Part of the series: Divrei Hashkafa by Rav Mayer Twersky
Should always be involved with, and therefore conscious of, Torah. When one pulls back from learning, the process of forgetting begins. The 3 gains in passuk 2 refer to Torah, mitzvos aseh, and mitzvos lo sa’aseh, mentioned in passuk 1. Just as Torah is the greatest, its reward – shalom – is also greatest. Just as Torah is a catalyst for all other mitzvos, shalom is the catalyst for all other berachos.
Transcript
AI-generated transcript. May contain errors.
Good morning rabosai Perek Gimmel. בני תורתי אל תשכח ומצותי יצר לבך. Don't forget my Torah and your your mind, your heart should guard should keep track of my mitzvos.
בני תורתי אל תשכח כמו שפירשתי למעלה שבתורה צריך האדם להגות יומם ולילה תמיד.
Person is supposed to learn Torah as much as he can day and night. ולכן אמר אל תשכח. So l'chora just to flesh out a bit what what this comment in the Gra means. משל למה הדבר דומה, let's say let's say someone asks you do do you remember my name? And the answer is and and let's say in the event that the answer is yes I haven't forgotten it what it means is I haven't forgotten it means that I have a constant recollection I have a constant awareness. Now the only way a person can have a a constant recollection of divrei Torah is if he's always involved in Talmud Torah. Excuse me. The Rambam writes in Perek Aleph of Hilchos Talmud Torah.
עד אימתי חייב ללמוד תורה פרק א הלכה יא. עד אימתי חייב ללמוד תורה עד יום מותו שנאמר ופן יסורו מלבבך כל ימי חייך וכל זמן שלא יעסוק בלימוד הוא שוכח.
If a person pulls back from from his involvement with Talmud Torah so then rachmana litzlan the process of shichcha sets in. So m'meila that's what the Gra says when Shlomo HaMelech exhorts us בני תורתי אל תשכח that translates into להגות יומם ולילה תמיד. Umitzvosai itzor libecha again itzor is in elokai netzor lishoni to guard. Umitzvosai itzor libecha
כי המצות צריך לעשותן כל אחת בזמנה ולכן אמר יצר לבך.
Meaning mitzvos are not no most individual mitzvos are not mitzvos which constantly preoccupy us. Each mitzvah has its its appointed time.
כי המצות צריך לעשותן כל אחת בזמנה לכך אמר יצר לבך עד שיבא זמנה ואז יעשה. ואמר מצותי לשון רבים
mitzvosai שהן מצות עשה ולא תעשה. Now l'chora the pshat in the Gra here is as follows. I mean there are many mitzvos asei and there are many mitzvos lo sa'asei also. So l'chora just the fact that mitzvos is b'lashon rabim that in and of itself doesn't telegraph that what the pasuk is referring to is both mitzvos asei and mitzvos lo sa'asei. It's rather in light of the next pasuk which בלי נדר אם ירצה השם we'll see momentarily in light of the next pasuk the Gra says mitzvosai lends itself to that interpretation of referring to both mitzvos asei and mitzvos lo sa'asei. And in light of the next pasuk it will be clear that that's the that that is the intended meaning. So when he says מצותי לשון רבים שהן מצות עשה ולא תעשה it admits of that interpretation not that when we're reading this pasuk we're supposed to see it as already muchach minei ubei within this pasuk. No it's when we get to the next pasuk. What's the next pasuk? כי ארך ימים ושנות חיים ושלום יוסיפו לך. So Torah and mitzvos provide three things: orech yamim arichas yamim number two shnos chayim. A person can be by biologically alive but not really be spiritually vibrant or alive. And finally v'shalom, says the Gaon,
אלו השלושה נגד השלושה שאמר בפסוק שלמעלה שהם תורה ומצוות עשה ולא תעשה.
That's what we were just referring to. Lichora the Gaon has this in mind in light of the tripartite division here in pasuk beis. That's how he knows to say that mitzvos lashon rabbim in pasuk aleph means aseh v'lo sa'aseh. דהיינו נגד שהם תורה ומצוות עשה ולא תעשה. Excuse me.
דהיינו נגד מצוות עשה אמר אורך ימים. כמו שנאמר אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם.
Right, there are different pshatim in that pasuk we just read this Shabbos, אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם. Rashi representing one school of thought in the meforshim says that the v'chai ba-hem means l'olam haba. What does it mean v'chai ba-hem? A person, no one lives forever in olam hazeh. So it must mean it in olam haba. But there's another school of thought in the meforshim says no, v'chai ba-hem, ein hachi nami. It doesn't mean eternal life. There is no eternal life in olam hazeh. Eternal life is in olam haba. Rather, what it means is that v'chai ba-hem, meaning that it's a source of life in terms of arichas yamim in olam hazeh. So the Gaon here is subscribing to that second school of thought. U-shnos chayim is נגד מצוות לא תעשה, literally years of life, again life in a qualitative sense.
כי העושה עבירה עושה רע מאוד ומריעין לו. וכאשר אינו עושה עבירה או ששב בתשובה מאשר כבר עשה נהפכו לו מרעה לטובה, כי המקטרגים עצמם נהפכו לו לאוהבים.
When a person does an aveirah, so the aveirah creates, it generates a mekatreg, a prosecutor who sort of represents the liability associated with aveirah. When the person is shav bi-tshuvah from that lo sa'aseh, so then the shnos, his years are transformed into shnos chayim because those mekatregim nehefchu lo l'ohavim. Now lichora if a person is mevatel an aseh, there's also liability, but there's more liability generally speaking for an aveiras lo sa'aseh than there is for a bitul aseh. Hence, this shnos chayim is associated with lo sa'aseh rather than aseh.
כי המקטרגים עצמם נהפכו לו לאוהבים. וזהו שאמרו בגמרא ושנות חיים וכי יש שנים שאינם של חיים אלא אלו ימי אדם שנהפכו לו מרעה לטובה.
V'shalom yosifu lach, the third of the three dividends which accrue to a person because of Torah and mitzvos, hu neged ha-Torah. כמו שנאמר דרכיה דרכי נועם וכל נתיבותיה שלום. The Gemara in Gittin quotes this pasuk at the end of the fifth perek and says at the emes is on
נט עמוד ב, שכל התורה כולה נמי מפני דרכי שלום.
What does that mean? All of Torah is just to foster peace? I mean clearly peace is something which is tremendously valued, but does it really mean that everything is just for peace? So lichora shalom in the sense of peace is one element of what shalom means in a broader sense. Shalom in a broader sense is also associated with shleimus, with being whole, with being perfect. When do you have, let's say... Internationally, geopolitically, when do you have peace? When every country's where it's supposed to be, everything is, every country remains within its own borders. Everyone's doing what they're supposed to be doing, so then there's peace. It's only when, in order for there to be a dispute, in order for there to be friction, whether it's between two individuals or whether it's between two countries, it means that there's some someone, if not both, are involved in things they shouldn't be involved in. So Torah is shalom k'neged Torah
הוא כמו שנאמר דרכיה דרכי נעם וכל נתיבותיה שלום וכמו שהתורה היא נגד כל המצוות ומביאה לידי כל המעשים כמו שאמרו חכמינו ז"ל גדול תלמוד שהתלמוד מביא לידי מעשה
the Gemara in Kiddushin כן שכרה השלום שהוא עיקר ומחזיק את כל הברכות. So the same way Torah is שקולה כנגד כל המצוות, so too the dividend from Torah, meaning Talmud Torah, is shkulah k'neged the dividend of kol hamitzvos
כמו שאמרו לא מצא הקדוש ברוך הוא כלי מחזיק ברכה לישראל אלא השלום.
See it's interesting, the correlation that the Gaon is pointing out, it's so so precise in the following sense. When Chazal say גדול תלמוד המביא לידי מעשה, so Chazal are saying besides the inherent greatness of Talmud Torah, Talmud Torah also on a very practical and pragmatic level is something which facilitates all other mitzvos. It's all fine and good that I want to put on tefillin, but a little bit of hilchos tefillin I need to know in order to be mekayem the mitzvah. I have to know where to place the tefillin. I have to know whether at what point, at what point there's an issue with my tefillin in terms of color, in terms of other things. גדול תלמוד המביא לידי מעשה. So Talmud Torah is a catalyst in addition to its own inherent quality, Talmud Torah's also a catalyst for other mitzvos. So too when in Uktzin, when it says and the Gaon quotes
לא מצא הקדוש ברוך הוא כלי מחזיק ברכה לישראל אלא השלום,
so I once heard my great uncle Rav Ahron Soloveitchik zecher tzaddik livracha pointing out that shalom here in Uktzin is not the bracha itself, it's the kli machzik bracha, which means it's also the catalyst which is facilitating all other brachos. Let's say you want a drink. There's a whole bar with drinks, it has soda, it has juice, it has water, it has whatever drinks you want. But unless you have a cup, unless you have a glass in which to pour the drink, so then you can't avail yourself of any of the spectacular array of options. So all bracha requires a beis kibul. So the same way Talmud Torah is the indispensable catalyst for all mitzvos, so too shalom is the indispensable facilitator for all other brachos. Okay, we'll stop here bli neder. Im yirtzeh Hashem we'll convene in the tent at 12:30. Okay rabosai, have a very good productive morning. Everyone should be well, be safe, b'ezras Hashem.