Questions & Answers
Q: How can the Rav say that we won’t get into Olam HaBa if we don’t desire to learn Torah, won’t our other mitzvos help us get in?
A: The Zohar says that our mitzvos are like a garment, while our Torah is our soul. If a person comes into the next world with just garments and no soul – he’s like a body without a soul.
Q: If people who are sitting and learning all day are living the right kind of life, while we who work, who want to support our families – but we wish deep down that we could be able to sit and learn all day – are we only living a “b’dieved” kind of life?
A: First of all, the fact that you wish you could sit and learn all day makes you feel pain at this, and the pain itself is an atonement...The fact that you know that your life is a “b’dieved” kind of life is already an atonement. As long as you wish you could learn Torah, you will have hope in achieving you want. It’s like a person who is in jail – if he wants to get out of jail, he will have hope in getting out of jail. But if he never desires to get out of jail, he won’t ever get out of jail.
Q: What should I do if I realize that I don’t have any time to learn Torah, because all day I am either working or taking care of my family?
A: Good question. Firstly, realize that it’s a problem. Then realize that since there’s nothing you can do - and cry to Hashem about this. If you don’t cry about it, it shows you don’t realize how much of a problem it is. But if you cry to Hashem about it, Hashem will help you find time to learn Torah.
Q: If a person can’t sit and learn all day, but he still wishes that he could, what can he do to protect his aspirations?
A: Very good question. Every day, for 15 minutes a day, sit quietly, and ask yourself: “Who am I? What is the purpose of my life? Am I on the right direction in life?” If you have pain that you aren’t on the right direction, then that pain itself will lead you to the right direction in life.
Q: The Sfas Emes in parshas Beraishis writes that just as the Chayah and Yechidah parts of the soul are “enveloping lights” which surround a person, so are Torah and mitzvos “enveloping lights”, which raise a person from the soul levels of Nefesh, Ruach, Neshamah to the higher soul levels, Chayah and Yechidah. He writes further that doing mitzvos raises a person to the Chayah level of the soul, and learning Torah raises a person to the Yechidah level of the soul. Understandably, though, most people learning Torah do not reach the Yechidah level of the soul, even though they learn it with exertion and even though their main desire in life is to learn Torah. So how can a person truly reach the Yechidah level of the soul through learning Torah, as the Sfas Emes describes?
A: Through learning Torah with mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice) and l’sheim l’shamayim (for the sake of Heaven).
Q: For years, I have been learning in Kolel, and I have not been successful yet to finish any topic of Gemara I learned. I never yet completed anything, from beginning until end. At first, whenever I begin to learn, I have excitement, and slowly my excitement wanes, until I lose the whole thing. Then my learning will eventually become shaky and unstable, and unproductive. What is the reason for this, and how can I solve this issue?
A: Whenever you begin to learn, the main power you need to use is your intellect, not your heart. You need to enter Torah learning with the abilities of logical planning and thinking. In contrast, when [you start with excitement], you are starting from your heart [from a place of emotion], and this excitement will tend to weaken. You can also bring some of your heart into the process, but you mainly need to apply your cold, clean intellect, so that you can build a structure, step after step. The more solid your foundation is when you start, by mainly using your intellect as opposed to your heart, the more your Torah learning will last, with siyata d’shmaya.
Q: How can women and girls relate to Shavuos? How can women and girls have a connection to the event of receiving the Torah, and to relate to this on an emotional level? How can women and girls connect to the concept of this festival, in a way that speaks to their emotions?
A: 1) [A woman can feel a connection to the event of receiving the Torah since] all of the Jewish people stood together at Har Sinai with one heart. So the women, too, were each unified with the whole of Klal Yisrael.
2) Women have a connection to a more inner root than the above: they can connect to the “light” of Torah. There is a “light” within the Torah which is at a higher spiritual point than the intellectual aspects of Torah (which include chochmah, binah and daas), and this higher level is called “Toras Hashem Temimah”, the “Torah of Hashem is perfect” [and it is this particular aspect of Torah which women can emotionally connect to].
3) Women also have an active connection to the Torah, on the level of “shirah”, “song”, for the Torah is called shirah [Ed. refer to the derashah of “Song of the Jewish Woman”].
Q: The Jewish people received the Torah and reached a state where the sin of Adam HaRishon was rectified. If one didn’t merit to connect to this level of rectifying the sin of Adam HaRishon, is it possible for him also to connect to the event of standing at Har Sinai, which is the main avodah of this day [Shavuos], to connect to that event of Har Sinai? In our generation, how is it possible to connect to that event, when we are missing the necessary conditions which the Jewish people had at that time?
A: Through mesirus nefesh [willingness to give up our souls for G-d and for His Torah], we penetrate to the root of the spiritual level of the giving of the Torah. The root of the giving of the Torah was mesirus nefesh, because the souls of the Jewish people left them at every word of Hashem.
Q: 1) What is the difference between the Chassidim, Litvish, and Sefardim regarding the different ways of learning the “inner dimension” of Torah?
A: The way of learning for Sefardim is to focus on the simple meaning of the text, from deducing the meaning of the words (diyuk). (When it comes to learning the writings of the Arizal, the commentaries differ regarding how much diyuk one needs to use). In addition, the Sefardim use the ability of cheshbon [following the flow of thought of the words], and sometimes in order to answer a question or in order to fill in a missing detail which isn’t explicitly written, the Sefardim also employ the ability of sevara (logic).
The way of learning of the Litvish is to learn with understanding (havanah) and intellectualizing (haskalah), to understand the very concept of each level, and accordingly, to understand the path of the wisdom, with sevara and with cheshbon. A little bit of this is explained by the Gra, in his commentary on Mishlei, besides for what the Gra explains in his commentary to Sefer Yetzirah and mainly in his commentary on Tikkunei HaZohar.
Chassidim learn about each thing from a “soul” understanding, and from an understanding that relates to personal avodah.
Q: What are the different ways of their avodas Hashem?
A: The Sefardim emphasize the specific kavanos (intentions) to have when performing mitzvos. The way of the Litvish is to become completely attached by contemplating the ideals. The way of the Chassidim is to do the avodah of the soul that pertains to each detail, for the purpose of achieving d’veykus.
Q: Which is the path that the Rav recommends?
A: Each person needs to choose which path is appropriate for him, based on his personal soul root.
Q: What does the Rav recommend to do on shavuos night, besides for what the rav has taught us that a person needs to prepare himself [for the upcoming festival]? What is the kind of learning that the Rav suggests? Should one learn with the program that is in the place he lives in, or should he learn alone?
A: One should learn from a deep connection of his mind and heart, each person according to his own level, from the deepest place in his soul, the “fiftieth gate” of the soul, on the fiftieth day [of the Omer]. Part of this is that a person should also reach the place of “alone” in his soul, which is the deepest place in his own individual soul.
Q: Should a person try especially hard to find a mikveh [on shavuos morning before shacharis]?
A: Yes.
