The opening of Parshas Bechukosai is certainly a great pathway to properly prepare for Chag Shavuos. As Rashi tells us, the key for success both physically and spiritually is עמילות בתורה, toiling in Torah, working hard and trying to understand and internalize Hashem’s message to us.
I learnt an amazing lesson from my new found Israeli soldier Eden who spent a transformational Shabbos with us here in Monsey. In one of the conversations with Eden I mentioned the idea that Judaism is not all or nothing. This is a great misconception. I learnt years back from Rav Noach Weinberg z”l that people think it’s all or nothing and many times that is what stops them from becoming Shomrei Torah and mitzvos. An example that I gave him was when a person who hasn’t kept Shabbos wants to keep Shabbos sometimes it means just lighting candles and saying “good Shabbos.” Every person is at a different rung on the spiritual ladder. For some people not checking the phone on Shabbos is a great struggle, and for others it’s such an easy task that they don’t need to even think about it.
This week, when we were learning, Eden told me that this message – which he translates into Hebrew זה לא שחור או לבן it’s not black and white – had a great impact on him and his kallah.
For the past few weeks Eden, and I have been learning a mishna a day. I told him that the midrash says something very profound about learning a mishna a day. The midrash is in Devarim and it compares a fool to a wise man. It says that a fool looks at the vast amount of information that the Torah includes and says “this is impossible to learn” and so he never starts. The wise man says ”I will learn a little bit each day” and this is what he does. Eventually, he becomes a great Talmid Chacham.
The Midrash gives a mashal to a mountain that had to be dug up and moved to another area. The first person who sees the mountain says “it’s impossible,” and so he doesn’t even try. The second person says “I’ll try” and he starts digging. Not long after he begins, he reaches the bottom, and because the mountain was positioned near water, suddenly the whole mountain moves.
I think the idea of the Midrash is that if we look at it from a natural level, then it’s impossible to learn everything, but if we understand that when we are learning Torah, it’s really above nature, and the whole process of understanding and retaining Torah is based on עמילות which results in Hashem giving us the gift of Torah, then our approach will be completely different.
May we merit to properly appreciate the gift of Torah, and learn what we are supposed to learn each day.