Excerpting: “Derashos of The Pnei Menachem” by Rabbi Pinchas Menachem Alter of Gur ZT”L. ArtScroll Mesorah Publications. 2025. 380 pages. ISBN-10: 1422644200.

Preparing for Kabbalas HaTorah

(Courtesy of ArtScroll) The Chiddushei HaRim explains that the Shabbos before Shavuos is often called Shabbos Derech Eretz based on Chazal’s teaching that derech eretz precedes the Torah (Vayikra Rabbah Ch. 9). Derech eretz includes all the character traits that we are meant to improve during the days of Sefiras HaOmer as we prepare for Kabbalas HaTorah on Shavuos (see also Sfas Emes, Shavuos 5643).

We find in the Mishnah that the wicked are judged in Gehinnom from Pesach until Shavuos (Eduyos 2:10). They stand in judgment for having failed to utilize this precious season for character improvement while they still lived. Perhaps this was also the reason that R’ Akiva’s talmidim passed away during this period. According to their lofty spiritual level, they were expected to make better use of this time to improve themselves and show greater respect to their peers (Yevamos 62b).

When Bnei Yisrael left Mitzrayim, they began a purification process that culminated with Kabbalas HaTorah (Kesones Pasim, Kedoshim; Imrei Emes, Emor 5676, 5690). This opportunity for self-improvement returns each year between Pesach and Shavuos, and we are expected to take full advantage of it.

The relationship between Hashem and Klal Yisrael is compared to that of a husband and wife. Both sides must invest in the relationship. On Shavuos, Hashem shines a great light upon us from Above, but here below we must make the necessary preparations in order to receive it. Each day of Sefiras HaOmer makes its own demands on a person, to uplift himself, improve his middos, and strive for perfection in all ways, so that he will come prepared to receive the Torah on Shavuos.

In the Haggadah we say, “Had He brought us before Har Sinai but not given us the Torah, it would have been enough for us.” What point would there be in coming to Har Sinai had we not received the Torah? The answer is that there were two sides to Kabbalas HaTorah. On the one hand, the Torah was a gift from Heaven. On the other hand, Bnei Yisrael had to work hard to improve themselves and make themselves worthy of this gift. Had Hashem only brought us before Har Sinai, and helped us to reach this high level of preparation, this alone would have been enough to warrant our eternal gratitude.

The pasuk states, וַיִּתֵּן אֶל מֹשֶׁה כְּכַלֹּתוֹ לְדַבֵּר אִתּוֹ בְּהַר סִינַי שְׁנֵי לֻחֹת הָעֵדֻת, When He finished (k’chaloso) speaking to him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moshe the two Tablets of Testimony (Shemos 31:18). Chazal comment on the word k’chaloso that when Moshe was on Har Sinai, he kept forgetting everything Hashem had taught him, until finally Hashem gave him the entire Torah as a gift, just as a kallah is given as a gift to her chassan (Nedarim 38a; Rashi, Shemos 31:18).

We can understand the metaphor of a chassan and kallah based on the Maharal (Tiferes Yisrael, Ch. 30), who explains that man and woman have two totally different souls. Each one lives in his or her own world. Still, when they get married, they form a powerful bond with one another, which allows them to build a home and have children together, thus ensuring the continuation of the world.

So too, the Torah and the human being are two opposites. Man’s nature stands at odds with the Torah. There is no way that he could grasp the inner meaning of the Torah had it not been given to him as a gift from Heaven, just like the miraculous union between a chassan and a kallah.

Overcoming the difficulties inherent in the union between the physical and the spiritual is an essential part of Hashem’s plan in giving the Torah to mortal creatures of flesh and blood. Chazal tell us that when Moshe ascended to Heaven to receive the Torah, the malachim complained that Hashem should leave the Torah with them in Heaven. Hashem asked Moshe to answer their complaint, and he told them, “Is there jealousy among you? Is there a yetzer hara among you?” (Shabbos 88b). Hashem deliberately gave the Torah to mortal man, who suffers from these ills, so that the holiness of the Torah could permeate even the lowest levels of creation.

Nonetheless, we cannot simply wallow in our petty jealousies and our yetzer hara and expect Hashem to give us the Torah, without doing anything to make ourselves worthy of it. By our basic nature, we could have no connection to the Torah. Therefore, we must do as much as we can to uplift ourselves in preparation for Kabbalas HaTorah. Otherwise, we will not merit to receive it.

Chazal tell us that before a person is born, he learns the entire Torah inside his mother’s womb. Then, as soon as he is born, he is slapped by an angel, causing him to forget everything he had learned (Niddah 30b). What is the point of teaching him the Torah, if he will forget it all in any case?

The Noam Elimelech explains that man is born into this world with such strong physical desires, and such a selfish disposition, that it would be impossible for him to connect himself to the holy Torah. Therefore, he is taught the entire Torah before he is born, and before his physical body with all its desires has been fully formed. The malach who “slaps” him and makes him forget the Torah is none other than the yetzer hara, which enters his heart the moment he is born (Maharsha). Since he has already learned the Torah in his mother’s womb, he is able to eventually overcome the yetzer hara and regain all that he has lost.

Even so, great effort is still required in order to regain our portion in the Torah. The Beis Yisrael would often quote the Gemara (Kiddushin 30b) that states that the yetzer hara renews its attacks against us every day and attempts to kill us. Without Hashem’s help, we could never overcome it. The Beis Yisrael warned that although our ability to overcome the yetzer hara is a gift from Heaven, we still must do our own part by working hard to improve ourselves, in order to merit this special siyata diShmaya.

The excerpt is reprinted from Derashos of The Pnei Menachem with permission from the copyright holder, ArtScroll Mesorah Publications.