Community Magazine April 2013

story told in the Gemara, in Masechet Yevamot, of Rabbi Akiva’s 24,000 students, who tragically died during these 33 days. Much has been said and written about the reason why this tragedy occurred (“for they did not accord each other honor”), but I would like to focus here on a more basic question. Although this plague was, without question, a major catastrophe, why was it singled out for special commemoration? Sadly, our nation has known many painful tragedies over the course of our long, tumultuous history. But other than the calamities commemorated on Tishah B’Av and other fast days, the rabbis did not, as a rule, designate special occasions to mark tragedies that befell the Jewish people. And thus, without for a moment downplaying the gravity of the loss we endured with the death of Rabbi Akiva’s students, we need to ask, why do we make a special 33- day commemoration of this tragedy? What sets this catastrophe apart from the many others which have unfortunately befallen our nation? The likely answer to this question lies in the recognition of the unique power that Gd has invested within the students and scholars of Torah. Anybody who occasionally visits Jewish bookstoreswill find something mysterious. There are always new titles available for purchase, new works of Torah scholarship that had never before been presented to the world. If we go to the sefarim stores once a month, we will, invariably, find many new books on the shelves to buy that were not there a month before. One might naturally wonder, what can the authors of these Torah books possibly be writing? Jewish scholars have been writing books ever since the publication of the Mishna during the time of the Romans. Hasn’t it all been written yet? What could authors have to add onto all that has been written and published until now? A Limitless Gd, a Limitless Torah The answer is that when Gd gave us the Torah, He gave us much more than a text and an oral tradition of laws and interpretations. He gave us the remarkable power of hiddush , the ability – and the right – to arrive at new insights and ideas. Every student of Torah with the appropriate experience and training in Torah scholarship is capable, and encouraged, to be “ mehadesh ,” to propose new ideas, to find new answers to questions, even to questions that had been asked and answered by the towering sages of yesteryear. In essence, Gd has given us the power to create Torah. A yeshivah, then, is far more than a school where students are educated. Yeshivot are factories where Torah is produced. The students spend their days analyzing Torah texts, over the course of which they arrive at new insights and explanations of laws and concepts. The same passage of Gemara or Tosafot can be studied in 20 different yeshivot, with hundreds of different angles being explored. When a student opens up a Torah book to study, he does not only learn, but he creates, by carefully analyzing the material 212.594.2020 | www.therdgroup.com Offices in Manhattan and Long Island SERVING THE COMMUNITY f o r o v e r 4 0 y e a r s Experience helping four generations of community families minimize taxes and structure their financial lives KNOWLEDGE. EXPERIENCE. SOLUTIONS . Call Jeffrey Resnick , Managing Partner, for referrals or to set up an appointment. Dedicated inmemory of   Sarah  bat LucetteKishik  18 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE