From: "Yeshivat Har Etzion's Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash" To: yhe-sichot@vbm-torah.org Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 13:27:14 +0300 Subject: SICHOT -28: Parashat Emor Reply-To: "Yeshivat Har Etzion's Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash" Priority: normal YESHIVAT HAR ETZION VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH PROJECT(VBM) ********************************************************* STUDENT SUMMARIES OF SICHOT DELIVERED BY THE ROSHEI YESHIVA PARASHAT EMOR SICHA OF HARAV YEHUDA AMITAL SHLIT"A "Opening the Heart and the Mind" Summarized by Rav Eliyahu Blumenzweig There is an apparent redundancy in the opening verse of our parasha: "Say to the kohanim, the sons of Aharon, and you shall say to them..." (Vayikra 21:1). Rashi, based on the gemara, explains that the repetition comes "in order to warn the adults concerning the children." The Midrash (Vayikra Raba 26:5) offers another understanding: "So it is with the angels, who have no yetzer ha-ra (evil inclination): it is sufficient to 'say to them' once... But humans, who have a yetzer ha-ra - if only it would be sufficient to 'say to them' twice!" In the gemara quoted by Rashi, Chazal are teaching us the obligation of chinukh - the parents' responsibility to educate their children towards service of God. In contrast to the gemara, Chazal teach us in the midrash not that we are obligated in chinukh, but rather how to achieve our goal of chinukh. The need for two 'sayings' to which they refer is not simple repetition, but rather a way of conveying chinukh in such a way that each 'saying' has a different character and a different purpose. When attempting to educate a person and mold his character, it is not sufficient to merely recite information and mention new concepts. Every person has his own individual attitudes and opinions and conceptual system, and when he hears new thoughts and opinions which don't coincide with his own, he will often fail to internalize what he has heard. Alternatively, he will twist what he has heard to fit into his own conceptual system, with the result that the same words uttered by the same person may be understood differently by each listener in light of each one's own perspective and according to his own views. Influencing a person or molding his personality requires a 'first saying.' Not a 'saying' that aims to convey defined and quantified information, but rather a 'saying' that will open his heart, penetrate his thoughts and influence him to reveal his innermost self, in order that he will be prepared to hear and to accept, and to internalize what he is hearing. This 'saying' cannot be quantified or clearly defined. Sometimes a person will have to keep listening to it for a long time before he feels genuinely ready and willing to hear and to accept. Upon reaching this point, it is quite possible that if he attempts to determine what he has heard until then, he will discover that he remembers nothing. He is unable to say exactly what he has been told and what has made an impression upon him, but nevertheless he feels ready to hear, and is eager to take in more. In Chassidut much attention is paid to this 'first saying,' to the opening of the heart. A story is told of a chassid who returned from visiting his Rebbe and started to tell his friend all about the experience - how remarkable the Rebbe's words had been, and how excited he was by what he had heard. When his friend asked what the Rebbe had said, he replied: "As if one can understand the Rebbe!" The chassid didn't know what he had heard and hadn't understood anything, but his heart was open to hear more. Only once the 'first saying' has succeeded is there place for the second, for the actual transfer of information and concepts. Only then, when the ideas find willing ears and an open heart, can they be accepted. It is then that the person not only hears physically, but feels the words penetrate his very being, building him and developing his character. Someone who wishes to educate and influence - or someone seeking to be educated and influenced - must understand the secret of these two 'sayings'. If a person succeeds in taking in what he hears in such a way that his very personality is influenced, then the message will carry quite naturally from him further. He will not need to influence anyone by forcing himself, his opinions or his thoughts on anyone else. Someone whose personality combines and reflects all his views and attitudes is readily understood by others in terms of his way of thinking, his morals and his world-view. These things emanate from him naturally, and that which emanates from the heart will undoubtedly find its way into the hearts of others, who are waiting to hear and to be built. (Originally delivered on Leil Shabbat, Parashat Emor 5733. Translated by Kaeren Fish.) ********************************************************* TO SUBSCRIBE send e-mail to lists@vbm-torah.org with the following message: subscribe YHE-SICHOT ********************************************************* TO UNSUBSCRIBE send e-mail to lists@vbm-torah.org with the following message: unsubscribe YHE-SICHOT ********************************************************* For direct questions or comments regarding this shiur, please write to SICHOT@ETZION.ORG.IL ********************************************************** Yeshivat Har Etzion's Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash is on the world wide web at http://www.vbm-torah.org *********************************************************** Shiurim may be dedicated to various occasions - yahrzeits, semachot, birthdays, etc. Please e-mail yhe@vbm-torah.org for an application. *********************************************************** Internet & e-mail list hosting for the VBM provided courtesy of: The Yerushalayim Network (http://www.yerushalayim.net) a Centennial Project of the Orthodox Union (http://www.ou.org) *********************************************************** YESHIVAT HAR ETZION ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH ALON SHEVUT, GUSH ETZION 90433 E-MAIL: YHE@VBM-TORAH.ORG or OFFICE@ETZION.ORG.IL Copyright (c) 1998 Yeshivat Har Etzion. 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