Last week, I introduced a new approach to the Mishnah of Raban Gamliel, the son of Rabi Yehudah Hanasi:
Yafeh Talmud Torah im Derekh Eretz
Our idea was that the PErek begins with Rebe advising one to choose a “straight” path. This path is the one that is honorable for the one who does it, and in the eyes of all men.
While this sounds like a dose of moderation (“Don’t go to extremes, don’t challenge public opinion..”) it is actually a “Chumrah”. One who is always conscious of how he is perceived must keep all the Mitzvos with care and reliability. He holds himself to the standard of public scrutiny, while, at the same time, chooses a path that is honorable for himself, meaning he doesn’t forego his potential.
If our thesis is true, this would explain why Rebe continues, “Be careful with a small mitzvah as you would be with a large Mitzvah.” (Even though Rebe’s reason is: “For you do not know the reward for Mitzvos”, we can read that to mean that a scrupulous person is always careful lest he should show insolence to any Mitzvah not knowing its worth.)
My uncle Asher Hirsch made ALiyah in the early 1980s. He was born in Frankfurt and escaped on the Kindertransport. He never saw his parents again. H returned to Germany with the American Army Occupying Forces. He worked long hours to support his family and had a Shul in the Bronx. Because he di he used the title “Reverend Hirsch”. In Israel he attended a Shiur with Professor Leo Levi and Chazan Siggi Selig. He also continued his work on behalf of Shaarei Zedek Hospital as both a fundraiser and Chaplain of their Chapel.
Once, he attended a Zionist event in Har Nof. Some zealots threw eggs at the Shul. He confronted them and protested the “Baal Taschis”. The zealot replied, “Dos iz a Kleiner Aveirah / That’s a small Aveirah.” (I.e., as compared to hosting a Zionist event, which he considered a “big” Aveirah.) Reverend Hirsch replied, “My son, by me, there is no such thing as a ‘small’ Aveirah!”
Rabbi Eliyahu M. Klugmann, author of the Artscroll book on Rav Hirsch zt’l, told me that Professor Mordechai Breuer z’l would not sleep on a plane out of his uncertainty over whether the Bircas Hamapil needs to be recited! This level of scrupulous dedication is astounding- and reflects the “straight path” that Rebe prescribes.
Rebe then says: “Weigh the expense of a Mitzvah against its reward, and the pleasure of a sin against its punishment”
I interpret this as follows:
Every decision you make must be weighed against the backdrop of a Jew’s mission to secure himself a place in the Olam Haba. This means that even if something is Kosher and permissible, it needs to be part of his mission to gain Olam Haba, or else it loses its value in the system of “weighing”. In the system of weighing Olam Haba, certain things that are unnecessary – and are Naarischkeit, such as overly elaborate Simchas or extreme forms of conspicuous consumption- need to be shunned.
Finally, Rebe says, “Remember three things and you will not come to a situation of sin: What is above you! A seeing eye, a listening ear, and all your deeds are recorded!”
The commentaries explain that, unlike Ben Zoma at the beginning of the third Perek, who gives chastising words as a way to keep from sin, Rebe is telling a person that he needs to remember that he is too important to be sinning. His deeds are recorded because his potential is valuable.
This exact strategy is the well-known advice of Rav Breuer zt’l in his “Message to Youth”. (In high school, we had to read it if we were punished.) Rav Breuer explains that our utter respect and reverence for our mothers and sisters should reject any force that prompts one to immoral thoughts or deeds. Sin cheapens the valuable things in life. Rav Hirsch famously explains the Mishnah in Avoth “Do not engage in idle chatter with your wife…” As a reflection of the Mishnah’s utter reverence for the holiness of the Jewish woman.
This is the “straight path”.
A Yeshivah Bochur once called Rav Schwab to ask what he may Daven per the Halachah after waking up late on the morning after a friend’s wedding. Rav Schwab told him that as a Yeshivah Bochur supported by his parents, he has no right to ever wake up late, and as such, he is a “Ganef!”
Now we come to the next Mishnah:
Raban Gamliel, the son of Rebe, says, ‘The study of Torah combined with Derech retz is beautiful.’
What Raban Gamliel is adding is that his father’s suggestion of the “straight path’ – leading a life that conforms with the Derech Eretz is even possible and it is indeed beautiful, with the pursuit of Talmud Torah.
If one can engage in Talmud Torah, a pursuit that requires some asceticism. It requires one to divorce oneself to some extent from the world, and yet he engages the world and its admiration and its mores, which is beautiful. At the same time, it is only beautiful, but not necessary. The pursuit of Talmud Torah needs to fly in the face of everything if that is necessary to continue.
I learned this from Rav Mattisyahu Salomon zt’l. In a Shmuess, he talked about the need for a Ben Torah to make a Kiddush Hashem. But he gave the following pretext. To some extent, one who has devoted himself to learning Torah should ignore the outside world’s opinion and its expectations. He needs to be freed from this added pressure, as he carries the Torah forward towards the next generation. Still, he has an obligation to be well-rounded. Always choose the path that is “Tiferes” and admirable.
I once stopped my car to pick up a Chosid who stuck his thumb out as a hitchhiker on Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn. As we drove along, I learned that he is from a Rabbinic family. I asked him, “From that family, and you hitchhike?” He turned to me and asked, “Do you think it is wrong?” I looked for a lighter word than “wrong” and I replied, “It is not Tiferes!” He agreed.
Everyone will excuse a Talmid Chochom if his suit is not in style, if his awareness of his surroundings is limited, or if he doesn’t contribute to community life like others do. But it is “Yafeh” if he can even “hold his own” in the areas of Derech Eretz.
This is my interpretation of Rebe and his son Raban Gamliel towards a better understanding of our motto. Our communal creed.
(Point to ponder: Rebbe has a connection to Yaakov Avinu. Tiferes. Third week of the Omer. )
