Wednesday, May 08, 2013

na'aseh v'nishma - a statement of bitachon

Speaking of bitachon and since we are getting close to Shavuos, R’ Binyamin Finkel from the Mir in Yerushalayim spoke in my son’s yeshiva earlier this week on the relationship between bitachon and kabbalas haTorah.  At first glance, agreeing to a deal with the terms of “na’aseh v’nishma” makes no sense.  Imagine someone offered to sell you what they promise is outstanding merchandise at some incredibly discounted price, a once in a lifetime opportunity.  The only catch to the deal – you can’t see what you are buying before you agree to the terms.  Who in his right mind would fall for that?  You don’t need to have business sense to recognize a swindle like this. 

Now imagine the same deal, but instead of it being offered by a shady looking guy in a back room, it is offered to you by a parent or a rebbe.  Same terms, but this time, you would take it.  What’s the difference?  The difference is trust.  You know your parent or your rebbe would not offer you a losing proposition.  “Na’aseh v’nishma” demonstrated our trust that whatever was in Torah, it was for our best because it came from Hashem.

3 comments:

  1. How does this fit in with the Medrash about the other nations? They didn't trust Hashem?
    Maybe AHN...

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  2. exactly.

    BTW, if I recall correctly, the maharal does not take that midrash literally, i.e. that Hashem went nation to nation and offered the Torah. All it means to demonstrate is that the Torah contradicts the inherent character traits of those nations.

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  3. Then there's the issue of moda'ah rabbah. Seems the trust was hedged.
    [For over a thousand years, until they waived the disclaimer while
    they were getting drunk].

    ReplyDelete