A Joke With A Lesson
The Sfas Emes zt”l once asked his grandfather, the Chidushei Harim zt”l, what to do when he was not in the mood to learn Torah. The Chidushei Harim answered, “So learn when you are not in the mood!”
Question:
What does this mean on a practical level?
Answer:
When a person is not in the mood to learn or do a mitzvah, and still pushes themselves to do it, this shows unbelievable love to Hashem. That’s the lesson. This generation, in many ways, shows more love for Hashem than any generation before us. Because there are so many distractions from the yetzer hara, we aren’t always in the mood to do mitzvos. We don’t always feel sweetness or closeness when we try to serve Hashem. But still, we keep trying and pushing ourselves to daven, to learn, to do mitzvos, and to come close to Hashem again and again. This is why our generation will be the one to bring Mashiach. (Based on R’ Shimshon Pincus zt”l)
This coming week is my Zeidy’s yahrtzeit. He survived the Nazis and was just 11-12 years old when the war was won. After the war, he had every excuse to give up or “to not be in the mood,” but he devoted his life to Torah. He built a beautiful family, helped build mosdos, and was zoche to finish shas many times. He was a true role model of never giving up and serving Hashem with mesiras nefesh to his last day. May his neshama have an aliyah.
This connects to this week’s parsha:
Question:
Why did an angel fight only with Yaakov and not with Avraham or Yitzchak?
Answer:
Because the yetzer hara doesn't mind if a person does chessed all day like Avraham, or davens all day like Yitzchak. But when it comes to learning, which Yaakov represents, the yetzer hara will put up a fight with all its strength. (Chafetz Chaim zt”l)
The yetzer hara tries to do whatever he can, anything to stop us from learning, because it knows how powerful Torah is for a Yid. Torah wakes up those who feel sleepy inside and strengthens those who are already awake. Every word of learning is a diamond.
R’ Moshe Sternbuch shlita said that a chassan once came to his rabbi, R’ Moshe Schneider zt”l, before his wedding. The chassan asked for a blessing to have no challenges and to have an easy life. R' Schneider told the chassan, “Having an easy life is not a blessing and isn’t called living life. I will bless you so that you should have the strength and energy to overcome and grow from every challenge in life!”
That’s the lesson. We are not expected to be perfect. Only angels are perfect! We just have to try our best to overcome and grow from challenges. We are expected to try our best.
This connects to this week’s parsha:
Yaakov Avinu's name was changed to Yisroel after fighting and winning Eisav's angel. “Yisroel” means “the struggle,” not “the winner.”
Question:
Why wasn't his name changed to “the winner”? Since he won the angel, Eisav, and Lavan?
Answer:
Because it’s the struggle, the journey through the challenge until you win, that shows our love for Hashem. Winning and being successful isn’t always in our hands; it depends on Hashem helping, but trying your best is totally up to you. Give it all you got!
Life
Yitzchok went out on a date and noticed the girl was missing her two front teeth. He quickly called the shadchan and whispered, “Why didn’t you tell me about her teeth?”
“Calm down,” the shadchan said, “it’s only two teeth, the main thing is her middos. And you don’t have to whisper, she’s deaf too…”
“She’s deaf too?” Yitzchok couldn’t believe this. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Yitzchok shouted.
“I did tell you,” the shadchan said. “You weren’t listening… see? You’re a perfect match…”
That’s the lesson. A person must learn every day, for their own health; if not, it’s like missing teeth. Or maybe even worse. The good news is, it’s never too late. Just start learning whatever you can from now. You will only gain.
What can the Chassidim learn from the litvishe people?
To be more on time.
What can the Litvishe people learn from the Chassidim?
Sometimes it’s okay not to be on time…
That’s the lesson. Both have to learn from each other. Some need to be inspired to be more on time. Some need to trust Hashem, relax if not everything is on time.
I’m Not In The Mood To Learn.
