Friday, December 13, 2019

Every One of Us Is Eternal And Can Change The World

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More reasons for saying Kol Yisrael before Pirkei Avos. 


Another reason we say Kol Yisrael before Pirkei Avos is because it's virtues of piety, and one can think that it doesn't apply to him or her. Therefore we preface Pirkei Avos with the Mishnah of Kol Yisrael, to let us know that each and every one of us could keep the words of Pirkei Avos, and is obligated to keep them. 

This brings us to the third rule of Pirkei Avos. 

Rule #3: Every saying in Pirkei Avos pertains to every single one of us. 

That means that you have to take the time to apply the sayings to your life and your circumstances. And that everyone has a personal way of seeing and understanding the teachings of Pirkei Avos, and that is the preferred method of learning them. It doesn't mean that you should make things up, rather within the common understanding of the teachings and according to the accepted commentaries, find what resonates with you and apply it to your life. 

Another reason. The world to come is the reward for the mitzvos we do. And being that a lot of Pirkei Avos speaks about the greatness of the study of Torah and its preservation, therefore Kol Yisrael is said before Pirkei Avos, to stress that, "It is not the study that is the main thing, rather the action." 

Another reason. Pirkei Avos is a preparation for receiving the Torah on Shavuoth. The first preparation has to be in the area of loving your fellow Jew. As our sages say, "Any Torah that doesn't have work with it, will be nullified in the end." And the Baal Shem Tov says that the word "work" here means loving your fellow Jew. A person may think, "Why should I waste my time with this person who isn't so involved, it would be better for me to use the time studying Torah." This is why we say, "Every one of Israel have a portion in the world to come." This world is a false world, we perceive things upside-down, that is why he sees the other person as lower than him. When Moshiach comes and we will inherit the world to come, our perception will be true, and perhaps he will see that the other person is greater than him. 

And when one has success in his work in the mitzvah of loving your fellow Jew, he shouldn't think it's on his strength alone that he had such a tremendous effect on this person, rather it is from Moshe who loved the Jewish people, and he passed it on to Yehoshua, who passed it on to the elders... who passed it on to the leaders of the generations, the Moshe of every generation, until the present time. 

Another reason. Our sages say that the Jewish people and the Torah preceded the world, and the Jewish people preceded the Torah, as "The thought of (the Children of) Israel preceded everything." Therefore, before saying Pirkei Avos, which is a preparation for receiving the Torah, which is eternal, we learn about the eternity of the Jewish people. "All of Israel have a portion in the world to come," the world of the living, which is an eternal reward. And why is that? Because we are, "The branch of His planting," and " the work of His hands." 

And even more, we make this world eternal through our Torah, prayer and acts of kindness, mentioned at the beginning of the first chapter of Pirkei Avos, and justice, truth, and peace, mentioned at the end of the chapter. 

Through our actions and through our love for every Jewish person, we bring Moshiach. May he come soon. 

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