| A Message from the Kalever Rebbe | |
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| Parshas Chayei Sarah 5786 | |
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| Encouraging others to go to learn Torah - brings great reward | |
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 | The Rebbe speaking to a family at Pine St Shul in Johannesburg, South Africa |
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| "When Avraham's servant heard their words, he prostrated himself on the ground to Hashem." (Breishis 24:52) | |
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| R' Moshe Halberstam of Kivyoishd told me, that his grandmother — the rebbetzin, esteemed wife of R' Baruch of Keshanov — lived in the city of Keshanov. | |
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| He, however, spent his childhood in Vienna, far away, and therefore saw his grandmother only rarely. | |
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| And yet, whenever they did meet, she drew him close with great affection, for she cherished him deeply. So much so that when his aunt married in Bobov, his grandmother insisted that his father bring him along so she could see him. | |
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| However, despite all this affection, when he was eleven years old and his grandmother came to Vienna for the first time for medical treatment, he went that night to the place where she was staying, near his home, hoping to spend time with her. But she did not allow him to remain long. Instead she said to him, "On a winter night, should a child waste time?! One must go to the beis midrash to learn!" | |
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| These words of guidance, spoken by a grandmother who loved him so dearly, became engraved in his heart for life, serving as a lasting lesson to learn diligently on the long winter nights. | |
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| This story is a fine example of the proper conduct of righteous women, who understand the great responsibility they carry to encourage their family members to learn Torah. As the Maharsha explains (Bava Basra 121a), there are severe consequences for a mother who, out of misplaced pity, fails to guide her child to study during the long winter nights. | |
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| Righteous women sacrifice quality time with their families, and thereby merit generations of descendants who are upright and blessed. | |
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| Encouraging children to spend less time at home in order to immerse themselves in Torah study, is a real challenge for many parents. It is not easy to send a child to a yeshivah or seminary where they spend long hours each day learning, often adding even more time in the beis midrash. | |
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| For some families, the challenge is even greater, when they must decide whether to send their children away to another city—or even another country—for schooling, in fulfillment of the Mishnah (Avos 4:14), "Exile yourself to a place of Torah." Naturally, this is difficult for parents, who yearn for their children's presence, and frequently depend on their help. | |
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| Yet parents must remember, that through this sacrifice they earn tremendous reward. As Chazal taught (Brachos 17a), that women receive a unique and exalted portion of heavenly reward, for sending their children and husbands to study Torah—granting them permission to learn even in a distant city—and then waiting patiently for their return. | |
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| The Reward for Encouraging Torah Study | |
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| Rabbeinu Yonah writes in Iggeres HaTeshuvah (Discourse 3, sec. 72) that this is why, before the giving of the Torah, Hashem first addressed "Beis Yaakov"—the women—before speaking to the men. For it is the women who send their sons to learn Torah, who show them compassion when they return from school, who draw them close with kind words so that they will develop a love for Torah, and who guard them so they do not neglect their learning. In this way, it is the women who ensure the endurance of Torah itself. | |
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| Similarly, the Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De'ah 246) teaches, that one who supports others in their Torah learning, fulfills the mitzvah of Talmud Torah as if he himself had studied. The commentators explain, that the mitzvah of Torah study includes the responsibility to increase Torah knowledge in the world. Therefore, one who enables others to learn, fulfills that dimension of the mitzvah, and receives the great reward promised for this exalted obligation. | |
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| Similarly, we find (Kesubos 63a) that Rabbi Akiva said to his students about his wife Rachel—who encouraged him to leave home and devote many years to studying and teaching in the yeshivah, "Mine and yours are hers." Rashi explains that he was saying that the Torah that I learned, and the Torah that you learned, was all through her. In other words, since she was the driving force behind their learning, it is considered as if she herself learned. | |
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| For this reason, Chazal taught (Kesubos 111b) that one who marries his daughter to a Torah scholar, or who supports a Torah scholar, is considered as though he cleaves to the Shechinah. Just as when a person studies Torah, Hashem—so to speak—comes to that place and causes holiness to rest there, so too, when a person encourages and enables others to learn Torah, he draws upon himself that same holiness, as if he had learned it himself. | |
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| Based on this, R' Naftali of Ropshitz explained in his sacred work Zera Kodesh on the pasuk (Bamidbar 5:10), "A man's holy things shall be his." A person who causes others to become sanctified with holiness, will himself acquire that same holiness, for Hashem grants him exalted holiness as a result. | |
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| Likewise we find (Rashi to Breishis 18:1) that Hashem revealed Himself to Avraham Avinu in the plains of Mamre, because Mamre had encouraged and strengthened Avraham to fulfill the mitzvah of bris milah publicly, without fearing the scoffers. In the merit of that encouragement, Hashem revealed Himself there. | |
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| Based on this, we can clearly explain what we find in this week's parsha: | |
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| Lavan and Besuel saw with their own eyes that the shidduch between Yitzchak and Rivka was clearly orchestrated by Hashem. They therefore agreed to send Rivka to Yitzchak, so he could marry and learn Torah in the best possible way. By overcoming the ridicule of the local townspeople—who mocked them for agreeing to this—and by enabling Yitzchak to pursue Torah, they merited that, at that very moment, Hashem Himself came and caused His holiness to rest upon them. | |
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| Thus, the Torah immediately states, "And when Avraham's servant heard their words, he bowed to the ground to Hashem." Eliezer understood that their decision had brought the Shechinah to rest in that place, and therefore he bowed in reverence before Hashem. | |
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