BSD
Shkolim -14a
Elul 14, 5784. 09/18/2024
Some of the topics touched upon.
1- Not all people are judged the same. The holier one is, the more exact the One Above scrutinizes him.
“נחוניה the digger of ditches.” He was digging ditches and caves and knew which rock cools the water and which rock was dry and how far its dryness extended. Rebbi Aḥa said, but his son died of thirst.
Rebbi Ḥanina said, anybody who says that the All-Merciful is indulgent (ignores small infractions) , his intestines shall dissolve themselves; for He is forbearing (he collects all the data) and then collects His due.
Rebbi Aḥa said, it is written, His surroundings are very ‘hairy’. Meaning that He is exact with them like a hair’s width. Rebbi Yose said, not because of this reason, but because what is written, He is awesome on His surroundings, His fear on those near Him is greater than those far away.
2- We mentioned the story told by the Arizal about a צדיק that passed away generations ago.
When this person was about to be ‘elevated’ to a higher level in Gan Eden, they redid an ‘audit’ of his life. At this stage, this new ‘audit’ picked up on minute issues that were not brought up before.
What they focused on was ‘some sand that totally unintentionally entered his shoe on Shabbos and he carried it ד’ אמות ברשות הרבים !!!
3- Spoke about the אגרת הקודש סימן יא where the Alter Rebbe addresses the issue of pain and suffering.
Here is an overall synopsis from Chabad.org
https://www.chabad.org/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=9/7/2024.
In this letter, the Alter Rebbe demands spiritual service of a caliber so seemingly formidable as to be attainable only by a chosen few. For in it he calls upon the reader not to desire physical things, even those things that are essential for his well-being and utilized in his service of G-d.
Even such essentials, states the Alter Rebbe, should not be desired for their physicality but for their spirituality, for the spark of G-dliness found within them. So much so that even if a person finds that he is lacking (G-d forbid) life’s essentials, he should not be pained by their absence; rather, he should rejoice in his belief that this is indeed for his good, as shall soon be explained. Such a lofty response to deprivation would seem to be within the reach of only a very restricted elite.
The Alter Rebbe therefore begins this letter in the singular, indicating that every single individual can attain this level of divine service. For it requires only an absolute faith in G-d, and this lies hidden within every Jew; let him but unveil this faith, and he will be able to live by it.
We discussed a phrase at the end of this letter where the Alter Rebbe concludes that everything that occurs to humans is from Above and definitely for the good. One needs to believe that is by Divine Intention all that occurs to him. He quotes a פסוק-.
מֵה’ מִצְעֲדֵי גֶבֶר כּוֹנָנוּ.
The Rebbe explains the choice of this פסוק alluding to the גמרא in Chulin 7b, that even a small wound ח”ו on the toe of of a person is מהשם.
And the גמרא uses this particular פסוק to prove this point.
וְאָמַר רַבִּי חֲנִינָא אֵין אָדָם נוֹקֵף אֶצְבָּעוֹ מִלְּמַטָּה אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן מַכְרִיזִין עָלָיו מִלְּמַעְלָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר {תהלים ל״ז:כ״ג} מֵה׳ מִצְעֲדֵי גֶבֶר כּוֹנָנוּ {משלי כ׳:כ״ד}
Rebbi Yose went up to Kufra and wanted to appoint leaders there, but they did not accept. He came and said before them: “Ben Bavai was ‘only’ an appointee on the wicks of the בית המקדש. Now if he, who was appointed over the wicks and merited to be counted with the ‘leaders’ of his generation, you who are being appointed over the lives of people, so much more.
We discussed both sides of the coin; should a person strive to assume leadership and responsibilities and use the position to help others, or perhaps stay ‘closeted’ and not involve himself with communal affairs?
We mentioned that the above was a discussion between Alexander the Great and the Jewish Scholars.
עֲשָׂרָה דְּבָרִים שָׁאַל אֲלֶכְּסַנְדְּרוֹס מוֹקְדוֹן אֶת זִקְנֵי הַנֶּגֶב …
5- Also mentioned the fact that leaders are best when they have ‘a questionable history’. Lacking that, the power they assume can get to their heads and abuse others ח”ו.
https://shas.alhatorah.org/Full/Yoma/22b.18#e0n6
אָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה אָמַר שְׁמוּאֵל מִפְּנֵי מָה לֹא נִמְשְׁכָה מַלְכוּת בֵּית שָׁאוּל מִפְּנֵי שֶׁלֹּא הָיָה בּוֹ שׁוּם דּוֹפִי דְּאָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן מִשּׁוּם רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יְהוֹצָדָק אֵין מַעֲמִידִין פַּרְנָס עַל הַצִּיבּוּר אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן קוּפָּה שֶׁל שְׁרָצִים תְּלוּיָה לוֹ מֵאֲחוֹרָיו שֶׁאִם תָּזוּחַ דַּעְתּוֹ עָלָיו אוֹמְרִין לוֹ חֲזוֹר לַאֲחוֹרֶיךָ.
Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yehotzadak: One appoints a leader over the community only if he has a box full of creeping animals hanging behind him, i.e., he has something inappropriate in his ancestry that preceded him. Why is that? It is so that if he exhibits a haughty attitude toward the community, one can say to him: Turn and look behind you and be reminded of your humble roots. This is why David’s kingdom lasted while Saul’s did not, as David descended from a family with problematic ancestry, namely Tamar (see Genesis, chapter 38) and Ruth the Moabite (see Ruth 4:18–22).
6- Mentioned the humorous קהילה down under that for the past fifty years has no name, no Rov or any leadership. Here.
From Zev Sero:
Katanga has an official name, Caulfield Beis Hamedrash, but nobody uses it.
https://www.facebook.com/katanga.caulfieldbethhamedrash/
Katanga Today:
On bar mitzvah invitations it says Caulfield Beis Hamedrash, and people have to ask where that is. The answer is, it means Katanga/
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7- Berel brought a model of the מזבח made to scale. Spoke about Reb Levik’s explanation on a difficult passage in the זהר concerning the יסוד. Will continue next week bl”n.
Thanks to YM:
When Dov Levnoni brought a model of the Beis Hamikdash to the Rebbe.
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Amazingly, the Rebbe at a glance noticed the ramp needed to be longer – by three millimeters! model of the Mizbeach: