Israeli Cultural Revolution Pesah 5782 -
Revival of Prophetic Poetry
Rabbi Mosheh Elharar,
chief rabbi of the city of Shlomi.
From small-mindedness to greatness (1) | Rabbi Mosheh Elharar
Shalom my teachers and my Rabbis, the holy audience we are today at 26th of Nisan 5782.
Our topic today is - a time of small-mindedness and time of greatness.
There's a term in the teaching of Kabalah which is used a lot, of small-mindedness and greatness of mind, a Kabalistic term, and let's try understand it in simple language, and see in our context, as we are in the days between Passover and the Independence Day.
The pages You have to compiled the sources on this topic, on page 111, the Ramhal, Rabbenu Mosheh Hayim Luzato, the genius of the geniuses 250 years ago, from the book 'Derech HaShem' (The Path of HaShem) chapter 4, the Rabbi says: "For immediately after his birth, he is almost all material...", there's no, the intellect doesn't work, a small child sees a candy gets confused. The mind doesn't work, there're also grownups who get confused, but we see something..."
Student: Then why "almost" rather than entirely material?
R. Elharar: "Almost all material",
with that he has a mind, he has soul, he wears beauty;
"and the intellect barely acts within him." In the Kabbalist language,
the language of the Kaballistic books, at this stage it's called small-mindedness i.e. an infantile human.
"Then as he grows up,
the intellect strengthens
and grows in each person according to his specifications."
As the human grows more, it depends, there're those who don't invest in the intellectual part, there're those who invest in alcohol, beer, and other things, a thus how they end their world in seventy, eighty, ninety years. Each invests in a different area, whether in empowering the mind, reaching intellectual greatness, looking at all things in a wide form, and there're those who all their life are busy with smallmindedness.
Student: 'Rosh Katan' (small head).
R. Elharar: 'Rosh Katan' or 'it's too big' - infantile mind.
There're people who take everything in life in a very infantile manner.
In Kabbalistic terms, in Passover there was the greatness of mind, in other words, when in Kaballistic language they want to say there were great miracles and great abundance, it means HaShem flows at the world intellectual greatness. When we see there's much trouble, then HaShem flows at the world small-mindedness. This terminology is used both at the personal level of the human and at the Kabalistic level.
Student: There's during Purim, a lot of amusement and all that...and...
R. Elharar: Yes, there're those who are stuck only in the amusement, and there're those...
Student: But there are also Rabbis who do this.
R. Elharar: No problem, but even while a human enjoys an amusement, essentially his mind is connected to "Creator of the world, I have great happiness from what You have done the revolution in...", meaning, his mind is on different things.
Student: As to differ from Passover?
R. Elharar: Yes.
Student: Passover and Purim are a bit different.
R. Elharar: Yes, during Passover there was the greatness of mind at a very high level.
During Puring, also it was...there was Dromita, and after Dromita there was a bit of this...ok.
So this terminology, Ramhal talks about the personal level of each human, but this term applies to the collective of the nation of Yisrael. The nation of Israel was at times of smallmindedness - for example, the Holocaust - it was small-mindedness.
HaShem didn't flow abundance and miracles...they say in the name of Abba Eben, the first foreign minister of the state of Israel, that whoever doesn't see with their eyes that there are miracles every day in the state of Israel, they're not a realist.
Therefore we are today at different times of - intellectual greatness. A completely different terminology exists. Now, there're many lessons, and I've given many lessons about the meaning of this day the Independence Day, and the meaning of the liberation of Jerusalem, endless lessons.
And the story each year repeats itself - 'moment, did they say Hallel with a blessing or Hallel without a blessing? Was it this or that...?' Yes? The disagreement among the Rabbis, also among the people, there's a big difference between a Rabbi whom You see, who's entire writing, his books, his speech - everything is at a great intellectual level. What is intellectual greatness? Someone who knows all the TaNaCh by heart, every comma and dot by heart, all that constantly stands in his mind, including all the Shulhal 'Aruch, Rambam, and the Gmara, he knows everything by heart - straight, and upsidedown, right, left and down.
And he has no personal accounts, when there're personal accounts it is a problem. You can know the truth from here to the latest news, but You have personal accounts that curve everything - as the spies.
The spies as well, were great of the greatest, who's above them?
What does Rabbi Shim'on Bar Yohay say in the Zohar, why did they speak against the land?
Student: An interest.
R. Elharar: Interest, what interest?
They knew that when we enter the country, they were no longer leaders.
That's it, a human can be great of the greatest, the moment he has a personal interest, there everything can turn upside down from one end to another. Rashby says they understood that when we enter the land they're no longer leaders, but they can't say that 'we won't be leaders anymore', so cover it in many pretty candies..."But you surpass them all." (Mishley 31)...
Therefore there big difference, for example, HaRav 'Uziel or HaRav Yosef Msas, all the TaNaCh by heart, wake him up at 2 a.m. he'll tell, HaRav Hayim Shoshanah, memory of great holy righteous is blessing, HaRav 'Amram 'Abrobyah, it's the TeNaCh by heart straight and upside down. In the Ashcnaz Yeshivas today they don't study TaNaCh, but these learned, the Sephardic sages, TaNaCh for them is holy of holies.
So HaRav Yosef Msas his entire life awaited to see when it comes wat is written in the book of Daniel, ch. 4 verse 18 and other places, "For twenty-three hundred evenings and mornings; then justified was holy ". The state was founded, he says 'look, Creator of the world, here the vision of the prophets came to reality'. Look what we had in Morocco, my grandfather was murdered in Morocco, was a wealthy man, in the middle of the marketplace everyone saw and were silent, till these days there're people who were there, very old. Everyone was afraid, didn't dare speak, this is the place You're in.
Someone like HaRav Msas says, wait a moment, "twenty-three hundred", count from the building of the 2nd Temple, wait a moment - this is in action the realization of the vision of the prophets. Two thousand and three hundred is exactly 5708.
Or someone who knows all the Shulhan 'Aruch by heart, also HaRav Yosef Msas also HaRav 'AmRam Abrobyah, who was an exalted holy man, merited to have the holy spirit, clause 428, someone like him says 'here it exactly this', and he has no personal interest, he wasn't interested in anything, what slang do we say 'doesn't count anyone'. There's one who wants to e appointed here so to promote him he will be anti...so he has to keep silent, hide, yes? I'm also by my nature a coward, but I work on it, one has to.
So a person without personal interest, has all the Torah and knows everything, says 'moment, what has the Creator of e world done here?' And there're others, like HaRav David HaCohen Scaly, this holly Rabbi, how's the only one in the entire world who has explained the entire book of Daniel; "time, times, and half a time", now he didn't wait, it wasn't afterward, HaRav Yosef Msas said it after the fact, the state was established, he says 'look, see what is written in the prophets, it's that exactly'. HaRav Scaly was a hundred years prior to that, he says, know what is written in the book of Daniel - "time, times, and half a time", or "For a time, times, and half a time", seventh and twelfth chapter - this is the liberation of Jerusalem.
A hundred years before it happens.
Or, please bring the Sulhan 'Aruch there, for example, HaRav 'Uziel, he has a great answer. He was told, 'what Independence Day? Look how many problems in the state's court, in the education...', this repeated a lot. The Rabbi says, 'I don't understand what You say', why?
Look how one can read one clause in the Shulhan 'Aruch from a great intellectual perspective, while the grasp of another will be, a mind of cherry, apricot, or whatever we're blessing 'ShehHyyanu' right now.
Here's Shulhan 'Aruch clause 223, "his father dies, blesses 'Judge of the truth". Clause 223.b, 'had he inherited a capital, if doesn't have siblings, also blesses 'ShehHyyanu".
This means...why are You looking at me like this?
Student: His father dies, he blesses "ShehHyyanu"?
R. Elharar: Ha makes two blessings, not one.
The lawyer, is this the first time You hear this? Look at the stare, wait a moment.
Student: Ah, he received an inheritance, that the thing.
R. Elharar: The lawyer of the family, received an order that from the moment of passing until the burial, to transfer the 20 million shekel, to the only son in the family, this is the order he received. And You have to notify the son, before the burial service when he does the tearing of the shirt, before that moment You have to tell him that the 20 million were transferred, give him the receipt, before they tear the shirt. In the middle of all this, all the family is about to tear their clothes, the lawyer comes in to ask for a moment, and that the order of inheritance is to notify him now, and give the receipt that the 20 million were transferred to his account - this the order if the father. He asks the burial service what to do, they tell him to either take it now or from the beginning make only one blessing. Now we see he has to make two blessings, the first one 'Judge of the truth', and the second one...
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