Community Magazine April 2013

yeshivah not only exacted an unfathomable human toll, and not only wiped out a generation of Torah scholarship, but dealt a severe blow to the process of the Torah’s development. The year these scholars died, the Torah stopped growing. And this, indeed, is truly a cause for sorrow. No Angels Allowed How does this notion of hiddush work? Why does Gd authorize us to create new insights into what is, ostensibly, His wisdom? We are capable of creating new insights because we are, by nature, creative beings. Gd made the human being in such a way that he is always creating – specifically, he is always creating himself. We might not realize it, but conscientious people are constantly growing and changing. Every time we must reach a decision concerning the proper thing to do, we grow from that experience. Every time we feel disinclined to do a mitzvah , to pray, to help somebody, or to act as we should, but we overcome this tendency and do the right thing, we change for the better. It is no exaggeration to say that we become “recreated” at that moment, because overcoming challenges is an important part of growth, and when we grow, by definition, we become a different person. Every time we are tempted to say something hurtful, to share a juicy piece of gossip, or to unnecessarily criticize or complain to somebody, and we resist, we grow, and we thus create ourselves anew. And certainly each time we learn something, when we add onto our knowledge and understanding of Gd, Torah or the world, we recreate ourselves, as we have brought ourselves onto a higher intellectual and spiritual plane than we had previously occupied. This is a very exciting way to approach life, and it also underlies the concept of hiddush . The power invested in us, students of Torah, to create new ideas is part of the broader power we are given to create. Just as we can create and develop ourselves, we are authorized, capable and bidden to create and develop Torah wisdom. This, perhaps, was Moshe’s response to the angels. Unlike human beings, angels do not change. An angel forever exists in the precise same form in which he was created. He can neither progress nor regress. Angels may be compared to somebody riding a stationary bicycle, who can ride for days on end without stopping for a moment, and will still find himself in the same place where he began. Angels do not possess the human power of hiddush , of creativity, as they are incapable of building and recreating themselves. Moshe thus turned to the angels and asked, “Do you experience jealousy, greed or lust? Do you have challenges to overcome, whereby you have the opportunity to grow and develop into greater beings? Do you confront moral dilemmas on a daily basis, like we do? Do you face the challenge of supporting a family in an honest, ethical way? Do you have neighbors and family members with whom you have to get along? Up here in the heavens, you have no spiritual or moral challenges to deal with, and thus you can never grow or change!” Dedicated inmemory of   Sarah  bat LucetteKishik  22 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE