Ignorance is Not Bliss
We are allowed, and even encouraged, to learn life lessons from any person and any experience that offers such lessons. Our Sages teach that Yaakov Avinu said to Esav, עם לבן גרתי ותרי"ג מצוות שמרתי ולא למדתי ממעשיו הרעים – “I lived with Lavan and observed the 613 commandments, and I did not learn from his evil ways.” The simple meaning of the phrase ולא למדתי ממעשיו הרעים is that Yaakov was not influenced by Lavan’s sinfulness, and remained loyal to his values and principles despite living with Lavan for many years. Some Rabbis, however, understood this as a confession of sorts. Yaakov lamented that he did not learn the valuable lessons that could have been derived from observing Lavan’s evil ways. We have what to learn even from a wicked person like Lavan.
In my own experience, I managed to learn a valuable lesson from one of the most notorious figures in the history of organized crime in the United States.
When I was in 7th or 8th grade, I wrote a biography on a mob leader named Lucky Luciano. He was nicknamed “Lucky” because he survived a murder attempt. He was likely responsible for the deaths of many people. During World War II, he was able to help the government because the mob was in charge of the ports, and he helped find German spies. This service to the country earned him some degree of pardon for his crimes, and he lived the last years of his life peacefully in Sicily. Before his death, a journalist interviewed him and asked him if there was anything he learned over the course of his life as a criminal.
“Looking back,” he said, “I put a great deal of effort into organized crime, into the mob. I probably could have put in the same amount of effort as I invested in earning the illegal dollar to earning the legal dollar.” Organized crime requires enormous effort, determination and managerial skill. Lucky Luciano could have invested all this into doing it the right way, and maybe could have built a Fortune 500 company. These were his parting words to the world.
There is much to learn from these end-of-life reflections of a Mafia leader. Doing things the right way does not entail considerably more effort than doing things the wrong way. We do not have to sacrifice all that much to do things correctly.
Some people are afraid, or reluctant, to study the laws of Shabbat because they fear they will be unable to properly observe all the intricacies. They feel that “ignorance is bliss” – they’re better off just not knowing, rather than learning information which is too difficult for them to practically apply. But this is a grave mistake. The same effort it takes to make an “illegal cup of tea” on Shabbat can be used to make a “legal cup of tea.” It is not that difficult or complicated. To the contrary, the more a person knows, the more he or she is able to do without concern. Of course, there is no right way to drive a car on Shabbat, but when we learn halachot, we discover the right way to do things so we can properly observe and enjoy Shabbat.
The Hafetz Haim made a similar comment about the prohibition of lashon ha’ra. He said that a person who learns the laws of lashon ha’ra is much better off than somebody who does not. One who does not study these halachot cannot speak at all, as he does not know which speech is allowed and which is forbidden. But once a person learns the laws of permissible and forbidden speech, he can speak without concern. Indeed, it is told that the Hafetz Haim made a point of being a conversationalist, conversing at length with people, to demonstrate that thoroughly studying and meticulously observing the laws of lashon ha’ra does not prevent a person from speaking, but to the contrary, allows him to converse freely without concern of violating any prohibitions.
This is a calculated strategy of the yetzer ha’ra – to make us think that studying halachot makes life more difficult and restrictive, so we feel intimidated and hesitant to learn.
Rav Yerucham Levovitz taught this lesson to his students in the Mir Yeshiva in Europe, where he taught in the 1930s, through the example of decaffeinated coffee. His doctor told him that due to his heart condition, he needed to stop drinking coffee, as the caffeine was potentially harmful. Rav Yerucham, who enjoyed drinking coffee, had no choice but to avoid all coffee. One of his American students, however, went home for Pesach one year and brought back to the yeshiva a jar of decaffeinated coffee for Rav Yerucham. He explained to him that this was coffee he could drink, because it did not have any caffeine.
“But how does it taste, if it has no caffeine?” the Rabbi asked. “It cannot possibly taste like ordinary coffee!”
The Rabbi tasted the coffee, and to his surprise, it tasted like regular coffee, even though it had no caffeine and he was able to drink it without damaging his health.
Rav Yerucham delivered an entire talk to his yeshiva on this topic, about the mistake he made. He had thought that it’s the caffeine – the forbidden substance – that gave coffee is enjoyable taste. He assumed that there was no way he could enjoy coffee without damaging his health. Similarly, the yetzer ha’ra makes us believe that anything good and enjoyable must be harmful. This way, we feel discouraged and frightened, and we despair and don’t even bother trying. But this is a terrible mistake. Just as patients who are not allowed caffeine are able to enjoy caffeine-free coffee without causing themselves harm, we can enjoy a pleasant life without causing ourselves spiritual harm.
Ignorance is not bliss. Knowledge is not something to fear. We should not be afraid to continuously study and learn the halachot Shabbat, which will only enhance our Shabbat observance, and allow us to enjoy Shabbat each week to its very fullest.