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HaRav Yisroel Brog, Shlita Rosh HaYeshiva, Yeshivas Tiferes Avigdor (Shiur presented in 5780)

Immunization for Bein Hazmanim

The Yeitzer is Also Excited About Bein Hazmanim

Before we begin bein hazmanim, I would like to share some information with all of you on how to keep yourselves “above water” and prevent the Yeitzer Hora from taking away all that you have gained.1 No one should imagine that the Yeitzer Hora is any less excited about Bein Hazmanim than you are. During Bein Hazmanim, the Yeitzer Hora is much more excited than you are because he has a large pool of “good customers.” He knows that everybody's looking for a vacation, and once you go on vacation, he already has you doing things that are truly unbecoming of Bnei Torah or frum Shomrei Torah U’Mitzvos, and he convinces you that this is part of your vacation. For some of you, he gets you to participate in mixed swimming, whether it's at a hotel in a swimming pool or at a beach and of course he is morei heter that this is “only” your sister-in-law or your cousin, it’s all family.”

A Six-Year Old’s Shaila About Mixed Swimming

Everytime I think about this challenge, I always remember a wonderful family who was very secular when they grew up and actually thought they were non-Jews, but in reality, they came from a very Chassidic background. Their parents, who were Holocaust survivors, never told their children that they were Jewish. Then the Six-Day War came, and the father, who was very proud of “his boys,” said, “Kids, we are Jewish!” Eventually, I merited to learn with their

1 Though these shiurim are said in front of Bnei Yeshiva, the topic of “bein hazmanim” is applicable for any B’nei Aliya who want to understand how to grow during their summer break, vacation, etc. 1 │ שיחות ישראל: פרשת מטות- מ ס ע י

son who was a grown man by that time, and a doctor; his wife was also a doctor. They had a few young children (two boys and one girl), and all of them eventually became frum. Their dedication to Torah was amazing - it was a beautiful thing to watch. Their little 6-year old girl once sent me a sheila. I was learning with her father and he brought a cute note from her, which read, “Dear, Rabbi Brog, am I allowed to go swimming in the ocean, because maybe - on the other side of the world - there is a boy in the water at the same time?” And I said, “Boy, I hope this kid never ‘loses it’!” And she didn't. She grew up to be a tzadeikes, and she married a ben achar ben, of none other than the holy R’ Akiva Eiger (1761-1837). Her chasson had the same name, Akiva Ganz, which was the birth name of R’ Akiva Eiger. Amazing! He is a true ben Torah, and a real ben Aliya.

Finding Protective Measures

And then you have your Yeshiva bochurim who are challenged during bein hazmanim. Usually zman tefillah and zman krias shema fall by the wayside. Talmud Torah also falls by the wayside. These boys become drunk in their own drunkenness and wildness, trying to stay busy running from one thing to the next, and it's really tragic and sad. And they really think it's temporary fun, but these blocks of time play a big role in people's lives and they cause a tremendous yerida. The Yeitzer tells you, “It's either this, or there’s no bein hazmanin at all.” A person has to know that there are protective measures that he can take to salvage his bein hazmanin. One can have a good time and relax, and at the same time, not only maintain his Judaism, but also enhance his growth. There are spiritual growth opportunities that a person can have during bein hazmanin. Even if one is not a masmid, one can make certain minimum commitments.

Yaakov Avinu’s Immunization Program

In the Torah, we find that Yaakov Avinu, who was already in his sixties and an “ish tam yoshev ohalim,” was sent by his parents from Be’er Sheva to go to Haran, to look for a shidduch. And on the way to Haran he stopped at the Yeshiva of Shem and Ever, where he learned for 14 years. He was sixty-three years old at the time. Now, the obvious question is: is this the right time to go to learn in a Yeshiva? The man was a super masmid! And besides that, his father told him to go to Charan to find a shidduch, so how could he not listen to his father? He had a mitzvah of Kibud Av! The Chofetz Chaim presents this question (in Sefer Shmiras HaLashon, Gate of Torah), and he says 2 │ שיחות ישראל: פרשת מטות- מ ס ע י

a fundamental answer: he says that Elifaz (son of Eisav) robbed Yaakov of all his worldly assets and Yaakov became a poor man through this episode. But Yaakov also knew, at that point, that he wasn't going to make a quick entrance and exit from Lavan’s home. He knew that if he was going to find a wife there, it was going to be at a great price; he would have to live there. Yaakov Avinu understood that he would have to stay there, so he decided to prepare himself with fourteen years of intense learning to “immunize” himself against the influence of Lavan, until Yosef was born who would become a counterpart of Eisav.2

But what the Chofetz Chaim doesn't tell us is why all the learning that Yaakov did in the first sixty-three years of his life didn’t suffice! So R’ Yaakov Kaminetsky, zt”l, discusses this topic in Emes L'Yaakov (Bereishis 28:11) and proposes an interesting answer. He says that Yaakov Avinu spent his life learning the Torah of Avraham and Yitzchak and he was immersed in the Torah that they transmitted to him. But now, when he was leaving that great house, and forced to enter a place devoid of kedusha, a place full of tumah, he needed to learn Torah from someone who had faced the challenge of being surrounded and influenced by the world and overcame it. The yeshiva of Shem and Ever was such a Yeshiva, says R’ Yaakov Kaminensky. Shem and Ever were individuals who lived in the world where everyone was running away from Hashem. Shem lived during the Generation of the Flood. Ever lived in the following generation, the Dor Haflagah. As a result, they learned Torah from the perspective of preparing and strengthening themselves for those challenges.3

2 וְהָ יָה יָרֵ א יַﬠֲקֹב אָבִ ינוּ לָרֶדֶ ת אֶצְ לוֹ וּלְהִתְ ﬠַ כֵּב שָׁמָּ ה, כִּי יָדַ ע אֶ ת לָבָ ן כִּי רַמַּ אי הוּא, וְגַם יִרְ צֶה לְהַ אֲבִ ידוֹ מִ ן הָ עוֹלָם, וּכְמוֹ שֶׁהֵﬠִ יד ﬠָלָיו הַ כָּתוּב לְבַ סּוֹף, שֶׁרָדַ ף אַחֲרָ יו וְרָ צָה לְהָרְ גוֹ, לוּלֵ א שֶׁ אֱ�קֵּ י אַבְרָהָ ם הָ יָה בְּ ﬠֶזְ רוֹ וְהִ צִּ ילוֹ, וְגַם בֵּ יתוֹ מָ לֵ א טֻמְ אַ ת תְּרָפִ ים, וְאֵ ין בְּ כֹחוֹ לַﬠֲמֹד נֶגֶד טֻמְ אָ ה רַ בָּ ה כָּזוֹ, בִּלְתִּ י בִּ זְכוּת קְ דֻשַּׁ ת הַ תּוֹרָ ה, וּבְבֵ ית לָבָ ן לֹא יִהְ יֶה בְּאֶפְשָׁ רוּתוֹ לִהְ יוֹת דָּ בוּק לַתּוֹרָ ה. וְﬠַל כֵּן הִקְדִּ ים אֶ ת ﬠַצְ מוֹ וְנָס אֵצֶל שֵׁ ם וְﬠֵבֶ ר אַרְ בַּ ע ﬠֶשְׂ רֵ ה שָׁ נָה וְלָמַ ד שָׁ ם בְּהַתְ מָדָ ה רַ בָּ ה, כִּי כָּל הָאַרְ בַּ ע ﬠֶשְׂרֵ ה שָׁ נָה לֹא שָׁ כַב לִ ישֹׁן פַּﬠַ ם אַחַ ת שֵׁ נַת קֶ בַ ע, כְּמוֹ שֶׁהֵﬠִ יד ﬠָלָ יו הַ כָּתוּב (בראשית כ"ח י"א): "וַיִּשְׁ כַּב בַּמָּ קוֹם הַ הוּא", וּכְפֵרוּשׁ רַשִּׁ "י שָׁ ם. וּבְלִ מּוּד כָּ זֶה, אַ ף כִּי יִתְ ﬠַכֵּב אַחַ ר כָּ� בְּבֵ ית לָבָן אֵ יזֶה שָׁ נִים, לֹא יַזִּ יק לוֹ מְ אוּמָ ה. [וּבִדְ בָרֵ נוּ יִהְ יֶה נָכוֹן מְ אֹד הַחֶשְׁ בּוֹן אַרְ בַּ ע ﬠֶשְׂרֵ ה שָׁ נָה, כִּי אַחַ ר שֶׁהֵ ם תְּ מוּ רַ ת הַ שָּׁ נִ י ם שֶׁ ה וּ א מֻכְרָ ח לִהְ יוֹת אַחַ ר כָּ� בְּבֵ ית לָ בָ ן, וְיָדַ ע שֶׁבְּבֵ ית לָבָ ן יִהְ יֶה ﬠַל כָּל פָּנִים אַרְ בַּ ע ﬠֶשְׂרֵ ה שָׁ נָה, כְּמוֹ שֶׁ יָּדוּﬠַ, שֶׁאִ י אֶפְשָׁר הָ יָה לוֹ לָשׁוּב לְבֵ יתוֹ כָּל זְמַ ן שֶׁ לֹּא נוֹלַד לוֹ יוֹסֵ ף, כִּי הוּא כְּלֶהָבָ ה וּבֵ ית ﬠֵשָׂ ו לְקַ שׁ, וּכְמוֹ שֶׁ כָּתוּב (בראשית ל' כ"ה): "וַיְהִ י כַּאֲשֶׁ ר יָלְדָ ה רָ חֵ ל אֶ ת יוֹסֵ ף, וַיֹּאמֶ ר וְכוּ' שַׁלְחֵ נִי וְאֵלְ כָה" וְגוֹ', וּכְפֵרוּשׁ רַשִּׁ "י, וְיָדוּﬠַ, שֶׁ יּוֹסֵ ף נוֹלַ ד בִּ זְמַ ן שְׁ נַת אַרְ בָּﬠָה ﬠָשָׂ ר, וּכְמוֹ שֶׁ כָּתוּב (בראשית ל"א מ"א): "ﬠֲבַדְתִּ י� אַרְ בַּ ע ﬠֶשְׂרֵ ה שָׁ נָ ה בִּשְׁ תֵּ י בְּ נוֹתֶ י�" וְגוֹ'. לְ כָ� לָמַ ד מִתְּחִ לָּה אַרְ בַּ ע ﬠֶשְׂרֵ ה שָׁ נָה בִּתְ כִיפוּת, כְּדֵ י שֶׁזְּ כוּת אֵ לּוּ הָאַרְ בַּ ע ﬠֶשְׂרֵ ה שָׁ נָה יַﬠַמְ דוּ לוֹ בְּבֵ ית לָ בָ ן, וְ כַנִּ זְ כָּר לְ ﬠֵ יל ]

3 בכדי להבין את הנחיצות והדחיפות של יעקב ללכת עכשיו לישיבתו של שם ועבר אנו צריכים מקודם להבין את התורה המיוחדת שנלמדה בבית מדרשם של שם ועבר, שהיתה שונה בהחלט מתורתם של אברהם ויצחק. האבות היו יושבים בישיבה ומרביצים תורה לכל הבא אליהם להסתחף בנחלתם. בבית מדרשם של האבות למדו תורה במדרגה הגדולה ביותר של אמונה ועבודת השם, מחוסנים לגמרי מהסביבה בחוץ ולא מושפעים ממנה כלל. ומזה הטעם כשראתה שרה שישמעאל "מצחק" עם יצחק ומשפיע עליו, מיד אמרה: גרש את האמה הזאת ואת בנה, כי בסביבתם של צדיקים גמורים אין מקום לאחד מסוגו של ישמעאל, והסכים הקב"ה על ידה. 3 │ שיחות ישראל: פרשת מטות- מ ס ע י

Rabbi Miller’s Advice on Kiruv

I remember experiencing this some years ago when I left the walls of the Yeshiva to go into kiruv part-time. My grandfather told me, “The first thing is: you can never do kiruv if you leave the walls of the Yeshiva! You must be rooted in the Yeshiva. Never forsake the Yeshiva. You have to do it ‘on the side,’” he said. That's number one. “Number two,” he told me, “don't go to their places and their homes, let them come to you – that way you will be immunized against this.” I told him, “But zeida, a lot of kiruv people go to their places of work, their offices.” He said, “This is not for you, let other people do that.”

So when Yaakov Avinu faced this challenge of outside influences, he had to acquire a whole new aspect of Torah and root himself in the Yeshiva. This was a whole new concept, derived from the Torah itself, of learning specific areas of Torah that directly address the foreign influences of the world. You know, if you go up to an average Yeshiva bochur and ask him, “Do you know why we don't swim in mixed pools?” he may challenge you, “Why not? These are my cousins, we are all bnei Yisroel and are related to each other, we’ve been doing this for years.” The average Yeshiva bochur doesn't know how to answer this question. He never pondered about this topic. If you ask him, “How do you know the Torah is true? How do you know that there is Hashem?” It is likely that he will not know the answer to these questions either. You see, he can't learn with secular people a peshat מ ח ו ס ן in Tosfos - they have no relationship to that. So you have to be (immunized); you have to be protected from a negative influence. When you deal with people with viruses, sometimes you have to wear

לא כן היה אצל שם ועבר. שם, בנו של נח שנפלט מדור המבול, ניצל לא רק ממי המבול אלא גם מסביבתם של אנשי דור המבול ומהשחתתמ. עבר נולד וחי בימי דור ההפלגה אלו שרצו לבנות מגדל וראשו בשמים כדי למרוד בהקב"ה, אבל הוא לא נסחף עמהם ונשאר בצדקתו. רק שם ועבר שרידים מדורות ומסביבות מושחתים, ולא אברהם ויצחק, היו יכולים ללמד ליעקב תורה הנצרכה לו כדי שיוכל להשאר בתומתו בסביבתו של לבן, איש מושחת ורשע. ולא רק לבן עצמו, אלא כל אנשי המקום היו רמאים שהרי מצינו שלבן אסף את כל אנשי המקום ועשה משתה, ואעפ"כ לא נמצא א' שיגלה לו שלבן מתכוון לרמותו, וכמש"כ במדרש (בראשית רבה פרשה ע' אות י"ט) שהיו כולן מקלסין קודמוי ואמרין הא ליא ליא, והרי כולם שחקו על מרמה זו. ולכן היה יעקב צריך לקלוט בתוכו סוגיות שונות איך לשבת בסביבה של רשעים ורמאים ואעפ"כ להחזיק בתום ויושר, ולזה הוצרך לבית מדרשו של שם ועבר. לפי זה לא היה יכו ל יעקב לקיים את ציוויו של אביו ללכת לביתו של לבן אלא א"כ היה עוצר נדרכו בבית מדרשם של שם ועבר, כי בודאי לא היו הורי יעקב רוצים שילך ללבן אם בסופו של דבר לא יוכל לצאת משם ולהכריז: "עם לכן הרשע גרתי ותרי"ג מצוות שמרתי ולא למדתי ממעשיו הרעים", ובאופן שכזה הרי הו מקיים ציוויו של אביו כהוגן. עכשיו אין זה דומה אלא לאב שצווה לבנו לקנות לו לולב ואתרוג לסוכות ובדרך לחנות החליט הבן שאין הוא בקי מספיק בהלכות הד' מינים ועליו לשנן בבית המדרש את ההלכות. האם נאמר שהוא אינו מקיים את מצות אביו? אדרבה הוא מקיים את המצוה בשלמו תה ובהידורה, ואילו לא היה עושה כן לא היה מקיים מצות כבוד אב בכלל! וכן הוא אצל יעקב, בלי ההכנה המיוחדת שהיתה דרושה לו אצל שם ועבר לא היה יכול לקיים את ציוויו של אביו ללכת לביתו של לבן ולסביבתו, וכוי 4 │ שיחות ישראל: פרשת מטות- מ ס ע י

a hazmat suit from top to bottom, like they do in a serious hospital. It’s only in a regular hospital that those special suits are not necessary.

Learn to Prepare Yourself

Yaakov Avinu had to prepare himself for the challenge he was going to face. Let’s say a father says to his son to go to the shuk and buy the best Arba Minim, and instead of the shuk, the son goes to a shul to learn, and because of this, he delays in fulfilling the command of his father. Is that the right thing to do? No. But let's say, he went to beis medrash to learn the laws of arbah minim - because he's not going to rely on some little kid in the shuk to pick it for him - that’s something else. I was once in Lakewood in a big arbah minim place and saw two boys selling esrogim. I asked one of them, “You are both selling esrogim, what about Yeshiva?” They told me that they both left the Yeshiva. I said, “That’s sad.” I then asked them, “Do you know anything about esrogim?” They said, “Oh, yes.” I decided to ask them to find me the nicest esrog and see how little they knew. Each one went to look for one and they brought two of them out. I examined the esrogim and told them that each of the esrogim was sofek pasul and I explained to them why. I told them, “Don't sell esrogim. Go into plumbing, and if people come in, just tell them, ‘we are just standing here and we are selling, we don't know anything about this business.’”

What can I tell you? They are not prepared. So the guy who goes and learns the laws of arbah minim - before going to the shuk - actually fulfills his father's command because he is doing what his father wants him to do. Similarly, Yaakov Avinu understood that he was going to a dangerous, bad place, so this learning was a hechsher mitzvah - he was preparing himself for that environment! So all of this was in order for him to be successful in his mission. Then Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky goes on to explain that this is why Yaakov saw the need to teach Yosef the Torah that he had learned specifically in the Yeshiva of Shem and Ever (as Rashi stresses in Breishis 37:3, the Torah of Avraham and Yitzhak was not sufficient).4 This is because Yosef was going to be alone in Egypt, a place that was most foreign to Yiddishkeit, so Yaakov had to transmit to him the mesorah of how to live in such an atmosphere. And indeed, Rashi (Shemos 1:5) says that “the same Yosef who was the shepherd of his father’s sheep was the same Yosef

4 בן זקנים. שֶׁ נּוֹלַ ד לוֹ לְ ﬠֵת זִקְ נָתוֹ. וְאֻנְקְ לוֹס תִּרְ גֵּם בַּ ר חַ כִּים הוּא לֵ הּ – ָ כּ ל מַ ה שֶּׁ לָּ מַ ד מִ שֵּׁ ם ָו ﬠֵ בֶ ר מָ סַ ר ל וֹ

5 │ שיחות ישראל: פרשת מטות- מ ס ע י

that rose to power in Egypt.” (i.e., he didn’t go down in his level of ruchniyus).5

The Strongest Vaccine Available

When you prepare for Bein Hazmanim, there is only one piece of advice against the Yeitzer. No, it’s not to get up early in the morning for davening. The only thing that gives a person “antibodies” against his Yeitzer Hora is the following. The Gemora (Kiddushin 30b) says: I created Yeizer Hora and I created an“ - בראתי יצר הרע בראתי לו תורה תבלין antidote against it.” The only thing that is going to help you get immunized is learning Torah. Now, a lot of people tell me, “I've tried learning Torah and I don't exactly experience an epiphany of being saved from my Yeitzer Hora!” Did you ever wonder why the Torah that you are learning does not save you from the Yeitzer Hora? Good question, isn’t it? But the real question is: how does the learning of Torah help a person? I want to tell you a very important yesod that many of you heard about, but don't understand. Chazal teach us that יהיו בעיניך ח ד ש י ם when you learn Divrei Torah, they should always be (“new in your eyes”). Torah has to be new to a person, as if it was given today. And we learn this from a verse that we read a few times a day:

וְ הָ י וּ הַ דְּ בָרִ ים הָ אֵ לֶּ ה אֲ שֶׁ ר אָ נֹ כִ י מְ צַ וְּ � הַ יּוֹם ﬠַ ל־לְ בָ בֶ �

“Take to heart these instructions that I command you this day to your heart.” (Devarim 6:6)6

How can Torah and Mitzvos be “New” Every Day?

What does it mean that the Torah has to be “new” to us every day? How do you accomplish that? Let’s say you’ve been learning the same gemora for many years - do you simply try to imagine it’s new to you now? No, it's the same old gemora, it's the same old kasha that I saw

5 ויוסף היה במצרים. וַהֲלֹא הוּא וּבָ נָיו הָ יוּ בִּ כְלַל שִׁבְﬠִ ים, וּמַ ה בָּ א לְלַמְּדֵ נוּ? וְכִי לֹא הָ יִינוּ יוֹדְ ﬠִ ים שֶׁ הוּא הָ יָה בְּמִ צְרַ יִם? אֶלָּא לְ הוֹדִ יﬠֲ� צִדְקָ תוֹ שֶׁ ל יוֹסֵ ף, הוּא יוֹסֵ ף הָ רוֹﬠֶה אֶ ת צֹאן אָבִ יו, הוּא יוֹסֵ ף שֶׁהָ יָה בְּמִ צְרַ יִם, וְנַﬠֲשָׂ ה מֶלֶ�, וְעוֹמֵ ד בְּ צִדְ קוֹ (שמות רבה)

6 כתב רש''י: אשר אנכי מצוך היום. לֹא יִהְ יוּ בְּ ﬠֵינֶי� כִדְ יוּטְ גְּ מָ א יְשָׁ נָה שֶׁ אֵ ין אָדָ ם סוֹפְ נָהּ, אֶלָּ א כַּחֲדָשָׁ ה שֶׁהַ כֹּל רָ צִ ין לִ קְ רָ א תָ הּ ; דְּ י וּ טְ גְּ מָ א – מִ צְ וַת הַמֶּ לֶ � הַבָּאָ ה בְּמִ כְתָּ ב (ספרי); כתב רבנו בחיי: אשר אנכי מצוך היום. דרשו רבותינו ז"ל לא יהיו המצות בעיניך כדיוטיגמא ישנה שאין אדם סופנה, אלא כדיוטיגמא חדשה שהכל רצין לקראתה, כך אשר אנכי מצוך היום, יהיו בעיניך חדשים כאלו היום קבלתם מסיני. דיוטיגמא מצות המלך הבאה בכתב הוא 6 │ שיחות ישראל: פרשת מטות- מ ס ע י

yesterday, it's the same lack of enthusiasm and idealism that I had yesterday that I have today. Do you want to know why it wasn’t like that for Yaakov Avinu? I asked a number of rabbis over the years, “How can the Torah be ‘new’ to me when I learned this Torah yesterday and I'm repeating it today?”

Now, I'm going to share with you an answer, a revelation, that will open your eyes and enable you to be excited about Torah! You see, even in the physical world, something that you do every day can't be new to you, it's just not possible. You all heard of a concept that when young boys begin to learn Torah seriously, they like to buy a notebook for themselves. Today they make specially designed notebooks in bookstores with empty pages on the inside. And you know what it says on the outside? It says “Chiddushei Torah.”. Where does this come from? Don’t you have to learn first, and then you come up with your chidushim?! But the answer to this question is: the chiddushim Every day !! בכל יום יהיו בעיניך חדשים will come to you if the Torah will be you're going to have chiddushim. Just because you learned gemora yesterday doesn't mean that today you cannot have a new question on it, or a new explanation! There is no greater pleasure to a Torah Yid or a child, then being able to ask a kasha on the Gemora!

What is a “Chiddush”?

I'll never forget how, when I was a child, I asked a silly question on a Bava Metzia, and my Rebbi said, “Ah, the gemora asks that question, you were mechaven to the gemora!” I remember that the rebbi made such a big deal out of it - I'll never forget that! It pumped me up to the sky! When I was younger, every bein hazmanim, when I had time, I would pick different sugyas and I would write new chiddushim in my notebook. Looking back at them - most of them were nonsense, but some of them were good, and they got better as I became older. I remember learning the seforim of the Brisker Rav. You can take different pieces or different sugyas that you’ve learned already, and you could re-learn them and figure them out, and write something original on them and make a little notebook! That is so invaluable! In the beginning, I thought this was mamish nothing, but later on I saw in the sefer Keser Rosh (printed at the end of the Gr”a siddur), where he says that the having “chiddushim in Torah” doesn’t mean coming up with new ideas; rather it refers to anything that you learn again and becomes clearer to you! As long as you are involved in the same subject and you find a ta’am (taste) in it, and it is mis’chadesh (renewed) to you with a better and deeper understanding 7 │ שיחות ישראל: פרשת מטות- מ ס ע י

of it - it is called a chiddush! And the more you review it, and the clearer it becomes to you, the more Chiddushei Torah you will have!

The Yeitzer Hora for “News”

I want you to know that there's a tremendous Yeitzer Hora in the world - an unusual and common Yeitzer Hora. What is that? People love to hear news. I asked people who have computers what they use them for. They say, “I look at the news.” I say to them, “What does that mean you look at the news?” They say, “I look from this site to that site, etc.” I said to them, “But it's the same news, isn’t it? It’s the same Trump, it's the same Kushner, it's the same Natanyahu news, and the same everything - why do you look at the news if it’s basically all the same? What is “new” in this news?” And the answer is there is no “new” news. But people have such a Yeitzer Hora for the news, it is crazy. R’ Boruch Ber Leibowitz (1862-1939), in his chiddushim on Kiddushin, describes the reason for this Yeitzer Hora to know “the news.” He says that it exists because Hashem imbued a human psyche with a desire (taiva) for chiddushei Torah! But what happens is that the Yeitzer Hora gets a hold of that “ideal” taiva and, instead of investing it into Torah, he directs a person to invest it into news! It's a misplaced taiva, and what happens is that you fulfill your desire for “news” (for chiddushim) with “news of this world” and you lose out from the Divrei Torah in the process. By default, then, the less you will be involved with worldly affairs, the more you'll stand a chance to get involved with Torah!

Learning How to Learn Gemora

When I first came to learn from my Rebbi (HaRav Meir Soloveichik, zt”l), I asked him, “How should I learn Gemora? What should I do when I open the Gemora?” He said, “First, take a clean sheet of paper - no matter what you are learning - and put it on your Gemora. Then look at the first line in the Mishna, and ask yourself, ‘Do I have any questions here?’ Think about that first line in the Mishna, and then write your question(s) down, and if you have an answer, write them down, too. Now, most of the time you're not going to have an answer. Then go on and write question #2 and keep writing down questions that you may have.” You know what will happen if you do this? You won't even recognize yourself! You will actually become motivated! You'll forget that there was a bathroom created in this world! You will be so excited about learning, that if people come over to tell you, “Hey, you have a phone call,” you'll tell them, “Get away 8 │ שיחות ישראל: פרשת מטות- מ ס ע י

from me! I'm involved in Torah learning now. I am making chiddushim.” This is what everyone must do. This is the only way you will have chiyus in your Torah learning! You have to realize that learning many Mesechtas or spending lots of time learning - is not what's going to do this for you! What’s going to do it is this zach!

The Depth of R’ Boruch Ber’s Cheishek

R’ Boruch Ber said that when he was about 14 years old and he was learning in Yeshivas Volozhin, one of the people from the government came to town, and everyone from Yeshiva went out to see him, a whole procession, an entourage, etc. R’ Boruch Ber said, “I did not go out. But I want you to know that I was sitting on the porch of the Yeshiva and resting because I was sick that day, so it wasn't a matter of bitul Torah, but I specifically did not go out to see that official.” So they asked R’ Boruch, “Why not?” Listen to what he told them, “I didn't want to use up my cheishek and my taivah for learning about something new!” Can you imagine this? He was just a 14-year old bochur at that time! Unbelievable!

Did you ever see little kids chasing fire engines or ambulances or police cars, where every kid gets on his bicycle and goes riding after that fire engine? Why do these kids like to do that? Because it’s chadoshos - they have a cheishek to see something new. What R’ Boruch Ber is telling us is that if you have a cheishek for something else, you will lose your cheishek for Talmud Torah! He said one time he was traveling on the wagon that was going through some shtetl. In this shtetl, they were building a huge windmill that was going to grind the wheat, so the wagon driver stopped his wagon and said, “Okay everybody, let's go and check this out - this is a really interesting thing,” and everybody got off the wagon. R’ Boruch Ber said, “I stayed right where I was, I didn’t get off the wagon.” It's an amazing insight. People love chadoshos because it's in our nature! Would you believe that you love chiddushei Torah? Many people would be surprised to hear that the real answer is that you do! But you don't invest effort into it.

Don’t Lose Your Cheishek This Summer!

What I'm telling you to do during this bein hazmanim - even if you are a balabos - is don’t say the following, “I will take it easy.” It’s better to learn something with a goal to make chiddushim, to ask questions. My Rebbi said, “When you finish the whole amud of the Gemora, start 9 │ שיחות ישראל: פרשת מטות- מ ס ע י

again! Now you have more information. Look over your notes. Was your question a good question or not? Maybe there was no question. Okay, let’s go and look if you have a teretz now, and if you do, let’s write it down. I used to follow this method during my bein hazmanim. I would take pieces from the Brisker Rav’s sefer, and although I didn’t learn it the whole day, his Torah gave me such a chiyus, I had such a feeling of his'chadshus from learning it!

What I am telling you now is a very simple eitza - i.e. that the come up with something - בכל יום יהיו בעיניך חדשים Torah should be “new” every day! When my Rebbi learned Gemora, he would learn every line like he had never learned it before. He would have such a unique way of doing it - he mamish looked like a professional actor! I used to think to myself, “Why didn’t the Rebbi look at the Gemora beforehand?” He would read it like it was his first time and he would sing it! And he would ask questions, a new sheila, a new insight, a new way to look at Rashi, etc. And his questions weren’t silly questions, they were great questions! Some of his talmidim were not able to handle all his questions that he presented, because those were not their questions and theirs weren’t good answers. As his talmid, I tried to key in and appreciate them and live through him, and eventually I started hearing those questions from my Rebbi! He used to say sometimes, “I don’t know what the teretz to this is.” Watching him over time and training myself to follow his method gave me a leg up, to start to work on the Gemora, to come up with something new. And many times, I would approach my Rebbi and try to answer his questions and he would tell me, “I thought of that, but rejected it.” It was an amazing thing.

This Will Save You from Yeitzer!

This is what keeps you going, Rabbosai. This is what keeps you motivated. I don't care if you learn a half an hour a day during bein hazmanim - and if you do, that’s a rachmanus - you should do at least an hour a day; but whatever you do, learn something that's going to give you a chiddush! Learning bikiyus is not going to give you chiddushim, because despite all the bikiyus that you may learn - the Gemora knows it better than you and it was printed before your time! So what’s your chiddush in your bikiyus? The fact that you turned a page is a chiddush? But if you have a chiddush, then it means something, and it enables one to create a matzav of chadashus. And when that happens, there’s no matzav of yoshan (old), it’s only chiddushim, every day. I am telling you - this is going to save you from 10 │ שיחות ישראל: פרשת מטות-מסעי

the Yeitzer Hora! It’s going to give you such strength, such power against the Yeitzer Hora during your summer, that it’s going to empower you to have an amazing bein hazmanim, an uplifting bein hazmanim, where the Yeitzer Hora won’t find you as vulnerable as you were in the past. Hashem should help you all! Wrap your head around this thought to help build a wonderful summer for yourselves!

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PUTTING INTO PRACTICE:

With the summer break coming up in a few short weeks - whether I am a yeshiva bochur or working man - my main planning and logistics will focus around enhancing and elevating my ruchniyus, and not simply trying to retain what I’ve gained. So besides picking a spiritually healthy location where I can daven with a minyan, above all, I will remember the powerful lesson from the Emes L’Yaakov, to properly “immunize” myself with a set Torah learning schedule. Finally, I will make sure that my learning will focus on reviewing my old sugyos or topics of interest, writing down new questions, insights and chidushim - in order to achieve better clarity of what I’ve learned, because ultimately this approach will bring about more geshmak and cheishek in my learning!

12 │ שיחות ישראל: פרשת מטות-מסעי

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SPONSORED For continued hatzlacha of MR. AND MRS. THE GUTKIN FAMILY DANIEL GERSHON BEN YITZHAK JASON MIZRAHI לז"נ ר' יוסף בן L’zechus SPONSORED BY אברהם ניסין זצ"ל Chana Baila bas Chava Tziporah With gratitude to Hashem for all and on the occasion ELI AND LEAH RECHANIK Lilui Nishmat Devorah bat Selma חסדים to ﬁnd her true zivug b’karov. of His in honor of our son Moshe Chaim’s of Levi Yitzhak's Bar Mitzvah upcoming Bar Mitzvah

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