Q:
You mentioned the benefits in this world of keeping the Torah. But doesn’t that contradict the great virtue of studying Torah, or doing any righteous thing, without the intent of getting reward?
A:
Now, let’s be practical. We are today in a difficult fight. The Jewish nation is today even more embroiled in a battle with its enemies than ever before.
You know, there was a time when we had big allies. Christianity and Islam were religions of many millions and they were our allies because they both supported the chief contentions of the Jewish people. There’s no question that they both said that Hakadosh Baruch Hu created the world from nothing, and that He chose the Jewish people, and He took them out of Egypt, and He gave them a Torah, and many other details.
Now, afterwards each one invented his own ideas. But in such a world it was much easier for the Jew to maintain his allegiance to these attitudes. Of course, he had the battle against the coercion or the persuasions of these religions on other matters. But in general, it was a different world.
In those days, immorality was condemned by all. An adulterer was put to death. Even today, in Islam, a homosexual is put to death. An adulterer is put to death. That’s the law of the Torah. A homosexual has to be put to death. He’s one of the worst criminals; he gets skilah. And in those days it was no problem because the majority of people in Europe and in the Near East obeyed these laws.
Of course, among the gentiles there always were a considerable number of transgressors. But, the Jews are a holy people and they found it easier because of the fact of allies.
Today however, when the whole world has gone mad with every form of wickedness – the whole world means the Western World. By the way, the Russians are not that way. The Russians don’t encourage homosexuality at all. They don’t encourage adultery at all. They don’t encourage pornography at all. It’s interesting. A visitor who returned from Russia told me that. They don’t encourage any of these wicked things that the Western Nations are doing to destroy themselves. At all!
However, the Western Nations are going mad and therefore it’s not easy for the Jew today to maintain his sanity. So we have to utilize every incentive.
Now, in the ancient days, the chassidim, the most pious of our people, were told that they should look forward to an ideal of doing things just for the sake of serving Hashem, for the honor of Hashem, and not for the purpose of reward. And there were many people who were inspired by that ideal. To them it was a bigger incentive; this selfless devotion to Hakadosh Baruch Hu enflamed the mind of idealists. And they succeeded.
But today we have to utilize anything that we can. And if people will study the Torah and observe the laws of Judaism for the sake of reward in this world or the World to Come, then it’s silly today to speak against that. We don’t discourage them at all.
We read the statements of the ancient chachomim as models of their former greatness; but today don’t preach that to anybody.
Today we tell the truth which is the truth. It’s good for you in this world if you’ll keep the Torah. There’s no question. A Jew who is loyal to the Torah is going to live longer than the one who doesn’t. Can you compare a Jew who rests every Shabbos and Yom Tov, which is one sixth of his life? He remains home, he doesn’t travel. Even the fact of traveling on weekends gives people opportunities to get killed more readily. But besides that, a man who lives one sixth of his life in retirement while he’s still young, he’s surely going to live longer.
Is there any question that people who eat kosher are going to eat more wholesome foods than those who eat things that can be subject to various diseases? There’s no question that the gentiles who ate pork were up till recently suffering from trichinosis. And even now, there are a lot of pork products that are not fully guaranteed against trichinosis worms.
People who have families are more prone to live longer and to be more healthy than those who don’t have families. It’s well known that the unmarried don’t live as long. They have problems; besides physical problems they have mental problems too.
It’s only in a family that – we are talking about a Jewish family where you don’t have a drunken father and an immoral mother; you have children who obey the parents, who come home at night, and marry young and there’s nachas in the family; there’s no question these people live longer.
So we encourage people to keep the Torah for any kind of motive today. And let’s not waste time trying to discourage people from motivations that can be useful for them in this great struggle for the practice of the Jewish way of life.
TAPE # 364 (May 1981)
