BS”D

Shkolim – 9b

6 Nisan 5784. 05/14/2024

1– Our גמרא quotes the famous ברייתא of Reb Pinchos ben Yo’ir.

וְכֵן הָיָה רִבִּי פִינְחָס בֶּן יָאִיר אוֹמֵר. זְרִיזוּת מְבִיאָה לִידֵי נְקִיּוּת. נְקִיּוּת מְבִיאָה לִידֵי טַהֳרָה. טַהֳרָה מְבִיאָה לִידֵי קְדוּשָּׁה. קְדוּשָּׁה מְבִיאָה לִידֵי עֲנָוָה. עֲנָוָה מְבִיאָה לִידֵי יִרְאַת חֵטְא. יִרְאַת חֵטְא מְבִיאָה לִידֵי חֲסִידוּת. חֲסִידוּת מְבִיאָה לִידֵי רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ. רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ מֵבִיא לִידֵי תְחִייַת הַמֵּתִים. תְּחִייַת הַמֵּתִים מְבִיאָה לִידֵי אֵלִיָּהוּ זָכוּר לַטּוֹב.

We mentioned that this ברייתא is found in other places in ש”ס but with variations to the order.

We paused to discuss:

2– זְרִיזוּת 

The Alter Rebbe in אגרת הקודש כא discusses that אברהם אבינו ‘s virtue of the  עקידה  was primarily due to his  ,זריזות , not the עקידה  itself !

וּזְרִיזוּתֵיהּ דְּאַבְרָהָם אָבִינוּ עָלָיו־הַשָּׁלוֹם הִיא הָעוֹמֶדֶת לָעַד, לָנוּ וּלְבָנֵינוּ עַד עוֹלָם,

כִּי הָעֲקֵדָה עַצְמָהּ אֵינָהּ נֶחְשָׁבָה כָּל כָּךְ לְנִסָּיוֹן גָּדוֹל לְעֵרֶךְ מַעֲלַת אַבְרָהָם אָבִינוּ עָלָיו־הַשָּׁלוֹם,

בְּשֶׁגַּם, כִּי ה’ דִּיבֶּר בּוֹ: “קַח נָא אֶת בִּנְךָ כוּ'”

וַהֲרֵי כַּמָּה וְכַמָּה קְדוֹשִׁים שֶׁמָּסְרוּ נַפְשָׁם עַל קְדוּשַּׁת ה’ גַּם כִּי לֹא דִיבֶּר ה’ בָּם.

רַק שֶׁאַבְרָהָם אָבִינוּ עָלָיו־הַשָּׁלוֹם עָשָׂה זֹאת בִּזְרִיזוּת נִפְלָאָה,

לְהַרְאוֹת שִׂמְחָתוֹ וְחֶפְצוֹ לְמַלֹּאות רְצוֹן קוֹנוֹ וְלַעֲשׂוֹת נַחַת רוּחַ לְיוֹצְרוֹ.

וּמִמֶּנּוּ לָמְדוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ־זִכְרוֹנָם־לִבְרָכָה לְקִיּוּם כָּל הַמִּצְוֹת בִּכְלָל, וּבִפְרָט מַעֲשֵׂה הַצְּדָקָה הָעוֹלָה עַל כּוּלָּנָה

So, too, it is [the merit of] “the eager promptness of our father Abraham” (peace upon him), who hastened to the עקידה  , the binding of Isaac, that stands by us and our children, for ever.

For the akedah itself, which G‑d constantly recalls, is not really regarded as so great a test in relation to the stature of our father Abraham, peace upon him,

especially considering that G‑d Himself said to him, “Please take your son…[and bring him as an offering].”

After all, there have been numerous saintly individuals who gave their lives for the sanctification of G‑d, even though He did not speak to them.

How, then, can this be considered such a great test for Abraham when G‑d Himself commanded him to offer his son?

The point is that our father Abraham (peace upon him) did this with wondrous alacrity, (2:38) for, as the verse testifies, “Abraham rose very early and [himself] saddled his donkey,” in order to demonstrate—to others as well—his joy and eager desire to fulfill the will of his Master and to bring gratification to his Maker.

Indeed, it was from [the example of Abraham], and with the power that he vested within all his descendants, that our Sages (of blessed memory) learned [that alacrity is required] in the fulfillment of all the commandments in general, and in particular with respect to the act of charity, which is superior to them all,

עֲנָוָה – 3

 We mentioned an interesting explanation by the Tzemach Tzedek regarding humility and its opposite – haughtiness/boasting – גאוה וגסות רוח.

In Or Hatorah (ויקרא ג, תשעה) the Tzemach Tzedek poses the question as to why ירבעם בן נבט, who was an outstanding תלמיד חכם on par with אחיה השילוני ,  fell so low turning into an עובד עבודה זרה and convincing others to do the same to the extent that as a result  אין לו חלק לעולם הבא !

Human achievement (or regression) usually follows a path of a ‘step by step’ pattern. We find this in קדושה and the opposite as well. As we see from our גמרא’s enumeration by Reb Pinchos ben Yo’ir of the ‘level by level elevation system’  to achieve  גילוי אליהו.

So what caused  ירבעם בן נבט  to swoop to the lowest step without the usual gradual descent?

The Tzemach Tzedek explains that as the  גמרא  says in סנהדרין

גסות הרוח שהיתה בו בירבעם טרדתו מן העולם. The arrogance,  גאוה  and  גסות רוח  was the cause for his swift downfall.

גאוה  and גסות רוח   have the ability to cause a person to ‘leap’ over the usual degrading steps to hit rock bottom in one swing.

On the reverse end of this spectrum, in קדושה, the same holds true. Whereas the usual methodical step by step system is needed to reach higher and higher, humility ענוה is a ‘ticket’ to jump and leap to a higher plane, bypassing the established route.

See there for more on this.

[We mentioned parenthetically that perhaps this is the reason why in Chumash, when mentioning the נבואה of משה רבינו, which was the highest form of G-D to man communication, פֶּה אֶל פֶּה אֲדַבֶּר בּוֹ,  the פסוק inserts the words   וְהָאִישׁ מֹשֶׁה עָנָיו מְאֹד מִכֹּל הָאָדָם אֲשֶׁר עַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה.]

4 – In relation the fellow כהן  who entered the לשכה  to withdraw the שקלים,  fill up 3 קופות and all the precautions taken to ascertain that there is no pilfering or pocketing any of the שקלים – we mentioned an interesting  תשובה  on this topic. שו”ת תורה לשמה סימן תז. (and referenced here)

Someone wanted to test the honesty of his house servant and came up with the following idea: He would place some cash in one of the rooms in a way that to his servant it would seem that this cash fell out of the owner’s pocket. He would then send this houseboy to fetch something from this room and see if the houseboy pocketed the money!

The question is: by doing so, he would perhaps cause his servant to stealת and that would constitute  לפני עור לא תתן מכשול .

The פסק of the  שו”ת תורה לשמה is that is indeed prohibited.

More so – he prohibits even if one uses the following scheme: He will gift the cash to his servant without telling him. So in case the houseboy does ‘steal’ it, it is not גניבה since it was his to take.

However sat the שו”ת תורה לשמה  even that would constitute  לפני עור לא תתן מכשול since the intention of the houseboy would be to steal it!

ומסיימין בטוב.

A gezunten zummer to all.