STAM
TORAH
PARSHAS
BEREISHIS 5777
“HOLD
ON”
Rabbi Emanuel Feldman relates the
story about a Jewish adolescent who was raised by his irreligious parents in
the assimilated life of the city. One summer his parents sent him to live with
his Orthodox grandparents in the suburbs. Throughout the summer his Bubby and
Zaydei instilled within him an appreciation for the beauty of a Torah life. He
kept Shabbos, ate only Kosher, prayed three times a day, and put on tefillin
each morning. Then, on the final day of the summer vacation his parents arrived
to bring him back home. With tears in his eyes he placed his hand on the mezuzah,
kissed it, and called out, “Goodbye G-d! I’ll see you next year!”
Rabbi Sholom Shwadron zt’l, the great
Maggid of Yerushalayim, remarked that the wily Satan is aware that during the
days of awe he will not be wholly successful in deterring Klal Yisroel from
their passionate confession and remorseful repentance. So he makes a nonverbalized
pact with every one of us: “Elul and Tishrei are yours; but as soon as Cheshvan
comes, you’re mine!” He bides his time until the holidays have ended, and life
resumes its normal course. Then he seeks to thwart all our attempts to improve
by resorting us to the way things were before.
So how do we combat this overwhelming evil
inclination that ‘attacks’ us as soon as the holidays are over and the cold
chill of winter sends a shiver down our spine?
Someone once met Rabbi Mendel Kaplan zt’l
after Yom Tov and cordially asked him how his Yom Tov was. Rav Mendel shrugged,
“I don’t know.” He then smiled and told the puzzled questioner, “Come back to
me in a few months and ask me then how my Yom Tov was.
Yomim Tovim are meant to be times of spiritual
service and soulful elevation, when a Jew counts his blessings and seeks a
closer connection with G-d.
Every Yom Tov has its own unique blessing
and each fills our spiritual chalice with unique spiritual blessing to help us
endure the vicissitudes and challenges of the year. This is the meaning of the
prayer we recite during Yom Tov, “
והשיאנו ה' אלקינו את ברכת מועדיך- Hashem our G-d may You load us up with the blessing of Your
holidays.” Rav Yitzchok Hutner zt’l would quip that one who says ’Yom Tov is
over’ has missed the point of Yom Tov. It is not just an event, but rather an
experience.
This is the message Rabbi Mendel was
conveying. If in a few months he still felt the impression of the Yom Tov, only
then he can know that it was ‘a good Yom Tov’.
After eating the fruit from the Eitz Hada’as
(Tree of Knowledge), the Torah relates that Adam become cognizant of the fact
that he was unclothed. Hashem then called out to him with the word - “Ayeka- Where are you?”[1]
The Maharal explains that when the pasuk
says that Adam realized he was unclothed it does not mean physically, but
spiritually. He had one commandment to fulfill, and he was now bereft of that
mitzvah. When Hashem called out to him, “Ayeka,”
He was lamenting Adam’s pitfall from pristine purity to a state of sin.
Meiam Loez notes that it was this same
complaint that G-d made to Klal Yisroel some three and a half thousand years
later at the time of the destruction of the first Bais Hamikdash. Yirmiyahu
Hanavi cried out - “Eicha”. The word
‘Eicha’ is composed of the same
Hebrew letters as ‘Ayeka’. In essence,
G-d’s complaint to Klal Yisroel was the same as His complaint to Adam: “My
children, where are you? How could you have allowed yourself to fall into such
a sad and denigrated state?”
Chazal say that the Satan becomes
‘confused’ through the blowing of the shofar and the shaking of the lulav. Tosafos
explains that his confusion is the result of seeing the overwhelming zeal and
burning passion of Klal Yisroel to perform these mitzvos. His greatest
prosecution is to claim that all of our actions are only out of habit and rote.
So when he sees our excitement in performing the mitzvos he becomes stymied. However,
Satan is no novice. Instead he waits patiently until the “Holiday Season” is
over, and then he makes his move.
Perhaps that is why the month immediately
following Tishrei is known as ‘MarCheshvan- Bitter Cheshvan”. Being that the
month of Cheshvan possesses no holidays or ‘marked times’ it is deemed a
‘bitter’ month.[2]
It is perplexing that the month be given such a harsh title, perhaps it should
be called, “Stam Cheshvan - the plain Cheshvan”. Why bitter?
The Ba’alei Mussar explain that there is no
such thing as ‘spiritual stagnancy’.[3]
No one remains on the same spiritual level for any period of time. Either one
is rowing or he is slipping.
The Jewish people learn not only from its
triumphs, but also from its downfalls and defeats. Thus, even the days marked
as ‘tragic’ days on the Jewish calendar carry lessons, and specific pathway for
growth.
Throughout the year a Jew learns to channel
every one of his emotions in a spiritual way. Adar/Purim is a month of laughter,
while Tisha B’av is a time of hopeful tears. Rosh Hashana/Yom Kippur are days
of awe, while Succos is a holiday of blissful joy, etc. Even tragic holidays
and the “minor holidays” contain endemic lessons: Asarah B’teves is the darkest
time of the year when the enemy laid siege around Jerusalem, symbolizing the
siege around our souls in exile. On Tu B’shvat the sap begins climbing the
trees, representing hope and revival. The list continues throughout every month
of the year.
The month of Cheshvan however, lacks this
mode of unique and specific growth. Because Cheshvan does not have this
modality for growth it is deemed as a month of bitterness.[4]
When there is such holiness and greatness gained during the previous months and
now there is a void, there is inevitably ‘bitterness’.
So this is our challenge. As we bless and
welcome the month of Cheshvan, we also seek to sweeten the bitterness of the
month, by growing with our every day, despite not having any special holidays.
Cheshvan affords us an opportunity to focus more on the sanctity and incredible
gift of Shabbos each week. As we commence the reading of the Torah we also grow
with the beautiful lessons of our holy Avos, and remind ourselves how to live a
life of Kiddush Hashem even amid challenges.
May we keep the flame of Tishrei and all of
its holidays with us, to warm us throughout the winter, and throughout the
year.
“Ayeka- Where are you?”
“Load
us up with the blessing of Your holidays”
Rabbi Dani Staum, LMSW
Rabbi, Kehillat New Hempstead
Rebbe/Guidance Counselor – ASHAR
Principal – Ohr Naftoli- New Windsor
[2] Sefer
HaToda’ah. See there where he adds a second explanation beased on the fact that
the word Mar also means a raindrop (See Yeshaya 40:15). The month is called
MarCheshvan because it is when the rainy season begins.
[3] In the
words of Rav Hutner (Purim 1976) “There
is no Switzerland in the neshama; no neutrality!”
[4] Although
the month of Elul may not have a specific holiday, the whole month carries with
it a special spiritual service that is vital to the yearly cycle of a Jew.