Parshas Vayeilech and Shabbos Shuvah - The Ripple Effect: Splash Out of Your Bubble or Take it to the Grave

Parshas Vayeilech

and

Shabbos Shuvah

The Ripple Effect:

Splash Out of Your Bubble or Take it to the Grave

By: Daniel Listhaus

וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֶל מֹשֶׁה הִנְּךָ שֹׁכֵב עִם אֲבֹתֶיךָ וְקָם הָעָם הַזֶּה וְזָנָה אַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהֵי נֵכַר הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר הוּא בָא שָׁמָּה בְּקִרְבּוֹ וַעֲזָבַנִי וְהֵפֵר אֶת בְּרִיתִי אֲשֶׁר כָּרַתִּי אִתּוֹ

“Hashem said to Moshe, 'Behold, you will lie with your forefathers, but this people will rise up and stray after gods of that which is foreign to the land, in whose midst it is coming, and it will forsake Me and it will annul my covenant that I have sealed with it.'”

-Vayeilech 31:16

The Gemara¹ relates that a group of heretics asked Rabban Gamliel, “How do you you know that Hashem will resuscitate the dead?” Rabban Gamliel responded with a proof from Torah, a proof from Nevi'im (Prophets), and a proof from K'suvim (Writings)², however the heretics did not accept any of the proofs. The proof that Rabban Gamliel brought from Torah is from this week's parsha. The passuk³ (verse) says that Hashem said to Moshe, “Behold you will lie with your forefathers, but this people will rise up and stray after gods...” This is the way the passuk is conventionally read and indeed the way which the trop (cantillation marks) of the Torah directs us to understand. However, without any punctuation, there is another way to read the passuk, which clearly hints to the concept of techiyas hamaysim (revival of the dead), and that is the following: “Hashem said to Moshe, 'Behold you will lie with your forefathers and get up, but these people will rise up and stray after gods...” Putting the comma after the word “v'kum” (“and will get up”), instead of before, changes the passuk's meaning slightly to be dealing with two separate future events: A time when Moshe will come back from the dead, as well as a time when B'nei Yisroel will sin after entering Eretz Yisroel.

The problem with this Gemara is that the heretics seem to have had good reason not to listen to Rabban Gamliel. Even without knowing what we do of the correct punctuation in the passuk, it would be a stretch to interpret the passuk in the way Rabban Gamliel suggested, because the construction of the rest of the passuk does not allow for such an explanation. The passuk is grammatically written in such a way that the word “v'kum” is clearly attached to the latter part describing the future mistakes of B'nei Yisroel.⁴

The Kli Yakar⁵ offers the following explanation. Oftentimes, we feel as if we are living in a bubble. We think that the things we do and say effect no one but ourselves and those who are directly impacted. Imagine a principal who is lecturing a class not to cheat on tests. He might argue “You are only hurting yourselves”, or may even extend the discipline to say, “Even if one guy cheats, he is effecting his classmates, who might then take cheating more lightly”. However, rarely does the message include the friends of our friends who will in turn be effected, no matter how slightly, and so on. If we stop to think for a moment, there are in fact very few things we do which do not have much broader impacts. A simple good morning or smile to someone does not only change the attitude and behavior of the one giving and receiving the gesture, but also extends to everyone that each of them interact with for the rest of the day. This idea is known as the ripple effect. Just as one could throw a rock in the middle of a lake and watch the continuously spreading ripples, so to a single action – no matter how small – spreads throughout individuals, communities, and countries, for generations.

The Gemara⁶ brings a statement from R' Yehuda in the name of Rav that a person has the ability to live in two worlds simultaneously.⁷ The Gemara explains that this is possible because, for example, when a talmid (student) quotes his deceased rebbe, it is as if the rebbe's lips are moving in the grave.⁸ The fact that someone has passed on does not mean that the ripples he has left to spread, and seeds he has planted, go forgotten. Rather, everything stemming from an individual gets attributed back to that individual.

The same, however, is true for the detriment. Someone who is the cause of others committing aveiros (sins) is responsible for those outcomes as well. And just as a positive ripple effect could be caused by gathering others to do good things, being a role model, or merely encouraging others, so too a negative ripple effect could be caused by doing bad things with others, being a bad example for friends, or merely not giving someone proper mussar (rebuke) at an opportune time. All this gets attributed back to the responsibility of the one who jumped into the water and started the chain reaction.

With this in mind, the Kli Yakar writes that we could now better appreciate the passuk in our parsha, and how it is indeed a valid source for techiyas hamaysim in the Torah without stretching the simple meaning. Hashem was telling Moshe that for now you are going to be resting with your forefathers. However, this people will later stray after other gods, and they will come to awaken you because you will be held responsible. After all, if B'nei Yisroel turn to avoda zarah (idol worship) in the future, that makes Moshe partially responsible for not instilling the message deep enough. So, the passuk is telling us that there will be a later time when Moshe will indeed return in body to us and we will go up to him. This demonstrates an allusion to the concept of techiyas hamaysim from the Torah.

The Gemara⁹ writes that a whole year Hashem only accepts teshuva (repentance) from the rabim (public). However, during the aseres y'mei teshuva (Ten Days of Repentance – starting on Rosh Hashanah and continuing through Yom Kippur), Hashem even accepts the teshuva of a yachid (individual). These are days when Hashem is close to us, looks at us as individuals, and gives us the opportunity to regret the sins of our past and accept on ourselves to do better in the future. However, we must take a moment to reflect what exactly we have done as individuals. We must realize that we do not live in a bubble. Rather, we live in a place where our actions have ripple effects. The consequences we cause will be attributed back to us forever until the time of techiyas hamaysim. Therefore we must make sure that the impacts we create in this world are indeed ones that we want to take to the grave.

May we merit to only be the cause of positive consequences and achieve a closeness with Hashem as he grants us a complete s'licha u'mechila on Yom Kippur.

1Sanhedrin 90b

2The three parts to Tanach. The proof from Torah is from Devarim 31:16, the proof from Nevi'im is from Yeshaya 26:19, and the proof from K'suvim is from Shir HaShirim 7:10

3Devarim 31:16

4On a simple level, the Ibn Ezra (31:16) seems to express this opinion. However, see Avi Eizer (31:16) who writes that it is not possible that the Ibn Ezra would write such a thing which goes against chazal – i.e. the Gemara in Sanhedrin (90b) which clearly brings this passuk as a real proof. The Avi Eizer therefore explains the Ibn Ezra as only asking on the way the trop was placed.

5Devarim 31:16

6Yevamos 96b-97a

7As seen in the passuk in Tehillim (61:5)

8See Shir Hashirim 7:10 which alludes to this, as brought in the Gemara.

9Rosh Hashanah 18a

Photo Credit: via Google Images: http://mycausewater.com/blog/the-ripple-effect/the-ripple-effect-2/