On Boruch Levine’s album, Touched by a Niggun, he sings a very powerful song (based on Rav Yechiel Spero’s amazing book, Touched by a Story); of a Jewish family whose home R’l was tragically ravaged by a fire, and upon realizing that their book of yichus had been burned in the flames, the young boy in the story movingly says to his mother that she mustn’t cry about it...for the new yichus of the future will start with him....
Yichus is a very special zechus to have, but when one does not merit to have the greatest yichus possible, he must appreciate and know that he can be the beginning of a new yichus — one that will start with him.
With this beautiful idea, my chashuve chavrusa, Rav Yehuda Tzvi Kurzrock shlita, repeated a derash of the Ostrosover Gaon zt’l regarding a pasuk in our parashah.
The Torah tells us that when Moshe counts Klal Yisrael, he should take the Nasi of each Shevet to help him with the counting. And the pasuk states:
וְאִתְכֶם יִהְיוּ אִישׁ אִישׁ לַמַטֶה אִיש רֹאש לְבֵית אֲבֹתָיוׁ הוּא —
And with you shall be a man from each tribe; each man a prince of his father’s house” (Bamidbar 1:4).
On the words רֹאשׁ לְבֵיתׁ אֲבֹתָיו, he explained that a person can become the head of his father’s household; meaning that he will be the beginning of what will one day become his beis avos, the beis avos that he begot and was zocheh to create.
Rav Kurzrock went on to explain that as much as yichus might be a beautiful thing, it is only worthwhile if someone builds upon it, for yichus alone is not very valuable in itself. He proved this from an incident in the Gemara in Meseches Berachos.
When Raban Gamliel was taken down from being Nasi, they wanted to place Rabbi Akiva in his stead; but they felt that since he did not have zechus avos, it would not be a good idea. Then they chose Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya to become Nasi, because he had very many qualities, and also because he was the tenth generation of yichus from Ezra! The question is, if the main reason Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya was chosen over Rabbi Akiva was because he had zechus avos, then why does the Gemara mention that point last?
Rav Kurzrock explained: The zechus avos and the powerful yichus are only valuable after the other qualities are mentioned and emphasized, for without them, it would not be worthwhile.
At the same time, as we mentioned above, if one is not zocheh to have prominent yichus, he can be very strengthened and encouraged to follow in the paths of all the Avraham Avinu’s of history; who paved the paths and climbed the great mountains for their children to follow them.
Rav Kurzrock added: The Ostrosover himself was once in a gathering with other great luminaries, all sharing the divrei Torah of their illustrious ancestors. He himself did not have such a yichus; but he shared a vort as a melitzah (a form of parable) that he had heard from his father, who was a baker by trade: Fresh bread is better than old bread...
...and with that he shared a brilliant insight that, baruch Hashem, he had thought of.
Rav Label Lam shlita shares an incredible story: There was once a young man who had grown up irreligious, and b’ezras Hashem had found his way back to his roots....
In short, he was once looking for something in his garage, and in one of the boxes he found a picture of a man with a long white beard. Intrigued, he went to his mother and asked, “Mom, is this person in our family?” His mom looked at her son and said, “No... actually we are in his family!”
That response sent this young man searching to find that yichus and lineage that he had never been aware of....
When we think about our ancestry and the ones who paved the way for us to follow, it should spur within us that unbelievably powerful thought that they began a path for us to follow by creating the yichus to them...
...and even if we are merited to be connected to a rich past, b’ezras Hashem we all have the chance to also create our own yichus in a sense, by becoming the rosh of our personal beis avos, too.
B’Siyata DiShmaya.
