipline. He also told me that my father gave him a mussar book to read and until today, he can’t go to sleep without reading it. I believe that the fact that my father was so dedicated to internalizing the Torah, allowed him even the ability to effect others in striving to do the same.

May we all be zoche to get daas and be the people Hashem wants us to be!!!