Scrubbing pots is not high on my list of favorite things to do.

However after preparing a meal I’m left with no choice but to tackle the pots. Some are easy to clean others require more effort. Occasionally when burnt-on food stubbornly clings to the bottom of the pot and won’t budge even after laborious scrubbing and scraping the pot needs to be soaked — for an hour a day or longer. I never cease to be amazed by the ease with which the burnt food is lifted after soaking. It’s almost as if the pot cleans itself.

As we know everything in the physical world has a parallel in the spiritual world.

Tackling questions in emunah or deficiencies in middos head-on is often a painstaking and laborious process. A more effective approach can be to immerse oneself in the waters of Torah and surround oneself with Torah living. When we do this very often the doubts and the deficiencies disappear.

The story is told of a group of Jewish young men studying in aBerlinuniversity who regularly met to engage in profound philosophical discussions pondering the existence of G-d the meaning of life why good people suffer and other mysteries. They came to the conclusion that to find the answers to their questions they had to engage in a serious study of Judaism in a yeshivah. But how could they possibly pay for travel expenses and tuition?

They decided to pool their resources and send one member of their group to a yeshivah inEastern Europe. The young man would spend two years in intensive study and then come back and teach the others what he had learned. The students compiled a list of their deep philosophical questions and looked forward to the day when the young man who had been selected would return to answer them.

At the conclusion of the two years the young man returned home. His friends surrounded him eagerly and asked if he had learned the answers to all their questions.

“Actually” he replied “I don’t have all the answers. But now I no longer have the questions.” (Heard from Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Feuer.)

Immersion in Torah has the power to transform a person giving him clarity and insight.

When a person is saturated with Torah he begins to think and respond as a Torah Jew. Like the burnt-on food that is loosened when soaked in water old thought processes and behaviors begin to loosen their grip and new thought processes and behaviors have the opportunity to emerge.

A TORAH MIND-SET

This summer Mishpacha devoted one special edition (June 12 2013) to explaining the chareidi world’s strong opposition to drafting yeshivah bochurim Rabbi Ahron Lopiansky Rosh Yeshivah of Yeshivah of Greater Washington in Silver Spring eloquently described the role of the yeshivah. He explained that as “Torah Jews” we don’t define ourselves merely as “observant Jews ” people who keep mitzvos; rather as people who in addition to keeping mitzvos have a Torah mind-set — a Torah outlook on life. We are people “whose heart throbs with the regesh of kedushah ” who respond to events both big and small from a Torah perspective.

“The place for attaining this neshamah of Yiddishkeit is the intense and formative years at yeshivah. I am not sure how this happens but being totally steeped in Abaye and Rava working at understanding the emes putting all our energies and emotions into Torah transforms us … [This Torah] mind-set is forged in those years of immersion in Torah and avodah and relative isolation from the world around.”

The importance of immersing oneself in a Torah environment cannot be overstated. Immersion in a Torah environment not only cleanses a person of the mind-set he’s absorbed from the world around him; it infuses him with true Torah hashkafos. The young man who has absorbed these Torah hashkafos will eventually grow to be the husband and father who sets the tone for his home transmitting these hashkafos to his family. Even though as women we don’t immerse ourselves in Torah study it’s critical that we understand the vital role of the yeshivah for our husbands and our sons so we can encourage and support them.

BRINGING IT HOME

When Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai asked his five talmidim “What is the good path to which a person should cling?” (Avos 2:13) he was asking them: What is the one practice that a person should undertake to ensure that he remains on the Torah path? Rabbi Yosei replied: Shachen tov a good neighbor. Why?

The Rambam teaches us in Hilchos Dei’os that it’s in our nature to be influenced by our surroundings. He goes on to say that if necessary a person should uproot himself and even live in a desert rather than remain in an environment hostile to Torah values.

What should a person do if she finds herself in an environment that is not a makom Torah of the caliber that she wants short of moving to the desert? She must provide herself and her family ample opportunities to be immersed in Torah learning and living. This may require the sacrifice of her children leaving home to study in a yeshivah or Bais Yaakov spending summers in a positive Torah’dik environment visiting relatives or acquaintances who can serve as role models for her family and more. It may require searching for new and effective ways for her and her family to become recharged and inspired.

Maaser sheini neta revai and maaser beheimah all had to be eaten in Yerushalayim. Why? Sefer HaChinuch (mitzvah 360) explains that since people are generally drawn to physical pursuits and consequently are not fully involved in Torah and mitzvos Hashem provided them with the opportunity to be completely absorbed in Torah several times a year. Yerushalayim was home to the Sanhedrin and other chachamim completely engrossed in the study of Torah. When a person came to Yerushalayim he was nourished from the Torah found there. He would bring that Torah back home so that the entire family could be more knowledgeable and inspired. They would then merit the fulfillment of the pasuk “I will place my Mishkan among them” (Vayikra 26:11).

Even during the times of the Beis HaMikdash when people lived in Eretz Yisrael surrounded by other Torah Jews they needed the inspiration of regular visits to Yerushalayim. Certainly in our times it’s vital that we provide ourselves with regular doses of inspiration as well.

As women we are involved in physical pursuits around the clock. We need to find ways to immerse our minds in Torah ideas to inspire ourselves regularly. For some women the inspiration may come from listening to a shiur; for others it may come from reading; for still others it may come from spending time with people they admire. We each need to do whatever it takes to inspire ourselves and to consciously hold on to that inspiration.

In times past when a Yid immersed himself temporarily in the kedushah and wisdom of Yerushalayim and then returned home it was as if he was bringing the Shechinah back home with him. In our times when we allow Torah ideas to permeate our lives we too are welcoming the Shechinah into our home.