Lenient and Serious

Translated by Rabbi Lazer Brody

The Gemara teaches (see tractate Chulin 60a), that when Hashem said, “fruit trees yielding fruit of its own kind”, the grasses (herbage) reasoned that if Hashem wanted the species to mingle, why did He say that each yield fruit “of its own kind”? The trees are large and their branches are many and wide, so each tree occupies much more space than an individual grass or herb. So if they live relatively apart from one another, and Hashem commanded each “of its own kind”, then we grasses and herbs who grow in close proximity with one another should surely be careful to avoid mingling with other species, even though we weren’t commanded so explicitly. In other words, if we act a certain way in a lenient situation, then we certainly must act at least that way in a more serious situation. This line of reasoning is called kal v’chomer in Hebrew, and it’s the first of the Thirteen Attributes of Torah Elucidation.
 
Every year when I review Rashi’s elaboration on the above Torah passage (for Rebbe Nachman of Breslev encourages us to review Rashi’s commentary on the Torah annually), I notice that Rashi mentions the above story from the Gemara. I ask myself, what does it mean that the grasses “reasoned” in an “all the more so” fashion, inferring on their own from a lenient situation to a more serious situation? They inferred that if the trees do something, they surely should. Does the vegetative kingdom have the power of reason? There must be some secret that our sages wanted to teach us.
 
Investigating, I came upon the book Degel Machane Ephraim by Rebbe Ephraim of Sidelkov, Rebbe Nachman’s uncle. He cites a Midrash (Bereishit Raba 10:7) that says, “There is no single blade of grass below that doesn’t have its own administering angel above who taps it on the head and says, ‘grow!'” In other words, every blade of grass in the material world has a spiritual root in the spiritual world which vitalizes it. As with everything else in creation, the upper realm acts on and influences he lower realm. We know from astrology that the stars above us bear influence on us and on our world. The realm of the angels influences the realm of the stars. And, all these realms from the highest to the lowest are influenced by Hashem, Who is the root and life source of everything.
 
From the above we can understand that it wasn’t the green botanical grasses and herbage that reasoned, but their spiritual source above. As such, each variety grew true to seed and not as hybrids, mixing with one another.
 
The above elaboration should stimulate our thinking. If the angels use powers of reasoning – inference, induction and deduction – in attempting to fulfill Hashem’s wishes, then we should too! It’s so important that we understand that we should be ourselves. For, as we explained at length in our book The Garden of Wisdom, each person has his designated path and task in life. No two people are identical. Each family has its own character with its own individual needs. What’s good for one person or family may not be good for another. As such, we must learn humility and to respect every other individual.
 
Again, we must reason lenient as opposed to serious. If Moses, who knew the entire Torah and spoke to Hashem face-to-face,  was extremely humble, then how can I – an utter simpleton – allow myself to be arrogant? If a great tzaddik guards his eyes even though his mind is much more pure and holy than mine, then all the more so should I be making an effort to guard my eyes. I should be praying to Hashem and seeking His help in helping me to avoid contaminating my eyes and mind. If a Torah scholar who knows much more than I do guards every single moment of the day, then I – with so much to learn – should certainly be guarding my time and not letting a moment go to waste.
 
If an experienced businessman warns me that investing in the stock market is so risky that he doesn’t gamble on stocks, bonds, and futures, then I certainly must stay away from such speculative investments. The same goes for every other area of life. We should learn from those who know more than we do. And with humility, we can learn from the lower orders of creation too, even from animals. The prophet Isaiah tells us that an ox and a donkey appreciate their master’s kindness, so shouldn’t we as humans appreciate the myriad of blessings that Hashem bestows on us every single day? This is the power of the “all the more so” line of reasoning and way of looking at the world.