Hillel's Counsel

What should we do in an age when scholars of Torah are ridiculed and the wisdom of Torah is belittled? The renowned Talmudic sage Hillel gave the following advice:

"If you see a generation that is eager to study Torah, you should spread (i.e., disseminate Torah). And if you see a generation that does not appreciate Torah, you should gather in (i.e., refrain from teaching Torah), as it says, "It is a time to act for God, for they have violated Your Torah" (Psalm 119:126)." (Berachot 63a)

This is peculiar advice! Would it not be wiser to increase the dissemination of Torah precisely in such a lost and confused generation, when it is most needed?

The Source of Decline

The Torah cannot be properly appreciated without a certain preparation of the spirit and purity of the heart. Only then can the true significance of Torah and its special light be recognized. Only then can the real benefits acquired by those who study it — and through them, the entire generation — be properly grasped.

The root cause of all moral declines is a deterioration in knowledge and understanding. First, the views of the scholars and intellectual elite become warped. They, in turn, influence and corrupt the opinions of the rest of society.

"If you see a generation that does not appreciate Torah" — this phenomenon stems from a fundamental change in society's outlook and attitudes. The methods and images that were used to express the inner essence of the Torah succeeded in engaging previous generations; but the current generation can no longer relate to them. The world has changed. The old methods are no longer effective in opening the hearts and minds to the Torah's inner truth.

A Time to "Gather In"

At such a time, we are obligated to deepen our knowledge in lofty matters and examine the Torah's most central teachings. The philosophical underpinnings of the Torah must be analyzed and clarified with depth of thought. When the intellectual leaders are able to recover what they were missing in faith and knowledge, their connection to the Torah will be restored. Then appreciation for Torah will return to the entire generation.

When Torah wisdom is not respected, it is a sign that the inner concepts of the Torah have not been properly clarified. The matter will not be corrected by the continued dissemination of worn-out, superficial ideas. Words of rebuke and trite sentiments — even if they are essentially correct, and effective for simple, unpretentious folk — will no longer work. We must address the heart of the problem.

Our response must be, as Hillel counseled, to "gather in" — to turn our attention inwards, probing and reevaluating the philosophical underpinnings of the Torah.

On the other hand, when the Torah is generally loved and respected, we should further spread its teachings. Since its views are widely accepted, it is appropriate to teach those unsophisticated ideas and simple messages that appeal to the average person. Even though this dissemination will not qualitatively add to our understanding of the Torah, it will enrich it quantitatively, as more people study it and fulfill its mitzvot. And from these new students will come forth the great minds who will help reveal its inner light in a confused generation.

The Torah contains esoteric subjects that should not be publicized when there is no need to do so. However, it becomes our duty to clarify these topics when the generation needs it. When the Torah is held in low esteem, "It is a time to act for God." For the sake of heaven, "they violate Your Torah" — the scholars of the generation must violate the usual principles, and reveal previously hidden areas of the Torah. Thus we find, for example, that the Oral Law was committed to writing, despite the prohibition against writing down that which was meant to be transmitted orally. Even sublime Midrashic topics, normally taught privately to the select few, were written down and disclosed to the public.

A Divine Signal for Growth

While it is disturbing to see the Torah being abandoned, this phenomenon is in fact part of a Divine pattern in history — a cyclic process whereby the Torah's inner truth is gradually revealed over time.

The more the Torah is abandoned, the greater is our obligation to analyze the hidden, 'gathered-in' portions of the Torah. This pressing need is a Divine call, charging us to deepen our understanding of Torah and uplift the nation. "Though I have fallen, I will arise. Though I sit in darkness, God will be my light" (Micah 7:8). As the Sages explained the verse: 'Had I not fallen, I would not have risen up. Had I not sat in the darkness, God would not be my light' (Shir Hashirim Rabbah 6).

(adapted from Ein Eyah vol. II, pp. 367-8)

Copyright © 2006 by Chanan Morrison