| What Is The Reason: Songs & Wisdom II |
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 I did not complete my response to two of the questions in last week’s column: Shabbat songs and the curriculum for wisdom. I would ask the woman who has difficulty singing Shabbat songs
whether she has the same issue singing her prayers in a congregation. Shabbat songs are not campfire songs, and not only Torah, as we discussed last week, but they are also a form of prayer. Most of us tend to forget that there is Kedusha – Sanctity – associated with singing the Shabbat songs. We are praying when we sing. We are praising God for the gift of Shabbat, and we are requesting Divine assistance in being able to experience our observance on a spiritual level. I equate people who continue to converse as others are singing Shabbat Zemirot to people who speak during prayer and disturb others who are praying. I believe my questioner would feel differently about Shabbat table singing if she observed people treating the singing with the respect that is its due. Wisdom Curriculum II:
The Teacher and The IlluminatorThe Chidah continues his discussion of acquiring wisdom (Midbar Kadmut, page 82) by describing two types of Sages: The first type is the scholar, ‘The Teacher’, who approaches his learning with great awe, and therefore merits, through his purity of heart, to arrive at truth. The second type of scholar, ‘The Illuminator’, is the one who, with the same level of awe, struggles for a long time to discover truth and receives a single illumination that allows him to see something new and exciting. That excitement then imbues him with fire, and he is able to develop his insights and brilliance. He also creates a permanent illumination of the idea for which he worked so hard. The Bet Yosef worked for many years to answer a question that everyone had with something Maimonides wrote, until he discovered the answer. Soon after he came up with his answer, an insignificant scholar came up with the same answer without all the work. The Bet Yosef was frustrated that it took so long for him to find an answer, while it took someone else, so much less time and effort. His Maggid, the Angel that taught Torah to him, explained that once he, Rav Yosef Karo, found the answer, its illumination existed in the open, and became accessible to all. The Other scholar simply saw the light brought forth by the Bet Yosef’s hard work. One must know whether his or her Rebbi is the Teacher or Illuminator before he or she can take full advantage of all the Rebbi has to offer. (See Those Who See For Us) The Chidah also addresses the study of secular wisdom, specifically philosophy. He quotes the Responsa Yachin U’Boaz, Volume 1, 3134, who warns that there is a separate judgment on any studies that are not rooted in Torah. A person must approach such studies with constant awareness that he is always in spiritual danger when he studies something that is not rooted in Torah.  Comments (1)
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Dovid HaMelechb writes in T'hillim 119 "Gal einai v'abeetah nifla'ot mi'Torahtecha"-uncover my eyes so I may see wonders incorporated within Your Torah===>Moshe was imploring the Spies -please, please, please-G-d used the Torah as the blueprint to create the world-LOOK BENEATH THE SURFACE !!!!
So, perhaps it is not that there are studies not rooted in the Torah-perhaps we aren't looking deep enough!The spiritual danger is our lack of awareness.
AND BEWARE THE LACK OF AWARENESS WHEN WE ARE LEARNING TORAH WHEN WE DON'T THINK OF G-D.