Inside ArtScroll - Season 4 Episode 7: Rabbi David Sutton – Beis HaLevi on Ahavas Yisrael

[Music] Hello everyone and welcome back to inside art scroll where the books you read and the people who write them come to life. Today I am privileged to be joined by Rabbi David Sutton author of a new translation and commentary on the basi on aavis. Thank you, Rabbi Sutton, for joining us once again. Thank you for inviting me. It's not the first time you're here. You're uh what I would call a prolific author by Hashem. You've put out many best-selling art scroll works, the latest of which is your commentary and insights on the Balevi on a I must mention that it follows the immense success of your commentary on the Balev on. It's a similar style. another essay of Dave Halevi Salvich of Brisk the Balei. Uh talk about your experience of putting out the Bale and the reaction that you got to that that I imagine was what was the impetus that you should continue kind of this series of working on the essays of the Bay Halevi and bring it out to the public. So as is well known the Balevi was a great rasha what's called a great London and in a very short and succinct fashion he captures topics in a way that I have never seen and he's well known for his respanza he's well known for his commentary on the Torah but because these specific essays were in manuscript form literally in a suitcase till the late 1900s over 100 years after he passed away the they're not wellknown and when I stumbled upon the essay on bet and started giving sharim on it and it just slowly developed into this safer now there are people that are aware pamphlets were circulating on bas on but they're not aware that he had more than one essay in that manuscript there's actually a lot in that manuscript it's in the back of one of the bases on the Torah that most people might not even have and the next one is the essay on a and My hope is that what the Basavian Bet did for Bet the Basian Avis will do for Avis. Well, the style that you used in the Bavian Bakan really resonated with people. It's the it's a it's a simple elucidation. So, you you're explaining the text in a way that anyone could understand, men, women, children, no matter what their age or background, they could open it up and start studying it. And then you have insights on bottom which give a little more background and explanation. And then you have amazing appendixes and in this volume you also have a whole section of stories. So it's it's a very rich reading experience. It's not just a a dry read of an essay. It really there's so much I'll call it flavor in what you did over here. Yeah. I I I would tempt anyone to open up this book and and and just not be drawn by by the message. It's very universal. It's it's very uplifting. It's very positive. uh um just that feeling that you get when you read it. And obviously as well same same thing like you're saying it really is it looks like a safer but it reads like a novel. It's it's something interesting that it's I actually was flattered. I got a call two days ago from Sim Kabun that he had just gotten the safer and he he loved it. So you're talking about a great post in Lakewood at the same time you know a young lady told me you know wow you know I'm really enjoying it. So it's really something for the masses. The basi has a certain um interesting that the safer was supposed to come out before pesak was ready to go and due to certain marketing decisions they decided let's wait till after the hagada season and we'll sell it afterwards and it went to print literally on the basis yard site. Wow. It was in dollar it was being printed here in art skull. So there's a the bas is definitely behind this. No question. And there's no coincidence. So, absolutely. But it's really it's an unbelievable uh you alluded to before which I think it's worth taking a moment to talk about. Um and I became familiar with it somewhat thanks to you not long ago. I wrote up uh in the an interesting historical background of these manuscripts that the Bay Helvi wrote uh in the 19th century. And the manuscripts had sat in a suitcase and but the story about how the manuscripts got out of Europe to America is alone an unbelievable uh tale of Ashkah. Just comment on that for a moment. You could call it a mini kre yams because the basy's youngest son of who was 13 when his father passed away was the one that inherited these for some reason didn't go to or any of the other children. And on his way out to America, he's taking these seven with him, his last remnant of his father. And he's stopped at the Russian border, questioned only because his name was Salvetic. And there was a communist uh officer who was left as an infant in Rabim's house because Rabim's house was just in Hefer Risharab. His parents left him in the house. Rabim raised these orphans. He eventually became a communist because he wasn't raised by he. He was just in his house. When he heard the name Salvetic, he says, "Are you any relation?" He said, "It was his brother." He went through all the borders with the swarm and everything. So that was one creus yams. Then when they were in England, they were ready to go to the boat and they realized that the the the where with the getting out of the hotel and they realized that the uh the suitcase wasn't there and they traced their steps back and they realized they forgot it in the trunk of the carriage, the horse and buggy and now how you going to find it? So Simka's son who was um named after the Basvi of Yoseph Dove, he went to the police department, found that there's uh pictures of the wagon drivers. He went through over 2,000 licenses, recognized that the wagon driver, went to his home, and in the in the the trunk, so to say, of the horse and buggy was that suitcase. And his father said, "I'm not leaving the country if I don't have that suitcase." So this is like literally a miraculous trail like the garra says Hashem gave his world to watchmen and for some reason Hashem decided to let it out. Now, right, if you think about it over the over the decades, over the centuries, over the millennia, how many precious manuscripts of have gotten lost? And like you said, for for whatever reason, this the these manuscripts had the special seat desaya really through miraculous sequence of events to be extricated and and to be saved from the inferno that ultimately consumed uh much of Europe and came over here. And what's just as incredible is that till I think it was 1985 and we discussed this previously the manuscript of BI on was not revealed to the public. Right? It's only because Rab Salvich called and his brother of Sim and he asked them do you have anything left in the B? He says we have some we have some things and he put in the back of one of the farms. So it's a miracle. I have a hunch again basian baken came out right at the beginning of co with the world needed baka meaning the arts school version the arts school version right that that you know that I don't think close to 20,000 copies sold I don't know if any other version in English sold that many and um the obvious is coming out now and I have a hunch now as well why it's coming out postco you'd like to hear I don't know yeah sure I'd love to hear but before you get to that I'll I'll preface your comment with a with a common obser observation. You know, you you put up a salvia on it. It sold phenomenally well. You also not long after put out um daily dose of a safer based on the shaken sells. People want they look at it rightfully uh as a as a conduit as a way of magic button. Yeah. You know, and and is not a simple matter. Amuna and having amuna perhaps is a little easier. Really relying on their and not relying on anyone else is is a harder uh a hotter level to reach but something that obviously every person must strive for and talks to people. So bakan came out also at an opportune time people looking for in that realm in that area. uh is as an exciting topic perhaps doesn't have that allure of you know people wonder why aav is obviously it's important it's a mitzvah in the and it's an important topic to know but um you know how do you see that connection between and and if it talks to people in a similar fashion well like you said uh beten could be selfish right and selfless, you know, you're loving somebody else. So, it's harder uh does bring because if you really believe Hashem's controlling the world and relying on him, there's no reason to dislike anyone. Exactly. It says, "There's no such thing as it's it's for a reason. You feel that someone did something wrong to you or whatever it may be." But that's why some someone commented to me the the greatest muster safer is a safer on because if you really master I'm just you know segueing from what you just said then suddenly ka and tya and covid and all those those uh kind of negative attractions suddenly fall away because if you have true why you running after cover everything comes from why you envious of your fellow if everything is coming from the one above. So it's a ve very very you know important point to digest but because people you know do need incentives. It's interesting in the back of the book in the appendix section the first appendix is called uh incentives and benefits means there are hashem will love you uh hashem treats you accordingly and uh so on. So there is definitely a a uh benefit there is a personal benefit. actually bring very interesting observation from the from the BI and then you add something from the that you know after a person goes to the next world we're going to be asked certain basic questions one of which is Yeshua if we yearned for the ultimate redemption and he says in a in a really a fascinating observation that really included in the question of Yeshua is did you have a cisero because a prerequisite for meriting the ultimate goolah is what's keeping us back. So we're going to ultim we're going to be asked Yeshua one of the components of Yeshua is did you master in order to enable the Yeshua. That's part of yearning. If you claim to be yearning for the Yeshua but at the same time you're harboring negative thoughts towards fellow Yidden and then you're holding back the Yeshua. It doesn't work. So I I thought that's very you know that's an interesting observation on on the part of Bas Levy. We spoke about timing. It came out you know the week of the base the day of the Basy's yard site but also the time of the year we learn now explains why do we learn now and he comes up with a novel explanation there's different the standard explanations he says that it means we're supposed to be redeemed in Nissan Nissan passed and we weren't redeemed. We're supposed to ask why not and the answer is obviously because sin is still here. So therefore work on a scroll now and learn perks. But it means this is the time of the year to learn a so it works out you know right it really does. Um going through the manuscript did you did you have any anything to work with because like we mentioned before this is an essay of the of the bas that really was kind of hidden. It's in the back of Bra. I don't know are there any other works on this particular essay of the BV? What I what I did was I really, you know, read every word and stopped on every word. I'll give you an example. And like every word is packed here. Um, as I'm flipping through, I noticed my father-in-law's essay that we shouldn't forget about. Of course, you mentioned that Rabbi Satan, your father-in-law, Rabbi Nosen Sherman, wrote the overview to this uh cafer. So he writes over here. You have to arouse your heart for love to everybody. And if you didn't arouse a love in your heart, you did not fulfill the mitzvah. So again, similar to how he starts off the the essay on is, you know, he starts off it's a mitzvah by the B that that's that's it. This is this is a positive command. This is this is this is this is an aster there's no difference right and that's one of the interesting we bring down over here from the shab that he saw someone had a tear in his clothing a small tear before he told the man about the tear he said I'm not going to say I'm doing the mitzvah and then he told him you have a small tear and a small tear can become a big tear sew it up and he says I had the same feeling of happiness as when I put on my tilene in the morning wow That's, you know, that's that's that's obvious. But you have to arouse it in your heart. It's it's it's a positive. You have to do something. It's not passive. Oh, you know, I like everybody. No. And furthermore, it's your heart, which is a big discussion. Can I fulfill Israel without doing anything? The bas holds yes. It's a discussion. We're going to go through the the insights and the footnotes as to, you know, but clearly the bas holds yes. You could sit in a room. Furthermore, the the uh altar of Kelm also in the insights says footnotes he says that if right now I'm thinking there's I don't know how many million Jews in Israel now I think seven and a half million 8 million and I close my eyes and I honestly love every single Jew I get 8 million separate mitzvah and he says because this the Yates always wants to take away from us the big mitzvah and that's why he's attacking that and the opposite we also quote there from the safer abris a great rabbi from that if I hate a sect of Jews and there's a 100,000 of them so that's 100,000 negatives right so there's a lot of depth and a lot every word of the bas is weighed and it's it's a you're learning and no difference than if you take out the shall chew his b and you got to work on it this's father people work on every word he didn't write a word that he wasn't thinking about bas is no different. Right. It's interesting what you're saying because really these essays of the bas we would call them hashkafic works right but the basia as you said was the rash lambd the the the master it's all looked through the prism of also right meaning what's a mitzvah what's not and what are the parameters of the mitzvah uh but you bring up a good point you know we think of and as the you know uh doing you know filling up aum room in in a hospital which is amazing being a member and helping someone with their flat tire. But as you say, the BI brings out that you don't have to be on site engaged in that public mitzvah to be Makima. Obviously, Sel, it's very much a very personal internal endeavor. Um, but speaking of the Baley's essays, there is another essay I just want to mention. The Balei wrote three essays. One on, one on, and one on Anova. Yes. on humility uh which I imagine you'll probably work on started. Are you ready started? Started. Yeah. Wow. Okay. You waste no time. But it's it's it's just uh it's fascinating to observe that of all the topics that the BI chose outside of his response and outside of his commentary um on the Tyra that he decided to write essays on these three particular topics that obviously he felt that he had something to give over to Cla Israel. I'm just curious as someone who's now gone through extensively through two of his essays, why do you think that is? Well, there's definitely a connection between these three things. being the starter. Like we said, without you can't love and without you can't be humble because if you think you do things, hashem is lovish. Only Hashem can be arrogant or proud because only he does things. We don't do anything. There's an instant interesting line of the um the basi once asks somebody um what are you doing like you know man says I I I'm uh work in sugar production. So again he says what are you doing? He said I work in sugar production. The third time like B lost his mind. He says when I ask you what you're doing I mean what are you doing for your so if I ask you what Hashem's doing with you that's sugar. This is what you're doing. So you can't become arrogant if your attitude is right what am I doing? I'm struggling through adaf. You know that's what that's what I'm doing. What's Hashem doing with me? You know beautiful. when you went through this this essay of the basi were were there any anomaly something that you came across that was was an eyeopener to you uh besides what you mentioned before which I think is is important about every every year there's a separate mitzvah of and how you could do it on your own it's not something that has has to be publicly displayed anything else he has he has another like alum of art on when he's talking about the structure of the bas mikdash so he says let's say um you decide to give me this cup as a gift. Okay, you gave me the cup as a gift. Now, let's say you didn't like me that much and decide I'm not giving it to you as a gift. I'm not going to give it to you. Okay, once you gave it to me already, once you gave it to me, taking it back is means you're really upset with me, right? If you decide not to give it to me to begin with, no. But to take it back, says by Hashem, there's no difference. There's no difference between not giving and taking back because Hashem is constantly pumping energy into creation. So there's no difference to him not to give and taking back as both the same thing. And therefore he says we have to view not being given the basik no different than being taken away from us. So he's like there it's more developed there. But I'm saying everything is with a you know like with with a lumbus alumnus right he's even though I mean kazal say that every d but I'm saying bring he brings it out and he goes further and he says every generation as time goes goes on the base destroyed this year but look the world that he brought us into means he brought us into a world of iPhones a world of technology the was into this world look at the look at the not not aban of a thousand years ago we had we had tanam and amor It's a newbin. It's almost like the destruction is reborn. It's a more decadent world. So, it's a bigger. Look at the world that you we came into as a like he he takes everything and he just gives it more of a you know something you could hold on to. And that that's part of the flavor of the of the Balevi. It's a it's a it's a rich reading and learning experience. Um I if there was a takeaway from the basel's essay on ais because there's so much to unpack as far as this safer is concerned it's you know people are going to read it and sometime it's to fast it's like so much and each of us on our own personal level have to work just like onen you don't go from zero to 60 it's it's a gradual process and it's also something uh we spoke about how needs reinforcement every day because we're surrounded by a world that's so tea and histadas and we're so immersed in that world of okay what we do is going to bring that effect the cause and effect it's like we're drowning in it that's I saw that says that because we're so surrounded by that we have to really learn for an hour a day I saw brought down that we really should be spending an hour a day learning to counteract everything else that we see the entire day with also it seems that in the created as you're talking I thought of hot off the press okay go ahead so we say it's brought down think it's a zar you have to cover your eyes what I have to cover your eyes for I once heard because everything you see with your eyes is counter to to hashem it's all contrary to hashem But the go of illness as I've always used to quote the beginning is I can't say unless I'm could be doesn't say you you say and then you cover your eyes when you say which mean that everything around you is also contrary to so you have to both those are the two forces that the world are saying is that don't love your friend you you know right I you're saying that even that component of being part of a unified cla we're also constantly tested. Yes. Um and it may not be necessarily in that ne you know we think of really hating someone but maybe in a in a in a jealousy form you know that type of lack of a where maybe we don't the next year that he should be mat I said over a vart not long ago about that the ultimate it's a longer it's a longer stickle but the the the main v is that the ultimate tyan is from Roberto Pavarski said The yalut says that the reason why was called the was for two demonstrations. Number one because he the tyra was given to him and he shared the tyra ku with Israel and also when he benched as the future leader of Israel told him to put one hand on Yeshua and he put two hands. So Frector Bur Pavarski, how is that a demonstration of Tyvian? You know, if if I have $100 and I give it to you and now I don't have those $100, that's a tal someone with a good eye. But with two hands on Yeshua blessing him, that's that's a TV or sharing the Tyra with didn't lose anything. So he said so beautifully that a true is someone who wants the other person to have it as good or better than he did. So when Rabenu benched Yeshua to be the future leader of Israel, he benched him that you should be as great a leader as I if not greater. And the same thing with sharing with Kai Israel. He wanted CL Israel to and to grow in Tyra as great if not greater than he. Her brings it out in a very human way. You know, you go over to someone and you ask him about his friend, about his house, his car. He says, "I don't mind if my friend has a house as nice as mine or a little a little less, but not nicer." You know, that that's the human condition. The human condition is we don't want others to have it as good or as or better than we do. And that's part of a I think we're surrounded by that. when we live we live in a community there's there's we'll call it competition you know about where people are in in in in different stages uh and that's really where a havoc plays such an important role of uh you know us not just forgiving someone but loving them so much that we're happy we're happy we're not just you know begrudgingly right taking satisfaction in their success that's part of realis All it's a real avoid right talking about Barl Pavarski the last in the back of the book there's gdollum stories separate section on besides the actual book and the appendix there's also a section on uh yamovven throughout the year obviously always goes through the year and there's there's a good story how the stories in here are off the charts so the last story maybe you could I don't know if you heard this this is not in print is about Pavarski I heard this from the schmita farmer from uh Karan Ashvia stayed in my house and he was in Chicago and he met Rabel Pavarski and he said my name is is is a kak he says kak I knew your father no you know my father this guy was a you know borderline you know modern Israeli farmer his father says yeah he learned in panovich yeshiva he says no you got the wrong he says no says he says yeah he came to my yeshiva for a year and he goes back to his father and his father said that love of the town told my parents who were not that firm I have your son has to go to yeshiva they sent me to panovich really the yeshiva kana for for a year I wasn't happy and yeah of course I know a barrel wow and they ended up doing the shmitaar barrel did thear with this this farmer's this the father's old 40 years before and he remembered the person that's wow that's that's an avis every talmet is like a child you know that's incredible uh any final thoughts thoughts about this? Uh two final thoughts. Number one again the overview. Okay. And number two is why now? So talk about the overview for a second. So the overview is written by none other than my esteemed father Laura by Nusen Sherman and he's uh the Shane and Veron Mu. It's a he hasn't hasn't lost his touch. Has not lost his touch. Beautiful beautiful classic by Nusen Sherman overview that you know Clyasol came to love his overviews. I think they're working on a book all of his overviews put together in one and it's just it's something to to start off a good appetizer to wet your appetite. And the last point is why now? So my last trip to I went to visit different I went to Rabbi Pollock who is a um Mashkatka he's in his 90s together with Abdul Landau and I asked many Gdoll the same question not for now all different answers. Post Corona is a lot of um emotional uh illness and challenge anxiety and depression is on the rise and it's it's it's well known that the numbers of these things have I asked him you know what's a what's a Torah way to pick somebody up from the anxiety and depression and he told me there's a puss in which he gave a innovative explanation may how pretty how sweet aa love betanugim from all of the delicacies there's nothing more delicious than love. There's nothing more delicious than loving somebody else. He when a person's down and depressed, they'll eat ice cream. They want to get some gishmach to pull them out of there, but they don't realize like Aaron Carter says, it just puts you more into depression. Now you just get more. He says the way to instill and pull a person out of his depression is by loving somebody else. A mother's love for her child, a Reb's love for her student, a love for for the Bria. If you love somebody, there's nothing more delicious than loving somebody. I love what you're saying because when I interviewed Rabbi Makovsky about his book, Livingass and one of the things I wrote in the forward to that book, which I think applies here, and I think you'll agree, I wrote that as much as it does for the recipient, it does so much more for the giver because it transforms who you are. When you become a giving person, you it it it changes you. Is not about the other person. It's about what a world does to you as a mench, right? That's kind of what you're saying about what's so delicious about we we being corona, we didn't have a chance to love our friends. We were cut off. We never have a chance to love Hashem. We couldn't come to sh. And that's why we're suffering. And I think that's why Hashem sent us and now we need to be to connect to Hashem. We need a to connect to our friends. Well, I think this safer is going to help us do that. Uh it's I highly recommend it to everyone watching. They should pick up a copy, buy one for themselves and one for their friend. Beautiful, right? If you love your friend, what are you going to give him? The ultimate gift. This is it. The a book on a beautiful. But really incredible work, incredible job, Kala Kavote for for your sat everything you do in in the Syrian community and really beyond um each work of yours. You seem to be like fine wine. You're getting better with age. Thank you. And uh it's it's an honor to speak to you once again and we look forward to on on Anova to uh many other works that you're working on. So keep up the wonderful aides. Thank you so much. Thank you. [Music]