Everyone must recognize where they stand, and which approach will be the most effective for them to properly return to Hashem
T
he Arizal revealed to us that there is an allusion to the month of Elul and its avodah of preparation for the coming days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in the pasuk (Yeshayahu 43:16) “Hanosein bayam darech — He who makes a path in the sea.” This time of year is marked with an extra emphasis on teshuvah and introspection.
The Minchas Elazar of Munkacs, in his sefer Shaar Yissaschar (maamar Yemei Ratzon 6) offers a very practical explanation for the words of the Arizal. Travel on land is drastically different from sea travel. Land travel is defined by roads and clear paths, and straying off the thoroughfare can be dangerous. Similarly, when a train goes off the tracks, the results are disastrous.
Sea travel, on the other hand, is much less defined. In the Minchas Elazar’s times, people would travel by ship to Eretz Yisrael from Trieste, Italy. There is no clear path in the sea between Trieste and the port in Yaffo; the captain of the ship directs his vessel in the direction of his destination and makes adjustments as necessary. The shipping lanes across the seas (and, in our times, the airways) serve as a general guideline for getting from one place to another.
The Munkacser writes that the Torah’s mitzvos and the rabbinic safeguards instituted to protect them are like a road. We have specific practices defined by halachah and minhag. There is room for us to put ourselves into the mitzvos, but not necessarily in the context of how the mitzvah is actually performed.
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