Remarkable Roots
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
With all of Bnei Yisroel, men, women and children, leaders and laymen, standing before Moshe Rabbenu, Moshe now reintroduces the covenant Hashem made with Avraham Avinu and seals it for all future generations. The Torah alludes to the perpetuity of the covenant by stating that it is a covenant “with whoever is here … and with whoever is not here today.” The question nevertheless arises, how could the covenant be binding on children not yet born?
The Shvilei Pinchas goes, literally, to the root of the problem. The Torah here writes, “Perhaps there is here among you a root flourishing with gall and wormwood,” a root already infected with bitterness and a crack in his complete faith in Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Perhaps, although he has witnessed all the wonders Hashem has wrought for him, he still has a passing fancy toward the gods of the surrounding nations. But he is the root from which future generations of fruit will emerge. If he is already infected with this bitterness, how will sweet fruit emerge? And conversely, is it possible that from a tzadik no unrighteous or evil person will ever emerge?
The Birkas Mordechai, Rabbi Mordechai Ezrachi, tackles this question. While a tzadik is generally very careful in his mitzvah performance, he may still not feel its sweetness. There may be some negative inclinations buried deep within his psyche that he himself may be unaware of. We inherit not only physical DNA from our parents, but also spiritual DNA. We often have similar bents toward the kinds of chesed or other spiritual pursuits that we inherited from our parents and ancestors. Similarly, we may inherit negative tendencies from our ancestors. It is our responsibility to uproot the negative tendencies from our spiritual DNA so that, even as recessive genes within myself, they do not emerge in my future generations. As Rabbi Yoffe notes, a father can be planting disastrous seeds that will emerge generations later.
Sefer Shoftim/Judges recounts the incident of pesel Michah, an idol that a man by the name of Michah had erected in his home after the death of Yehoshua. How could such a travesty happen shortly after such miracles had been performed for Bnei Yisroel? The Vilna Gaon suggests that When Bnei Yisroel were crossing the Red Sea, Micha’s grandfather/great grandfather entertained a moment of cynical thought about Hashem’s power and the miracle He had performed. This man may have brushed the thought aside without totally uprooting it, and it took root in his grandson as the host of the home for idol worship. We cannot know what bitter, negative thoughts are rooted within us until we search for them to destroy them so they will not sprout in the future.
Rabbi Sorotskin brings another example from Leah and her daughter Dinah. When Leah earned Yaakov’s company for the night by selling Rochel her son’s mandrake flowers, she joyously went out to greet him, hoping to conceive another of the twelve tribes. Her goal was absolutely righteous, but, suggests Rabbi Sorotskin, she may have been dressed and bedecked somewhat too ostentatiously, perhaps even suggestive of a harlot’s dress. Hashem rewarded her intention, and Leah did conceive Issachar that night. But years later, when Dinah “goes out” to see the young women of Shechem, she is called the daughter of Leah who also went out. Although Dinah went out in perfect innocence, the results were tragic.
How careful must we be especially when we speak that our words are spoken with total sincerity, not to bolster our own egos or for personal profit, no matter how minimal that motivation may be.
Yet another example can be found with Reuven and the tribe of his descendants. Reuven was very careful to avoid any semblance of theft. He went out into the open, public fields and picked some flowers. But he went out looking for something he could take as his own. This desire for acquisition, perhaps for wealth, manifested itself generations later when the Tribe of Reuven was more concerned with their wealth, with having good grazing grounds for their sheep, than they were about receiving a portion of land within the boundaries of Eretz Yisroel proper, writes Rabbi Schrage Grosbard. For this imperceptible flaw, they were punished by being the first of the tribes to be exiled preceding the destruction of the First Temple.
Sometimes we see thieves who are children of righteous parents. How could this happen? The Saba of Slabodka explains how a miniscule negative flaw could grow over the generations to ultimately produce a thief. A man studies Torah. He comes across a wonderful interpretation and shares it with others. However, he passes it off as his own chidush instead of attributing it to its source. [One may often forget a source, but at least say, “I don’t remember where I heard this.” That way, you are not “stealing” someone else’s intellectual property and passing it off as your own. CKS] In the next generation, this flaw presents itself differently. The son “borrows time” in repaying a loan promptly, not because he is in need, but because he has better use of the money than returning it when due. Finally, the third generation has no respect for the property of others and becomes a thief. How a small crack in character can grow into a major schism!
But positive characteristics also bear fruit. Suppose two young men are studying Torah together. One finds it relatively easy to grasp concepts and to grow in his learning while the other encounters obstacle after obstacle. Perhaps the grandfather of one dedicated his energies to Torah, whether with his own study or with supporting Torah study, while the grandfather of the other was more lackadaisical in this regard. Each grandson then reaped the harvest of what had been planted, writes Rabbi Gamliel Rabinowitz. Nevertheless, all is not lost, for the struggling student, by putting in his own effort, is establishing new, strong roots. The covenant goes on forever. The sweetness can begin with you to produce good fruit.
It is not just the presence of extraneous thoughts or motivations that can affect future generations, notes Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l. Attitude toward mitzvah performance plays a crucial role in the transmission of values to future generations. One may observe Shabbat meticulously but consider it very burdensome. He may observe Shabbat for his future reward. Then he may bemoan the loss of income from not working on Shabbat. His children will recognize this attitude and fall away from Shabbat observance, Even he himself may come to feel the effort is just not worth it.
Our roots in faith are strong, as they go back to Avraham Avinu. When, after Avraham rescued Lot in the war of Sodom, Hashem promised Avraham a son and that Avraham’s progeny would be like the stars in the heavens. The Torah testifies that Avraham believed in Hashem/vehe’emin baHashem, and vayachsheveha lo tzedakah/He reckoned it to him as righteousness. According to the Shvilei Pinchas, it is this faith that Avraham had in Hashem that we inherited and that Hashem inculcated within us for all generations. Generations later, when Moshe would return to the enslave Bnei Yisroel and tell them that Hashem remembered them and would soon redeem them, the Torah uses the same Hebrew root, “Vaya’aminu baHashem/they, Bnei Yisroel, also had faith” in spite of their distressful circumstances.
This connection also helps explain our blowing the shofar on Rosh Hashanah that evokes the memory of Avraham Avinu willing to bring his son Yitzchak as a sacrifice to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. When the angel stops Avraham and tells him not to hurt Yitzchak in any way, Avraham sees a ram caught in the thicket, and Avraham then substitutes the ram in Yitzchak’s stead on the altar. Blowing the ram’s horn evokes not only Avraham’s faith, but also rouses us to do teshuvah and uproot sin from our being.
The Shvilei Pinchas sees an allusion to this purpose of the shofar in an acronym of the initial four letters in Moshe’s admonition to the nation, “Lest you have within you shoresh (f)poreh rosh (u)vela’anah/a root flourishing with gall and wormwood.” It is not enough, says the Shvilei Pinchas, to regret the sin. One must also uproot the psychological basis within our character that led us to sin, lest we be led along the same path to sin again.
These causes are buried deep within the narrow, secret spaces of our being, but if given the opportunity, they will emerge and grow until we transgress even publicly. Therefore, the shofar is blown from its narrow end, when our flaw is still hidden, before it comes out in the open, wide end.
The Slonimer Rebbe points out that the blessing over the shofar is to hear the sound of the shofar, not to blow the shofar. We are required to let the sound of the shofar awaken the stirring within the deepest recesses of the heart, to strengthen the roots of the tree within us. The first day of Rosh Hashanah is the birthday of Adam, of all mankind. It was on that same day that dam sinned, and that Adam heard Hashem’s voice in the Garden of Eden asking him, “Ayekah/Where are you?”On the anniversary of our creation, the voice of the shofar should remind us of Hashem’s voice asking us,”Where are you?” Will we hide from that voice as Adam did so many millenia ago? Allow the voice of the shofar to penetrate to your root and stir you to teshuvah.
If a person does teshuvah for committing a sin without uprooting the cause, writes Mesillos Bilvovom, it is probable he will fall again. [This can be compared to a doctor treating the superficial symptoms rather than the disease. CKS] The traits, part of a person’s very nature, are usually very hard to uproot. However, Rabbi Eisenberger suggests that we channel this trait toward a positive path. For example, if someone has a tendency to be controlling, perhaps he can head a committee for a Torah or a chesed project.
In Mishchat Shemen, Rabbi Kofman points out that the verse we have been focusing on begins with what seems to be a minor concern, “Pen/Lest, perhaps there is among you … whose heart whose heart turns away today...” Rabbi Kofman warns us that the tiny imperfection, the easily overlooked misdemeanor will slowly grow until it becomes a gaping hole that will soon allow all sorts of negative thoughts, followed by negative actions, followed by major sins to enter. Therefore, on Rosh Hashanah Hashem examines not only our actions, but also our thoughts that are the source of our sins. It is especially for these that we must do teshuvah.
In the month of Elul, as we get ready to stand before Hakodosh Boruch Hu and be judged, it is important that we remember the long chain of illustrious ancestors who stood before Hashem and entered into a holy covenant with Him. We must also never forget that we are the first link in a chain that extends to all our future descendants, and we have a responsibility to them to maintain that covenant in every detail of our actions as well as in our thoughts.