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SEPTEMBER 2021| |The TheJewish JewishHome Home OCTOBER 29,2,2015
From the Fire Parshas Nitzavim
A Backstage Pass to Divine Service By Rav Moshe Weinberger Adapted for publication by Binyomin Wolf
T
he Torah (Devarim 30:11-14) tells us, “For this mitzvah which I command you today is not concealed for you, nor is it distant. It is not in Heaven that you should say, ‘Who will go up to Heaven for us and take it for us that we may hear it and do it?’ Nor is it on the other side of the ocean...for the matter is very close to you in your mouth and in your heart to do it.” When the pasuk says “this mitzvah,” which mitzvah is it referring to? According to Rashi, the Ohr Hachaim, and others, this refers to all the mitzvos of the Torah. According to this, the Torah is telling us that all of Yiddishkeit, all of Torah and mitzvos, is attainable and within our grasp. According to the Ramban, however, because it says “this mitzvah,” it seems to refer to one specific mitzvah rather than mitzvos generally, so he explains that it refers to the mitzvah
of teshuva. But even according to the Ramban, teshuva also means a return to the totality of Torah, to all of Yiddishkeit, not just one mitzvah. In any case, the Torah seems to take a person’s initial feeling that true attainment of Torah is impossible seriously. Rather than dismissing the false feeling that the Torah’s demands of a person are too difficult to fulfill, the Torah expends several pesukim addressing this misimpression head-on. Rav Leib Chasmin, zt”l, one of the great baalei mussar, asks a serious question on these pesukim. Anyone who has studied Gemara is familiar with the concepts of “hava amina” and “maskana.” A “hava amina” is an explanation or opinion which is considered but ultimately rejected by the Gemara. The “maskana” is the Gemara’s ultimate conclusion. Usually, the hava amina has some relationship to
the maskana and is not completely off-base. For instance, if one person says that flights from New York to Los Angeles last six and a half to seven hours, but someone who has actually taken the flight corrects him and says that the flight lasts only six hours, this is a good example of a hava amina and a maskana. The hava amina is not totally off-base but shares some resemblance to the maskana. In contrast, it would be absurd if someone had a hava amina that the flight lasts only five minutes. Such a thought is not even worthy of being considered as a viable hava amina. In fact, the Gemara and later commentaries often go to great lengths to understand the basis of each hava amina of the Gemara notwithstanding the fact that it is ultimately rejected. The two are usually someone close to one another. Rav Chasmin asks why the hava
amina and maskana of the pesukim seem to have absolutely no relationship to one another here. The hava amina is that Torah and mitzvos are virtually impossible to attain. But the maskana is that, in fact, they are easy, a cinch. Why would the Torah take our natural basic tendency to see Torah and mitzvos as seriously demanding and nearly impossible to truly attain seriously if such an impression is completely and totally off-base? Rav Chasmin offers an incredibly deep explanation. He explains that there are two perspectives: the view of the outsider and the view of the insider. The outsider’s perspective is the view of one who, even if he is religious, has not yet entered into the world of serving G-d. We can understand this by considering someone who is not Jewish and cannot fathom how a person can go 24 hours with-
