Q:
Must we take literally this mishnah (Avos 6:4) of כך היא דרכה של תורה, that way of learning Torah is that you should sleep on the ground and eat only bread with salt?
A:
If you have a bed to sleep in, don’t climb off the bed and sleep on the ground. But suppose you’re going into a yeshivah where all the beds are occupied and the rosh yeshivah tells you, “I cannot accept you. There’s no room in the dormitory,” so you tell him, “Let me sleep on the floor.” That’s what you should do.
When he hears that, then he knows that you’re going to succeed. כך היא דרכה של תורה. That’s how you’ll succeed in Torah.
If in the dining room they’re giving you luscious nourishing meals, certainly you should eat them. But suppose you can’t get it? So you do anything for Torah.
By the way, however, I want to warn against a misconception. It says אם אתה עושה כן – if you do that, אשריך וטוב לך – then you are praiseworthy. It means you have to do it but it doesn’t mean your wife has to do it. If you want to sleep on the floor, that’s your business.
TAPE #228 (August 1978)
