Shemirat HaLashon שמירת הלשון

There are some today who use a different rationalization: Why should we work for naught to teach him Torah? "Perhaps he will have to go to the army when he reaches twenty, and it is better to teach him other things which will make his service easier." This can be compared to [the instance of] a man who must make a long sea voyage and despairs of buying food, preparing nothing, out of fear that what he buys will not suffice.

[And, in truth, how much should we be ashamed! For if two good, useful business opportunities presented themselves to a man, so that if he took one he would have to leave the other, he would look with a sober eye to determine which is certain and which is uncertain. And how much more so [would he choose the first] if it [the second] is only a possibility of a possibility. He would also look with a sober eye to determine which is better and more useful and which lasts a longer time. For sometimes, even if one is better than the other, if the second lasts for a longer time, he will choose that. How much more so if it is intrinsically better than the other. But when it comes to choosing between the service of the L-rd and the affairs of the world, the yetzer entices us to abandon the service of the L-rd, which is better and more useful in itself than all the affairs of the world, as the tanna has said (Avoth 4:14): "Better one moment in the world to come, etc.", and it is also eternal, as opposed to all the affairs of this world, which is only as a passing shadow. And also, the eternal reward that comes from serving the Blessed L-rd is a certainty than which nothing is more certain — and the yetzer entices us to leave all this because of the possibility of a possibility of [benefit in] this world! And this is what we say in the confessional service [of Yom Kippur]: "We have turned away from Your mitzvoth and from Your goodly judgments, and it was not comparable to us." That is, the eternal good was not [even] comparable in our eyes to the transitory good of this world. The proof: We have rejected the certain before the uncertain! And one who wishes to be saved from the enticement of the yetzer hara will reflect constantly within himself and consider the greatness of the pleasure of the reward that the Holy One Blessed be He will give him for [the observance of] His mitzvoth. As the GRA has written, that it is for this reason that the Holy One Blessed be He has created the eternal world with all that is necessary for the reward for fulfillment of Torah and mitzvoth and did not give His reward in this world. For even if a man were given all of this world and its pleasures for one mitzvah it would not suffice for the pleasure he deserves for the mitzvah. And if a man reflects upon this, he certainly will not reject the certain, eternal good for the possibility of the possibility (of pleasure) in this world.]

And, in truth, we should be ashamed and humiliated before our fathers of the earlier generations, who lived a few hundred years before us. How will we answer them when they ask us: "Why were you so lax in Torah study and in fulfillment of the mitzvoth? Don't you know of all the decrees and all the suffering that passed over us? [Don't you know] that they subjected us to all kinds of tortures to annul Torah and mitzvoth, in spite of which we stood firm and strengthened ourselves with what little strength remained in us to stand watch over the Torah for the honor of the L-rd, the G-d of heaven and earth, not to transgress even any of the "fences" of Chazal? And you, with the help of the L-rd, who were protected by kings of lovingkindness, who allowed you to fulfill all of the Torah and the mitzvoth, were neglectful in fulfillment of the Torah! For, in truth did the king prevent us from sending our children to a school and teach them Torah so that they would know how to serve the L-rd? Do not the kings in our days believe in the L-rd and accord honor and glory to His Torah? This [has happened] only because the yetzer hara has outsmarted us with his deceits to remove from us the honor and the fear of the King of kings, the Holy One Blessed be He."

And I will "raise my parable" and say: Two rulers were battling each other and they set a time of four days for the war. On the first day the first ruler overpowered the second and slew many of his foes. On the second day they warred again and the second overpowered the first. On the third day they again went out to war and the first again overpowered the second. At night, when they took counsel, one said to his neighbor: "Let us try to find some stratagem to defeat them. For what good is it if we win again tomorrow? Perhaps if we go out to war again tomorrow the second ruler will again overcome us as on the second day." The other answered: "I have a good plan. The place where they keep their shields and weapons is outside the camp. They are protected by just a few guards and not the whole army. At night let us fall suddenly upon them and take them." The plan was approved by the other, and they did so. On the morning of the fourth day the men of the first ruler trumpeted as a signal for the onset, at which the men of the second ruler ran to don their armor — but they found nothing and were forced to surrender and to take upon themselves the yoke of their foes.

So, exactly, is our situation. It is known that the yetzer hara is a man of war, who battles constantly against Israel. Sometimes he defeats us and sometimes we defeat him. And the yetzer says in his heart: "I have no way to defeat Israel. I will see to it to take their shields and weapons with which they fight me (the Torah, which alone defends Israel against the yetzer hara) and it is the weapon with which they fight me" (as Chazal have said [Kiddushin 30b]: "I have created a yetzer hara, and I have created Torah as its antidote," and without it, it is impossible to escape it, as we have written about at length elsewhere.) And so do we see with our own eyes in our time. For this is the way of the yetzer hara, to overcome us by arguments to keep us from learning the holy Torah.

I shall copy what I have said on a verse in the Song of Songs, and then we shall return to our subject. (Song of Songs 1:7): "Tell me, You whom my soul loves, how will You graze Your flock? How will you make them lie down in the afternoon, etc." Rashi explains that the congregation of Israel hereby says before the Holy One Blessed be He, as a wife to her husband: "Tell me, You whom my soul loves, how will You graze Your flock, [Israel], and how will You make them lie down in the afternoon, in the exile of the idolators, which is a time of suffering for them as the [hot] afternoon is a time of suffering for the flock?" And the Holy One Blessed be He answers (Ibid. 8): "If you do not know, you fairest of the women, [Israel], then go out in the footsteps of the sheep," which Rashi explains: "If you do not know, My congregation and My assembly, the fairest of the women among the other nations, how you will graze and rescue yourselves from those who press you to stay among them, so that your sons not go lost, reflect upon the ways of your forefathers, who received My Torah and kept My 'keeping' and My mitzvoth, and walk in their ways, and, also, in reward for this, you will graze your kids, among the princes of the peoples. And thus did Jeremiah say (Jeremiah 31:24): "Make road markers for yourself… set your heart to the path, etc." Now, as to the answer of the Holy One Blessed be He, does Israel not know [by themselves] that it is a mitzvah to walk in the path of our forefathers? But, in truth, this is a deep matter. The congregation of Israel asked for counsel, what to do at this time, when we are without influence and steeped in many troubles and the yetzer hara entices us to remove from ourselves the yoke of Torah, so that thereby the yoke of the idolators might be eased from us. Therefore the term "grazing" is used, which connotes influence, and "how will You make them lie down," as explained by Rashi. The Holy One Blessed be He responds: "If you do not know, you fairest of the women, go out in the footsteps of the sheep." That is, reflect upon the ways of your fathers. For it is known that Israel's invocation of the L-rd's remembrance of "the merit of the fathers" in almost every prayer is contingent upon our walking to some extent in their ways. And though we will not be able to achieve even a fraction of a fraction of their holy ways (not to speak of "walking in their ways"), as Scripture said (Joshua 14:15): "the greatest of the giants," concerning which Chazal have said [Bereshith Rabbah 14:6] that this refers to Abraham and the other forefathers (apparently also in this regard) — in any event, if we see to it to attain what our intellects can attain of their holy ways and to grasp a little of their holy conduct, then their exalted merit will avail us to bring us to all good — which will not be the case if we "turn a shirking shoulder" and refuse to walk in their ways at all, in which instance, the remembrance of their merit will not be to our honor.

I shall adduce one instance, which is not even a fraction of a fraction of their holy ways: Why did the Holy One Blessed be He exalt Abraham so greatly because of the akeidah [the binding of Isaac]? Is it not true even in our days that if the Holy One Blessed be He commanded one to sacrifice his son as a burnt-offering he would not refuse? But the truth is, as Rambam writes, that his [greatness in his] trial was his acquiescence in it with absolute love. Witness his rising for it early in the morning, splitting the wood by himself, and waiting three days until the place [of the sacrifice] appeared to him. And there were several [other] trials included in this, as we find in the Midrash: that the Satan appeared in the form of a river, which Abraham had to cross on the way to the akeidah, walking neck-deep in the water and crying: "Save, O L-rd, for water has come to soul!" and the [apparition] vanished, all of this indicating his perfect love for the L-rd and his complete acquiescence [in His command]. And now let us reflect for awhile. What if Abraham had to give his son to a king for military service and he had several ways of easing that service, such as keeping him from Torah study for several years and teaching him some other subjects which would afterward lighten his load — and then, the Holy One Blessed be He appeared to him and said: "Do as you have always done; teach him Torah and mitzvoth, and then I will do as I want" — would not Abraham acquiesce in this in full love, even more than he did in the akeidah? And even much more so, for in this he would not even need the commandment of the L-rd, [but would do so himself]! And now, how should we not be ashamed of ourselves, knowing that we also, bless the L-rd, are believers in the L-rd and in His Torah, and we remember always the merit of the akeidah of Israel, Abraham's son; and yet, when we find ourselves in the same situation, we immediately sacrifice Torah and mitzvoth — just to rescue him from military service! And the yetzer hara entices us, [telling us that] in this we are pitying our son. But, in truth, this is not pity, but cruelty to his soul (as mentioned above in Sifrei) and to all his future generations.

And, also, in most cases this will also cause him bodily harm; for he will be trained from his youth to fulfill his lusts, and when he cannot adequately satisfy them, he will injure men in all the ways that he can — through theft, robbery, and violence. "His hand will be against all, and the hand of all, against him" (Bereshith 16:12).

And now let us consider the other forefathers. It is known that Isaac, our father, was thirty-seven years old at the time of the akeidah (Bereshith 29:20). And if he had not acquiesced in the akeidah, the aged Abraham could certainly not have forced him into it. But, certainly, Isaac did this with full acquiescence, as it is written (Bereshith 22:8): "And the two of them went together" — with one heart. And Isaac, who acquiesced in this, would certainly not flout the will of the Holy One Blessed be He for [relatively] minor considerations. If so, we, who always bring his merits to remembrance [(for our sake)], how much should we walk in his ways, not to abandon Torah and mitzvoth for anything!