Where are you running to? (Shabbos
35)
During the time of King Achav, the
Israelite nation was steeped in the sins of immorality and idolatry. Trends, such as Baal worship had taken their
grip on society, and prophets like Eliyahu often felt like they were fighting a
losing battle. Nevertheless, on one
occasion, Eliyahu was able to demonstrate to the people the power of the true
God.
Standing atop Mt. Carmel, facing
down the idolatrous prophets of the Baal, Eliyahu declared, ‘Let us each pray
to our god and see which is the true deity.’
The idolaters built an altar and Eliyahu built an altar. They offered a sacrifice and he offered a
sacrifice. They prayed to their gods all
day long. But there was, of course, no
response. Eliyahu then doused his
sacrifice in water and prayed to Hashem.
A fire descended and consumed the holy offering. The people cried out, “Hashem is the
God! Hashem is the God!” And Eliyahu felt vindicated. Finally, he could relax. He had won the spiritual battle.
But, no sooner had he claimed
victory than the wicked king sought to execute him. He ran away and hid in a cave, feeling emotionally
and psychologically battered and bruised.
The word of Hashem came to him and said, “Go out of the cave and stand
on the mountain.” Hashem then passed by, accompanied by a “great and powerful
wind, smashing mountains and breaking rocks.”
This was followed by an earthquake.
After that came a terrifying fire.
Finally, a still, thin voice emerged, and asked, “Why are you here,
Eliyahu?”
רַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה אוֹמֵר
כְּדֵי שֶׁיְּהַלֵּךְ אָדָם מִשֶּׁתִּשְׁקַע הַחַמָּה חֲצִי מִיל. אָמַר רַבִּי
חֲנִינָא: הָרוֹצֶה לֵידַע שִׁיעוּרוֹ שֶׁל רַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה יַנִּיחַ חַמָּה
בְּרֹאשׁ הַכַּרְמֶל וְיֵרֵד וְיִטְבּוֹל בַּיָּם וְיַעֲלֶה — וְזֶהוּ שִׁיעוּרוֹ
שֶׁל רַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה. אָמַר רַבִּי חִיָּיא: הָרוֹצֶה לִרְאוֹת בְּאֵרָהּ שֶׁל
מִרְיָם יַעֲלֶה לְרֹאשׁ הַכַּרְמֶל וְיִצְפֶּה וְיִרְאֶה כְּמִין כְּבָרָה
בַּיָּם — וְזוֹ הִיא בְּאֵרָהּ שֶׁל מִרְיָם. אָמַר רַב: מַעְיָן הַמִּיטַּלְטֵל
טָהוֹר — וְזֶהוּ בְּאֵרָהּ שֶׁל מִרְיָם.
Rabbi Necḥemia says: The duration of twilight is the
time it takes for a person to walk half a mil after the sun sets. Rabbi Chanina said: One who wants to know the
precise measure of Rabbi Necḥemia’s twilight should do the following: Leave the
sun at the top of Mount Carmel and descend and immerse himself in the sea, and
emerge, and that is Rabbi Necḥemia’s measure.
Rabbi Chiya said: One who wants to see Miriam’s well should climb to the
top of Mount Carmel and look out, and he will see a rock that looks like a
sieve in the sea, and that is Miriam’s well. Rav said: A spring that is
portable purifies. And what is a movable spring? It is Miriam’s well.
A fellow is standing on Mt. Carmel and wants to
understand Rabbi Nechemia’s measurement of the twilight period between sunset
and nightfall. Rabbi Chanina’s
instructions are to run down the mountain, go to the mikvah, and run back
up. That’s the length of twilight. But let’s start with this question: Why is
this individual running down the mountain to immerse himself just as the sun is
about to set? It would appear that he is
racing against the clock, as he seeks to purify himself.
The Torah states (Lev.22:4-7), “If a man should
come from the offspring of Aharon . . . who touches any impurity . . . he may
not eat holy food unless he immerses himself in water. Then the sun will set and he is purified.” The Gemara (Brachos 2a) demonstrates that
when the verse references the setting of the sun, the period of sunset is only
completed at nightfall. This fellow
wants to immerse himself while it is yet day.
And so he runs down the mountain to find a mikvah. Rabbi Nechemia teaches that by the time he
immerses and ‘ascends’ the mountain, it will be night-time.
But what if he could achieve purity simply by
staying put? What if he could connect
with his Heavenly source by simply contemplating the Divine? Rabbi Chiya teaches that it is possible to
sit atop Mt. Carmel and gaze out into the distance. If one merits to see the Well of Miriam, he
won’t need to run anywhere. Miriam’s
Well is not just potable, it’s portable.
It can “come to the mountain,” without you going anywhere.
How do you recognize Miriam’s Well? It looks like a sieve. The Melitzei Aish explains that the purpose
of a sieve is to remove the impurities from the pure substance. That’s how we must view our personal
character refinement. We all have areas
of our character that require refinement and perfection. We must sift out those elements of our
character that are improper and impeding our ability to be our very best.
What is impurity?
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch demonstrates (Lev.7:20) that the word ‘tumah’
(impurity) derives from a word-family that relates to a lack of freedom. A corpse is impure, because without the soul,
it can no longer make moral choices and accomplish feats of physical or
spiritual achievement. It thus becomes ‘tamei’
or freedom-less.
If you were to ask the average person when they
feel the freest, presumably they would tell you on the weekend or when they go
on holiday. During these periods, they
no longer need to run around. They can
stop, take a time out, and breathe. Rabbi
Chiya teaches that freedom is attained, not by running down the mountain
looking for a mikvah, but by staying put, taking a deep breath, and embarking
on a process of introspection to sift out the impurities within one’s
character.
Mt. Carmel represents the ability to connect to
Hashem, any place, any time. The Prophet
Eliyahu would ordinarily have been forbidden to offer a sacrifice anywhere
outside the Holy Temple. He decided that
the occasion called for an exception to the rule. In order to show the people the truth of the Torah,
he would have to enter the showdown with the prophets of the Baal. By pouring water upon his offering, he
demonstrated to them that connection to Heaven knows no bounds. The true God is not restricted by time,
place, or physical constraints such as a wet sacrifice.
After Miriam’s passing, her Well disappeared. When Hashem revealed the secret of the
portable Well to Moshe, he missed an important element of how it works. The
Melitzei Aish writes that Carmel is a combination of two words: ‘rach’
meaning ‘soft’ and ‘malle’ meaning ‘full,’ and explains that Miriam was
full of mitzvos and soft of character.
In order for the Well or rock to issue water, one needed patience, tranquillity,
and calmness of spirit. With hundreds of
thousands of thirsty Israelites clamouring to soothe their parched mouths, Moshe
was unable to maintain such a cool composure.
Our Sages tell us that when he was unsuccessful in
his attempt to extract water from one rock, he tried another. But, of course, the idea that if only he were
to hit the rock hard enough, or hit the right rock, he would be able to extract
water is absurd. Water doesn’t come from
rocks. Water doesn’t come from movable
wells. Water comes from Hashem. When we
come to terms with this reality, there’s no longer any need to run up and
down. We simply need to stay atop the
mountain, turn our eyes Heavenward and commit to becoming more refined,
spiritual individuals. As long as we’ve
made our basic efforts, God will do the rest.
For most of us, life is about non-stop running, as
we pursue the dreams of success that we’ve envisioned for our lives. Where are we running to? Where’s the final destination? What’s the ‘purification’ we’re seeking? Unless we stop to contemplate these
questions, we’ll never know what the destination even looks like. Life will be non-stop running up and down the
mountain, when all we had to do was stop to smell the roses atop the mountain,
gaze out yonder, and welcome the Well of Miriam into our lives.
Periodically in life, you need to take a time out
to reassess where you are running to. As
Hashem showed Eliyahu, it’s not about storms, earthquakes, and fires. It’s about asking, “Why are you here,
Eliyahu?” What do you want out of
life? Do you need to run to the ends of
the Earth to find it or is it within you?
May you achieve freedom and tranquillity from the never-ending stresses
of this world!
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