We cannot hope to reach anywhere in our avodas Hashem without creating a strong interest and passion for the subject matter. We are not seeking instant solutions and pat answers. If we sincerely want to understand and relate to some mitzva or mida, if we want it to change us, to become a part of us, then we need to be ready for the long haul, and to stick with it constantly.
As we strive ever higher to advance in our avodas Hashem, we are accompanied by the call of the Torah reverberating throughout all that we do: ma’sai yagi’oo ma’asai l’masei avosaiwhen will our deeds approach the accomplishments of our forefathers, Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov. While no one is so foolish to believe that he will ever reach the level of these spiritual giants, we want to use their lives as our guide, emulating however we can. However, we need to be careful to avoid taking this mandate too literally.
Avraham Avinu spent decades to attain perfect clarity in his emunah in Hashem and His hashgacha. We, too, might be tempted to follow in his example, and spend time contemplating the basic concepts of faith, until we also arrive at the truth, independently.
Yet Chazal seem to discourage such an approach. Avraham is called rosh ha’ma’aminim, the first of the believers, but Klal Yisroel are called ma’aminim bnei ma’aminim. We are his physical and spiritual descendants, and he bequeathed to us this emuna as his central legacy. We believe, as he did, but we do not come to that belief the same way. We have faith in what we inherited from our parents and grandparents, we have the mida of emunah already implanted within us, as part and parcel of the Jewish nation.
We must conclude that we are not meant to imitate the Avos, to replicate their accomplishments exactly. We are meant to follow in their ways; to study their methodology, emulate their approach to avodas Hashem, and then apply it to our own lives in the proper way.
The Rambam describes the main events in the life of Avraham Avinu. Clearly intended as more than a mere biographical sketch, these vignettes should serve as an outline for us to use as guideposts in our journey to learn from ma’asei avos. Let us study these paragraphs and see what practical insights we can glean from his words.
כיון שנגמל איתן זה התחיל לשוטט בדעתו והוא קטן והתחיל לחשוב ביום ובלילה והיה תמיה היאך אפשר שיהיה הגלגל הזה נוהג תמיד ולא יהיה לו מנהיג ומי יסבב אותו…
Avraham Avinu spent thirty-seven years thinking and contemplating, and these thoughts occupied his mind day and night. Thirty-seven years! Certainly, it speaks volumes of his dedication and perseverance, but more importantly, it shows his interest, his tremendous thirst to know, to understand, to reach some clarity and level of familiarity with the topic.
We cannot hope to reach anywhere in our avodas Hashem without creating a strong interest and passion for the subject matter. We are not seeking instant solutions and pat answers. If we sincerely want to understand and relate to some mitzva or mida, if we want it to change us, to become a part of us, then we need to be ready for the long haul, and to stick with it constantly. All too often, we start learning a certain subject, or get involved in a specific mitzva, and then within a short time we move onto something else, and then to a third area. If the topic is merely something to revisit whenever it happens to strike our fancy, we will not achieve any real growth in that area.
…ולא היה לו מלמד ולא מודיע דבר אלא מושקע באור כשדים בין עובדי כוכבים הטפשים ואביו ואמו וכל העם עובדי כוכבים והוא עובד עמהם ולבו משוטט ומבין עד שהשיג דרך האמת והבין קו הצדק מתבונתו הנכונה, וידע שיש שם אלוה אחד… … וידע שכל העולם טועים ודבר שגרם להם לטעות זה שעובדים את הכוכבים ואת הצורות עד שאבד האמת מדעתם…
Eventually, Avraham reached a conclusion. He now stood diametrically opposed to everyone else in his generation in his beliefs. Why? What brought him to the truth, and left them trapped in their misconceptions? Our instinctive response would be to point to those years and decades of work. He spent the time, he put in the effort, and they did not. Of course, he was the only one to reach the proper conclusion!
The Rambam does not say this. He writes that the other people did not see the truth because they were mired in avoda zara. In other words, the truth is really quite easy to see. It is only the obstacles, the involvement in opposing pursuits and interests, that stand in the way of the seichel hayashar recognizing the emes.
So, why did Avraham himself not come to his conclusions much earlier? Because he too, as the Rambam mentions, was involved in avoda zara! All that work was to push past these barriers and uncover the plain and simple truth that had been staring him in the face all along. But once he reached there, once his tevunaso ha’nechonah illuminated his path, he was not in possession of some deep, complicated ideas. He only saw that which now seemed obvious.
After all the work, the second step is for us to attain a new level of comprehension. But we must bear in mind that our behavior is never influenced by the complex, only by the simple. For an idea to truly take hold of us, to penetrate deep into us and change our preconceived notions and established patterns of behavior, they need to be practical and real. We might appreciate deep and meaningful ideas and concepts, but the reality of our lives consists of simple, straightforward truths. If we want our newfound knowledge to change us, we must ensure that at the end of the process, our work leads us to a clear, simple, and thus applicable understanding.
…ובן ארבעים שנה הכיר אברהם את בוראו, כיון שהכיר וידע התחיל להשיב תשובות על בני אור כשדים…
The Rambam clearly identifies a crucial part of the understanding process besides for the yedi’ah, the knowledge. Avraham was hikir es Boro, he ‘recognized’ Hashem. This denotes a more extensive, more accurate understanding. You have some understanding of your acquaintance’s temperament and character, based on your limited interactions with him. Yet, when you encounter him in an unfamiliar setting, it is much harder to predict his reactions and behavior. This is not the case with a good friend. If you know someone well, you can extrapolate from past incidents to make accurate predictions about new situations. You do not just know him; you recognize him. You have a feeling, a good sense, of what he is like, and you can apply this understanding more extensively.
Similarly, Avraham ‘recognized’ Hashem. He had a firm grasp on His ways of guiding this world. More than just possessing various single pieces of information, he formed a comprehensive picture, and understood His hashgacha well.
A good illustration for this process is the question so often posed regarding Hashem’s role in the Holocaust. “Where was G-d when these unspeakable atrocities were being committed to His chosen people?” The answer cannot be found in our knowledge, as we truly faced previously unseen horrors. But if we recognize Hashem, if we study the Torah and learn the lessons of history, the question no longer challenges our emunah. The pasuk states explicitly, eichah yirdof echod, elef… “how could one foe chase one thousand?” How could we have been vanquished in such a manner? Thus, the exceptional harshness of those events should only serve to reinforce our emuna, because it leads us to the inescapable conclusion of, im lo ki tzu’ram mi’charam, Hashem Himself must have orchestrated these happenings! We might not have personal experience with this degree of destruction, but we learn from the Torah how He operates, and we recognize our Creator, despite or even because of the difficulties.
In our avoda, we are also seeking such a level of recognition. We do not just want to perform properly. We want to relate to it, to understand how we work, the inner nature of the learning, the davening, the mitzva. We can then apply it successfully in new and unfamiliar circumstances.
I might daven well in shul. But do I have a good hakara of davening? Do I really know what makes me tick, what it takes for the davening to go well? When I find myself on an airplane, when I am pressed for time, when there are disturbances around me, how do I manage? Do I still know how to have kavana and daven properly?
I learn very well during my regular sedorim. When I am in my comfortable environment, surrounded by my seforim, I learn diligently. But the Torah demands v’hugisa bo yo’mam v’layla, we must learn Torah day and night. The Torah refers to night as a time devoid of light, when it is not possible to simply absorb and process new information. So, it must refer to a different way of being involved in learning. Can we do that? Can we learn without a sefer open in front of us? Do we have a good hakara of our learning?
These are three stages of Avraham Avinu’s work we want to emulate. The Rambam continues to describe the miracles Hashem performed for him, and how he influenced those around him. However, he only accomplished all this after establishing himself in these ways – to be immersed in the work, to reach a simple and straightforward conclusion, and to then gain a true hakara.