MUSSAR D’ORAISA
Parshas Terumah 5764
Rosh
Chodesh Adar has come and gone, and we are now coming toward the end of the
zman. What should our thoughts be as we finish this zman and perhaps plan to
leave yeshiva for bein hazmanim? How should a Ben Yeshiva act when
he leaves the 4 walls of the beis medresh and goes to learn closer to home?
This parsha offers a great deal of insight about what our mindset should be in
this tekufah. Chazal liken the Aron to a talmid chochom, a ben
yeshiva. Just like the Aron contains the Torah, a talmid chochom contains
the Torah inside him. Accordingly, a ben yeshiva must think and act in a
way that brings honor to the Torah.
"åòùå àøåï òöé ùèéí
àîúéí åçöé àøëå åàîä åçöé øçáå åàîä åçöé ÷îúå". (ùîåú
ë"ä:é)
“And make an Ark (Aron) of Shittim wood two and a half amos
its length and one and a half amos its width and one and a half amos
its height.” (Shemos 25:10)
"áèáòú äàøï éäéå
äáãéí ìà éñøå îîðå." (ùîåú ë"ä: è"å) "ìòåìí" (øù"é ùí)
“The staves shall remain in the ring of the Ark;
they may not be removed from it.” (Shemos 25:15) “Forever”(Rashi ibid.)
The Baal Haturim points out that all the measurements of the Aron, compared to a talmid chochom, are broken—2 ½ x 1 ½ x 1 ½, to teach us that a person who learns Torah be “broken” in his own eyes. He should have a feeling of incompleteness, like he still has what to accomplish in his learning. In this last month of the zman, we have to strive to attain this level of the Aron’s broken measurements, being proud of our accomplishments, but viewing our task as incomplete.
It seems to me
that these measurements very much parallel a true talmid chochom, set apart
from regular baalei batim or even yeshiva bachurim. A regular baal
habayis who works is supposed to set aside 2 sedarim a day for Torah study
(9 hours- øîá"í äìëåú
úìîåã úåøä ôø÷ à' äì' é"á). It is expected that he
knows the length of Torah, 2 sedarim for a bekius in Torah— àîúéí àøëå (2 amos
its length). A yeshiva bachur learns more than that, an extra seder, an extra amah
devoted to the breadth of Torah— àîä øçáå (1 amah its width). But even
further than that, a true talmid chochom, someone who lives totally for serving
Hashem and learning His Torah every spare second of the day, has the àîä ÷îúå (1 amah
its height) above all the rest. And despite having the 2 amos length, 1 amah
breadth and 1 amah depth of Torah, a kevius in learning, a true
talmid chochom still views himself as incomplete in all these aspects of his
learning. He recognizes that he is not complete, but rather 2 ½ x 1 ½ x 1 ½; he
always has to review his studies again, learn another sugya, another halacha,
and in doing so he recognizes how much more there is to learn and the feeling
of incompleteness in his learning continues to be a driving force. We must be
proud of our accomplishment in Torah but strive to recognize that there is
always more to accomplish, till the last day of the zman, through the next
zman, and forever after that, every day and every night.
HaChinuch gives some insight into how we, now
striving to be like the Aron, should act when we leave for bein hazmanim.
He says that the reason the staves (poles) must remain attached to the altar at
all times is that the Torah is the most important, most honored thing in our
life and we must always accord it the due honor and glory. Therefore we may
never remove the staves because it may happen that we will have to move the
Aron very quickly and if the staves are not attached we may not find them or in
haste may not make sure that they are attached properly, possibly dropping the
Aron ç"å.
But if they remain attached this couldn’t happen. And another reason, adds
HaChinuch, is that all the vessels of the Beis Hamikdosh, in their appearance,
allude to lofty, heavenly things, and a person benefits from having them in his
mind in a certain way. So Hashem commanded that the badim remain
attached so that we should not lose that picture in our mind when thinking
about the Aron, even for a moment. òë"ì äçéðåê.
We see that in case the Aron has to hastily leave its sanctuary, we make sure that it is ready to do so in an honorable way, not detracting from kavod haTorah, ç"å. It is prepared to go out and when it does, it will look as it is supposed to look, not damaging our perception of the Aron, fully adorned in all its glory. When a Ben Torah leaves his sanctuary, inside the walls of the beis medresh, he must be just as prepared, giving honor to the Torah through his actions. Like the Aron, people have a perception of what a ben yeshiva, striving to be a talmid chochom, should look like, how he should act. He is supposed to have impeccable middos, refined by having spent his time learning Torah. And those middos, of course never leaving him inside beis medresh, certainly go before him and behind him, like the staves, carrying the glory of Torah that he is. For a ben Torah to act in a way that is unbefitting the Torah is never good, but certainly it is worse if it will negatively affect people’s lofty ideals of kavod haTorah, their perception of a yeshiva bachur.
May we all be zocheh to continue shtark through the remainder of this zman, striving to be like the Aron, recognizing that there is still much to accomplish, and when we do leave may we make sure that through our actions and middos that the Torah is accorded its proper honor.
Yitzchok Pinkus
Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim