Saturday, November 25, 2017

Laws of Torah Study 4:2

The Shulchan Aruch Harav says that Torah study is a commandment even when not leading to action. And it's impossible to fulfill other mitzvos without Torah. (See chap. 5 and 37 of Tanya for the advantages of study). Therefore study takes precedence unless a mitzvah cannot be done by someone else. Study is the greater mitzvah. However, it is equal to all the others only because study leads to doing them.

The suggestion here I believe is that when you do a mitzvah the study is behind it. Therefore the study leads to its own mitzvah plus the one it lead to. Therefore it will be equal to all the others because in each one there is study. It's simple math. I study 10 mitzvahs. Then I perform 10 mitzvahs. In each one of these sits the 10 acts of study. My study yielded 10 mitzvahs of study and 10 mitzvahs of action. So my study is equal to all of my action.


Friday, November 24, 2017

They come to learn, but not to teach.

Question is ha-Kodesh Baruch Hu according to this gentleman stated that He did not want the Erev Rav. Now, to tell you the truth. I have to admit, I don't recall this statement, so I'll take your word for it but it's only a figure of speech. Because the Gemara does say that we want geyrim. But it means that there are two attitudes. You should have taken them with great caution and once you accepted them you should have made certain that they exercised no authority. They come to learn, but not to teach. If a ger comes in to teach, then that's the wrong kind of ger.  (Rabbi Avigdor Miller, "The Keg and the Serpant." #052, 1:02:38)

[You can argue the same with BTs from highly assimilated homes]

Thursday, November 23, 2017

Go Easy on the BT

What's meant by the posuk: בְּלֵ֣ב נָ֖בוֹן תָּנ֣וּחַ חָכְמָ֑ה . (Proverbs 14:33)

בְּלֵ֣ב נָ֖בוֹן in the heart of an understanding man

תָּנ֣וּחַ חָכְמָ֑ה the wisdom is at rest. It rests. 

Wisdom rests in the heart of an understanding man.


"וּבְקֶ֥רֶב כְּ֜סִילִ֗ים תִּוָּדֵֽעַ." But in the midst of fools, the wisdom becomes known. 

What does that mean? Wisdom in the heart of understanding people rests. It's in repose. But in the heart of fools, wisdom becomes known. What does that mean? 


Explains. בְּלֵ֣ב נָ֖בוֹן תָּנ֣וּחַ חָכְמָ֑ה


In the heart of understanding man, wisdom rests. Zeh talmid chocham ben talmid chocham. It's a man who is learned in the Torah and his father also was a talmid chocham. So the son is not excited. He's accustomed to Torah. He's not conceited about it. There's nothing so exceptional about it. He was born in that house. That's the atmosphere he breathed since he was a child. So the chochmah reposes in his heart. 


And the truth is it's a virtue. He is more rooted, more well-founded in Torah. A chocham ben chocham. The chochmah there is well grounded in him. But וּבְקֶ֥רֶב כְּ֜סִילִ֗ים תִּוָּדֵֽעַ, In the heart of fools, the chochmah is known. It means a fool, zeh talmid chocham ben am ha'aretz. His father is an am ha'aretz. But he became a talmid chocham. And the son is excited about Torah. And he talks about it all the time. Whatever he learned, even a little bit, he likes to advertise it. It's spectacular, still new to him. 


Now, there's a benefit here and a disadvantage. In the heart of the talmid chocham ben talmid chachom, we are more guaranteed that it will remain תָּנ֣וּחַ חָכְמָ֑ה because he's brought up that way. There's no other way of life except Torah. And therefore the Torah in his heart will always be in his heart. 


But if he's a baal teshuvah, let's say he came from a house where there was no Torah. Doesn't mean his father was a sinner. In those days you didn't have any sinners. But his father wasn't a talmid chocham. And he became a learner. So it's not so certain that it will remain with him. It could be sometimes in his life, chalilah, a tragedy that'll upset him, he might stop learning cause learning is not the breath of his nostrils. He saw a house without learning.  So it could be he might reverse. 


That's why you have to be careful, the Sefer Chasidm says, when you are dealing with a son of irr-religious parents. Be careful with him because sometimes if you are too strict with him he might go back to the ways of his parents. Whereas the son of frum people you can be more strict with him because his model is his home. A frum home. 


Rabbi Avigdor Miller, Tape # 698, 1:25:23 see also E21