“When a man has a rebellious son who does not listen to the voice of his father and mother and they chastise him and he does not listen to them” (Devarim 21:18).

“There never was a ben soreir u’moreh and there never will be one. Rather [the parshah was given so that we can] study it and earn reward” (Sanhedrin 71).

I once heard a comment from Rav Nochum Velvel ztz”l of Kelm about the Gemara (Berachos 17) that states that Rav had a statement that he constantly repeated: “In the World to Come there will be no food or drink ... rather tzaddikim will sit with their crowns on their heads and bask in the radiance of the Shechinah.”

Rav Nochum Velvel asked: “What benefit did Rav have in repeating this statement constantly?”

Rav Nochum answered by citing himself as an example. “My business requires me to spend two weeks out of the year at the marketplace in Leipzig or Danzig. My dealings there make it necessary for me to know the German language so I can conduct business in the marketplace.

“But” Rav Nochum Velvel continued “does my knowledge of the German language have to include exact rules of grammar? Certainly not. I live in Kelm where we speak the local language not German. When I spend two weeks out of the year in Leipzig or Danzig I need to speak German in order to communicate but I don’t need to be eloquent with proper grammar.” (Rabbi Boruch Mordechai Ezrachi Bircas Mordechai)

Every human being wanders through the marketplace of life. Nearly seven billion people rush through it feverishly buying and selling selecting and bargaining. It is an endless bazaar that covers the entire globe.

It boasts new inventions dazzling displays and alluring styles. At the same time the market is highly pressurized. It allows us no rest as we rush at dizzying speeds from one stall to the next from one merchant to the next. We dress our children wash them sit down to do homework prepare lunches go out to work and do grocery shopping. The marketplace of life never changes. It has been around for thousands of years and only the customers are constantly shifting.

But what is the language spoken at the marketplace? What is the language that you must know in order to conduct your business?

It is the language of Olam HaZeh.

A human being’s true place is in the upper spheres in Olam HaBa. Olam HaBa has its own language. The language of basking in the radiance of the Shechinah.

Our stay in this world is finite in comparison to eternity.

It’s true that we need to know the language of Olam HaZeh but only enough to be able to do our business; there is no need to know the intricacies of grammar.

This is why Rav reviewed this concept constantly: a person’s place in this world is temporary because his real place is in Olam HaBa. (ibid.)

A woman needs to be fluent in the language of this world. She needs to know how to cook rice how to set a beautiful table for Yom Tov and what can cure a stomachache.

We have no alternative as we spend the years of our life in the marketplace of this world.

Yes we need to speak the language but to be fluent in its grammar rules? For what purpose?

Olam HaBa has its own language.

The ben soreir u’moreh is diametrically opposed to this. He is completely enslaved to the language of Olam HaZeh with all of its nuances and details … with all the rules of grammar.

The Torah teaches us that despite our existence in Olam HaZeh we are really rooted in Olam HaBa. We must constantly review the language of Olam HaBa because that is our true life. (ibid.)

Sometimes our stall in the marketplace looks a little old-fashioned and maybe even a bit dingy. The stalls all around us glitter and shine loaded with the polished words of the language of Olam HaZeh. They are words that we do not always succeed in pronouncing correctly.

Do we care?

We need to remind ourselves constantly that we are surrounded by the ostentatious conceited language of Olam HaZeh.

We have to reassure ourselves that if our home doesn’t always shine or the laundry comes out slightly gray it’s fine.

This is just the marketplace.

The day will come when we will no longer speak this language and nothing will be left of it. There we will only be basking in the radiance of the Shechinah.