I find the following very depressing. Mitzvos are an afterthought. The goal is perfection and you get that via discussing "two are holding a tallis." There's a pecking order, you'll never be like Yaakov Kamenetsky because he really could learn up that Gemara about the tallis, or the get, or the oath. And what do women do? They get it through you, by doing the dishes. Does this make any sense? The Gemara talks about mitzvos, but we don't care about them so much. We care only about the mind, but you must close your mind and mimic the thoughts of the leaders. It's a bundle of confused dogmas that contradict one another. The end product is king making. You serve the self-appointed kings. They do the Gemara all day long thanks to you slaving at the office and handing over your money, and the woman slaving in the kitchen. The kings get richer and richer. You watch them wave from the palace balcony like the Queen of England and Prince William. He even quotes God. Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, he says. His words here are disguised as encouragement, but they are a wolf in sheep's clothing. He is devouring us.
Rav Avigdor Miller
on The Best Merchandise
Q:
You’re speaking
tonight about the greatness of learning Torah and how important it is for a
person’s perfection. But don’t you think that some people are better off making
achievements in other areas? Maybe they didn’t have the opportunity when they
were younger to learn how to learn and now it’s too late?
A:
You’re living up to your reputation of asking good questions;
very good, very good. And the answer is nobody is excluded from learning Torah
because there's no such thing as not having the opportunity. Now it
doesn't mean that if you'll study Torah, you're going to become a chaver of Rav
Yaakov Kamenetsky. It doesn’t mean you'll sit next to the Steipler and
talk in learning. But you certainly can achieve in learning Torah.
If you're interested, join our telephone Torah program. It's amazing what
you can accomplish. You'll learn a half possuk of chumash a day on your
own with a linear translation. After a while, you'll be amazed – you'll
know two parshiyos of chumash. There's no excuse for not doing
that. Then you'll start Pirkei Avos and eventually you'll know six
perakim of Pirkei Avos. Then you'll learn it without the nekudos.
You'll say six perakim of mishnayos without nekudos. Then we'll put you
on the gemara program, and you're on the straight way to greatness.
Everybody can do it!
Now, this you could say. Suppose somebody is not doing it
and won't do it; are there no other avenues to achievement? Yes, there are
also other avenues to achievement. Yes, certainly we do not deny
that. There certainly are other opportunities for greatness but the prime
achievement is the study of Torah. And if people want to know how to do it,
we're happy to advise them privately and give them a program that's easy,
that's available, and it’s a program that everybody can succeed in.
There are other things to do too, however, in addition to
that. People can grow great in emunah. That's a big field! People
can grow great in tefilah; a very big field. People can grow great in
tzedakah; a big field. People can grow great in changing their middos of
character. A very big field! There are other fields and branches,
subdivisions of these fields. There is a great deal of work to do in this
world. Like it says hayom
katzar, life is short, vehamelachah
merubah, and there's a great deal of work. And nobody is left
out of opportunities.
Only if you go into a store where you have a benevolent merchant
– of course every merchant is benevolent to himself but imagine you have a
benevolent merchant who really wants to help you – and you come in to shop and
you have let's say a certain amount of money. So he's going to tell you, “Look,
the best merchandise is this right here. It might not be the most
appealing to you. It may not interest you most but I’m telling you that
it will be the best you can get for your money. However, if you want to
turn down this offer, I have something else that's almost just as good or maybe
much less valuable but it's good too.”
And therefore Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, “Look. You don't want to
learn? Then there are other things to do; there are a lot of good things
to do. But My beloved children I am holding out to you an offer. I
hope you'll accept it. Ki
lekach tov nasati lachem, I'm giving you the best thing to buy, torasi al ta'azovu,
don't forsake the study of My Torah.
TAPE # 263 (May 1979)
Shlomo said, "The sum of the matter is this: all his heard, fear God and keep His commandments. This is the sum of the man."
That's like a different Torah from what Rabbi Miller is offering.
