Siyum Maseches Berachos: Hadran Alach and the Love Between a Jew and Torah

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. At the siyum of a masechta, every masechta we end with, Hadran alach. The masechta, v'hadrach alan. Daiton alach, v'daitan alan. Lo nisnashi minach, v'lo sisnashi minan. The translation is, Hadran alach, I'll come back to you. I'm now finishing and going on to the next masechta, but I'm going to come back to you. V'hadrach alan, and you come back to us. Daiton alach, our minds, you're always in our mind. Daiton alach, v'da'atchon alan, and you, you have us in mind too. Lo nisnashi minach, we don't forget you, and you don't forget us. What does that mean? What are we asking? The masechta, we talk to the masechta. We're talking to the masechta. You, you're listening. We're having a conversation with the masechta, and we talk to the masechta and we say, We're not leaving you. We're thinking about you. We're not going to forget you. So I was thinking of a pshat. What's the pshat that we ask the masechta, You come back to us. You think about us. You don't forget about us with a story about my great-grandfather, the Beis Aaron, zecher tzaddik livrachah. My grandfather, his son, Reb Shmuel David, married the granddaughter of Rav Moshe Landinsky, who was the Rosh Yeshiva in Radin, together with the Chofetz Chaim. Chofetz Chaim started the yeshiva, and Rav Moshe Landinsky was his hired Rosh Yeshiva in the yeshiva. My grandfather, Reb Shmuel David, learned in the yeshiva by the Chofetz Chaim, literally under the feet of the Chofetz Chaim for 13 years. When they made the shidduch, it was Rabbi Chanan Wasserman, zecher tzaddik livrachah. He came up with the idea. So when they were talking about the shidduch, they went to the Chofetz Chaim, and they asked the Chofetz Chaim if he approves. And the Chofetz Chaim said, I do, and I want to tell you something. I want to tell you Reb Shmuel David Wolkin is the son of the Beis Aaron. Apples don't fall far from the tree. And I want to tell you who the Beis Aaron—I want to tell you the family of the Beis Aaron, the Pinskerov. And he said as follows: It was known in the yeshivas that the Beis Aaron, my great-grandfather's sefer, was so well accepted, learned by every yeshiva. Till today, in the yeshivas, they learn the Beis Aaron on the masechtas. And then he wrote on the teshuvos. And then he wrote on the droshes, and then he wrote many, many sefarim, and they were all accepted. They were all accepted, and this was supposed to be something which was unique, that a person in his lifetime, all his sefarim should be so loved and happily learned. Reb Baruch Ber Leibowitz, the Birchas Shmuel, who learned with my grandfather, the Beis Aharon, in Volozhin at the same time, commented. He said, You know, I was also in Volozhin at that time, and they said about me that I was a genius. Yet my sefarim, I didn't write sefarim that were so accepted. Of course, he had a yeshiva, and he was a tremendous gadol in Torah, but these books, it was a gift, a matanah that the Beis Aharon had, that his sefarim should be accepted. Said the Birchas Shmuel, I attribute this because of his close relationship with his rebbe. The Netziv, he was so close to the Netziv, his hand was clinched together with the rebbe's hand, and he never left it. His kesher, his love for his rebbe was so strong, and it is this that gave him.

The zechus that he was zoche that his Torah should be so much learned in the yeshivas and accepted, said the Chofetz Chaim. That's what Reb Bochber says. Reb Bochber says it's the Rebbe. And interestingly, they went back to the Beis Aharon and they told him this, that Reb Bochber said that the reason why his sefarim are so accepted, so much mefursam, is because of his relationship and his love for his Rebbe. He said it's true. When the Netziv passed away, when the Netziv was niftar, for one straight year, my eyes were wet from tears. There were tears. That's how much I loved and missed my Rebbe. Said the Chofetz Chaim, that's what Reb Bochber says. I have a different pshat. I have a different reason why the Beis Aharon sefarim were so accepted. And he said as follows: the Beis Aharon, you know from Russia, right? They used to take anybody. They used to come and say that he's a communist. They would take you away and lock you up. The Beis Aharon sat in jail because he spoke against communism. He sat for over a year, and he wrote one of his books, one of his sefarim, Baba Kama, in jail. And it was with a lot of mesiras nefesh. It wasn't easy. It was sacrifice. Said the Chofetz Chaim, the Torah is machazeres; it searches back to go back to those that are moser nefesh for the Torah. Yeah, the Torah says, This person, he was moser nefesh. I want to be by him, because he loves me so much, says the Torah. I found the person that I want to be by. HaTorah machazeres al eilu shemosrim nafsham al haTorah. The love you show the Gemara, and the feelings that you show the Gemara, and the sacrifice you have for the Gemara, the Gemara says, I want this person. I want to be by him. I found the person I want to be by. Hadra an alach. We're going to come back to you, and we think about you, and we won't forget you. And we ask the masechta, I have a relationship with you. You think about me. You don't forget me. You come to me also. The Torah wants to go to those that want it. Daf Yomi is difficult. It takes that you want it. You have to want to learn Torah. And if you want and you show sacrifice, the Torah will be there to come towards you. The connect to you, hadron alach. Reb Chaim MiVolozhin. You know, we talk about Torah lishmah, which might be the ultimate in Talmud Torah. Torah lishmah. Every yeshiva boy is instilled with this goal, with this elite, to have Torah lishmah. What is Torah lishmah? And Reb Chaim Volozhin explains, Torah for the sake of Torah, and in yeshivas they talk a lot about this. But there's one Reb Chaim MiVolozhin in Pirkei Avos, in Ruach Chaim. In Nefesh HaChaim, Reb Chaim MiVolozhin says Torah lishmah means Torah for the sake of Torah. But in Ruach Chaim, his peirush on the Mishnah of Kol ha-lomed Torah lishmah explains Torah lishmah l'shem ahavas haTorah. Ahavas. Torah lishmah is about loving the Torah. Every Yid has a kesher, a kesher of love, a connection, me and my Gemara, me and my Gemara. Every Yid, who is he attached to?

He's attached to his Gemara, and when he's attached to his Gemara, his Gemara is attached to him. It's a two-way affair. It's a two-way kesher. I love the Gemara. The Gemara loves me. I love l'shem ahavas haTorah. I once heard a Chassidish pshat. I don't know if it's the pashut pshat, but it spoke to me. It touched me. The pasuk, V'chol banayich limudei Hashem. That's the pasuk we end off the first masechta, as like I explained to you in many other masechtas. V'chol banayich. What does it mean? All your children should be limudei Hashem, knowledgeable, learn, learn it in the words of Hashem. The Chassidish pshat goes as follows: V'chol banayich, just as you view all your children, you should feel limudei Hashem, the same love to the words of Hashem. V'chol banayich, as you feel towards your children, that kesher, that unbound, the love, there is no limit to that love. V'chol banayich, just as all your children, it should be limudei Hashem. I want to tell you an interesting introduction to one of my grandfather's sefarim, and this shows you the love. And in Lithuania... They instilled this to the children in the cradle, as they rocked the children in Lita. They used to teach them and sing to them, the mothers, love of Torah, love of Torah. A Jew, a Jew means to love Torah. This is the words of the introduction. It's interesting, and a lot of people bring it because it's unique. My grandfather talks to the sefer in the introduction, and he says, My daughter. He talks to the sefer, and he calls his sefer my daughter. Till now you were home, and you were with me. Now you're going to the outside, to the world. You're going out into the world. I don't know if everyone will treat you the way I treat you with so much love. You hear, rabosai? And he talks about how there are people who will love you because they're looking for the truth in the learning, so you will be a tremendous asset. But what was the— and I've heard this from many gedolim. They say that hakdamah, it speaks volumes. The love, the love, the love, the love that he had for his chidushei Torah. Biti, my daughter. V'chol banayich limudei Hashem. Let me tell you two quick stories, and then we'll start Masechta Shabbos, and we're on the journey, the journey. And as they say, it might be a rough journey, but remember, where there's love. Nothing is difficult when you love. The same way for your child, your moser nefesh, you stay up day and night, and there's no tired and not tired. So let me tell you two beautiful quick stories. Reb Boruch Ber. Interesting, the same Reb Boruch Ber. He never held a Gemara. Like, you ever see how people hold the Gemara in their hand, side, right? They hold it, they carry a Gemara. Let me show you. Reb Boruch Ber never carried a Gemara like this. Why not? You look at the pictures of Reb Boruch Ber, you'll see it. It's unique. How did he hold the Gemara? Like this. He carried the Gemara like this. He would say, The way you carry a child, that's how you carry your Gemara. A Gemara should not be carried. Would you carry your child like this? You carry it close to your heart. Let me end with the following story, which touched me greatly. Reb Tzvi Pesach Frank, the Rav of Yerushalayim, yech tzaddik livracha, unbelievable giant, Reb Tzvi Pesach Frank, the Rav of Yerushalayim, during the...

war in Israel. They were told that they have to leave the houses, and they have to, in bunkers and, you know, miklatim, and they didn't know when they're going to come back. They had no idea when, you know, the war will end. So what does a person do when he has to leave his home for a long period of time, not even knowing when he'll come back, and if he comes back, the house will still be standing? They used to bomb houses in Yerushalayim. It was a... So what do you think Reb Tzvi Pesach did? Of course, he went out with his family, but before he left, he went to the Sefarim shank, and he pulled out every sefer. He gave it a kiss, and he said, I'm leaving. I hope one day to come back. I hope one day to come back. I'm going to miss you. The love, the love, like you say goodbye to someone who you love, that's called ahavas haTorah. And this is what we tell Maseches Brachos. Maseches Brachos, we love you. We're going to come back, and we think about you, and we'll never, ever forget. And Maseches Brachos says back, I love you back, and I'll be back to you, and I won't forget about you. And im yirtzeh Hashem, we should be zocheh to learn Masechta after Masechta like this, bimheirah, im yirtzeh Hashem, habias haGoel, together till we go to Yerushalayim ir hakodesh. Amen. You've just experienced another Torah class, brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.