Subject: In Memory of Baruch Yitzchak Ben Yirmiyahu (Barry Pessin)
From: Heath Berkin <heath.berkin@gmail.com>
Date: 10/20/2017, 4:36 AM
To: Heath Berkin <heath.berkin@gmail.com>
BCC: menachem@alonsystems.com
The sixth and final chapter of Pirkei Avos deals with the learning of Torah. This includes the importance of those who learn Torah and the rewards associated with learning it properly. It is hard for many of us (including myself) to understand the true value and importance of learning and understanding the Torah and why it should bring so much blessing and reward to it's students. We live in a extremely physical world where our entire society is engulfed in the pursuit of wealth, physical possessions and pleasure. For us to value a pursuit which seemingly doesn't offer any of these "benefits" runs counter to our ingrained thinking. When we take a step out of the physicality and understand that there is a Creator to the world and our sages say that the Torah is the blueprint for the world and it is the written will of our Creator, we can begin to get a greater appreciation for it's true value. As we learn the next chapter we should all try to keep this reality in mind. It is especially powerful as we read the book of Bereshis. In school and in our society "Biblical stories" have been taught and movies have even been made about them, but we must realize that these are not some folklore. G-d really created the world in six days, a creation which was from nothing. There was really a man named Adam and his female counterpart Chava, there was a snake and there was a sin. Noach really existed and he also built a huge ark. In this ark he brought in and sustained all of the animals for an entire year. Avaraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov were real as well, and whatever the Torah tells us about them is true and happened.
Although this seems simple and obvious (at least in our minds) I know for myself, at least, it takes real reflection for these realities to enter into the heart. These are not just another story that we hear or tell over to our children to give them some educational message (of course, there are many messages contained in the stories) but the reality of these occurrences needs to be realized and emphasized. When we begin to view the Torah in it's true essence, understanding that this is G-d's message and Will, we can start to appreciate the rewards and importance that the last chapter of Avos assigns to those that study it.