Parashat Vayelech       The Value Of Desire

By Rabbi Ezra Friedman

We live in a world of results. Entrepreneurs, Politicians and the ordinary Laymen all care about the end result. We are educated in the western world that in order to succeed you must have a toolbox of skills and a reputation in order to succeed. Judaism understands this perspective and embraces it in certain areas. For example, The “Tanya” (The first Lubavitch Rebbe’s philosophical teachings) constantly discusses how it is not enough to have a strong desire to perform Mitzvot, practicing Mitzvot is much more important than focusing on intent. In education Gathering knowledge and learning skills is the most basic level of education. We as Jews want to educate our children and ourselves to a much higher level, the key to education is to give over the desire to learn, the desire to connect. Any Rav in any forum wants to bring those who are his students to desire and love the learning. True success in Torah learning does not sprout from just having the knowledge it sprouts from the yearning of the knowledge.

In this week’s Parsha this lesson comes alive. Moshe Rabeinu writes a Sefer Torah then passes it on to the Tribe of Levi and to the Elders of Am Yisrael .Moshe did so in order to show the elders, the Levi’im and all of Am Yisrael who is responsible for passing on the Torah tradition to the next generation. The Elders and Levi’im would come to understand that without Moshe, Am Yisrael needs a larger group of people to pass on the torch of Torah, Yehoshua could not pass on Torah alone. Rashi brings from our Sages a very interesting Midrash. When the rest of Am Yisrael found out about the Sefer Torah they came running to Moshe to complain. Am Yisrael felt discriminated that only the members of the Tribe of Levi will receive such a precious gift. Am Yisrael claimed that the Torah was given to all of Am Yisrael equally. When Moshe witnessed this he smiled and exclaimed (Devarim 27, 9)

וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר מֹשֶׁה֙ וְהַכֹּהֲנִ֣ים הַלְוִיִּ֔ם אֶ֥ל כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר הַסְכֵּ֤ת ׀ וּשְׁמַע֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל הַיּ֤וֹם הַזֶּה֙ נִהְיֵ֣יתָֽ לְעָ֔ם לַיהוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃

Moses and the levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying: Silence! Hear, O Israel! Today you have become the people of the LORD your God:

Moshe Rabeinu‘s behavior seems odd, Am Yisrael‘s complaint seems ungrateful and audacious despite this Moshe smiles, in many other instances we see Moshe rebuke the nation for such behavior. The reason Moshe Rabeinu wasn’t angry rather joyed by Am Yisrael‘s request is because it was the first time since Moshe became leader where Am Yisrael desired to actively take part in the giving over of Torah. Throughout the time in the desert, it was always Moshe giving out orders and information from Hashem. The nation listened but were never an active part; they were always passive in receiving the Torah. When they approached Moshe Rabeinu and demanded they have an equal part in the future transmission of Torah. Moshe knew that he could not change the future leadership, however he basked in the joy of his hard work. Moshe Rabeinu dream was not to create robots who just follow commands, Moshe wanted Am Yisrael to feel part of Torah, to become a part of it, to desire its’ value and lessons. At that very moment Moshe proclaimed that Am Yisrael had become a nation they moved from passive to active and nothing made Moshe happier.

As parents and students we are sometime so focused on retaining information or excelling in study but real success in education is infusing people with desire and passion to learn. There are countless stories of our greatest scholars who emphasized the importance of enjoying and connecting to Torah, not just covering ground. Rav Mordechai Gifter told that the most precious blessing he ever received was from the great scholar Rav Shimon Sh’kop when he was six. Rav Sh’kop blessed him that he should always want to learn. Rav Yitzchak Zeev Soloveitchik of Brisk was famous for inquiring about his sons happiness and passion in learning while focusing less on the amount or depth of what they learnt. Results are also important and we should not diminish learning large amounts of Torah in both depth and breadth, but if we lose the passion and desire to learn we have lost the spiritual power of Torah. Let us all focus not just on the breadth of Torah but try to build our desire to connect to it, from that desire our spirituality will always continue to grow.