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Sanhedrin 063b: The young idolator
Rabbi Yoseph Dov Karr <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
I would like to share my own "chedush". let me know if you like it. you may
share it with others if you agree that it is good.
The gamara tell a story about a young child who's stomach is bloated and he
is starving to death. he is thrown on a garbage heap to die. Hashem send
Elijah to save him. he is the only child left from a family of 3,000.
Elijash asks to boy if he is willing todo something to save himself and
live. the boy replies Yes. Elijah says all he has to do is say Shema every
day and he will live. the boy is silent and refuses. he explains that his
mother and father had not taught him. He instead kisses his avodah zorah
and is stomach burst and he dies.
I had two questions on this. First, why didn't the boy lied to save
himself. he could of loved his avodah zorah and say shema. He should have
done want ever he could to live. Second why mention his father and mother
did not "teach him". this does not answer the question as Elijah was
willing to teach him now. Maybe he heard about the Torah or Shema from
someone else?
I would like to answer based upon the gamarah in Berachos that says there
are three steps to fight the Yeitzer Harah. First go and learn Torah, if
that works great. If not, Say Shema, if that works, great. If not you
should comtemplate the yom hamesah ( the day of your death). Avodah Zorah
is a Yitzer Harah. There three steps should work. We see they did not with
the young boy. The Gemara in Huryos says a father (and mother) must first
teach their son Torah tzivah lanu Moshe etc. The second thing is Shema.
That is what the boy was saying - my father and mother never taught me
torah - torah tzivah lanu Moshe. Torah can not help save me from the
Yeitzer Harah. He also did not agree to say Shema. So this did not save
him. What about thinking about the Yom Hamesah. After all he was about to
die. the Vilna Gaon Z'tl explains why there are three steps to fight the
Yitzer Harah. Why not just contemplate the day of one's death? Just skip
the the third step.
He explains not everyone will be effected by the Yom Hamesah. The Greeks
say "eat drink and be merry for tomorrow you will die". We unfortunately
see that death means nothing to the Arabs that blow themselves up. It is
only someone who learns Torah and accepts the "Yoke of Heaven" by saying
Shema that one can properly give musser to and tell him to thing about the
day he will die. Death meant nothing to this boy and therefore he died. We
see all three steps to fight the Yeiter were used but to no avail.
We now understand why Hazel had to daven to Hashem to save us from the
Yeitzer Harah of Avodad Zorah. The three steps did not help to save us or
this boy! Only Hashem could help. There our rabbis daven to Hashem to take
away this Yeitzer Harah that we could not conquer by ourselves.
Rabbi Yoseph Dov Karr, Passaic, N.J.
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