Thursday, February 15, 2018

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Terumah

The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.

In Shemos 25:11, the Torah recites the instruction that the Aron be covered on the inside and outside with gold ("M'Bayis U'Michutz"). The Gemara in Yoma 72b quotes Rava who states that we learn from here that any Talmid Chacham who is not the same on the inside as he acts on the outside is not a true Talmid Chacham.

Similarly, the Gemara in Chullin 133 that teaching Torah to a Talmid Chacham who is not the same on the inside as the outside is like throwing a rock at the idol Marculus.

The Rambam in Hilchos Talmud Torah (4:1) writes that one should not teach Torah to a student who is not the same on the inside as the outside. However, he adds that in this instance the teacher should first teach the student Middos and then he can bring the student into the Beis Medrash.

R' Frand next quoted the famous Gemara in Berachos involving R' Gamliel and R' Yehoshua, wherein they removed R' Gamliel as Rosh Yeshiva and eventually chose R' Elazar Ben Azarya to fill his spot. Before making the actual selection there was some doubt, as even though he was brilliant, wealthy and came from good lineage (10th generation of Ezra), he was unsure whether he should take the position and he said that he needed to ask his wife.

When review this with his wife, she told him that he could not be the Rosh Yeshiva as he was youthful and had a black beard (at the time he was 18). He went to sleep that night and woke up the next morning with a gray beard and they made him the Rosh Yeshiva. He then opened the school to all who wanted to study and removed the gatekeepers who had excluded all potential students who were not the same on the inside as the outside. They needed to bring in extra benches for all the students.

Upon seeing this, R' Gamliel became depressed and he pondered aloud how many potential Talmidei Chachamim he had excluded from the Yeshiva. 

R' Frand quoted the Ben Yehoyada who asked why the change to accept students who were not the same on the inside as the outside? He answered that they learned from the miracle which occurred when R' Elazar Ben Azaryah's beard changed color. In so doing they saw that a person who experiences what begins as a purely external change can internalize it and incorporate it as well. Even if a person only acts a certain way, if he continues to do so it can have an internal impact as well (you are what you do). 

Upon seeing this, they decided to admit those who were not the same on the inside as the outside in the hopes that they would change their manners based on their activities.

R' Frand closed the vort by addressing why R' Gamliel was upset. He quoted the Chiddushei HaRim who explains that R' Gamliel saw that learning Torah can change a person. He had originally thought that what person is or does, defines that person. But upon seeing how R' Elazar had changed, he realized that other people could change as well, if they were exposed to Torah and brought into the Beis Medrash.

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