Ezras Avoseinu #4: "Your Torah and Your Messages"
אשרי איש שישמע למצותיך, ותורתך ודברך ישים על לבו
Fortunate is the person who accepts Your commandments, and takes to his heart Your teaching and Your word.
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HaRav Avigdor Miller zt”l points out that the words “ישים על לבו–yasim al libo” mean that it is not enough to learn Torah – even in depth and with great understanding. The ultimate goal of learning Torah must extend far beyond intellectual knowledge.
Learning Torah is the greatest single mitzvah we have, and the most powerful medium to reach d’veikus with Hashem. One of the reasons this is so is because it leads us to be able to fulfill the mitzvos as we learn about them. The word “ישמע–yishma” can mean “listen,” but it can also mean to accept. Here, it means, “Fortunate is the man who will accept your mitzvos.” It is not enough to intellectually learn about the mitzvos. We are only considered “fortunate” and “praiseworthy” if we then apply the Torah that we learn to fulfill Hashem’s mitzvos.
Additionally, there is another elevated aspect to learning Torah that we must focus on. Rabbeinu Yonah (Shaarei T’shuvah 2:13) writes that a person who learns Torah and learns the words of the N’viim and K’suvim and contemplates the sweetness of the musar contained therein...will then prepare his heart to better his ways and plans, and be pleasing to Hashem. Rav Shlomo Wolbe wrote that every amud of Gemara contains vital life lessons for us to come closer to Hashem.
Torah must change who we are. It cannot remain a purely intellectual pursuit and exercise. It must be placed into our hearts. Placing requires effort and focus, specifically for becoming a better servant of Hashem through our learning. It is not enough to focus on understanding the technical aspects of the Gemara. For Torah to change who we are and bring us closer to Hashem and to our brothers and sisters, we must focus on inculcating the Torah deep into our hearts and souls and use it as a bridge to connect us and draw us closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Fortunate and praiseworthy is the one who is able to do that.
Integrating Mitzvos into Our Daily Lives
There is one word in the segment this week that seems superfluous. What does the word “ודברך–u’d’varcha (and Your word)” add? Usually, we would say that the word of Hashem is Torah. However, here, “u’d’varcha” follows immediately after the word “ותורתך–v’sorascha”; so “u’d’varcha” cannot mean Torah, as that would be repetitive.
Rav Shimon Schwab zt”l explains that, based on a Ramban, the word u’d’varcha here refers to the decrees of Hashem. We quote selections from page 388 of Rav Schwab on Prayer, published by ArtScroll:
It means the “decrees” of Hashem. If a person experiences a difficult occurrence in his life, a גזירה מן השמים, this decree is a “word of Hashem”; Hashem is speaking to him… He has to become a different person afterwards… Any person who goes through tragedies and difficult periods in his life is experiencing a private conversation with HaKadosh Baruch Hu: a wake-up call from HaKadosh Baruch Hu to him to examine his life. This, then, is the meaning of our tefilah: Happy and fortunate is the person who takes to heart not only G-d’s Torah, but also his “word,” the message, that HaKadosh Baruch Hu sends him, and he not only hears it, but he improves his life accordingly.
Hearing and acting on the messages that Hashem sends us is part of the mitzvah of Bitachon that we have been discussing.
The recognition and understanding that all events in my life are sent to me by Hashem for my benefit – this is bitachon.
The powerful phrase of “v’sorascha u’d’varcha yasim al libo” is a daily reminder that we should place on our hearts to remember that whether we are learning Torah or going about our daily activities, Hashem is constantly speaking to us and sending us messages so that we may refine ourselves and grow as human beings, as children and servants of Hashem, and as brothers and sisters. Growth in each of these areas will no doubt bring us closer to our ultimate goal of d’veikus with Hashem, b’ezras Hashem.