August 21, 2022|כ"ד אב ה' אלפים תשפ"ב The Secret Formula to Creating a Strong Jewish Environment (To YU Student Leaders) By Rabbi Jonathan Muskat

Five years ago, two of my children were about to start studying at Yeshiva University and at that time I came across an article by Forward, which is a widely read Jewish newspaper and the article was entitled, “The 23 best colleges for orthodox Jews.” I started reading: number one is Penn, number two is NYU, number three is Washington University in St. Louis, number four is Columbia, number five is Harvard, number six is Queens, and YU is number seven.

Now this was a list for the best colleges not for Jews but for orthodox Jews and YU was behind Washington University in St. Louis. Of course, the question is what formula was used to determine this ranking. The article said that the factors included kosher food on the meal plan, at least one orthodox synagogue within 10 miles, Jewish programming, an eruv, academic quality, affordability and Israel-friendliness. Apparently the most crucial, unique and insightful information came from Hillel, Chabad and OU-JLIC directors and staff. Now in this ranking, YU only received a score of 33/40 because they have no Hillel, they have no OU-JLIC and no Meor programming on campus. YU also ranked ninth in terms of Jewish life. Other schools that ranked higher have an active Hillel, OU-JLIC, Meor, many fraternities and sororities.

I’m sure you are all amazed at how faulty the methodology of this study was.and I want to assure you all that notwithstanding this article, my two children still attended YU, but what was fascinating to me about this article is that it raised the question about what kind of atmosphere is conducive to strong Jewish life and what is the best school environment for an orthodox Jew. I think our parsha provides guidance in answering these questions, because it’s a parsha that contains the source of the obligation both to bless God and to bless God a lot.

The only explicit commandment to bless God is found in this week’s parsha when Moshe tells the Bnei Yisrael, “v’achalta v’savata u’vairachta et Hashem Elokecha” – after we eat and are satiated then we should bless God. I wonder why does the only explicit obligation to bless God revolve around food. I know that you will tell me that we are Jews so everything Jewish revolves around food. But seriously, why is the only explicit Torah obligation to bless God about food?

There is also a Rabbinic obligation to bless God a lot, 100 times daily, and Rabbi Meir, the author of this halacha, uses a pasuk in this week’s parsha to hint at this halacha. The pasuk states:

וְעַתָּה֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל מָ֚ה יְקֹוָ֣ק אֱ-לֹהֶ֔יךָ שֹׁאֵ֖ל מֵעִמָּ֑ךְ כִּ֣י אִם־לְ֠יִרְאָה אֶת־יְקֹוָ֨ק אֱ-לֹהֶ֜יךָ לָלֶ֤כֶת בְּכָל־דְּרָכָיו֙ וּלְאַהֲבָ֣ה אֹת֔וֹ וְלַֽעֲבֹד֙ אֶת־יְקֹוָ֣ק אֱ-לֹהֶ֔יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ֖ וּבְכָל־נַפְשֶֽׁךָ: לִשְׁמֹ֞ר אֶת־מִצְוֹ֤ת יְקֹוָק֙ וְאֶת־חֻקֹּתָ֔יו אֲשֶׁ֛ר אָנֹכִ֥י מְצַוְּךָ֖ הַיּ֑וֹם לְט֖וֹב לָֽךְ

“Now Israel, what does God ask from you, but only to fear Hashem your God, to go in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve Hashem your God, with all of your heart and with all of your soul. To guard the commands of Hashem and His statutes which I command you today, for your good.”

How is this verse a source for the obligation to recite 100 blessings? The Gemara states: Don’t read it mah Hashem Elokecha sho’el mai’imakh – what does Hashem you God ask from you. Rather, read it me’ah Hashem Elokecha sho’el mai’imakh – 100 things God asks from you. Now that’s cute. 100 things, 100 blessings, but is there a deeper connection between this pasuk and Rabbi Meir’s halacha?

Let’s try to understand the one commanded blessing of birkat hamazon and then we’ll move on to the 100 blessings of Rabbi Meir. The Gemara in Masechet Brachot tells us that Moshe formulated the first bracha in bentching once the manna fell from the sky, but the Torah only explicitly commands the Bnei Yisrael to bentch, to recite this blessing not after the manna fell, but right now, 40 years later, when they are about to enter Eretz Yisrael. Why is that?

The answer is that the purpose of a bracha is God-consciousness, to understand that God is the sustainer of life. When you have food literally falling from the sky miraculously, you have that God consciousness even without a bracha. This was the Bnei Yisrael during their forty-year sojourn in the desert. There was no need for a bracha. However, now Bnei Yisrael are about to enter Eretz Yisrael and food will not fall from the sky. They will have to work the land and that’s normal. There’s nothing wrong with that, except that there is a danger now. After all, the more we work, the more we think that we are solely or primarily responsible for our existence. Now, in Sefer Devarim, at the end of their forty-year journey in the desert at the border of Eretz Yisrael, God commands us to recite a blessing to acknowledge God, to be conscious of God for our most basic need, food, when there’s a chance that we will forget about Him.

We tried this model in Eretz Yisrael, a land when we look to the sky for food. After all, life in Eretz Yisrael depended on rain in Biblical times. As long as we were aware of that and bless God after every meal, hopefully we would sense God’s presence on a daily basis. However, this model was not sustainable and we sinned and the Beit Hamikdash was destroyed. Now the rabbis of the second Beit Hamikdash, the Anshei Knesset Ha’Gedola, realized that we needed a change. As such, they created a text and other rules for daily tefillah and they formulated texts for a whole hosts of brachot. And along comes Rabbi Meir and he says that we should say 100 blessings every day. What’s the pasuk that he uses to support this position?

מָ֚ה יְקֹוָ֣ק אֱ-לֹהֶ֔יךָ שֹׁאֵ֖ל מֵעִמָּ֑ךְ כִּ֣י אִם־לְ֠יִרְאָה אֶת־יְקֹוָ֨ק אֱ-לֹהֶ֜יךָ לָלֶ֤כֶת בְּכָל־דְּרָכָיו֙ וּלְאַהֲבָ֣ה אֹת֔וֹ וְלַֽעֲבֹד֙ אֶת־יְקֹוָ֣ק אֱ-לֹהֶ֔יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ֖ וּבְכָל־נַפְשֶֽׁךָ:

And this is the same pasuk of another famous gemara. The gemara in Masechet Brachot (33b) quotes this pasuk and states that Moshe told the Bnei Yisrael that God doesn’t want much from us. All that He wants us to do is to fear Him, follow His path and love Him. Now the gemara asks, that’s all? Is that a small thing? It’s very difficult to fear Him, serve Him and love Him. The gemara answers that for Moshe it’s a small thing. This is where I believe Rabbi Meir comes in and says yes, it’s difficult to fear Him, serve Him and love Him. But do you want to try to be like Moshe for whom it’s easy to do? I’ll give you the secret formula. Recite 100 daily brachot. Create many opportunities each and every day to sense God’s overarching presence.

There was once an irreligious seaman who was in a boat fishing with some friends. A sudden storm broke out which threatened to sink the ship. His companions pleaded with him to offer a prayer, but he hesitated, saying it was years since he had prayed or entered a house of worship. When they continued to insist, he finally made this prayer: "O Lord, I have not asked You for anything for fifteen years, and if You deliver us out of this storm, and bring us safely to land again, I promise that I will not bother You for another fifteen years."

That’s not the conversation we want to have with God. God isn’t bothered by us. Every little blessing is an opportunity to sense and connect with God. Every prayer for something small is an opportunity to sense and connect with God. Every small, mundane mitzvah is an opportunity to sense and connect with God so that we will ultimately feel that fearing God and loving God is not so difficult after all.

What kind of atmosphere is conducive to strong Jewish life and what is the best school environment for an orthodox Jew? Moshe told us and Rabbi Meir told us that it’s all about creating an environment of God consciousness as we embrace and engage the world around us, and there is no better college in the world that can help facilitate these opportunities of God consciousness than Yeshiva University. As student leaders, you have the most amazing ability to help create and shape these divine opportunities. It’s a tremendous responsibility and a tremendous opportunity.

In practice, how do we do that? How do we create and shape these opportunities for the students around us? A mashgiach in the Mirrer Yeshiva years ago once quoted a gemara in Chagiga (4b) which lists different pesukim that made different amoraim cry. For example, when one amora read the pasuk when Yosef disclosed his identity to his brothers, he would cry. When another amora read about how Shmuel was angry at Shaul when the latter summoned Shmuel from the dead, he would cry. Now these amoraim knew the entire Torah, but each had his own pasuk that made him cry. The mashgiach then turned to his students and said, “And my job now is to find out what pasuk makes you cry.” Everyone has different portals of entry to connect with God and with our beautiful mesora. We are all passionate about different things. There’s no one size fits all. For some of us, it’s through the intellect. For some of us, it’s through song. For some of us, it’s through a sense of community and belonging. For some of us, it’s through medinat Yisrael. And the list goes on. My bracha to each of you is that as leaders you develop an openness to truly listen to each other. My bracha to each of you is that as leaders you develop a sense of curiosity about what pasuk makes your fellow students cry. And my bracha to you is that, armed with this information, you follow in the footsteps of Moshe Rabbenu and Rabbi Meir to help shape one of the greatest Torah institutions in the world during your time at Yeshiva University.