Based on this.
Rabbosai, listen up. We’re going to learn something from this week’s Parsha, Yisro, and it is going to be mamash illuminating. Enlightening!
We open the Gemara in Maseches Shabbos, Daf Yud. We find two heavy hitters, Rav Chisda and Rabbah bar Rav Huna. They were sitting and judging din (law) all day long. They were exhausted. The Gemara says their hearts became weak. Rashi gives two pshatim: either they were physically drained because they hadn’t eaten a crumb since Shacharis, or they were emotionally drained from the burden.
Along comes Rav Chiya bar Rav from Difti. Now, I don’t know much about Difti, but I can tell you one thing about the people there: They were nifty.
He sees these two exhausted Rabbis and he wants to make them feel better. He quotes them a Pasuk about Moshe Rabbeinu: "And the people stood over Moshe from the morning until the evening."
And Rav Chiya asks the famous kashya: Do you really think Moshe sat there judging for 12 hours straight? When did he learn? He’s Moshe Rabbeinu—our teacher! He was surely a big time learner!!
So the Gemara answers: "Any judge who judges a true judgment... even for one hour... the Torah considers it as if he became a partner with Hakadosh Baruch Hu in the Works of Creation."
It says "from morning to evening" not because he sat there all day, but to tell you that one hour of true judgment is like an entire day of creation.
The "Employee" Kasha
Now, let’s be honest. If you think about it for two seconds, this sounds nice, but it makes no sense.
Imagine I go to my boss. He hires me to work 9-to-5. I show up at 2:00 PM, I leave at 3:00 PM. I go to him and say, "Bossy Wossy, I want you to consider it as if I worked all day."
He’s going to laugh me out of the building.
So how can the Gemara say that one hour is like the whole day? And even deeper—why does judging a court case make you a "Partner in Creation"? God made the trees and the sun; you’re deciding who owes who $50. How does that make you a partner?
The Tragedy of the Missing Book
To understand this, we need the Ein Ayah. It is a tragedy—a mamash tragedy—that people learn Gemara without Rav Kook. This sefer is worth its weight in gold—no, platinum.
Rav Kook explains: What is the greatest desire of a Tzaddik? What makes him tick?
We are Westerners. We are brainwashed. We look in the mirror in the morning and say, "Hello, good lookin'! What can I do for me today?" We want the house, the car, the manicured lawn, and maybe a kosher swimming pool in the basement.
But a Tzaddik? A Tzaddik thinks about the Klal. He thinks about the Jewish people. He thinks about the guy in Manchester, the guy in North Dakota, the guy in Meah Shearim. His entire existence is: How can I help the community?
The Jonas Salk Principle
So look at these Rabbis. They weren’t taking a lunch break. Why? Because they cared so much.
It’s like Dr. Jonas Salk. I heard a story that his wife used to call him at the lab.
"Jonas, eat breakfast!"
"I can't, I'm busy."
"Jonas, eat lunch!"
"I can't, I'm curing polio!"
Finally, at 8:00 PM she forces him to eat. Why didn't he eat? Not because he wasn't hungry. But because when you are saving the world, you don't have time for a bagel.
But here is the chiddush: Eating the bagel is part of saving the world.
If you are working for a big company—Goldman Sachs, huge executive, big office—and they send you on a business trip to handle a billion-dollar merger, they put you in a fancy hotel. You order room service. Who pays? The company pays.
Why? Because your sleeping, your eating, your relaxing—it’s all so you can do the job for them.
The Puerto Rico Mashal
It’s like the couple who goes to Puerto Rico for Pesach to relax, and they leave the kids with the housekeeper. The housekeeper is working hard taking care of the kids. The parents are sitting by the pool drinking iced tea.
Are the parents bad parents? No! They are recharging their batteries so they can come back and be better parents. The "chilling" is part of the parenting!
The Application: Learning IS Doing
This is what Rav Chiya was telling Rav Chisda and Rabbah bar Rav Huna.
You guys judged for one hour. What did you do the rest of the day? You ate? You slept? You learned?
It all counts.
Because your ratzon (will), your entire drive, is to help the Klal. If you learn Torah, it’s so you can teach the Klal. If you sleep, it’s so you have the strength to judge the Klal.
If you are a judge, you bring order to chaos. The world was Tohu VaVohu (chaos) until Hashem fixed it. When you bring law and order, you are perfecting society. You are finishing what Hashem started. That is why you are a Partner in Creation.
So, chevre, listen to me. Maybe you want to do chessed. Maybe want to run around and save the world.
But right now? You are in Yeshiva.
Your job is to build yourself.
Sit and learn. Fill up your batteries. Become a Talmid Chochom.
Don't feel guilty that you aren't running a soup kitchen right now. By building yourself into a leader who can teach and guide the Jewish people, you are doing the ultimate chessed.
When you sit and learn, you are putting it on the "Company Card." You are doing it for the Klal. And if you do that... you'll be ... Bi-Simcha!
(Breaks into song)
Ivdu es Hashem b'simcha...
