Parshas Matos-Masei | The Parsha of Vows - Why all these stringencies and embellishments in serving Hashem?

00:00 Speaker 1 People ask: Why is it specifically among Jews that we find so many added stringencies, enhancements, and practices that did not exist before? We find quite a few examples, even beginning in the Talmud, with the enactments of the Sages. As the years went by, the Sages added new enactments and decrees throughout the generations. What is more, we find that in the days of the Second Beis Hamikdash there were far more enactments and stringencies than in the days of the First Beis Hamikdash. The vast majority of the Sages’ enactments and decrees date from the Second Beis Hamikdash period. We also find that during the exile, as the darkness grows, the tzaddikim, rabbis, and great Torah leaders added new enactments, decrees, practices, and stringencies that had not existed before. In the later generations of the exile, beginning with the Baal Shem Tov and his disciples, quite a few enhancements in the performance of mitzvos were added. In the area of “do good,” new enhancements and stringencies were added that had not existed before. And similarly, in matters of “turn away from evil,” practices were added that call for refraining from certain things—even permissible things—because they might be harmful. Chassidus speaks about matters of [unclear], but also about permissible things. As the well-known saying quoted in Chassidus goes, people say, even—

01:49 Speaker 1 It is quoted in the name of Rabbi Yisroel of Ruzhin: “What is forbidden is forbidden; and what is permitted, you don’t need.” It is not only forbidden things that are off-limits; even permissible things are not necessarily needed. We need to understand the point of this. Seemingly, as time goes on, [unclear], people grow weaker, and many things become harder to do. Yet precisely as time passes and the generations grow weaker and weaker—the generations are not getting better, but the opposite—new stringencies, enhancements, enactments, and practices are added from one generation to the next. Seemingly, we need to understand why. To understand this, we will first bring a story, along with stories and practices among the Jewish people. Then we will see, based on Chassidus and a maamar about vows in Parshas Matos, how Chassidus explains vows, and we will also understand where all these practices come from. Let’s begin with stories and practices: On the one hand, we find that in the later generations, enhancements were added on the positive side, in “do good”—enhancements in the performance of mitzvos. And similarly, on the other hand, in—

03:28 Speaker 1 matters that were added specifically in the later generations, even things connected with enhancements and stringencies in “turn away from evil.” One of the stories chassidim tell is about one of the great chassidim, a descendant of Rabbi Akiva Eiger. He was a well-known tzaddik named Reb Leibele Eiger, who later became the leader of the chassidim in Lublin. He was the son of Rabbi Shlomo Eiger, who was a grandson of Rabbi Akiva Eiger. There are quite a few well-known stories that chassidim tell about how Rabbi Akiva Eiger’s descendant became close to Chassidus and to Kotzk, and about everything that followed. One story chassidim tell is that Reb Leibele’s father—that is, Rabbi Akiva Eiger’s son—was deeply distressed. He did not understand it; in those days, the path of Chassidus was new, and he was deeply distressed that his son had become a chossid. He came to complain to his father, the great gaon Rabbi Akiva Eiger. Rabbi Akiva Eiger asked his son: Is everything all right? And how is his son [unclear] in matters of Jewish practice—in washing his hands, tzitzis, tefillin, and everyday conduct? After that [unclear].

05:08 Speaker 1 What had happened was that when the young man became a chossid, he took on even greater stringencies. He washed his hands not just twice but three times before eating. And then there were added stringencies with tefillin: larger tefillin, Rabbeinu Tam tefillin, and later, a larger tallis as well. In our times, new stringencies and enhancements have been added. And Rabbi Akiva Eiger said, “Well, you see that he has become more devout, that he is even more careful to enhance his mitzvah observance. So there is no need to worry anymore. It is a good path.” But when we study these matters among chassidim, we encounter quite a few stories that chassidim tell. One story chassidim tell is about a great chossid of the Alter Rebbe who was a great scholar and Torah scholar. He studied a great deal of the revealed Torah and a great deal of Chassidus, and he davened too, thank G-d. Once he came to the Alter Rebbe. He was a well-to-do man, a property owner with considerable means. He came to the Alter Rebbe for yechidus and said that he did not feel anything. Though he studied Chassidus and followed the path of Chassidus, he ought to have avodah of the heart. But

06:27 Speaker 1 he did not feel the emotion, the essential element of davening; he did not feel the vitality, pleasure, and passion of avodah of the heart. When he came to daven, he did not feel it. And the Rebbe asked him about his habits, how he ate, and so on. He described what he ate every day and the like. And the Rebbe once said to him, “When you eat white bread every day, how do you expect to feel a taste for avodah of the heart?” White bread, you know, was once a food for the wealthy. Poor people had dark bread, not white bread; that was the bread of the poor, of ordinary people, of ordinary families. And the Rebbe said that if you eat white bread, therein lies the issue: When a person is immersed in luxuries, pleasures, and material things, even when they are permissible, it makes him more materialistic. As a result, he then has no vitality in avodah of the heart. And so we find in the ways of Chassidus that the Rebbe demanded—Chassidus demands something significant of a Jew: not only that he guard himself against forbidden things, but, on the contrary, that the main work be to restrain himself in permissible things. And nevertheless, the Rebbe,

07:45 Speaker 1 as has been discussed several times, and as is explained at length later in Chassidus, even with permissible things, if a person is drawn to them and finds vitality and pleasure in them, he should not get carried away with them. That is attachment. We see this work of refraining from permissible things in stories about the Belzer Rebbe. So what is the point, and why do we say that this work is required specifically in our time? This is explained in the subject of vows. In our weekly parsha, the Torah devotes an entire section, or a whole part of the parsha, to vows. Regarding vows, we find what appear to be contradictions in the teachings of our Sages. On the one hand, we find that vows are something valuable. The Mishnah says explicitly: “Vows are a safeguard for abstinence.” When a person wants to improve and become someone connected to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, a spiritual person, but has not yet found the strength within himself to do so, then “vows are a safeguard for abstinence.” He makes a vow that protects him from something he finds hard to contend with and helps him not become immersed in it. And there are several other teachings of our Sages concerning vows. In other words, when it comes to material things, if a person develops a habit, as the Mishnah says, even though the thing is permissible, there are ways, there are...

09:16 Speaker 1 ways to do that. On the other hand, there is a teaching of our Sages that says the opposite. The well-known wording in the Gemara is: “Is what the Torah forbade you not enough?” When a person makes a vow and takes on something additional, that is not as it should be. He is told: The Torah gave you enough prohibitions; why do you need to add more prohibitions for yourself? “Is what the Torah forbade you not enough?” Seemingly, there is a contradiction between these teachings of our Sages: one says that vows are good, and the other says that vows are not good. What is the explanation? Chassidus explains that it depends on the person’s situation. There are two paths in serving Hashem. There is a person on an ordinary level in serving Hashem, and there is another level: a person on a basic level in serving Hashem. For him, serving Hashem is still a struggle: he still has a yetzer hara, desires, and an attraction to worldly matters, both material and spiritual. Such a person needs to protect himself through practices akin to vows. But when we speak of vows, the meaning is—[unclear]—one must be very careful with this. It does not mean making vows aloud, because that is an extremely serious matter. G-d forbid, if a person cannot fulfill a vow, it could lead to something very serious.

10:45 Speaker 1 Therefore, one must be careful not to make vows. On the other hand, when it comes to eating and to material, physical things, even without making a vow—what does that mean? What is the point? True, one need not actually make vows. But the very idea of holiness and restraint, of refraining from material things and the things of this world, is necessary for someone who desires and is drawn to them. Such a person must distance himself from them. This is where the work associated with vows is needed, so that material things do not pull him down or make him more materialistic. He must guard himself against the things of this world and transform them into matters of holiness. The same applies to hiddurim—going beyond the basic requirement. But for someone in the opposite position, who has already reached a level where the physical world has no hold over him and worldly desires do not burn within him—someone who has reached the level of serving Hashem characteristic of tzaddikim—the opposite is true. Not only is refraining from worldly things not the appropriate course for him; he should use material things and turn them to good. If a person has indeed reached that level,

12:12 Speaker 1 he should use the things of this world, use physicality to serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and turn them into vessels for holiness. We see this with a number of tzaddikim, such as the Ruzhiner and the Rebbe Maharash, whose way of life was one of wealth and abundance, making use of material things. There were great tzaddikim whose way of serving Hashem was specifically through abundance and wealth. But that was because they dealt with physicality and this world without any desire for it or attraction to it. For them, physical things were solely for the sake of serving Hashem, and they used those very things for holiness. Broadly speaking, these are the two paths in serving Hashem. But generally speaking, and especially in our times, a person must examine his own situation. When we are in a state of darkness, when a person has a yetzer hara and worldly desires, he must distance himself from them through vows and stringencies, in order to refine the body and the animal soul. So it is specifically through vows and stringencies—not only regarding forbidden things, but also permitted things—that one can refine the body and the animal soul and bring holiness into them. [unclear] In this way, one breaks the hold of the body and the animal soul and brings in holiness.

14:06 Speaker 1 [unclear] Similarly, there is a change regarding all prohibitions. As the Rebbe explains in Likkutei Torah at the beginning of Parshas Matos, it was specifically in times of darkness and exile that the Sages instituted new stringencies and new vows. Likkutei Torah explains that when the Beis Hamikdash stood, there was a revelation of holiness, a revelation of the Shechinah. [unclear] It is specifically when we are in a time of concealment and darkness that we need to make use of what the Sages instituted. [unclear] In the time of the Tannaim and the early authorities, there was a state of material abundance [unclear]. But when exile comes and the darkness intensifies, we must break through the darkness and bring in more light, more G-dliness. This is what the Sages and tzaddikim do for the Jewish people in every generation.

15:52 Speaker 1 New things are added: further elements in serving Hashem and in holiness, new enactments and new vows. At first glance, this is [unclear]: after all, these things are permitted. Yet it is specifically in the darkness of exile that more is added to serving Hashem.

20:15 Speaker 2 Particularly in the later generations, as we draw closer and closer to Moshiach, there is a growing emphasis on adding another hiddur, another stringency, another practice, another enactment, to prepare the world more and more for Moshiach. There was an occasion, I think it was in 5743, with the Rebbe, [unclear]. The Rebbe held a farbrengen then. It was another fifteen years. At the farbrengen, the Rebbe spoke [unclear] about that Yom Tov and so on. Then, at the farbrengen, the Rebbe said that there should be a continuation of that farbrengen. It was summertime, with a small [unclear]. It was as though they had one day, and they did not know what or how to proceed now [unclear]. He gathered a few more bochurim and wanted to hold a big farbrengen. The Rebbe had said they must continue that farbrengen, so he said he would hold a lively one. They collected money and held a big, very big farbrengen, and made quite a stir about it. They invited people from all over, and there was a very large meal and a big farbrengen. After the conclusion of [unclear], the big farbrengen took place. And—

21:45 Speaker 2 Then they wrote to the Rebbe: the bochurim sent the Rebbe a report of what they had done. Of course, the Rebbe took great pleasure in it. But on the letter containing the report, which detailed everything they had done, the Rebbe added a question in writing, with a question mark: What came of this farbrengen in actual practice? And he wrote: “See Likkutei Torah at the beginning of Parshas Matos.” What was the point of that? What did he mean by referring them to Likkutei Torah? As the Rebbe says about Likkutei Torah at the beginning of Parshas Matos, it must not remain at the level of words and inspiration. New hiddurim and new stringencies must be added. Afterward, we must see that new things are actually added in practice: new additions, new hiddurim, new stringencies, new practices. Everyone can do more and more in serving Hashem, to prepare the world for the revelation of Moshiach. This, then, is the lesson we take from Parshas Matos, especially when we read it during the Three Weeks. The Rebbe spoke at another farbrengen, on Shabbos Parshas Matos-Masei, 5740 [unclear].

23:14 Speaker 2 [unclear] The Rebbe speaks about this [unclear]. This applies during these weeks of the Three Weeks as well. The Three Weeks are a time of the darkness of exile, when that darkness intensifies. It is a time of mourning, a time when we feel [unclear], as stated in Shulchan Aruch regarding the mourning practices observed during the Three Weeks. During the Three Weeks, we must learn from the subject of vows how to bring out the power a Jew possesses. The Rebbe speaks [unclear] about what we say on this subject. Yes, we say [unclear]—the power a person has. With a single word, he can take something and make it consecrated, something holy. As he says, vows have no limitation of place. A person says [unclear]. When a person makes a vow, he takes a physical thing and sanctifies it with Hashem’s holiness, and no restrictions stand in his way. Offerings have restrictions: they must be specifically [unclear], they must be [unclear], and they belong in the Beis Hamikdash. Those are restrictions. With vows, we say: anything [unclear], without any restrictions—not of time, not of place, not of [unclear], nothing. A person can take the world and bring holiness into it.

24:24 Speaker 2 That is how a person can bring holiness into the world. But this work is especially called for now, during Bein Hametzarim, when darkness in the world increases. The Torah says, “When a man makes a vow”: specifically at this time, I must add something more—another hiddur, another stringency. Both in turning away from evil [unclear] and in doing good, I must add another hiddur, another stringency, another enactment, another custom, another practice. By doing so, a person brings holiness into the world, and then more holiness; this will dispel the darkness in the world, and this will bring about—may it be soon in our days—that we merit the true and complete Geulah through Moshiach Tzidkeinu, when “our days will turn into joy and gladness.” These very days, the days of Bein Hametzarim, [unclear], will then be days of joy, as cited in Chassidus in the name of the Arizal. When Moshiach comes, these very days will be the greatest festive days, a time of the greatest joy, because specifically [unclear], revelation comes out of the darkness, and the [unclear] is greater. May we merit the true and complete Geulah, the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu, speedily in our days, amen.