By Rabbi Baruch Lederman
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Kohain Gadol wore a pure gold headplate inscribed with the words “Kodesh L’Hashem.” “Holy to G-d.” We can learn from here that all our thoughts should be holy and pure.
Changing our attitudes is easier said than done as the following true story from the Talmud illustrates:
Rebbi Yehudah Hanassi was once walking past a slaughterhouse when he saw a young calf trying to escape through a hole in the fence. As the Talmud recounts, he turned the calf around and set it back through the fence and covered the hole. He said to the calf, “Go, for this is your purpose in the world.”
Immediately thereafter, he was stricken with a terrible pain. According to some Rabbinic versions he had a toothache, according to some he had kidney stones. In either case the pain was so severe that no woman had pain in childbirth during all those years because all that pain was being directed by heaven to Rebbi.
This lasted for many many years till the following incident. Rebbi’s daughter was cleaning the house and she saw a mouse. She began to chase after it with a broom when Rebbi called out to her to stop. “V’rachamav al cal maasav.”
“His (G-d’s) mercy is on all his works.” (Psalms 145:9)
Immediately thereafter, Rebbi’s intense pain was relieved.
Why didn’t Rebbi just recite that verse years earlier and avoid all that pain. The answer is that it was not the mere recitation of the verse but the feeling behind it. Feelings take a very long time and a lot of work to change and develop. Needless to say, Rebbi was never a cruel person. He was always kind and merciful. The change in him was not a drastic turn around. It was simply an improvement of his already good midos (traits), yet it still took years of work with a lot of motivation to accomplish. Rabbi Yisroel Salanter commented
that it is easier to master the entire Talmud than to change one personality trait.
Dedicated by the Stehleys.
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Rabbi Lederman is spiritual leader of Congregation Kehillas Torah in San Diego