Cytowanie Komentarza do Przysłów 31:25

Affirming life and performing mitzvot: This episode raises many questions. (Page 57b-60a) It is surprising that the students found it necessary to remind their teachers about reciting the morning Sh’ma. How could they speak so impudently to their teachers? Surely the sages knew this! And since they were engaged in the commandment of telling the story of the Exodus, shouldn’t they have been exempt from other mitzvot? There a rabbinic principle that one who is engaged in a Mitzvah is exempt from other mitzvot? An introduction is necessary to understand the true nature of the dialogue between the students and the sages in this story. Judaism is a religion that affirms life above all else. We can only serve God in this world; when we give up life we loose the opportunity to bring pleasure to the Holy One. We see this in the story of Rabbi Akiva. When he was about to be put to death by the Romans, he began to recite the Sh’ma. His students asked him, “Until here?” Rabbi Akiva responded, “All my life I worried if I could fulfill the commandment to ‘Love God with all your soul.’ Now that this opportunity has come to me shall I not fulfill it?” The students of Rabbi Akiva were distressed that their teacher was prepared to give up his life by fulfilling the mitzvah of martyrdom and lose the opportunity to serve God in this world. They said, “Until here (you will serve God and no more?).” They knew that Rabbi Akiva had the power to deflect the Romans and save himself, and yet he was not prepared to do so; that is why they questioned him. They believed it was better to remain alive and serve God than to die and lose all future opportunities to do so. Like Moses who did not want to die outside the land of Israel, he was willing to give up all the blessings in store for him in the world to come in order to bring pleasure to God in this world through divine service. Rabbi Akiva recognized that he would never have such an opportunity of martyrdom again; to recite the Sh’ma while giving up his soul. He could not pass up such a holy opportunity. The question to Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues in this episode is much the same. The sages in B’nai Brak had reached such a level of ecstasy, and connection to God that they were prepared to give up their souls in ecstasy. They were no longer connected to this world, and their students seeing this wanted to bring them back to the realities of this world and its opportunities. They did so by saying two things to the sages at B’nai B’rak. First, they called out to their teachers, “Rabbotaynu,” our teachers.” In this way they reminded the sages that they would be lost without their teachers. Who would teach them the Torah and God’s commandments? All righteous people actually fulfill their mission in this world relatively early in life and could easily return to their place with God. It is part of God’s grace that he allows us to keep them more time so that they can reach their children and their students in this world. Second, they said to their teachers, “Has not the time for the recitation of the morning Sh’ma arrived?” In Sefer Haredim we learn that the commandment to “Love the Lord your God” means to love your fellow by teaching God’s ways to all humankind, as Abraham did. Abraham is called Ohavi, “My lover,” because he made known God’s presence to all people in the world. A true servant of a king will go out of his way to bring other people to the service of the king as well. As long as a person is in this world, he is capable of accomplishing this goal, but he cannot do so once he leaves this world and enters the world to come. Such a person brings great pleasure to God. When we are dedicated and selfless in the service of God we can do so many times. But when we do so in martyrdom, we can only do so once and never again. This was the meaning of Rabbi Akiva’s students to him. They said: Ad Kan? “Only until here” Are you really prepared to give up the opportunity to serve God?” So too when the students spoke to the sages who were about to let go of their earthly existence they said to them, Are you really willing to give up your souls in this way? It is time for you to recite the Sh’ma – this is a form of mesirut nefesh, selfless devotion – and by reciting the Sh’ma with your entire being it is as if you gave God your very life, and thereby brought him pleasure! This is the meaning of a verse in Eshet Hayil, Proverbs 31:25-26. Strength (oz) and dignity are her clothing; she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom and a Torah of loving kindness is on her tongue. The word oz is a reference to Torah. When one makes the Torah one’s mantel, God reveals the blessings that will be given in the time to come. However, the righteous person merely laughs at them – he would rather bring pleasure to God in this world. Therefore, “She opens her mouth with wisdom,” means that she opens the gates of wisdom from above and arouses great compassion from the source of all compassion in order that the “Torah of loving kindness” shall be on her tongue. The Talmud offers two interpretation of this phrase This means that one either learns Torah for its own sake (without an ulterior motive) or one learns Torah in order to teach it to others. Such Torah brings great pleasure and satisfaction to God. The Zohar says that people who serve God in this way are like those who have sacrificed their very soul to God. When one does this, “She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness ." When Torah is learned for self-aggrandizement, it is considered the bread of idleness. The truly righteous would never consume such “bread” because it does not bring satisfaction to the Creator.

After having had a good look at our paragraph I have also found in it an allusion to our inheriting the celestial regions. The words והיה כי תבא אל הארץ hint that a person has no right to rejoice until he arrives in the land of the higher regions of which Solomon says in Proverbs 31,25: "she looks forward to the יום אחרון, "the final day" with laughter." This means that even a woman of valour such as described by Solomon as the epitome of woman-hood does not permit herself joy in this life. Joy in this life is vanity and רעות רוח, "a vexation of the spirit." The Torah continues with אשר ה׳ אלוקיך נתן לך, "which the Lord your G'd will give to you," i.e. only that land (the hereafter) is called an enduring inheritance. The reason the Torah is careful to say נתן לך, "gives to you," is because all of the treasures of this world are as nothing compared to the gift of an inheritance in the "higher world." No matter how much wealth any one of us has acquired in this world, it would not suffice to acquire, i.e. to buy even the least bit of an inheritance in the hereafter. This is why the Torah can only describe such an inheritance as a gift from G'd not as something we could trade for our assets in this world.

However, it is relevant to know that tzel (“shade”) and huppah (“canopy”) refer to honor, as similar language is used in Isaiah 4:⁸Verses 5 and 6. “For more than any honor shall be a canopy, and a booth for shade in the day-time [to protect one] from the heat.” The meaning is that even though two different people can perform the same mitzvah in an equal manner and receive the same reward in the World of Rewards (Gan Eden), nevertheless, their honor is dissimilar. For one’s honor is dependent on the totality of his actions and his conduct in the World of Living, which essentially is the attire that he will wear in the Heavenly World. Just as it is shameful for a man who is distinguished to sit in a lowly seat and wear ordinary clothing, so does shame envelop the face of ordinary men who sit in esteemed places and wear formal attire, receiving honor for a transitory act that it is incompatible with his character. This is what is written in chapter 2⁹Verse 16. of Habakkuk, when speaking of Nebuchadnezzar, “You are filled with shame instead of glory.” This means that because of their fear of Nebuchadnezzar, they honored him more than was acceptable to his soul and this is why there was “shame instead of glory.” It is written in chapter 3 of Proverbs,¹⁰Verse 35. “The wise shall inherit honor, but as for the fools, they carry away shame.” This means that the wise inherit honor, for it is appropriate and acceptable to them. However, when honor arrives for the foolish it brings them shame, for those who sit at the gates [in the marketplace] speak of how unworthy they are to receive that honor. Similar to the honor for vanities in this world is the honor [to be received from] God in the World to Come – in other words, it is unacceptable to one unless it matches his general strength [of achievements]. This is stated in Tractate Bava Basra 75a, [that in the World to Come, God will make everyone a canopy corresponding to what they deserve], and “each one will be burned because of the canopy of his friend.” Each one will perceive himself as being unworthy of this honor, to benefit from the light emanating from the Face of the Living King in a manner equal to his fellow. Behold, the Kingdom of the Firmament is like the earthly kingdom: just as we see how the king grants honor to a man of valor who deserves the reward of receiving a title of officer of the army or leader of battle, so it may be said that they are the bearers of his kingdom and upon them depends the kingdom’s strength and splendor. It is because of this that he gives them citations of power and splendor, proportional to how each one has excelled in battle. Such is the kingdom of the Holy One, blessed be He, which uplifts those who fight the battle of Torah. It is for this reason that the [Torah] is referred to as a sword, as stated in Tractate Shabbos 60¹¹I found it on 63a. regarding the verse, “Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one, your glory and your majesty”¹²Psalms 45:5. – that the simple meaning of this verse pertains to the study of Torah. Just as His Kingdom, may He be blessed, is uplifted through those who meditate on [the Torah], so she [the Torah] provides strength and glory to those [who study her], as it is written, “Strength and glory are her clothing,”¹³Prov. 31:25. – the glory of God is reserved particularly for the Talmud scholar. This is stated in Tractate Bava Basra 8b, “What does Scripture say of the rabbis? Ravina answered: ‘Those who love Him are like the sun when he goes forth in his might.¹⁴Judges 5:31.’ “The sun represents honor,” as Psalms states,¹⁵84:12. “A sun and a shield is the Lord God. The Lord bestows favor and glory; He withholds no goodness from those who walk in perfect innocence.” This means that Divine Providence is comparable to the sun, as it bestows favor and glory similar to the way the sun illuminates a [particular] thing [causing it] to be [viewed] more favorably than any other, even though [the two things] may be truly similar. See Part 1, chapter 14, of Kadmas Ha’amek for an explanation of this verse.