One Above and Seven Below Chareidio-Active Fallout

Rule #9 – Some customers are buyers, others are shoppers

Sometimes a customer walks into the store knowing exactly what he wants. He understands
the product, he knows the value, he has the right amount of money, he is ready to buy and he
does.
Don’t we wish all customers were like that?
Such a customer is called a buyer and is the commercial equivalent of the motivated and
inspired, natural born, 1st degree chareidi. Unfortunately, for us salesmen (and parents and
teachers) there are not enough of these kind of customers to go around (life would be kind of
dull if there were). Most customers are shoppers. They need to be sold on the product. They
need to evaluate the pros and cons and check out other items in other stores before they are
ready to commit themselves and part with their currency.
Now, the product that we are selling is a commitment to Torah observance. Okay, so how does
one come to get “hooked” on Torah observance? Well, why don’t we look at the Torah itself
and see what it says? Surprisingly, the Torah presents not just one, but two methods of
achieving a commitment to Torah observance; and they are both right next to each other in the
same weekly portion.
The Torah in the portion of Jethro relates the episode of the Revelation and receiving the
Torah. The main recipients were the more than 600,000 certified adults from the proper
descendants of Jacob (plus wives, children, adolescents, elders, and Levites). Rashi 1 quotes
the Midrash that all of these Jews were of one mind behind Moses and, as such, we can
consider them all to be bona fide 1st degree chareidim. The Torah relates a bit later that even
before Moses “laid down the Law” they all proclaimed that “All that G-d has spoken we will
do and we will study - Naaseh V’Nishma.”2 The Talmud relates that the Jews were rewarded
with spiritual “crowns” for their valiant demeanor of trusting in G-d and signing the contract
without demanding to read the fine print.3 Let us call this sublime “blind faith” approach the
Naaseh V’Nishma method.
What is not so readily noticed is that earlier in that portion we are introduced to another
approach. The Torah tells us that Jethro “heard” all that G-d did for Moses and for His nation,
Israel. Whereupon, Jethro arrives to cast his lot with the fortunes of the Jewish people as the
first righteous convert. When Jethro recounts his observations to his son-in-law, Moses, he
remarks, “I now know (Attah yadati) that G-d is greater than all other powers…”4 Rashi (ad
loc.) comments: “From all other powers – This teaches that Jethro was familiar with every
form of idol worship; that he did not overlook a single deity from sampling its manner of
worship.”
Jethro could not accept G-d on blind faith. He had to do some comparison shopping. Only
after he checked out all the competing brands and was satisfied that the G-d of Israel is the
All-Powerful deity bar none could he consecrate his life to His service. Let us call this
scrupulous investigative approach the Attah Yadati method. Jethro valued this method, so
much so that the Midrash states that, upon giving his daughter to Moses as a wife, Jethro
stipulated with him that the first born son will be designated for idolatry.5 Many understand
this to mean that Jethro insisted that at least one son should arrive at the truth of G-d via the
same means as he did.

1
Rashi, Exodus 19:2 s.v. VaYichan
2
Exodus 24:7
3
Talmud Bavli, Shabbat 88a
4
Exodus 18:11
5
Mechilta, Jethro, Tractate Amalek, Section 1

Page 1 © 2007,2009 Yechezkel Hirshman

One Above and Seven Below Chareidio-Active Fallout

It emerges that the Torah details two methods of accepting the Torah – Naaseh V’Nishma for
the buyers and Attah Yadati for the shoppers. Needless to say, the Naaseh V’Nishma approach
is the safer and more direct route but it does not afford the peace of mind of the riskier Attah
Yadati approach. And in this generation, we certainly need peace of mind.
So now we have yet a fourth application to the topic of Chanoch l’naar al pi darko. Besides
the question of whether our customer is more attuned to Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai’s derech or
to Rabbi Yishmael’s derech (or neither) we must also evaluate whether he is a buyer or a
shopper. We must recognize that not all of our offspring are automatically buyers. No matter
how effective a sales pitch we have, some customers will insist on shopping around. Despite
the inherent dangers, it may still be necessary to give the child a bit of slack and to allow him
to check out the competing merchandise. As long as he is not ready to buy, we actually have
no choice.

Page 2 © 2007,2009 Yechezkel Hirshman