STAM
TORAH
PARSHAS
TZAV - SHABBOS HAGADOL 5777
“THE GOOD OLD DAYS[1]”
Rabbi Yaakov Levitt of Bialystok related
the following poignant parable[2]:
One day an elderly man from a simple
village became severely ill. His children immediately summoned the best doctor from
the big city to examine him. After a thorough checkup the doctor concluded that
although his condition was very serious, with proper medication the elderly man
would have a complete recovery.
He wrote out a prescription in which he
detailed the exact ingredients necessary to create the elixir needed to restore
his health. Before leaving the doctor gave the family strict instructions.
“Remember to give the patient this prescription three times a day. Dissolve it
in a cup of water and make sure he swallows it. Within a few days you should
see significant improvement.”
The family thanked the doctor and assured
him that they would do exactly as he said. Within a few days however, it was
clear that the patient’s condition was rapidly worsening. They ran to summon
the doctor. “What kind of a doctor are you?” they demanded, “not only has our
father’s condition not improved, it has worsened terribly.”
The doctor couldn’t believe it. He hurried
to the patients’ bedside and shook his head. “I just can’t understand what went
wrong. The prescription I wrote out for you was exactly what he needs to combat
those symptoms. But perhaps I made a mistake. Let me take a look at the
prescription and see if I missed an important ingredient or wrote the wrong
amount.”
The eldest son shook his head, “the
prescription is all gone.”
The doctor was confused. “What do you mean
it’s gone? What happened to it?”
The son explained, “How long did you think
it would last? We followed your instructions to the tee. The day you left we
immediately began ripping up the prescription paper into small pieces and
dissolving it in water which we gave our father to drink. By now he has
consumed the entire paper.”
The doctor was too stunned to speak. “You
foolish people! You complain to me that you’re father did not get better from my
prescription? It’s a miracle that he’s still alive at all. Did you really think
your father would be cured by eating the paper I wrote on? The prescription
paper is only to inform the pharmacist how to make the required medicine. If
you would have followed the advice written on the prescription instead of
having your father swallow it he would be fine now.”
A Todah (thanksgiving) offering was brought
by an individual who survived a perilous situation. But one need not wait until
a tragedy was averted for him to bring an offering of thanksgiving to the
Mishkan/Bais Hamikdash. One was permitted to donate a Shelamim (peace-offering)
any time he so desired[3].
In our daily prayers we ask G-d, “Bless us,
our Father - all of us as one - with the light of Your countenance… And may it
be good in Your eyes to bless Your people Israel
Rabbi Avigdor Miller zt’l noted that in
this blessing we are not requesting new things from G-d, rather we are praying
that the good we have already been blessed with continue. We pray not only that
G-d continues to shower us with blessings and goodness, but that we have the
sense to appreciate what we have.
Very often people look back to years and
decades gone by, sigh nostalgically, and exclaim, “Those were the good old
days!” Rabbi Miller counters that we would be wise to realize that “These
are the good old days!” Perhaps there was a time when we were more vibrant
and youthful. Perhaps there was a time when our lives were more exciting and
carefree. But almost invariably at some point in the future we will look back
to today wonder why we didn’t appreciate it more.
The
wisest of men exhorts us[4],
"Do
not ask why were the earlier days better then now, for it not out of wisdom do
you inquire about this". Shlomo Hamelech urges us not to focus too deeply and
ponder the 'good old days'. Rather, one should appreciate the gifts of the
present and thank G-d for the blessings he has been endowed with. “Go, eat your bread in gladness, and drink your wine in joy… Enjoy
happiness with the woman you love all the fleeting days of your life that have
been granted to you under the sun… For that alone is what you can get out of
life, and out of the means you acquire under the sun.[5]”
Our
problem is that in the daily bustle of life we hardly ever stop to smell the
flowers.
An
insightful and analytical friend of mine recently quipped to me, “I have
finally pinpointed what it is about the way we celebrate Chol Hamo’ed[6]
that bothers me so much.” He explained that in our fast-paced, rapid moving
society we often find ourselves in a relentless pursuit of accomplishment and
success. [The irony is that the furtherance of technology raises our
expectations and demands for efficiency and effectiveness, which in turn
ensures that we have less time, not more.]
Every
six months G-d grants us an elongated week-long Yom Tov (holiday) celebration.
A holiday is called a “Mo’ed” which literally means a meeting place. When one
is invited to a meeting with a respected and important dignitary, everything in
his life aside for that meeting is put on hold. He does not answer his phone,
or check his messages. For the duration of the precious minutes of that meeting
he is completely focused on the meeting.
A
holiday is a Mo’ed in the sense that it is an opportunity for us to get off the
rapid moving cogwheel of life, and to spend a week joyously appreciating the
blessings of our lives, so that we can thereby feel gratitude and connection
with G-d[7].
However, ironically, we have taken Chol
Hamo’ed and transformed it into a stressful and pressurized time - the very
concepts that the holiday affords us an opportunity to escape from! We often
spend the day stressing over where to go and when to leave. The whole holiday
centers around the Chol Hamo’ed plans, which at times metamorphoses into an all
out family feud. [This is not to say that one should not go on family trips
during Chol Hamo’ed. Au contraire! However, the trips should be a time of
familial bonding, a chance to enjoy the family without the daily pressures that
abound.]
In the haggadah we read that while
enslaved in Egypt
Our celebration of the exodus includes the fact that we are no longer
subject to Egyptian oppressive pressure. On the other hand, in our exile we are
still very much plagued by stress and pressure and it inevitably takes its toll
on us, physically and mentally.
In the Shemoneh Esrei of Yom Tov we request,
“Load upon us - Hashem, our G-d - the blessings of Your appointed festivals for
life and for peace, for gladness and for joy, as You desired and promised to
bless us.” The holidays are an opportunity to stop the daily grind so that we
can stop to smell the flowers and count our blessings.
But if we are too busy deciding what to do
during the holiday and how to optimize the holiday then we have failed to
utilize the holiday for what it was intended. We become analogous to the
foolish children who swallow the prescription itself as the medicine instead of
following its instructions.
Of course, both Succos and Pesach have
their own individual meaning that one must contemplate, analyze, and ponder.
But even before one begins to think about the individual uniqueness endemic to
each holiday, one must realize that the holiday itself is a mo’ed - a meeting
not only between a person and his Creator, but also with himself!
If one indeed takes advantage of the mo’ed
he will realize just how much blessing he has in his life, (even if others have
more). The holiday will help him realize the omnipresent miracles that are part
of his life on a daily basis.
It will help him live a life of shelamim,
and not wait to express his gratitude until he has reason to bring a Todah!
“Load upon us the blessings of Your
appointed festivals”
“These are the good old days!”
Rabbi Dani Staum, LMSW
Rabbi, Kehillat New Hempstead
Rebbe/Guidance Counselor – ASHAR
Principal – Ohr Naftoli- New Windsor
[1] The
following is based on the sermon I was privileged to deliver in our shul -
Kehillat New Hempstead – Shabbos kodesh parshas Vayikra 5770. Because of the
timeliness and relevance of this message I decided to record it even though I
just related these words this past Shabbos.
[2] Quoted in
the “Haggadah of the Palace Gates” by Rabbi Shalom Wallach
[3] The
Shelamim was so called because ‘everyone’ received a portion of it. Some of the
animal was burnt on the altar, certain parts were given to the Kohanim, and
some was given to the owner to eat.
[4] Koheles
7:10
[6] The
Intermediary days of Pesach and Succos
[7] The reason for Chol Hamo’ed is that the
Sages realized that a week of absolutely no halachically forbidden work was too
much for people. Based on analytical exegesis of the verses, they concluded
that the Torah only considers the first and last day of the holiday to maintain
the added stringency of Yom Tov, while the remaining days have a mitigated
status of Yom Tov. Thus Chol Hamo’ed is an opportunity to spend time enjoying
the blessings of the holiday, in a less restricted manner than Yom Tov
itself.
[8] See Shemos
“they did not listen to Moshe because of shortness of breath and hard work.”
Also see Mesillas Yeshraim (chapter 2) where he explains that the secret to
Pharaoh’s success was based on the incredible workload which ensured that the
Jews could not contemplate their roots or think about their destiny.
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