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By Rabbi Tuvia Bolton, Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim, Kfar Chabad, Israel

This week’s Torah reading comes after the holiday of Shavuot, when G-d gave the Jews the Torah at Sinai and made them a ‘Kingdom of priests and a holy nation’ (Ex. 19:6) and ‘lifted them up’.

So the name of our reading; Naso, which means ‘elevate’ reminds us that at Sinai G-d elevated us.

The Talmud also relates that when the Jews got the Torah, the entire world trembled and ‘Bilam’,the leading wiseman at that time, explained, “G-d is giving His people power; G-d is blessing His people with peace.”

In other words, with the Torah the Jews received elevation, peace and power.

But at first glance this is not so. Jews that keep the Torah are few, weak and hated by most of the world. So how did the Torah give us power, peace or lift us?

The answer to all this might be found in this story about the Baal Shem Tov (who passed away on the holiday of Shavuot some 200 years ago as did king David over 2,000 years before that).

Rabbi Yisroel Baal Shem, known as The Baal Shem Tov or Besh’t for short, was the originator of the Chassidic approach to Judaism.

He taught that every Jew is holy, G-d creates the world constantly, and every detail, especially every human being, is important and meaningful. But the only way to reveal this is when Jews observe the Torah and the greatest tragedy is a Jew that abandons the Torah.

Once the Besh’t was sitting with his pupils when suddenly he looked up at the ceiling for several moments as though in another dimension and called over a pupil; Azriel Yosef to whom he gave instructions to travel to a certain place and save a Talmudic scholar by the name of Lipa who had left Judaism.

Who was Lipa?

Lipa was a Torah genius and had been one of the prize Talmudic pupils of Rabbi Nachum Yitzchak of Harki. As a young boy, learning Torah was his consuming desire and he worked at it day and night until in his early teens he had mastered most of the twenty some volumes of Talmud by heart and had the markings of a great leader.

The Rabbi of Harki, treated young Lipa as an only son, and when marriage offers began pouring in he, after much searching and sifting, finally agreed to a G-d fearing girl from a well-known wealthy family that would support Lipa while he sat and learned Torah for the rest of his life if necessary. The future was promising.
The wedding was spectacular. Every Jew for miles around; rich and poor, learned and simple, young and old attended. But the highlight of the evening was the brilliant Torah speech given by Lipa, the groom. It was so deep yet understandable that it was hypnotizing, and everyone present marveled at Lipa’s great wisdom and knowledge.

But, the one who marveled the most was Lipa himself. Deep down he was an insatiable egotist.

For the first few years after his marriage it didn’t reveal itself. He sat and learned Torah uninterruptedly and seemed to really be doing it for G-d. But one day when he suggested to his father-in–law that perhaps he try his hand a few hours a week in the family business, and his father in law agreed, things began to change.

His father-in-law was an entrepreneur, buying, selling and making connections throughout the world and he could use some fresh blood in the business and on the first day Lipa took to it like a fish thrown into water.

He was talented and smart. Before long he was wheeling and dealing, juggling prices, making friends and a lot of money just like his father-in-law and quickly the pleasure of learning Torah became dwarfed by the pleasures of the world; real money, real risks and real profits!!

He abandoned the ways of Judaism and opted out for taking long ‘business’ trips which included partying, gambling, hunting and drinking and the Torah with its commandments held no interest for him.

He moved from Harki, sent his wife a bill of divorce, bought a huge castle and began to live and act like one of the gentile nobility.

Months later when his teacher Rab Nachum Yitzchak, heard of the divorce and what caused it he, at first, didn’t believe it. His protégé couldn’t be in the clutches of evil! He took ten of his best pupils, got directions and traveled to Lipa’s new estate. Maybe the rumors weren’t true.

But when he arrived and Lipa answered the door he was shocked to see that it was all too true to bear. Almost a year had passed since he last saw him. Lipa had totally left Judaism; there weren’t even mezuzot on the doors of his palace!

But Lipa was actually pleased to see his old mentor, , and graciously invited him and his pupils to enter. To him they were interesting relics from his past

There was no sign of shame or regret on Lipa’s face or in the tone of his voice as he showed them around his mansion; exactly the opposite! He was proud of the luxury and success and was enjoying every second of it.

He led them through the finely decorated rooms pointing out the imported chandeliers, expensive tapestries, ornate furniture and massive paintings while describing his worldwide business deals and exciting adventures.

But his teacher’s heart was broken at the sight of this lost sheep and knew he was helpless to change his ways. There was no argument that Lipa hadn’t already heard and nothing he could be offered that could match his success.

His teacher tried to say a few parting words, wiped the tears from his eyes, shook Lipa’s hand and finally said, “I’m still waiting for you to come back” gave him a kiss and left with his entourage.

From that day on Rab Nachum Yitzchak added fifteen minutes of Psalms, weeping for Lipa after the Morning Prayers.

Then, about a year later for some reason his Psalms came from a deeper place in his heart; he didn’t stop after the usual fifteen minutes. For over an hour he poured out his soul, weeping to the Creator as did King David thousands of years earlier, and when he finished, he noticed that the Synagogue was empty except for one filthy, ragged vagrant sitting in the corner also reading Psalms and weeping.

As Rab Nachum Yitzchak reached the door and was about to leave the stranger suddenly stood and approached him.

“Rabbi, if you were saying psalms for your ex-pupil, Lipa, you can stop. Lipa is….”

The Rabbi’s eyes widened in terror and the tears again began flowing. What happened? “Lipa is … what???”

“Lipa is …. ME!

“I’ve come back!” And they embraced and began to weep like babies.

Several hours later after Lipa had cleaned up and eaten he told what happened.

“A week or two after your visit a year ago, a religious Jew knocked at my door and said his name was Azreal Yosef and that he was looking for work as a manager and maintenance man. He seemed intelligent and good natured and, in fact I needed someone, so I gave him a try and he was very successful.

“He seemed to know how to fix everything that was broken and he was an excellent manager; everyone liked him and was happy to follow his advice and orders.

But although he was friendly with everyone he didn’t mingle or participate in any frivolity. In fact, the word got around that all his spare time he spent learning Torah. But on the other hand he was always available to help whoever needed it. Before long a new spirit of harmony and brotherhood could be felt among all the workers and I became curious.

So I invited this Azreal Yosef to my office and we began to talk. I saw that he was very intelligent and knew a lot of Torah but when asked him about where he came from he was mysteriously evasive. So I decided to give him a real surprise and show him my Talmudic genius.

But I was the one that got the surprise. He fully understood and even liked the Torah ideas I gave but when he explained the same ideas I almost broke out into tears. They weren’t just deep intellectual evaluations that competed with mine but filled with life and joy: Like I was explaining to him ideas and he was explaining to me how to find the way back home.

Finally, it became too much for me. I saw that he had some sort of happiness in life and in learning Torah that I had never seen before.

That is when he explained to me that there was a great Jew by the name of the Baal Shem Tov who taught love and happiness as well as awe and erudition. And the Baal Shem Tov sent him to me.”

I have no idea how this Baal Shem Tov knew that I existed; I had heard of him but never seen him in my life! So I asked Azreal Yosef for an explanation and he said:

“In every generation there is one Jew that is the head and cares for all the Jews. He knows that only the Jews can bring blessing and peace to the world by learning Torah. But the Jews need a leader to remind them of this.  A long time ago it was Moses, another example is King David, that is why his Psalms are so powerful. And in our generation it is the Baal Shem Tov.

“Suddenly I realized how selfish and stupid I’d been. All this time, even when I was learning Torah, I’d only been thinking about myself! That is why I abandoned Judaism. Because it didn’t give me what I selfishly wanted.

“But the Baal Shem Tov knew of my plight and sent someone to help me! I sold my estate, gave the money to charity and have been wandering for the last two months in repentance before I become a follower of the Baal Shem Tov.”

This answers our question about the elevation, power and peace at Sinai.

When the Torah was given G-d did not just give a book of ideas. That is what Lipa thought at first and why he left Judaism. Rather G-d gave Himself! He actually revealed Himself and spoke ‘face to face’ (Deut 5:4) to an entire nation thus He ‘elevated’ us above all the other nations.

And G-d also gave us tremendous power to change the entire world for the good when he spoke to EVERY Jewish soul individually! (That is why the Ten Commandments are all in the SINGULAR). And those words, like G-d himself, are eternal. So at Sinai every commandment we do ‘frees the world’ and makes it into a more blessed and holy place.

Similarly, the Torah is peace. When we say words of Torah and think about how each word links us to the GIVER of the Torah and CREATOR of the universe, it eliminates the cause of all strife; selfishness.  As we saw from our story. When the Highness, Power and Peace G-d gave us at Sinai is revealed,everyone comes home.

But this could only be done through Moses. Without him, and leaders like him, the Jewish people are like sheep with no shepherd (Num. 27:17) as Lipa in our story discovered.

That is why the Torah was given via Moses. And this will be the job of Moshiach.

The main ‘power’ and ‘peace’ of the Torah will only be revealed in the days of Moshiach (which the Lubavitcher Rebbe says is now if we open our ‘eyes’).

Then the Torah will shine with a new light and we will see and FEEL the G-dliness not only of the Torah but of every molecule of creation. That is what Baal Shem Tov revealed to Lipa in our story.

Then, in the days of Moshiach, the awareness of the Creator will fill the world like water fills the ocean. (Isaiah 11:9)

And, as the Rebbe said repeatedly; this should happen at any moment. We are standing on the merits of thousands of years of Jewish service, hopes, prayers and suffering. It all depends on us!

One more good deed, word or even thought, can do it …….

Wishing all our readers a Blessed Shavuot receiving of the Torah in Joy and meaning with Moshiach NOW!!  

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