Eikev 5765

Everyone Fears

This week’s Dvar Torah is dedicated to the memory of our grandfather, Dov ben Moshe. May our Torah learning be a merit for his soul. Additionally it is dedicated to the 8,000 Jews of Gaza and the northern Shomron who were uprooted from their homes, which independent of politics, is a tragedy. Additionally it is dedicated in honor of my parents Aliyah this Thursday. May they merit living together in Israel in health and happiness.

Continuing his parting message to Bnei Yisrael (the Jewish people), Moshe says, “And what does Hashem your G-d ask of you except to fear Him?” (Dvarim 10:12). The commentators are puzzled by this statement. Is fear of Heaven really such a simple matter? It would seem to us that true, deep seated fear of Heaven is much more than a simple, uncomplicated matter that Hashem asks of us. What does Moshe mean with this statement that seemingly indicates otherwise?

Rav Chaim Volozhener (1749-1821, considered the father of the modern day yeshiva system, probably the foremost student of the Vilna Gaon) explains that Moshe recognized that everyone in life fears someone. There are people who fear what their neighbors might say about them if they act in a certain way. Others fear what their parents will say, and others are constantly worried about what their employer will say. There are also those who live with a myriad of different phobias. Moshe was saying, “Instead of living your life worrying about what people are going to think or say, live your life based on what Hashem is going to say.” Once we are all already living with different fears, better to replace the fears we have with fear of the One whose opinion really matters.

Rav Shneur Kotler (1918-1982, Rosh Yeshiva of the Lakewood Yeshiva, in Lakewood, NJ from 1962 when his father Rav Aharon Kotler, the founder of the yeshiva, passed away) once paid a visit to a California millionaire and asked him to increase his yearly donation of one hundred dollars. Not long thereafter, the millionaire signed a check made out to the Lakewood Yeshiva, but before filling in the amount passed away. The man’s lawyer called Rav Shneur and explained that the man had passed away and left no relatives. “Just tell me how much to make the check out for,” exclaimed the lawyer. “There’s millions

Petrified to take more money than the donor may have intended to give, Rav Shneur simply said, “One hundred dollars, like every year.”

Shabbat Shalom,

Shuki

The story can be found in Above the Bottom Line, by Hanoch Teller, pg. XXIX.