Wisdom & Wit

Wisdom & Wit - Chayei Sara

In 1927, the President of Czechoslovakia, Dr. Masaryk, a friend of the Jews and for whom a street in Jerusalem was named, visited what was then Palestine. Among those present at one meeting were members of the Old Yishuv who had come from Czechoslovakia. After that meeting, Dr. Masaryk met privately with R’ Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, the head of the Old Yishuv.
At that meeting, R’ Yosef Chaim spoke with foreboding about the growth of technology and its unrestrained use in furthering the ambitions of governments and political leaders (this even before the Nazis had attained power).
Basing his words on the story in the Torah of the Tower of Bavel, R’ Yosef Chaim pointed out that before the tower was built the people said, “Come, let us make bricks” (B’reishit 11:3). Why did they need to make bricks, when they could more easily have built their tower from rocks? The answer is that they wanted to break away from Hashem, and to provide their own building materials, rather than using those provided by Him. That was what eventually led to “challenging” Hashem with their tower.
“It is this same idea,” said R’ Yosef Chaim, “that Man has unlimited power to do whatever he wants, that has led to the drastic decline in morals following the World War (World War One), and to the attempts to dominate the world.”

Shmuel Himelstein has written a wonderful series for ArtScroll: Words of Wisdom, Words of Wit; A Touch of Wisdom, A Touch of Wit; and “Wisdom and Wit” - available at your local Jewish bookstore (or should be). Excerpted with permission

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