48 Steps To Torah

Number 1: Talmud
The sixth chapter of Pirkei Avos is often referred to as Perek Kinyan HaTorah. This is because it succinctly delineates the formula for the acquisition and internalisation of the Torah. In the sixth Mishna, the forty-eight steps to obtaining the Torah are enumerated. This obtainment does not merely refer to the reading and understanding of Torah; the idea is far deeper. One who truly absorbs the concepts he learns cannot fail to be changed and grow into a perceptive and discerning person whose every action is profound and meaningful. The first and most fundamental step to acquiring the Torah is learning the Torah itself! After all, how could anyone possibly hope to attain Torah knowledge without learning the actual text? The Torah is the foundation of our religion and therefore its importance and prominence must never be overlooked. Whilst this may seem obvious, neglecting Torah study often becomes second nature to us in our busy lives and is swept under the carpet, demoted to the bottom of the agenda due to the burden of work which is placed upon our shoulders. We therefore make excuses to ourselves such as I am tired, I have done so much work, and how can I possibly learn now. I will learn when I have more free time. In direct response to this, with true rabbinical poignancy and wit, Rabban Gamliel instructs (Avos 2:4) Do not say I will learn when I have free time, because you may never have free time. People can always make time and prioritise things they feel are important; make learning one of your priorities and you will undoubtedly find time to learn Torah. Chazal inform us (Shabbos 31a) that one of the six questions a person is asked after he dies is: Did you fix times for studying Torah? The importance of this cannot be overstated, for it is the only way one can truly guarantee he will not push his learning off. You may wonder, what exactly is the importance of learning Torah? Chazal explain that when Torah penetrates into the essence of a person it fundamentally changes him for the good. Furthermore, the razor sharp wit of the Torah fine-tunes a persons decision making ability, refines his thought process and shows him how to conduct himself. Rabbi Wallerstein gives the moshul of car oil to explain this concept. If one were to decide which car oil to use in his car purely based on appearance or the writing on the bottle, the consequences could be catastrophic; his car may even explode! We would immediately label him a fool. Look in the car manual, fool! we would surely tell him, Everyone knows thats how you find out which oil to put in. The nimshal is obvious; if we decide how to lead our lives based on appearances, the consequences could be catastrophic, Chas vShalom, and therefore we must surely study the Torah, our manual, in order to know how to live our lives! Chag Sameach

The Hasmonean High School Weekly Sedra Sheet

1st October 2012
Dvar Torah

Living Torah
Issue No: Yom Tov In: Yom Tov Out:

407 7:27 7:25

When the final curtain comes down

When the curtain comes down after any performance, the ending is usually a crescendo , whether of words or music, it is a climax that leaves the audience spellbound. Yet, when Moshe came down Mt Sinai and saw the dancing round the Golden Calf, he understood that the Bnei Yisrael were not yet on the level to receive these Luchos, and on the contrary, if he kept the Luchos, that would endanger The way that the Torah ends is therefore puz- the very existence of the Bnei Yisrael as they zling. The Pesukim at the end of Vezos Habracha were breaking the Commandment of not wordescribe the greatness of Moshe Rabbeinu, the shipping idols written on those vey Luchos! greatest leader the Jewish People ever had, and praise him for the mighty acts and great signs So without hesitation of what this meant to him that Moshe displayed before the eyes of all Isra- personally, Moshe Rabbeinu, in a supreme act of el. This would be a good ending, if not that Rashi selflessness, borne out of his great love and quotes the Gemara that says that the mighty understanding of his beloved Am Yisroel, gave act being referred to was nothing other than up his crowning achievement of bringing the the breaking of the 1st set of 10 Command- Luchos to this world, and smashed them in orments, and Hashem was now giving His approv- der to save his people. al of what Moshe did at that time. This is indeed the crescendo on which to end the Is this a way to end the Torah? By thanking Torah to teach us how fortunate we are to have Moshe Rabbeinu for breaking the Ten Com- such a calibre of leadership such as Moshe mandment? Was this the highest of his accom- Rabbeinu, who was willing to sacrifice so much plishments? on our behalf, and that the breaking of the Luchos was indeed the crowning achievement of Rav Moshe Sternbuch shlita, in his Sefer Taam Moshe Rabbeinus life. Vdaas, makes an amazing observation. He explains that indeed this deed was the highlight of So indeed: Chazak Chazak Vnischazeik! let Moshe Rabbeinus leadership, and a fitting finale us all become encouraged to follow in Moshe to the Torah. He explains that the breaking the Rabbeinus footsteps in our service of Hashem 1st Luchos represented a huge sacrifice on and in giving of ourselves to help each other. Moshe Rabbeinus part. To have in his hands the Luchos inscribed by Hashem and to be given the Kavod to bring it to earth an honour greater than any human being could imagine!

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Yartzheit

Dvar Torah

The Vilna Gaon

19th Tishrei, 3rd day Chol Hamoed Sukkos, is davening, and the Gabbai came into the the Yartzheit of Harav Eliyahu Kramer, the room. holding a tray. However, unlike on Vilna Gaon normal days, when the tray held breakfast, this time the tray was empty. The Vilna Gaon had an interesting custom. Every day, after he had finished Shacharis, That second, there was a knock on the he used to daven for his breakfast. His Gab- door of the Vilna Gaons house. A man bai (attendant), who brought the Vilna rushed in, excitedly. Rabbi! he cried exGaon breakfast, was understandably an- citedly. Ive been waiting for a child for noyed. many years, and a month ago today my wife gave birth to a healthy baby boy! ToRabbi, he asked him, I bring you your day is the day of his Pidyon HaBen (the breakfast every morning. Why on earth do ceremony for redeeming firstborn baby you need to daven for it? It will come anyboys). In honour of the occasion I decided way, whether you daven or not. No anto bring the Rabbi breakswer was forthcoming from fast. With that, he placed the Gaon. breakfast on the table of the One day, the Gabbai decided Gaon, in front of the flabberto show the Gaon who really gasted Gabbai. brought him his breakfast. The Vilna Gaon had got his So, as usual, after the Vilna breakfast, and though not Gaon had come home from through his Gabbai, his prayShacharis, he sat down at his ers had been answered. dining room table and davened for his breakfast. Eventually, he finished

From Elul to Lulav

We are now coming towards the final section of our journey that began on Rosh Chodesh Elul and has taken us through the Yomim Noraim to Sukkos. The gematria of the word is 67, one less than - life (68); for if we work on ourselves through the month of Elul we hope to be written in the - The Book of Life. Over this last period, our Davening has been accompanied by the mizmor of . ' At the end of the mizmor, we say the words: - Had I not believed The Gemara in Brochos notes that the word appears with a dot on top of each of its letters and also has the same letters of the month ,just backwards. The Gemara goes on to explain that Dovid Hamelech said: I trust in Hashem that He will give reward to the tzadikim. The dots indicate that Dovid excluded himself from that group; he was worried that - maybe sin would prevent him being part of that group, receiving their reward. closeness that can be achieved between Hashem and the Bnei Yisroel. When we sin however, it causes separation between us and Hashem. Thus, our task in the month of Elul is to worry that our sins over the year have caused separation, and this worry should help us do to teshuva which means to return, to once again come close to Hashem. This extra oneness that we create when we draw near to Hashem during is the level that we hope to achieve the level of ,that we should be inscribed - in the Book of Life. The Medrash relates how do we celebrate the fact that weve come through this serious period of time, the Yomim Noraim? We take the . The word has the gematria of 68, the gematria of .When we use our Elul properly, we elevate it to the level of ,to the level of .What does the represent? The word is short for - one heart for Hashem; the Lulav has to be bound together as one, the whole theme of Lulav is to bring us together as one with Hakodosh Boruch Hu that is the aim of and that is the achievement that we celebrate when we take the .

This fear of - perhaps we have sinned, is the fear that Elul brings. The ,that maybe our sins will exclude us from the group, is what the month of reverses. Chazal tell us that the word stands for: I am for my beloved and my beloved is for me. (Based on a Dvar Torah heard from R Segal) This quote from Shir Hashirim demonstrates the

Gematria: The Gematrios of the names of the four species--esrog, aravah, lulav, hadas--add to 1024, which equals 32 squared. 32 equals the gematria of "lev," "heart." A square number reflects the perfected state of its root. Therefore, when the Arba Minim come together, they express the perfect heart, which highlights the Kavvana one should have in his heart when performing this special mitzvah.

Riddle:
When is it possible to have five days of consecutive Torah reading without having read Hallel?
Answer in next weeks Living Torah