Insights in Education from Parashat Vayikra — Strive to Give Even When I Have Nothing! Even When I Cannot! Even for One Person!

Every educator is tested in his work quite often precisely at times of difficulty: when a complex situation arises, or when he has a reason — or even many reasons — to explain why right now he is not obligated to invest effort, or why the matter is not in the place where he is expected to act or to be of benefit.

“I learned a great deal from the moshavnik”!!! the rabbi said with admiration...

A Jewish farmer from one of the moshavim once related that one day a rabbi from the area came to deliver a Torah lecture in the synagogue of the moshav. But alas, the synagogue was empty of its congregants, and only one Jew had come to hear the lecture. He noticed that the rabbi was disappointed and would soon turn on his heels and return home... So he turned to him with a question: “In the cowshed that I own there were 70 cows, but during the night there was a break-in to the cowshed and 69 cows were stolen. Apparently, the thief ‘took pity’ on me and left me one survivor... My question is: am I still obligated to feed her? It does not pay for me to maintain an entire cowshed for one cow...”

The rabbi understood the hint; a smile spread across his face, and he proceeded to give the lecture.

The lesson is clear.

It is the duty of every person, especially in this era, the footsteps of Mashiach, when a spiritual hunger prevails in our land, to devote himself for every Jew, wherever he may be. And even if he succeeds in saving one soul, he has saved —

an entire world!!!

This fundamental principle of self-sacrifice — to give even in a reality of difficulty — we learned from our parashah. The verse states: “וְנֶפֶשׁ כִּי תַקְרִיב קָרְבַּן מִנְחָה לַה' סֹלֶת יִהְיֶה קָרְבָּנוֹ וְיָצַק עָלֶיהָ שֶׁמֶן וְנָתַן עָלֶיהָ לְבֹנָה” — “And when a soul brings a meal-offering sacrifice to Hashem, fine flour shall be his offering; he shall pour oil upon it and place frankincense upon it” (Vayikra 2:1).

“The word ‘soul’ is not stated regarding any voluntary offerings except the meal-offering. Who is it whose way is to donate a meal-offering? A poor person. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: I consider it for him as though he had offered his soul ” (Rashi, based on the Midrash of Chazal, Menachot 104b).

The Gaon, the “Chatam Sofer,” explained that one who brings a meal-offering demonstrates thereby that he does not even have the few small coins necessary to purchase a young dove. He therefore takes a little fine flour and a little oil from what he gathered from leket, shikhechah, and peah, and brings this as a sacrifice. It emerges, then, that he is withholding the bread from his own mouth in order to bring a sacrifice to Hashem, and therefore he is regarded as “though he had offered his soul.”

The Holy One, blessed be He, Who examines the innermost thoughts and the heart, sees the poor man’s true desire to cleave to Him, and He certainly does not, Heaven forbid, belittle his meager sacrifice. On the contrary, He knows how much he is exerting himself and saving from his own bread in order to bring this meal-offering. He rejoices in it and says: “This is what I desire, and I consider it for him as though he had offered his soul before Me!”

And from this attribute of the Holy One, blessed be He, we too must learn in the education of our children.

We aspire for the young man to be engaged most of the day in Torah study, the fulfillment of mitzvot, and prayers at their proper times. Yet there are many who are not yet in that state. In their present condition, they cannot engage in Torah day and night; it is difficult for them to get up for prayers on time, and they struggle with even more than that. Nevertheless, they do not, Heaven forbid, abandon it, but make an effort as much as possible (despite the understanding and knowledge that this is not the ideal state). At times, however, parents and educators tend to belittle this. They are frustrated that the son is not walking on the path they charted for him. [And these matters are especially significant during bein hazmanim...]

It seems that the concept of self-sacrifice applies here as well. That effort and endeavor, even if small, that the young man has, is in the category of “a soul when it brings.” For at this point, for him, there are things that constitute a sacrifice. And if we belittle this and diminish the value of the matter, we may, Heaven forbid, cause him to become completely disconnected, the consequences of which who can straighten?

Our role is to strengthen and encourage; to learn from the Holy One, blessed be He, Who accepts this small amount. Through our encouragement, the young man will learn to cherish his actions and the good that exists within him, and from this he will continue to rise, with Hashem’s help, in the levels of Torah and fear of Heaven.

And the lesson for us is great and immense.

The more a person strives and exerts himself to give, the more he makes the effort and does the best he can, then even though he does not have, through his very actions he expresses his self-sacrifice for the fulfillment of a mitzvah. Consequently, the purity of his soul becomes more and more evident, and the depth of his service is expressed unmistakably; then he merits greater “closeness to God.”

The ordinary fulfillment of a mitzvah is not comparable to the fulfillment of a mitzvah through self-sacrifice!!!

The “Annoying” Young Man

The righteous Gaon Rabbi Menachem Fisher shlita, Av Beit Din of “Kahal Adat Yereim” in Monsey, related:

There was once a young man from the Diaspora who, sadly, found no taste whatsoever in Torah or prayer. And Chazal have already said, “בטלה מביאה לידי שעמום” — “Idleness leads to boredom and bewilderment”; consequently, the young man went from bad to worse...

However, the Holy One, blessed be He, implanted a nature in His world: the soul will not be filled without “satisfaction” and enjoyment from something that gives it vitality. Therefore, this young man found himself an improper “occupation”: he would call the homes of rabbis in the dead of night [knowing that it is the way of a rabbi in Israel to be ready and available for those who ask him questions — especially if the telephone rings at 2 or 3 in the middle of the night, for this clearly proves that it is an urgent and necessary question that cannot tolerate a delay of even a few hours]. When they answered him, he would harass them with “klatz kashyos” — simple halachic questions that any beginner can answer, such as: “I forgot to say ‘Veten tal umatar’...,” “A drop of blood was found in an egg that I opened...” and various other questions whose sole purpose was to bother the person answering in the middle of the night.

The young man’s brazenness increased until one night he called the posek of the generation, the Gaon Rabbi Moshe Feinstein zatzal, when the clock showed 3:00. Rabbi Moshe was alarmed upon hearing the telephone ring and understood that most likely a matter of pikuach nefesh was before him (as was ultimately indeed revealed to be the case), and he answered immediately. Before hearing the question, he apologized that he had not yet recited Birkat HaTorah, and after Birkat HaTorah he turned to hear the question...

With his wisdom of life, he understood what was before him... that on the other end of the telephone stood a broken and unfortunate soul searching for satisfaction in life. Therefore, he first answered the question calmly. Afterward he said to the young man: “Now I will ask you a ‘question’: what is the tractate currently being studied in the yeshivah where you learn?”

By a great miracle, the young man knew the name of the tractate and answered, “Such-and-such tractate.” Rabbi Moshe continued and asked: “Which daf are you up to now?” The young man, not knowing what awaited him... perhaps Rabbi Moshe was about to test him on what was being learned... answered without thinking and without realizing: “Daf 30, amud a...”

Rabbi Moshe said to him: “Please, I ask you to do me one ‘favor.’ Since in any case I am awake at this hour, and so are you, perhaps we can learn in chavruta the daf being studied in the yeshivah — by telephone...” Having no choice, the young man took a Gemara — a novel act he had not done for a long time — and they learned together with wonderful diligence and immense clarity. When they completed an entire amud, they concluded their study, with Rabbi Moshe posing to him a tremendous question in the course of the sugya, until it was clear to him that the young man understood and remembered the question well. He then parted from him and wished him farewell, asking him: “Tomorrow, please go to your Rosh Yeshivah and present this tremendous question to him.”

And the next day, the young man approached the Rosh Yeshivah with tremendous excitement and said to him: “My rabbi and teacher, I have a tremendous question.” The Rosh Yeshivah thought to himself: “Well, what kind of question can a young man like this possibly ask...” But when the young man presented his words, the Rosh Yeshivah was beside himself, and his admiration reached the heavens. He tried to find a resolution and an answer in the sugya of the Gemara, in the commentaries, among the Rishonim and Acharonim, but he did not find an answer to the young man’s question... the question was stronger than he was... Since this was so, he began saying to himself: “If so, it turns out that we were mistaken about this young man. We did not know how great his level, clarity, and depth in Torah truly are.”

He presented the question to the ramim, but they too did not find a resolution. They presented the question to the students, “and the whole city was in an uproar”; the entire yeshivah was abuzz and in turmoil around the young man and the question.

Of course, the young man received a place of honor, strengthening, and encouragement, and from there he took himself in hand and rose onto the king’s highway.

Now let us contemplate: all his ascent and strengthening came through that Gaon and tzaddik, who, in the depth of his understanding, understood what was before him — not a wicked young man, harassing and disturbing others, but a tormented soul yearning for satisfaction. One must provide him with his proper “nourishment,” and immediately he will rise and blossom like a watered garden... Had Rabbi Moshe hung up the telephone on the spot, as one would seem required to do with such an impudent person, what would have come of all this...

And we will emerge with the message: let us know that everything so-and-so says to us... does to us... inflicts upon us... is not because he is wicked. There is no bad child — there is a child for whom things are bad! Let us see the “root” of his conduct, what he lacks and what it testifies about him. For “rebuke” is an external “treatment” — and not even that; it helps nothing at all. But if we are “wise toward the poor,” we will understand that he does all this because things are not good for him... We will treat the root, strengthen and encourage him, and everything will come peacefully into its proper place.

Rabbi Michael Zecharyahu

Spiritual director at the Torat David Yeshiva Gedolah and chairman of the “Legion of the King” organization