Clinging to Chachomim
Now, among the many opportunities to come physically close to Hashem is the mitzvah to cling to talmidei chachomim. Because on the words ֹבוּו ַּ̃ב¿„ƒ ̇ – and to Hashem you should cling, the Gemara asks הָינƒכ¿ׁ ַּ̆ב ̃≈ּבַ„¿ל רָׁ ̆¿פ∆‡ יƒכ¿ו – is such a thing possible, to cling to the Shechina? After all, cling means to physically cling. Of course, as I said before, there’s a great deal to be said on the mitzvah of ַּ̃ב¿„ƒ ̇ ֹבוּו in an intellectual sense but there’s no question it includes also physical proximity and closeness to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. How is that possible?
So the Gemara says, יםƒמָכֲחַּב ̃≈בָּ„ƒה ‡ָּל∆‡ – the way to achieve that is by clinging to the chachomim. If you go to the chachomim you’ll find that Hashem is there, by them.
I’ll explain that. You remember when Shaul Hamelech returned from his victorious battle against the Amaleki in the days of Shmuel Hanavi, so Shmuel chided him, יָנ¿זָ‡ּ¿ב הּ∆זַה ן‡ֹּˆַה לֹו ̃ ה∆מּו – “What’s this sound of sheep that I hear in my ears.” It means, “Instead of destroying all of Amalek’s livestock like you were commanded, you brought back the sheep alive?!”
So Shaul excused himself. He said, “I did it only ך∆ ֹ̃ל¡‡ ם≈ּׁ ַ̆הַל ַחֹב¿ז ןַﬠַמ¿ל – in order to be makriv them as korbanos to Hashem, your G-d” (Shmuel I, 15:14).
So the Kuzari (4:3) asks a kasheh. He says, “Why does it mean your Hashem? Isn’t it Shaul’s Hashem too? Shaul was a frum Jew! Shaul was a ben Torah and an anav; a very big tzaddik. I’m not just saying this on my own – Chazal say all these things about Shaul Hamelech. So what does it mean, “Hashem your G-d”? He should have said, נו≈ ֹ̃ל¡‡ ם≈ּׁ ַ̆הַל ַחֹב¿ז ןַﬠַמ¿ל – “We want to bring them to Hashem our G-d.”
Connect to the Shechina
And so the Kuzari explains, certainly it’s everybody’s Hashem, but Hakadosh Baruch Hu chooses to rest His Presence on those people who are closest to Him. The navi is a man of greater perfection because of his achievements in nevuah. And so, when Shaul spoke to Shmuel Hanavi he said, “your G-d,” because he was saying, “Hashem is resting His Presence on you more than me! You have an excellence, a shleimus of character, and that makes the Shechina rest on you even more than upon me.”
So you’ll say, “The Shechina? That’s only a mashal. The Shechina actually rests on him?!”
And we say yes! Yes and yes! We’re learning now that the Shechina actually rests on the chachmei haTorah. And that’s why when you bring yourself close to talmidei chachomim, to those upon whom the Shechina rests most intensely, so in a sense it’s considered like you’re bringing yourself close to Hashem.
That’s why the Rambam (Deios 6:3) says that we should all strive as much as possible to be close to the chachomim רּוּבƒח י≈ינƒמ לָכ¿ּב – with all forms of closeness. To walk with them, to eat together with them, to do business with them. As much as possible, in whatever way you can imagine, to be physically close to them, and to thereby be close to Hashem.
Introducing the Prophet
And that’s why we have a principle called shimusha shel Torah – to be meshamesh, to serve talmidei chachomim. That’s why, when the Sefer Melachim (II 3:11) wants to introduce Elisha Hanavi and tell us who he is, what his yichus is, so it says, טָפָׁ ̆ ןּ∆ב עָׁ ̆יƒל¡‡ הֹּפ – Here is Elisha Hanavi, ַ̃ˆָי רׁ∆ ֲ̆‡ּהוָּיƒל≈‡ י≈„¿י לַﬠ םƒיַמ – who used to pour water on Eliyahu’s hands.
Now, some say it’s only a mashal – they go off into fanciful explanations; they want to say that shimush means learning more deeply – that it means he was a talmid of Eliyahu and that he learnt intensely with Eliyahu, but that’s not the truth. The Gemara (Berachos 7b) explains: רַמ¡‡∆נ ‡ֹל „ַמָל – It doesn’t say he learned from him, ַ̃ˆָי ‡ָּל∆‡ – it says only that he poured water over his hands. It means that he was present when Eliyahu had to wash his hands, so Elisha took the can of water and poured it on his rebbe’s hands. And that’s our introduction to Elisha – he was the one who washed his rebbe’s hands.
The Wrong Introduction
Now, that’s a stunning statement – it’s almost not understandable at all. Because it could have said, “Here is Elisha who learned from Eliyahu Hanavi the methods of achieving nevuah.” Eliyahu was the one who trained Elisha to be a navi. Eliyahu had a school of bnei hanevi’im and he brought up Elisha in the darkei hanevuah – he taught him everything. But no, that’s not mentioned at all. All the secrets of the Torah, all the darkei Hashem, everything else that was taught in that great academy of nevuah, nothing is mentioned of that. The only thing that deserves mention is that Elisha poured water on the hands of Eliyahu Hanavi!
So the Gemara tells us that we see from here that, הָ„ּוּמƒּלƒמ ר≈ ֹ̇יו הָרֹוּ ̇ ל∆ׁ ּ̆הָׁ ּ̆וּמƒׁ ̆ הָלֹו„¿ּ‚ – serving the one who teaches Torah is even greater than learning Torah from him. And why is that? Because washing hands is a physical closeness! The physical closeness to Eliyahu, to a man upon whom the Shechina rested in greatest proportion, was such a great merit that it’s like being close to Hashem even more than the closeness by learning the Torah. In a certain sense it’s even more important than learning. Believe me coming to visit a live Chafetz Chaim is better than reading the sefer Chafetz Chaim.
Associate With the Greats
And that means we should never disdain the opportunity to be physically close to the gedolei Yisroel and to the talmidei chachomim of our generation; to associate with them as much as possible. Many benefits can be gained if a person makes it a career of his to be meshamesh talmidei chachomim and it should be considered a very great privilege because it’s a form of achieving physical closeness to Hashem.
Of course, it could be these talmidei chachomim are busy; could be that when you seek their company they’ll push you away. But that’s your job anyhow, to do whatever you can to bring yourself close. You shouldn’t worry about becoming an encumbrance. Let them tell you, “Get away from here.” Meanwhile you try your best to get close to them.
Arguing With the Satmerer
Let’s say the Satmarer Rav; he’s a very fine man by the way. I know him personally – a very fine man. But he’s a busy man; he’s learning all the time, and people come to him all the time with sheilos too. But suppose you go to him and you say, “I heard Rabbi Miller speak so I want to get close to you.”
But he says, “I don’t have much time.”
So you’ll say, “Can I at least carry your tallis to your beis hamedrash for you?”
So the Satmarer Rav says, “I don’t need it. I carry it myself.”
So you beg him, “Please rebbe, do me a favor. Let me carry your tallis.” He’s not going to spend time arguing with you in the street, so he relents. So you’re walking behind him carrying his tallis – you’re not talking to him; you’re just walking close to him. You have to know that you’re accomplishing a great achievement for yourself. I’m not a chossid but I’m telling you, if you’ll get that privilege to carry his tallis, you're now becoming closer to Hakadosh Baruch Hu; no question about it.
Grab the Opportunities
Now, I picked just one person. But it applies to all of the roshei yeshivah; get close to them. They don’t have time to talk to you, but if you become useful to them in some way, you’re meshamesh talmidei chachomim, hang around, after a while, maybe you’ll be zocheh. And baruch Hashem we have them today – not as many as we had twenty years ago, not as many as forty years ago, but still we do have them. Only that most people don’t understand how important it is to get physically close to them.
Even when we had really great men, only a few people came to them. When Rav Aharon Kotler, zichrono livracha, was alive, how many Jews, baalei batim or even bnei Torah came to see him personally? He was a busy man, no question, but why didn’t you come to see him? Just to walk to his house or to his beis medrash; even if you wouldn’t speak to him, just the walking meant that you were walking towards the mizbeach.
Now, if you could find a way to speak a few words with him, even better. To ask him for advice, a derech in life? Absolutely! A few words from a great man would set you straight if you would be willing to listen. But even if you didn’t speak to him, just to be close to him is already a perfection of the neshama. And when Rav Aharon passed away, the generation lost that opportunity forever.
The Basement in Monsey
When Rav Moshe Feinstein was alive, it was a pleasure to talk to him. When Rav Yankev Kaminetzky was still alive, he was a baal yoeitz. You could talk to him. He would give advice. But even if you didn’t speak to him, just to be there. And still, how many people bothered to come? Rav Yankev Kaminetzky used to say a shiur on Chumash in...
