THE MEN AND THE BOYS
The Baltimore community has been blessed with the good fortune of having the thoughts of Rav Tzvi Einstadter on Chumash recently published and available to all. The following was culled from Rav Tzvi’s second volume on Sefer Shemos.
In our Parsha the Torah states “And Moshe grew up and he went out to his brothers to share in their difficulties”. This verse indicates a direct correlation between Moshe becoming ‘grown up’ and his sense of responsibility to his brothers. To appreciate this connection let us consider the following.
The Talmud in Pesochim indicates that regarding Torah oriented laws a minor child under age 13 is not trusted. However, regarding Rabbinical-ly legislated laws the Rabbis trusted a minor. This Talmudic passage seems to contradict a different Talmudic passage regarding the Rabbinically legislated laws of t’chum Shabbos in which a minor child is not trusted. In explaining the apparent contradiction, the authors of the Tosfos teach that the case in Pesochim deals with the Rabbinically leg-islated rule that every person must check their home for chometz before Pesach. For that, a child is trusted since he has his own obligation, we trust that he will take care of it. The second passage of the Talmud was discussing a child who was setting up an eiruv for an-other person. Tosfos explains that in that case the child is not trusted since it is not for his own obligation, it is for someone else’s obligation. We are there-fore concerned that he will not follow through on set-ting up the eiruv. A child takes responsibility for his own concerns but not for the concern of others.
Behold! In the Torah’s set of expectations we understand that the bar that separates the men from the boys is the issue of taking responsibility for others. Every adult Jew has a responsibility for the concerns of others.
In the introduction to the Nefesh Hachaim, Reb Itzle Volozhin writes in the name of his great father, Reb Chaim Volozhin, “This is the totality of Man; Man was not created for himself but to be there to support others with all his talents and resources that are at his disposal.”
Reb Shimon Shkopf writes in the introduction to his sefer, “The foundation and root of all our aspirations should be towards the betterment of the community. We should never derive pleasure for ourselves if it does not include the betterment of others.”
If HaShem has placed this expectation on us, we must be capable of living up to it.
Have a wonderful Shabbos.
Paysach Diskind