"Hear, my son, the instruction of your father"

Synopsis

Rabbi Elazar deconstructs the title verse to teach us that people must follow the Torah that was given to them by God along with His rebukes and punishments. When someone who has studied the Torah dies, it precedes him and opens all the gates for him to the World to Come. Rabbi Elazar says that God takes most joy in those who get up at night to study the Torah.

Relevance

The concepts of punishment and reward have no basis in spirituality. If one inadvertently, or even purposely, touches a burning coal and incurs injury, one does not profess to have been punished by the fiery ember. Conversely, if one uses this coal to heat one's home, feed one's family, or bathe oneself in warmed waters, one does not construe this as a reward. It is one's knowledge - or lack of it - that determines its influence in one's life.

Spiritual Light functions under the same principle. Rabbi Elazar is telling us that if we connect to the spiritual current of the Creator through Torah and Kabbalah, we attain spiritual growth and manage these magnificent spiritual forces in a positive, productive fashion. If we connect to spiritual Light through the ego, we inevitably short-circuit and incur injury, be it emotional, physical, or spiritual.

Here we conjoin our souls to the Light in a balanced, safe way. The ego, along with its appetite for self-indulgence, is subjugated. The resulting illumination opens up all the gates that lead to the World to Come - for us, and for all our fellow human beings.

The righteous who have engaged in Torah study in the still of night, all through history, now bestow their blessings upon the reader so that the Holy One's joy reigns over all Creation.

Congregation Correction (Tikun) Elazar Moses Pinchas Tikun (Correction) Torah

1. "And Hashem spoke to Moses, saying, Pinchas, the son of Elazar..." (Bemidbar 25:10-11). Rabbi Elazar began, "Hear, my son, the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the Torah of your mother" (Mishlei 1:8). "Hear, my son, the instruction of your father..." refers to the Holy One, blessed be He. "and do not forsake the Torah of your mother," refers to the Congregation of Yisrael. What is the instruction of your father? Instruction is the Torah which contains a number of rebukes and punishments, as it is said: "My son, do not despise the chastening of Hashem, nor be weary of His correction" (Mishlei 3:11).

1. וַיְדַבֵּר יְיָ' אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵאמֹר, פִּנְחָס בֶּן אֶלְעָזָר וְגוֹ,' רִבִּי אֶלְעָזָר פָּתַח וְאָמַר, שְׁמַע בְּנִי מוּסַר אָבִיךָ וְאַל תִּטּוֹשׁ תּוֹרַת אִמֶּךָ. שְׁמַע בְּנִי מוּסַר אָבִיךָ, דָּא קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא. וְאַל תִּטּוֹשׁ תּוֹרַת אִמֶּךָ, דָּא כְּנֶסֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל. מַאי מוּסַר אָבִיךָ, מוּסַר, דָּא אוֹרַיְיתָא, דְּאִית בָּהּ כַּמָּה תּוֹכָחִין, כַּמָּה עוֹנָשִׁין. כד"א, מוּסַר יְיָ' בְּנִי אַל תִּמְאָס וְאַל תָּקוֹץ בְּתוֹכַחְתּוֹ.

Garden of Eden Gates Lights Righteous Torah

2. And since everyone who engages in Torah in this world is worthy that a number of gates, a number of lights to the World to Come, be opened for him, therefore when he departs from this world THE TORAH precedes him, going to all the gate keepers proclaiming, "Open the gates, that the righteous nation...may enter in" (Yeshayah 26:2). Prepare a seat for so-and-so, the King's servant! The Holy One, blessed be He, has no joy other than with one who engages in Torah. How much more so with a man who rises up at night to engage in Torah, for all the righteous in the Garden of Eden are attentive to his voice and the Holy One, blessed be He, is among them, as they put it: "You that dwell in the gardens, the companions hearken for your voice: Cause me to hear it" (Shir Hashirim 8:13).

2. וּבְגִין דְּכָל מַאן דְּאִשְׁתְּדַּל בְּאוֹרַיְיתָא בְּהַאי עָלְמָא, זָכֵי דְּיִפְתְּחוּן לֵיהּ כַּמָּה תַּרְעִין לְהַהוּא עָלְמָא, כַּמָּה נְהוֹרִין. בְּשַׁעֲתָא דְּיִנְפּוֹק מֵהַאי עָלְמָא, הִיא אַקְדִימַת קַמֵּיהּ, וְאַזְלָא לְכָל נְטוּרֵי תַּרְעִין, מַכְרֶזֶת וְאוֹמֶרֶת, פִּתְחוּ שְׁעָרִים וְיָבֹא גּוֹי צַדִּיק. אַתְקִינוּ כֻּרְסְיָין לִפְלָנַיָּא עַבְדָּא דְּמַלְכָּא. דְּלֵית חֲדוּ לְקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא אֶלָּא מַאן דְּאִשְׁתְּדַל בְּאוֹרַיְיתָא, כ"ש ב"נ דְּמִתְעַר בְּלֵילְיָא לְאִשְׁתַּדְּלָא בְּאוֹרַיְיתָא, דְּהָא כָּל צַדִיקַיָּיא דִּבְגִּנְתָּא דְּעֵדֶן, צַיְיתִין לְקַלֵּיהּ, וְקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא מִשְׁתְּכַח בֵּינַיְיהוּ, כְּמָה דְּאוּקְמוּהָ הַיּוֹשֶׁבֶת בַּגַנִּים חֲבֵרִים מַקְשִׁיבִים לְקוֹלֵךְ הַשְׁמִיעִינִי.