Posted on 06/16/22
Remarks delivered at the Talmudical Academy H.S. and 7th and 8th grade Hadran Alach celebration
It is a privilege to speak to such an enthused audience who have been gathered here to celebrate the culmination of the unique Hadran Alach project here at T.A. The energy in the room of several hundred of you engaged in such intense and inspired learning of Torah is palpable.
This is not only a testament to your devotion, but perhaps even more so to your remarkable Rabbeim, who I am each personally acquainted with, that have infused such a distinguished level of enthusiasm for Torah within you, that has translated into this extraordinary explosion of Ahavas HaTorah.
When Moshe ascended Har Sinai to receive the Torah the Gemara describes how he observed Hashem ‘securing crowns upon each of the letters of the Torah’. Hashem wonders why Moshe is just standing there and not offering a greeting of Shalom. Moshe responds that he did not deem it respectful for a servant to simply greet his master. Hashem then informs Moshe that he should have assisted Him. Moshe immediately expresses, And now — may the strength of the Lord be magnified...(שבת פט.)
Rav N.Y.M. Steinmetz, the Skvere Dayan of Boro Park suggests a fascinating interpretation of this mystical dialogue.
The Gemara teaches that if one observes a student who is struggling with his learning it is due to his teacher, who did not show him a friendly countenance. (תענית ח.)
We have a tradition that the appellation ישראל is an acronym for the sentiment יש ששים רבוא אותיות לתורה — there are 600,000 letters in the Torah. Each one of us is rooted in one of the letters of the Torah that infuses us with ‘life’ and compels us to express the brilliance of Torah in the lives of devotion to those ‘letters’, adhering to the ‘letter of the law’ in our actions that reflect its message.
From the inception of the Torah’s giving Hashem assured that He would place ‘crowns’ upon each of His children, the veritable ‘letters’ of His Torah, lest anyone of His cherished children ever feel rejected from or incapable of this noble task.
Moshe and all his subsequent disciples forged in his image — the future teachers of Torah — would be charged with this mission of instilling the worthiness and greatness inherent with each student, each on their level, for all eternity, prodding them in that validation to radiate the beauty of Torah in all their endeavors according to their abilities.
But there much more to this mission than just preserving the ‘holy letters. We must create new ones.
When the nation was notified by the lifting of the cloud from atop the Mishkan indicated to the nation it was time to decamp and start traveling. When the Aron began its travel, Moshe woud express the famous words we recite when the Torah is removed from the Ark — Arise, Hashem, and let Your foes be scattered, let those who hate You flee from before You. When it rested Moshe would say the phrase we express when returning the Torah to the Ark — Reside tranquilly, O, Hashem, among the myriad thousands of Israel.
This two-sentence passage is sandwiched between two inverted Nuns. The Gemara records an opinion that this section is a ‘Sefer’ unto itself, virtually breaking the book of Bamidbat into three separate books.
The Chida quotes in the name of the Mekubalim, the mystics, that this ‘book’ will be fully revealed one day and consist of a size equal to the others.
It is the life and times of the struggles of all the generations that succeeded against all odds to survive and transmit the message of Sinai, that will fill the chapters of this book revealing new insights of Torah.
The inverted Nuns represents the ‘fiftieth gate of wisdom’ that is withheld from, thus its inversion, that will one day be revealed into a large ‘book’.
Perhaps the eighty-five letters that comprise these two verses, numerically equal to the word פה — mouth, is a reference to the expanded ‘oral law’ that evolves from our devoting to, and delving into, the תורה שבעל פה — the Oral Law, applying it to the numerous challenges we face, overcoming the difficulties and remaining loyal to its dictate. (נחל קדומים, כסא רחמים מסכת סופרים)
The Baal haTurim points out that the first verse — ויהי בנסוע possesses the same number of words — twelve, as the very last verse of the Torah, with the second verse — ובנחה יאמר having seven words equal to number of words in the very first verse in Torah.
These two sentiments evidently embody the very mission of all of Torah. That is to adhere to it, allowing it to lead us in battle of our physical enemies and the more significant internal foe— the Evil Inclination, who can only be defeated by our commitment to the Torah. Our ultimate safe return to the embrace of the Divine Presence, the endgame as expressed in the second verse.
Years ago, I relayed a story regarding a small Sefer Torah written upon expensive deerskin commissioned by a Jewish merchant who carried it with him through his many journeys as an anchor against the strong waves of temptation. It was later inherited by his grandson who managed to sequester it during his sojourn in Auschwitz, clandestinely reading from it, inspiring so many with its presence amidst the darkness. During the end of the war, its owner, while on the notorious death march, was riddled with bullets falling to his death with the Torah hidden beneath his clothing, seemingly lost forever.
In 1976, his grandson, a journalist living in Israel, while engaging in business in Vienna discovered a trove of Sifrei Torah in the cellar of the Shul he frequented in Vienna on Shabbos.
Among the remnants of a glorious past that was decimated by our enemy he found his grandfather’s Torah.
It made its way back to Israel where it went through several stops finally ending up in the settlement of Chemed.
The mantle was inscribed with the following words:
וחי בהם, משפחת הלמן, ויהי בנסוע הארון...מונקטש-אושוויץ-וינה-רמת גן-קדומים-חמד
And you shall live by them, the Helman Family, When the Ark would journey...
Munkatch-Auschwitz-Vienna-Ramat Gan-Kedumim-Chemed
No doubt this family’s history and their commitment to Torah will fill many a page in the future expanded book of this unique ‘sefer’.
Standing here before this beautiful mosaic of students who stem from many diverse regions across the globe representing the magnificent history of our people and their endurance through the ordeals of our long galus, leaves me equally inspired.
The love and devotion you have all displayed in the months leading up to your remarkable achievements in learning and avodas Hashem have created many new letters in the book of ויהי בנסוע הארון.
Whether as descendants of families that perished in the Holocaust; families that suffered from the ravages of assimilation; families who lived under the persecution of communism that sought to eradicate any association with a ‘G-d’; families that escaped through dangerous terrain having to start life from scratch; families that dealt with the challenges of cultural influences and the infiltration of foreign ideas, you have all risen above it all bringing unbelievable Honor of Heaven with your perseverance and dedication to Torah and its values.
May you all continue filling in the lines of this story in bringing us full circle to levels of love for Hashem we experienced at Har Sinai that will no doubt herald very soon the coming of Mashiach Tzidkeinu!
באהבה,
צבי יהודה טייכמאן