Dvar Torah / Chesed Avraham – Parshas Vaeschanan

Parsha favorites of Moreinu HaRav Avraham Chaim Tanzer zt’l. Including his uplifting and edifying teachings. Ideas and values with which he raised and educated 4 generations, including lessons gleaned from his great character.

IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED…
וָאֶ תְ חַנַן אֶ ל ה’ בָעֵת הַ הִ וא לֵאמֹר
I pleaded with Hashem at that time
saying… (3, 23).
A number of fundamentals of Tefilla are learned
from this passage of Moshe’s prayer – Tefilla
LeMoshe.
Our Sages tell us that Moshe davened 515 times
to be allowed to enter the land! Didn’t he know
that Hashem had not answered him? Could
Moshe not see that the answer was ‘no’?!
Moshe thus taught us that if you have prayed,
and Hashem hasn’t answered, that does not
mean that the answer is ‘no’. It does not mean
rejection. It could well mean that Hashem wishes
you to Daven again. And again. And again.
Why would Hashem want Moshe to repeat his
Tefilla 515 times? Moshe didn’t utter the same
Tefilla again and again, rather, he entered into a
negotiation; each Tefilla exposed a new angle as
if to say: Perhaps on this account I can be allowed
in? Perhaps in a different role, I could be allowed
in? He simply reinvented himself 515 times.
In truth the very process of pleading with
Hashem to grant ones’ wishes is an edifying
process. Hashem could have rejected Moshe’s
pleas immediately, rather than wait till after 515
prayers. Why did He wait? Hashem knew how
much personal growth Moshe would gain from
this process. These Tefillos changed the world in
ways we can’t fathom, they changed Moshe in
ways we can’t perceive. Indeed, they changed
much of our understanding of Tefilla itself!
Actually, our Sages are teaching us beyond
Prayer, they are showing an attitude that is
important for our life’s achievements and
dreams.
They are teaching that no answer might just
mean ‘not now’ – it doesn’t mean ‘no’.
It certainly means that in life, don’t depend of
quick results. Don’t think that if it doesn’t go
through instantly that you should give up. On the
contrary, if it doesn’t go through immediately –
keep at it. Again, and again and yet again.
Just pick yourself up off the floor, dust yourself
off, and start again!
Most people quit too soon… They were poised to
succeed, but they through the towel in at the last
moment.
Part B of this rule is that: ‘we don’t get tired’;
meaning, that you need to keep reinventing
yourself with vigour – not just going through the
motions, but with freshness, with Chidush, with
innovation.
Abba taught that you need to take the long view.
One of the rules of Avodah of Tzibbur – public life
he said was: we don’t get tired. That means we
don’t give up. We just keep at it. Again, and again.
The other rule of public leadership that he taught
of course was: When you can’t achieve what you set out, don’t take it as personal rejection. ‘Our is
not to accomplish; our is to endeavour’ – so if
after all your efforts, it’s truly not going
anywhere, it’s time to do something else. But
with a smile. Moshe Rabbenu taught us this
lesson too. Although he invested so much in his
Tefillos, when he was finally firmly rejected, he
simply moved on to the next thing – absolutely
calm and confident that he had invested all that
could be expected of him – with no absolute
attachment to a specific outcome – just to do our
job – our Avodah. Our endeavour and enterprise.
The final rule, was that some people make the
mistake of holding on too long, of not knowing
when to quit. There is a wisdom in knowing
when, after all, Hashem is saying ‘no’.
These were all great skills and lessons that Abba
z’l not only taught, but lived. He practiced these
tenets as the operating system that would guide
and inspire, energise and sustain 6 decades of
visions that realised beyond his dreams, and
many that fell by the way side – but nevertheless
he believed that every one of them were
experiences and lessons and even actual
achievements on both the personal and
communal fields.
I pleaded with Hashem
Rashi comments that Moshe used a nuanced
word for Prayer, one that carries the meaning of
‘Chinam’ – asking for a gratuitous gift. Rashi
explains that although great Tzadikim have
achieved much for Hashem and for Torah in life,
it is not their way to claim any privilege for their
good deeds, rather, they ask Hashem to bestow
good upon just because of His endless kindness
to all creatures.
A Tzadik doesn’t use his achievements as a point
for negotiation. He doesn’t ‘trade’ on his good
deeds.
The Chafetz Chaim famously addressed Hashem
and said: Ribbono Shel Olam, look what you
have given me: You gave me the Mishna Berura,
the Likutei Halachos, the Sefer Chafetz Chaim –
All my famous works You gave to me. What have
I given You in return? Nothing….
In other words, the Chafetz Chaim taught that all
our Mitzvos and all our Torah and Charity that we
perform, are all gifts and opportunities that
Hashem, in His abundant love and kindness gave
to us. We didn’t make them happen – He did!
That is why Moshe didn’t appeal to Hashem to
grant his prayer as a reward for his uniquely
outstanding contribution to Torah and to
Mitzvos, and to Klal Yisrael. Rather he said to
Hashem: You have granted me so much
opportunity to make contribution to Your great
name, to Your great nation, to Your great Torah.
May You please continue this kindliness, and
allow me in Your goodness to enter the land, and
to make an additional contribution there.
Abba z’l lived taught that although Hashem
surrounds us with kindness and generosity all
day every day; each breath we inhale is a
separate gift. Each morsel we swallow. He
grants our basic needs and much luxury as well.
The greatest gifts He gives, however, are the gifts
of contribution. Abba truly felt that chiefest of all
Hashem’s kindnesses to him, was to be granted
the opportunity to serve Hashem through His
Torah, and to be privileged to be one of those
who uplift others and be of service to His People.