BJL apologizes to Rabbi Teichman for not having posted this on Erev Shabbos...
uIf you follow My laws and faithfully observe My commandments,
I will grant your rains in their season… Your threshing shall overtake the vintage…
I will grant peace in the land… I will look with favor upon you and make you fertile and multiply you… I will establish My abode in your midst, and I will not spurn you… I will be your G-d, and you shall be My people. I am G-d your Lord who brought you out from the land of the Egyptians to be their slaves no more, who broke the bars עולכם — of your yoke, and made you walk erect. (במדבר כו ג-יג)
If we set ourselves to the task of putting all our energies in devotion to toiling in Torah and committing to Mitzvos we are assured to be prosperous, live in peace, and flourish as a nation.
The last blessing leaves us wondering.
G-d promises he will break the heavy yoke that weighs us down, allowing us to walk erect with pride.
The Chasam Sofer asks, what yoke is the Torah referring to? The earlier verses depict an idyllic existence, abundant rain and produce, peace and prosperity. What weighty yoke still needs to be revoked?
Rabbi Elazar Ha-Kappar said: ועל כרחך אתה חי — against your will you live,ועל כרחך אתה מת — against your will you will die,ועל כרחך — and against your will you will give an account and reckoning before the King of the kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He. (Avos 4 22)
This teaching seems almost too simple. Does anyone truly doubt that life and death is not in our hands? Could there be meaning to life without accountability?
Life is filled with many 'against your will moments'. We struggle throughout life with many challenges. The battle to make a living, the strain of infirmity, the emotional rollercoaster of relationships and the vicissitudes of life.
Perhaps the Tanna is addressing these 'in spite of it' situations, instructing us to infuse them with 'life' — vigor!
One can thrive in those moments with an awareness that within these circumstances lies my ultimate greatness of character. How one deals with these heavenly ordained proving grounds will determine one's measure of success in life.
Against your will, Live!
Alexander the Great once posed a question to the Elders of the South. He said to them: What must a man do [and thereby ensure] that יחיה — he will live? They said to him: Such a man must [figuratively] ימית — kill himself, [by living moderately].
Alexander further inquired: What must a man do [and ensure] that ימית — he will die? They said to him: יחיה — [Such a man must] keep himself alive, [i.e., lead an extravagant and indulgent life.] (Tamid 32a)
When we quash our instincts to provide our material wants and emotional needs, disallowing those urges to interfere with our elevated goals, we begin to experience life.
When we succumb to our instinctive desires, at the expense of our spiritual opportunities, we initiate the process of death.
One day, Rabbi Elazar Ha-Kappar reminds us, we will be judged on all our על כרחך — 'against our will situations', and how we dealt with them.
Did we grab them by the proverbial 'horns' stifling our instincts for comfort and maintain our routines of Avodas Hashem, invigorating ourselves in those endeavors?
Or did we indulge and died a thousand deaths in the course of our lives?
The Talmud in Shabbos (33a) records how after Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai left the cave after thirteen years, Rabbi Pinchas ben Ya’ir, his son-in-law, heard and went out to greet him. He brought him into the bathhouse and began tending to his flesh. He saw that Rabbi Shimon had cracks in the skin on his body. He was crying, and the tears fell from his eyes and caused Rabbi Shimon pain. Rabbi Pinchos said to Rabbi Shimon, his father-in-law: Woe is me, that I have seen you like this. Rabbi Shimon said to him: Happy are you that you have seen me like this, as had you not seen me like this, you would not have found in me this prominence in Torah.
Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the exemplar of Avodas Hashem, clearly 'lived' through the tortuous years of isolation and deprivation with this sense of על כרחך אתה חי — in spite of it all, I will thrive!
There is a famous poem sung on Lag B'Omer, with the refrain ואמרתם 'כה לחי' רבי שמעון בר יוחאי — And you shall say "Thus, he lives!", Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai.
This phrase seems to express that Rebbe Shimon still lives though he passed to a higher realm.
This sentiment though appears much earlier in history. Naval was a wealthy man who owned a lot of sheep. King David's men had provided protection to Naval's sheep. When Naval celebrated with a feast, King David instructed his men to greet him with this blessing of כה לחי — So shall you be living [next year]! They requested to partake from the food, but he refused, disparaging King David in the process.
The Zohar says that King David knew he was evil, but his intention of expressing this greeting was actually directed to G-d. כה is a reference to the Divine Presence, as the verse often states, 'כה' אמר ד' — So said G-d. The word לחי refers to the One Who is the 'חי' עולמים — life force of both worlds.
When facing a challenging moment, he utters כה! — So, this is divined by G-d to be, לחי — I will infuse it with meaning by following the dictate of a 'living' G-d.
Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai too, lived by the credo of כה לחי, realizing that within 'against my will' encounters lies the secret of real 'life' and true happiness.
We return to the earlier query regarding what yoke is left to break off.
The Chasam Sofer explains that one might have thought that when undertaking a life of service to G-d, it would entail depriving oneself from comfort and carrying a taxing load. G-d assures us that if one truly is determined to undertake the challenge, one will be assured the 'sense' of burden will disappear.
May we defiantly declare כה לחי to all the על כרחך — against your will moments we will inevitably face in the journey of 'life'!
באהבה,
צבי יהודה טייכמאן
