Sfas Emes - Introductory Message

Sfas-Emes introductory message

Many people are new to the Sfas Emes. Here is some introductory information that I hope you find helpful.

First, some biographical information. The Sfas Emes was the second Gerer Rebbe. He reigned from 5630 (1870) to 5665 (1904).

The first Gerer Rebbe was the Chidushei HaRim -- so named after the title of his Chidushim on Shas. The Sfas Emes was orphaned at a very young age. The Chidushei HaRim, his Grandfather, raised him. And as you will see, the Sfas Emes' divrei Torah often begin with a thought that he had from his Grandfather.

The Ma'amarim that I try to explicate are his notes -- written " be'etzem kesav yado hakedosha" (in his own sacred handwriting) -- after he spoke.

Why might a person be interested in learning the Sfas Emes, a Sefer that is not part of the curriculum in most Yeshivos, and, moreover, a Sefer that many people initially find hard to understand?

The answer is simple. The Sfas Emes responds to a need to which few other Sefarim answer: the need for 'hashkofo-- Torah thought-- for adults'! As a person grows older, he/she should also grow in their Avodas HaShem. In practice, that goal isnot easily attained. On the contrary, it is all too easy for a person'srelationship with HaShem to sink into a morass of routine, tedium, and stagnation.

How can a person avoid that sad state? Clearly, it would help if one had access to a set of powerful, new, exciting ideas. The metaphor that comes to mind is of a rocket going skyward. Its initial blast-off is powered by the first-stage rocket. But at some point, the rocket needs a 'second- stage' blast to keep it on its upward trajectory. So too in the present context. A person needs 'second-stage' hashkofo to refresh -- and, hopefully, to grow in -- his/her Avoda. The problem then becomes: where can one find a source for those ideas?

One possible source is the Sfas Emes. But here we encounter a serious problem. As mentioned, many people who would like to learn the Sfas Emes find the text hard going. In other words, learning the Sfas Emes also involves costs. The costs are simply the other side of the coin that comes from the fact that the Sfas Emes gives us powerful, new ideas. Because the Sfas Emes is a Torah heavyweight, absorbing his ideas takes time and energy. But bear in mind that the Sfas Emes is an ideal Limud for people who 'have no time to learn'.

How so? Because a person who has 'no time to learn' is a person who must be careful to allocate his/her limited time to the Limudim that give access to the most new, mind-stretching Torah thoughts. And in this respect, the Sfas Emes is unsurpassed!

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On the basis of past experience, I suggest that you will get maximum benefit from the Sfas Emes emails if you proceed in the following sequence. First, print the email. No one ( repeat : no one ) can absorb a ma'amar of the Sfas Emes by skimming it off the screen. Receiving the Sfas Emes, but not printing it is a perfect case of a brocha lebatala (a wasted blessing). Having the Sfas Emes email available in printed form enables you to take a second look at the email. (How often in life are we given a second chance?) Note two further advantages of having a printed copy.You can read it on Shabbos; and you can share it with your spouse and/or with a friend. ( Note that printing the Sfas Emes email does not generate 'shaimos'. See Igeros Moshe, Orach Chayim, Chelek Bais, Siman 55.)

OK. Now you have a printed copy of the Sfas Emes email. What next ? If you get the email at work, take it home. Finally, when you sit down to learn the Sfas Emes, first read the Sfas Emes text with which we are working that week. The text is usually a single, short paragraph. If you have trouble understanding the Sfas Emes's text, read the Sfas Emes email. After you have read the email, try the Sfas Emes's text again. That text should now be much more accessible. You may now be feeling the sheer joy and excitement that come from learning the Sfas Emes.

Best wishes.

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Sfas-Emes, Copyright © 2006 by Torah.org and Dr. Nosson Chayim Leff.