Moreshet Shaul: Recognize Your Place | Various Rabbis | Beit Midrash

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קטגוריה משנית

Parashat Hashavua Series'Library Piskei Din (Hebrew)Test Yourself

This address commemorates a graduation at the school of K'far Haro’eh (Rav Yisraeli’s moshav) and the laying of the cornerstone for its permanent building.

The idea behind an anniversary is that the past, which generally becomes increasingly distant and forgotten, suddenly returns to memory, with all its peaks and nadirs, its lights and shadows, appearing to us as a complete, united entity. This siyum marks both a graduation and a siyum of sorts of an era in the moshav’s life – the era of bereishit, its creation and temporary existence with wandering even within its set location. How many "exiles" there were, how many uprooting events, how many teachers replaced teachers when they left the school. Different doctrines on the mix of subject matter were tried. Only now are we laying the foundations of the permanent building as our first class graduates. Apparently, their lot was to be educated without sturdy foundations, but with change and new creations.

From one perspective, certainly these wanderings were a sign of weakness in the state of education. After all, one cannot compare studying in an unset, changing place to studying in a modern, organized school. But the past period has something positive we should especially stress.

Moreshet Shaul (20)

Various Rabbis

2 - Moreshet Shaul: Rebirth Through Torah

3 - Moreshet Shaul: Recognize Your Place

4 - Moreshet Shaul: The Fundamentals of Judaism

The experience the children had was the best way for them to appreciate the nature of changing life. They saw how the beginning is difficult, as is the continuation. Those who were handed everything, those who woke up and found everything laid out before them, will not notice how things were prepared; they will see everything they have as natural. Then throughout their lives, they will not search for goals and the fulfillment of ideals, but seek the more comfortable, easier path. Those who reach school age and find their school all prepared will not understand their parents; they will not appreciate the wrinkles on their sweating faces, the graying hair on their heads, and the battered hands that prepared everything.

"Ben Zoma said: 'How much toil did Adam undergo until he had bread to eat? He plowed, sowed, reaped, piled, thrashed, selected, ground, sifted, kneaded, and baked. Only afterward did he eat. And I wake up and find all of these things prepared before me. And how much toil did Adam undergo until he had clothes to wear? He sheared, whitened, beat, spun, weaved, and then he found clothes to wear. And I wake up and find all of these things prepared for me’" (Berachot 58a). Ben Zoma was one who knew how to appreciate things in normal life, and this statement became a testament. This implies that most people lacked this sensitivity.

We do not want to raise pampered children. We want to educate our children to know what toil is, to give, and to know how to sacrifice. We are the "Nation of the Book." It is of the book, not a book. However, we are also a nation, with all the things that come with that. Therefore, we must tell our children who have been tested: "You have seen the great toil that was invested in you to enable and prepare you to be complete Jews. Realize your place! Do not get swept away to foreign camps. Do not seek easy profits! Do not search for comforts that your parents saw in their parents’ homes and ran away from."

Your parents placed the foundations, you continue to build the building. How much bravery it took to bring you to this point. Some fought hard to come to Eretz Yisrael, feeling that their life in the Diaspora appeared steadier than it turned out to be. Many underwent a trying path to learn the way of workers in Eretz Yisrael. There was a great burden to carry, requiring stubbornness and belief. All of this had an impact; there is reason for faces to look tired and bodies spent. You are in the morning of your lives; know how to continue what your parents started. You are the guarantee that their toil was not for naught. Be prepared! We are waiting for you, as is the religious settlement movement.

Delve into our sources, and realize that we have the key to the nation’s survival. Only the Torah, which has protected us, can protect us in the future. Preserve simplicity in your lives; do not look for luxuries. Be straight in thought, truthful in speech, and modest in behavior. You are our future!

Moreshet Shaul