Rabbi Benayahu Shmueli, Head of the Yeshiva: Chizuk for the 11th of Elul

The following is based on Rabbi Shmueli's 11th Elul 5786, Hebrew Chizuk video

Preparing for the Days of Awe

Eleven days of the month of Elul have already passed, leaving just 19 days until the great and awesome Day of Judgment, Rosh Hashanah, and 29 days until Yom Kippur. A person must take stock of himself. As the Mishnah Berurah writes, thirty days before Yom Kippur, one must begin studying the laws of Yom Kippur and the laws of repentance. We must pay very strong attention and strengthen ourselves.

Rabbi Amnon of Mainz wrote in Unetanneh Tokef: "And repentance, prayer, and charity avert the evil decree." Our Rabbis explained that for true repentance, one needs Tzom (fasting), Kol (voice/prayer), and Mamon (money/charity). Fasting represents repentance, voice represents prayer, and money represents charity.

All three concepts are hinted at in the acronym of the word ELUL:

• Prayer: "Ani LeDodi VeDodi Li" ("I am for my beloved and my beloved is for me").
• Repentance: "Umal Hashem Elohecha Et Levavcha Ve'et Levav" ("And Hashem your L-rd will circumcise your heart and the heart of..."), which refers to circumcising the foreskin of the heart.
• Charity: "Ish Lere'ehu Vematannot La'evyonim" ("...gifts of one to his neighbor and gifts to the poor").

The Ben Ish Chai—whose Yahrzeit occurs this week—teaches a wondrous insight: the numerical value (gematria) of Tzom, Kol, and Mamon equals Meshichim ("Messiahs"). In the merit of fulfilling these three things completely, the redemption will come through Messiah son of David and Messiah son of Yoseph.

Furthermore, the initial letters of Kol (Kof), Mamon (Mem), and Tzom (Tzadi) spell the word Kamatz (קמ"ץ), corresponding to the vowel Kamatz. This vowel represents the highest cabbalistic realm of Keter (Crown), from which the ultimate redemption must be drawn down. These are the primary goals we must strive for with all our heart and strength.

The Lion Has Roared: The Parable of the Pit

Now, "The lion has roared—who will not fear?"

This is illustrated by a story of a man walking along a road who hears the roaring of a lion. Following the sound, he reaches a deep pit and sees a ravenous lion at the bottom with its giant mouth wide open, roaring loudly. As the man stands terrified at the edge, he suddenly slips and falls into the pit.

Desperate, he grabs hold of a small plant root growing out from the side wall, hanging in mid-air right above the lion's gaping jaws. To make matters worse, a rodent appears and begins gnawing away at the very root he is clinging to.

In utter desperation, the man cries out "Shema Yisrael!" and repents with all his heart, screaming out to Hashem. The Shevet Musar explains that this is precisely how a person must feel during these holy days. Standing above destruction, one waits for Someone Above to extend a helping rope. When a person performs sincere repentance and good deeds, a rope is extended from Heaven so that he does not fall into the lion's mouth.

Emulating Divine Mercy: The Parable of the Factory Manager

One of our central duties right now is to emulate the attributes of the Holy One, Blessed be He. The Talmud teaches: "Whoever overlooks his strict measures [forgives others], all his sins are overlooked."

Regarding the verse, "And Hashem passed before him and proclaimed," Rabbi Yochanan taught that the Holy One, Blessed be He, wrapped Himself like a shliach tzibbur (prayer leader) and showed Moshe the order of prayer, saying: "Whenever Israel acts before Me according to this order, I forgive them."

What does it mean to "act according to this order"? Does it simply mean reciting the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy ("Hashem, Hashem, Almighty, merciful and gracious...")?

The Chafetz Chaim explains this through a parable: A factory manager needed to travel overseas to New York to visit family for a month. Worried about factory operations in his absence, he left a detailed list of instructions with his clever senior deputy, explaining how to operate the machinery and meet daily production goals, strictly warning him to follow the list.

When the manager returned after a month, he found absolute chaos and zero output. Furious, he asked his deputy why he ignored the instructions. The deputy replied, "I read the entire list word-for-word every single day!" The manager exclaimed, "You fool! Did you think reading the list would run the machines by itself? The list was given so you would learn how to execute and operate the work!"

The Chafetz Chaim concludes: The Holy One, Blessed be He, did not give us the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy merely to recite them. "Act according to this order" means that just as He is merciful and gracious, so must you be merciful and gracious. We must walk in His ways through grace, kindness, and patience.

Rabbi Avraham Sefah cited the verse: "Truth will spring up from the earth, and righteousness will look down from heaven." If we conduct ourselves on earth with truth, patience, and kindness, Hashem responds in kind with heavenly mercy and charity.

Yielding, Self-Restraint, and Divine Providence

In the Holy Temple, a great miracle occurred: the people stood crowded together, yet when they prostrated themselves, there was ample room. This teaches that when a person stands rigid and refuses to yield, everything feels tight and crowded. But when one lowers his head and yields, room opens up.

Consider entering a taxi: you must bend down to fit inside, whereas you can walk upright into a bus. To navigate life smoothly, a person must know how to bend.

Human beings possess immense inner power, but they must also possess a braking force. Rabbi Ile'a stated in the Talmud: "The world endures only because of one who restrains himself during a quarrel," as it is written, "He hangs the earth upon nothingness" (belima, read homiletically as belima—restraint). In the merit of those who remain silent during disputes and control their anger, the entire world is sustained.

Anger stems from a lack of faith. When a person gets angry at someone who hurt, insulted, or damaged him, he foolishly believes that the other person caused the harm. A true believer knows that every insult, problem, and trouble comes directly from Divine Providence above.

The Sanctity of First Fruits (Bikkurim)

In Parashat Ki Tavo, the Torah commands the bringing of Bikkurim (First Fruits): "You shall take of the first of all the fruit of the ground... and put it in a basket, and go to the place that Hashem your L-rd will choose."

Rambam (Maimonides) describes the beautiful procession of bringing Bikkurim to Jerusalem:

• Towns of a district gathered in the main city so as not to travel alone, fulfilling "In the multitude of people is the King's glory."
• They slept in the open city square to avoid ritual impurity under a roof.
• At dawn, the officer called out: "Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to Hashem our L-rd!"
• A bull led the procession, its horns overlaid with gold and a wreath of olive leaves on its head, signaling that the fruits were from the Seven Species.
• Flutes played before them. As they neared Jerusalem, they sang: "I rejoiced when they said to me, let us go to the House of Hashem." Doves sang above, and Jerusalem's craftsmen greeted them warmheartedly: "Peace be upon you, our brothers!"

The commandment of Bikkurim instills a vital life lesson: even after working and laboring hard, you must recognize that the fruit is not yours. Master your desires! Just as the firstborn child needs to be redeemed by the Cohen, the very first of your produce must be given as a gift to the Holy Temple for Hashem.

A person should apply this principle daily: when buying goods for his home, he should first take a portion and give it to a neighbor or someone in need.

Stories of Baba Meir and his Household

This mindset of giving first fruits was exemplified in Ashdod. A righteous man named Rabbi Moshe Knafo would regularly visit Rabbi Meir (Baba Meir). While others brought small gifts like a bottle of Arak or cakes, Rabbi Moshe brought entire crates of oranges, apples, and cucumbers.

Baba Meir would often say, "Moshi, what will I do with all this? There is no one to benefit here from it and he would feel hurt.

An Ashkenazi Torah scholar named Rabbi Chaim Todres intervened, saying: "Honored Rabbi, in the Holy Temple, when First Fruits were brought, they were set down—and even if they rotted, the owner received atonement! The Temple never said 'Take them back.' He is bringing you Bikkurim; even if it sits in the corner and rots, it brings him atonement!" Baba Meir agreed, saying, "You are right. Bring them in!"

Baba Meir's home was mostly empty because his children—Rabbi Elazar, Rabbi David, Rabbi Raphael, and Rabbi Yekutiel—were raised as orphans after their mother passed away and were studying in yeshivas. Later, Baba Meir remarried a woman named Mazal (peace be upon her), and they had a son named Yeshua V'Rachamim ("Salvation and Mercy").

Yeshua V'Rachamim was born during the Yom Kippur War. Baba Meir named him thus because he declared, "The generation needs salvation and mercy." He was a hidden righteous man. Once, when he was a toddler, he swallowed his father's pills, and his mother had to rush him to the hospital to get his stomach pumped.

All these lessons point to one truth: when a person overcomes his physical desires and gives away what he has to Hashem, he elevates himself.

The Greatness and Fall of Rabbi Elazar ben Arach

The Gemara highlights the supreme stature of Rabbi Elazar ben Arach among all the Sages of Israel. When he expounded upon Ma'aseh Merkavah (the Work of the Chariot) alongside his teacher, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, fire descended from heaven and surrounded them.

In Pirkei Avot, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai enumerated the unique praises of his five top disciples:

1. Rabbi Eliezer ben Hurcanus: A plastered cistern that does not lose a drop.
2. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya: Happy is she who gave him birth.
3. Rabbi Yose HaCohen: A pious man.
4. Rabbi Shimon ben Natanel: One who fears sin.
5. Rabbi Elazar ben Arach: An ever-strengthening spring.

When asking them to identify the best path a person should cleave to, Rabbi Eliezer said "a good eye," but Rabbi Elazar ben Arach said "a good heart." Rabban Yochanan declared: "I prefer the words of Rabbi Elazar ben Arach over all of yours (because his definitions, includes your definitions)." He even stated: "If all the Sages of Israel were on one scale of the balance, and Rabbi Elazar ben Arach was on the other scale, he would outweigh them all."

Yet, despite his unmatched greatness, Rabbi Elazar ben Arach suffered a tragic spiritual fall due to a momentary weakness for physical comfort.

He moved to a place called Chomat Diphrogyata (Shabbat 147b), renowned for the luxurious thermal waters of Dimsit and exquisite wines. Drawn into indulgence, he stayed for six months, bathing and delighting in physical pleasures.

When he finally returned to his studies, he had forgotten his learning entirely. When called to read from the Torah verse "Hachodesh hazeh lachem" ("This month shall be unto you"), his ruined memory led him to misread the letters as "Hacharesh hayah libam" ("Their heart became deaf").

This tragedy contains a deep spiritual lesson: If even the greatest Torah scholar stops studying to pursue indulgence, his learning will be forgotten.