Rabbi Frand On Parshas Eikev
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Good
Shabbos!
The Silent Witness
And you shall write them on the doorposts of your homes and your gates.
(Devarim 11:20)
The Mezuzah stands like a sentinel at the door, we pass it whenever we
enter
or leave the room. What are we to think as we look upon the mezuzah? What
are we to contemplate when we see the letter shin on the case and are
reminded of the holy scrolls within?
The Rambam, at the end of his presentation of the laws of mezuzah, tells us
to think about the eternal nature of the Almighty. This will inspire us to
awaken from our slumber and come to the realization that nothing in this
world is permanent other than the Almighty, His Torah.
Why does the mezuzah remind us of these concepts?
Perhaps it is because the mezuzah is a silent witness to the ebb and flow
of
history and human events. Think about the mezuzah of an old shul or some
other venerable edifice. It has been hanging there for decades if not
centuries. It has seen infants brought into the shul to be circumcised, and
it has seen these same people grown old brought into the shul to be
eulogized and buried. It has seen generations come and go. It has seen
empires rise and fall. It has seen the birth of ideologies and their
demise.
In the last century alone, our hypothetical mezuzah would have seen
humanism, capitalism, materialism, existentialism, each embraced as life
philosophies and then discredited. It would have seen the rise of the
Soviet
Union and Communism and their ignominious collapse. It would have seen the
creation of the Third Reich, the Thousand-Year Reich, its perpetration of
the Holocaust against the Jewish people and its ultimate defeat and
destruction. It would have seen the birth of Israel and it growth to
maturity.
When the railroads were introduced in the 19th century, people thought the
new technology was so perfect that it would never change. The railroad
companies sold corporate bonds for centuries in advance. And where are they
all today? On the scrap heap, along with their rusting trains.
Human beings are always seeking immortality. This invention, this idea,
this
building, this book, this one will capture that elusive immortality, this
one will stand the test of time, this is one for the ages, this one will
make me immortal. But it doesn't work.
The Torah tells us (Bamidbar 32:42), "And Novach went and captured Kenas
and
its suburbs, and he named it (lah) Novach in his name." According to the
rules of Hebrew grammar, the word lah should end with a mappik heh, a mark
of emphasis, but it doesn't. It ends with a weak heh. The Midrash tells us
that the weak heh lets us know that the city did not last. It was
eventually
destroyed.
Why does the Torah consider it important to let us know this information?
It
is meant to teach us the futility of immortalization. Novach wanted to
immortalize himself by creating something permanent - an entire city, no
less! - and crowning it with his own name. But he failed. The city was
destroyed, and his name would be forgotten if it were not mentioned in the
Torah.
Everything constantly changes. Nothing is permanent. Only the Almighty and
His Torah are permanent. The mezuzah can bear witness.
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Text Copyright © 2004 by Rabbi Yissocher Frand and Torah.org.
Transcribed by David Twersky; Seattle, Washington.
Technical Assistance by Dovid Hoffman; Yerushalayim.
Rav Frand Books and Audio Tapes are now available for sale! Thanks to www.yadyechiel.org and Artscroll.com.
