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Thoughts on the Parsha ~
Parshas Vayikra
The Art of Listening
By: Daniel Listhaus
וַיִּקְרָא אֶל משֶׁה וַיְדַבֵּר
ה' אֵלָיו מֵאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד לֵאמֹר: דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם אָדָם כִּי יַקְרִיב מִכֶּם קָרְבָּן לַה' מִן הַבְּהֵמָה מִן
הַבָּקָר וּמִן הַצֹּאן תַּקְרִיבוּ אֶת קָרְבַּנְכֶם
“He [Hashem] called
to Moshe and Hashem spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying: Speak to the
B'nei Yisroel and say to them: When a person from among you will bring
an offering to Hashem: from the animals – from the cattle and from the flocks
you shall bring your offering.”
-Vayikra 1:1-2
Rashi[1]
on this passuk (verse) comments that throughout the Torah there are many
breaks.[2]
The purpose of these breaks was to give Moshe time to digest and understand
what he had been taught by Hashem. Rashi then ends by saying a kal
v'chomer: If Moshe, who learned from Hashem, needed breaks for
contemplation, then certainly ordinary people such as ourselves who learn from
ordinary people must stop to take breaks in order to properly understand what
the other is teaching.
The
Sifsei Chachomim[3]
explains that the kal v'chomer that Rashi is saying is quite
clear: If Moshe, an incredible student, was learning from Hashem, Who is
certainly the best teacher available, still required breaks in order to try to
understand what was being taught. How much more so must we take many breaks to
digest what is being taught to us from ordinary people.
Let
us zoom out a little in order to appreciate what is being said here. There are
two main reasons why a person would need to take breaks during a learning
session. One is because it is hard for some people to sit for long periods of
time. It is therefore wise and healthy to take breaks and recesses to clear
one's mind to be able to be more productive. The other reason a person may need
a break is because one might simply not understand the material being taught,
and therefore require extra time in order for him to think about what is being
said. It sounds from Rashi and the Sifsei Chachomim that this
latter type of break is what is being referred to. For some reason, Moshe
actually needed breaks in order to understand what Hashem was teaching him.
The
Nachalas Yaakov[4]
is very bothered by this Rashi and asks the following two questions.
First of all, surely there is no better teacher than Hashem. The Creator, with
infinite wisdom and Who knows His creations the best, certainly has the ability
to convey any message or teaching to man in the clearest of ways. If so, how
could it be that Moshe needed breaks in order to understand what was being
taught to him? Why did Moshe experience confusion if he had the best teacher
possible?
Second
of all, what is the kal v'chomer that Rashi is trying to present?
It would make sense if Moshe really was able to understand it himself but
Hashem gave him the breaks to teach him not to rely on his sharpness, so then
there would be a kal v'chomer to us that certainly we should not rely on
our own sharpness. However, it seems from Rashi that Moshe really did
need the breaks; but if so, why is a kal v'chomer necessary? Even
without a kal v'chomer it should be obvious that we need breaks to
understand things when learning from ordinary people, simply because we would
not understand it otherwise. If we are dealing with someone who wants to
understand but is just having trouble understanding, why do we need a kal v’chomeir
to tell us to take a break and process the material? It is obvious that one
would have to pause and process the information before continuing!
The
Nachalas Yaakov ends without an answer to his problems with this Rashi.
However, perhaps we could explain as follows. If one stops to think about the
process that everyone goes through when communicating, one will realize how
complicated simple-communication really is. When two people are having a
conversation, what is being said is really going through a five step process.
The idea trying to be conveyed begins its journey in one person's head. The
person decides what he wants, or more precisely, what he means to say.
Then, he must choose the words he will use to express his idea. This is
followed by the time and space the words travel between the ones having the
conversation. Then, the listener hears what is being said to him, followed by
the last step in the process which is digesting the information and
interpreting what he heard.
This
last step in the process is the hardest of them all. It is easy to hear what
someone else has said and it is also generally easy to interpret what one has
heard, but that is not enough. In order to fully understand and appreciate a
message trying to be conveyed, one must remove the built-in filter which shapes
the way one hears things and instead focus on what the communicator was trying
to relate.
The
Mishna in Pirkei Avos[5]
says that Antignos from Socho used to teach, “Do not be like servants who
serve their master on the condition of receiving a reward; instead be like
servants who serve their master not on the condition of receiving a reward; and
let the fear of Heaven be upon you.” Antignos was teaching that although the
reward in Olam Habbah (the World to Come) which awaits those who follow
the ways of Hashem is endless and greater than anything imaginable, when we
serve Hashem it should be out of complete love and fear of Him, and not just
because we will receive reward for doing the right thing.
The
Rashbam in Bava Basra[6]
brings from the Avos D'rebbe Nosson[7]
that Tzadok and Beisus were talmidim (students) of Antignos. One time
they were teaching this mantra of their rebbe, Antignos, but their
students confused what they said and took the message of to not be like workers
who work in order to get paid, to mean that people who do mitzvos and “work
for Hashem” do not get rewarded.
The
students of Tzadok and Beisus did not take the time to listen to the message
that their rabbeim were trying to convey. They simply allowed their
default hearing skills to kick in. Tzadok and Beisus knew what they themselves
wanted to say, they said it, it reached the ears of their talmidim, but
the talmidim just did not stop to think what their rabbeim meant,
rather they merely depended on what they thought they heard – or perhaps what
they wanted to hear.
With
this in mind, perhaps we could now answer the questions of the Nachalas Yaakov
and better understand the Rashi in this week's parsha. Of course
Hashem is the best teacher in the world and could convey any message as clear
as crystal. However, even a talmid as great as Moshe rabbeinu
needs time to understand the underlying reasoning and message of what is trying
to be conveyed.
We
say in Shema, “Im shamoa tishm'u” - you shall surely listen. The Gemara
in Berachos[8]
makes a drasha from here: If you listen, then you will listen. But
if you will not listen, then you will not understand. Only if one listens to
what the Torah and the chochamim (sages) are trying to tell us,
will one gain a true understanding of what was said.
Often
times, misunderstandings and arguments stem not from disagreement, but rather
from miscommunication. It is not easy to put our our own thoughts and opinions
on pause in order to realize the idea that someone else is trying to convey.
Unless we consciously decide to listen the right way, we will not even notice
that what we are hearing is going through our own heads without taking account
what was meant to be said.
This
is exactly what Rashi is teaching us. Even Moshe Rabbeinu needed
to take breaks to put himself in Hashem's head – so to speak – in order to
comprehend what was being taught to him. So certainly we, who are normal people
learning from ordinary people, must take breaks in order to be able to put
ourselves in others' minds. This is true not only during times when we are
having trouble understanding what is being taught or communicated but even at
times when we feel we fully understand. Pauses of one’s own biases and opinions
are absolutely necessary in order to fully appreciate what another is trying to
say. Only in this way could the communication process be complete and allow for
the possibility of im shamoa tishm'u. This is the real art of listening.
[1] Vayikra 1:1
[2] These breaks in the Torah could take one of
two forms – either pesucha (literally: open) or s'tumah (literally
closed). Pesucha is when the spaces go to the end of the line,
whereas s'tumah is when the space is a break in a line but the text
continues further on in the same line.
[3] Vayikra 1:1
[4] Ibid.
[5] Avos 1:3
[6] Bava Basra 115b
[7] Avos D'rebbe Nosson 5:2
[8] Berachos 40a
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