Stepping Stones for the week
v . . . every effort makes an impression and leaves its mark.
v Our job is to try! Hashem will make it succeed!
v . . . everything we are commanded to do is within our power to achieve.
v Appreciate the Blessings Hashem has given you and Commit yourself to make the most of them.
It’s Worth Trying (Yom Kippur)
By Harav Shlomo Aschkenasy
The Beis Yisrael, zy”a, is known for his cryptic sayings, which were incisive and penetrating. His intention, like that of the Kotzker chassidim of whom he was reminiscent, was to make a point that would strike home and leave an indelible impression on the heart, mind and soul of the hearer. Most of his statements were timeless messages that can inject life and spirit into us all.
Lately I heard about a bachur who was about to leave Eretz Yisrael and met the Beis Yisrael at the Kosel. The Beis Yisrael queried him, “Do you know what Hashem’s biggest miracle is?” And the answer: “It’s the fact that He doesn’t laugh (Ehr lacht nisht)!” And without further ado the Beis Yisrael said good-bye, leaving the bachur dumbstruck, trying to figure out the Rebbe’s intention.
The bachur hurried back to Yeshivas Sfas Emes, where he found the Pnei Menachem, zy”a, who was then Rosh Hayeshivah. On hearing the Beis Yisrael’s words the Rosh Yeshivah smiled and said sympathetically, “I too heard those words from the Rebbe and was unable to fathom his intention, but I gathered up the courage to ask him.
“This was his explanation. When someone promises to do something and doesn’t do it, he will usually come up with excuses — once, twice and three times, and people still trust that he will fulfill his promise. After a few more times, though, people lose faith and will just laugh at him if he makes a promise.
“With the Ribbono shel Olam it’s not like that. We commit ourselves so many times to improve. We often say we’re going to change. We’ve begged, Selach lanu (Pardon us), and Hashiveinu (Bring us back) in an endless number of tefillos, yet we stay in our rut and continue with our wrongdoings. Hashem, however, doesn’t laugh at us. He doesn’t scoff. He patiently waits and encourages us to keep trying. He still hopes and has faith that someday we will make it happen!”
Hashem doesn’t laugh, but we do! We ridicule others and even laugh at ourselves. We don’t believe we can do it, but He does. He values our efforts even if we don’t see results. The effort itself is valuable for two reasons. First, because every effort makes an impression and leaves its mark. As Rav Chaim Shmulevitz, zt”l, so wisely noted when recounting the incident that led Rabbi Akiva to do teshuvah, Chazal say that he saw drops of water falling on a stone and remarked, “If those drops can chip away the stone and gouge out a hole in them, the waters of Torah can do the same for me and return me to its teachings.”
What was the wisdom of Rabbi Akiva that this incident highlights? Rav Chaim said that Rabbi Akiva recognized that the problem most people have is taking the first step toward changing. One step seems inconsequential and worthless. Rabbi Akiva realized that if the first step has no effect, there will not be a second step because a second step would then be like starting all over again – and so on ad infinitum. The stone does not remain the same after one drop of water falls on it; otherwise a second drop would be just like the first and the stone would never be affected. It would always remain at the same stage it was when the first drop fell.
It must be, concluded Rabbi Akiva, that the first drop leaves its mark, although it’s not discernible. So it is with teshuvah: one small step in the direction of repentance is a giant step towards sheleimus.
Regardless of its effect, Hashem values the effort itself. As Kotzk interpreted the famous Chazal, “Yagata velo matzasa…”: If you toiled and did not find fruit – “al taamin” – don’t believe it. You know why? Because the toil itself is priceless and of infinite value.
In Tehillim we read that Hashem praises the waves as they rise up, Beso galo atah teshabchem (Tehillim 89:10). The Rebbe Reb Bunim of Peshischa explained that the waves deserve to be praised for their tireless efforts. They wish to get closer to Heaven, to the Throne of Glory by rising ever higher. They’re jealous of the waters on High. They try to rise yet fall back again and again, but they never give up, driven by their craving for closeness to the Throne, and their efforts are praiseworthy. So too are ours, and we must never tire of trying because nothing is lost, every attempt is valued, and each leaves its mark.
I found a profound insight of Harav Elchanan Wassserman, Hy”d, which sheds light on the phenomenal dual value of effort. He points out that every aveirah is double-edged. First, a transgression of Hashem’s will is tantamount to heresy. When we sin we divest ourselves of Hashem’s authority, denying His kingship. Chazal equate succumbing to the dictates of the yetzer hara with bowing to an idol. The yetzer hara is called “el zar shebikirbecha, the foreign god within you.” Second, a sin damages our spiritual being. It dulls our emotions and instincts (metamtem es halev). It demolishes the G-dly image that is our essence. A crust of filth besmears its pristine state.
The efforts we make to mend our ways repair the two negative effects of sin. They express our craving to be close under Hashem’s sovereignty and that offsets the elements of heresy and idolatry. And our toil scrapes away the sheet of filth our sins created so that we can come back to our true selves and regain our spiritual essence.
*
There’s another reason not to laugh away our efforts. Hashem beckons us and promises, “Pischu li pesach kechudo shel machat…, Open for Me an opening as tiny as a needle hole and I will open up for you an entrance wide enough for wagons.” Hashem opens the gate of teshuvah for those who knock. He’s there to help, willing to assist and promises to make it happen. He knows that without His help we cannot make it. “Ilmalei ozro…, Were it not for Hashem’s help we could not overcome the mighty and wily yetzer hara.” Our job is to try! Hashem will make it succeed!
One of the most inexcusable justifications is to say, “It’s too hard; it’s impossible.” Chazal say that for an insurmountable challenge the Torah gives us some leeway (see Rashi on the topic of yefas toar hara in Parashas Ki Seitzei). Harav Yechezkel Abramsky said that we can learn from this that everything we are commanded to do is within our power to achieve; we can be confident of this because if we take a step in the right direction Heavenly assistance will lead us all the way.
I find it most apropos to reiterate the thoughts of Harav Moshe Chadash, zt”l, who inspired many bachurim in his Yeshivas Ohr Elchanan as well as avreichim like me, and we all benefited merely from being in his vicinity. On Parashah Mattos he gave an enthusiastic talk, which turned out to be his valedictory address, revealing the key to his successful life in Torah dissemination.
He reminisced that close to sixty years before, when he was a young bachur of seventeen, he was brokenhearted that he hadn’t achieved as much as he had expected. He found himself a quiet corner and poured out his heart to Hashem, asking for Divine mercy to succeed. He took upon himself some serous commitments for improvement and set himself goals. He went to Meron and cried out all of Tehillim, beseeching Heavenly help. Hashem responded and we can say that the rest is history.
He went on to point out that Moshe Rabbeinu, Yirmiyahu and Yeshayahu all claimed to be unfit and unable to speak to Am Yisrael and lead them. Hashem’s response to them all was similar. “It matters not, for you are my messengers and I will be with you so that you will succeed in all your missions.”
We all might feel the same kind of impotence to overcome the yetzer and achieve heights in Torah and closeness to Hashem. But since we are not doing it on our own but only at Hashem’s behest, we are He, so to speak, for He is in us and there’s nothing that can prevent our ascent. Heaven is the limit!
All we have to do is take one step, daven and make a true commitment. Perhaps a simple A, B, C mnemonic can serve as the first rungs on the ladder. Appreciate the Blessings Hashem has given you and Commit yourself to make the most of them. Acknowledge in tefillah that He is the Source of everything and have Bitachon that He’ll help you as long as you Care for His Torah and His people and Constantly try to aggrandize them so that yisgadal veyiskaddash Shemei Rabba!