Perashat Tetzaveh – Pleasant Ways of The Torah

It is not easy to make oil which is pure enough to give off such light as we were commanded to do for the Menorah. It is also not easy to be pleasant and to follow the Torah.

Our rabbis have said: Whoever wants to busy himself in Torah should make himself Katit - Crushed in repentance and good deeds.
Our rabbis have said: Whoever wants to busy himself in Torah should make himself Katit – Crushed in repentance and good deeds.

The oil comes from pressed olives. A massive stone wheel is turned over a larger stone base. Although the resulting oil is perfect being crushed under a stone is not an easy experience. Our rabbis have said: Whoever wants to busy himself in Torah should make himself Katit – Crushed in repentance and good deeds.

Torah does not come easy to a person. I sat in Yeshivah for 10 years. at the end of some days you feel as if your brains  have no more strength. In the words of one of my rabbis, Rav Yonatan Berger, You do not really learn Torah if you do not roll up your sleeves!

The greatest Torah lesson which we can teach our children is that its ways are pleasant and that it will take them a lot of effort to learn how to be pleasant. You have to be sure that your children are in the proper environment and see to it that they understand that it is hard work to become a good Jew.

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