This Lelamed Dvar is also available in your local App Store (iTunes and
Android). I hope you enjoy and share this Dvar...
In the beginning, starts the Torah in Bereishit, G-d created the heaven,
earth, and everything in between, all by Himself. Then, when it came time
to create man, G-d asked his council about it, as it says "Let US make man
in our image, after our likeness" (1:26). Just as we see a problem with the
idea of G-d needing to confer, Moshe noticed the same problem as he was
dictating the Torah from Hashem. The Midrash goes on to explain that G-d
insisted on the text, accentuating the importance of conferring with others
regarding all major aspects of life (as Jews, a spouse and a personal Rabbi
is especially emphasized), and that those who wish to misunderstand the
sentence will do so. Rav Wasserman raises a good question, though: Although
the lesson is a good one, is it really worth the risk? Doesn't the
potential for negative (people thinking there are multiple gods) outweigh
the potential for positive?
Rav Wasserman answers that there really isn't any potential for negative.
After all, generation after generation of children and adults have learned
this verse and have understood it correctly. The only ones that will err
are the ones that want to. Should we be deprived of an important lesson on
account of those who want to find a fault? In a way, we just learned two
lessons out of one. Not only is it important to listen to the advice of our
peers, but it's equally important to separate ourselves from the advice of
those that aren't our peers. Listening to others is the hardest thing to
do, especially when you know you should, or when you know they're right.
It's our own ego that rejects it, yet we're the ones that would gain from
it. We should take the advice of the Parsha, and rather then just agreeing
with its insight, actively start seeking and listening to others' worthy
advice.
Shlomo Ressler
Quotation of the Week:
"Children must be taught how to think, not what to think." - Margaret Mead
This Lelamed Dvar is also available in your local App Store (iTunes and
Android). I hope you enjoy and share this Dvar...
_______________________________________________
In the beginning, starts the Torah in Bereishit, G-d created the heaven,
earth, and everything in between, all by Himself. Then, when it came time
to create man, G-d asked his council about it, as it says "Let US make man
in our image, after our likeness" (1:26). Just as we see a problem with the
idea of G-d needing to confer, Moshe noticed the same problem as he was
dictating the Torah from Hashem. The Midrash goes on to explain that G-d
insisted on the text, accentuating the importance of conferring with others
regarding all major aspects of life (as Jews, a spouse and a personal Rabbi
is especially emphasized), and that those who wish to misunderstand the
sentence will do so. Rav Wasserman raises a good question, though: Although
the lesson is a good one, is it really worth the risk? Doesn't the
potential for negative (people thinking there are multiple gods) outweigh
the potential for positive?
Rav Wasserman answers that there really isn't any potential for negative.
After all, generation after generation of children and adults have learned
this verse and have understood it correctly. The only ones that will err
are the ones that want to. Should we be deprived of an important lesson on
account of those who want to find a fault? In a way, we just learned two
lessons out of one. Not only is it important to listen to the advice of our
peers, but it's equally important to separate ourselves from the advice of
those that aren't our peers. Listening to others is the hardest thing to
do, especially when you know you should, or when you know they're right.
It's our own ego that rejects it, yet we're the ones that would gain from
it. We should take the advice of the Parsha, and rather then just agreeing
with its insight, actively start seeking and listening to others' worthy
advice.
Shlomo Ressler
_______________________________________________
Quotation of the Week:
"Children must be taught how to think, not what to think." - Margaret Mead
