As we travel through life, we are bound to encounter situations that leave us confused. When faced with a question, where do we turn? Well, you might say, that depends on what the question is. If it's business that's concerning me, I might want to consult with a professional in that business. If it's a medical concern, I will probably consult with a doctor, and so on. Most of us will turn to a Torah giant only if the question relates to halacha or hashkafa. Is that correct?
We learn in this week's parsha 25:22 that as Rivka was expecting, the children were kicking inside of her and she said, "If so, why did I daven for this?" Vateilech lidrosh es Hashem – and she went to inquire of Hashem. Says Rashi – she went to the yeshiva of Shem so that he should tell her what will be at her end of her pregnancy.
Why did Rivka have to ask questions? Many people have twins and experience lots of kicking – and they don't go to ask questions to the gedolai hador! Says Rashi, whenever she passed a shul, Yaakov was trying to get out and whenever she passed by a place of avoda zara, Esav was trying to get out. She understood then that she was having unusual children and so she went to ask a shaila.
Rav Elchanan Wasserman in sefer Kovetz Ma'amorim quotes the pasuk in Devarim 32,7 - "Zchor yemos olam binu shenos dor v’dor" – remember the days of the world, understand the years of each generation. Says Rav Elchanan, we have to understand history according to hashkafos haTorah. Being that everything that happens in the world is based upon the Torah, when something happens in the world there has to be a message, a Torahdige message. That’s why the pasuk says "binu" – we have to try to understand the episodes in this generation and other generations according to the Torah. Just like you have to understand when you are learning Torah, so too you have to understand history, because history is also al pi Torah.
We don’t read history like it’s read in the history books. When we learn history, we ask ourselves: What does the Torah have to say about this? In parshas Yisro it says, "Vayishma Yisro" – Yisro heard everything that Hashem did. A few pesukim later, the Torah tells us that Moshe related to Yisro everything that happened. Why did Moshe Rabeinu have to tell him all that occurred if the pasuk already told us that he heard? According to Rav Elchonon, the answer is beautifully clear – since Yisro simply "heard" from world news what had transpired. Now, Moshe Rabeinu told him all that happened based on hashkafas haTorah. As Rashi says, "limshoch libo l’korvo l’Torah" – to pull his heart and bring him close to the Torah. Hearing news on the street is a whole different story than hearing it al pi hashkafos haTorah from Moshe Rabeinu. Since everything that happens in the world is part of Torah, we need to understand what happens through the lens of Torah hashkafa.
Rivka knew that she wasn’t a regular person; her tafkid was to build klal Yisroel. So when she experienced this irregular occurrence, she went to Shem to find out what she should do. What is her responsibility and how should she deal with this situation? She is in the process of building klal Yisroel, so anything unusual that happens (the two children kicking in different directions) is affecting the entire world. She takes responsibility and goes to ask a shaila - she needs to learn and understand what’s going on.
When you want to study history and figure out the Torah's perspective, you don’t do it based on your own intellect, because a person’s mind is limited. Rather, you have to learn from someone who has a kabala of Torah shebaal peh and understands it. When you learn stories in Tanach, you can't just learn the translation; you need to learn what the chachamim and the mefarshim say about it.
Rivka Imeinu wanted to know what’s happening and she knew that she can’t rely on her own intellect. Rather, she has to go to someone who understands current events al pi Torah. That’s why she went to the gadol hador – she went to Shem.
When the pasuk tells us that Rivka went "lidrosh es Hashem", it wasn't that she was trying to figure out what was happening for her own personal interest. No, she wanted to learn what was the Torah perspective, what Hashem was telling her as she builds the future of klal Yisroel.
The Chofetz Chaim quotes Reb Itchele M’Volozhin who said there’s no question in the world that you cannot find an answer for in the Torah. One just needs the right eyes to see where it’s written. Even solutions for modern, political and social matters are in the Torah. A merchant who has a business question - the advice for him is written in the Torah! One only needs enlightened eyes to know where to look.. This is not only for private matters, but even things regarding the entire klal yisroel – it's all in the Torah.
If a person finds himself in confusion, he doesn’t know what to do, and someone tells him, "Go ask Hashem", he will be surprised. How can that be done? Says the Chofetz Chaim: It can be done; we have a Torah. We ask Hashem by looking at the Torah. And from there we get all answers to our questions.
Let say a political party says vote for us and you will find salvation. And then a second party says, No, don’t vote for that party because not only won't you find salvation there, but trouble will befall you. How are we supposed to know the truth? All this is in the Torah. And we have to go to our gedolei Yisroel to tell us what do.
Rav Shach said that Daas Torah is without any personal interests and the only consideration for this person is Torah and no outside influences. A person can make a mistake. The Chofetz Chaim never made a mistake because he never said anything personal; it was a based on Torah alone. And the Torah never makes a mistake. We have to realize that our intellect is not reliable as we would like to think. We are extremely influenced by our surroundings and personal desires. When we have a serious question, we must seek out daas Torah.
Rav Shach Zt”l says over that the Chofetz Chaim was walking with someone and they were talking about topics of emuna and how to look at things with the lens of Torah. The person asked the Chofetz Chaim how do we know about this? The Chofetz Chaim paused and then asked, "What kind of question is this, how do we know that now is day and in a few hours it will be dark and then it will be day again?" The person answered, because that’s the way of the world – night, day, then night again. This is the way it's always been, so this is the way it will continue. Says the Chofetz Chaim, no, that’s not the reason. It’s learned out from a pasuk in Parsha Noach (8,22) that says that day and night will never cease. That's how we know that the sun will rise again tomorrow and then night will fall again. It has nothing to do with nature; it's all from the Torah.
We aren't big enough to find the answers to our questions in the Torah, and that's why we must go "lidrosh es Hashem", to ask our gedolim to enlighten us. "Hafoch ba v'hafoch ba d'kulah ba" – everything is in the Torah.
