Bostoner Torah Insights: Bostoner ‘Chassidus’ in Hebrew and English Parshas Ki Saytzay – 21 Elul 5782
Bostoner Torah Insights - Yerushalayim
Bostoner Torah Insights
Bostoner ‘Chassidus’ in English
Parshas Ki Saytzay – 21 Elul 5782
Bostoner Rebbe shlit”a – Yerushalayim
Secretariat Email: bosto...@gmail.com
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The Pri Tzadik points out that when one brings his basket of Bikkurim to the Kohen he says, “I declare today to Hashem Elokecha (your Elokim) that I have come to the Land…” (Devarim 26:3), when it would have been more correct for him to say ‘Hashem Elokeinu’ (our Elokim). He suggests that by bringing the Bikkurim, the Yisroel rises to the level of a Kohen in regards to his closeness to Hashem. By giving of his first fruits to the Beis HaMikdash, his connection to Hashem is similar to the service of the Kohen in the Beis HaMikdash. The Kohen does not receive a portion of the Land, rather his portion is his connection to Hashem through his service in the Mikdash.
It is noteworthy that the Bikkurim are not brought as a Korban on the Mizbayach, rather they are waved in front of the Mizbayach and placed by the side of the Mizbayach. From here we see that the Yisroel is an equal partner and his actions of Avodah regarding Bikkurim is the same as the Kohen. This also demonstrates that the Kohen and Yisroel have the same higher level of closeness to Hashem that the Pri Tzaddik alludes to from the words ‘Hashem Elokecha’.
The month of Tishrei, the seventh month counting from Nissan, is also referred to in Tanach as Yerach HaEitanim (Melachim I 8:2), ‘the month of the strong ones’. The Gemara (Rosh Hashana 11a) explains that the ‘strong ones’ refer to the Avos, since Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov were all born in Tishrei. This is because it is ‘strong in Mitzvos’. According to R’ Yehoshua, who maintains that the Avos were born in the month of Nissan, the ‘strong ones’ refers to the many Mitzvos of the month of Tishrei. The Gerer Rebbe maintained that the ‘strong ones’ referred to the people, Bnei Yisroel, that strengthen themselves in Mitzvos during the month of Tishrei.
The Gemara (Chagiga 15a) teaches that a Tzadik can merit to take his portion and the portion of his friend in Gan Eden. The Sfas Emes (5661) ponders whether it is possible to merit a portion in Gan Eden for free, without any toil in this world. The upper world is called Olam HaBa because one only merits it with effort and toil in this world, by choosing good over evil with one’s free choice. A portion in Olam HaBa does not lend itself to being transferrable. The Sfas Emes cites the Gemara (Taanis 25a) that ‘Heaven gives but does not take back’. Meaning that when blessing or good is bestowed upon the world, Heaven does not take that good back, rather that goodness stays in the world, and if punishment must come it will come from somewhere else. Since every Mitzvah causes Kedusha to flow down to the world, even for the Rasha, the Tzadik will merit to utilize that Kedusha which the Rasha abandons and use it to serve Hashem.
There is a story about the R’ Simcha Bunim of Peshischa who travelled for business to the annual trading fair in Danzig. While he was there he experienced more Kedusha when he did Mitzvos then he did in Peshischa, the town where he lived in Poland. When he returned from his business trip, he stopped off by his Rebbe, the Chozeh m’Lublin to share his experience and ask his Rebbe why this was so. The Chozeh m’Lublin told R’ Simcha Bunim that the townspeople in Danzig were overly materialistic and did not perform Mitzvos properly. As a result, the Kedusha that existed in Danzig was not being utilized by the townspeople there. Therefore, the Kedusha in Danzig seeks out those that will utilize it. So when you arrived in Danzig and sincerely dedicated yourself to Torah, Tefillah and other Mitzvos, the Kedusha that was being neglected in Danzig found you and attached itself to you. This is why you felt higher levels of Kedusha in the city of Danzig then you normally would in the city of Peshischa.
This, on some levels, happens to all of us. If we live in a community where others are not as observant in Mitzvos, there will be additional unutilized Kedusha that is available for us to utilize. This Kedusha gives us the ability to perform Mitzvos on a higher level and allows us to get closer to Hashem by utilizing this additional Kedusha.
The feeling that everyone has when we begin to say Selichos before Rosh Hashana, like electricity, gives us the power to strengthen ourselves in Torah learning, Mitzvah performance and certainly our Tefillah. As we prepare for Selichos, we must search for those Mitzvos that we have neglected this year in order to fulfill them in the remaining days of the year. May it be His will that all of us will be able to grab on to the remaining vestiges of Kedusha that have come down to the world in 5782 and have not yet been acquired. May we all merit a Ksiva V’Chasima Tova.
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