Rav Sternbuch: Making of an Apikores
1
5 Cheshvan 5570 • October 23 2009 YATED NE’EMAN T he fol- lowing was written by Rabbi Dan- iel Yaakov Travis based on a drasha given by Rav Moshe Shternbuch, Rosh Av Beis Din of the Eidah Hachareidis of Yerushalayim. • • • • • ANSWERING THE UNANSWERABLE “Let us make man in our image and form…And He created man in His image ” (Bereishis 1:26-27). “Even though Hashem did not receive any assistance in the creation of man, and the plural wording of this verse leaves room for heretics to back up their mistaken ideologies, the Torah wrote this verse in the plural to teach us proper behavior and humility, that even a great person should take counsel from a smaller person. If the Torah would have written, ‘I will make man,’ we would not have learned that Hashem consulted with His Heavenly court before creating man. The answer to the heretics is actually found in the continu- ation of the verse which states, ‘…and He created man,’ and it does not say we created man” (Rashi, Bereishis 1:26). Rashi ’s words are nothing short of astonishing. The Torah takes the risk of fueling hereti- cal philosophies just to teach us about a good character trait? This can be compared to invest- ing a million dollars for a pos- sible return of a few cents. How can this serious risk be justified by this doubtful gain? The truth is that apikorsim will continue believing in their warped ideologies regardless of what the Torah says. They are motivated by their drive for an easy, pleasurable life and all oth- er factors are irrelevant to them. There was no reason for Hashem to take them into account when writing the Torah. He was more concerned with teaching those who want to learn, and this posuk presented a valuable opportunity to teach humility, one of the most important character traits. Rav Chaim Brisker was once visited by a former member of his community who had since abandoned mitzvah observance. Rav Chaim was told that this man had returned to Brisk with a mission. He had gathered many perplexing questions about Judaism and the Torah since he had left and he wanted to Mr. Know-It-All The Making of an Apikores By Rav Moshe Shternbuch hear how Rav Chaim would answer them. Rav Chaim replied that he was ready to answer questions, but he was certain that the man did not really have any. Rather, this man had already formulated answers to his so-called ques- tions and was just looking for an excuse for a confrontation with Rav Chaim. Rav Chaim understood that when a person thinks that he already has all the answers, they are not open to hearing anything else. TO KNOW AND TO BELIEVE There are many fundamental philosophical questions one can ask about the Torah: Who is Hashem? Why did He create the world six thousand years ago and not earlier? Why did He create man as He did? The list goes on and on, and the person who feels that he must understand every mystery in the universe with his intellect will certainly be frustrated. In actuality, all of these ques- tions can be resolved with one simple principle. Hashem cre- ated malachim who have very high levels of perception. They have a much clearer understand- ing of Hashem’s ways and are not plagued by the questions that we may have. However, Hashem also de- sired to create man as a being with limited understanding. Due to his limitations, man’s Divine service must be based on faith and trust. This is the mitzvah of emunah, belief in Hashem. If we accept the fundamental concept that our intellect is limited, then all doubts about any other part of the Torah or Hashem’s actions fall away. The Rambam writes that there is a mitzvah “to know and to believe” that G-d exists, cre- ated the world and continuously manages it. Knowing and believ- ing are seemingly contradictory concepts. Knowing stems from proofs and intellectual under- standing, while belief is a matter of accepting something that one does not comprehend. Rav Chaim Brisker explained that one must use one’s mind to achieve the highest possible level of intellectual clarity regarding Hashem’s existence. However, each person will reach a point where he cannot understand the mysteries of the universe. From that point on, every Jew must trustingly accept those principles of faith which he is unable to grasp intellectually. It is impos- sible to understand everything, and the desire to do so stems from arrogance. This is the meaning of the Mishnah which states, “The dif- ference between the students of Avrohom Avinu and the students of Bilaam was that the talmidim of Avrohom were humble, while those of Bilam were arrogant.” At first glance, these words are incomprehensible. Surely the primary difference is that Avro- hom’s students were righteous while Bilaam’s were evil! But this Mishnah teaches us that the difference between these two schools was rooted in the character trait of humil- ity. Avrohom’s talmidim were humble and accepted that they did not have to know everything, and did not demand answers to sublime philosophical questions that were beyond their powers of comprehension. On the other hand, Bilaam’s students’ arro- gant assumption that they were entitled to know everything led them to eventually deny Hashem and His Torah. A DROP IN THE BUCKET Rav Shternbuch once at - tended a gathering of scientists. When he was asked if he believes in the Theory of Evolution, he re- plied, “It is complete nonsense, with no basis whatsoever. If you want, you can believe that your grandfather was an ape, but I am a descendant of Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov.” Later, one of the scientists approached Rav Shternbuch with a challenge: “Rabbi, they have found bones in Madgascar that have been proven to be millions of years old.” Rav Sternbuch replied that this insignificant evidence proves nothing about creation. Due to the flood of Noach, the entire world appears much older than it really is. All of the scientists at that gathering were intelligent people who were highly educated. How can an otherwise rational person come to believe a completely unfounded and illogical theory such as evolution? Based on what we have explained so far, we can answer this question. The apikores believes that he must be able to answer all questions. If he cannot find a logical one, he will develop one that is not intellectually sound. They can even suggest that man originally descended from apes, even in the absence of any evidence. No matter how far-fetched his answer may be, the arrogant apikores will do anything to avoid admitting that the ways of creation are beyond his comprehension. Torah-true Jews understand that man is not the descendant of apes, but was formed by Hashem from the dust of the ground and will return to this source at the end of his life. We accept that our understanding of the universe is limited. We try and understand what we can and leave the rest to emunah. The Vilna Gaon explains that the word bereishis can be read as bara reishis, cre- ated the beginning, and that it refers to the creation of time. We cannot possibly grasp what this means, yet before its creation, the world existed without time. So, too, many aspects of creation are beyond our comprehension yet we accept that Hashem, in His infinite wisdom, fashioned everything with great precision and purposely hid their deeper meaning from us. In Sifri Detzinusah , the Vilna Gaon writes that Parshas Bereishis hints to everything that will transpire throughout history until the coming of Moshiach. Even if we do not understand what is happening around us, we have emunah that it is all directed by the wisdom of the Creator of the universe. There is much in this world that we cannot understand and we all experience the limits of our perception on a daily basis. Emunah is the path of humility, the path to the next world, the path of the faithful Jew as he faces each and every challenge and question in his life. • • • • • Rav Shternbuch’s shiu- rim on the parsha are being prepared to be published by Feldheim Publishers as a sefer entitled “Small Prophecies.” For information about dedi- cation opportunities, contact [email protected]. • • • • • Rabbi Travis is a rosh kollel of Kollel Toras Chaim in Ye- rushalayim, and is the author of Shaylos U’Teshuvos Toras Chaim and “Praying With Joy - A Daily Tefilla Companion,” a practical daily guide to im- proving one’s prayers, avail- able from Feldheim Publishers. For more information about his work, contact dytravis@ actcom.com. Page 55 BUDGETING AND EXPENSE MANAGEMENT Wednesday, October 28th 4PM 2020 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn JOB SEARCH 101 Thursday October 29th, 2:30PM Thursday, November 12th, 2:30PM +InGs (IGHWay, 2nd Ûoor, Brooklyn THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF THE JOB SEARCH PROCESS Monday, November 23, 1PM 1564 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn CREDIT REPORTS, CREDIT SCORES AND IMPROVING YOUR CREDIT Wednesday, November 4th 4PM Wednesday, November 18th 4PM 2020 Coney Island Avenue DEVELOP A STRONG RESUME Thursday, November 5th, 2:30PM Thursday, November 19th, 2:30PM +InGs (IGHWay, 2nd Ûoor, Brooklyn Bouncing Back From the Economic Crisis Financially and Professionally To register for any of these workshops call 718-785-4141. The 7 th of Cheshvan is the th Yahrzeit of MR. JOSEPH ROSENBERGER, FOUNDER OF ALL SHATNES LABORATORIES In his last will, he wrote: Due to the fact that I spent all my years educating the Jewish public about the Mitzvah of Shatnes and therefore couldn’t learn enough Torah . . . I am requesting the public to at least learn Torah for my Neshama, which I will consider as a repayment for my years of devotion. If you are unable to learn ,uhban or trnd kindly say ohkv, for my vnab hukv van ic ;xuh SHATNES LABORATORY 203 Lee Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11206 (718) 387-8520 WILL Sunday, October 25th, 2009 13 The apikores believes that he must be able to answer all questions.
Transcript of Rav Sternbuch: Making of an Apikores
5 Cheshvan 5570 • October 23 2009 YATED NE’EMAN
The fol-lowing was writ ten by Rabbi Dan-iel Yaakov Travis based on a drasha g i v e n b y Rav Moshe
Shternbuch, Rosh Av Beis Din of the Eidah Hachareidis of Yerushalayim.
• • • • •ANSWERING THE UNANSWERABLE
“Let us make man in our image and form…And He created man in His image” (Bereishis 1:26-27).
“Even though Hashem did not receive any assistance in the creation of man, and the plural wording of this verse leaves room for heretics to back up their mistaken ideologies, the Torah wrote this verse in the plural to teach us proper behavior and humility, that even a great person should take counsel from a smaller person. If the Torah would have written, ‘I will make man,’ we would not have learned that Hashem consulted with His Heavenly court before creating man. The answer to the heretics is actually found in the continu-ation of the verse which states, ‘…and He created man,’ and it does not say we created man” (Rashi, Bereishis 1:26).
Rashi’s words are nothing short of astonishing. The Torah takes the risk of fueling hereti-cal philosophies just to teach us about a good character trait? This can be compared to invest-ing a million dollars for a pos-sible return of a few cents. How can this serious risk be justified by this doubtful gain?
The truth is that apikorsim will continue believing in their warped ideologies regardless of what the Torah says. They are motivated by their drive for an easy, pleasurable life and all oth-er factors are irrelevant to them. There was no reason for Hashem to take them into account when writing the Torah. He was more concerned with teaching those who want to learn, and this posuk presented a valuable opportunity to teach humility, one of the most important character traits.
Rav Chaim Brisker was once visited by a former member of his community who had since abandoned mitzvah observance. Rav Chaim was told that this man had returned to Brisk with a mission. He had gathered many perplexing questions about Judaism and the Torah since he had left and he wanted to
Mr. Know-It-AllThe Making of an Apikores
By Rav Moshe Shternbuch hear how Rav Chaim would answer them.
Rav Chaim replied that he was ready to answer questions, but he was certain that the man did not really have any. Rather, this man had already formulated answers to his so-called ques-tions and was just looking for an excuse for a confrontation with Rav Chaim.
Rav Chaim understood that when a person thinks that he already has all the answers, they are not open to hearing anything else.
TO KNOW AND TO BELIEVE
There are many fundamental philosophical questions one can ask about the Torah: Who is Hashem? Why did He create the world six thousand years ago and not earlier? Why did He create man as He did? The list goes on and on, and the person who feels that he must understand every mystery in the universe with his intellect will certainly be frustrated.
In actuality, all of these ques-tions can be resolved with one simple principle. Hashem cre-ated malachim who have very high levels of perception. They have a much clearer understand-ing of Hashem’s ways and are not plagued by the questions that we may have.
However, Hashem also de-sired to create man as a being with limited understanding. Due to his limitations, man’s Divine service must be based on faith and trust. This is the mitzvah of emunah, belief in Hashem. If we accept the fundamental concept that our intellect is limited, then all doubts about any other part of the Torah or Hashem’s actions fall away.
The Rambam writes that there is a mitzvah “to know and to believe” that G-d exists, cre-ated the world and continuously manages it. Knowing and believ-ing are seemingly contradictory concepts. Knowing stems from proofs and intellectual under-standing, while belief is a matter of accepting something that one does not comprehend.
Rav Chaim Brisker explained that one must use one’s mind to achieve the highest possible level of intellectual clarity regarding Hashem’s existence. However, each person will reach a point where he cannot understand the mysteries of the universe. From that point on, every Jew must trustingly accept those principles of faith which he is unable to grasp intellectually. It is impos-sible to understand everything, and the desire to do so stems from arrogance.
This is the meaning of the Mishnah which states, “The dif-ference between the students of Avrohom Avinu and the students of Bilaam was that the talmidim of Avrohom were humble, while those of Bilam were arrogant.” At first glance, these words are incomprehensible. Surely the primary difference is that Avro-hom’s students were righteous while Bilaam’s were evil!
But this Mishnah teaches us that the difference between these two schools was rooted in the character trait of humil-ity. Avrohom’s talmidim were humble and accepted that they did not have to know everything, and did not demand answers to sublime philosophical questions that were beyond their powers of comprehension. On the other
hand, Bilaam’s students’ arro-gant assumption that they were entitled to know everything led them to eventually deny Hashem and His Torah. A DROP IN THE BUCKET
Rav Shternbuch once at-tended a gathering of scientists. When he was asked if he believes in the Theory of Evolution, he re-plied, “It is complete nonsense, with no basis whatsoever. If you want, you can believe that your grandfather was an ape, but I am a descendant of Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov.”
Later, one of the scientists approached Rav Shternbuch with a challenge: “Rabbi, they have found bones in Madgascar that have been proven to be millions of years old.” Rav Sternbuch
replied that this insignificant evidence proves nothing about creation. Due to the flood of Noach, the entire world appears much older than it really is.
All of the scientists at that gathering were intelligent people who were highly educated. How can an otherwise rational person come to believe a completely unfounded and illogical theory such as evolution? Based on what we have explained so far, we can answer this question.
The apikores believes that he must be able to answer all questions. If he cannot find a logical one, he will develop one that is not intellectually sound. They can even suggest that man originally descended from apes, even in the absence of any evidence. No matter how
far-fetched his answer may be, the arrogant apikores will do anything to avoid admitting that the ways of creation are beyond his comprehension.
Torah-true Jews understand that man is not the descendant of apes, but was formed by Hashem from the dust of the ground and will return to this source at the end of his life. We accept that our understanding of the universe is limited. We try and understand what we can and leave the rest to emunah.
The Vilna Gaon explains that the word bereishis can be read as bara reishis, cre-ated the beginning, and that it refers to the creation of time. We cannot possibly grasp what this means, yet before
its creation, the world existed without time. So, too, many aspects of creation are beyond our comprehension yet we accept that Hashem, in His infinite wisdom, fashioned everything with great precision and purposely hid their deeper meaning from us.
In Sifri Detzinusah , the Vilna Gaon writes that Parshas Bereishis hints to everything that will transpire throughout history until the coming of Moshiach. Even if we do not understand what is happening around us, we have emunah that it is all directed by the wisdom of the Creator of the universe.
There is much in this world that we cannot understand and we all experience the limits of our perception on a daily basis. Emunah is the path of humility, the path to the next world, the path of the faithful Jew as he faces each and every challenge and question in his life.
• • • • •Rav Shternbuch’s shiu-
rim on the parsha are being prepared to be published by Feldheim Publishers as a sefer entitled “Small Prophecies.” For information about dedi-cation opportunities, contact [email protected].
• • • • •Rabbi Travis is a rosh kollel
of Kollel Toras Chaim in Ye-rushalayim, and is the author of Shaylos U’Teshuvos Toras Chaim and “Praying With Joy - A Daily Tefilla Companion,” a practical daily guide to im-proving one’s prayers, avail-able from Feldheim Publishers. For more information about his work, contact [email protected].
Page 55
BUDGETING AND EXPENSE MANAGEMENTWednesday, October 28th 4PM
2020 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn
JOB SEARCH 101Thursday October 29th, 2:30PM
Thursday, November 12th, 2:30PM n s ay, 2nd oor, Brooklyn
THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF THE JOB SEARCH PROCESSMonday, November 23, 1PM
1564 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn
CREDIT REPORTS, CREDIT SCORES AND IMPROVING YOUR CREDITWednesday, November 4th 4PM
Wednesday, November 18th 4PM 2020 Coney Island Avenue
DEVELOP A STRONG RESUMEThursday, November 5th, 2:30PM
Thursday, November 19th, 2:30PM n s ay, 2nd oor, Brooklyn
Bouncing Back From the Economic Crisis Financially and Professionally
To register for any of these workshops call 718-785-4141.Friday, October 19th
The 7th of Cheshvan is the11th Yahrzeit of
MR. JOSEPH ROSENBERGER,FOUNDER OF ALL SHATNES LABORATORIES
In his last will, he wrote:Due to the fact that I spent all my yearseducating the Jewish public about theMitzvah of Shatnes and thereforecouldn’t learn enough Torah . . .
I am requesting the public to at leastlearn Torah for my Neshama, which Iwill consider as a repayment for my yearsof devotion.If you are unable to learn ,uhban or trnd
kindly say ohkv, for my vnabhukv van ic ;xuh
SHATNES LABORATORY203 Lee Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11206
(718) 387-8520
WILLSunday, October 25th, 2009
13
The apikores believes that he must be able to answer all questions.
