Skip to main content

Thought for the Day: Without Yiras HaShem You Have Nothing

Shlomo haMelech, wisest of all men, who is king in yerushalayim which is a city filled with wisdom, and son of Dovid who is also know for his wisdom, tells us, "One who loves money cannot be satisfied with money." (Koheles 5:9).  For those of us still listening on shabbos chol ha'mo'ed, this didn't seem to be astounding news.  We saw Howard Hughes die a lonely recluse with a huge bank account and no life.

Now look at Rashi (who's job is simply p'shat): "one who loves mitzvos is not satisfied with them."  Ok, now I am going, "WOW!".  Shlomo HaMelech is not talking about money at all.  He is rather telling us that that mida we see in those who love money actually applies to any acquisition; even mitzvos.  In fact, the medrash tells us the historical figure who exemplifies this mida is none other than Moshe Rabeinu himself.  Moshe Rabeinu wanted so desperately to enter Eretz Yisrael that he was able to compose 515 unique and compelling t'filos regarding his desire to enter the land.  Chazal (Sotah 14a) explain that Moshe Rabeinu's  entire desire to enter Eretz Yisrael was to perform the mitzvos that could only be performed there.

That's good right?  Use that mida to love mitzvos and become like Moshe Rabeinu.  One problem... the end of the pasuk is"gam zeh hevel" -- this is also vapor/futility/vanity.  Ok.. my "WOW!" just went to "HUH?!"  How does intense love of mitzvos turn into hevel?

Before answering, let's link this to another Chazal: A person does not die with half his desires fulfilled.  If he has 100, he wants 200; if he has 200, he wants 400.  We cannot possibly imagine, therefore, the intensity with which Moshe Rabeinu wanted to enter Eretz Yisrael.  Moreover, if he has davened even one more t'fila, he actually could have entered the land and performed all those mitzvos.  What stopped him?  "gam zeh hevel"  HaShem told him to stop davening, so he stopped.  If he hadn't stopped... "gam zeh hevel".  Yiras HaShem comes before everything; even that most intense desire for mitzvos.

And that is precisely how Shlomo haMelech concludes, "The final conclusion when all is understood and appreciated: Fear G-d and keep mitzvos, for that is the whole of a person."  Yiras HaShem, then keep mitzvos, that is a real person.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thought for the Day: אוושא מילתא Debases Yours Shabbos

My granddaughter came home with a list the girls and phone numbers in her first grade class.  It was cute because they had made it an arts and crafts project by pasting the list to piece of construction paper cut out to look like an old desk phone and a receiver attached by a pipe cleaner.  I realized, though, that the cuteness was entirely lost on her.  She, of course, has never seen a desk phone with a receiver.  When they pretend to talk on the phone, it is on any relatively flat, rectangular object they find.  (In fact, her 18 month old brother turns every  relatively flat, rectangular object into a phone and walks around babbling into it.  Not much different than the rest of us, except his train of thought is not interrupted by someone else babbling into his ear.) I was reminded of that when my chavrusa (who has children my grandchildrens age) and I were learning about אוושא מילתא.  It came up because of a quote from the Shulchan Aruch HaRav that referred to the noise of תקתוק
Post a Comment
Read more

Thought for the Day: Love in the Time of Corona Virus/Anxiously Awaiting the Mashiach

Two scenarios: Scenario I: A young boy awakened in the middle of the night, placed in the back of vehicle, told not to make any noise, and the vehicle speeds off down the highway. Scenario II: Young boy playing in park goes to see firetruck, turns around to see scary man in angry pursuit, poised to attack. I experienced and lived through both of those scenarios. Terrifying, no? Actually, no; and my picture was never on a milk carton. Here's the context: Scenario I: We addressed both set of our grandparents as "grandma" and "grandpa". How did we distinguish? One set lived less than a half hour's drive; those were there "close grandma and grandpa". The other set lived five hour drive away; they were the "way far away grandma and grandpa". To make the trip the most pleasant for all of us, Dad would wake up my brother and I at 4:00AM, we'd groggily -- but with excitement! -- wander out and down to the garage where we'd crawl
Post a Comment
Read more

Thought for the Day: David HaMelech's Five Stages of Finding HaShem In the World

Many of us "sing" (once you have heard what I call carrying a tune, you'll question how I can, in good conscience, use that verb, even with the quotation marks) Eishes Chayil before the Friday night Shabbos meal.  We feel like we are singing the praises of our wives.  In fact, I have also been to chasunas where the chasson proudly (sometimes even tearfully) sings Eishes Chayil to his new eishes chayil.  Beautiful.  Also wrong.  (The sentiments, of course, are not wrong; just a misunderstanding of the intent of the author of these exalted words.) Chazal (TB Brachos, 10a) tell us that when Sholmo HaMelech wrote the words "She opens her mouth Mwith wisdom; the torah of kindness is on her tongue", that he was referring to his father, Dovid HaMelech, who (I am continuing to quote Chazal here) lived in five worlds and sang a song of praise [to each].  It seems to me that "world" here means a perception of reality.  Four times Dovid had to readjust his perc
Post a Comment
Read more