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Rabbi Yehuda {Leonard} Blank MS, BCC
Vice President of Professional Development and External Affairs
Chair of the Chaplaincy Commission
Rabbinical Alliance of America/Igud HaRabbonim
917-446-2126 rablenblank@gmail.com
*August 7, 2025, 13, Av 5785*
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PLEASE BE MISPALLEL FOR MY DEAR CHASHUVA MECHUTAN
NASSON BAUMANN FOR A REFUAH SHELEIMA
Nasson ben Raitz
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We were truly hoping this Tisha B’ Av would have been a Yom Tov. Why not? Read the excellent article below from Dirshu Daf HaYomi B’HALACHA Sunday, August 3rd. for some explanations. Every day is another day for the possibility of Moshiach to come. Perhaps we can be a positive influence on others, enhancing midos, shalom bayis, achdus, Kiddush H, Chaveirim Kol Yisrael, caring for each other, all the good things helping to bring us closer to H. We cannot change the world but we can have a tremendous influence on how this world of ours perceives us through our behavior and by being a role model as par excellent rabbis, rebbetzins and chaplains who bring us closer to H. Our Torah is our blueprint of all the correct ways we should follow.
“The Kli for Torah and the Key to the Geulah”
“One of the most painful realities we live with is the long delay in the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash. For close to 2,000 years, we’ve been yearning for the return of the Shechinah to its rightful place. Clearly, if we are still waiting, something critical must be missing. What is it?
The holiest part of the Beis HaMikdash was the Kodesh HaKodashim, the innermost chamber that housed the Aron, which contained the Luchos, the very symbol of Torah itself. The source of all the holiness of the Beis HaMikdash was the Torah within the Aron. That means the power and presence of the Beis HaMikdash are inherently connected to the Torah. If we are not yet zocheh to its rebuilding, despite the vast amount of Torah being learned today, we must ask: Is something lacking in our Torah?
Chazal in Masechta Nedarim (81a) make a startling observation. They explain that the destruction of the first Beis HaMikdash was not due to a lack of Torah learning, there was plenty of that, but rather, “She’lo barchu baTorah techila” – they did not properly appreciate the Torah. What does that mean?
The Mishna in Pirkei Avos (2:2) says, “Im ein derech eretz, ein Torah” – without derech eretz, there is no Torah. Rabbeinu Yonah explains: every valuable item needs a kli, a container, to hold it. Just as you cannot carry groceries without a bag, you cannot contain Torah without a vessel, and that vessel is derech eretz, basic decency, menschlichkeit, refined character. Without it, even the most brilliant Torah remains without a proper home.
This, perhaps, is the reason we have not yet been zocheh to the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash. It’s not the quantity of Torah, we have more shiurim today than ever before. It’s the quality. Torah is not just to be heard, it must transform us. We have to have midos.
Rav Pam zt”l, quoting the Chofetz Chaim, once shared the following: The Chofetz Chaim told his son, “Leib, you’re a talmid chacham – so be careful not to make a chillul Hashem.” Rav Leib replied, “But who says I’m a talmid chacham?” And the Chofetz Chaim answered, “For a chillul Hashem, you’re enough of a talmid chacham.”
This powerful message teaches us that every Jew who learns Torah represents Torah and must live up to its standards. In secular fields, a person can be an expert in their profession and a disgrace in their personal life. Not so with Torah. Torah is Chochmas Hashem, and it demands moral excellence.
The Chazon Ish once addressed a fascinating story. Rav Berel Kroizer, a rosh yeshiva from Yerushalayim, was once in Bnei Brak and went to hear a drasha between Mincha and Maariv. Unaware that Mincha had already taken place, he found himself stuck, it was close to sh’kia, he couldn’t walk out without being disrespectful, yet he needed to daven. So he slowly backed his way out, step by step, so as not to make a scene. He later asked the Chazon Ish if that was the correct thing to do. The Chazon Ish replied: “I don’t understand your question, kavod haTorah overrides Mincha!” He viewed walking out during a Torah drasha as a bizayon haTorah, a disgrace to Torah.
Have we lost that sensitivity? Where is our derech eretz for Torah and for each other?
The Baal Shem Tov said it is worthwhile for a person to live 70 years just to do one act of goodness for another Jew. That is the definition of a Jew. The Gemara in Yevamos (79a) lists three defining traits of Klal Yisrael: rachmanim, bayshanim, and gomlei chasadim -compassionate, modest, and kind. Rachmanim is sensitivity to another person. If a person lacks sensitivity to another Yid, he is lacking in the very essence of being a Yid.
The Chazon Ish once said: if a person were to look back after 90 years and ask, “What was the greatest accomplishment of my life?” some might say finishing Shas, or mastering kol haTorah kulah. But the Chazon Ish answered: “To be able to say, I never hurt another yid.”
This is the key. This is the kli. The Aron represents Torah, and the Kodesh HaKodashim represents the highest connection to Hashem. But the only way to be zocheh to that connection is by first being a true Yid, someone who lives with midos, with derech eretz, with sensitivity.
If we want to be zocheh to the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash, we must begin by building ourselves. Let us restore the kavod haTorah, the kavod ha’adam, and the midos tovos that make us worthy vessels for Hashem’s Torah.
Torah without derech eretz is a Torah without a kli. Let’s build that kli, so we can finally be zocheh to rebuild the Beis HaMikdash.
Rabbi Moshe Oelbaum”
May we be zoche to be the conduit for the Torah in every positive and meaningful way.
Sincerely, Rabbi Yehuda Blank