Daf Yomi - Taanis 22 - THE WORLD TO COME HAS MANY DIFFERENT LEVELS

Rav Broka of Bnei Chuzaa would frequent the market of Lapat. Eliyahu HaNavi was accustomed to meeting him there.

"Is there anyone in this market," Rav Broka asked Eliyahu, "worthy of the World to Come?"

"No," said Eliyahu HaNavi.

Sheorim Mitzuyanim B’halacha asks that it seems strange that there would be nobody in the entire market area that would be worthy of the World to Come.

Rabbi Akiva Eiger points out a Toras Chaim in Sanhedrin (88b) who explains the Gemora which states that every Jew has a portion in the World to Come. This is referring to a person after he dies and is punished for his sins; he then becomes eligible for the World to Come.

Rav Broka was searching for someone that is worthy for the World to Come even while he is alive.

From the answer of our Gemora, it would seem that a simple person who performs mitzvos merits a portion in the World to Come providing that he doesn’t sin.

Rav Aharon Kotler (Mishnas Reb Aharon 3, P. 243) makes a distinction between the Mishna in Avos which states that every person ahs a portion in the World to Come and our Gemora which is referring to someone who is destined for the World to Come, someone whose entire being and life can be describes as an ‘olam habodike yid.’

The Shalah Hakodosh writes that there are three levels in the World to Come. Someone can merely have a portion in the World to Come. Others can inherit the World to Come. The highest level is someone who is a ‘ben olam habah.’

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Daf Yomi - Taanis 11 - Sharing in the Suffering and this Week's Parsha

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav that one, who starves himself during a famine year when other Jews are in distress, will be saved from an unusual death.

Rish Lakish rules that one who has children should not engage in marital relations during a famine year.

The Gemora cites a braisa regarding one who distances himself from the community while they are suffering; two Heavenly angels will place their hands on him and declare that he should not see the comfort of the community when they are released from their affliction.

A similar braisa is cited which states that at the time when the community is suffering, one (who is not afflicted) should not say that he will go to his house, eat and drink and not be concerned about anyone else. It is said regarding one who neglects the anguish of the community that Hashem will not forgive him for this sin.

The braisa proves from Moshe that one should suffer together with the community. It is written that Moshe’s hands were heavy and he sat on a stone. The Gemora wonders why Moshe didn’t use a pillow or a mattress in order to sit comfortably. The answer given is that Moshe said if Klal Yisroel were suffering (due to the war with Amalek), he will suffer along with them.

The Maharsha writes that we learn from this Gemora that a person is obligated to share in his friend's suffering even if he is not in distress at all. The famine did not affect Yosef and the war didn't affect Moshe and yet they felt it necessary to join in the suffering.

The Ohev Yisroel comments similarly that Amalek attacked Klal Yisroel because they became lax in Torah. Moshe did not have this fault at all and nevertheless he felt obligated to share in their distress.

Rav Aharon Kotler writes that it seems from this Gemora that not sharing in the suffering of others is tantamount to desecrating Hashem's name since our Gemora cites a Scriptural verse that one will not have atonement for this sin until hid death. This is the precise verse that the Gemora in Yome mentions regarding desecrating Hashem's name. This can be explained by the following: one of Hashem's attributes is that He suffers along with Klal Yisroel. The Iyun Yaakov comments that one has to join in the distress of others because there is an obligation to attach yourself to Hashem. He is compassionate so we should be as well. someone who shirks this responsibility is desecrating Hashem's name.

I noticed a vort on this week's parsha on this topic in the sefer Ner Shabbos and my friend Reb Oizer wrote this up as well.

After listing the sons of Jacob’s two oldest sons, Reuven and Shimon, the Torah records, “And these are the names of the sons of Levi in order of their birth: Gershon, Kehas, and Merari.” Why does the Torah emphasize that it is stating the names of Levi’s sons, a point which isn’t mentioned with regards to the sons of Reuven and Shimon?

The Shelah HaKadosh answers based on Rashi’s comment (5:4) that the tribe of Levi wasn’t included in Pharaoh’s enslavement of the Jews and therefore lived relatively easy and comfortable lives. It would have been easy for them to isolate themselves in Goshen, learning Torah all day and turning a blind eye to the plight of their brethren.

In order to combat such natural feelings, Levi specifically gave his children names which would eternally remind them of the suffering of the rest of the Jews. The name Gershon alludes to the fact that the Jews were considered foreigners and temporary dwellers in Egypt, not fitting in and belonging there no matter how easy life may have been in Goshen. K’has hints to the fact that the backbreaking labor set their teeth on edge, and Merari refers to the bitterness of the Egyptian enslavement.

So many times we hear of pain and suffering – with illness, jobs, finding a spouse, raising children, or in Israel – and our first reaction is to dismiss it as not germane to our comfortable lives, but Levi teaches that the suffering of every single Jew is indeed relevant and we must feel their plight!

The Chofetz Chaim’s wife once panicked when she awoke in the middle of the night to find his bed empty. Upon finding him sleeping on the floor, he explained to his puzzled Rebbitzin that with World War I raging all around them and Jews being chased from their houses all across Europe, how could he possibly allow himself the comfort of sleeping in a comfortable bed?

Similarly, when a great fire once ravaged most of the Jewish section of the town of Brisk, Rav Chaim Soloveitchik (the Rav of the town, whose house was spared) insisted on sleeping in the synagogue together with the rest of his homeless congregants in order to share in their suffering. Not at all surprising, considering that the Chofetz Chaim was a Kohen and Rav Chaim a Levi, and they clearly learned well the lessons of their great-great grandfather!

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