Thoughts
on The Parsha
Parshas
Behar
Basic
Training
By:
Daniel Listhaus
לֹא תוֹנוּ אִישׁ אֶת עֲמִיתוֹ וְיָרֵאתָ מֵאֱלֹקיךָ כִּי אֲנִי ה' אֱלֹקיכֶם
“Do
not harass one another, and you shall have fear of your G-d; for I am
Hashem, your G-d.”
-Behar
25:17
אַל
תִּקַּח מֵאִתּוֹ נֶשֶׁךְ וְתַרְבִּית
וְיָרֵאתָ מֵאֱלֹקיךָ
וְחֵי אָחִיךָ עִמָּךְ
“Do
not take from him interest and increase; and you shall have fear of
your G-d – and let your brother live with you.”
-Behar
25:36
וְכִי
יָמוּךְ אָחִיךָ עִמָּךְ וְנִמְכַּר
לָךְ לֹא תַעֲבֹד בּוֹ עֲבֹדַת עָבֶד...לֹא
תִרְדֶּה בוֹ בְּפָרֶךְ וְיָרֵאתָ
מֵאֱלֹקיךָ:
If
your brother becomes impoverished with you and is sold to you; you
shall not work him with slave labor...Do not subjugate him through
hard labor – and you shall have fear of your G-d”
-Behar
25:39,43
No
less than three times does this week's parsha
mention
“and you shall have fear of your G-d” alongside a mitzvas
lo sa'aseh (negative
commandment). The first time it is mentioned is in reference to
ona'as
devarim
(verbal harassment. Rashi1
writes that this passuk
(verse)
warns against annoying someone or offering bad advice. Rashi
then
explains further that one might say to himself, “Who knows if I had
bad intentions when I was offering my advice?” Therefore, the
passuk
comes
to remind us that we should have fear of Hashem – Who knows our
thoughts and intentions.
This
same concept is seen again later in the parsha
by
the subject of charging interest. Rashi2
here
as well explains why the Torah reminds us to fear Hashem when it
comes to interest. He comments, “Since a person's mind is attracted
to interest, and it is difficult to separate oneself from it, he may
come to rationalize to charge the borrower interest because of his
funds which were unproductive during the time it was lent out.
Therefore, the Torah had to tell us to fear Hashem.”
Additionally,
when discussing the halachos
(laws)
of an eved
ivri (Jewish
slave) the Torah warns against subjugating him to hard work. Rashi3
on
this passuk
interprets
this negative commandment to mean that one is not allowed to give his
slave unnecessary busy work just to bother him. For example, the
master should not command a drink to be warmed or ground to worked
unless indeed he will drink the drink or do something which requires
work to be done on the land. Rashi
continues
to comment that one may say to himself, “No one could tell whether
I really require the work to be done or not. The slave will actually
think that his work was necessary”. Therefore, the Torah comes to
remind us that the fact that you were able to trick everyone in the
world is completely irrelevant; for Hashem knows your real intentions
and thoughts.
Also,
in parshas
Kedoshim,
while discussing the honor due to elders, the passuk4
says,
“You shall rise in the presence of an elder, and you shall honor
the presence of an elder, and you shall have fear of your G-d – I
am Hashem”. Rashi5
writes
that one must respect his elders by not sitting in an elder's place6
and that one must also stand whenever an elder walks past him7.
Rashi
then
continues that one might say to himself that he could fake everyone
out by pretending that he did not see the elder pass, in order to
avoid standing up. This is why the passuk
comes
to inform us that one must fear Hashem – the One Who knows one's
real intentions.
Let
us go back and examine these mitzvos
more carefully.
The
first is by ona'as
devarim.
What is so bad about transgressing this commandment? Who cares if I
gave a friend bad advice as long as it cannot be traced back to me? I
have not really created a chillul
Hashem
if he thinks it is because of his own mistakes that my advice did not
turn out to be helpful. The same holds true by the third mitzva
discussed.
No one will care if I ask the slave to do unnecessary work, so long
as I keep my mouth shut. Is it not true that ignorance is bliss? If
everyone ends up happy then how could Hashem have a complaint against
me?
The
second mitzva
with
the clause of “you should have fear of Hashem” is found by the
discussion of ribbis
(interest).
Let us analyze this mitzva
as
well. Let us assume for a moment that the banks were offering an
interest rate of 10% by keeping your money in a CD for a year. If I
have $100, it may be worth that much in “today's currency”, but
in “next year's dollar” it is really worth $110. This concept is
known as the Time Value of Money. With this idea in mind, there are
really two major chiddushim
(profundities)
when it comes to the laws of ribbis.
First, that even if you are willing to pay a premium for a dollar I
lend you now, by agreeing to pay two dollars in one hour (because,
say, you are thirsty and do not have money on you at the moment),
still even though both parties will be happy, I am forbidden from
doing so. Second, on a deeper level, I cannot charge you for my
opportunity cost.
If
I lend you $100 today for a year, and do not charge you interest, the
loan ends up costing me $10; because had I kept that money and put it
in the bank, I would have acquired the additional $10. Yet, despite
this fact, the Torah forbids collecting interest from a borrower.
This becomes even harder to understand. Not only is the other party
willing to pay the premium, but he realizes that by borrowing this
money, he is actually incurring a cost to the lender. Again, why do I
have to be reminded to fear Hashem? Let me just be allowed to charge
interest as long as it does not bother anyone.
The
last mitzva
is
the one in Kedoshim
by
honoring one's elders. Again we could ask even further. Imagine a
blind elder walks past you and you happen to not be in the mood of
standing up so you decide to pretend that you did not notice him. In
such a case not only should ignorance be bliss, but there was no harm
even done by extension of your actions. It is not like someone who
gave bad advice or commanded unnecessary labor from a servant, where
there was ultimately harm done whether others realized it or not. In
this scenario of the elder, no one will ever know of, nor was ever
harmed by, my lack of standing up. So why is it so important that I
stand up?
One
who thinks along any of the above lines is greatly mistaken. The real
reason we do anything is only because Hashem commanded us to do so
and we, at least on the most basic level, should be terrified of
transgressing the King's decrees.
The
common denominator between these mitzvos
is
that they are all mitzvos
which
are extremely common and yet so easy to rationalize. Every kid in
elementary school is told countless times to stand up for his
teachers and elders, that it is wrong to mislead others, and improper
to take advantage of others. But if this is something which is
supposedly drilled into us as youngsters, why do we need the Torah to
tell us how to rationalize these mitzvos
and
then have to remind us to fear Hashem? Leave fearing Hashem aside, we
are brainwashed to act in these ways at a young age.
Perhaps
what the Torah and Rashi
is
trying to teach us here is that without basic yiras
Hashem, one is just putting on a show – and all shows are
temporary. It is true that students could go through a school system
and be thrown into a setting where everyone acts and behaves the same
way, and as a result end up adopting its culture or religion
automatically. However, unless that is cap-stoned with a layer of
yiras
Hashem,
it is meaningless. All one needs is one bad friend, one sheker
s'vara (false
reasoning), or a little rationalization and it is all over.
The
Sha'arei
Ohr8
writes
that unlike fears of certain people or animals, yiras
shamayim (fear
of Heaven) is not something which comes naturally. The mishna
in
Pirkei
Avos9
states that one who considers the following three things will never
come to sin: Know what is above you – an observant Eye, an
attentive Ear, and all your deed are recorded in a book. The four
aforementioned mitzvos
are
representatives of these categories: Stand up for the elder – for
there is an eye that sees. Be careful not to charge interest -
because your words are heard. Make sure not to give a slave busy-work
or give someone bad advice – for the outcomes of your actions are
recorded whether anyone realizes your bad intentions or not.
There
is no rationalizing or reason whatsoever not to follow the mitzvos.
However, that only remains true as long as there is yiras
shamayim in
a person and his decisions.
The
gemara10
describes
that achieving fear of Hashem is within man's reach. As the Sha'arei
Ohr11
explains,
all one needs to do is want to fear Hashem and think about the reason
he is in the world. This world has a single purpose. We must use our
bechira
to
choose im
bechukosai tailecu12
and realize the punishment and reward system that we are living in –
that all our actions have consequences. This is the most basic level
of fear and is the required basic training of every single Jew.
Shlomo
hamelech
writes
in koheles13
that,
“The
end of the matter, everything having been heard, fear G-d and keep
His commandments, for this is the entire purpose of man”.
In the end of the day, it is only yiras
shamayim that
we must strive to achieve; and in the end of the day, it is the only
real thing which will keep us listening to Hashem and keeping his
mitzvos.
1Vayikra
25:17
2Vayikra
25:36
3Vayikra
25:43
4Vayikra
19:32
5Ibid.
6And
also to not contradict an elder's words nor speak in his place.
7See
gemara Kiddushin 32b
8Sha'arei
Ohr Chapter 2
9Avos
2:1
10Berachos
33b
11Sha'arei
Ohr Chapter 3
12Vayikra
26:3
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