Where is the Torah? | Rabbi Ari Bensoussan

Shavuot just passed. What a wonderful holiday. Every single year we get to reunite and we get to remarry Hashem. We get to reignite our souls with the acceptance of ‘We will do and we will hear’, the acceptance of the Torah. And that's very beautiful. But there may be a part that you don't know. What happened right after the Jews accepted the Torah? The Gemara tells us that the Satan comes to Hashem and says, Where is the Torah? And Hashem says to the Satan, I put it down in the earth. The Satan, the Gemara says, goes running down, and he says to the earth, Where's the Torah? And the earth says: It's not by me. He goes to the sea: Where's the Torah? Not by me. He goes to the deep. Where’s the... Not by me. Finally, they tell him, Moshe Rabeinu took the Torah. He goes to Moshe Rabeinu. Moshe Rabeinu says: Am I big enough to have the Torah? Hashem says: Because of your humility, He gave Moshe Rabeinu gifts. The commentators ask a very simple question. Satan, what are you talking about? You, Satan, were here when Moshe Rabeinu came to get the Torah. Not only were you happy that he took the Torah, you even gave him a gift of the secret of the incense to go and ward off death by a plague. Why did you all of a sudden say: תורה היכן היא? Where is the Torah? The answer is something incredible. The Satan was not asking: Where is the Torah? The Satan was asking, says the Maharsha, Who took the Torah and thinks that they can keep it? Where is the Torah at? The Satan wanted to come and attack. You see, every year, yes, we accept the Torah, and every single year we have a ‘We will do and we will hear’ that comes to us. But every single year, the Satan screams, Where is the Torah? Who took the Torah this year? Who stood by Shavuot and learned the whole night and said: I'm ready to accept it. I'm ready to have it on. I'm ready... Really? You think you're ready? Says the Satan. I'm going to throw the summer at you. I’m going to throw challenges at you. You think you're ready? The day after Shavuot, all of a sudden, we get challenged by so many different ideas, lusts, things that really try to pull at us. What do we do? What is the response? The response is the Nazir. What is so incredible about the Nazir? He goes, he decides he's not going to take a haircut, he's not going to drink wine, and he's not going to become impure. Honestly, big deal. You and I can probably become a Nazir easily for 30 days. The Torah calls him holy. The Torah says: Pshhhh wow! Did you see what this guy did? Why is it so incredible? Says the holy Nesivos Yosher, The reason why it's incredible is because here's a man who recognized he needs to gain control in his life. And because he needs to gain control, he'll start small. He'll start with just holding back from wine, holding back from caring about his appearance, holding back from allowing impurity to come into him. Hashem says: Give a look. He recognizes that the Satan is coming after him. He recognizes that the Satan is saying, Where is the Torah? Who took in the Torah and believes that without making any kind of boundaries, he can gain? And the Nazir says: I will build boundaries around myself. What boundaries are you making for yourself this summer? What are you going to make to be a control for yourself that when the Satan says: Where is the Torah? your boundaries will be the ones that will be a solid brick wall against him trying to entice you. And in turn, Shomayim will look down and say: You, too, are Kadosh. You are incredibly holy.