Parshas Vayeira 5787
Updated: 39 minutes ago
ויפצרו באיש בלוט מאד ויגשו לשבר הדלת (יט-ט)
The Lutzker Rov, R’ Zalman Sorotzkin zt”l, points out that the word באיש seems extra. The posuk could have just said ויפצרו בלוט, that the people of Sodom tcheppeh’d Lot; what is באיש? He answers that the people of Sodom accused Lot האחד בא לגור וישפוט שפוט, You were as animalistic as any one of us – a judge, no less! How dare you become an איש on us, and act with basic humanity and decency?! Haflah vafeleh!
Rabbosai, the Lutzker’s words are נוקבין עד התהום. He is teaching us a powerful lesson. And that is, that one who does not work on his middos is not just not a tzaddik, he is nisht kein mentch!
As the Vilna Gaon zt"l writes in Mishlei (4:13), we are only here in this world to break our middos, the deficiencies in our character with which we were born. To be mentchlich is just that — to be a mentch.
It happened that the pregnant wife of a yungerman went to the hospital one Friday, with the understanding that an emergency delivery was imminent. Her husband hurried to the home of his rebbi, R’ Meir Soloveitchik zt”l, for a beracha, which the Rosh Yeshivah gave with feeling. Baruch Hashem, a baby girl was born motzaei Shabbos without mishap. Figuring that he would be going to krias haTorah in R’ Meir’s home that Monday anyway, the talmid neglected to immediately call and inform R’ Meir of the news. That Monday, after krias haTorah, R’ Meir went over to the yungerman, and calmly told him, that he has no taynahs against him, but the whole Shabbos he had been worried about the matzav, and would have appreciated being told the good news right away... The talmid apologized, but R’ Meir insisted that he was not looking for an apology, but to teach him to think of others.... Several minutes later, before leaving the apartment, the yungerman, still feeling terrible, apologized once more. R’ Meir gave it to him over the head. “I don’t want your anshuldig! I want that you should be a mentch!!”
And the way to do this, says the Gaon, is to learn mussar; even a few minutes a day makes a big difference. May Hashem help us become the best version of ourselves we can be.