COMMUNITY MAGAZINE May 2008

24 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE As such, achievement cannot necessarily be gauged in superfi- cial, quantifiable terms. A person who studies one hundred pages of Talmud a day might seem much greater than a student who manages, with difficulty, to master but a single page in his daily daf yomi class. In truth, however, the very opposite might be true. If the gifted student is capable of covering two hundred pages and stops at one hundred, his level is lower than that of the ordinary layman who struggles each day to complete daf yomi . The Gemara (Bava Batra 10b) tells of a certain Rabbi who was shown a vision of the next world, and he reported, “I saw an upside-down world: the high ones are low, and the low ones are high.” Many people who in this world appear “high” – accomplished, righteous men – will, in the World to Come, occupy a lower place than those who had been looked upon as “low.” In the next world, evaluations are made in relation to each person’s individual potential, and thus people with limited accomplishment might actually ascend to greater heights than their colleagues who, in absolute terms, achieved more. How, then, can we denigrate those who are not as strictly observant as we? Do we know their internal struggles, and are we so confident that they are capable of achieving more? While of ourselves we must demand the highest standards and pursue excel- lence, in relating to others we must exhibit tolerance and under- standing. If we have complaints, if other people seem “unsightly,” then we should complain to the “Artisan” who made them! Excellence Without Arrogance Rabbi Natan Zvi Finkel, the Saba of Slobodka (1849-1927), had a student who took it upon himself to accept Shabbat two hours early every week. He would don his Shabbat clothes, go to the synagogue, and study Torah until the actual onset of Shabbat. This was certainly an admirable practice which the young man under- took as a special level of piety, in order to afford greater honor to Shabbat. The Saba heard of this student’s practice and called him to his office. He asked, “Tell me, when you see other people entering the synagogue at the regular time to begin Shabbat, what do you think of them?” The student replied. “I look at them as though they desecrated the Shabbat. After spending two extra hours in the sanctity of Shabbat, I see them as Shabbat violators!” The Saba immediately instructed the student to discontinue his practice. “Accepting a stringency is a laudable measure,” he remarked, “but not if it leads to arrogance. If you think you are better than others because of this practice, you forfeit your right to observe it!” Our generation suffers terribly from the kind of attitude displayed by this student in Slobodka. Today, if it is not “our way,” then it’s the wrong way. Anybody who does more than me is a fanatic, and whoever does less is lax. Simply put, we have lost the art of tolerance, of respecting and admiring the fine qualities of other people even if we follow a stricter level of Torah observance. We must indeed strive for religious excellence – but without arrogance, without a feeling of superiority and self-adulation. Just as we are not expected to be like Moshe Rabbenu, so must we not expect others to be like us. Earlier, we mentioned the famous story of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai and his son, who after twelve years in the cave could not bear the sight of people tending to worldly affairs. Gd ordered the Rabbis to return to the cave, and they emerged twelve years later, on an Erev Shabbat. This time, they came upon a Jew carrying two bundles of hadas branches, which he brought home in honor of Shabbat. Rabbi Shimon looked to the heavens and exclaimed, “How beloved are the misvot to Israel!” Rabbi Shimon learned the lesson. Although for him collecting flowers for Shabbat would perhaps be considered vain, for a simple Jew this constituted a lofty misvah act, a genuine display of honor towards Shabbat. This time, rather than criticizing people who were below his level of spiritual devotion, he appreciated and admired even the simple acts of virtue that he witnessed. He now looked not through the lenses of his extraordinary stature, but from the perspective of each individual’s personal capabilities. When we view people in this light, we recognize and appreciate their virtues rather than flaws, and their accomplishments rather than their failings. The Thirty-Second “Means to Acquiring Torah” The sixth chapter of Pirkei Avot lists the forty-eight kinyanei Torah – means by which one “acquires” Torah, the various quali- ties that one must engender within himself in order to successfully achieve greatness in Torah. The Rabbis instruct that on each of the forty-eight days of the omer , one should focus on the correspond- ing quality listed in the Mishna, and on the forty-ninth day, Erev Shavuot, he should review all forty-eight. Thus, by the time he reaches Shavuot, the day of receiving the Torah, he will be in a position to “acquire” Torah in the fullest sense. Interestingly enough, the thirty-second quality listed in the Mishna is ohev et ha’beriyot – loving other people. It was when Rabbi Akiva’s students reached this stage of their preparations for Shavuot, when they perfected this quality of love and respect for all people, that the epidemic came to an end. Once they commit- ted themselves to respecting their peers despite their flaws and imperfections, they atoned for their wrongdoing and Gd withdrew the plague. We, too, must use this period to commit ourselves to the ideal of ohev et ha’beriyot , of tolerating the faults and shortcomings of our family members and friends. The Jewish people will then enjoy true peace and prosperity, and together we will grow and achieve great heights in Torah and misvot – each according to his individual talents and capabilities. CM It is unfair and wrong to impose one’s own standards on others; even if a person surpasses his peers in Torah and misvot, he must still respect their fine qualities and admire their accomplishments. ” “ In memory of Mrs. Rae Semah v"g 