This morning, we are introduced to the halachos of YERUSHA, of how
finances are passed down according to the Torah. Yet, the way in which the Torah teaches this
idea is rather surprising.
Says the Torah:
Imagine a scenario where a man has two wives, one that he loves,
called by the Torah, the AHUVA, and one that he dislikes, called by the Torah
the SENUA. And each of these women has a
son.
Now, imagine that this man dies, and he leaves a command to his
family, that he wants the son of the PREFERRED WIFE to receive a
double-portion, even though the son of the SENUA is actually the bechor, the
eldest son.
Says the Torah,
](טז) וְהָיָה בְּיוֹם
הַנְחִילוֹ אֶת בָּנָיו אֵת אֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה לוֹ[ לֹא יוּכַל לְבַכֵּר אֶת בֶּן הָאֲהוּבָה עַל פְּנֵי בֶן
הַשְּׂנוּאָה הַבְּכֹר:
The father cannot give the double-portion to the son of the AHUVA
because he is NOT the bechor. Rather,
you have to stick to the rules and give the ELDEST SON the double-portion, EVEN
THOUGH he isn’t from the favored wife.
Now, there are so many questions about these pesukim, but I want to
ask two:
1) If the torah wanted to teach us the halachos of yerusha, that the
oldest son gets a double-portion, just say, “When a person dies, the eldest son
gets Pi Shnayim, he gets double”. End of
story. Why are you talking to me about a wife he loves, the wife he hates?!
2) If the halacha is that the oldest son always gets double, why tell
us that you can’t go against the rules and instead give double to the one you
like better?! Just say, the eldest son
ALWAYS gets double.
How do we understand this whole story?
The Alter Rebbe, Rav Schneur Zalman of Lidai, the first Rebbe of
Chabad, offers a beautiful answer to these questions:
He writes that the Torah is not simply teaching us the laws of
inheritance. It is also teaching us
something much deeper about the way HKBH looks at and appreciates His children.
Says the Rebbe, that in the world there are two types of Jews. There are the Bnei Ha’Ahuva, the Jews for
whom, it seems to us at least, Avodas Hashem, connecting to a life of Torah
& Mitzvos seems relatively easy. Of
course, even they struggle, but overall these are people, great Talmidei
Chachamim and Tzadikim who have a special, unique relationship with Hashem.
And then, writes the Rebbe, there is THE REST OF US. Those who feel, at times, that a life of
Avodas Hashem, a life committed to Torah & Mitzvos is DIFFICULT. Those of us who feel, at times, that it’s not
always, as the song goes, “GESHMAK TO BE A YID!” Sometimes it’s hard for us to live up to the
ideals of Torah, to fulfill the details of each halacha. We try and we are growing, but it’s a
STRUGGLE for us. And because of this, we
sometimes feel like the “BEN HASENUA” the child of Hashem who is detested, and
CERTAINLY NOT THE FAVORITE.
To this, says the Rebbe, comes to the Torah to teach us that WE
HAVE IT ALL WRONG! Says the Torah, B”YOM
HANCHILO ES BANAV, when, in the End of the Days, when it is time for the Yimos
HaMashiach, we will think, you know who made this happen, and you know who
should come to the FRONT OF THE LINE to receive DOUBLE!? The Tzaddikim of course! The BANIM HA’AHUVIM! The children that Hashem must love BEST!
And says the Torah, NO!
לֹא יוּכַל לְבַכֵּר אֶת בֶּן הָאֲהוּבָה עַל פְּנֵי בֶן הַשְּׂנוּאָה
הַבְּכֹר:
You CANNOT show favoritism to the Ben Ha’AHUVA in place of the Ben
HaSENUA! Rather then Ben HaSenua will
get DOUBLE!
But why not?
Answers the Rebbe, because in the end of the day, there are very
few people who are on that level of the Ben Ha’Ahuva, a few in every
generation. And, he writes, there were
great tzadikim alive at the time of the Churban Beis HaMikdash and they could
not prevent its destruction.
Rather, says the Rebbe:
עיקר הגאולה שלימה תלוי בנו!
The Geula, the coming of Mashiach does NOT depend on the tzadikim,
it DEPENDS ON US!
And why is that? Because
Hashem’s goal is to be present HERE ON THIS EARTH, as the Chassidim like to
say, to have “DIRA B’TACHTONIM” to have a place to reside, as it were, in this
world. And EVERY ONE OF US has the
ability to bring more Godliness into this world.
So while, of course, great tzadikim have the ability to bring
Hashem’s Presence, His values and ideals to this world. It is those of us, MOST OF US, who have the
STRUGGLE, who sometimes are motivated and other times are not, but who
persevere and try again, who bring holiness into the world even as they
struggle with that which is UNHOLY, who make the GREATEST IMPACT!
And it is for THIS REASON, says the Rebbe, that the Torah goes
through this whole long song and dance:
Yes, there are TWO TYPES OF PEOPLE, the son who is universally
understood to be from the AHUVA, the one who is loved, and also so many of us,
who sometimes feel like we are SENUA, that we aren’t fully appreciated because
sometimes Avodas Hashem is a challenge for us.
Because we struggle and make mistakes and have to get up and try again.
And comes the Torah to tell us: DON’T MAKE THAT MISTAKE and believe
that Hashem PREFERS what you believe to be HIS AHUVA. In fact, HE’S ACTUALLY
RELYING MORE HEAVILY ON THE “SENUA”. LO
MISHPAT HABECHORA! We are the ones who
carry the load. We are the ones who
fight the good fight and WE are the KEY to creating that DIRA B’TACHTONIM, a
place in this world for people to understand and appreciate the values of HKBH.
Rav YY Jacobson once said that sometimes the
GREATEST stress we can feel in our spiritual lives is that we FEEL that there’s
fragmentation. We want to do what we
know is right, and we also desire to do that which ISN’T right. And, somehow, we get this idea that if we
STRUGGLE with that which is BAD, we ARE BAD. That it makes us SENUA. When, of course, IT’S
JUST THE OPPOSITE. It’s because we
are willing to struggle with BAD that we are GREAT! It make us AHUVA, beloved so much to Hashem.
The Gemara says: “Haba Litamei Poschin Lo”, which is generally
explained as, that when someone comes to do something they shouldn’t do, to
sin, Hashem opens the door for him or her to sin. He let’s us make that choice.
Says the Meor Einayim, Rav Menachem Nochum Twersky of Chernobyl, there’s a different pshat: Haba
Litamei, when someone is heading down the road to sin, POSCHIN LO, it is at
THAT MOMENT that the DOOR IS OPENED to grow!
Elul is now in full swing.
And sometimes the greatest obstacle to our growth during this time is
NOT the fact that we struggle, that we have an up and down relationship with
HKBH. That’s normal. The greatest obstacle to growth is that
because we struggle, we feel that we are SENUA, that we aren’t worthy of a
relationship with Hashem. And that somehow
our struggle make us bad. Comes Alter
Rebbe to remind us: not only does your struggle with the unseemly elements of
the world not make you bad, it makes you GREAT!
It makes you the vehicle for the arrival of Mashiach himself!