Torah: 3 Unique Paths - The Wisdom of Rav Kook by Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider

AR cook every week we are looking at different uh aspects different insights different areas of uh of Jewish thought and the way that ruk addresses them this morning we're going to look at a topic and by the way there are Source sheets everybody should have it's a staple copy there's uh there are two sheets four sides and that can be found at the entrance on the way in they have copies should be enough copies for everybody and what is our topic for this morning so our topic this morning I think is a very appropriate topic for these days we are a week away from rashash Shana a week from this evening Wednesday night we'll be ushering in rashash new year and it's a time that we're thinking about our mitzvot in terms of our dedication to mitzvot and to study of Torah so here we are this morning we are studying Torah how appropriate that is at this time the month of el that we're sitting this morning that we've gathered together to learn Torah together so I'd like to look at the topic of Talma Torah the study of Torah and to see a number of very beautiful insights from rev cook on an area that we're all familiar with is an area of Jewish life that we're all engaged in as we are right now and to see a very uh two basically three I would say kushim novel ideas from ruk when we think about the Mitzvah of T Torah the study of Torah and I want to begin with the following Pas the following verse which was found actually in last week's paraa it's the First Source on the sheet and it's it says this is Mos who as we know in these par he's coming to the end of his life the last days of his life perhaps even the very last day of his life he's imparting the most important teachings that he has to convey to the Jewish people in these words very very powerful we're going to be reading and we're going to see the the final messages of mosu to the Jewish people and here we have one of the final messages he comes together interesting p with Kim and leim we don't usually see that El is and the following message he delivers to the Jewish [Music] people listen is this day this moment you are now a nation to the Lord your God listen to the voice of perform his Commandments a very basic message a very powerful message and that is here you are your nation you are the Jewish Nation you are to follow the word of God there's one word in those two pum that I just read that appears only one time in the Torah it's actually a word that appears only one time in all of tanak this word is a bit of a mystery and we read it and I didn't really translate it hasate hasate you can underline that word is mosha says to the Jewish people listen Israel so what does the word hasate mean Rashi says the following Rashi says karumo what does that mean Rashi says take a look at the tarum maybe Rashi wasn't sure what it means either he says it's a word that's not a familiar word what does the word hasate mean he says look at what the tarum says tarum says that it means that's an Aramaic word what does the word mean means to listen if you look at the art school translation they translate the word hasate as to be attentive so M says to the Jewish people be attentive okay that is the the gar wants to understand this word and um analyze the meaning of this word it's a bit of a Mis mysterious word what what does the word hasc mean so this is a gamar that's found in bra gar Bros it's daim and you have it in the source number three and here the gamar is going to give three different explanation as to what the word hasate means and all of them revolve around the idea of studying Torah the way that we are to study Torah the way we are to engage in the study of Torah this is the first explanation the gamarra gives and we're going to go we're going to go through the three explanations with them we're going to see a commentary of R cook on each of those ideas and to see I think a some very very beautiful and inspirational ideas from R cook as to how we are to engage in Torah study this is the gar this is Source number three says the gamar the gamar says what does hcap mean it means and it's from the word h to break it down H which gamar understands or interprets as ass words it sounds very similar to the word ass and ass ass is like o make make cat make kot what are we all know what is make groups that's what the gar says the meaning of the word it's really a combination of two smaller words the gamar says something very beautiful and that is that when we study Torah the ideal way of studying Torah at least according to this gar the garos is to come together to join together in a to come together as as a group it's interesting I went to Wu I'm sure there are Wu grads here as well for stern graduates so you have the Bas Med and next to the Bas medish in my day you had the library so if you think about those two atmospheres right walking to a Bas medish that's all about Aura that's all about people coming together and learning together that's the Jewish way to study we study together we study with others we share ideas what we call the T that we almost like a battle of tor right sometimes in a Bas met somebody will will pick up a a shender and throw it at his Kusa that that's a good thing right that's a positive well not really but um but that idea that there's that we come together that there's excitement around learning and then in yu so in the afternoon that's the morning the Bas medish then I go to the library in the evening and what's happening in the library so you go into your cubicle and you sit there with your book with your notes and if you say a word in the library what do you hear sh that's right we all we're not supposed to talk to one another there's no there's no talking in the library so interesting that's what the gamar says going back to the time of the gamar that's the way that Jews learn that we learn together that we learn as a group so this is um this is Rev cook rev cook has a comment now again and I'll just um I'll remind everyone that one of the beautiful works of ruk is the Anaya this is a work that he wrote on the aad on the portions of the gamar that's not the hak discussions in the gamar more of the agic lessons and stories he wrote a lot on that that was one of his great contributions he felt that the Jewish world was not learning that area of study seriously they were not taking advantage of of the philosophy and the hashkafa of Judaism and that's something that he that he devoted his life to so two it's actually in four volumes but two beautiful volumes on the gar Bros and chabas he concluded those too and that's all he accomplished in his lifetime in terms of this work an so we're about to read from the an his commentary on this passage in the gar and he says the following when we think about our Torah when we approach our Torah it's a Torah of life it should be filled with life that we come together here we are as a group a lot of Life seeing one another interacting with one another enjoying the learning together the way of the Torah is not to direct people in a direction of even though we have the Nazir but that's not what the Torah is about N means that you're isolating yourself kind of an insular lifestyle that's not the way of Jewish life and it's not the way of Jewish learning Jewish learning is learning with somebody else with a group of people uh the Torah does not disdain right that kind of and it's interesting R cook talks a lot about the idea of the joy of Judaism the joy of learning that it should be joyous if you sit alone and you're studying I don't know maybe there's a certain amount of Joy but but there's a Greater Joy when when we do it together when we interact with one another Al reading the second paragraph in R therefore the very toen right the very essence the very nature of Torah learning Torah learning is a Torah that there should beip we should be together it should be with friendship that we're studying Torah that we come together and that we share it in a way that we also develop a closeness with one another right very often people that study together I've hear I've heard this over the years of people I had a Kusa you know with this person for the last 30 years the last 40 I haven't but I hear that from people and how beautiful that is that Bond of learning together with people and that's what cook says what Torah is all about it's about it's about Joy it's about the bond of ofra of Reus he says this creates such a beautiful Society a beautiful culture being connected with good friends and being being connected to having a relationship with that's the very essence that's the very toen of Torah learning very interesting that's his comment we don't always think about Torah learning in that way but ruuk says that's Torah learning and that's what the gamar is is teaching us the beauty of coming together of sharing Torah learning with others I want to just point a very interesting M and this goes back to kabalas Torah to the Torah the moment that the Torah was being given at Hari the Torah was being given in our SII we have a description of that in parro then in par mishpat at the very end there's another description of it as well and the PK says this is at the end of and this is Source number five is and mosu Aon and the elders they saw this is one of the I would I I think of this one of the most sort of mysterious interesting in the Torah they saw a vision of God at harav and underneath the foot of God was was a sapphire brick like the very essence of the purity of the heavens you see how that doesn't sound like a Torah PUK right it sounds it's like very very poetic very mysterious that's the PUK okay that's for another Shear for another time and also a bit of a mystery what that means and God did not did not um reach his hand out towards the all the noble the Nobles of the Jewish people and this group of peopleon Moshe the elders they saw a vision of God and they ate and they drank Rashi on that says that that was inappropriate that that was not the way that they should have acted in that environment and Rashi says me there was a little bit of arrogance there what were they doing eating and drinking right that they kind of made this meal in this in the context of seeing the you know seeing a vision of God that's rashi's comment the ramban disagrees the ramban says no it's very beautiful what they did interesting has shown him Rashi ran the ramban says why were they eating and drinking sh that that was a joyous day the bottom of the uh Source number seven reading from the ran there is a there's an obligation when it comes to Tor that you should be joyous around the study of Torah around kabalas Torah so it could be it could be that we can think about this m as as uh as maybe two different paths in study of Torah the very very austere way that we think about the very serious way that often we think about the study of Torah no question that that's part of our tradition but there's another tradition as well that the ramban is highlighting and I think ruk is highlighting as well and that is to think about Torah in a joyous way the joy that we are to experience in the study of Torah and that according through R cook is why it's so important to come together and to share with others as we're studying to highlight one other idea from R cook in terms of the joy around study of Torah so turn now to page two and he wrote a book actually he didn't write it these are he wrote many many passages about study of Torah an entire volume which is called or we studied the first weeka which is again a compilation of his teachings on chuva this is a compilation I believe it was organized by his son R the cook T and this is just one line from a t two lines but we're going to go to the second line first this is I just I just made a mistake here when I put it down the page it begins with the second line in the Hebrew The Joy the joy that one feels when one studies Torah it comes from the light that's found in the letters of the Torah what does ruk mean by that well we'll see I I I think by the way Rook a lot of what ruk says is based on cabala their cabalistic ideas we're not going to look at the capitalistic ideas because I don't know those ideas I'm not I'm not knowledgeable in those ideas but I want to understand this in a in a particular way which I think is also accurate but he writes he continues that there's a great joy in on a Divine Joy a joy that we feel a Godly the godliness when just being exposed of letters of Torah they fill our life with light and it fills us with pleasure it fills the soul in a with a fullness of full pleasure and joy just says R cook he doesn't say the wisdom of the Torah but he says just the letters of the Torah and what does he mean by that well let me share with you the following this is the way that I would interpret it this is also a pic that we just read a few days ago Paras kavo we have in Paras kavo part of it are the Clos we have a whole section talking about the arur things if we don't do these correctly if we don't follow the way of God that we are AR that there's going to be a curse so this is if you look so what is this a what is this curse if you do not uphold the words of the Torah then you shall be cursed the and everybody said amen so what ises that mean okay it sounds like the uh you know a basic shot is if you don't follow the Torah you don't follow mitz vote you are going to be cursed there will be negative things that will happen around your life the ramban writes the following he gives an explanation at the very end he offers I think this is more of a a hamtic more of a drush but he offers this explanation of what this PUK is referring to again what does it say in the PUK curse is the one that does not uphold the Torah hold up the Torah writes the ramban and I'll read the words in Hebrew it's actually translated number three and it's been taught in the path of which again is more of a homiletical understanding of this this referring to the the leader one who does not lift up the Torah that they don't place them in a way that they're not going to fall interesting in other words what is Apostle referring to somebody who's not careful about the way that they are setting the Torah back in the Aran that's what it sounds like says the r this is it seems to me that this is a reference to a particular ritual which we all are familiar with and that is the if a does not lift up the sav Torah for everybody to see that everybody is to see the of the Torah interesting that everyone should see the kativa that sounds like what ruk is saying what he mentioned before about the letters just to see the letters of the Torah as it says in one of the small and what does it say the person who lifts it up should turn to the right turn to the left front and back all the way around I don't know if everybody does that when they dogba but that's the way that it's presented here in the there's an obligation for everyone interesting for men and for women to see what is written says and you should bow down which I don't think is the custom today but he that's that's the way it's presented here and then what does everyone say and the ramban says that is our custom going back 7 800 years the ramban says that's his that is the custom of the Jewish world and that is our custom today as well interesting so what do we have we have a custom we have this beautiful Min hug which is again going back to M from 2,000 years old for everyone just to see the Torah and just to see the letters of the Torah and it could be what what R cook is referring to is that there's two elements of Joy when it comes to Torah learning there's the Tor learning the joy that we have when we understand something the wisdom that we gain we've come to class we spent money on the class we want to gain something from that experience we want to walk out knowing something that we didn't know beforehand and there's a joy in that there's a great benefit in that but there's another joy as well and that's just the letters of the Torah it's just looking at the Torah from a distance we can't read anything right we're in shul we're in the women's section we're in the back what are we looking at all we're seeing from a distance is the Torah and the love for the Torah because it's our Torah without knowing anything else just seeing the words right brings us great joy just the letters themselves to know that this is our Torah that this is our gift that this is a gift to Ben Israel that nobody else has that's a gift in my life and to feel the joy of Torah in that sense so that I think is ruk or way of understanding one possibility about the Sim The Joy so we see that ruk is highlighting and again I don't know if this comes out of the I can bring examples from Yeshiva University my own experience I'm not sure if that was the um in that more Lithuanian brisk setting if that was the message that we that was conveyed to us it should be with a lot of Joy but ruk says no it's about on it's about Joy it's about the Sim that we have around Torah is more of a idea he's coming from the great influence of kabad which was a very important part of his life as well Torah study should be joyous and part of that Joy is coming together is sharing with others is coming together as a community so that's lesson number one going back to the word what does the word hasate mean according toar make make make groups come together as groups and learn together second explanation the gar we're on the top of Page Three second explanation of what the word hasate means again the gamar wants to try to define this word or give meaning to a word that is a mysterious word in the Torah what does mean means to break to break down break yourself over this is a teaching that comes from Torah is not studied well or it's not something that is retained unless somebody can we translate this uh literally you die for it I can die right I die for it I'm killing myself over it right so that's that's the translation that you're willing to die for that you're willing you're killing yourself over T I want to point out one interesting thing here and that is and it's interesting the gamar to think about who's saying who's the who's the rabbi who is the sage and this case it's rakish what do we know about rakish without going into the long story rakish is a great B cha I would say second to RAB Akiva maybe as great as RAB Akiva in terms of becoming B Chua he's considered to be a great Thief a great Bandit and as the story goes in the gamarra that he sees a very beautiful beautiful woman who's swimming in the river and he jumps in to go and meet up this woman and the woman turns around and it's not a woman it's Rabbi yanan is another Rabbi and the rabbi turns to him and says that I see that you are a very strong fellow the way that you just jumped into the water and he says says you should use your strength your power I see the your your your you know The Bravery that you have and the strength that you have he says you should use Thea you should use it for Torah study he tried to begin you know to do a little bit of kiru I see that you have potential here and he says I'm not so sure about it rakish and then raban says you think that I'm handsome you think that I'm beautiful I have a sister that's even more beautiful than I am and if you come and study with me if you come B Chua I'll offer her hand in marriage to you that's what the gamar says and they get married and heish becomes the brother-in-law ofan they study for the rest of their lives every few pages of the gar ises ran that they're arguing with one another so this is the ra Lage by the way who says that you have to really put in a tremendous amount of sacrifice and effort when it comes to Torah study if you want to retain your learning if you want to become a learned person if you want to acquire that if you want to achieve that it takes a lot of work takes a lot of effort okay so that is that's the second lesson R cook Ru cook to me does something very interesting with his gamara and again I would say as I just said that the gamar is just teaching us the importance of everybody sacrificing killing themselves for the study of Torah but Ru cook says you know what it's not really for everyone to do that I mean everyone is to study Torah but kind of that sacrifice and that that kind of commitment is not required of every person and he writes the following this is from aaya this is again where on page three the second paragraph and here is the language of Rook this his comment on this gar in order for the community as a whole to kind of be in the moderate or or the middle path you need particular people that they oversee it's their commitment that kind of sets the tone for the rest of the community that they volunteer literally that they volunteer for this great work this great aod y that they leave the middle path interesting ruk says you know for all of us I don't know if we have to kill ourselves I don't know if it has to be so you know with that kind of with that kind of sacrifice we can learn we can be dedicated to learning we all need to do that but of Cook's comment on this gamar is that that there's a particular group of people who choose to do this and the great respect that we should have for them and what they bring to CLA Isel as a whole and he says we can compare it to soldiers that they go long nights without sleep and they stand guard right we all certainly can uh can appreciate this what our soldiers are doing but that's not the regular day in and day out way that we live our lives there's a community of Jews who accept this all right this this this yoke they're people of great spirituality and they have great joy they know with the way that they volunteer this commitment that they have this total commitment to Torah learning that yes they're going beyond what is what's required of the typical person and they affect that they impact the rest of the Jewish community in a positive way interesting RI cook says that there's a place for that group of people a group of people with a total dedication for Torah learning a sacrifice for Torah learning the respect that we need to have for them and what they bring to the community overall it's not for everyone but to respect that and to see the contribution that they're making to the CL and I think about I have I have children that are a little bit more in the K world and I see their world and I see a world I was there a couple shabas ago the men are out 7 o'clock in the morning they're going to Yeshiva they're coming home for an hour having dinner with their wife they go out again they're coming home at 11:30 at night I think this is what the gamar is talking about to be M atmo that this kind of sacrifice I look at my son I say is that for me is that for everyone I'm not sure if that's for everyone to live that way we're spending about an hour with your wife every day and but the wife is on board with it as well they're on board with this idea of total dedication to to learning rev cook says that there's a place for that in our community in our society and with that inspiration from that group that has a spill over there's there's something very very positive about that for for everyone else looking up to that I I I read a story this past week rosha Feinstein the great godor zal of the Lower East side of Manhattan um so when he would when the T was being read in sh so there was a boy that would stand right next to the Amud holding a um holding AES so that he would follow Mosin would follow while the boy was holding it and as soon as the Aliyah was done those few minutes between Aliyah he would quickly go back to his seat he would learn mishna until the tur was read again I mean answering you know to the Bros but those few minutes that are lost he would he would cop right those few minutes and the boy was standing there he'd run up again follow along in the few seconds he would run back to his seat and sit with a mission is that for me is that for all of us maybe maybe but maybe not you know maybe we're not at that at that level kind of that extreme in terms of this Mayo the Torah but there's a place for that and I think this is one of Ru Cook's beautiful ideas that he shares so often and that is to appreciate the different sectors of Amel and what they are contributing to the great tapestry of of what it means to have am Israel and I'll just bring one uh One Source where he speaks about this this is in his classic work oo this is Source number three and he speaks about the different sectors of am Israel and here in particular he talks about and this is going back to again the early 1900s there was the religious group there were those that were what do you call like the nationalistic those that were dedicated to the Amel that idea of Amis and then there were those that were what he calls the universal that they were that they you know their their their interest and their dedication was in more Universal ideas but he writes the following it's absolutely certain it's understood in the most healthy of State you need all different sectors here we talks about these three in particular but the different sectors of of Jewish life and theot that each one has and what they contribute we should all be have a great desire to reach this very healthy state that they should all have a place in our society there's a Harmony that we are um that we hope to achieve to attain and I just read the translation below just in the middle of the religious National Universal should work together in both an ideological and practical form each individual and group will begin to realize that it has unique talent within this three-way Coalition each group will recognize the virtue and benefit that the other groups provide so this is one of the classic teachings one of the ideas that we see throughout RI Cook's writing the important of appreciating what every sector of the Jewish Community brings to the table um I was at a uh I was at a talk a couple of months ago with r yoson he's considered to be one of the uh one of the leading Personalities in the religious Zionist world and the question that he addressed is a question that is a controversial question today and that is the place of the K world and Army service so that's a you know that's that's a very very big discussion and a very emotional one so that was a question that that that uh that he that he began to address but the first thing that he said is that we all agree everybody agrees that there's nothing as important as Torah study in other words let's just begin there in terms of the place of Torah Talma Tor the dedication to Torah is something that every Jew agrees to then he went on and then you know there then it's more of a complex discussion but R cook also R cook is saying let us appreciate that group in the community and maybe it's not for everyone that's the way that he's reading this Gara again I would have read it and I presented it that's R Lish teaching everyone that they have to kill themselves for Terror learning Ru cook doesn't read it that way maybe that's not for everyone but it is for a certain group and a group of people that see themselves in that role that are drawn to that way of life and for them that works very well again we have to work work out the details around it but to appreciate every shavit every group in am Israel okay we now go to the third explanation thear what the word hasate means and this is uh this is right up R Cook's alley and I think it's a beautiful a beautiful idea just the gamarra itself again we're dealing with a word and we don't know the meaning of that word the word is so what does it mean so H gate is really a combination of two words the first word is H what does the word h mean h means hush same like we have in English Hush Hush H and then Kat and what does the word katat mean then you can break it down then you can analyze first study and then analyze then begin to think about and analyze look at the words of ruk on this gamar beautiful words which are worth uh underlining this is from his a person when it comes to Torah study and we can really speak about this Beyond Torah study but within the world of Torah study this is the bottom page three Source number five a person a person should accustom themselves what's like the word we have to have we need to have patience we should do a lot of listening says R in order to gain knowledge before you begin with your Hasa and your dot with your first here right take the time to listen closely even if you're already hearing certain things you may disagree with says ruk don't argue right away first hear it first take it in I'm reading now again the last three lines open your ears be quiet and listen and to listen closely and now that you have a full understanding now you're ready to engage in the study of Torah interesting I'll just point out there's another great Rabbi today Rabbi do Zinger if you've heard that name he's done a lot of work in and um he's a Riva of what's the name of theiva does anybody thank you m it's a high school um in the gush and he's doing a lot of work actually with with with with rabbis with Educators he's doing work also on the American scene as well and one of the things that he's teaching Educators and rabbis and teachers in the classroom as well is how to be a better listener how to listen to students and how to take the time and again to hear what the student is saying and to also at times to read between the lines as well as what people are saying it's we're very very quick to respond and as Jews we're very we we we have our opinions and we want to express our opinions very quickly in the world of social media today right we're quickly responding to everything WhatsApp everything is within a moment has to be within a second the gamar says H first silence right first hush right take in what the other person is saying especially in the world of learning when we're learning with one another when we're trying to understand the other to listen to the other and I think one of the most beautiful garas that expresses this one of my favorite garas is the gamar Ain Yim am the top of page four and the gamar asked the question and it refers to Bei and beel beel who argue we all know that they argue with one another and the gar wants to know why is it that if they argue with one another why is it that we always follow B almost across the board almost without exception and that's the G's question it was a threee that there was intense controversy and arguments between the house of Hill and shamai one group said the is like us the other group said no the is like us so a voice came out from Heaven God calls out so to speak from heaven and what does God say right a famous famous words of the gamar both these and these both of them are the word of God both of them are the word of God and then is like so the obvious question is well if it's if both sides are right it's a very Jewish answer by the way he's right and he's right right so that's what the gamar says is right is right they're both right but then it says the is like so the says if it's true that both are correct so so why do we follow you just said everybody is right so why is it so here the beautiful answer of the gamar which is worth remembering were they were people that were agreeable Al that they were forbearing that they were forgiving whenever they studied they studied both positions the position of B and beam meaning the other side as well and look at this this is like the Clincher this last line of the G the and not only that every time that they argued with be shami what did they do they first repeated they first stated be shami's opinion before their own opinion imagine that in an argument or where you're having a discussion with somebody and before you give your opinion you say well let me just repeat what you said let me understand what you said first did I did I understand that correctly did I understand that fully what you said that's what Bei according to gamar did every single time that there was an argument they preceded be shami the other opinion right the opinion that they're disagreeing with that they first stated that opinion before they stated their own and that the gamar says is why the is like B Hillel now why is it like B Hillel based on that reasoning in other words is it only because they were humble because they were no Al because they were they were very agreeable that they were nice people and said you know what let's give it to the nicer one right the one who's who's a little bit Kinder who's a little bit softer I don't think that's the answer I don't think that's what I don't think that's the interpretation of the gamarra I think the interpretation is as follows and this is one of I would say one of the most well-known comments of of cook a very beautiful comment on something that we say in daving regularly every day people say it shabas bring great peace PE in the world okay actually there's interesting comment that um RAB Norman lamb zal who is the the president of Yeshiva University says that if you look carefully throughout the gamar there's a lot of jokes that are kind of interspersed in the gamar you have to look for them but there are jokes in the gamar he says this is one of them that we say all the rabbis bring a lot of Peace in the world rabbis they're always fighting they're always disagreeing this is just you the gamar is trying to lighten the mood here when it says that sh but no that's not the way that Rook understood it he says that they really do and how do they do that here the words of Rook this is a comment in his in his beautiful where he has comments on the uh on the daving on the prayer this is uh again three lines right right below that that The Source by the way this is found in gar there are those who make the mistake shalom me that when in order to create peace in the world it will not be built it will not be created we can't attain it unless there's one party one party line unless everybody agrees when we see rabis that they're arguing in the area of Tor and we see with all the different arguments that you have you know endless arguments of rabis you think that actually brings about a kind of disunity that's not true at all it's not the truth what is real peace that we need to have a lot of different paths to peace shom what is this the different past when we see the other position when we see the other side when we're open to hearing the other side and to appreciate that position as well then then we see how each position has its place that's how you create peace and that's how one arrives at truth so Bas H it's not just said he was a nice guy and Hashem said you know what for the nicer guy let's pasin like billel the fact that he understood the other side that he first repeated the position of aami it means that he understood that he took the time to see the other position as well and when you see the other side and you consider the other position and your position now you can come to the to the truth to the MS so Hillel is chosen because we believe that he had the MS because he was willing to see all the different positions and this again I think is unique and a beautiful beautiful teaching of Rook what it means to have mes it's a lesson for all of us in our own lives we sometimes disagree with another person to hear the other side that H first hush you know before saying anything listen to it consider it and certainly as a as a nation amus as well I want to just I'll conclude with uh with the following just about conclude with one other statement of Jewish learning of how we learn Torah and the humility that we need to have and to hear the other side so to speak this is one of the most famous I think everybody is familiar with this and that is the statement in the G that says whoever repeats a piece of learning in the name of the person who said it may it's a gamar in Milla whoever says something in other words you repeat something in learning this is the last number five on the page page four Source number five whenever you quote something to quote it in in the name of the person you're all familiar with that right and one who does that is May you know it's interesting here that this is the statement says whenever you quote something in somebody's name you should always say the person who said it it's kind of ironic that you have that statement and who said who makes this statement do we know do we ever quote the person who taught that you should always quote the person that you're quoting so interesting it's Amar RAB Alazar and who said the previous statement of maybe sh or [Music] Sharina right both of them coming from khina coming from the great Rabbi and through RAB Alazar right this idea of of the humility that we have of sharing with one another uh I've written a couple of books and it really is a it's a challenge when I'm reading something and I put it in my own words and I say well do I really need to you know quote in this person's name you know I'm kind of saying a little differently than he did do I really need to credit that person so it's not yeah there are copyright issues that's true U but there's also halak issue and moral issues so that's what the gamar says the gamar says that kind of humility and again coming from Rina right the humility that one has in learning and if you do that and not to credit yourself with that learning that you say I heard it from soand so and this comes from so and so it's not original I didn't I didn't come up with it so that kind of humility is humility that um that brings out the very best in uh in Torah I'll conclude with the following story there's a book this is a book called A sadik for eternity I think a lot of people are familiar with it sadik in our time classic work that came out in the 70s one of the first biographies about RAR Lin the great sadic of Y who lived not that far from here and um a second volume came out a few years ago of more stories about his life at sadik for eternity and I'll just conclude with the following story I'll read the story to you and it's about learning it's about humility it's about Rari lein and it's about R Yen cook so one of the we've just studied uh the last hour or so the the teachings of R cook we know that the teachings of R cook were not accepted across the board by the way I don't know if everybody loved this idea that we just mentioned that you should really hear everybody's side and that's way the best way of learning I'm not sure if everybody especially in the old uh in the old days here in shim if everybody was on board with that uh with with that philosophy so there were those that actually made life difficult for of cook he had strong opponents right here in Mayar and GAA and in this area as well one of his great tamim Rak map lived right at his base matter is still here it's two blocks away right I don't know if you've ever been there maybe we'll do a teal one day as maybe as part of this class we'll go to his b medish rakov map his chair is still there and um so this is uh this area was you had the and you also had opponents of Rook living here as well so thisin tells us the following story there was a time when the gaon AR Yen cook was relentlessly harassed and vilified by Ultra Orthodox Fanatics intent on embittering his life they stalked him mocked him and went so far as to post the Fator notices all over Jerusalem my daughter again thisin speaking my daughter sha the wife of R yose Shalom El Yos Rabel Yos if you're familiar with that name he was considered to be the greatest po here in Yim the daughter of RAR Lin married Rebel yashiv so the daughter was one standing on her balcony in Mayar and when R cook passed below with his followers his followers to deliver a sheer in the synagogue nearby she was horrified to see see and hear these zealots jeering there goes Rabbi cook they try to close in on him and knock his fur hat onto the ground the sight tormented her and for days afterward she could not help recalling this painful event so RAR Lin said I said to myself I must go and see Riv cook to give him encouragement in the middle of all this hateful business and to demonstrate my solidarity knowing that Ru cook was occupied every second of the day I thought it best to visit him late at night I entered the medish of Yesa merar where I found him immersed in study utterly oblivious of my presence I sat on a bench and began learning while I waited there was no one there apart from the go own rev cook and myself rev cook suddenly looked up and notice me and he said believe me it is especially during these trying times that I Merit a surge of divine help in my studies at this time I have the greatest K tor new interpretations of the law the way that I understand that story is the humility of ruk when he was able to Humble himself as he did when he was able to Humble himself he also humbled himself before the Torah before the words of the Torah and with that humility he saw great insights in the Torah so we have seen today beautiful ideas from ruk what it means to be engaged in t Torah he speaks about the joy that we are to have when we learn to that we come together like a gathering like this that we come together in joyful learning we should always think about our learning in a Joyful Way Ru cook says that there are different camps in Amel there are those camps that are more dedicated that's their role they've taken on that position of being those that sacrificed at M miss atmo the great respect we should have for them the great contribution that they're making to am Isel and then Ru cook speaks about the humility H Kate hush H hush first listen listen closely and then Kate and then Kat then begin the analysis and with that humility before learning and also the way that we interact with others uh we will be Z to to Greatness and Torah I want to wish everyone a sh we do not have class Wednesday morning next week I imagine some people will be cooking Wednesday morning next week with three days of Yanti and chabas so we're going to hold off and we'll see everyone the we week after that'll be that Wednesday sh everyone everyone be well [Music]