30 April, 2007

Are we using our brains?

I heard a amazing story/insight from R' Y. Hutner. A talmud of his once came by bus from Yerushlaim to vist him in Netanyah. Of course he took along a sefer to keep him company on the bus. He walked in to his Rosh Yeshiva and the first thing he said was 'you dont have 2 hours of torah in your head?' meaning, that theres no reason a ben torah wherever he goes shouldnt have what to think about in torah, that he shouldnt even need a sefer. Theres even more to it, he had a complaint that the talmud dosn't know how to think in learning without a sefer, that thinking without one trains the mind to think deeper into learning. How many of us can think in learning more then five minutes away from a gemorah, I know I cant. Its something that takes training. We all have enough of material to cover ten minutes (i hope) but do we hav the concentration?
What do you think?

26 April, 2007

Parshas Kedoshim

Kedoshim Teyuh... 'You shall be holy, for i hashem am holy'. A living person is full of potential , to grow (and c''v to fall) and become a true servent of hashem. His potential is not complete up until the second that one dies, at that moment we can judge if he has fulfilled his lifes mission of getting closer to hashem. That is what the torah is saying Kedoshim Teyuh you shall strive all your days to be and become holy and holier 'KI kadosh ani hashem' for i hashem AM holy i dont need nor have room to to grow. I am the empitome of holiness. Our lifes mission is to try and emulate and get closer to him every second of our lives and to strive for that kedusha.
The medrish says hashem said "'kedoshem teyuh' you'd think (that you shall be holy) like me says the posek 'ki kodosh ani' my holiness is holier then yours". Reading this medrish sounds very discouraging. We can never achieve real holiness for only hashem is holy so why even try? Whats the point of starting something thats not humanly possible to complete? Yet as Reb samson Raphael Hirsch points out that the only times we find the posak talking 'to all congregation of the children of israel' is in parshas Bo when hashem gave us final instructions for mitzias mitzraim, and here by the parsha of kedusha R' Hirsch says "no position in life, no age, no degree of fortune, is excluded from this call to the very height of absolute morality". We have to appreciate that Hashem gave us the zechus to try and tap into his holiness. To strive all our lives to get ever so holier slowly one step at a time and every step we take gives one the label of 'kodosh'. We might not ever get to the point of absolute pure holiness but we have to try and we will get there one day.