AIKEV

When we are reciting the prayer called Kedushah we are like the angels because they sing this praise before G-d. Concerning this special form of praise the following thought of the Chofetz Chaim is recorded in his biography.

It is well known that the value of a human being is greater than that of an angel. An angel cannot mention the Name of G-d without first saying "Holy, holy, holy...." In contrast, a person can mention the Name of G-d after first saying only two words, "Baruch atah (Blessed are You)...."

We can learn from this statement that the possibilities of spiritual accomplishment which a person can attain in this world are nearly unlimited. A person can speak with G-d almost any time that he wants. He can request whatever he wants, and he is so close to G-d that he can speak with G-d in the second person, "You." Can we imagine a greater closeness to G-d than that?

In the spiritual worlds there are multitudes of levels upon levels, and the distance between each one is awesome and tremendous. (However, a human being traverses all of them instantly.)

When a rich man celebrates the wedding of his son he gives his guests all the finest delicacies for free and he does not ask from them any money. Whatever they want, he will give them. However, this situation continues only during the period of the wedding festivities. Afterwards, there is no chance that everyone will get everything that he wants.

On the other hand, in our relationship with G-d there is constantly the opportunity to receive whatever we want. Therefore, it is taught in the Talmud (Eruvin 54a) that Shmuel said to his disciple Rav Yehudah, "Grab whatever you can and eat...," because in the next world there will not be an opportunity to do so.

In the Sefer Mofet Hador, the biography of Rebbe Yechezkiel Levenstien, it is recorded that he always said the grace after meals with awe and fear and in a voice of thanksgiving. Fortunate was anyone who heard him.

Also, all the other blessings he recited slowly, with great concentration and kavannah. Anyone who heard them was left with an impression that aroused faith.

He used to say that one of the ways to achieve faith is to recite the blessings over food after one has contemplated on the fact that the food belongs to G-d, as Chazal said, that anyone who enjoys food without first blessing G-d is like someone who steals from G-d and from Israel. By virtue of the blessings which we say permission was granted to enjoy G-d's world.

He always wore his top hat when he recited a blessing, even if it was only a short blessing. Even in his final days, when he was very weak, he did not abandon this custom.

Indeed, the last blessing of his life he recited in his top hat, as is recorded by those who were close to him and there at the time. The attending doctor who was at his bedside when he was dying advised that he should be given something to drink to make it easier for him. He indicated, because his weakness was already so great that he could not speak, that his top hat should be brought to him. He then made a tremendous effort to recite the she-hacol blessing, and this was the last brachah of his life.

It is said that he once saw a grandchild of Rebbe Yisrael Salanter crying. He asked the boy of five years old, "Why are you crying, sweet one?"

The child said, "Because I want to eat."

"Why don't you eat," Rebbe Yechezkiel asked him?

"Because I need first to recite a blessing," the child answered.

"Do you not know the blessing to be recited over this food," Rebbe Yechezkiel asked?

"Yes, I know it," the child responded, "but there is no one to answer Amen after my blessing. How can I say it?"

"This is the way of Torah: eat bread with salt, drink water by measure, sleep upon the ground, and live a life of hardship" (Avot 6).

It is said in the Talmud (Sotah 49b) that in the period marked by the footsteps of the messiah wine will be very expensive. Concerning this statement Rashi comments that this will be the case because everyone will be engaged in drinking parties.

"Be careful with the children of the poor because Torah comes from them" (Nedarim 81).

In our age when most of the world has been blessed with affluence and plenty, thank G-d, a lot of opportunities have been created to allow children to enjoy all kinds of pleasures in a very undisciplined way. Many technological inventions have relieved the members of the household from chores which had previously been a regular part of any family life. Furthermore, these gadgets have produced a lot of games which have also caused an increase in the problems with which we have to deal. The children are attracted to the games and drawn away from study. Parents who have cars cause their children to want to drive, to learn driving, etc.

A world of plenty which is not checked and directed by halachah turns the concept of shepha (i.e., plenty) into pesha (a rearrangement of the Hebrew letters) which means crime or sin. Similary, it turns oneg (pleasure) into nega (plague). Children who are educated in a world like this can fall into very negative styles of life, as the prophet Yeshayahu said, "And behold: joy and gladness, killing cattle and slaughtering sheep, eating meat and drinking wine; `let us eat and drink for tomorrow we shall die.' And it is revealed in the ears of the L-rd of Hosts; this iniquity shall not be purged from you until you die, said G-d the L-rd of Hosts" (Isaiah 22:13-14).

Children who grow up under difficult conditions and pressure usually achieve better results. An example of this is a survey which was made in Israeli schools in the year 5752 (1992). Arab children performed better than several sectors of Jewish students.

Although the framework of Torah education limits to a great extent children and youth from being drawn after the futilities of the world, nevertheless, affluence also reigns in our camp and discipline has also become more lax than ever before.

It is written, "It is good for a man to take upon himself discipline in his youth" (Lamentations 3:27). Chazal commented (Yalkut Shimoni on this verse): the discipline referred to here is the yoke of Torah. In order for a person to merit to Torah he must first take upon himself a regimen of discipline, and this is what was said in Avot, "This is the way of Torah: eat bread with salt, drink water by measure, sleep upon the ground, and live a life of hardship."

A special skill is required to educate youth even in the context of affluence, that they should take upon themselves the yoke of Torah, and that they should not be drawn after materialistic ambitions. Also, they must accept upon themselves the yoke of responsibility towards society and other people, as Chazal said, "In the place where there are no men, try to be a man" (Avot 2).

In other words, a special educational skill is required of educators and parents in our age to educate youth to deal with the conditions of affluence. This is something that nearly never existed in a society which was under the pressure of a larger, surrounding society, or in a society which existed under conditions of materialistic hardship.

(Beshvilai Hachinuch Vehahoroah, p.20)