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Jun 7 (1 day ago)
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The Danger Within
Two threats have always faced the Jewish Nation: the threat from without and the threat from within. The threat from within, from Jews who undermine adherence to the Torah, is the greater threat. When we collectively keep the Torah we are protected from external dangers. Yet no amount of fighting our enemies can save us if we don't keep the Torah.
At the time of the Gr"a, there were no great centralized Yeshivas until Reb Chaim Volozhin started his Yeshiva with the permission of the Gr"a. The purpose of the Yeshiva was to provide a place where students could learn full time, in an atmosphere protected from the multitudes of anti-Torah idealists.
At that time, non-Jewish societies had become more accessible to Jews. Some Jews began to assimilate. As is the way of the wicked, some of these active assimilationists sought out observant Jews to drag them into the tide of assimilation. The response of the Gr"a was to have a Yeshiva that isolated the students from these heretical vultures. The outsiders trumpeted the claim that the "new" way was better than the Torah way; the Yeshiva imbued in its students the idea that the highest potential man can reach is to live his life entirely by the Torah.
The Yeshiva life was hard, but the students were willing to sacrifice comfort in exchange for the knowledge that they were on the path of truth; while those who rejected the Torah were living a life of meaningless vanity.
Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch took a different tack for his place and time. His approach was to beat the opposition at its own game. Rav Hirsch went out to the assimilated youth to challenge their adherence to the ways of non-Jewish society. Whereas in the past non-observant Jews tried to diminish Torah observance by attempting to poke holes in the logic of Torah observance, Rav Hirsch poked holes in the logic of assimilation. Rav Hirsch armed Jews with rhetorical weapons to fend off the assimilationists. Jews could now venture into fields of employment that brought them into contact with the world at large, without severing their ties to the Torah.
Rav Yisrael Salanter had another approach. He taught that one's goal is not to be superior to the next man by diminishing him. One's goal is to be better than oneself. The message of the Mussar movement was self-perfection.
Two threats have always faced the Jewish Nation: the threat from without and the threat from within. The threat from within, from Jews who undermine adherence to the Torah, is the greater threat. When we collectively keep the Torah we are protected from external dangers. Yet no amount of fighting our enemies can save us if we don't keep the Torah.
At the time of the Gr"a, there were no great centralized Yeshivas until Reb Chaim Volozhin started his Yeshiva with the permission of the Gr"a. The purpose of the Yeshiva was to provide a place where students could learn full time, in an atmosphere protected from the multitudes of anti-Torah idealists.
At that time, non-Jewish societies had become more accessible to Jews. Some Jews began to assimilate. As is the way of the wicked, some of these active assimilationists sought out observant Jews to drag them into the tide of assimilation. The response of the Gr"a was to have a Yeshiva that isolated the students from these heretical vultures. The outsiders trumpeted the claim that the "new" way was better than the Torah way; the Yeshiva imbued in its students the idea that the highest potential man can reach is to live his life entirely by the Torah.
The Yeshiva life was hard, but the students were willing to sacrifice comfort in exchange for the knowledge that they were on the path of truth; while those who rejected the Torah were living a life of meaningless vanity.
Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch took a different tack for his place and time. His approach was to beat the opposition at its own game. Rav Hirsch went out to the assimilated youth to challenge their adherence to the ways of non-Jewish society. Whereas in the past non-observant Jews tried to diminish Torah observance by attempting to poke holes in the logic of Torah observance, Rav Hirsch poked holes in the logic of assimilation. Rav Hirsch armed Jews with rhetorical weapons to fend off the assimilationists. Jews could now venture into fields of employment that brought them into contact with the world at large, without severing their ties to the Torah.
Rav Yisrael Salanter had another approach. He taught that one's goal is not to be superior to the next man by diminishing him. One's goal is to be better than oneself. The message of the Mussar movement was self-perfection.
We read in the Torah about the command to Aharon to light the holy menora so the burning wicks would turn to the face or front of the Menorah. For this HaShem told Moshe to emphasize the importance of the center of the menora again and again. When Aharon obeyed he was complimented, as Rashi explains, "This tells us the glory of Aharon that he did not change what he was charged." When we have a Menorah of seven fires, each represents a unique dimension of holiness. There are many holy paths to the Torah. But they must all be one and united, as they face the center of the Menora, and all of the paths lead to HaShem in unity. That is the great challenge for Aharon, and for us as well.
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