Motzei Musings

Knowingly or not people tend to make their lives sound more focused than they really are. "I worked on writing this piece for six hours - " does that include snack breaks, net surfing, bouts of anxiety and self doubt? "I just worked out for an hour and a half - " Does that include the twenty minutes of standing there going, "I don't want to do this. I don't want to do this, I don't want to do this?" "I spent all day cleaning my house." Really? All day?

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WFUV is playing Carolina in My Mind. It's the second day in a row that I heard this song on that station. Coincidence? The other day I was sitting next to a colleague at a meeting and there was a certain sefer resting on the table in front of him. I wondered aloud if it was hashgacha. He said it was a machloket between the Sefer HaChinuch and the Rambam.

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The other day I mentioned to a class, and they found it interesting, how the Sefer HaChinuch came to be written. In his introduction the (anonymous) author explains that he wrote it as a Bar Mitzvah present for his son. The plan was to write something tht would interest the boy and his friends that they could enjoy studying together on Shabbos.l

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Rabi E. Koenigsberg spoke at Shaloshudes at YU today about Mishlei 2:4,5 - "If thou seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures then shalt thou understand the fear of the L-rd, and find the knowledge of G-d." He cited Rav Shach who in the introduction to a sefer took this line as focusing exclusively on the study of Torah.

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Rav Shach addressed the double metaphor and said that the first phrase highlights the element of consistency that applies to making a living day in and day out. The second image refers to the excitement inherent in searching for a goldmine. Both of these aspects are needed for success in learning Torah.

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I wonder if the two phrases for searching match the two sought items which follow; Fear of G-d requires consistent, perhaps uncomplicated work, while true wisdom demands creativity and exuberance.