Miller's Musings Parshas Vayikro: Value Me, Value You

בס''ד

                             

One of the Rambam’s fundamental principles of faith is the belief in Moshe as the ‘father’ of all prophets.  His unprecedented level of prophecy has never been matched, hence the incontrovertible nature of the Torah passed down through him.  Yet even at the incredibly close relationship which he alone enjoyed with Hashem, he still only spoke to Hashem when summoned by Him.  This is brought by the Medrash as a proof that any learned individual, even at the level of Moshe, who does not possess the requisite level of character refinement is considered less than a carcass, bereft of great worth.  Here we have further proof to the well known Torah dictum that Derech Eretz, acting decently, decorously and in an ethical way, must by necessity precede all Torah learning.  Admittedly this sounds like something that would make sense and be appreciated by any morally minded person, but is there also a logic to why this must be so? 

 Viewing the Torah as just a set of laws mandated by G-d, or just a guidebook for successful living, is missing a crucial understanding of the gift that we have.  The Torah is in fact in essence a manifestation of Hashem Himself, something that predated and dictated this physical existence.  Therefore to be able to truly absorb such a spiritual entity as the Torah and become one with its teachings, one needs to as much as humanly achievable become spiritual and godlike, so that it is relevant and befitting us.  The means to achieve this, as explained by Reb Aharon Kotler zt’l, is by perfecting our character traits becoming to the greatest degree possible a reflection of Hashem, the Ultimate and Infinite Good.  Without this we can never truly connect with Hashem and therefore never truly be a possessor of genuine Torah knowledge.

There are many sources that indicate that there is no greater act than learning Torah, imbibing its wisdom or indeed facilitating the learning of others.  Yet, as important and as exalted as the studying of Torah is, it can only start once we have first worked on ourselves and our way of living to make us the best human beings we can be to all those around us.  Whether it is family, friends or the stranger in the street, if we are not acting in a way that shows how much we value each other, the Torah we acquire will be of little value to Hashem.     

*May the harmony of Shabbos bring harmony between us all*

 

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם

לרפואה שלימה:  שרה יעל בת ברכה אסתר