Weekly Story: From Which Vantage Point Are You looking?

by Rabbi Sholom DovBer Avtzon  

In 5709 (1949) the Frierdiker Rebbe decided to become an American citizen. Due to his health situation, it was extremely difficult for him to travel anywhere, so with the assistance of lawmakers, a rule was passed that in certain circumstances the court, i.e., the judge and the assistants can come to the new citizens’ residence.

Indeed, that is what happened, as on the 16^th of Adar, the honorable Judge Leo Rayfeil and Philip Kleinfeld came to the Rebbe’s apartment in 770 and the citizenship papers were signed.

However, before the judges came, the court needed certain documents of the Rebbe, and Rabbi Shmuel Levitan was entrusted to deliver those documents to the necessary officials. 

While he was already in Brooklyn for around fifteen years, nevertheless he had never traveled to Manhattan. So Rabbi Yitzchok Groner, who had recently married, was asked to accompany him to the office that was in the newly built Chrysler building. 

The office was situated on one of the higher floors of its 77 floors and after exiting the elevator, they began walking towards the office that was at the end of the hall. Instead of a brick wall at the end of the hallway, there was a large glass window, which allowed one to look out and see a large section of Manhattan as at that time it was the tallest building in the world. 

After standing there for a moment and seeing how everything below looks so small, Rabbi Levitan called over Rabbi Groner and said, Yitzchok, take a look, when one elevates themselves, they see the world entirely differently.  

In essence, he was saying, that what we originally considered big or even tremendous, such as the previous tallest buildings are no longer as big and tremendous as we originally imagined them to be. 

Similarly, we all face challenges, and we may view them as insurmountable challenges, but when we elevate ourselves to a higher level, then we see that they are not as formidable as we originally perceived them. And perhaps not formidable at all.

The way to elevate oneself and to see that the materialistic world is not what it seems to be, is by learning Chassidus.  

Chassidus teaches us that the world exists only because the words of the ten sayings that Hashem expressed at the time of Creation, are continuously recreating it every moment. Simply put, everything in the world is truly not an existence, as it is dependent on the words of Hashem, for without those words it will cease to exist. 

A Taste of Chassidus  

Vayedaber Moshe el Roshei Hamatos 5733 

The beginning of this week’s parsha discusses when a person made a vow. Rashi explains that while with most mitzvos the possuk states that Moshe is “to speak to the Jewish people”, here it states, “speak to the elders of the tribes” in order to inform us that a vow can be annulled by a tremendous scholar, or by a court of three regular people.

In this ma’amar the Rebbe explains two points: 

A. Why is it proper for a person to make a vow that he won’t eat something that Hashem has permitted us to eat (or forbidding something else upon himself)? Especially as our sages say, is it not enough what the Torah has prohibited, that you have to add on to it.

B. Why specifically are these laws connected to the leaders of the tribes? 

In general, there are three categories of actions, those that one is supposed to do: i.e. a positive mitzvah, actions that one is not to do, i.e. a negative mitzvah, and these two categories apply to everyone equally. Then there are actions that one is permitted to do but is not obligated to do so, and a vow applies only to this final category. That a person may distance themselves from it.

The reason why there are these three categories, is because the source of certain things are holy, and one should connect themselves to those things; while the source for other things are unholy (gimmel kelipos ha’temei’os) and one should distance themselves from those things; while the source for the final group is from kelipos nogah, which is not in itself useful, but it serves a positive purpose.

If one goes to a higher level/source of these three categories, the first level of creation is the world of Atzilus, where everything is holy, so obviously that creates items that the Torah instructs us to connect to and utilize them. 

The second stage of creation is B’riah and Yetzira where good and evil are intertwined and that creates items that are permissible but not obligatory (as will be explained). 

The lowest level is Asiah, this physical and materialistic world, and that creates things that the Torah instructs us to distant ourselves from. 

Now let us look at some permissible items or talents. 

Wine is used to bless others, so it is positive and should be utilized, yet others may use it to become drunk and in that way it should not be used. 

One who is blessed with wealth may use it to help individuals and the community, so the money in their possession is a blessing for them and all who come in contact with them. Yet others who receive this blessing become arrogant, and then the money is not a blessing. 

We see how affluence affects Torah study. The Mishnah states that the way to learn Torah is to go away from the comforts of your home, yet it also says nice surroundings broaden one’s ability of comprehension. So once again it depends on the situation. In order to initially connect oneself to Torah study, a person should go away from their home, but afterwards it is beneficial to be in a comfortable zone.

One more example, is eating eating meat; we are told not to eat often, however ,it is a mitzvah to eat on Shabbos and Yom Tov. In general, a righteous person eats only in order to have the strength to serve Hashem, but others eat to fulfill their desire. 

So a person faces a dilemma, how am I to know whether this permissible act etc., is going to affect me? Is it going to bring out the goodness in me, or will its effect be to the opposite extreme? 

Therefore, the Torah informs us that there are times that a person should abstain or stay away from permissible things. Not only may a person do so, but it is proper to& do so, as it says in Parshas Kedoshim, (You shall be holy), and the commentaries explain that to mean, separate yourself from what is permissible to you.

So a person made a vow, fearing that being connected to that thing might have a negative effect on their connection to Hashem, so they swear to stay away from it. But after a while he feels that the precautions he took have safeguarded him and from now on, he no longer needs to abstain, but would utilize them in a proper manner, and the item would strengthen the connection to Hashem.

The problem with this is that when it comes to judging ourselves or our actions, everyone is biased and might not be able to see the entire picture. Therefore, the Torah instructs us that to annul the vow, speak and discuss it with the leaders of the community.  

The Torah refers to them as the eyes of the community, as our sages state, One who is wise sees the outcome of an action. Meaning that they see the person more clearly than the person can  sees himself. 

Even if the person themselves is a wise individual, while he may and perhaps often does use the intelligence that Hashem granted him to benefit mankind. But at the same time, it may be used to create destructive powers. 

Therefore, we are instructed to ask those whose vision is not biased to help guide us through the process and ensure that we utilize it for a positive purpose.  

Rabbi Avtzon is a veteran mechanech and the author of numerous books and articles about the Rebbei’im and their chassidim.  He can be contacted at avtzonbooks@gmail.com. He is also available to farbreng in your community.