Posted on 11/03/16
[Ed. Note] Out of the respect and recognition of the impact made by longtime BJL friend and contributor, Reb Shaya Gross, z’l, we will maintain a living memoriam to Shaya through the sweet words and thoughtful insights of his Divrei Torah. BJL readers will remember his weekly column on the Parsha and on various Torah ideas and concepts. These meaningful words will help us remember this special young man who will be sorely missed and for those who did not merit to know him, this will be the most appropriate way for them to become familiar with who he was.
A boss once asked his employee to break the rungs of a ladder that was leaning against the roof. The employee climbed up to the second step and broke the first step. Then he climbed up to the third step and broke the second step, and he continued until he broke apart the whole ladder. He finally looked down and realized that there was no more ladder. The boss explained to him that when you are breaking a ladder that is against the roof, you have to work from the top down.
The next day, the boss asked him to break a ladder that was in a pit. This time, the employee started from the top and worked his way down and got stuck in the pit. The boss explained to him that when the ladder is in the pit, you have to work your way up from the bottom.
This is a parable about all of us. With regards to our physical needs and desires, we often tend to not be satisfied with what we have, and rather look up at the people who have more than us and wish we had what they have.
Whereas in our level of spirituality, we tend to reassure ourselves that there are people worse than us, and hence we don’t strive for greater heights. When we act in this way, we are like the foolish employee.
Just like the worker, we need to completely reverse our perspective.
In regards to our physical needs and comforts we should look at those worse than us and say, 'I’m so grateful for what I have, because [s]he has much less.” [I believe this is the trick to achieving true happiness: to be grateful for what you do have by contemplating how much worse it can be.] Whereas in regards to our level of spirituality, we should always reach for greater heights by looking up to people who are more righteous then ourselves and striving to be like them.
[The aforementioned parable is brought in the name of the Ben Ish Chai.]
I think we see this concept in the first pasuk of this week's Parsha.
The Pasuk says “Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generation.” How was he righteous while surrounded by wicked people? The Pasuk answers, “Noach walked with G-d,” i.e. he was never complacent and satisfied with the level he was on relative to the wicked people around him, rather he continuously sought to grow and strive for greatness, as his role model was G-d Himself!
May we all take this lesson to heart: to be thankful and appreciative for what we do have, as there are people who have much less, and to always seek to grow higher by looking up to Yidden greater than ourselves. The former will help us appreciate and enjoy this world much more and the latter will enable us to grow closer to Hashem and gain a greater portion in the world to come. ...........................................................................................................................................
This week was Rosh Chodesh MarCheshvan. Most understand the name Mar-Cheshvan to refer to a bitter month where there are no Yomim Tovim. However based on the Gemara in Megilla, we can understand this month and the terminology 'Mar-Cheshvan' in a beautiful way.
The Gemara says that after one finishes Shemoneh Esray, he must wait a [short] period of time before using the facilities because the Tefilla is still fluent in his mouth and 'rachushai MARACHASHAN sifvasay,' his lips are still moving in prayer. This means that for a short time after we finish Shemoneh Esray we are still 'under the influence of the Tefilla' and hence we must remain in a clean place.
Rav Simcha Bunim of Peshischa and others suggest this same term is the root of the name “MarCheshvan.” After a whole beautiful month of tefilla and so many Yomim Tovim, we shouldn't think that all the holiness of Tishrei is now fading away and it’s all over. Rather, these Tefillos are ‘MARACHSHON sifvasay,’ they are still [figuratively] being mouthed by our lips, hence we can take their strength and influence with us into MARCHESHVAN and the cold winter months ahead!