008 Letter 106 & 108

Good morning rabosai. I hope you're all well. We're going to take a look אם ירצה השם בלי נדר at first at a very short letter Kuf Vav. Ahuvy be-chol ma'amaki. Shalom u-vracha. Ashrecha she-zachisa le-tzirufam. You're fortunate she-zachisa le-tzirufam that you merited the combination

של הדרך הראשון והדרך החמישי של השער השני משערי התשובה לרבינו יונה.

Sha'ar ha-sheni in Sha'arei Teshuva, as you recall, is where Rabbeinu Yona talks about events or times of the year or stages of life that me'orer a person to teshuva. So as the note here in the bottom indicates, ha-derech ha-rishon is the כאשר תמצאנו האיש צרה when a person is visited by adversity, by suffering, ve-chulu. And ha-derech ha-chamishi is Aseres Yimei Teshuva.

נא ונא לקבלם באהבה ובשמחה. ואז יסוכן הכל ברצון השם דרכנו.

So that's some very important ideas are contained within that sentence, the sentence is a springboard for some very important ideas. And obviously mi-inyana de-yoma as well. When a person, a person never invites yissurim. The Gemara in Berachos, חביבין עליך יסורין לא הן ולא שכרן. A person should never look to invite yissurim. But when a person is visited, uninvited, by yissurim, how he's mekabbel those yissurim is something which defines the yissurim. Unlike, maybe to give a mashal but not a mashal, a mashal of a contrast, a mashal of something which functions differently where the dynamic is a different one. Let's say a person rachmana litzlan has a certain illness and he needs a certain medication or a certain protocol of treatment. Attitude, obviously there are studies which say that attitude makes a difference but leaving aside that difference for the moment, be-ikar, whether the person welcomes the medication, but the medications are bitter, the protocol of treatment is something which is very difficult rachmana litzlan, it involves a lot of suffering. Whether the person is mekabbel the medication, the protocol of treatment be-ahava u-ve-simcha or not, doesn't really change or alter the fact that the medication, that the treatments are designed to and im yirtza Hashem will bring him a refuah. His attitude isn't determinative. His attitude doesn't determine whether or not the terufa has within it to be ma'aleh arucha to bring a refuah to the machala. Okay, if he has the right attitude, so it gives it an added assist, an added boost but... But that's the extent of the effect or the influence of the attitude. By yissurim it's not like that. Yissurim a person has to be mekabel. For yissurim to achieve the effect for which the Ribono Shel Olam designed yissurim, for yissurim to achieve the desired effect, we have to be mekabel the yissurim. If a person is sort of, if a person is protesting against the yissurim, if he's, excuse me one second, excuse me, if in terms of attitude he's rejecting the yissurim, for that matter, even if he's somewhat neutral on the yissurim, so then they don't achieve, certainly not to the same degree, and perhaps not even at all, they don't achieve that desired effect. A person has to be mekabel yissurim, he has to be mekabel yissurim as a kaparah, a person has to be mekabel yissurim as something which is stirring him to action. נוח ונוח לקבלם באהבה ואז ישוכך הכל. By being mekabel the yissurim b’ahava, that allows the yissurim to be poel. That allows the yissurim to be mechaper, it allows the yissurim to be metaher, excuse me, it allows the yissurim to be me'orer a person to teshuva.

נוח ונוח לקבלם באהבה ובשמחה ואז ישוכך הכל כרצון השם דרכנו. והעיקר בזה להגביר חיל בהעמקת העיון בעמל המוח בתורה דווקא בזמנים הללו.

I think in sha'ar rishon of Sha'arei Teshuva, so Rabbeinu Yona talks about the role of Talmud Torah in the course of teshuva. I think, if I recall, I'm not sure that he quotes from the Gemara in Berachot, darshans the pasuk בחסד ואמת יכופר עוון. Chesed is gemilus chasadim and emes I think the Gemara says is Torah. To intensify one's efforts in Talmud Torah is something which also is a crucial element of teshuva. Let's maybe move to the siman koph chet, a very different type of letter, but a very sort of, I guess, typical Pachad Yitzchak type shtickle Torah here in koph chet as far as I can tell.

בנים יקרים תלמידי בית המדרש שלום וברכה. מנהל בית מדרשכם הודיעני כי עומדים הנכם להוציא חוברת של חידושי תורה שנאמרו בחבורתכם. בנועם מיוחד קיבלתי ידיעה זו.

It's especially sweet for me to have been informed that you're about to publish a journal of chiddushei Torah.

מקוה אנוכי כי עניין זה ישמש גורם חשוב לעלייתכם בתורה.

I hope that this will be an important factor in your growth in Torah.

תכלית עלייתכם בתורה היא יצירת תלמידי חכמים בכנסת ישראל. וכל פעולה

which assists the creation of talmidei chachamim in Yisrael, ein shiur le'erka. Its value is inestimable.

מציאותו של תלמיד חכם היא נחת בלי גבול לקדוש ברוך הוא. מציאותו של תלמיד חכם היא אוצר ברכה לעם ישראל.

And yet on a third level...

חשיבותו של תלמיד חכם היודע את התורה וחי על פיה. אין לנו שום ציור בגודל חשיבותו של תלמיד חכם היודע את התורה וחי על פיה.

We can't be masig the importance of a talmid chacham who knows kol hatorah and lives accordingly.

חזקו ואמצו בנים יקרים היו לבני חיל התאמצו בתורה וביראת מידות טובות ותזכו להיות תלמידי חכמים בישראל.

Bebracha vegaaguim with yearning, with longing, להיראות בכבוד התורה ובריבוי לימודה. Bevadai shekabalas ol torah davar tov בכל המצבים ובכל הזמנים. Obviously, it's something good in all conditions at all times. Uvechol zos and nevertheless, excuse me, uvechol zos מוצאים אנו בכתוב את המשפט. Nevertheless, we find in Tanach the sentence:

טוב לגבר כי ישא עול בנעוריו. רואים אנו מכאן כי יש לתקופת הנעורים עדיפות בעניין זה של קבלת עול תורה.

There's something special, some prioritization that a person should be mekabel ol torah in his youth.

שגרת המחשבה המצויה תופסת בזה כי מכיוון שבתקופת הנעורים רתיחת התאוות גדולה היא ביותר לכן יש בזה מדרגה מיוחדת להשתעבד לעול תורה בתקופה זו.

The routine common understanding grasps that the reason the pasuk singles out טוב לגבר כי ישא עול בנעוריו is that it's an antidote, it's a counterforce to the fact that the yetzer hara is stronger when one is younger. So one needs an extra and stronger dose of the yetzer hatov of torah to be able to channel, sublimate when necessary, suppress the yetzer hara. Bevadai shezeh nachon. However, אבל אין זה אלא שטחיות הדברים, but that's only the superficial level of matters.

ורוצים אנו בזה להסביר נקודה יותר עמוקה בעדיפות קבלת עול תורה בתקופת הנעורים דווקא.

I want to explain at a deeper understanding of what the significance of being mekabel ol torah in his youth.

ידוע הוא כי בפרשה ראשונה דקריאת שמע הוסיפה התורה תיבת היום. אשר אנוכי מצווך היום.

What do you mean? The tzivui came at Maamad Har Sinai millennia ago. ופירשו בחז"ל שבכל יום ויום יהיו בעיניך כחדשים. Torah is never, rachmana litzlan, stale. Torah is always fresh and new. ואמנם טעם החידוש והרעננות בענייני תורה ומצוות. Having that taste of it being new and fresh, of torah umitzvos being new and fresh, שייך הוא למעלות הגדולות של עובדי השם. It belongs to the great mailos, the great levels of ovdei hashem. היפוכה של מעלה זו, the opposite of this mailah of tasting, feeling, experiencing the newness, the freshness of torah, the opposite, antithesis of that, בלשונם של עובדי השם קרויה היא הרגל. Habit. הרגל הוא ההיפך של חידוש. Right? Those are antonyms. ויפה אמר חכם אחד. החידוש הוא נקודת הג- What when a person says a chiddush, Reb Chaim says a chiddush in the Rambam. So that represents the summit, right, the highest achievement, the high point of the moach, of the brain, of the head. ve'al kein, this is gevaldig,

היפוכו של החידוש קרוי הוא על שם המקום היותר נמוך שבגוף.

The antithesis of chiddush, the same way chiddush is associated with the top of the body, the moach, so the antithesis of chiddush is karui, it is referred to, it's given a name על שם המקום היותר נמוך שבגוף. It's designated by the word which refers to the lowest part of the body. umitoch kach, hergel hu milashon regel. And therefore the word hergel, again meaning what one is accustomed to, habituation, etc., hu milashon regel. And stam I don't know who this chacham echad is, I don't know who this chacham echad is, but mistama he's inspired at least in part, the Sfas Emes quotes from his zeide, Chiddushei Harim, that the shiur of Chanukah is משתשקע החמה עד שתכלה רגל מן השוק. So the Chiddushei Harim teitches עד שתכלה רגל מן השוק as that regel is lashon hergel. That Chanukah is supposed to bring a hischadshus. Chanukah was a time of chanukas hamishkan, it was a time of rededication, it was a time of a new start. Chanukah is an inyan of hischadshus. And that's what it means עד שתכלה רגל מן השוק. That the Chanukah has to burn, says the Chiddushei Harim, עד שתכלה רגל מן השוק until there's no more hergel, until one has this bechina of בכל יום יהיו בעיניך כחדשות. The chacham echad mistama is inspired by that vort of the Chiddushei Harim. A footnote continues, כשם שהרגל הוא הקצה האחרון מן המוח. Just as the foot is the opposite extreme from the moach, the brain. kamo chen similarly hahergel, habit, הוא הקצה האחרון של החידוש. Is is the opposite extreme from chiddush. גם בחיים הגופניים נמצאות הן שתי הבחינות. Even in physical life, one has the bechina, the aspect of hergel and the aspect of chiddush. כל זמן שהגוף נמצא במצב של התפתחות ושגשוג. As long as the body is in a state of development and flowering, by which he doesn't say explicitly, but yitachen he means not only until kvaise age 16 or 17 when a person is growing, but I don't know, Chazal say ben shloshim lakoach, which means that a person in terms of also just in terms of physical energy and force and strength is continuing, again not to grow necessarily in terms of height, but there still is hitpatchus veshigshug. So yitachen that Rav Hutner doesn't really indicate where the cutoff point for neurav is, but yitachen that it extends beyond the teen years into the 20s as well. כל זמן שהגוף נמצא במצב של התפתחות ושגשוג. As long as the body is in a state of development and flowering, הרי הוא נמצא במזל של חידוש. It's under the mazal as it were, it's under the constellation of chiddush.

כל יום מביא בכנפיו תופעות חדשות אשר אתמול לא היה להן זכר.

Every day brings in its coattails, literally its wings, new happenings which yesterday for which yesterday there was no indication of. ule'umas zos, but on the other end of the spectrum, כשהצמיחה והגידול של הגוף פוסקים. When the growth and the growth of the body ceases, harei.

כל יום של חיי הגוף אינו אלא חזרה על הקודם.

Then every day is just a rerun of the previous day. Ve-ha-machar and tomorrow המחר אינו אלא חזרה על השלשום and tomorrow is again just going to review, is just going to be a rerun of what happened two days ago. U-ve-chen and and within this gnuzah hi and that's where העדיפות של קבלת עול תורה בתקופת הנעורים דווקא. That's where the the special significance and and and preference for Kabbalas Ol Torah at at the time of youth. הבן תורה הנמצא בגיל הצעירות. When you have a ben Torah who's young, who's still physically bi-ne'urav. Menatzel hu, he takes advantage of אווירת החידוש שהוא מוצא בחיי גופו, that atmosphere of chiddush in his physical life, he takes advantage of that ומשתמש בה בחיי נשמתו. Beautiful, beautiful vort. And and utilizes it for his spiritual life, for the life of his neshama. אשרי לו להבן תורה הצעיר. How fortunate is the young ben Torah שרעננות חיי גופו ניכרת בתורתו, that the freshness of his physical life is discernible in his Torah. Ve-al ken and therefore

זכות מיוחדת היא לקבל על עצמו עול תורה בגיל הנעורים דווקא.

It's a special, special zechus to be able to be mekabel Ol Torah at at the stage of youth. טוב לגבר כי ישא עול בנעוריו. Ve-lo od, another beautiful etymological teitch. ולא עוד אלא שעצם התיבה של נער. The very word of na'ar, the footnote suggests, לקוחה היא מן המושג של ער, awakedness, alertness, she-hu hefech ha-sheina, which is the opposite of sleep. והנער הנושא על עצמו את עול התורה. A na'ar who who carries, who who places upon himself and who carries the Ol Torah, nimtza hu tamid, he's a real na'ar because נמצא הוא תמיד במצב של התעוררות. Na'ar, hitorerus. Bonim yekarim, hatu na shichmechem, right? Lower your shoulder right, if if you're looking to pick up a a load from the ground, so you have to lower yourself to pick it up, to get it on your shoulder. הטו שכמכם לעול תורה בתקופת נעוריכם הברוכה, incline your shoulder to Ol Torah at at the period of your blessed youth and ve-tizku she-ye'omer aleichem טוב לגבר כי ישא עול בנעוריו. Okay, so we'll stop here for this part and I hope be'ezras Hashem we'll we'll reconvene later at at the usual time. Okay, rabosai, have a good day.