Righteousness, righteousness shall you pursue. (Deut. 16:20) In the beginning of the parsha the Torah tells us, Righteousness, righteousness shall you pursue. The second righteousness seems superfluous. What is it coming to teaching us? Sometimes a person wants to do Gods will but he gets so caught up in fulfilling the commandments that he overlooks different areas. For example, he might want to rise very early in the morning to pray, but his alarm then awakens everyone else in his family. Reb Bunim of Peshischa interprets the verse in this vein: pursue righteousness righteously. It is not enough to seek righteousness; it must be done through honest means. The Torah does not condone the pursuit of holiness through improper means. One has to make sure that he is not stepping on anyone elses toes when performing the commandments. The Chozeh of Lublin wanted to arise very early one morning to take care of a great mitzvah. The night before he asked his wife to prepare supper extra early so that he would be able to wake up in time. That night, not only was supper not served early - it was served even later than usual. Consequently he did not wake up in time and did not perform that great mitzvah. He thought to himself, I would be justified in getting angry at my wife. However, why should I get angry because my wife prevented me from serving God? Its Gods will for me not to get angry!
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 02:04:36 +0000