The ideal life, as recommended by Rabbi Nechunya ben Hakanah, is one in which we forsake the material world for that of Torah. As he teaches (Avot 3:6):
כָּל
הַמְקַבֵּל עָלָיו עוֹל תּוֹרָה, מַעֲבִירִין מִמֶּֽנּוּ עוֹל מַלְכוּת וְעוֹל
דֶּֽרֶךְ אֶֽרֶץ, וְכָל הַפּוֹרֵק מִמֶּֽנוּ עוֹל תּוֹרָה, נוֹתְנִין עָלָיו עוֹל
מַלְכוּת וְעוֹל דֶּֽרֶךְ אֶֽרֶץ
One who accepts upon himself the
yoke of Torah is exempted from the yoke of government and the yoke of worldly responsibilities;
but one who casts off the yoke of Torah is saddled with the yoke of government and
the yoke of worldly responsibilities.
I’d like to consider for a moment the yoke of government.
What is it? On one level it is the responsibility borne by national and civic
leaders, government ministers, officials and those who carry out their orders. This
is a yoke that most people do not need to cast off since it is never round
their necks in the first place. But there is another burden that falls within
the scope of “yoke of government”. What might that be?
Rabbi Yisrael Miller (The Wisdom of Avos) explains:
“[W]e can also understand this in
a natural way as referring to an emotional yoke. Too many people are obsessed
with keeping up with the news and worrying about it, especially various kinds
of political news (the yoke of government) …”
How very apt these words appear here in Israel, in the days
following the General Election, and what a profound psychological perspective
do they reflect. I have spoken to many friends and acquaintances who have
greatly concerned themselves with the constituent features of the next ruling
coalition, reading everything they can find and eagerly discussing it with
others, even though their concern has—as they are obliged to concede—no practical
value or impact on the subject of their concern. Yet they cannot escape and
refrain from doing so. That is a burdensome yoke indeed.
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