Welcome to Connected, Prayer with Purpose, with Rabbi Eliyahu Farhi. Good morning, everybody. We're going to continue with the Beracha (blessing), which says, Velomdei Toratecha lishmah. And we learn Hashem's Torah lishmah, for its sake.
What does it mean to do a mitzvah (commandment) for its sake? That means for the sake of the One who commands it. Hashem commands us to do a mitzvah. And when we do a mitzvah, the ideal way to perform it is that we're doing it because Hashem said we should. In fact, it's better to do a mitzvah in that way of service than to do a mitzvah because you learned this chiddush, this great idea, about how you're connecting this and doing that.
In other words, the real reason we do a mitzvah is that Hashem said to do it. The fact that it makes me feel good, the fact that I connect and feel spiritual, connected to the idea and the concept—that's beautiful, right? Understanding the reason why Hashem perhaps made such a commandment is beautiful. That's the spice; that's the ta'am (flavor) of the tavlin of the mitzvah. That's the spices of the mitzvah. But the actual meat and potatoes of a mitzvah, of why we serve Hashem in this mitzvah, is that we're doing it because Hashem said to do it.
That's the highest level of service of Hashem, right? That's not about me. It's not about my connection, my reasons, my feelings, my motivation, or my benefits, right? It's all about Hashem. And that's what a true servant does, right? You don't serve because you understand what Hashem said. You serve Hashem because of what He said.
There's a great story that I've used a few times. There was a very, very well-respected rabbi who used to travel from community to community to give inspiration and chizuk (encouragement). Once, while traveling, he told his wagon driver, his shamash, the guy who drives him around and escorts him everywhere, “You know, I want to go to this town to speak there.” The man thought for a minute and said, “Rabbi, I'm sorry, I don't think it's a good idea. We shouldn't go.”
So the rabbi said to himself, “I can't believe you never listen to me.” The man replied, “I mean, I never listen to you? For 20 years, I've been serving you, Rabbi, and I do everything you say. I think this is a bad place to go. I don't think it's going to be well received. I think it's not a good idea.” So the rabbi said, “20 years, you didn't serve me. You thought what I was doing was a good idea, so you said, ‘Okay, I'll let the rabbi do it.’ Now that I said something you don't agree with, you made sure to tell me. So until now, I happened to say something that you thought was smart. You don't really respect me for who I am. You respect me because you also agree it's a good idea, so you let me do it.”
When we talk about mitzvot (commandments), we serve Hashem. If we serve Hashem only because of mitzvot that we understand, then it becomes a challenge when you have mitzvot that you don't understand, that you don't appreciate, or that you think are antiquated, chas veshalom (God forbid), or something like that. Being able to serve Hashem for the mitzvah and for its pure sake is a beautiful thing.
There happens to be a unique angle on Torah study that I read about many years ago in a random Beit Midrash (study hall) in Israel, when I was there in yeshiva. The rabbi writes in the introduction to the sefer Eglei Tal—anyway, he writes there that learning Torah is unique. The mitzvah of learning, the performance of the mitzvah of learning Torah, at its core, is that you enjoy learning Torah. So there's something unique about Torah: learning Torah lishmah, and learning Torah because I love learning. I love the learning. I love the Torah. I love the beauty of what Hashem has given me in the Torah.
It's different, maybe, from another mitzvah. Like, you know, a sukkah (temporary booth): you go outside in your sukkah because you love sitting outside in the nice weather, under the sun, under the sky. That's not doing the mitzvah for the mitzvah. You like to sit outside because you enjoy sitting outside, which I'm not saying is a bad thing, but you're not doing it for the purpose of fulfilling a mitzvah. Hashem said to sit in the sukkah. And I would sit outside even if it wasn't sunny, even if it wasn't so hot, right? So nice out. I still would sit outside. Here, this is something unique, where you're almost allowed and meant to enjoy it, right? That's the performance of the mitzvah.
So when we ask Hashem that we should all know Your name and learn Your Torah lishmah, we're also saying that we should be people who learn Torah for the right reasons, right? Not for our own benefit, not for the sake of putting ourselves above other people, and not for rubbing it in other people's faces, right? And then, on a higher level, that we shall learn Torah lishmah, that we shall learn it with the full enjoyment that comes with learning Torah.
And Be'ezrat Hashem (with Hashem's help), we shouldn't have that type of life where we appreciate and learn and love to learn. And we let the Torah touch us in a way that really changes our direction and brings us closer to the way Hashem wants us to be. Have a great day.