Arvus
A central topic in תורה which, so to speak, doesn’t get the attention it deserves is Arvus. The level of responsibility that the Jewish people have for one another is truly amazing. Let us reflect on the well known din of אף על פי שיצא מוציא – that even if one has fulfilled his מצוה he can still act for another Jew who hasn’t yet fulfilled his מצוה. Why is this so?
רש"י explains the rationale with the words -כל ישראל ערבים זה לזה , the ר"ן adds that if your friend hasn’t fulfilled his responsibility it’s as if you haven’t fulfilled yours! And the ריטב"א writes that this is because כלל ישראל is ‘כגוף אחד’- like one body. This isn’t some mystical statement; this is the underlying reasoning behind a halacha which we encounter all the time!
Arvus also dictates that one should forfeit his hiddur mitzvah for another’s basic מצוה. The מגן אברהם poskins that if you have ample oil to be יוצא the נרות חנוכה למהדרין and your friend has no oil, you should sacrifice your hiddur and light one candle in order that your friend can fulfill his basic מצוה. Imagine this; you have been learning about חנוכה for weeks and are full of excitement to fulfill the מצוה in the most מהודר way possible. You bought a beautiful silver מנורה, the very best oil and the finest wicks. As the time to light fast approaches your friends oil spills. The correct thing to do is to disregard all your many efforts and give your friend the “extra” oil. Elsewhere, the מגן אברהם claims that one should concede his esrog to a community that has no esrog and personally use his community’s esrog.
We even find examples of completely giving up on your מצוה because of Arvus. The מנחת אלעזר claims that one should give up his מצוה דרבנן for someone else’s מצוה דאורייתא. He poskins that if one has two shiurim of מצה, one for the first night (which is דאורייתא) and another for the second night (which is דרבנן) he should forfeit his second zayis for his friend who doesn’t have for the דאורייתא of the first night.
These are a few of the places where we find the imprint of Arvus. Arvus is usually thought of in a very broad way - as in, “Am I is concerned with Klal Yisrael’s future or not?” Or “Will I choose a career in Jewish education or business?” While these questions are very important and certainly relate to one’s overall dedication to arvus, the issue is, in fact, far more pervasive.
Arvus really means I have an over-arching responsibility for the קיום מצוותof every Jew. This is not just about general life questions, it is about every day of our lives. His מצוות are my מצוות, and just as one is concerned about their children’s or student’s מצוה performance, one should be concerned with every Jews מצוה performance. This is, of course, a tall order and perhaps thinking about it in its full scope will discourage us from being more real with it, as it seems to be too much for us.
So let us start slowly, yet attempt to connect to Arvus in a deeper way than before. I will offer three applicable ideas now and a few more in “Arvus – Part 2”.
Awareness- Generally, we have no awareness of Arvus. We are often myopically focused on our own מצוות, but rarely on our friend’s מצוות. We can grow in Arvus by merely raising our consciousness level towards the מצוות of others. For example, when in a minyan, realize that it isn’t just your tefillah you have to worry about, it is everyone’s tefillah. This worry isn’t because you are a nice, concerned person; it is because their tefillah is your tefillah and until everyone has davened you haven’t finished davening either.
Change of perspective- After gaining a basic level of awareness one starts to view things radically differently. Until now, our encouraging others in their observance was to accrue extra zechusim for ourselves, for Kavod Shamayim, or as a form of chesed. Through “Arvus awareness” it is elevated to a responsibility and a personal issue. When I step aside to allow someone to take a seat in the Beis Midrash it isn’t just being polite; it is a fulfillment of Arvus. Before starting a fight in shul to make sure the tefillah is going to be in the nusach you want, you will think twice. Maybe this will be better for me, but what about my chiyuv to make sure everyone davens well? Together with the joy felt after fulfilling שופר with all the hiddurim, one sighs with the realization that as long as all his brothers haven’t heard the שופר his מצוה is sorely lacking.
Feeling compelled to help others with מצוות- As an effect of the aforementioned steps, one will feel compelled to encourage any greater מצוה performance he can, as these are his מצוות.Just as it is natural for one to feel duty-bound to learn and daven, he can gain those same feelings towards others.
Here is an Arvus test - Do you ever feel you should be helping others with their מצוות? If so, why and when do you feel this way? How often does this happen to you?
Gaining awareness and knowledge about this essential topic is already a huge step. As one grows in Arvus his hashkafa will change and new, wonderful feelings will emerge.
(Please send comments and questions to rdsvaad@gmail.com)
"if you would lilke to recieve these Avodah thougths every 2 weeks sign up at
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A central topic in תורה which, so to speak, doesn’t get the attention it deserves is Arvus. The level of responsibility that the Jewish people have for one another is truly amazing. Let us reflect on the well known din of אף על פי שיצא מוציא – that even if one has fulfilled his מצוה he can still act for another Jew who hasn’t yet fulfilled his מצוה. Why is this so?
רש"י explains the rationale with the words -כל ישראל ערבים זה לזה , the ר"ן adds that if your friend hasn’t fulfilled his responsibility it’s as if you haven’t fulfilled yours! And the ריטב"א writes that this is because כלל ישראל is ‘כגוף אחד’- like one body. This isn’t some mystical statement; this is the underlying reasoning behind a halacha which we encounter all the time!
Arvus also dictates that one should forfeit his hiddur mitzvah for another’s basic מצוה. The מגן אברהם poskins that if you have ample oil to be יוצא the נרות חנוכה למהדרין and your friend has no oil, you should sacrifice your hiddur and light one candle in order that your friend can fulfill his basic מצוה. Imagine this; you have been learning about חנוכה for weeks and are full of excitement to fulfill the מצוה in the most מהודר way possible. You bought a beautiful silver מנורה, the very best oil and the finest wicks. As the time to light fast approaches your friends oil spills. The correct thing to do is to disregard all your many efforts and give your friend the “extra” oil. Elsewhere, the מגן אברהם claims that one should concede his esrog to a community that has no esrog and personally use his community’s esrog.
We even find examples of completely giving up on your מצוה because of Arvus. The מנחת אלעזר claims that one should give up his מצוה דרבנן for someone else’s מצוה דאורייתא. He poskins that if one has two shiurim of מצה, one for the first night (which is דאורייתא) and another for the second night (which is דרבנן) he should forfeit his second zayis for his friend who doesn’t have for the דאורייתא of the first night.
These are a few of the places where we find the imprint of Arvus. Arvus is usually thought of in a very broad way - as in, “Am I is concerned with Klal Yisrael’s future or not?” Or “Will I choose a career in Jewish education or business?” While these questions are very important and certainly relate to one’s overall dedication to arvus, the issue is, in fact, far more pervasive.
Arvus really means I have an over-arching responsibility for the קיום מצוותof every Jew. This is not just about general life questions, it is about every day of our lives. His מצוות are my מצוות, and just as one is concerned about their children’s or student’s מצוה performance, one should be concerned with every Jews מצוה performance. This is, of course, a tall order and perhaps thinking about it in its full scope will discourage us from being more real with it, as it seems to be too much for us.
So let us start slowly, yet attempt to connect to Arvus in a deeper way than before. I will offer three applicable ideas now and a few more in “Arvus – Part 2”.
Awareness- Generally, we have no awareness of Arvus. We are often myopically focused on our own מצוות, but rarely on our friend’s מצוות. We can grow in Arvus by merely raising our consciousness level towards the מצוות of others. For example, when in a minyan, realize that it isn’t just your tefillah you have to worry about, it is everyone’s tefillah. This worry isn’t because you are a nice, concerned person; it is because their tefillah is your tefillah and until everyone has davened you haven’t finished davening either.
Change of perspective- After gaining a basic level of awareness one starts to view things radically differently. Until now, our encouraging others in their observance was to accrue extra zechusim for ourselves, for Kavod Shamayim, or as a form of chesed. Through “Arvus awareness” it is elevated to a responsibility and a personal issue. When I step aside to allow someone to take a seat in the Beis Midrash it isn’t just being polite; it is a fulfillment of Arvus. Before starting a fight in shul to make sure the tefillah is going to be in the nusach you want, you will think twice. Maybe this will be better for me, but what about my chiyuv to make sure everyone davens well? Together with the joy felt after fulfilling שופר with all the hiddurim, one sighs with the realization that as long as all his brothers haven’t heard the שופר his מצוה is sorely lacking.
Feeling compelled to help others with מצוות- As an effect of the aforementioned steps, one will feel compelled to encourage any greater מצוה performance he can, as these are his מצוות.Just as it is natural for one to feel duty-bound to learn and daven, he can gain those same feelings towards others.
Here is an Arvus test - Do you ever feel you should be helping others with their מצוות? If so, why and when do you feel this way? How often does this happen to you?
Gaining awareness and knowledge about this essential topic is already a huge step. As one grows in Arvus his hashkafa will change and new, wonderful feelings will emerge.
(Please send comments and questions to rdsvaad@gmail.com)
"if you would lilke to recieve these Avodah thougths every 2 weeks sign up at
http://rdsvaadim.com/subscribe/