Learning is a vital part of our ethos and vision and we would like to respond to our members needs and requirements. Initially the Dayan has established a programme offering weekly sessions for both men and women but please do let us know if you would like any additional learning sessions and we will do our best to find you a suitable chavruta.
Shiurim & Adult Education
THOUGHTS ON PINCHAS BY DR FINLAY (YOSEF ELMKIES’ GRANDFATHER)
Based on the writings of Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz
What makes a person great? Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz was once visiting his uncle, Rabbi Avrohom Yafin, the Rosh Yeshiva of Novardock Yeshiva. He asked to be introduced to the bochur with the sharpest mind, then the one who studied the hardest, then the one with the widest knowledge. Rabbi Yafin pointed out three of the bochurim. Then he asked who the best bochur is. Rabbi Yafin pointed out a fourth. Rabbi Shmuelevitz asked what made him the best. Rabbi Yafin answered that this one is a seeker. In becoming great the most important middoh is to be constantly seeking the truth through increasing one’s knowledge of Torah.
In parshas Pinchas it describes Yehoshua bin Nun as a man in whom there is spirit. Sforno explains that this means to be prepared to receive the light of Hashem, to not be satisfied with the knowledge he already had but to want more, to want Hashem’s light to illuminate his mind with the truth of the Torah. This was why Hashem chose Yehoshua to be the leader of Klal Yisroel after Moshe Rabbenu precisely because he was a seeker who always wanted to increase his knowledge.
When Moshe Rabbenu went up Har Sinai Yehoshua waited for him at the foot of the mountain. He took no time off, no breaks. Even though he could have hurried to meet Moshe and carry on with his learning, when he came down Yehoshua was not prepared to waste even those precious moments between the camp and the foot of the mountain. That is a seeker.
And who was the bochur who Rabbi Yafin described as the best. He went on to become known as the Steipler Gaon.
This is a very important lesson for a barmitzvah boy as he sets out on the path he is to follow in his life. To be a seeker always working hard to increase his knowledge of Torah and never being satisfied with the knowledge he has.
Shabbat Shalom.
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