Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 95 (from 1942)
The gemara (Shabbat 33a) says that “emunat” (belief in) in Yeshayahu 33:6 refers to the Order of Zera’im (agricultural Halacha). That is because one who believes, sows, whereas one who does not believe, harvests [all the grain rather than using some for replanting]. (This is counter to the idea of preferring less of something definite (see Ketubot 83b)). It requires great patience and belief to overcome the concern about what will come from the investment.
It was with belief that the “kernel” that became the yeshiva (apparently, Yeshivat Kfar Haroeh) was sown – belief with naiveite, without cold calculations, belief that also gave confidence, bravery, and stubbornness. It was also with belief that the kernel of communal life (ed. note – it is written “kibbutzi,” which can refer to a kibbutz or the socialistic elements of a moshav, like Kfar Haroeh) was established. It was done with naivete, simplicity, straightforwardness, and stubbornness. An individual’s path did not have to pass the test of communal life. Indeed, some preferred to cash in the small amounts of “grain” that were collected in the yeshiva – for flour, a loaf of bread, and a nice meal. When belief is lacking, some pick the flowers off trees to show off without considering that when left, the flower becomes a fruit.
Everything related to the Order of Zera’im is connected to belief. It is not just to plant the seed, but to guard it, develop it, have it grow, and water it. Sometimes, one is tired and impatient from the toil of building and sowing. He has “worked his hands off,” and the fruit are not yet visible. Only with belief can one continue and even work consistently.
Hashem looked in the Torah in order to create the world (Zohar of Parashat Teruma). The laws of the Torah are the foundations of the natural world. If we knew how to do it, we could see the laws of the Torah in nature. Although we cannot do this, we can solve mysteries of the world using the Torah scroll Hashem gave us.
Date palms “speak,” but who can hear them? Fortunate is one who learned to capture the silent notes described in Psalms as “the heavens speak Hashem’s honor” (Tehillim 19:2). We learn it from the Torah, the Prophets, and those who sang psalms to Hashem. Through their words we feel a connection to Hashem; we get excited by their spiritual excitement. This book deciphers the hidden language and transfers it to a language humans can understand.
Avraham saw divinity by looking at the world Hashem created. Yitzchak knew how to turn a stroll into a prayer (see Bereishit 24:63). That which Am Yisrael learned through great miracles and deafening sounds, Avraham learned from gazing at the world. When Yitzchak saw Eisav’s ability to earn a living, he hoped to see a resemblance to himself, but he did not, because while Yitzchak spent time in the field (see ibid.), Eisav was a “man of the field” (ibid. 25:27).
We should distinguish between “people of the field” (i.e., ignorant) and people who are in the fields.” The former is defined by the field, whereas for the latter, the field is just an instrument to reach a goal. Just like our forefather Yaakov was not a “man of the field” like his brother, so too the nation as a whole was never a nation of the field. Rather it is a nation with individuals in the fields. The Torah calls Noach a “man of the soil” (ibid. 9:20), after calling him a “righteous man” (ibid 6:9). This is a decline in level (see Bereishit Rabba 22:3).
One who is walking and learning, and stops his learning to comment, “What a lovely tree” is harshly criticized (Avot 3:7). Praiseworthy is one who can say “What a lovely tree” without it being a break from his learning but an expression/continuation of his study.
The Torah’s purpose is to make a bridge between man and Hashem through nature. In some ways, Israel is a nation like all the nations and a land like all the lands, but at the same time, a nation different from the nations and a Land different from other lands.
