Posted on 04/01/22
We herald the month of Nissan and all the special mitzvos associated with by reciting Parshas Hachodesh.
The opening statement begins with the recording of the very ‘first’ mitzvah given to us as a nation, החדש הזה — this month, לכם— shall be to you, entrusting the designation of months and the calendar year — with all its consequences — to our sages to implement.
One of the greatest sages of his generation, Rabbi Elazar ben Arach, once took a vacation with his wife, partaking of vintage wine and enjoying the local hot springs. He was summoned for an aliyah on this very portion. As was customary in those days the oleh would read himself. When he came to these words he misread the letters ד,ז and כ, replacing them with ר, י and ב, saying instead, הַחֶרֶֹש היה — deaf were, לִבָּם — their heart.(שבת קמז:)
Although these letters are closely similar and easily confused, nevertheless that a sage of his proportion should err on such a familiar verse, is striking.
One of the great Kabbalists, Reb Shimshon Ostropolier, asserts that there is a klippah — a negative spiritual force called רִיב — which is the ‘master of forgetting’, that infiltrates the hearts of sages causing them to forget.
The very title of this impure influence literally translates as ‘dispute’, indicating that one who is contentious may fall victim to forgetting his Torah.
The Talmud merely attributes his reading error and subsequent forgetting his learning to his indulging in pleasure. The Midrash, however, relates how Rabbi Elazar ben Arach wanted to rejoin his colleagues in Yavneh. His wife convinced him to remain saying that since he was greater than his friends it was appropriate that they come to him, rather then he go to them. Rabbi Elazar ben Arach listened to his wife, and over time forgot all his Torah learning. (מדרש קהלת ז ז)
This had at least some element of ‘quarrel’, justifying the influence of ריב.
The greatest irony in all of this is the fact that in Pirkei Avos Rabbi Elazar was extolled for his sterling attribute of possessing a לב טוב — good heart.
Why does a taint of self-indulgence or a sense of entitlement result in forgetting one’s Torah knowledge?
Why of all places did this deficiency become evident specifically on the verse that discusses the designation of months?
Rav Elazar ben Arach was admired by his illustrious teacher, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, as a מעין המתגבר — spring flowing stronger and stronger.
A spring constantly generates fresh water. To the naked eye it is a miraculous phenomenon. The Torah scholar whose fount of knowledge flows stronger often exceeds natural ability.
The world as we know it appears to have been a onetime creation that continues to exist. But we know that G-d creates the world anew ‘every day’. The power of creation regenerates each day perforce the Torah that fuels it. The Torah is what connects us to the Source of All Life. It is in that complete connection, when unimpeded by foreign entities of material matter and interests, that enables us to access that constant infusion of eternal wisdom that powers our own creativity in Torah as well.
The dependency of the seemingly natural uninfluenced movements of the moon on the sages determining the new month, is an assertion that the natural world is solely contingent on Torah and its dictates. The nature of an animal to establish a pattern to gore on specific days of the Jewish month and not on others, to be accountable for full damages as a Shor Muad on those days only, is contingent on the halachic date of the month according to the sages initiating the new month, even when at times it may be one day off from its astronomic date.
The ‘new month shall be yours’ is G-d declaring that we can become wellsprings of Torah beyond our natural ability, recreating new strengths endlessly.
But there is one caveat. If we clog our hearts with indulgent pleasures, or expressions of self-interest and promotion, the connection becomes weakened and at times shut down.
The ‘quarrel’ that stimulates forgetfulness is not the disputes we have just with one another, but rather it is the struggle and battle to overcome the forces of physical instinct that deters us from connecting fully with the reality of Torah.
At those moments we lose possession of the creative spirit flowing through our veins, ‘deafened’ to the summons from above to reconnect to the source of real-life.
We had been fortunate to live in a generation that possessed a ‘spring that flowed stronger and stronger’ in the persona of the Sar HaTorah, Reb Chaim, who's legendary לב טוב and total detachment from the distractions of the physical world, empowered him to access a reality beyond nature, and sharing his magnificent Torah wisdom with all.
May we discover new strengths by disengaging from the selfish pursuits that deaden our spiritual antennae, and flow with a renewed and exciting opportunities of engagement in Torah and Mitzvos.
באהבה,
צבי יהודה טייכמאן