by Dr. Nosson Chayim Leff
The Sfas Emes was the second Gerer
Rebbe. He reigned from 5630 (1870) to 5665 (1904).
The first Gerer Rebbe was the Chidushei HaRim -- so named after the title
of his Chidushim on Shas. The Sfas Emes was orphaned at a very young age.
The Chidushei HaRim, his Grandfather, raised him. And as you will see, the
Sfas Emes' divrei Torah often begin with a thought that he had from his
Grandfather.)
The Ma'amarim that I try to explicate are his notes -- written be'etzem
kesav yado hakedosha (in his own handwriting) -- after he spoke.
Why might a person be interested in learning the Sfas Emes, a Sefer that
is not part of the curriculum in most Yeshivos, and, moreover, a Sefer
that many people initially find hard to understand?
The answer is simple. The SE responds to a need to which few other Sefarim
answer: the need for 'hashkofo for adults'! As a person grows older,
he/she should also grow in his Avodas HaShem. In practice, that goal is
not easily attained. On the contrary, it is all too easy for a person's
relationship with HaShem to sink into a morass of routine, tedium, and
stagnation.
How can a person avoid that sad state? Clearly, it would help if one had
access to a set of powerful, new, exciting ideas. The metaphor that comes to
mind is of a rocket going skyward. Its initial blast off is powered by the
first-stage rocket. But at some point, the rocket needs a 'second-stage'
blast to keep it on its upward trajectory. So too in the present context. A
person needs 'second-stage' hashkofo to refresh -- and, hopefully, to grow
in -- his/her Avoda. The problem then becomes: where can one find a source
for those ideas?
One possible source is the Sfas Emes. But here we encounter a serious
problem. As mentioned, many people who would like to learn the Sfas Emes
find the text hard going. In other words, learning the Sfas Emes also
involves costs. The costs are simply the other side of the coin that comes
from the fact that the Sfas Emes gives us powerful, new ideas. Because the
Sfas Emes is a Torah heavyweight, absorbing his ideas takes time and
energy. But bear in mind that the Sfas Emes is an ideal Limud for people
who 'have no time to learn'.
How so? Because a person who has 'no time to learn' is a person who must be
careful to allocate his/her limited time to the Limudim that have give
access to the most new, mind-stretching Torah thoughts. And in this respect,
the Sfas Emes is unsurpassed!
Copyright © 2003 by Dr. Nosson Chayim Leff and Project Genesis
