Rabbi's Derasha

The Parasha begins with an odd repetition of two forms of the verb “Amira” (speaking).  Rashi says that the doubling is to “warn the big about the small” (L’hazhir Gedolim Al HaK’tanim).  That is usually translated as, “to warn the adults about the children,” and it means that adult Kohanim are commanded to convey to their children the special obligations that come with being a Kohen.  

That’s a perfectly accurate way to understand Rashi, and communicates something about every parent’s role.  But this is something like an alumni Shabbos.  So I want to share something from another alum, R’ Shlomi Eldar, who is now a rabbi in Rechovot.  The Noam Elimelech, one of the original Chasidic leaders in Poland, had a different take on Rashi’s words.  He said it means a warning not to adults but to the big people -- meaning exceptional people -- about small matters.  Sometimes, very talented people are a little oblivious to details.  They think their great intellect or social stature is an exemption from worrying about what they take to be small matters of Derech Eretz -- interpersonal interactions, for example.  

R’ Shlomi illustrates this point with a Gemora in Avoda Zara about a period of religious persecution during Talmudic times.  In the face of Roman decrees against learning Torah, R’  Chanina ben Tradyon gathers people to learn.  One of his peers challenges him: The Romans are mighty and brutal -- how are you doing this?  But Chanina answers, there will be mercy from the Heavens.  His peer answers, I am telling you logical things and all you can say is, “there will be mercy from the Heavens?”  To which R’ Chanina repeats, “there will be mercy from the Heavens.”

In the end, his peer seems to have been correct.  R’ Chanina was martyred because of his defiance.  But the Gemora does not detail that here.  Instead, it segues directly to another exchange between the same two people.  Here R’ Chanina asks his peer if he will have the merit to get to the next world (Olam HaBa).  His peer asks for an example of a righteous act.  So R’ Chanina mentions how once some Tzedaka money got mixed into his own money and he didn’t know which was which. So he decided to give it all to Tzedaka.  He didn’t want there to be doubt.  

That’s a nice act, of course, but R’ Shlomi asks, Is that really an act that guarantees an everlasting reward?  And why doesn’t R’ Chanina point to the fact that he assembled many people to learn in the face of a brutal Roman decree?  Isn’t that a much more meritorious act?

The answer is that small acts can be the real sign of greatness.  Those acts, when done by big people, reveal more than just themselves.  In high stakes, in high adrenalin moments, a lot of people rise up to do big dramatic things.  But small acts done by big people also reveal something else.  It shows that the big acts are a product not just of adrenaline but of a person who is big in an integrated way.  The small acts show that large acts come from a real foundation.  They are the fruit of self-actualized development.  They are not just imitative.  They are authentic. 

Last Sunday morning, we viewed the video, “B’chol Nafsh’cha.”  It was the second time this movie about Ro’ee Klein, HY”D, made by his sister has been shown here.  R’ Elyshiv, as he did throughout the weekend, shared his personal connection to the events being described.  He and Ro’ee Klein had been friends since childhood.  

R’ Shlomi Eldar was not as connected to Ro’ee.  But he shared a unique perspective when he showed us the video more than 10 years ago.  He thought that the real takeaway from the movie was that Ro’ee was not just the Gibor who threw himself on a grenade to save his soldiers.  He was a Tzadik in many many small ways well before then.  His act of personal sacrifice grew out of his general Tzidkut (righteousness).  That is a big person who is fully integrated as a big person.  For such a person, the small things reveal a truly integrated greatness.  This is what we can take away from such people, and try to emulate ourselves.