On his way to shul, Rav Huna would often pass by the
home of Rabbi Avin the carpenter. Noticing that Rabbi Avin would habitually
kindle a multitude of lights in honour of Shabbat, he declared, “Two great men
will emerge from this household.” Sure enough,
two of our greatest Sages came from the family: Rav Idi bar Avin and Rav Chia
bar Avin.
On his way to shul, Rav Chisda would often pass by the
home of Rav Sheizvi’s father-in-law. Noticing
that they were similarly habitual in their kindling of a multitude of lights in
honour of Shabbat, he declared, “A great person will emerge from this
household.” Sure enough, their daughter
eventually married Rav Sheizvi.
אָמַר רַב הוּנָא: הָרָגִיל
בְּנֵר הָוְיִין לֵיהּ בָּנִים תַּלְמִידֵי חֲכָמִים. הַזָּהִיר בִּמְזוּזָה —
זוֹכֶה לְדִירָה נָאָה. הַזָּהִיר בְּצִיצִית — זוֹכֶה לְטַלִּית נָאָה. הַזָּהִיר
בְּקִידּוּשׁ הַיּוֹם — זוֹכֶה וּמְמַלֵּא גַּרְבֵי יַיִן. רַב הוּנָא הֲוָה
רְגִיל דַּהֲוָה חָלֵיף וְתָנֵי אַפִּתְחָא דְרַבִּי אָבִין נַגָּרָא. חֲזָא
דַּהֲוָה רְגִיל בִּשְׁרָגֵי טוּבָא, אֲמַר: תְּרֵי גַּבְרֵי רַבְרְבֵי נָפְקִי
מֵהָכָא. נָפְקִי מִינַּיְיהוּ רַב אִידִי בַּר אָבִין וְרַב חִיָּיא בַּר אָבִין.
רַב חִסְדָּא הֲוָה רְגִיל דַּהֲוָה חָלֵיף וְתָנֵי אַפִּיתְחָא דְּבֵי נָשָׁא
דְּרַב שֵׁיזְבִי. חֲזָא דַּהֲוָה רְגִיל בִּשְׁרָגֵי טוּבָא, אֲמַר: גַּבְרָא
רַבָּא נָפֵק מֵהָכָא. נְפַק מִינַּיְיהוּ רַב שֵׁיזְבִי
Rav Huna said: One who is habitual in the kindling
of lights on Shabbat and Chanukah will be rewarded with children who are Torah
scholars. One who is meticulous in performing the mitzvah of mezuzah will merit
a beautiful house. One who is meticulous
in performing the mitzvah of tzitzis will merit beautiful garments. One who is
meticulous in performing the mitzvah of kiddush of the day will merit to fill
many jugs of wine.
אָמַר רָבָא: דְּרָחֵים
רַבָּנַן, הָווּ לֵיהּ בְּנִין רַבָּנַן. דְּמוֹקִיר רַבָּנַן, הָווּ לֵיהּ
חַתְנָווֹתָא רַבָּנַן. דְּדָחֵיל מֵרַבָּנָן, הוּא גּוּפֵיהּ הָוֵי צוּרְבָּא
מֵרַבָּנַן. וְאִי לָאו בַּר הָכֵי הוּא, מִשְׁתַּמְעָן מִילֵּיהּ כְּצוּרְבָּא
מֵרַבָּנַן
Rava said: One who loves Sages will have children
who are Sages. One who honours Sages will have sons-in-law who are Sages. One
who reveres the Sages will himself become a Torah scholar. And if he is not
capable, his statements will be received like those of a Torah scholar.
Rav Huna offers a number of sensible
recommendations. They all seem very straightforward. But a careful reading reveals the difference
between those who adhere to his extraordinary guidelines and those who take the
path of least resistance. Going the
extra mile produces results that are above and beyond.
Let’s begin with the advice to be habitual in the
kindling of Shabbat and Chanukah lights.
In some homes, 6:03pm candle-lighting time means that the candles have
been lit and are shining bright by 6:02 and a half. Like clockwork. Often even earlier. So that when people pass by their homes on
the way to shul, an aura of tranquillity and sanctity emanates from the
house. You can tell that Shabbat has
arrived. That’s what Rav Huna and Rav
Chisda felt when they passed by the homes of Rav Avin the carpenter and Rav
Sheizvi’s in-laws respectively.
Other homes, 6:03 is code-word for 6:21, because
everyone knows that there’s really an additional 18 minutes until Shabbat! And so at 6:20, they’re fumbling around
looking for candles and shouting at one another about whose job it was to get
it all ready. If that sounds at all
familiar, it’s really not difficult at all to switch gears. It’s all about the habits we keep. If you simply get into a pattern of getting
ready earlier – don’t think 18 minutes, think a half hour – you’ll find the
entry into Shabbat a whole different experience.
When children see that, they feel the warmth and
embrace it. Hence, the merit of the
children and children-in-law who emerged from those homes. And that’s why Rava talks about begetting righteous
children-in-law. The examples we set for
love, honour, and reverence of Torah and its scholars permeate our lives, and impact
the minds and hearts of our family members, influencing the lifestyle decisions
they eventually make.
What is the difference between fulfilling the
mitzvah of mezuzah and being meticulous in the mitzvah? Many people seek to minimize the ‘damage’ of
their mezuzah bill, by finding the cheapest scrolls available and finding
leniencies for which doorways actually require the affixing of a mezuzah. Sure, they’ve executed their duty of placing
a mezuzah, but at the same time, they’ve done whatever they could to avoid paying
any more than absolutely necessary.
But a mezuzah is a mezuzah! Why should you pay £50 when you can find one
for £30? To answer that question, think
about the price of an automobile. Why
pay £200 grand on a Lamborghini when you can get by with a £10k Kia? They both
get you from point A to B! Rav Huna’s
advice is wonderful: In our tradition, it’s not a question of either/or. You don’t have to sacrifice physical and
material comforts for the spiritual. You
can have it all, because everything is intrinsically connected.
You don’t really need a home with beautiful
furnishings. All you really need is a
roof over your head. But Judaism is entirely
comfortable with the pursuit of the good life. God wants you to have the nicest
home possible. Hence, Rav Huna’s advice:
Value your spiritual home-furnishings, and you will merit a gorgeous home. Nice mezuzos will bring both spiritual and
material blessing into the home.
Let’s talk about tzitzis. Strictly speaking, if you happen to own a
four-cornered garment, then you are obligated to tie tassels onto the
corners. But nowadays, who owns a
four-cornered garment? Theoretically
therefore, there should be no need for tzitzis anymore. But with that attitude, nobody ever would have
worn tzitzis. Even in ancient times,
when they cloaked themselves in large four-cornered robes, an easy way to opt
out of the obligation was to cut off or round one of the corners. Hence the
expression ‘cutting corners’!
But when you think about it, we don’t really need
to wear fancy brand-label clothing either.
We could get by buying our suits off the rack at Walmart. So it doesn’t fit perfectly, and it is last
decade’s style. Does it really make a
difference? But that’s not Judaism’s
view of matters. You are a prince and a
princess of the Supreme King of Kings. Your
Father wants you to look like royalty!
We wear tzitzis despite not really needing to in
order to demonstrate our love for mitzvos.
We’ve deliberately chosen to don a four-cornered garment and obligate
ourselves in the mitzvah. We’re not looking
to cut corners. We want to wear the
finest spiritual garments available. And
with that, we merit wearing the finest physical garments.
And finally, let’s turn to Kiddush wine. I marvel at how often we have Shabbat guests
who are surprised when I open a nice bottle of wine and proceed to pour it into
the becher (cup) for Kiddush. ‘We never knew you could use real wine for
Kiddush,’ they exclaim, ‘We always thought it had to be sweet sacramental wine.’ And so all week long, they’ll partake of the
fanciest wines. But comes the great
mitzvah of Kiddush on Shabbat, and they’re drinking sweet wine or grape juice. Not that they really like the taste, but ‘that’s
what we’ve always done.’
The truth is, we didn’t always drink sweet wine for
Kiddush. It’s not clear when or how it
happened, but somewhere along the line, Jews forgot the art of fine
winemaking. In Talmudic times, we loved
good wine. In the medieval ages, we
loved good wine. And then, as we were no
longer able to own agricultural property, good wine became a scarce commodity
in the Jewish community. Nowadays, thank
God, we have returned to our glory days, with some of the world’s finest wines
coming out of Israel and kosher wineries around the world. If you secretly dream of owning a nice liquor
collection, Rav Huna suggests using only your best wines for the mitzvah of Kiddush.
Judaism teaches that you can have it all. The secret to the good life is to value
material blessing and utilize it for spiritual pursuits. Since the physical, material, and spiritual
are all intertwined, all you need to do is turn on Heaven’s tap and the
blessing will flow to every area of your life.
May you offer the very best of your material blessing to Heaven and
enjoy the good life that will then flow to you!
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