Too often we get caught up with goals, the end game, forgetting to enjoy and celebrate the process. Chavie always talks about the value of the process, and it took me a long time to see her point. Yet, I should have seen her point way earlier, as it’s right there in the Tanya, where the Alter Rebbe discusses the value in the battle—the daily and even hourly victories—instead of being intensely focused on winning the war.
Last week we hosted Rabbi Yossi Eilfort of Magen Am USA, who has done wonders in transforming the security apparatus at shuls, schools, and Jewish Centers in greater Los Angeles, and is now expanding to other places around the country. He’s a real expert, levelheaded, and knowledgeable, and it was beneficial for our shul security volunteers to spend two days learning and chatting with an expert of his caliber.
What I realized during the meetings is that whether we fully adapt his instructions or only some of them, the process of becoming more security-conscious is powerful in itself. Having the team discuss realities, scenarios, successes, and best practices was invaluable for everyone involved.
In addition, it allowed me as the leader of the community to assess and appreciate how blessed we are to have seven or eight devoted congregants in Bozeman, Montana who are willing and able to keep their community safe. They didn’t kvetch or seek compensation; they showed up willing to learn, willing to engage, wanting to protect their Jewish family, and that is a success and a sign of a healthy community.
This idea of focusing on the process is kind of counter to what we are constantly hearing these days in business and politics, where it’s all about “getting the job done.” And while it’s true that results matter and the “path to hell is paved with good intentions,” in Judaism and Torah, the means are as important as the ends and the means need to be done properly too.
My friend Chesky Newman of Cedarhurst sent me an amazing sefer called “Cheshev Ha’Efod” that was authored in 1862 by Rav Pinchas Aryeh, zt’l, who was a rav in Dinov, Hlukhiv, and Turka in Ukraine and Poland, and was recently reprinted thanks to Chesky’s efforts. It’s a very Kabbalistic Sefer and I have had a hard time understanding much of it, but I keep trying, and did find something on our parashah, Teruma, that is super interesting, but first an introduction is necessary, so please stay with me.
Going back to Tanach, we know of the Atbash cipher code, in which we take the Hebrew Alef Beis and map it to its reverse so that the first letter becomes the last letter, the second letter becomes the second to last letter, and so on. So, an alef is a tav, a beis is a shin, a gimmel is a reish, etc. In our parashah, we read about the Kapores, the lid for the holy Aron (Ark of the Covenant) in the Holy of Holies. The verse says, “You must make a cover of pure gold.” The letters that make up the word Kapores can also spell Goel in Atbash, which means “Redeemer.” The chof becomes a lamed, the pey is a vav, the reish is a gimmel and the tav is an alef. Reb Pinchas Aryeh explains that we know from the Gemara that the “Goel” (Mashiach), our redeemer, will come through the act of tzedakah, an abundance in giving charity. Yet, we must make sure that the gold (the money) used to bring the “Kapores” to “Goel”, should be “pure gold,” money that was made honestly without breaking any of the important commandments of the Torah related to ethical finances.
As I read this, I realized that what he’s saying is straightforward: the end game isn’t the only important factor, but how we get there is vital too. I get it, the process can be hard and tedious, but we learn so much along the way and we wouldn’t learn that without the process that it takes to get to our destination. It’s like the study of Talmud Bavli (Babylonian) versus Talmud Yerushalmi (Jerusalem); it’s easier to learn the Yerushalmi as it’s straight to the point, but we’d lack the incredible process of Bavli that sharpens our minds and gives us all the G-dly ways to understand the Torah from every possible perspective.
In certain Jewish circles, children are told they must learn Torah, do more chazara, and be super-focused on shteiging because that’s the only way they will grow up to be a Gadol, a great sage and reputable scholar. Yet, I find that problematic. Don’t we lose the point by having the child or yeshiva bachur lose the beauty of learning Torah Lishma, learning for the sake of the learning process that connects the learner with Hashem? Is the Torah meant to serve us or are we meant to serve Hashem through our learning? Like the Kotzker Rebbe told the person who said he had learned the entire Shas: “But what did the Shas teach you?”
The Aron, the Holy Ark, didn’t provide any service in the Tabernacle or Holy Temple. It was built with G-d’s instruction, and its role was to shower Divine light into the world. In the 1950s, the Rebbe, zt’l, pointed out that since the Ark housed the Torah, it provides a vital lesson for those studying it: We must study Torah with total bitul, total transcendence of self. It’s not about us and our agenda. It’s not about us getting a good job as a rabbi or Rosh Yeshiva or the opportunity to debate or argue Torah with others; it’s about Hashem and His wisdom, for which we are meant to act as a receptacle, absorbing Hashem’s word.
Using the Torah for our own purposes reminds me of something I heard from Rav Shaul Alter, shlita, the incredible Rosh Yeshiva of Gur. He shared a story about a wagon driver who ran into the beis midrash and asked where he could find the Rif, Rabbi Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi, on the packed shelf of seforim. The Amsterdam print of the Rif was a stand-alone sefer that was a very thick and heavy with wood on the cover, which was common back then. Everyone in the beis midrash was shocked as they didn’t know that the simple waggoneer was a secret talmid chacham. Yet, as the fellow left the beis midrash, it became clear that he was looking for the heavyRif book in order to hit a competitor over the head with it.
Some people use the Torah as a weapon, some use it as a business investment, some use it for ego, but we are meant to dedicate ourselves to studying and internalizing Hashem’s Torah, the Divine Intellect, as described in Tanya chapter five.
This Friday, Klal Yisrael is making a Siyum HaRambam, the completion of the Yad HaChazaka of Maimonides that is studied by countless Jews all over the world. In chapter 11, Halacha 4, of the final set of halachos: “The laws of kings and their wars,” the Rambam writes “Ultimately, all the deeds of J of Nazareth and that Ishmaelite (referring to Mohamad) …will only serve to prepare the way for Moshiach’s coming and the improvement of the entire world, motivating the nations to serve G-d together…. How will this come about? The entire world has already become filled with the mention of Mashiach, Torah, and mitzvos. These matters have been spread to the furthermost islands to many stubborn hearted nations…when the true king Moshiach will arise and prove successful, his position will become exalted and uplifted, they will all return and realize that their ancestors endowed them with a false heritage…”
The ultimate is for Moshiach to come, and we’ve been waiting for that spectacular moment for almost 2,000 years, but the process of getting there, as gut-wrenching as it may be, is important and also part of Hashem’s plan. This perspective is also what keeps us devoted to our mission of giving every Jew the opportunity to do mitzvos because each moment of holiness has infinite value. It’s not about if they will become frum or move to Boro Park; it’s about the timeless mitzvah moment that they are embracing now.
Just this past Friday, two Israeli brothers, Shimon and Levi, called our shul seeking kosher provisions. As Levi said in Hebrew “I’ve been vegetarian all week.” So, two hours before Shabbos, they came by, bought some chicken and meat, then both laid tefillin and davened Shemoneh Esrei side-by-side with immense devotion. I told my dad on Sunday that I wish that I davened with such focus and sincerity like these two brothers. They are from Kiryat Arba, near Chevron, and have a brother currently serving in Jenin to protect Am Yisrael, and they were just seeking a channel of connection to Hashem, a connection with their people. We chatted about the horror of what happened to the Bibas family and how we must continue to shine a light of love, compassion, and holiness into our dark world.
It’s all about the process.
It’s how Hashem wants it to play out, to its last detail, and we should embrace it, celebrate it, and see it as super valuable, because it is.
Rabbi Chaim Bruk is co-CEO of Chabad Lubavitch of Montana and spiritual leader of The Shul of Bozeman. For comments or to partner in our holy work, e-mail rabbi@jewishmontana.com or visit JewishMontana.com/Donate.
