After Yosef and the brothers came back from burying their father, the brothers were fearful that now Yosef would get back at them for all that they did to him. Therefore, they said to him that their father had requested that they should ask him for forgiveness & that he should forgive them.
Yosef wept as he assured them that since he bore no grudge, they have nothing to fear. The end of that posuk states וידבר על לבם ,and he spoke to their heart.
Rashi explains that Yosef elaborated on the reasons that they had nothing to fear. He explained: “Before you came down here, the Egyptians would make fun of me saying that I'm a slave but now that you arrived here, they realize that I really was a free man. If I kill you now, the people will say that he saw a group of young men, latched on to them to say he's a brother & then he kills them.” The Egyptians would then conclude, Is there such a thing where a brother kills a brother; Yosef must have been lying.
Says רב זילברשטיין we that learn from this conversation that when someone wants to dispel bad feelings someone has towards him, he shouldn't just brush him off with lame excuses. He should instead get to the heart of the matter & explain why those feelings aren't founded. This is what the Torah tells us when Yaakov explains to Yosef why he buried Rochel on the road rather than in the city.
Rashi explains that he elaborated & told him, I didn't even bring her to בית לחם which I know has caused you to be upset at me in your heart. You should know, though, that I did it only because 'ה told me to. הגר"ח שמואלביץ asks, “why did Yaakov have to go into detail with Yosef? Why not simply say 'ה told me where to bury her? הגר"ח שמואלביץ answers that had Yaakov just said that, Yosef wouldn't have been satisfied & would always be thinking that maybe there was something more he could have done. Therefore, Yaakov went through the entire explanation with him including all the different angles as well as what he could have done in order to explain to him that even with all the questions you might have, Rochel’s burial followed 'ה's command. Therefore, he couldn't have any other thoughts on the matter.
Why does it matter if someone has lingering thoughts as long as you know that you did the right thing?
When the brothers asked Yosef for forgiveness, they said ועתה שא נא לפשע עבדי אלקי אביך ,so now, please forgive the spiteful deed of the servants of your father’s G-d. Rashi says they were reminding Yosef that although your father is dead, his G-d is still alive
The sefer עטרת צבי explains by quoting the gemara that says, at the time when a person is in pain, the Shechina says קלני מראשי קלני מזרועי , my head is heavy & my arms are heavy. I created this person & now he's being punished; the Shechina is pained by the suffering of people.
Yosef's brothers believed that, while Yaakov was alive, Yosef did not wish to cause him pain so he didn't harm them. Therefore they said to him, "although your father is dead, his G-d is still alive; if you didn't want to cause pain to your father surely you wouldn't want to cause pain to 'ה who shares in everyone’s pain.
The אוצרות התורה relates a story that was told to the חיד"א by the אור החיים who said that in רב חיים בן עטר זצ"ל's town, one of the prominent members of the community degraded a חכם. The rav called the חכם to appease him and convince him to make peace. As he's talking, the חכם interrupts and asks, “why are you are you bothering yourself with this? The second he insulted me, I immediately forgave him because the 'זוהר הק says that the sins of the Jewish people cause 'ה anguish. Had I not forgiven him right away, the sin would take effect causing pain to 'ה. Therefore I forgave him before the sin could even take effect.
Based on this, the חיד"א says that's why it says כל המעביר על מדותיו מעבירים ממנו כל פשעיו anyone who overcomes his character traits & allows things to slide is forgiven for all his sins. Since he lets things slide, forgiving people who harm him, he insures that 'ה not be pained; מידה כנגד מידה , all his sins are removed so as not to pain 'ה
That's why it’s important not to leave any lingering doubt when you appease someone for we don't want people to be pained, thinking bad of other people thereby causing 'ה to be pained too. This teaches us to admit when we’re wrong & to explain the situation so that there is no bad blood which would cause anyone any pain. Then, מידה כנגד מידה, we too won't have any pain!
Friday, December 28, 2012
Friday, December 21, 2012
Vayigash
After the Torah tells us about Yaakov & all the families coming down to Mitzraim, the Posuk says וישב ישראל בארץ מצרים בארץ גשן , thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen.
If you look at the wording of the posuk it seems superfluous. Asks רב משה פיינשטיין זצוק"ל why does it have to say בארץ מצרים? We already know from the previous pesukim that Goshen is in Mitzraim?
Earlier in the Parsha, prior to Yaakov agreeing to come down to Mitzraim, he sent Yehuda in advance to prepare the way. The Midrash debates why he sent him down. One rabbi says to set up a yeshiva for them to learn in while one says to set up a home for them to live in.
The עלינו לשבח asks, it's understandable why he would have to send him down to set up a yeshiva for there were none in Mitzraim. If the Jewish people were to live there, it was imperative that there be a yeshiva set up for them.
However, if the reason he sent him was just to set up a house, what was the emergency? Why couldn't they just move into Yosef's palace until their own place would be ready?
There was an old Jew who recited a story from his youth. It was during the time of World War I and many kids his age were leaving the Yeshiva to go to work. He also wanted to go with them but his father didn't want him to.
At that time, the חפץ חיים was living in their town & they agreed to go to him to ask what to do. Both presented their side of the story. The father said he didn't want him to go work because of the negative influences on the street & he didn't want him to get messed up. The son, for his part, said that his father himself goes to work on the street yet he hasn’t been negatively influenced so he wouldn't get messed up either.
The חפץ חיים turned to the young child, stated that we find one time in Tanach that it mentions a cruel bird called the בת יענה & inquired: do you know why we say that it’s cruel? He responded that this bird has a very strong stomach which is able to digest even glass. The mother bird believes that her kids can eat glass, too, so she feeds them glass without realizing that they are too young & tender to be able to handle it. The glass rips up their throats & they die.
So, too, said the חפץ חיים your father, who is older & more seasoned, can handle the outside world without becoming influenced but you, who are so young & impressionable, can be influenced negatively, so stay in yeshiva.
Similarly, answers the sefer באר יוסף , perhaps that’s the reason Yaakov didn't want to go live in Yosef's palace, even temporarily. Since Yosef was the ruler of Mitzraim, with dignitaries & diplomats regularly visiting, he was forced to have his palace befitting a ruler of Egypt with Egyptian decor while he and his family dressed in Egyptian garb. Yaakov didn't want the Egyptian ways, whether in dress, language or mannerisms to rub off on his family. Therefore, he had Yehuda go down in advance to prepare a Jewish home for his family.
This, too, is how רב משה explains the reason for the Torah stressing בארץ מצרים בארץ גשן to teach us that, even though we had to be exiled in Egypt, we still had to make sure that we wouldn't mingle with them. We stayed separate in Goshen in order not to learn from the ways of the Egyptians. The extra words of בארץ מצרים teaches us the importance of living in a good environment surrounded by other Jews, especially when we’re bringing up our children!
If you look at the wording of the posuk it seems superfluous. Asks רב משה פיינשטיין זצוק"ל why does it have to say בארץ מצרים? We already know from the previous pesukim that Goshen is in Mitzraim?
Earlier in the Parsha, prior to Yaakov agreeing to come down to Mitzraim, he sent Yehuda in advance to prepare the way. The Midrash debates why he sent him down. One rabbi says to set up a yeshiva for them to learn in while one says to set up a home for them to live in.
The עלינו לשבח asks, it's understandable why he would have to send him down to set up a yeshiva for there were none in Mitzraim. If the Jewish people were to live there, it was imperative that there be a yeshiva set up for them.
However, if the reason he sent him was just to set up a house, what was the emergency? Why couldn't they just move into Yosef's palace until their own place would be ready?
There was an old Jew who recited a story from his youth. It was during the time of World War I and many kids his age were leaving the Yeshiva to go to work. He also wanted to go with them but his father didn't want him to.
At that time, the חפץ חיים was living in their town & they agreed to go to him to ask what to do. Both presented their side of the story. The father said he didn't want him to go work because of the negative influences on the street & he didn't want him to get messed up. The son, for his part, said that his father himself goes to work on the street yet he hasn’t been negatively influenced so he wouldn't get messed up either.
The חפץ חיים turned to the young child, stated that we find one time in Tanach that it mentions a cruel bird called the בת יענה & inquired: do you know why we say that it’s cruel? He responded that this bird has a very strong stomach which is able to digest even glass. The mother bird believes that her kids can eat glass, too, so she feeds them glass without realizing that they are too young & tender to be able to handle it. The glass rips up their throats & they die.
So, too, said the חפץ חיים your father, who is older & more seasoned, can handle the outside world without becoming influenced but you, who are so young & impressionable, can be influenced negatively, so stay in yeshiva.
Similarly, answers the sefer באר יוסף , perhaps that’s the reason Yaakov didn't want to go live in Yosef's palace, even temporarily. Since Yosef was the ruler of Mitzraim, with dignitaries & diplomats regularly visiting, he was forced to have his palace befitting a ruler of Egypt with Egyptian decor while he and his family dressed in Egyptian garb. Yaakov didn't want the Egyptian ways, whether in dress, language or mannerisms to rub off on his family. Therefore, he had Yehuda go down in advance to prepare a Jewish home for his family.
This, too, is how רב משה explains the reason for the Torah stressing בארץ מצרים בארץ גשן to teach us that, even though we had to be exiled in Egypt, we still had to make sure that we wouldn't mingle with them. We stayed separate in Goshen in order not to learn from the ways of the Egyptians. The extra words of בארץ מצרים teaches us the importance of living in a good environment surrounded by other Jews, especially when we’re bringing up our children!
Friday, December 14, 2012
Mikeitz
The Midrash finds the words of Yaakov when he says to the brothers למה הרעותם לי, why did you treat me badly, totally out of character. The Midrash says that this is the only time Yaakov said something that wasn't proper, for he implied that what 'ה was doing was by chance. 'ה said that I am working to make his son the king in Egypt & he says למה הרעותם לי ?
It appeared that the sale of Yosef was a terrible tragedy, disastrous for Yaakov when, in reality, it was the opposite. Because of the sale, Yosef becomes second to the king giving him the ability to support Yaakov & all the families in the time of hunger.
However, asks the אוצרות התורה how could Yaakov be faulted for his question? He had lost his favorite son, the one whom he had taught all that he had learned from Shem & Ever. This was the son who was the greatest of the brothers in wisdom whose safety was compromised by Yaakov’s request that he go check on his brothers. Yaakov thought that Yosef had been mauled by animals & blamed himself because he had sent him to the brothers. Therefore, how could there be any fault found in Yaakov for saying למה הרעותם לי ?
Writes ר' אברהם גרודזינסקי, a human being is limited by place and time. He doesn't know what's good or bad for he only knows what's going on around him, not what's happening in other places. Also, a person can only see what's happening now since doesn't know the future. Chazal prove this theory from Yaakov; not only couldn't Yaakov see the future that Yosef would become king, he cried bitter tears for nine years while Yosef had already become King of Egypt. Just a few hours journey could have transformed Yaakov’s mourning into joy. The key is to have absolute trust in 'ה that whatever He's doing is for the best which is exemplified by the following story.
The author of המגיד מדבר tells us a story that was told to him directly from the person involved. When the "white" anti Bolsheviks came to power after WWI, the Jews enjoyed a few years of peace & some even became wealthy. Every day this person was in his office by 8 o'clock. One morning as he made his way to the office, he heard someone calling out.
A man was standing on the steps to a small shul calling out for a tenth man to complete a minyan. Since he was early, he went in to complete the minyan. However once he was inside, he saw that there were only four other people. He went back out and said, “what's going on? I'm not the tenth only the fifth; it'll take you all day to get ten people.” He answered that many Jews pass this way so it won't be long. He sat down & said tehillim ten minutes went by & only one more person came in. He got up to leave but the gentleman pleaded with him to wait since he had yahrtzeit for his father and needed a minyan.
This person couldn’t stay since he had to be in the office by eight & it was already eight. The man got angry at him & said, “I am not letting you leave; I have yahrtzeit & need to say kaddish. As soon as I get a minyan & we daven, you can leave.”
Not wanting to antagonize this individual, he unwillingly went back to say tehillim but still, only two more people arrived. Realizing that his morning was shot anyway, he remained until finally a minyan congregated. He thought the man would just say a mishna & then kaddish so he was surprised when he started from the beginning of davening. Wanting to leave he kept looking to the door hoping someone else would walk so he could go, but no one did. After the conclusion of the davening, the man brought out cake & schnapps. Only after that and with profuse thanks was he able to leave.
Finally he was making his way to the office when a man came running frantically screaming to get away. This man said that the communists came, overtook the city, killed out all the Jews & are now raiding the spoils. He turned, ran for his life & was able, after a few days, to escape Russia.
Imagine what would have happened had he left that minyan early.
On Chanuka, we say הפכת מספדי למחול לי פתחת שקי ותאזרני שמחה , you have changed my lament into dancing; you undid my sackcloth & girded me with gladness. The שפת אמת says that the days of Chanuka are days of great inspiration for the Jewish people. We were at a tremendous low when 'ה helped & we were taken out of slavery to freedom, out of bondage to redemption, teaching us that as great as the problems are, that's how great the redemption will be. Never give up & trust that 'ה knows what He's doing which will only be for our benefit.
Maybe this is the fault found in Yaakov’s question. While things looked so bleak & the pain was too much to bear, surely he knew that whatever 'ה did was for his benefit. Having those words come out of his mouth, however, insinuating that there was no plan, that things were just happening, was something that never should have been spoken. Teaching us that no matter what happens & what things look like, 'ה always has a plan!
It appeared that the sale of Yosef was a terrible tragedy, disastrous for Yaakov when, in reality, it was the opposite. Because of the sale, Yosef becomes second to the king giving him the ability to support Yaakov & all the families in the time of hunger.
However, asks the אוצרות התורה how could Yaakov be faulted for his question? He had lost his favorite son, the one whom he had taught all that he had learned from Shem & Ever. This was the son who was the greatest of the brothers in wisdom whose safety was compromised by Yaakov’s request that he go check on his brothers. Yaakov thought that Yosef had been mauled by animals & blamed himself because he had sent him to the brothers. Therefore, how could there be any fault found in Yaakov for saying למה הרעותם לי ?
Writes ר' אברהם גרודזינסקי, a human being is limited by place and time. He doesn't know what's good or bad for he only knows what's going on around him, not what's happening in other places. Also, a person can only see what's happening now since doesn't know the future. Chazal prove this theory from Yaakov; not only couldn't Yaakov see the future that Yosef would become king, he cried bitter tears for nine years while Yosef had already become King of Egypt. Just a few hours journey could have transformed Yaakov’s mourning into joy. The key is to have absolute trust in 'ה that whatever He's doing is for the best which is exemplified by the following story.
The author of המגיד מדבר tells us a story that was told to him directly from the person involved. When the "white" anti Bolsheviks came to power after WWI, the Jews enjoyed a few years of peace & some even became wealthy. Every day this person was in his office by 8 o'clock. One morning as he made his way to the office, he heard someone calling out.
A man was standing on the steps to a small shul calling out for a tenth man to complete a minyan. Since he was early, he went in to complete the minyan. However once he was inside, he saw that there were only four other people. He went back out and said, “what's going on? I'm not the tenth only the fifth; it'll take you all day to get ten people.” He answered that many Jews pass this way so it won't be long. He sat down & said tehillim ten minutes went by & only one more person came in. He got up to leave but the gentleman pleaded with him to wait since he had yahrtzeit for his father and needed a minyan.
This person couldn’t stay since he had to be in the office by eight & it was already eight. The man got angry at him & said, “I am not letting you leave; I have yahrtzeit & need to say kaddish. As soon as I get a minyan & we daven, you can leave.”
Not wanting to antagonize this individual, he unwillingly went back to say tehillim but still, only two more people arrived. Realizing that his morning was shot anyway, he remained until finally a minyan congregated. He thought the man would just say a mishna & then kaddish so he was surprised when he started from the beginning of davening. Wanting to leave he kept looking to the door hoping someone else would walk so he could go, but no one did. After the conclusion of the davening, the man brought out cake & schnapps. Only after that and with profuse thanks was he able to leave.
Finally he was making his way to the office when a man came running frantically screaming to get away. This man said that the communists came, overtook the city, killed out all the Jews & are now raiding the spoils. He turned, ran for his life & was able, after a few days, to escape Russia.
Imagine what would have happened had he left that minyan early.
On Chanuka, we say הפכת מספדי למחול לי פתחת שקי ותאזרני שמחה , you have changed my lament into dancing; you undid my sackcloth & girded me with gladness. The שפת אמת says that the days of Chanuka are days of great inspiration for the Jewish people. We were at a tremendous low when 'ה helped & we were taken out of slavery to freedom, out of bondage to redemption, teaching us that as great as the problems are, that's how great the redemption will be. Never give up & trust that 'ה knows what He's doing which will only be for our benefit.
Maybe this is the fault found in Yaakov’s question. While things looked so bleak & the pain was too much to bear, surely he knew that whatever 'ה did was for his benefit. Having those words come out of his mouth, however, insinuating that there was no plan, that things were just happening, was something that never should have been spoken. Teaching us that no matter what happens & what things look like, 'ה always has a plan!
Friday, December 7, 2012
Vayeshev
When the brothers sold Yosef, the Torah informs us what the Arabs were carrying in their caravan. וגמליהם נשאים נכאת וצרי ולט , and their camels were bearing spices, and balsam, and birthwort.
Rashi, in an effort to explain why the Torah felt the need to give us that information, explains that it was in order to teach us the reward that's due Tzadikim. Arabs normally carry foul smelling cargo while in this caravan, in the merit of Yosef, they were carrying spices.
The אוצרות התורה asks the obvious question. At a time like this when Yosef was just sold as a slave by his brothers , he's being torn away from his father to a uncertain fate not knowing if he'll ever return home, does he really cares about the smell?
The gemara in Berachos says that the fourth beracha in benching of הטוב והמטיב was established in Yavne commemorating the people that were killed in Beitar. דאמר רב מתנא אותו היום שניתנו הרוגי ביתר לקבורה תקנו ביבנה הטוב והמטיב. As רב מתנא said, on the day the murdered in Beitar were buried, they established the beracha of hatov v' hamaitiv: הטוב שלא הסריחו , the one who is good that they didn't rot והמטיב שניתנו לקבורה ,the one who does good that they were able to be buried.
I once heard a question about this from Rabbi Frand , who asked how can this be a cause for celebration? The Beis Hamikdash had been destroyed; the people were being prosecuted by the Romans; Beitar, a city destroyed fifty-two years after the destruction of Jerusalem, had been the last stronghold of the Jews, now was destroyed & tens of thousands of Jews murdered, which began the great exile of nearly two thousand years. Finally, they are allowed to go in & bury their dead. Is this a reason to thank 'ה for his benevolence? Should we be overjoyed to the point of adding a beracha to benching?
Answered Rabbi Frand, after the destruction of the Bais Hamikdash, the Jews felt that 'ה was done with them; He no longer wanted them as his people so they were depressed & forlorn. However, once they came to Beitar & saw that, by way of a miracle, the bodies hadn’t decayed & were fit for burial, they saw that all was not lost. 'ה still loved them which uplifted & rejuvenated their spirits. That's why they established the Beracha of הטוב והמטיב for they now realized that 'ה really never left them.
The sefer גדולת מרדכי says, it’s like the patient who is in a coma with the family waiting for the slightest movement. One twitch of the eye is cause for celebration, not because the patient is better but because there's hope.
So too by Yosef; it is true he was just sold by his brothers and didn’t know what was going to happen or if he would remain alive. Therefore, when he smelled the spices & realized that 'ה had made a miracle, even one so minor, it showed him that 'ה was still with him & that small glimmer of hope - recognition that he wasn't alone & would be protected - is what kept him going. We have to learn that no matter what's happening, we must find the little bit of good & know that 'ה will always be there for us!
Rashi, in an effort to explain why the Torah felt the need to give us that information, explains that it was in order to teach us the reward that's due Tzadikim. Arabs normally carry foul smelling cargo while in this caravan, in the merit of Yosef, they were carrying spices.
The אוצרות התורה asks the obvious question. At a time like this when Yosef was just sold as a slave by his brothers , he's being torn away from his father to a uncertain fate not knowing if he'll ever return home, does he really cares about the smell?
The gemara in Berachos says that the fourth beracha in benching of הטוב והמטיב was established in Yavne commemorating the people that were killed in Beitar. דאמר רב מתנא אותו היום שניתנו הרוגי ביתר לקבורה תקנו ביבנה הטוב והמטיב. As רב מתנא said, on the day the murdered in Beitar were buried, they established the beracha of hatov v' hamaitiv: הטוב שלא הסריחו , the one who is good that they didn't rot והמטיב שניתנו לקבורה ,the one who does good that they were able to be buried.
I once heard a question about this from Rabbi Frand , who asked how can this be a cause for celebration? The Beis Hamikdash had been destroyed; the people were being prosecuted by the Romans; Beitar, a city destroyed fifty-two years after the destruction of Jerusalem, had been the last stronghold of the Jews, now was destroyed & tens of thousands of Jews murdered, which began the great exile of nearly two thousand years. Finally, they are allowed to go in & bury their dead. Is this a reason to thank 'ה for his benevolence? Should we be overjoyed to the point of adding a beracha to benching?
Answered Rabbi Frand, after the destruction of the Bais Hamikdash, the Jews felt that 'ה was done with them; He no longer wanted them as his people so they were depressed & forlorn. However, once they came to Beitar & saw that, by way of a miracle, the bodies hadn’t decayed & were fit for burial, they saw that all was not lost. 'ה still loved them which uplifted & rejuvenated their spirits. That's why they established the Beracha of הטוב והמטיב for they now realized that 'ה really never left them.
The sefer גדולת מרדכי says, it’s like the patient who is in a coma with the family waiting for the slightest movement. One twitch of the eye is cause for celebration, not because the patient is better but because there's hope.
So too by Yosef; it is true he was just sold by his brothers and didn’t know what was going to happen or if he would remain alive. Therefore, when he smelled the spices & realized that 'ה had made a miracle, even one so minor, it showed him that 'ה was still with him & that small glimmer of hope - recognition that he wasn't alone & would be protected - is what kept him going. We have to learn that no matter what's happening, we must find the little bit of good & know that 'ה will always be there for us!
Friday, November 30, 2012
Vayishlach
As Yaakov is convincing Eisav to accept his gift,Yaakov says כי חנני אלקים וכי יש לי כל, take it, for 'ה has been gracious to me & I have everything.
Rashi explains יש לי כל, I have everything means that I have everything that I need. However, when Eisav spoke, he spoke haughtily saying יש לי רב, I have plenty, implying that he has much more than he needs.
The חפץ חיים says that these words outline their different outlooks on life. By saying יש לי רב, Eisav is saying that he has plenty but not הכל , not everything, he still wants more. However, Yaakov’s יש לי כל , means that he's not missing anything for he was happy with his lot & satisfied with whatever he had.
When הגר"ח מוולאז'ין learned the sefer תנא דבי אליהו, he found one verse very troubling: כי הקב"ה שמח בחלקו that 'ה is happy with his lot. What kind of lot does 'ה have to be happy with? The whole world is his! Since this bothered him for a long time, he went to see his rebbi in Vilna and asked him this question. The גאון answered him that we, עם ישראל, are the lot of הקב"ה as the posuk says in Haazinu כי חלק ה' עמו יעקב חבל נחלתו ,For 'ה's share is his people; Jacob, the portion of His possession.
Continued the גאון , with His portion He's always happy whether it’s a lot or a little. That's how 'ה is שמח בחלקו.
What does that mean though? I understand that 'ה is happy with us when we do a lot but what's his happiness with a little?
The עלינו לשבח brings a story about ר' אלקנה לייסנר who did two interesting things every day while walking to his daf yomi shir. First, instead of walking leisurely, taking the side streets, he would go out of his way to walk along the busiest streets in town second, he would always be carrying his large gemara.
Over the years many people wondered why he would walk carrying around this huge gemara when there were plenty of gemaras in shul to use.
Finally, one of his relatives asked him. Why do you always carry around that huge gemara?
He answered, I want people to see me walking with the gemara so when they see a regular working man coming to learn after a long day, I'm hoping they will be inspired to come to learn too. That's why I take the biggest gemara I have & walk the busiest streets so more people will see me & do the same.
The gemara in Shabbos mentions three things that one should say in his house עם חשיכה, just before dark: עשרתם , ערבתם , הדליקו את הנר. Have you tithed? Have you prepared the eiruv? Light the lamps! הגר"מ שפירא זצ"ל explained these in a more practical way for our generation. עם חשיכה ,in a generation where darkness prevails over light, a generation where sin triumphs, we have to internalize these three things. עשרתם , take tithes from our time to learn Torah. Even those of us that are busy all day must find some time to learn. ערבתם , it’s incumbent upon us להתערב בין הבריות , to mingle with the people & inspire them to join us in the service of Hashem. הדליקו את הנר, ignite the eternal flame of Torah & warm the hearts of the people to want to study Torah.
Perhaps this is the little that 'ה is happy with: the small things that people do to inspire other people to help people , to influence other people to recognize 'ה. Even in this generation, where our values are challenged, & dark has seemingly taken over, we still need to go in the ways of 'ה showing other people the right path & know that even the small things we do are making Hashem שמח בחלקו!
Rashi explains יש לי כל, I have everything means that I have everything that I need. However, when Eisav spoke, he spoke haughtily saying יש לי רב, I have plenty, implying that he has much more than he needs.
The חפץ חיים says that these words outline their different outlooks on life. By saying יש לי רב, Eisav is saying that he has plenty but not הכל , not everything, he still wants more. However, Yaakov’s יש לי כל , means that he's not missing anything for he was happy with his lot & satisfied with whatever he had.
When הגר"ח מוולאז'ין learned the sefer תנא דבי אליהו, he found one verse very troubling: כי הקב"ה שמח בחלקו that 'ה is happy with his lot. What kind of lot does 'ה have to be happy with? The whole world is his! Since this bothered him for a long time, he went to see his rebbi in Vilna and asked him this question. The גאון answered him that we, עם ישראל, are the lot of הקב"ה as the posuk says in Haazinu כי חלק ה' עמו יעקב חבל נחלתו ,For 'ה's share is his people; Jacob, the portion of His possession.
Continued the גאון , with His portion He's always happy whether it’s a lot or a little. That's how 'ה is שמח בחלקו.
What does that mean though? I understand that 'ה is happy with us when we do a lot but what's his happiness with a little?
The עלינו לשבח brings a story about ר' אלקנה לייסנר who did two interesting things every day while walking to his daf yomi shir. First, instead of walking leisurely, taking the side streets, he would go out of his way to walk along the busiest streets in town second, he would always be carrying his large gemara.
Over the years many people wondered why he would walk carrying around this huge gemara when there were plenty of gemaras in shul to use.
Finally, one of his relatives asked him. Why do you always carry around that huge gemara?
He answered, I want people to see me walking with the gemara so when they see a regular working man coming to learn after a long day, I'm hoping they will be inspired to come to learn too. That's why I take the biggest gemara I have & walk the busiest streets so more people will see me & do the same.
The gemara in Shabbos mentions three things that one should say in his house עם חשיכה, just before dark: עשרתם , ערבתם , הדליקו את הנר. Have you tithed? Have you prepared the eiruv? Light the lamps! הגר"מ שפירא זצ"ל explained these in a more practical way for our generation. עם חשיכה ,in a generation where darkness prevails over light, a generation where sin triumphs, we have to internalize these three things. עשרתם , take tithes from our time to learn Torah. Even those of us that are busy all day must find some time to learn. ערבתם , it’s incumbent upon us להתערב בין הבריות , to mingle with the people & inspire them to join us in the service of Hashem. הדליקו את הנר, ignite the eternal flame of Torah & warm the hearts of the people to want to study Torah.
Perhaps this is the little that 'ה is happy with: the small things that people do to inspire other people to help people , to influence other people to recognize 'ה. Even in this generation, where our values are challenged, & dark has seemingly taken over, we still need to go in the ways of 'ה showing other people the right path & know that even the small things we do are making Hashem שמח בחלקו!
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Vayeitzei
The parsha relates the incredible story of יעקב who worked for seven years to marry רחל, is fooled at the last minute to unwittingly marry Leah and then the posuk says, ויהי בבקר והנה הוא לאה and it was morning & behold it was Leah! He didn't realize it was Leah until the next morning.
The בן איש חי is confounded by this story. While it is true that we cannot understand the ways of 'ה , if 'ה wanted יעקב to marry Leah, too, why did He have to make it come about in such a deceitful way? If 'ה wanted יעקב to marry both sisters, why wouldn't He just tell him in a נבואה & he would have done it happily?
There's a fascinating Midrash in איכה that relates our the attempts of our forefathers in heaven at the time of the destruction of the בית המקדש , to get 'ה to return the people to their land. First אברהם entreated 'ה followed by יצחק then יעקב but to no avail. משה tried & also met with no success. It seemed that the Jewish nation was doomed until רחל spoke up and said: Master of the world,You know that יעקב had tremendous love for me & even worked for seven years that I should be his wife. When the seven years were ending, my father wanted me to switch with my sister which bothered me immensely so I told יעקב & we arranged signs that he would know that it was me & couldn't be fooled.
However, my compassion for my sister was aroused when I thought of the great embarrassment she would suffer. Therefore, I overcame my emotions & gave her the signs so she could marry my intended husband! I did all of that and gave up my future to spare my sister the embarrassment.
Rachel continued: now, I, a mere mortal of flesh & blood, was not jealous of my sister & didn't let her get embarrassed; You, the eternal King, how can You be jealous of idols that have no worth and because of whom you exiled your children?
The Midrash continues: immediately, 'ה's mercy was aroused & He said, “because of you רחל I will return them to their land.”
Continues the בן איש חי ,we see that all the prayers of the אבות & Moshe couldn't sway 'ה to redeem the nation, whereas the merit of רחל ,who sacrificed personal happiness so that her sister wouldn't get embarrassed evokes the mercy of 'ה to enable us to be returned to our land.
After this Midrash, we understand why the marriage to Leah had to be done in a deceitful manner for 'ה was preparing the merit to enable us to get out of galus. It was only self sacrifice of this magnitude that had the power to return us to our land.
Rabbi Shimon Finkelman relates a story that exemplifies this trait; there were two boys from the same shul whose bar mitzvas fell out around the same time & due to poor scheduling were both scheduled for the same Shabbos. Both boys had worked really hard preparing the whole parsha so they didn't know what to do. Who should lain?
One of the boys, Avi, decided on his own that he would forego the honor of reading from the Torah allowing the other boy to read the whole parsha.
A few years later, Avi stayed with his mother, who was in the hospital, over Shabbos. Early Shabbos morning a man came in to the room & said to Avi, “as you might know, Rav Elyashiv is also in the hospital . We have a minyan in his room but we don't have anyone to lain. Perhaps you know how to? Avi answered, “normally I couldn't, but since this is my bar mitzva parsha I could lain!
After they finished davening Rav Elyashiv thanked Avi for laining & asked him why he was in the hospital. Avi told him about his mother’s condition whereupon Rav Elyashiv had his personal doctor take over her care. Guided by the doctor’s recommendation, she went into surgery & had a complete recovery.
Although it seemed like Avi had prepared his parsha for nothing, his selflessness at his Bar Mitzvah could have been the merit for which he got to lain for Rav Elyashiv, leading to his mother’s complete recovery. When we give up something that we really desire for someone else, we might really be setting the stage for our own redemption!
The בן איש חי is confounded by this story. While it is true that we cannot understand the ways of 'ה , if 'ה wanted יעקב to marry Leah, too, why did He have to make it come about in such a deceitful way? If 'ה wanted יעקב to marry both sisters, why wouldn't He just tell him in a נבואה & he would have done it happily?
There's a fascinating Midrash in איכה that relates our the attempts of our forefathers in heaven at the time of the destruction of the בית המקדש , to get 'ה to return the people to their land. First אברהם entreated 'ה followed by יצחק then יעקב but to no avail. משה tried & also met with no success. It seemed that the Jewish nation was doomed until רחל spoke up and said: Master of the world,You know that יעקב had tremendous love for me & even worked for seven years that I should be his wife. When the seven years were ending, my father wanted me to switch with my sister which bothered me immensely so I told יעקב & we arranged signs that he would know that it was me & couldn't be fooled.
However, my compassion for my sister was aroused when I thought of the great embarrassment she would suffer. Therefore, I overcame my emotions & gave her the signs so she could marry my intended husband! I did all of that and gave up my future to spare my sister the embarrassment.
Rachel continued: now, I, a mere mortal of flesh & blood, was not jealous of my sister & didn't let her get embarrassed; You, the eternal King, how can You be jealous of idols that have no worth and because of whom you exiled your children?
The Midrash continues: immediately, 'ה's mercy was aroused & He said, “because of you רחל I will return them to their land.”
Continues the בן איש חי ,we see that all the prayers of the אבות & Moshe couldn't sway 'ה to redeem the nation, whereas the merit of רחל ,who sacrificed personal happiness so that her sister wouldn't get embarrassed evokes the mercy of 'ה to enable us to be returned to our land.
After this Midrash, we understand why the marriage to Leah had to be done in a deceitful manner for 'ה was preparing the merit to enable us to get out of galus. It was only self sacrifice of this magnitude that had the power to return us to our land.
Rabbi Shimon Finkelman relates a story that exemplifies this trait; there were two boys from the same shul whose bar mitzvas fell out around the same time & due to poor scheduling were both scheduled for the same Shabbos. Both boys had worked really hard preparing the whole parsha so they didn't know what to do. Who should lain?
One of the boys, Avi, decided on his own that he would forego the honor of reading from the Torah allowing the other boy to read the whole parsha.
A few years later, Avi stayed with his mother, who was in the hospital, over Shabbos. Early Shabbos morning a man came in to the room & said to Avi, “as you might know, Rav Elyashiv is also in the hospital . We have a minyan in his room but we don't have anyone to lain. Perhaps you know how to? Avi answered, “normally I couldn't, but since this is my bar mitzva parsha I could lain!
After they finished davening Rav Elyashiv thanked Avi for laining & asked him why he was in the hospital. Avi told him about his mother’s condition whereupon Rav Elyashiv had his personal doctor take over her care. Guided by the doctor’s recommendation, she went into surgery & had a complete recovery.
Although it seemed like Avi had prepared his parsha for nothing, his selflessness at his Bar Mitzvah could have been the merit for which he got to lain for Rav Elyashiv, leading to his mother’s complete recovery. When we give up something that we really desire for someone else, we might really be setting the stage for our own redemption!
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Toldos
The Midrash tells us a very interesting fact about יצחק אבינו : he understood the enormity of the final judgment. Therefore he asked that יסורין befall a person & 'ה answered him saying " you are asking for a good thing & it will start with you". Afterwards, the posuk says ויהי כי זקן יצחק ותכהין עיניו מראות , it was when יצחק become old & his eyesight waned”, his failing eyesight was so that he have hardships in this world to ease his judgment in the next.
The חפץ חיים presents this mashal: A man rented a house for 300 rubles a year due at the end of the year. The landlord had to go overseas and put someone else in charge of his holdings. This person was a Jew hater who immediately told the Jew that his rent was raised to 500 rubles. The year ended , but when the employee came to collect the rent, the man only had 480 rubles. This man refused to give extra time to pay and instead whipped the renter 20 times, once for each ruble that he owed. This became his common practice; upping the rents, beating the Jews & stealing from them which made him very wealthy.
When the landlord returned years later, this Jew went to him & told him everything that happened over the years. The landlord was appalled by his appointee’s behavior & told the Jew that he has to pay you 100 rubles for every blow that he hit you. Since he hit you 20 times, he owes you 2000 rubles. His land is worth 4000 ruble so I am writing you a deed for half his land.
The man went home with his head down & depressed. His wife was perplexed so he showed her the deed for half the property of their tormentor. The wife asked, “why are you sad? You should be overjoyed that you now own half the property”. He answered that the pain is long gone now & how I wish he would have hit me 40 times, for then I'd own the whole property.
This, says the חפץ חיים is how hardships in this world are when one gets them. He just wants them to go away. However, when he gets to the next world, he will see how much pain these hardships had saved him. Not only that, but how much reward one will get in the next world for all the suffering on this one.
In a similar vein, הגר"ש יודלויץ told a story about a person who had many hardships, sickness, & poverty. One day, when he just couldn't bear anymore, he undertook a journey to the great רב שלום שרעבי זצ"ל to ask what 'ה wants from him. When he arrived, he sat on a chair to wait for the rabbi and fell into a deep sleep. In his dream, he sees himself slowly ascending to heaven when he hears noise behind him which is a wagon full of snow white angels who quickly pass him. Silence ensues. Once more he hears the noise again & this time it’s white angels of different sizes: some big & strong & some wimpy with missing limbs. As that one passes him, another wagon of black angels pass, just like the white ones with some strong & some wimpy. He keeps going until he comes to a clearing filled with all the wagons, with a big scale in the middle of the clearing. The angels mount the scale with the black on one side & the white ones on the other.
He doesn't know what's happening until someone tells him that this is the heavenly court & they are judging someone. When a person does a mitzvah, he creates a white angel. If the mitzva is done properly, with the proper intent,then the angel is big & strong. If not, then it creates a wimpy angel which is also true with sins. Each sin which is done with full gusto creates a black angel that is big & strong, while sins that were done with a heavy heart create wimpy angels.
As he's watching the scale fill up, he asks who's being judged? The answer is “you!” He is shaking with fright for he sees that all the angels are on the scale & it’s tilting to the black side. He's doomed!
Then he hears them calling out, " are there any more angels?" When the first response is “no”, they ask again, “did perhaps this man have hardships in his life?” Immediately, another wagon full of angels created from his hardships pulls up & started pulling off the black angels for hardships erase sins. As the two sides of the scale are practically even, he sees that there are no more angels so he starts screaming " give me a few more hardships!!"
With that, he woke up startled. The people in the rabbi's house ask him what happened? As he heads to the door, they ask, “didn't you want to talk to the rabbi?” to which he responded I already have my answer.
We are living in a time where 'ה is giving us many hardships. We, for the most part, can't understand & accept that they will help us in the long term. As the gemara says, ר' יוחנן had terrible יסורין when 'ר חנינא went to visit him he asked him חביבין עליך יסורין, are these hardships dear to you? ר' יוחנן answered " don't give me them or their reward." How do we reach the level of not needing hardships to balance the scale?
Perhaps we can do as follows; when we do the mitzvos we do them wholeheartedly, creating strong, capable angels & when we invariably sin, we do it with a heavy heart creating weak, decrepit black angels. Then, we will have enough of our own merits to tip the scales & we won't need any more hardships!
The חפץ חיים presents this mashal: A man rented a house for 300 rubles a year due at the end of the year. The landlord had to go overseas and put someone else in charge of his holdings. This person was a Jew hater who immediately told the Jew that his rent was raised to 500 rubles. The year ended , but when the employee came to collect the rent, the man only had 480 rubles. This man refused to give extra time to pay and instead whipped the renter 20 times, once for each ruble that he owed. This became his common practice; upping the rents, beating the Jews & stealing from them which made him very wealthy.
When the landlord returned years later, this Jew went to him & told him everything that happened over the years. The landlord was appalled by his appointee’s behavior & told the Jew that he has to pay you 100 rubles for every blow that he hit you. Since he hit you 20 times, he owes you 2000 rubles. His land is worth 4000 ruble so I am writing you a deed for half his land.
The man went home with his head down & depressed. His wife was perplexed so he showed her the deed for half the property of their tormentor. The wife asked, “why are you sad? You should be overjoyed that you now own half the property”. He answered that the pain is long gone now & how I wish he would have hit me 40 times, for then I'd own the whole property.
This, says the חפץ חיים is how hardships in this world are when one gets them. He just wants them to go away. However, when he gets to the next world, he will see how much pain these hardships had saved him. Not only that, but how much reward one will get in the next world for all the suffering on this one.
In a similar vein, הגר"ש יודלויץ told a story about a person who had many hardships, sickness, & poverty. One day, when he just couldn't bear anymore, he undertook a journey to the great רב שלום שרעבי זצ"ל to ask what 'ה wants from him. When he arrived, he sat on a chair to wait for the rabbi and fell into a deep sleep. In his dream, he sees himself slowly ascending to heaven when he hears noise behind him which is a wagon full of snow white angels who quickly pass him. Silence ensues. Once more he hears the noise again & this time it’s white angels of different sizes: some big & strong & some wimpy with missing limbs. As that one passes him, another wagon of black angels pass, just like the white ones with some strong & some wimpy. He keeps going until he comes to a clearing filled with all the wagons, with a big scale in the middle of the clearing. The angels mount the scale with the black on one side & the white ones on the other.
He doesn't know what's happening until someone tells him that this is the heavenly court & they are judging someone. When a person does a mitzvah, he creates a white angel. If the mitzva is done properly, with the proper intent,then the angel is big & strong. If not, then it creates a wimpy angel which is also true with sins. Each sin which is done with full gusto creates a black angel that is big & strong, while sins that were done with a heavy heart create wimpy angels.
As he's watching the scale fill up, he asks who's being judged? The answer is “you!” He is shaking with fright for he sees that all the angels are on the scale & it’s tilting to the black side. He's doomed!
Then he hears them calling out, " are there any more angels?" When the first response is “no”, they ask again, “did perhaps this man have hardships in his life?” Immediately, another wagon full of angels created from his hardships pulls up & started pulling off the black angels for hardships erase sins. As the two sides of the scale are practically even, he sees that there are no more angels so he starts screaming " give me a few more hardships!!"
With that, he woke up startled. The people in the rabbi's house ask him what happened? As he heads to the door, they ask, “didn't you want to talk to the rabbi?” to which he responded I already have my answer.
We are living in a time where 'ה is giving us many hardships. We, for the most part, can't understand & accept that they will help us in the long term. As the gemara says, ר' יוחנן had terrible יסורין when 'ר חנינא went to visit him he asked him חביבין עליך יסורין, are these hardships dear to you? ר' יוחנן answered " don't give me them or their reward." How do we reach the level of not needing hardships to balance the scale?
Perhaps we can do as follows; when we do the mitzvos we do them wholeheartedly, creating strong, capable angels & when we invariably sin, we do it with a heavy heart creating weak, decrepit black angels. Then, we will have enough of our own merits to tip the scales & we won't need any more hardships!
Friday, November 9, 2012
Chayei Sara
When Eliezer comes to Rivka's house to convince her family to let her go home with him to be the wife of יצחק, we see something that's out of character for Lavan. After Eliezer told them all the miracles that happened to him on the way & how ה's hand led him to them & that he wants to take Rivka with him, Lavan, instead of his usual conniving self, immediately says "from 'ה this came out we cannot say anything to you, here is Rivka, take her & go".
The sefer בכורי אברהם says that an answer like that from a man whom we know would do anything to try to trick people is way out of character. Why would he give in so easily?
The posuk says ויושם לפניו לאכול, they put food in front of him. Chazal tell us that the word ויושם is similar to סם & that teaches us that they tried to poison Eliezer. Why would they want to poison him when they didn't even know who he was yet?
The דעת זקנים says that the reason they tried to poison him wasn't personal, it was just that whenever someone with a lot of money came to town, they would poison him & take the money. That's what they wanted here too.
Alas what happened ? Eliezer ruined their plans because he said first I'll talk & say what I have to say & then I'll eat so they had no choice but to listen.
Being that they just wanted him to eat, they didn't really care about what he was saying, they just wanted him to finish & eat so they could get his money. Therefore, as soon as he finished speaking, they were very agreeable & said all the right things just so that he would sit down & eat.
The של"ה הקדוש asks, how could it be that Lavan is the one who answered first before his father when his father was right there? Even the lowest of the low wouldn't do that!
The כתב סופר answers, being that Lavan didn't want the shidduch to take place he intentionally answered before his father so that Eliezer should think he's an absolute boor. Since we judge a girl by her brothers, he wouldn't want the shidduch anymore.
Lavan thought that he could somehow change what was meant to be, however that doesn't always work.
A wealthy man came to the שרף מקוצק & told him his tale of woe. I was a wealthy man who lacked nothing with many servants & maids. One of these maids was an older girl who had never married. One day she came to me with money that she had saved up & asked me to get her a lottery ticket so that if she would win she would be able to start life on her own. I did as she asked & she gave over the ticket to her father for safekeeping, however, she asked me to write down the numbers as backup. Years passed & she stopped working for me but unfortunately never got married. As for me, many misfortunes befell me. My wife passed on, & little by little my businesses started failing until I was left alone & penniless.
One day I checked the winning lottery numbers & to my utter disbelief it was the numbers of my former maid! She won a huge amount - 100,000 ruble.
I thought to myself, I will find a way to marry her & then I can go back to my former lifestyle. I sent a shadchan to propose the idea to her & she accepted. We were both happy. She had just about given up hope on getting married & I would go back to my former glory.
All goes as planned, & a few weeks after we were married I come to her with great news. "Remember that ticket you bought years ago? I just saw that the numbers match & you won 100,000 ruble!"
She looks at him embarrassed & crestfallen, & says, my father bought that ticket from me & from it he set up his whole household; there's nothing left.
The man continued, my bitterness knew no bounds. I took on loans because I thought I was coming into money, married beneath me, even though it was an embarrassment for me & now I want to divorce her.
The Rav said to him you should know that all that befell you was just that you should marry this girl. In your previous state as a wealthy man you never would have married her, but she is your destiny so 'ה made all this befall you so that the shidduch would come about. אין עצה ואין תבונה לנגד ה.
Same thing happened by Lavan. After he spoke first before his father & said take her & go, he thought he would terminate the shidduch. Now that the malach switched the plates & Besuel was the one who died, it was up to Lavan to give permission. Had Besuel been the one to say take her & go, Lavan could have still stopped it & said I never agreed. Since in his effort to stop it he jumped ahead & answered before his father, he had nothing to say, & in effect sealed the deal.
The Torah is teaching us not to manipulate events to gain what we feel is the desired outcome we have to internalize this lesson of ' אין עצה ואין תבונה לנגד ה and realize if 'ה wants something to happen it will & nothing we do can change it!
The sefer בכורי אברהם says that an answer like that from a man whom we know would do anything to try to trick people is way out of character. Why would he give in so easily?
The posuk says ויושם לפניו לאכול, they put food in front of him. Chazal tell us that the word ויושם is similar to סם & that teaches us that they tried to poison Eliezer. Why would they want to poison him when they didn't even know who he was yet?
The דעת זקנים says that the reason they tried to poison him wasn't personal, it was just that whenever someone with a lot of money came to town, they would poison him & take the money. That's what they wanted here too.
Alas what happened ? Eliezer ruined their plans because he said first I'll talk & say what I have to say & then I'll eat so they had no choice but to listen.
Being that they just wanted him to eat, they didn't really care about what he was saying, they just wanted him to finish & eat so they could get his money. Therefore, as soon as he finished speaking, they were very agreeable & said all the right things just so that he would sit down & eat.
The של"ה הקדוש asks, how could it be that Lavan is the one who answered first before his father when his father was right there? Even the lowest of the low wouldn't do that!
The כתב סופר answers, being that Lavan didn't want the shidduch to take place he intentionally answered before his father so that Eliezer should think he's an absolute boor. Since we judge a girl by her brothers, he wouldn't want the shidduch anymore.
Lavan thought that he could somehow change what was meant to be, however that doesn't always work.
A wealthy man came to the שרף מקוצק & told him his tale of woe. I was a wealthy man who lacked nothing with many servants & maids. One of these maids was an older girl who had never married. One day she came to me with money that she had saved up & asked me to get her a lottery ticket so that if she would win she would be able to start life on her own. I did as she asked & she gave over the ticket to her father for safekeeping, however, she asked me to write down the numbers as backup. Years passed & she stopped working for me but unfortunately never got married. As for me, many misfortunes befell me. My wife passed on, & little by little my businesses started failing until I was left alone & penniless.
One day I checked the winning lottery numbers & to my utter disbelief it was the numbers of my former maid! She won a huge amount - 100,000 ruble.
I thought to myself, I will find a way to marry her & then I can go back to my former lifestyle. I sent a shadchan to propose the idea to her & she accepted. We were both happy. She had just about given up hope on getting married & I would go back to my former glory.
All goes as planned, & a few weeks after we were married I come to her with great news. "Remember that ticket you bought years ago? I just saw that the numbers match & you won 100,000 ruble!"
She looks at him embarrassed & crestfallen, & says, my father bought that ticket from me & from it he set up his whole household; there's nothing left.
The man continued, my bitterness knew no bounds. I took on loans because I thought I was coming into money, married beneath me, even though it was an embarrassment for me & now I want to divorce her.
The Rav said to him you should know that all that befell you was just that you should marry this girl. In your previous state as a wealthy man you never would have married her, but she is your destiny so 'ה made all this befall you so that the shidduch would come about. אין עצה ואין תבונה לנגד ה.
Same thing happened by Lavan. After he spoke first before his father & said take her & go, he thought he would terminate the shidduch. Now that the malach switched the plates & Besuel was the one who died, it was up to Lavan to give permission. Had Besuel been the one to say take her & go, Lavan could have still stopped it & said I never agreed. Since in his effort to stop it he jumped ahead & answered before his father, he had nothing to say, & in effect sealed the deal.
The Torah is teaching us not to manipulate events to gain what we feel is the desired outcome we have to internalize this lesson of ' אין עצה ואין תבונה לנגד ה and realize if 'ה wants something to happen it will & nothing we do can change it!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Vayeira
When Avraham sees the travelers coming toward him, he runs outside and asks them not to pass by his house without coming in. Rather, he says: יקח נא מעט מים ורחצו רגליכם והשענו תחת העץ , take a little water, wash your feet and recline under the tree.
Rashi explains the purpose of washing their feet was to keep idolatry out of his tent since he thought they were Arabs who worshiped the sand.
Rashi continues & says that's unlike Lot who didn't care about having idols in his house, so he says to the Malachim: first come in & rest & then wash your feet.
However, Rashi’s actual explanation when the Malachim came to Lot, was that Lot was scared of the people of Sodom so he had them come in, rest and then wash. If the people came & saw that he had guests who had already washed, they would think that he had had guests for a few days already. Therefore, he didn't have them wash so it should look like they just came. It wasn't that he didn't care about bringing an idol into his house; rather he was afraid for his life.
If that's true then why does Rashi in the first posuk mention it as a negative of Lot when the reason he did it was just to protect himself. Had there been no fear of the people he would have had them wash first.
The צהר לתיבה relates a story that happened to רבי לוי יצחק מברדיטשוב , who was traveling when he came to the town of Levov & needed a place to sleep for the night. He went to the home of a respected wealthy man & asked for a place to stay for the night, without identifying himself. The man told him, “I don't have room for travelers; go to the local inn. רבי לוי יצחק asked again, pleading, “please don't you have a small room for me; I won't bother you for anything else?” Again, the man answered, “I don't have room. However, if you don't want to go to the inn, you can go to the schoolteacher on the next block who takes in travelers.”
Having no choice, רבי לוי יצחק went to the home of the schoolteacher where he was received with open arms. Once he was there, someone recognized him & the word spread around town that רבי לוי יצחק מברדיטשוב was in town. Within a short while, all the townspeople, including the wealthy man, were converging on the home of the schoolteacher to greet the great rabbi.
When the wealthy man approached him, he said, “please forgive me; I didn't know who you were. Please come be my guest, as all the rabbis who come to town stay at my house.
The rabbi answered him with a question, what was the difference between Avraham & Lot ? Why is Avraham known for his hospitality while Lot is not? When the Malachim came to them, both prepared a big meal for them so why isn't Lot known for his hospitality like Avraham?
He explained that the wording of the Posuk shows the difference. By Lot it says, ויבאו שני המלאכים the two angels came, & that's when he was hospitable whereas by Avraham it says, שלשה אנשים נצבים עליו three men were coming toward him. Lot saw angels & therefore welcomed them into his home while Avraham saw ordinary people, tired and covered in dust & begged them not to pass by his home.
Maybe this is the difference between the two Rashis. In the first one, Rashi is critical because the posuk was talking about the travelers as people, so Lot should have had them wash not to bring avodah zara into his home. However, in the second Rashi, they were identified as Malachim so there was no reason to suspect idol worship. Therefore, Rashi gives a separate reason why he didn't have have them wash first.
Continued רבי לוי יצחק, as children of Avraham, we have to emulate his ways & not the ways of Lot.
Teaching us that we have to help out all kinds of people. We have to be hospitable, friendly, helpful to everyone not just those that are respected or wealthy but the downtrodden & weary too showing that we are truly the children of Avraham Avinu!
Rashi explains the purpose of washing their feet was to keep idolatry out of his tent since he thought they were Arabs who worshiped the sand.
Rashi continues & says that's unlike Lot who didn't care about having idols in his house, so he says to the Malachim: first come in & rest & then wash your feet.
However, Rashi’s actual explanation when the Malachim came to Lot, was that Lot was scared of the people of Sodom so he had them come in, rest and then wash. If the people came & saw that he had guests who had already washed, they would think that he had had guests for a few days already. Therefore, he didn't have them wash so it should look like they just came. It wasn't that he didn't care about bringing an idol into his house; rather he was afraid for his life.
If that's true then why does Rashi in the first posuk mention it as a negative of Lot when the reason he did it was just to protect himself. Had there been no fear of the people he would have had them wash first.
The צהר לתיבה relates a story that happened to רבי לוי יצחק מברדיטשוב , who was traveling when he came to the town of Levov & needed a place to sleep for the night. He went to the home of a respected wealthy man & asked for a place to stay for the night, without identifying himself. The man told him, “I don't have room for travelers; go to the local inn. רבי לוי יצחק asked again, pleading, “please don't you have a small room for me; I won't bother you for anything else?” Again, the man answered, “I don't have room. However, if you don't want to go to the inn, you can go to the schoolteacher on the next block who takes in travelers.”
Having no choice, רבי לוי יצחק went to the home of the schoolteacher where he was received with open arms. Once he was there, someone recognized him & the word spread around town that רבי לוי יצחק מברדיטשוב was in town. Within a short while, all the townspeople, including the wealthy man, were converging on the home of the schoolteacher to greet the great rabbi.
When the wealthy man approached him, he said, “please forgive me; I didn't know who you were. Please come be my guest, as all the rabbis who come to town stay at my house.
The rabbi answered him with a question, what was the difference between Avraham & Lot ? Why is Avraham known for his hospitality while Lot is not? When the Malachim came to them, both prepared a big meal for them so why isn't Lot known for his hospitality like Avraham?
He explained that the wording of the Posuk shows the difference. By Lot it says, ויבאו שני המלאכים the two angels came, & that's when he was hospitable whereas by Avraham it says, שלשה אנשים נצבים עליו three men were coming toward him. Lot saw angels & therefore welcomed them into his home while Avraham saw ordinary people, tired and covered in dust & begged them not to pass by his home.
Maybe this is the difference between the two Rashis. In the first one, Rashi is critical because the posuk was talking about the travelers as people, so Lot should have had them wash not to bring avodah zara into his home. However, in the second Rashi, they were identified as Malachim so there was no reason to suspect idol worship. Therefore, Rashi gives a separate reason why he didn't have have them wash first.
Continued רבי לוי יצחק, as children of Avraham, we have to emulate his ways & not the ways of Lot.
Teaching us that we have to help out all kinds of people. We have to be hospitable, friendly, helpful to everyone not just those that are respected or wealthy but the downtrodden & weary too showing that we are truly the children of Avraham Avinu!
Friday, October 26, 2012
Lech Lecha
For an interesting perspective on why 'ה didn't reveal to Avraham to what land he was traveling, הגרי"ל חסמן זצ"ל explains that until a person attains great heights, it’s impossible for him to fathom their greatness since the way of man is to see himself in his present situation. Therefore 'ה told Avraham אל הארץ אשר אראך to the land that I will show you, for only after Avraham gets there will he be able to comprehend the magnitude of 'ה's gift.
So, imagine, says the לקח טוב , how hard it must have been for Avraham to build up a desire to leave everything, not understanding where or why he's going. That's why this is considered one of Avraham's ten tests. Even though 'ה told him to go & it would all be good for him, following blindly without knowing where you’re going is very difficult.
Imagine also how difficult it had to be for Lot, who wasn't commanded by 'ה to go, yet went anyway with Avraham. His challenge must have been even greater than Avraham's, to go with blind faith when not even commanded.
How do we understand what happened later on, then, that Lot ended up moving to Sodom, living with the most decadent people in the history of man and falling so low!?
We all have had times in our lives when we tried to change or know people that have tried to change their ways for the better yet ended up reverting back to the old ways; why is that? The intention for change is real so why is it so difficult to succeed?
To answer, הגרי"ל חסמן זצ"ל continues that in order for real change to take place & be lasting, one has to clear the slate, eradicate all bad thoughts & purify his heart & mind. It’s similar to trying to write on paper that's already written on; the new writing will not be discerned until the previous writing has been cleared. So ,too, in order to make real change, it’s not enough to do good; you first have to clear the slate and then do good.
This explains why the posuk’s command to leave is out of order. First, it says לך לך מארצך leave your land; then it says וממולדתך your city; finally , מבית אביך your father’s home. In reality, it should have first said, leave your home, then your city & then your land. However, 'ה is really telling him to leave his past so it goes from the easiest to hardest. First, leave the influences of the land; then the influences of your town which is more difficult & finally, the influences of the home, which is most difficult. Afterwards, he would be prepared to go אל הארץ אשר אראך , the land that 'ה shows him.
That was the difference between Avraham & Lot. Avraham cleaned his slate & left everything behind whereas Lot didn't & therefore failed at the first challenge.
So why did Lot go? If he wasn't willing to change, why would he leave the comforts of home & travel with Avraham?
The answer lies in the wording of the posuk וילך אברם כאשר דבר אליו ה and Avram went like 'ה spoke to him , וילך אתו לוט and Lot went with him , ואברם בן חמש שנים ושבעים שנה בצאתו מחרן , and Avraham was seventy five years old when he left Charan.
The sefer זכרון מאיר asks why does it start telling us about Avraham, then switch to Lot & then go back to Avraham. Why not just tell us about Avraham & then go on & tell us about Lot?
He answers that the posuk is telling us the reason why Lot went with Avraham וילך אתו לוט . Why? Because ואברם בן חמש שנים ושבעים שנה Avraham was already an older man & had no children. Lot figured if he stays close to him then he'll be able to inherit so he really just went for the money. That's why when the first challenge came up, he failed.
Lot is showing us that even though one’s actions might be good if his intentions aren't pure, the chances of success are slim. conversely when one does purify his heart success is guaranteed.
Tonight is the first yahrtzeit of Dani King and Eli Schonbrun who personified this concept. They cleansed their hearts & minds & were focused on pursuing the path of Torah. Let's remember their lesson, perpetuate their legacy, and cleanse our hearts enabling us to attain the greatest heights!
So, imagine, says the לקח טוב , how hard it must have been for Avraham to build up a desire to leave everything, not understanding where or why he's going. That's why this is considered one of Avraham's ten tests. Even though 'ה told him to go & it would all be good for him, following blindly without knowing where you’re going is very difficult.
Imagine also how difficult it had to be for Lot, who wasn't commanded by 'ה to go, yet went anyway with Avraham. His challenge must have been even greater than Avraham's, to go with blind faith when not even commanded.
How do we understand what happened later on, then, that Lot ended up moving to Sodom, living with the most decadent people in the history of man and falling so low!?
We all have had times in our lives when we tried to change or know people that have tried to change their ways for the better yet ended up reverting back to the old ways; why is that? The intention for change is real so why is it so difficult to succeed?
To answer, הגרי"ל חסמן זצ"ל continues that in order for real change to take place & be lasting, one has to clear the slate, eradicate all bad thoughts & purify his heart & mind. It’s similar to trying to write on paper that's already written on; the new writing will not be discerned until the previous writing has been cleared. So ,too, in order to make real change, it’s not enough to do good; you first have to clear the slate and then do good.
This explains why the posuk’s command to leave is out of order. First, it says לך לך מארצך leave your land; then it says וממולדתך your city; finally , מבית אביך your father’s home. In reality, it should have first said, leave your home, then your city & then your land. However, 'ה is really telling him to leave his past so it goes from the easiest to hardest. First, leave the influences of the land; then the influences of your town which is more difficult & finally, the influences of the home, which is most difficult. Afterwards, he would be prepared to go אל הארץ אשר אראך , the land that 'ה shows him.
That was the difference between Avraham & Lot. Avraham cleaned his slate & left everything behind whereas Lot didn't & therefore failed at the first challenge.
So why did Lot go? If he wasn't willing to change, why would he leave the comforts of home & travel with Avraham?
The answer lies in the wording of the posuk וילך אברם כאשר דבר אליו ה and Avram went like 'ה spoke to him , וילך אתו לוט and Lot went with him , ואברם בן חמש שנים ושבעים שנה בצאתו מחרן , and Avraham was seventy five years old when he left Charan.
The sefer זכרון מאיר asks why does it start telling us about Avraham, then switch to Lot & then go back to Avraham. Why not just tell us about Avraham & then go on & tell us about Lot?
He answers that the posuk is telling us the reason why Lot went with Avraham וילך אתו לוט . Why? Because ואברם בן חמש שנים ושבעים שנה Avraham was already an older man & had no children. Lot figured if he stays close to him then he'll be able to inherit so he really just went for the money. That's why when the first challenge came up, he failed.
Lot is showing us that even though one’s actions might be good if his intentions aren't pure, the chances of success are slim. conversely when one does purify his heart success is guaranteed.
Tonight is the first yahrtzeit of Dani King and Eli Schonbrun who personified this concept. They cleansed their hearts & minds & were focused on pursuing the path of Torah. Let's remember their lesson, perpetuate their legacy, and cleanse our hearts enabling us to attain the greatest heights!
Friday, October 19, 2012
Noach
After Noach and his family were saved from the flood that nearly destroyed the world, the posuk tells us ויבן נח מזבח לה that Noach built an altar and sacrificed animals to 'ה.
The next posuk says that 'ה smelled the wonderful aroma and said to himself, “I will no longer curse the land because of man, for the heart of man is bad from his youth, nor will I wipe out all living things as I have done.”
This needs explanation; what was so great about Noach bringing sacrifices that 'ה said he would never destroy the world again because of that?
Also, what does man having desire for bad have to do with 'ה not destroying the world? The opposite should be true.
Later, the parsha says ויחל נח איש האדמה ויטע כרם Noach, the man of the earth, debased himself and planted a vineyard. However, the posuk uses a strange terminology and says ויחל נח , Noach debased himself.
Rashi explains that he made himself חולין , profane, for he should have first planted something else and not something that's intoxicating whose effects could be harmful.
The sefer זכרון מאיר gives a little insight as to why Noach would plant the grape vine first. He did it not because he wanted to get drunk, but rather he had a promise from 'ה that He would be with him as he starts to rebuild a desolate destroyed world. We know that אין שכינה שורה אלא מתוך שמחה, that 'ה will only be in a place of happiness; therefore, in order to be able to start building the world over, he had to be בשמחה and being that יין משמח לבב אנוש, wine gladdens the heart of man, he went and planted a vineyard to be in the right frame of mind to start rebuilding.
If that's the case then why do we degrade him? What did he do wrong?
R' Dovid Feinstein repeated to me the gemara in Avoda Zara that tells a story of ר' חנינה and ר' יונתן who were walking on the road. They came to a fork where one way passed a house of ill repute while the other a house of idol worship. They debated which one they should take; one said, “let's go by the way of idol worship for that yetzer hara is gone already” while the other said, “no, let's go past the house of ill repute and test ourselves to see if we have control for then we'll get reward.” As they walked by the house of ill repute, the ladies that were there took a look at them and quietly walked back inside, not even trying to seduce them. How did he know that there wouldn't be any trouble? He quoted a posuk that says, מזמה תשמר עליך תבונה תנצרכה that their Torah will protect them.
In our generation, too, we can see this concept as can be illustrated by the following story. R' Dovid once took his father, R’ Moshe, to the dentist for some pain and it turned out he needed a cleaning too. R' Moshe was sitting in the dentist chair when the girl went in to do the cleaning. Two minutes later, the girl, a young shiksa, not dressed very modestly, came out to the dentist and said "I can't touch that rabbi; he's too holy, you do the cleaning".
R' Dovid said this shows you that when one is pure, 'ה will make sure he stays that way and no sin, even unintentional, will come to him.
Maybe that's why it calls Noach איש האדמה; for when we’re just regular down-to-earth guys, we don't have that protection. We can't do anything that takes a chance, for we can't risk it. That's why Noach, even with his good intentions, shouldn't have planted the vineyard.
However, says R' Dovid, when Noach came out of the taiva to rebuild the world, he brought korbanos with pure intentions, to start the world anew with purity and with the hope that the world would go in 'ה's ways. When 'ה saw his pure intentions and desire, He decided that's what he wanted from man; even though man is inclined by nature to do bad, his intentions are nonetheless good and pure.
This teaches us that even though, at times, we may be inclined to do things that might be wrong, if our intentions are really good, 'ה will look past the mistakes and our actions, too, will be pleasing to 'ה!
The next posuk says that 'ה smelled the wonderful aroma and said to himself, “I will no longer curse the land because of man, for the heart of man is bad from his youth, nor will I wipe out all living things as I have done.”
This needs explanation; what was so great about Noach bringing sacrifices that 'ה said he would never destroy the world again because of that?
Also, what does man having desire for bad have to do with 'ה not destroying the world? The opposite should be true.
Later, the parsha says ויחל נח איש האדמה ויטע כרם Noach, the man of the earth, debased himself and planted a vineyard. However, the posuk uses a strange terminology and says ויחל נח , Noach debased himself.
Rashi explains that he made himself חולין , profane, for he should have first planted something else and not something that's intoxicating whose effects could be harmful.
The sefer זכרון מאיר gives a little insight as to why Noach would plant the grape vine first. He did it not because he wanted to get drunk, but rather he had a promise from 'ה that He would be with him as he starts to rebuild a desolate destroyed world. We know that אין שכינה שורה אלא מתוך שמחה, that 'ה will only be in a place of happiness; therefore, in order to be able to start building the world over, he had to be בשמחה and being that יין משמח לבב אנוש, wine gladdens the heart of man, he went and planted a vineyard to be in the right frame of mind to start rebuilding.
If that's the case then why do we degrade him? What did he do wrong?
R' Dovid Feinstein repeated to me the gemara in Avoda Zara that tells a story of ר' חנינה and ר' יונתן who were walking on the road. They came to a fork where one way passed a house of ill repute while the other a house of idol worship. They debated which one they should take; one said, “let's go by the way of idol worship for that yetzer hara is gone already” while the other said, “no, let's go past the house of ill repute and test ourselves to see if we have control for then we'll get reward.” As they walked by the house of ill repute, the ladies that were there took a look at them and quietly walked back inside, not even trying to seduce them. How did he know that there wouldn't be any trouble? He quoted a posuk that says, מזמה תשמר עליך תבונה תנצרכה that their Torah will protect them.
In our generation, too, we can see this concept as can be illustrated by the following story. R' Dovid once took his father, R’ Moshe, to the dentist for some pain and it turned out he needed a cleaning too. R' Moshe was sitting in the dentist chair when the girl went in to do the cleaning. Two minutes later, the girl, a young shiksa, not dressed very modestly, came out to the dentist and said "I can't touch that rabbi; he's too holy, you do the cleaning".
R' Dovid said this shows you that when one is pure, 'ה will make sure he stays that way and no sin, even unintentional, will come to him.
Maybe that's why it calls Noach איש האדמה; for when we’re just regular down-to-earth guys, we don't have that protection. We can't do anything that takes a chance, for we can't risk it. That's why Noach, even with his good intentions, shouldn't have planted the vineyard.
However, says R' Dovid, when Noach came out of the taiva to rebuild the world, he brought korbanos with pure intentions, to start the world anew with purity and with the hope that the world would go in 'ה's ways. When 'ה saw his pure intentions and desire, He decided that's what he wanted from man; even though man is inclined by nature to do bad, his intentions are nonetheless good and pure.
This teaches us that even though, at times, we may be inclined to do things that might be wrong, if our intentions are really good, 'ה will look past the mistakes and our actions, too, will be pleasing to 'ה!
Friday, October 12, 2012
Beraishis
As we read of the creation of the world, the posuk tells us ויאמר אלקים תדשא הארץ דשא עשב מזריע זרע עץ פרי עשה פרי למינו אשר זרעו בו על הארץ ויהי כן
Hashem said, "let the earth sprout vegetation of plants bringing forth seed, trees of fruit yielding fruit each after its kind, which have their seed in them on the earth." And it was so.
Rashi says that the flavor of the tree shall be the same flavor as the fruit.
However the earth did not do that; rather it brought forth trees yielding fruit but the trees themselves were not fruit.
Therefore, when Adam was punished for his sin, the land was punished too. As it says later on: ארורה האדמה בעבורך , accursed is the ground because of you.
How are we to understand this? How could it be that the earth wouldn't listen to 'ה & bring forth trees the way He wanted?
Additionally, asks the חתם סופר, why would 'ה wait until man sinned to punish the earth? Why wouldn't He punish it right away on the third day instead of waiting until day six?
The מהרי"ל דיסקין explains that the fact that the earth was able to alter what 'ה wanted teaches us that 'ה gave the land the right to choose; the land had the right to either listen to 'ה & bring out the trees the way He wanted or not. The land chose not to listen and was consequently punished.
What's the point in having creation able to go against His will?
From the start, Hashem was trying to teach us the power of free choice so He gave the land that choice. When it failed the test, He waited to see if Adam would learn from that & make the right choice to listen to 'ה . However, when Adam, too, failed, the land was punished along with Adam to teach this lesson for all time. We have the power to choose & will have to live with the choices we make.
Hashem couldn't punish the land on day three when it sinned, because Adam wasn't created yet. The only reason 'ה punishes is to teach a lesson, so that one improves one’s ways. Therefore, until Adam was created, there was no one to learn the lesson. Punishing the land wouldn't accomplish anything; therefore Hashem waited for Adam to sin too, and then He punished them both together.
As we head into a new beginning, we must realize how important it is to make the right choices. 'ה trusts us & gives us free will; all we have to do is choose!
Hashem said, "let the earth sprout vegetation of plants bringing forth seed, trees of fruit yielding fruit each after its kind, which have their seed in them on the earth." And it was so.
Rashi says that the flavor of the tree shall be the same flavor as the fruit.
However the earth did not do that; rather it brought forth trees yielding fruit but the trees themselves were not fruit.
Therefore, when Adam was punished for his sin, the land was punished too. As it says later on: ארורה האדמה בעבורך , accursed is the ground because of you.
How are we to understand this? How could it be that the earth wouldn't listen to 'ה & bring forth trees the way He wanted?
Additionally, asks the חתם סופר, why would 'ה wait until man sinned to punish the earth? Why wouldn't He punish it right away on the third day instead of waiting until day six?
The מהרי"ל דיסקין explains that the fact that the earth was able to alter what 'ה wanted teaches us that 'ה gave the land the right to choose; the land had the right to either listen to 'ה & bring out the trees the way He wanted or not. The land chose not to listen and was consequently punished.
What's the point in having creation able to go against His will?
From the start, Hashem was trying to teach us the power of free choice so He gave the land that choice. When it failed the test, He waited to see if Adam would learn from that & make the right choice to listen to 'ה . However, when Adam, too, failed, the land was punished along with Adam to teach this lesson for all time. We have the power to choose & will have to live with the choices we make.
Hashem couldn't punish the land on day three when it sinned, because Adam wasn't created yet. The only reason 'ה punishes is to teach a lesson, so that one improves one’s ways. Therefore, until Adam was created, there was no one to learn the lesson. Punishing the land wouldn't accomplish anything; therefore Hashem waited for Adam to sin too, and then He punished them both together.
As we head into a new beginning, we must realize how important it is to make the right choices. 'ה trusts us & gives us free will; all we have to do is choose!
Friday, October 5, 2012
Vezos. HaBeracha / Koheles
The מליץ יושר asks the famous question, why is the primary rejoicing with the Torah now on שמחת תורה when we complete the Torah, & not on שבועות when we received the Torah?
He answers simply that now that we finished learning the Torah our joy is much greater than at the start.
He then continues to ask, why didn't the sages originally schedule the reading of the Torah to culminate at שבועות time instead of now so our joy could be complete & at the right time?
He answers that even though our joy is more complete when we finish reading the Torah than when we start it, even now, it's still not complete. Now that we learned the Torah we became obligated in all the laws. Since we fell short doing some of the mitzvos, part of what we gained by learning the Torah, we lose from the sins that we did. Therefore the sages wanted the reading of the Torah to end after יום כיפור when we are cleansed of all our sins. Then all we are left with is the reward for learning the Torah & doing the Mitzvos, so our joy can be complete.
That's also the reason, says the מאור עינים, that on שמחת תורה every male is called up to the Torah. Now that we are all cleansed from our sins we can reconnect with the Torah. As the יחאנחין פאר says, we go up to the Torah to receive the blessings that Moshe gave at the end of his life to each & every one of us, so that on this holy day of שמחת תורה when we are still pure from sin, we receive these ברכות straight from משה רבנו.
How can we retain this status? How do we stay free from sin? Or as ר' יוסף בר מבריסק says, it's not enough for us to be שמח בתורה, we have to make the Torah be שמח with us!
There's a posuk in קהלת that says ושבחתי אני את השמחה, and I praise the rejoicing. The gemara in shabbos asks, it also says ולשמחה מה זה עשה and rejoicing what does it do? Do we praise rejoicing or is it worthless? The gemara answers, when it's שמחה של מצוה then its praiseworthy. However, when it isn't, then it's worthless.
How does one know if the joy he's experiencing is that of mitzva or not, asks the שער בת רבים ? He answers if after one indulges in pleasure he's still happy about it then it's שמחה של מצוה. If one feels bad after and says ולשמחה מה זה עשה what did I do, then you know its not שמחה של מצוה.
Just as there are two ways to get simcha, there are two ways to connect to Torah. One is as it says in the posuk תורה צוה לנו משה which is the basic mitzva to study torah. Then there's the שירה of the Torah as it's referred to in וילך where it says, ועתה כתבו לכם את השירה הזאת where it calls the Torah a song.
Explains the פוניבז' רב that when the Torah is more than just an obligation for you, when it's your whole life & you're consumed by it, then it goes from being just a commandment to study to being your lifeline - your שירה.
Perhaps this is how we can make the Torah happy with us. If we take our mitzva to learn & transform it into our very essence, then we will be protected from sin & will be able to retain our exalted status throughout the year, ensuring that all the brochos of משה רבנו will fall upon us, enabling us to strengthen our commitment to Torah, bringing prosperity & happiness into our lives!
He answers simply that now that we finished learning the Torah our joy is much greater than at the start.
He then continues to ask, why didn't the sages originally schedule the reading of the Torah to culminate at שבועות time instead of now so our joy could be complete & at the right time?
He answers that even though our joy is more complete when we finish reading the Torah than when we start it, even now, it's still not complete. Now that we learned the Torah we became obligated in all the laws. Since we fell short doing some of the mitzvos, part of what we gained by learning the Torah, we lose from the sins that we did. Therefore the sages wanted the reading of the Torah to end after יום כיפור when we are cleansed of all our sins. Then all we are left with is the reward for learning the Torah & doing the Mitzvos, so our joy can be complete.
That's also the reason, says the מאור עינים, that on שמחת תורה every male is called up to the Torah. Now that we are all cleansed from our sins we can reconnect with the Torah. As the יחאנחין פאר says, we go up to the Torah to receive the blessings that Moshe gave at the end of his life to each & every one of us, so that on this holy day of שמחת תורה when we are still pure from sin, we receive these ברכות straight from משה רבנו.
How can we retain this status? How do we stay free from sin? Or as ר' יוסף בר מבריסק says, it's not enough for us to be שמח בתורה, we have to make the Torah be שמח with us!
There's a posuk in קהלת that says ושבחתי אני את השמחה, and I praise the rejoicing. The gemara in shabbos asks, it also says ולשמחה מה זה עשה and rejoicing what does it do? Do we praise rejoicing or is it worthless? The gemara answers, when it's שמחה של מצוה then its praiseworthy. However, when it isn't, then it's worthless.
How does one know if the joy he's experiencing is that of mitzva or not, asks the שער בת רבים ? He answers if after one indulges in pleasure he's still happy about it then it's שמחה של מצוה. If one feels bad after and says ולשמחה מה זה עשה what did I do, then you know its not שמחה של מצוה.
Just as there are two ways to get simcha, there are two ways to connect to Torah. One is as it says in the posuk תורה צוה לנו משה which is the basic mitzva to study torah. Then there's the שירה of the Torah as it's referred to in וילך where it says, ועתה כתבו לכם את השירה הזאת where it calls the Torah a song.
Explains the פוניבז' רב that when the Torah is more than just an obligation for you, when it's your whole life & you're consumed by it, then it goes from being just a commandment to study to being your lifeline - your שירה.
Perhaps this is how we can make the Torah happy with us. If we take our mitzva to learn & transform it into our very essence, then we will be protected from sin & will be able to retain our exalted status throughout the year, ensuring that all the brochos of משה רבנו will fall upon us, enabling us to strengthen our commitment to Torah, bringing prosperity & happiness into our lives!
Friday, September 28, 2012
Haazinu / Sukkos
Moshe, in his final words to בני ישראל , recites the song of האזינו where he forecasts the future of the Jews throughout the generations. One of the stanzas: וישמן ישרון ויבעט ,” Jeshurun became fat and kicked” alludes to days of prosperity when the Jews will desert 'ה.
The אוצר התורה compares wealth to a double edged sword. On one hand, wealth provides one with the peace of mind not having to worry about the next meal & therefore being able to serve 'ה without any hardships or concerns. On the other hand, however, wealth enables one to indulge in temptations as well as arrogance causing him to believe that it was he & not 'ה who was responsible for his success, leading to the eventual disregard of 'ה altogether.
There's a story told of a disciple of ר' מיכל מזלוטשוב who was very poor. One day he started a business venture which was very successful. The wealthier he became, the farther away from his friends & rebbe he stayed, until he had distanced himself from all his former friends. One day, the rebbe came to visit his former disciple in his mansion who hardly even acknowledges the rebbe’s presence. The rebbe takes him to the window & says " what do you see?" He answers, “people”. The rebbe then takes him to the mirror & asks, “what do you see now”? He responds, “myself, of course”. The rebbe tells him, “the difference between a piece of glass & a mirror is that the glass doesn't have the silver back; so when there's no silver you are able to see others; but put a little silver on the same glass & then you only see yourself.
Now how can we avoid this? How does one attain material wealth yet attribute all of one’s success to 'ה?
When the Torah talks about the חג of סוכות the Posuk says, באספכם את תבואת הארץ תחגו את חג ה' שבעת ימים when you gather in the grain you shall celebrate for seven days, which places the holiday of סוכות during the harvest season.
Rashi tells us that this requires us to have leap years; to ensure that סוכות will fall out in the harvest season.
What is so important that we would add a whole month just to ensure that סוכות falls out during harvest season?
The ספר החינוך answers, that everyone is happy during the harvest season because of the abundance of crops. 'ה is giving us an opportunity to take that happiness, the joy of material wealth, & transform it into the joy of a Mitzva.
The רשב"ם says that it’s specifically for this reason that, at this time of year when our houses are full and we have everything we need, now is the time to leave our homes & go into the Sukka to demonstrate it’s all from ה .
Additionally, says the ישמח ישראל, Sukkos is called זמן שמחתנו the time of happiness to display, if one is not a בעל גאווה , that everything he has is from 'ה and it's not due to his business acumen or strengths. In reality, since 'ה gives us so much more than we deserve, then we will always be happy with what we have.
Perhaps if we internalize the message of סוכות that specifically when we have abundance, we will be able to look past the silver, outside the mirror & see that it’s not our doing, rather its 'ה who brought us here and then no matter how wealthy we become we will always remain loyal to 'ה!
The אוצר התורה compares wealth to a double edged sword. On one hand, wealth provides one with the peace of mind not having to worry about the next meal & therefore being able to serve 'ה without any hardships or concerns. On the other hand, however, wealth enables one to indulge in temptations as well as arrogance causing him to believe that it was he & not 'ה who was responsible for his success, leading to the eventual disregard of 'ה altogether.
There's a story told of a disciple of ר' מיכל מזלוטשוב who was very poor. One day he started a business venture which was very successful. The wealthier he became, the farther away from his friends & rebbe he stayed, until he had distanced himself from all his former friends. One day, the rebbe came to visit his former disciple in his mansion who hardly even acknowledges the rebbe’s presence. The rebbe takes him to the window & says " what do you see?" He answers, “people”. The rebbe then takes him to the mirror & asks, “what do you see now”? He responds, “myself, of course”. The rebbe tells him, “the difference between a piece of glass & a mirror is that the glass doesn't have the silver back; so when there's no silver you are able to see others; but put a little silver on the same glass & then you only see yourself.
Now how can we avoid this? How does one attain material wealth yet attribute all of one’s success to 'ה?
When the Torah talks about the חג of סוכות the Posuk says, באספכם את תבואת הארץ תחגו את חג ה' שבעת ימים when you gather in the grain you shall celebrate for seven days, which places the holiday of סוכות during the harvest season.
Rashi tells us that this requires us to have leap years; to ensure that סוכות will fall out in the harvest season.
What is so important that we would add a whole month just to ensure that סוכות falls out during harvest season?
The ספר החינוך answers, that everyone is happy during the harvest season because of the abundance of crops. 'ה is giving us an opportunity to take that happiness, the joy of material wealth, & transform it into the joy of a Mitzva.
The רשב"ם says that it’s specifically for this reason that, at this time of year when our houses are full and we have everything we need, now is the time to leave our homes & go into the Sukka to demonstrate it’s all from ה .
Additionally, says the ישמח ישראל, Sukkos is called זמן שמחתנו the time of happiness to display, if one is not a בעל גאווה , that everything he has is from 'ה and it's not due to his business acumen or strengths. In reality, since 'ה gives us so much more than we deserve, then we will always be happy with what we have.
Perhaps if we internalize the message of סוכות that specifically when we have abundance, we will be able to look past the silver, outside the mirror & see that it’s not our doing, rather its 'ה who brought us here and then no matter how wealthy we become we will always remain loyal to 'ה!
Friday, September 21, 2012
vayeilech
In one of the most famous Haftoras we read, the navi states שובה ישראל עד ה' אלקיך , “Return Israel to Hashem, כי כשלת בעונך for you have stumbled through your iniquity.” The gemara in Yuma (86a) says: א"ר לוי גדולה תשובה שמגעת עד כסא הכבוד שנאמר: שובה ישראל עד ה' אלקיך. R' Levi says, “great is repentance for it reaches the heavenly throne, as it states, ‘return Israel to 'ה.
The לקח טוב brings our attention to the following question. Why does the gemara expound the greatness of repentance from navi, a posuk in הושע, when last week's parsha explicitly states, ושבת עד ה' אלקיך ושמעת בקולו, And you will return to 'ה and listen to His voice. This posuk also contains the same words עד ה' אלקיך which are the words from which we learn that repentance reaches the heavenly throne.
Wouldn't it be better to learn from a posuk in the Torah that one in navi?
The לקח טוב brings an answer based on an event that happened to ר' סעדיה גאון. Once ר' סעדיה was being hosted by someone who didn't know who he was & nonetheless treated him graciously & with the utmost respect. When the host found out that his guest was ר' סעדיה, he ran to him to beg forgiveness for not treating him properly. ר' סעדיה said to him, “What are you talking about? You treated me like royalty. The host said yes, but had I known who you were, I would have treated you even better.
When ר' סעדיה heard that, he said that if this person is asking me forgiveness for not treating me yesterday in accordance with the knowledge he has today, I have to learn from him & ask forgiveness to 'ה, for today I recognize His greatness more than yesterday, while yesterday I only honored Him according to its recognition & not today's.
From that day on ר' סעדיה did teshuva every day for not honoring 'ה enough the day before.
So answers ר' שלום ברנד to our previous question. From the posuk in the Torah, I might only know that a lofty type of teshuva like ר' סעדיה's, which is not a sin to the average person, reaches the heavenly throne However, perhaps teshuva on real sins doesn't.
Therefore, the gemara uses the posuk in navi since it ends כי כשלת בעונך, for you have stumbled through sin, which shows it's talking about actual sin. That, too, reaches the heavenly throne.
Most of us cannot comprehend that kind of recognition of 'ה. What, then, can we learn from ר' סעדיה ? Maybe that his recognition of 'ה wasn't an instant revelation but a constant growth, a little bit more each day.
The חפץ חיים explains that's how we have to go about doing teshuva, too, which he demonstrates with a mashal.
There was a merchant from a small town who came to the big city to buy goods. He came to the wholesaler from whom he usually bought & placed a large order for all kinds of goods. After the wholesaler put the order together, he gave the merchant the bill which was quite large. The merchant asked that it all be put on account, for he didn't have enough money; he promised to come pay it shortly.
The answer was NO! “This is not the first time you tried this. We have given you credit before & you didn't pay. You are no longer trustworthy.”
The merchant pleaded with him, “please I need to put food on the table. Those were extenuating circumstances & it won't happen again.” They argued back & forth until a man came in, listened to both sides & said, “I have a way that could work for both of you.” He turned to the merchant & said, “why are you buying so much at once? It's much more than you can afford. Why don't you just take a small order that you could pay for now & when you sell that, you'll come back & get more?” The merchant heeded his advice and bought a small amount that he could pay for. He sold that & then came back & bought more; each time being able to buy a little more than he did before until he was very successful.
So, too, by teshuva. We tend to take upon ourselves way more than we can handle. We promise 'ה that we're going to do a complete about face & change our ways and then we change nothing. We should just take on one small thing that we could handle & after that, take on another small thing. By following this pattern we will be able to succeed one step at a time, so that by doing so we will ultimately change ourselves for the better, enabling us to do a complete teshuva bringing us closer to 'ה!
The לקח טוב brings our attention to the following question. Why does the gemara expound the greatness of repentance from navi, a posuk in הושע, when last week's parsha explicitly states, ושבת עד ה' אלקיך ושמעת בקולו, And you will return to 'ה and listen to His voice. This posuk also contains the same words עד ה' אלקיך which are the words from which we learn that repentance reaches the heavenly throne.
Wouldn't it be better to learn from a posuk in the Torah that one in navi?
The לקח טוב brings an answer based on an event that happened to ר' סעדיה גאון. Once ר' סעדיה was being hosted by someone who didn't know who he was & nonetheless treated him graciously & with the utmost respect. When the host found out that his guest was ר' סעדיה, he ran to him to beg forgiveness for not treating him properly. ר' סעדיה said to him, “What are you talking about? You treated me like royalty. The host said yes, but had I known who you were, I would have treated you even better.
When ר' סעדיה heard that, he said that if this person is asking me forgiveness for not treating me yesterday in accordance with the knowledge he has today, I have to learn from him & ask forgiveness to 'ה, for today I recognize His greatness more than yesterday, while yesterday I only honored Him according to its recognition & not today's.
From that day on ר' סעדיה did teshuva every day for not honoring 'ה enough the day before.
So answers ר' שלום ברנד to our previous question. From the posuk in the Torah, I might only know that a lofty type of teshuva like ר' סעדיה's, which is not a sin to the average person, reaches the heavenly throne However, perhaps teshuva on real sins doesn't.
Therefore, the gemara uses the posuk in navi since it ends כי כשלת בעונך, for you have stumbled through sin, which shows it's talking about actual sin. That, too, reaches the heavenly throne.
Most of us cannot comprehend that kind of recognition of 'ה. What, then, can we learn from ר' סעדיה ? Maybe that his recognition of 'ה wasn't an instant revelation but a constant growth, a little bit more each day.
The חפץ חיים explains that's how we have to go about doing teshuva, too, which he demonstrates with a mashal.
There was a merchant from a small town who came to the big city to buy goods. He came to the wholesaler from whom he usually bought & placed a large order for all kinds of goods. After the wholesaler put the order together, he gave the merchant the bill which was quite large. The merchant asked that it all be put on account, for he didn't have enough money; he promised to come pay it shortly.
The answer was NO! “This is not the first time you tried this. We have given you credit before & you didn't pay. You are no longer trustworthy.”
The merchant pleaded with him, “please I need to put food on the table. Those were extenuating circumstances & it won't happen again.” They argued back & forth until a man came in, listened to both sides & said, “I have a way that could work for both of you.” He turned to the merchant & said, “why are you buying so much at once? It's much more than you can afford. Why don't you just take a small order that you could pay for now & when you sell that, you'll come back & get more?” The merchant heeded his advice and bought a small amount that he could pay for. He sold that & then came back & bought more; each time being able to buy a little more than he did before until he was very successful.
So, too, by teshuva. We tend to take upon ourselves way more than we can handle. We promise 'ה that we're going to do a complete about face & change our ways and then we change nothing. We should just take on one small thing that we could handle & after that, take on another small thing. By following this pattern we will be able to succeed one step at a time, so that by doing so we will ultimately change ourselves for the better, enabling us to do a complete teshuva bringing us closer to 'ה!
Friday, September 14, 2012
nitzavim
On the first words of our parsha: אתם נצבים היום כלכם לפני ה , you are standing today, all of you, before Hashem, Rashi states, “this teaches us that Moshe gathered all the people on the day of his death to enter them into a covenant with ה'.”
Rashi then quotes a Midrash that says the reason the parsha of אתם נצבים follows the parsha of the curses is after the Jews heard all the curses that would befall them if they didn't listen to 'ה, they were traumatized into thinking, “who can bear these curses?” Moshe began to console them saying, אתם נצבים היום כלכם you are all still standing, no matter how much anger you caused 'ה in the past, you see he still didn't destroy you; you are still standing today.
Was Moshe implying that the curses were meaningless, asks ר' אליהו לופיאן, that they were said for nothing?
In explanation, he says we have to understand why 'ה brings hardships on a person. It’s not out of revenge or anger, but rather only for the good of a person. Hardships soften a person’s heart & prepares one for teshuva. Like the גר"א explains, when one wants to plant a field, first one has to plow it & turn over the soil. Otherwise, the seeds won't grow. So too, a person’s heart must be overturned and softened to allow the seeds of teshuva to grow. Therefore, 'ה gives hardships to soften the heart in order that one could do a complete teshuva.
However, if a person could get the message without the hardships, 'ה would rather do it that way. At the Tochacha, when the בני ישראל heard the curses & were practically paralyzed with fear, that was enough to keep them in line so that the curses would never have to come about.
The דובנא מגיד presents a mashal that הגר"י ניימן uses to emphasize this point. When a very pampered, wealthy child had a stomach illness, the doctor said that the boy had to drink a certain potion to make him vomit & then he would be cured. However, this boy had never drunk anything so vile before & could not bring himself to drink this vile potion even though his life depended on it.
Because of this, the doctor took the potion, mixed it with some other medicines & boiled it up next to the boy. When the foul smell reached his nostrils, he threw up & then was able to be healed.
This is what 'ה does with us. He warned us with all these curses so that the people would hear them & be frightened enough to keep in line so that He wouldn't have to actually carry them out. However, this only works for the people that took the curses to heart & repented. The ones who hear the curses, and as the posuk continues, say to themselves שלום יהיה לי כי בשרירות לבי אלך I will have peace even though I go as my heart sees fit. A person like that 'ה will not forgive & the curses will take effect.
The בן איש חי asks when do find that the whole כלל ישראל is standing before 'ה? On Rosh Hashana. When we all come to be judged by 'ה is when we are all נצבים before 'ה. Therefore this parsha of אתם נצבים היום is hinting to Rosh Hashana.
Perhaps the Torah is telling us here that the way to a good judgment on Rosh Hashana is to take it to heart; to really feel it. Don't say, “I can do what I want & 'ה will forgive me” for those are the ones upon whom the curses occur. The ones who take the warning to heart & resolve to be better, don't need any hardships & will merit to have a peaceful happy year!
Rashi then quotes a Midrash that says the reason the parsha of אתם נצבים follows the parsha of the curses is after the Jews heard all the curses that would befall them if they didn't listen to 'ה, they were traumatized into thinking, “who can bear these curses?” Moshe began to console them saying, אתם נצבים היום כלכם you are all still standing, no matter how much anger you caused 'ה in the past, you see he still didn't destroy you; you are still standing today.
Was Moshe implying that the curses were meaningless, asks ר' אליהו לופיאן, that they were said for nothing?
In explanation, he says we have to understand why 'ה brings hardships on a person. It’s not out of revenge or anger, but rather only for the good of a person. Hardships soften a person’s heart & prepares one for teshuva. Like the גר"א explains, when one wants to plant a field, first one has to plow it & turn over the soil. Otherwise, the seeds won't grow. So too, a person’s heart must be overturned and softened to allow the seeds of teshuva to grow. Therefore, 'ה gives hardships to soften the heart in order that one could do a complete teshuva.
However, if a person could get the message without the hardships, 'ה would rather do it that way. At the Tochacha, when the בני ישראל heard the curses & were practically paralyzed with fear, that was enough to keep them in line so that the curses would never have to come about.
The דובנא מגיד presents a mashal that הגר"י ניימן uses to emphasize this point. When a very pampered, wealthy child had a stomach illness, the doctor said that the boy had to drink a certain potion to make him vomit & then he would be cured. However, this boy had never drunk anything so vile before & could not bring himself to drink this vile potion even though his life depended on it.
Because of this, the doctor took the potion, mixed it with some other medicines & boiled it up next to the boy. When the foul smell reached his nostrils, he threw up & then was able to be healed.
This is what 'ה does with us. He warned us with all these curses so that the people would hear them & be frightened enough to keep in line so that He wouldn't have to actually carry them out. However, this only works for the people that took the curses to heart & repented. The ones who hear the curses, and as the posuk continues, say to themselves שלום יהיה לי כי בשרירות לבי אלך I will have peace even though I go as my heart sees fit. A person like that 'ה will not forgive & the curses will take effect.
The בן איש חי asks when do find that the whole כלל ישראל is standing before 'ה? On Rosh Hashana. When we all come to be judged by 'ה is when we are all נצבים before 'ה. Therefore this parsha of אתם נצבים היום is hinting to Rosh Hashana.
Perhaps the Torah is telling us here that the way to a good judgment on Rosh Hashana is to take it to heart; to really feel it. Don't say, “I can do what I want & 'ה will forgive me” for those are the ones upon whom the curses occur. The ones who take the warning to heart & resolve to be better, don't need any hardships & will merit to have a peaceful happy year!
Friday, September 7, 2012
Ki Savo
When the Torah tells us the rewards for listening to 'ה & keeping the mitzvos, it lists a variety of blessings, from our homes, to our business, children, crops, flocks etc. One of these brochos states ברוך אתה בבאך וברוך אתה בצאתך, blessed are you in your coming and blessed shall you be in your going.
The gemara in ב"מ interprets this verse to mean when one leaves the world his children should be like him.
The חיד"א asks, if it's referring to leaving the world & coming in to it, how can the posuk say ברוך אתה בצאתך you're blessed when you leave the world, if you can no longer do mitzvos, as compared to ברוך אתה בבאך when you came into the world & are able to constantly gain mitzvos ?
He explains based on the נודע ביהודה's interpretation of another gemara in ב"מ that states מי שמניך בן כמותו לא נאמרה בו מיתה, that one who leaves a son like him, death isn't said about him.
Man on this world is considered a הולך, one who is constantly moving upward, for one is constantly gaining mitzvos & learning Torah. Once one leaves this world, he's called an עומד, for he's standing still, unable to add more mitzvos.
However, one who toiled with his children to teach them to study Torah & do mitzvos, maintains his status as a הולך even after his death for he has a share in all the Torah & mitzvos that his children do.
That is why the posuk can say ברוך אתה בצאתך, you're blessed when you leave the world, for if you leave children that are like you & you worked hard to train them, then even when you're gone, you will still be gaining Torah & mitzvos through your children.
It is this concept the אוצרת התורה, states that teaches us how much effort & מסירת נפש we must put into educating our children in the way of Torah & mitzvos.
This concept is exemplified by the following story told over by ר' שלום שבדרון. In his later years, the רידב"ז lived in Tzfas. One day, when he had yahrtzeit for his father, he came to shul for mincha, and prior to davening, he stood deep in thought, & started to cry.
One of the people that saw this, went over to him & said,” it's understandable that you're crying on your father's yahrtzeit, but he died over fifty years ago & you don't usually cry. What was different today?”
The רידב"ז said, “you're right. I will explain why I cried today. When I was a small child, my father sent me to learn with an exceptional rebbi who charged a high price - one ruble per month.
My father was a poor man who built ovens for a living. Despite that, when it came to my learning he was going to find a way to get me the best. So I went to this rebbi & was learning very well. Three months passed & my father still hadn't paid. The rebbi had been patient, but after so long he sent me home with a note saying, I waited three months & cannot wait any longer. Send me what you owe or I can no longer learn with the boy.
When I brought that note home my father was beside himself. What are we going to do? There was no money. How was he going to send me to learn?
The next morning he heard that there was a rich man building a house for his son & needed to build an oven in it. However, the factory that made the bricks had stopped operating & he couldn't get the bricks for the oven. Still, the rich man wanted the oven & said whoever brings him the bricks will also get the job of installing it & would be paid a total of six rubles.
What did my father do? He took apart our oven, transported the bricks to the rich man's house & rebuilt the oven in his son's home. He came home with six rubles in his hand. His excitement knew no bounds as he came to me with the six rubles & said, ‘give this to your rebbi; three for the past three months & three for the next three months’.
As for us the rest of the family, we struggled through that winter with great difficulty, barely managing to sleep through the bitter cold nights; but to my father it was all worth it so I could go learn.
Now, ended the רידב"ז, let me tell you why I was crying. When I was about to come to shul tonight, as I opened the door & felt the cold & thought to myself, it's too cold to go out; I'll just daven at home. Then I remembered how my father & my family suffered through the bitter cold winter so I could go learn. How could it have even entered my mind to stay home because of a little cold? That's why I cried.”
The gemara in ב"מ interprets this verse to mean when one leaves the world his children should be like him.
The חיד"א asks, if it's referring to leaving the world & coming in to it, how can the posuk say ברוך אתה בצאתך you're blessed when you leave the world, if you can no longer do mitzvos, as compared to ברוך אתה בבאך when you came into the world & are able to constantly gain mitzvos ?
He explains based on the נודע ביהודה's interpretation of another gemara in ב"מ that states מי שמניך בן כמותו לא נאמרה בו מיתה, that one who leaves a son like him, death isn't said about him.
Man on this world is considered a הולך, one who is constantly moving upward, for one is constantly gaining mitzvos & learning Torah. Once one leaves this world, he's called an עומד, for he's standing still, unable to add more mitzvos.
However, one who toiled with his children to teach them to study Torah & do mitzvos, maintains his status as a הולך even after his death for he has a share in all the Torah & mitzvos that his children do.
That is why the posuk can say ברוך אתה בצאתך, you're blessed when you leave the world, for if you leave children that are like you & you worked hard to train them, then even when you're gone, you will still be gaining Torah & mitzvos through your children.
It is this concept the אוצרת התורה, states that teaches us how much effort & מסירת נפש we must put into educating our children in the way of Torah & mitzvos.
This concept is exemplified by the following story told over by ר' שלום שבדרון. In his later years, the רידב"ז lived in Tzfas. One day, when he had yahrtzeit for his father, he came to shul for mincha, and prior to davening, he stood deep in thought, & started to cry.
One of the people that saw this, went over to him & said,” it's understandable that you're crying on your father's yahrtzeit, but he died over fifty years ago & you don't usually cry. What was different today?”
The רידב"ז said, “you're right. I will explain why I cried today. When I was a small child, my father sent me to learn with an exceptional rebbi who charged a high price - one ruble per month.
My father was a poor man who built ovens for a living. Despite that, when it came to my learning he was going to find a way to get me the best. So I went to this rebbi & was learning very well. Three months passed & my father still hadn't paid. The rebbi had been patient, but after so long he sent me home with a note saying, I waited three months & cannot wait any longer. Send me what you owe or I can no longer learn with the boy.
When I brought that note home my father was beside himself. What are we going to do? There was no money. How was he going to send me to learn?
The next morning he heard that there was a rich man building a house for his son & needed to build an oven in it. However, the factory that made the bricks had stopped operating & he couldn't get the bricks for the oven. Still, the rich man wanted the oven & said whoever brings him the bricks will also get the job of installing it & would be paid a total of six rubles.
What did my father do? He took apart our oven, transported the bricks to the rich man's house & rebuilt the oven in his son's home. He came home with six rubles in his hand. His excitement knew no bounds as he came to me with the six rubles & said, ‘give this to your rebbi; three for the past three months & three for the next three months’.
As for us the rest of the family, we struggled through that winter with great difficulty, barely managing to sleep through the bitter cold nights; but to my father it was all worth it so I could go learn.
Now, ended the רידב"ז, let me tell you why I was crying. When I was about to come to shul tonight, as I opened the door & felt the cold & thought to myself, it's too cold to go out; I'll just daven at home. Then I remembered how my father & my family suffered through the bitter cold winter so I could go learn. How could it have even entered my mind to stay home because of a little cold? That's why I cried.”
Friday, August 31, 2012
Ki Seitzei
When the Torah tells us the mitzva of returning a lost object it says והתעלמת מהם השב תשיבם, hide yourself from them; you shall surely return them. The gemara learns from this that there are times when one is allowed to hide himself & act like he doesn't see the lost object. For instance, when the one who found it is a respectable person & the object is something that's beneath his dignity to carry around.
The next posuk says לא תראה את חמור אחיך או שורו נפלים בדרך והתעלמת מהם הקם תקים עמו, you shall not see the donkey of your brother or his ox falling on the road and hide yourself from them; you shall surely raise it with him. When the posuk says you have to help him pick up the animal it uses the same wording - והתעלמת מהם - that it did by your friend's lost object. Here it doesn't make any distinctions as to who has to help, even though here too it might be disrespectful for a dignified older gentleman to be unloading & loading a donkey.
Rashi says that from the word עמו we see that if the one you're supposed to be helping says to you, "since you're obligated to unload, unload it yourself", you are no longer obligated to unload.
That is something we don't see by other mitzvos; that your obligation is contingent upon someone else's actions. Another interesting thing notes רבינו בחיי is that here when the Torah tells us this mitzva it says לא תראה את חמור אחיך don't see your brothers donkey falling on the road, whereas in פרשת משפטים when it tells us this mitzva it says חמור שנאך, your enemies donkey. Why the distinction?
The חפץ חיים says we learn from here how 'ה deals with us. If we ask 'ה for things & then try to accomplish them, 'ה will help us. However, if we ask for things & then sit back & wait for it to come to us then 'ה doesn't have to help. Just like if the owner won't help unload his donkey, we are no longer obligated to help him.
He explains with a parable. There was a person who fell on hard times & was waiting in the street when he knew a certain rich man would pass by. As the rich man passes he implores him to help him out. He has a business venture but just needs some capital. The rich man is overcome with pity & says, please come to my house tonight & I will give you what you need.
Nighttime comes and the rich man is waiting, but the poor man never shows up. He figures there must have been an emergency. The next day as the rich man is walking down the street, the poor man approaches him & goes through his whole story again. The rich man tells him again, come to my house tonight and I will give you what you need. Again the poor man doesn't show.
The next day when the poor man once again approaches him on the street, he gets angry and says you're not for real! How many times are you going to ask me for help & and not show up when I say I will help you??
Every day we ask 'ה in davening to help us be better people, guard our tongue, open our hearts to Torah, to fear Hashem... but then we don't try to act upon our requests. This posuk says the חפץ חיים is teaching us the way to success if we want to be successful in our learning, in watching what we say , in business etc. We have to not only ask 'ה to grant us these things, but to also go out & try to do them, and. when we put in the effort 'ה will have to help us.
Perhaps this is why there are no exceptions to this mitzva, for who doesn't need this divine assistance? No matter how old or distinguished, we all need 'ה's help to succeed. To explain why it says over here to help your brother, & earlier on it says to help your enemy is because, says רבינו בחיי, the way to love someone is to do things for them. If at first this man was your enemy, now that you helped him he will become your friend. This mitzva makes you forget the hate & love will overcome.
Imagine, we have the power to have 'ה helping us, & by so doing changing any anger He might have toward us to love. Let's take the opportunity to act upon our requests, enabling divine assistance & granting us the ultimate goal, 'ה's love!
The next posuk says לא תראה את חמור אחיך או שורו נפלים בדרך והתעלמת מהם הקם תקים עמו, you shall not see the donkey of your brother or his ox falling on the road and hide yourself from them; you shall surely raise it with him. When the posuk says you have to help him pick up the animal it uses the same wording - והתעלמת מהם - that it did by your friend's lost object. Here it doesn't make any distinctions as to who has to help, even though here too it might be disrespectful for a dignified older gentleman to be unloading & loading a donkey.
Rashi says that from the word עמו we see that if the one you're supposed to be helping says to you, "since you're obligated to unload, unload it yourself", you are no longer obligated to unload.
That is something we don't see by other mitzvos; that your obligation is contingent upon someone else's actions. Another interesting thing notes רבינו בחיי is that here when the Torah tells us this mitzva it says לא תראה את חמור אחיך don't see your brothers donkey falling on the road, whereas in פרשת משפטים when it tells us this mitzva it says חמור שנאך, your enemies donkey. Why the distinction?
The חפץ חיים says we learn from here how 'ה deals with us. If we ask 'ה for things & then try to accomplish them, 'ה will help us. However, if we ask for things & then sit back & wait for it to come to us then 'ה doesn't have to help. Just like if the owner won't help unload his donkey, we are no longer obligated to help him.
He explains with a parable. There was a person who fell on hard times & was waiting in the street when he knew a certain rich man would pass by. As the rich man passes he implores him to help him out. He has a business venture but just needs some capital. The rich man is overcome with pity & says, please come to my house tonight & I will give you what you need.
Nighttime comes and the rich man is waiting, but the poor man never shows up. He figures there must have been an emergency. The next day as the rich man is walking down the street, the poor man approaches him & goes through his whole story again. The rich man tells him again, come to my house tonight and I will give you what you need. Again the poor man doesn't show.
The next day when the poor man once again approaches him on the street, he gets angry and says you're not for real! How many times are you going to ask me for help & and not show up when I say I will help you??
Every day we ask 'ה in davening to help us be better people, guard our tongue, open our hearts to Torah, to fear Hashem... but then we don't try to act upon our requests. This posuk says the חפץ חיים is teaching us the way to success if we want to be successful in our learning, in watching what we say , in business etc. We have to not only ask 'ה to grant us these things, but to also go out & try to do them, and. when we put in the effort 'ה will have to help us.
Perhaps this is why there are no exceptions to this mitzva, for who doesn't need this divine assistance? No matter how old or distinguished, we all need 'ה's help to succeed. To explain why it says over here to help your brother, & earlier on it says to help your enemy is because, says רבינו בחיי, the way to love someone is to do things for them. If at first this man was your enemy, now that you helped him he will become your friend. This mitzva makes you forget the hate & love will overcome.
Imagine, we have the power to have 'ה helping us, & by so doing changing any anger He might have toward us to love. Let's take the opportunity to act upon our requests, enabling divine assistance & granting us the ultimate goal, 'ה's love!
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Shoftim
After the Torah warns us not to look into the future through sorcerers or black magic, it says תמים תהיה עם ה' אלקיך one should be complete with 'ה
Rashi explains that to mean that one shouldn't go after the fortune tellers to see the future, rather trust in what 'ה has in store for you & whatever happens, a person should accept wholeheartedly & then will be together with 'ה.
The אור החיים explains it a little differently & says that the only reason one would look to the future is to see what's in store for him. If he's not happy he'll try to change or fix whatever he feels is missing. The Torah tells us, תמים תהיה עם ה' אלקיך that if one will wholeheartedly trust 'ה they would not feel as if the were missing anything. As for their worries, even if the future would show something bad, it's not a definite. Like we saw by אברהם אבינו, even though the future said he wouldn't be able to have children, he who wholeheartedly walked with 'ה, did have children. So if one trusts 'ה there's no reason to look to the future.
The אור החיים's approach makes sense that we shouldn't look to the future & try to change it for 'ה knows best. However, what's Rashi trying to tell us when according to Rashi you're not trying to change anything, rather you're looking to the future to see if things will work out so you don't have to stress as much. Is that so wrong?
The עלינו לשבח opens our eyes to what Rashi is teaching us here, & says that everyone who thinks into their life can certainly look back & realize that it pays to wholeheartedly trust in 'ה, not look to fortune tellers. Rather to happily accept whatever 'ה gives and trust that it's for the good for in the end each one of us can bring proof by our own experiences that 'ה was two steps ahead. We know He only wants to do what's good for us. Therefore the best approach to life is to cast all your burdens on 'ה , to rely on Him wholeheartedly, & not try to foresee what's going to happen by going to fortune tellers.
He explains this with a parable. There was a traveler walking with a big bag over his shoulder, trudging down the road, when suddenly the skies open up & the rains relentlessly come down. he looks out hoping for carriage to come by. Suddenly he sees a fine carriage coming & he waves it down. The wealthy man stops for him & invites him onto the carriage. The traveler gratefully accepts & sits down in the carriage with his soaked bag on his lap.
The wealthy man looks over at him & says, why are you holding your heavy wet bag on your lap? Just put it on the floor of the carriage. The traveler says, you were kind enough to give me a ride & refuge from the rain; I don't want to trouble you anymore so I'll just hold my bag. The man looks at him incredulously & says, I'm carrying you & your bag anyway. It makes no difference if you relieve yourself of the burden; for me it's all the same.
As we laugh at the foolishness of the traveler, think - aren't we doing the same thing? Why do we carry around our "pekelach", always looking for an angle on how to somehow lighten the load, when we could just cast out burdens on 'ה? He's taking care of us anyway & controlling what happens, so why won't we relieve ourselves of the burden & cast it all on Him?!
This is what Rashi means. Don't look to the future, don't look for reassurance, rather wholeheartedly accept whatever you get, for if we don't worry & cast our "pekelach" on 'ה, then we are assured that whatever we're getting is what's best & there's no reason to worry.
Let us all cast our burdens aside & let 'ה do the worrying for us!
Rashi explains that to mean that one shouldn't go after the fortune tellers to see the future, rather trust in what 'ה has in store for you & whatever happens, a person should accept wholeheartedly & then will be together with 'ה.
The אור החיים explains it a little differently & says that the only reason one would look to the future is to see what's in store for him. If he's not happy he'll try to change or fix whatever he feels is missing. The Torah tells us, תמים תהיה עם ה' אלקיך that if one will wholeheartedly trust 'ה they would not feel as if the were missing anything. As for their worries, even if the future would show something bad, it's not a definite. Like we saw by אברהם אבינו, even though the future said he wouldn't be able to have children, he who wholeheartedly walked with 'ה, did have children. So if one trusts 'ה there's no reason to look to the future.
The אור החיים's approach makes sense that we shouldn't look to the future & try to change it for 'ה knows best. However, what's Rashi trying to tell us when according to Rashi you're not trying to change anything, rather you're looking to the future to see if things will work out so you don't have to stress as much. Is that so wrong?
The עלינו לשבח opens our eyes to what Rashi is teaching us here, & says that everyone who thinks into their life can certainly look back & realize that it pays to wholeheartedly trust in 'ה, not look to fortune tellers. Rather to happily accept whatever 'ה gives and trust that it's for the good for in the end each one of us can bring proof by our own experiences that 'ה was two steps ahead. We know He only wants to do what's good for us. Therefore the best approach to life is to cast all your burdens on 'ה , to rely on Him wholeheartedly, & not try to foresee what's going to happen by going to fortune tellers.
He explains this with a parable. There was a traveler walking with a big bag over his shoulder, trudging down the road, when suddenly the skies open up & the rains relentlessly come down. he looks out hoping for carriage to come by. Suddenly he sees a fine carriage coming & he waves it down. The wealthy man stops for him & invites him onto the carriage. The traveler gratefully accepts & sits down in the carriage with his soaked bag on his lap.
The wealthy man looks over at him & says, why are you holding your heavy wet bag on your lap? Just put it on the floor of the carriage. The traveler says, you were kind enough to give me a ride & refuge from the rain; I don't want to trouble you anymore so I'll just hold my bag. The man looks at him incredulously & says, I'm carrying you & your bag anyway. It makes no difference if you relieve yourself of the burden; for me it's all the same.
As we laugh at the foolishness of the traveler, think - aren't we doing the same thing? Why do we carry around our "pekelach", always looking for an angle on how to somehow lighten the load, when we could just cast out burdens on 'ה? He's taking care of us anyway & controlling what happens, so why won't we relieve ourselves of the burden & cast it all on Him?!
This is what Rashi means. Don't look to the future, don't look for reassurance, rather wholeheartedly accept whatever you get, for if we don't worry & cast our "pekelach" on 'ה, then we are assured that whatever we're getting is what's best & there's no reason to worry.
Let us all cast our burdens aside & let 'ה do the worrying for us!
Friday, August 17, 2012
Re'eh
When it comes to the mitzva of צדקה the Torah warns us ולא ירע לבבך בתתך לו כי בגלל הדבר הזה יברכך ה אלקיך, and let your heart not feel bad when you give him, for because of this matter, Hashem will bless you.
The אוצרות התורה asks, why is it that by the mitzva of צדקה the Torah has to make us promises to help us fight against the yetzer hara and guarantee us that we'll be blessed? The yetzer harah tries to get us not to do all the other mitzvos too, so why the extra emphasis by צדקה ?
He explains that the mitzva of צדקה is unique that even the yetzer hatov can convince one not to do it by saying, "how do you know that this person is worthy of your charity? You're not doing a mitzva just throwing away money". To thwart that thought the torah says ולא ירע לבבך, let your heart not feel bad while giving to anyone, for not only will you get reward, יברכך ה אלקיך, you will be blessed too. Why is that true? For the Jewish people, even if they're not always doing what they should, are still considered Hashem's children. What father wouldn't want you to feed his children even when he's angry at them?!
That's why the Torah says כי בגלל הדבר הזה for because of this thing. This thing being that you're giving charity to people who don't necessarily deserve it. In essence, what you're saying by doing that, is that we are all 'ה's children no matter what. That's how 'ה will consider you like his child & will bless you no matter what.
The gemara says poverty is a גלגל הוא שחוזר בעולם , a wheel that revolves around the world, and the only way to avoid it is by increasing the money one gives to tzedaka. For if you give then you show that you care about 'ה's children & then He will care about you.
The סבא מקלם asks, why did 'ה make the world like this that one gives charity to one who is needy,then 'ה gives the giver a bracha because of the needy one. Wouldn't it have been simpler to just bless the poor man & let the rich man keep what he has?
There's another gemara that says אין צדקה משתלמת אלא לפי חסד שבה that the reward for tzedaka is based upon the chesed that's involved, including the caring, the time & effort put in, & giving where you feel it.
This is exemplified by the following story which happened in Yerushalaim & was told over by ר' יחיאל מיכל גוטפרב. There was a knock at the door of a talmid chacham's home & a poor woman was standing there. She asked him for some chicken to eat. This man was a person who sat & learned all day & did not have a lot of money. He had 14 children & they subsisted on the barest necessities. He tried explaining to the woman that the only chicken he had was in the fridge & it was for the upcoming חג, & that this was the only time his family ever had chicken. If he was to give it to her they wouldn't have any for the חג . However she was adamant that she needed chicken & was crying to him about her sorry state & her hunger.
This man thought to himself, if this woman isn't ashamed to ask me for the food right out of my kids' mouths then it must be she really needs it. Nothing will happen if we don't have chicken for the חג; we'll survive.
Without a moments hesitation he tells her ok, wait here & I will go to the fridge & get it. The man goes to his ancient, beat up refrigerator & opens the door. As he opens the door he lets out a shriek of pure terror, for what did he find in the fridge? His three year old son who got locked inside & couldn't get out! The boy was almost totally blue & not breathing!
Miraculously, Hatzala was able to revive him. Afterward, the doctor said that had he been in there even seconds longer he wouldn't have made it.
This man felt the poor woman's pain & in an act of צדקה that was pure חסד, went to feed her. By doing so he saved his child's life.
Maybe this is why 'ה made the world this way, for there are times when it's not all about money; it's about showing you care, & there are times that we need those zechusim in our lives & need to show that we go out of our way for other people so that 'ה will have a reason to go out of His way for us!
The אוצרות התורה asks, why is it that by the mitzva of צדקה the Torah has to make us promises to help us fight against the yetzer hara and guarantee us that we'll be blessed? The yetzer harah tries to get us not to do all the other mitzvos too, so why the extra emphasis by צדקה ?
He explains that the mitzva of צדקה is unique that even the yetzer hatov can convince one not to do it by saying, "how do you know that this person is worthy of your charity? You're not doing a mitzva just throwing away money". To thwart that thought the torah says ולא ירע לבבך, let your heart not feel bad while giving to anyone, for not only will you get reward, יברכך ה אלקיך, you will be blessed too. Why is that true? For the Jewish people, even if they're not always doing what they should, are still considered Hashem's children. What father wouldn't want you to feed his children even when he's angry at them?!
That's why the Torah says כי בגלל הדבר הזה for because of this thing. This thing being that you're giving charity to people who don't necessarily deserve it. In essence, what you're saying by doing that, is that we are all 'ה's children no matter what. That's how 'ה will consider you like his child & will bless you no matter what.
The gemara says poverty is a גלגל הוא שחוזר בעולם , a wheel that revolves around the world, and the only way to avoid it is by increasing the money one gives to tzedaka. For if you give then you show that you care about 'ה's children & then He will care about you.
The סבא מקלם asks, why did 'ה make the world like this that one gives charity to one who is needy,then 'ה gives the giver a bracha because of the needy one. Wouldn't it have been simpler to just bless the poor man & let the rich man keep what he has?
There's another gemara that says אין צדקה משתלמת אלא לפי חסד שבה that the reward for tzedaka is based upon the chesed that's involved, including the caring, the time & effort put in, & giving where you feel it.
This is exemplified by the following story which happened in Yerushalaim & was told over by ר' יחיאל מיכל גוטפרב. There was a knock at the door of a talmid chacham's home & a poor woman was standing there. She asked him for some chicken to eat. This man was a person who sat & learned all day & did not have a lot of money. He had 14 children & they subsisted on the barest necessities. He tried explaining to the woman that the only chicken he had was in the fridge & it was for the upcoming חג, & that this was the only time his family ever had chicken. If he was to give it to her they wouldn't have any for the חג . However she was adamant that she needed chicken & was crying to him about her sorry state & her hunger.
This man thought to himself, if this woman isn't ashamed to ask me for the food right out of my kids' mouths then it must be she really needs it. Nothing will happen if we don't have chicken for the חג; we'll survive.
Without a moments hesitation he tells her ok, wait here & I will go to the fridge & get it. The man goes to his ancient, beat up refrigerator & opens the door. As he opens the door he lets out a shriek of pure terror, for what did he find in the fridge? His three year old son who got locked inside & couldn't get out! The boy was almost totally blue & not breathing!
Miraculously, Hatzala was able to revive him. Afterward, the doctor said that had he been in there even seconds longer he wouldn't have made it.
This man felt the poor woman's pain & in an act of צדקה that was pure חסד, went to feed her. By doing so he saved his child's life.
Maybe this is why 'ה made the world this way, for there are times when it's not all about money; it's about showing you care, & there are times that we need those zechusim in our lives & need to show that we go out of our way for other people so that 'ה will have a reason to go out of His way for us!
Friday, August 10, 2012
Eikev
The חפץ חיים brings our attention to three pesukim in this parsha, each with a similar theme, each worded differently. The first one states, ושמרת את מצות ה' אלקיך ללכת בדרכיו וליראה אתו to keep the mitzvos of 'ה, to go in his ways & to fear Him. Note that it says first go in 'ה's ways, then fear him.
A little later, the parsha says כי אם ליראה את ה' אלקיך ללכת בכל דרכיו ולאהבה אותו only to fear 'ה, go in his ways & to love him. Note that here it says to fear Him before it says to go in His ways.
Then, toward the end of the parsha, it says: כי אם שמר תשמרון וגו' לאהבה את ה' אלקיכם ללכת בכל דרכיו ולדבקה בו to keep the mitzvos, to love 'ה, to go in His ways & to cling to Him. Here it puts going in His ways after love of 'ה but before clinging to Him.
Why the change?
The חפץ חיים explains that there are three levels in the service of 'ה; one is fear. We know that we have to fear 'ה.
The second level is love, to serve 'ה not out of fear of punishment, but rather out of love.
The third level is דבקות, clinging. The רמב"ן explains that the difference between love & clinging is that love is something that could be periodical. Sometimes one has intense love & sometimes the feeling isn't that strong. On the other hand, דבקות is an intense love that is in one's heart continuously and allows one's soul connect to 'ה.
The חפץ חיים continues that the Torah is teaching us that one cannot attain any level unless one accustoms oneself to go in the ways of 'ה. This includes being merciful, compassionate, & kind. That's why the first posuk says, first go in His ways & then fear Him, for to even attain the simplest level of fear one must go in 'ה's ways and perpetuate kindness.
Then, the next posuk teaches us that even after you attain the level of fear, don't think that you can just sit all day & learn or delve into holy thoughts. Rather the posuk says, first fear me then go in my ways & then love me. It's teaching us the process to get to the next level. Once you attain the level of fear, reaching the level of love is only through going in His ways & doing kindness.
The last posuk refers to one who has attained this level of love for 'ה . This person, in all likelihood, removes himself from the pleasures of this world & might feel that he now has the right to immerse himself only in spiritual pursuits in order to attain the third level of clinging to 'ה. He might think that he doesn't have to associate with other people or waste time helping others. For him the posuk says, even after one reaches the level of לאהבה את ה' אלקיכם, one must continue ללכת בכל דרכיו , going in His ways of doing kindness for people. Only then the posuk concludes ולדבקה בו you will cling to Him. Only by emulating 'ה's ways of kindness & mercy can one achieve the ultimate closeness to 'ה.
There's a story told about the Steipler that exemplifies this point. Once, a young kollel man went into him to ask how he should structure his day: what he should learn in the morning, night, afternoon etc. After the Steipler finished directing him in what manner to spend his day, the young man got up to leave. The Steipler called him back & asked him to sit down & told him, "You know that you have to help out around the house too". The man was flabbergasted. He thought the Steipler was calling him back to tell him to learn kabbala or something of that nature but to help around the house? The Steipler repeated, “I see that you are a big masmid, but you must also know that you also have to help around the house. The man said, “my wife is a big tzadekes & she wants me to only learn & do nothing else.” The Steipler answered, “that's her mitzva, but your mitzva is to help her. Every day when you come home, remember to ask her how you can help.”
This demonstrates how important it is to help other people & not feel that there are more important things to do. Rather, we have to follow 'ה's lead & be merciful, compassionate & kind, enabling us to get as close as we can to the level of דבקות to 'ה!
A little later, the parsha says כי אם ליראה את ה' אלקיך ללכת בכל דרכיו ולאהבה אותו only to fear 'ה, go in his ways & to love him. Note that here it says to fear Him before it says to go in His ways.
Then, toward the end of the parsha, it says: כי אם שמר תשמרון וגו' לאהבה את ה' אלקיכם ללכת בכל דרכיו ולדבקה בו to keep the mitzvos, to love 'ה, to go in His ways & to cling to Him. Here it puts going in His ways after love of 'ה but before clinging to Him.
Why the change?
The חפץ חיים explains that there are three levels in the service of 'ה; one is fear. We know that we have to fear 'ה.
The second level is love, to serve 'ה not out of fear of punishment, but rather out of love.
The third level is דבקות, clinging. The רמב"ן explains that the difference between love & clinging is that love is something that could be periodical. Sometimes one has intense love & sometimes the feeling isn't that strong. On the other hand, דבקות is an intense love that is in one's heart continuously and allows one's soul connect to 'ה.
The חפץ חיים continues that the Torah is teaching us that one cannot attain any level unless one accustoms oneself to go in the ways of 'ה. This includes being merciful, compassionate, & kind. That's why the first posuk says, first go in His ways & then fear Him, for to even attain the simplest level of fear one must go in 'ה's ways and perpetuate kindness.
Then, the next posuk teaches us that even after you attain the level of fear, don't think that you can just sit all day & learn or delve into holy thoughts. Rather the posuk says, first fear me then go in my ways & then love me. It's teaching us the process to get to the next level. Once you attain the level of fear, reaching the level of love is only through going in His ways & doing kindness.
The last posuk refers to one who has attained this level of love for 'ה . This person, in all likelihood, removes himself from the pleasures of this world & might feel that he now has the right to immerse himself only in spiritual pursuits in order to attain the third level of clinging to 'ה. He might think that he doesn't have to associate with other people or waste time helping others. For him the posuk says, even after one reaches the level of לאהבה את ה' אלקיכם, one must continue ללכת בכל דרכיו , going in His ways of doing kindness for people. Only then the posuk concludes ולדבקה בו you will cling to Him. Only by emulating 'ה's ways of kindness & mercy can one achieve the ultimate closeness to 'ה.
There's a story told about the Steipler that exemplifies this point. Once, a young kollel man went into him to ask how he should structure his day: what he should learn in the morning, night, afternoon etc. After the Steipler finished directing him in what manner to spend his day, the young man got up to leave. The Steipler called him back & asked him to sit down & told him, "You know that you have to help out around the house too". The man was flabbergasted. He thought the Steipler was calling him back to tell him to learn kabbala or something of that nature but to help around the house? The Steipler repeated, “I see that you are a big masmid, but you must also know that you also have to help around the house. The man said, “my wife is a big tzadekes & she wants me to only learn & do nothing else.” The Steipler answered, “that's her mitzva, but your mitzva is to help her. Every day when you come home, remember to ask her how you can help.”
This demonstrates how important it is to help other people & not feel that there are more important things to do. Rather, we have to follow 'ה's lead & be merciful, compassionate & kind, enabling us to get as close as we can to the level of דבקות to 'ה!
Friday, August 3, 2012
Va'eschanan
The posuk says את ה אלקיך תירא you should fear Hashem your G-d. The gemara relates how one of the Rabbis would expound every place that the Torah writes the word את & find something that it's coming to include. When he got up to this posuk he couldn't find anything else to include, for how could the Torah be telling us to fear anyone aside from 'ה? The gemara continues that ר' עקיבא then came & said את ה' אלקיך תירא is coming to include תלמידי חכמים. That they merit the same honor as 'ה
The בן איש חי asks, why was it that ר' עקיבא merited to know how to expound this posuk while the rabbi who worked so hard expounding all of the את 's didn't come to this understanding in the posuk? Also why does it say until ר' עקיבא came? Where did he come from?
The בן איש חי explains that this limud is very novel & can't even come from a deep understanding of the Torah, because reasonably, how could one say that we have to give a Torah scholar the same honor & respect that we have to show for 'ה?
The gemara tells us that four people went up to heaven by saying the name of 'ה, & peeked in on the שכינה. The first one, בן עזאי peeked & died, בן זומא peeked & went crazy, אחר peeked & went off the derech, & ר' עקיבא went in & out peacefully.
What happened to אחר? He peeked in & saw the angel מט"ט sitting. Since it says angels are not allowed to sit, אחר said maybe there are two kingdoms: one of 'ה & one of מט"ט. Since he has his own kingdom, he's allowed to sit. Immediately after אחר said that, מט"ט was kicked out of the inner sanctuary & was flogged with 60 lashes of fire, to prove to אחר that מט"ט was no better than any other angel. Then מט"ט was asked, why didn't u stand up for אחר, a תלמיד חכם, when he came in? Then you would have avoided all of this pain & humiliation.
From this incident we see that angels are even supposed to stand up & show respect for תלמידי חכמים, how much more so mere mortals.
This is why, says the בן איש חי, it was ר' עקיבא who was able to make that derasha, for only he was there in 'הs presence & saw what's expected in heaven, that's where he came from & understood how much respect is required to be given to תלמידי חכמים.
The חפץ חיים learns from הר סיני the great respect that's due to תלמידי חכמים. If someone were to touch הר סיני they would die. Now just as the mountain that doesn't have feelings or intellect, but yet would cause someone to die if one touched it, because it became holy when the Torah was given on it. Even more so for תלמידי חכמים who are infused with Torah & have feelings & intellect. If one slights them there will certainly be retribution.
I saw a story by R' Yechiel Spero about a town in Poland where there was a rav by the name of rav Leibish Mintz. He was a big תלמיד חכם who learned day & night, but yet still managed to be there for his congregation. Alas a rumor started spreading in the town that he had gone to secular schools. Some of the people started distancing themselves from him, and asking other dayanim their shailos. An epidemic broke out in the town, & the officials forbade any large gatherings to avoid spreading the disease. However, there was a wedding planned for that night. Even though the rabbi said not to have it for he felt it was dangerous, his opponents planned to have the wedding anyway. The rabbi announced that whoever shows up to this wedding will be arrested. While the people were upset they had no choice but to listen.
That Rosh Hashana as they were about to blow shofer & the rabbi walked to the bima to call out the sounds of the shofar, one of his opponents blocked his way & said, for our tekios we need someone who doesn't speak Latin like you! The rabbi was stunned. The man continued, when we need someone to call out to a goyish god we'll call you! The rav admonished him for his insolence, but the man wasn't done. To the horror of everyone, he slapped the rabbi in the face!
A riot ensued & the police were called in to escort the rabbi out. The rabbi left the town a few days later, embarrassed & disgraced.
The name of the town was Oswiecim,Poland.
Or, as we know it: Auschwitz.
The בן איש חי asks, why was it that ר' עקיבא merited to know how to expound this posuk while the rabbi who worked so hard expounding all of the את 's didn't come to this understanding in the posuk? Also why does it say until ר' עקיבא came? Where did he come from?
The בן איש חי explains that this limud is very novel & can't even come from a deep understanding of the Torah, because reasonably, how could one say that we have to give a Torah scholar the same honor & respect that we have to show for 'ה?
The gemara tells us that four people went up to heaven by saying the name of 'ה, & peeked in on the שכינה. The first one, בן עזאי peeked & died, בן זומא peeked & went crazy, אחר peeked & went off the derech, & ר' עקיבא went in & out peacefully.
What happened to אחר? He peeked in & saw the angel מט"ט sitting. Since it says angels are not allowed to sit, אחר said maybe there are two kingdoms: one of 'ה & one of מט"ט. Since he has his own kingdom, he's allowed to sit. Immediately after אחר said that, מט"ט was kicked out of the inner sanctuary & was flogged with 60 lashes of fire, to prove to אחר that מט"ט was no better than any other angel. Then מט"ט was asked, why didn't u stand up for אחר, a תלמיד חכם, when he came in? Then you would have avoided all of this pain & humiliation.
From this incident we see that angels are even supposed to stand up & show respect for תלמידי חכמים, how much more so mere mortals.
This is why, says the בן איש חי, it was ר' עקיבא who was able to make that derasha, for only he was there in 'הs presence & saw what's expected in heaven, that's where he came from & understood how much respect is required to be given to תלמידי חכמים.
The חפץ חיים learns from הר סיני the great respect that's due to תלמידי חכמים. If someone were to touch הר סיני they would die. Now just as the mountain that doesn't have feelings or intellect, but yet would cause someone to die if one touched it, because it became holy when the Torah was given on it. Even more so for תלמידי חכמים who are infused with Torah & have feelings & intellect. If one slights them there will certainly be retribution.
I saw a story by R' Yechiel Spero about a town in Poland where there was a rav by the name of rav Leibish Mintz. He was a big תלמיד חכם who learned day & night, but yet still managed to be there for his congregation. Alas a rumor started spreading in the town that he had gone to secular schools. Some of the people started distancing themselves from him, and asking other dayanim their shailos. An epidemic broke out in the town, & the officials forbade any large gatherings to avoid spreading the disease. However, there was a wedding planned for that night. Even though the rabbi said not to have it for he felt it was dangerous, his opponents planned to have the wedding anyway. The rabbi announced that whoever shows up to this wedding will be arrested. While the people were upset they had no choice but to listen.
That Rosh Hashana as they were about to blow shofer & the rabbi walked to the bima to call out the sounds of the shofar, one of his opponents blocked his way & said, for our tekios we need someone who doesn't speak Latin like you! The rabbi was stunned. The man continued, when we need someone to call out to a goyish god we'll call you! The rav admonished him for his insolence, but the man wasn't done. To the horror of everyone, he slapped the rabbi in the face!
A riot ensued & the police were called in to escort the rabbi out. The rabbi left the town a few days later, embarrassed & disgraced.
The name of the town was Oswiecim,Poland.
Or, as we know it: Auschwitz.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Devarim/Tisha B'AV
The Torah starts out ספר דברים by saying אלה הדברים אשר דבר משה, these are the words that Moshe spoke instead of the usual וידבר משה. Then the posuk goes on to list several of the places where the Jews angered 'ה
Rashi explains that Moshe was trying to admonish them before his death & was alluding to all the times that they angered 'ה along the way. The reason he didn't explicitly recount their wrongdoings & just alluded to them, was because of כבודן של ישראל, he didn't want to embarrass כלל ישראל.
The sins we're talking about were serious ones, like the מרגלים for which they wandered in the desert for 40years, & the sin of the עגל for which we still suffer from today. Every calamity that befalls us is in some way a punishment for the sin of the golden calf. Still, Moshe didn't explicitly say the sins in order not to embarrass them. This, says הגר"ח שמולאביץ, shows us how careful we need to be with someone else's feelings.
Don't think that this is only because it was the whole nation, for even the honor of one person is of utmost importance to 'ה. The gemara tells us that the shame suffered by Bar Kamtza upon being publicly thrown out of a banquet caused 'ה to aid him in destroying the בית המקדש.
R' Eliezer said regarding this story, "look how great the power of embarrassment is! For 'ה even helped Bar Kamtza who was of lowly stature retaliate for his embarrassment & burnt the בית המקדש, exiling the Jewish people. So we see that even for one person's embarrassment untold suffering comes to the world.
There's a story told about ר' אביגדור הלברשטם, who once came to a town for שבת, & was put up in the home of one of the distinguished townspeople. As was custom, the serving dish was placed before him to take, & then to be passed to the rest of the people. However, instead of just taking a little, he finished the entire bowl. He then asked if there was more & finished that too. No one understood what was going on, especially since he usually ate very little.
After they left the town, he explained that when he took the first bite there was a foul taste, & he realized that the wife accidentally used vinegar instead of oil. In order not to embarrass this woman, he ate all the food.
How come later on in the parsha Moshe seemingly has a change of heart, & explicitly goes through each sin in detail. How can we learn not to embarrass from the first posuk where he alludes to the sins, when a little while later he recounts each one? What happened to not embarrassing anyone?
The שפתי חכמים answers that in the first posuk when he alludes to the sins, he's talking about all the sins they did. That has to be done with a hint for to say them all at once would be embarrassing. However, later on when he relates one at a time, there's no embarrassment for אין צדיק בארץ אשר יעשה טוב ולא יחטא, there's no righteous man in the land that only does good & doesn't sin. Therefore, to be rebuked for one sin is normal & there's no embarrassment, as opposed to when it's a lot of sins all together. That's why here, Moshe just alluded to them.
Why bother alluding to them in the first place? Why wouldn't he just go through them one at a time & avoid any possible embarrassment the hinting could cause?
Perhaps it's to teach us something. Every year on תשעה באב we are told about all the sins that were committed which in turn led to the destruction of the בית המקדש. We are told that since משיח hasn't come we're still doing the same sins. For most people that's a little overwhelming & therefore nothing changes. When there's so much to work on, nothing gets done.
What Moshe is trying to tell us is not to be daunted by all the sins that the בית המקדש was destroyed for. We should just focus on making one thing better; take one thing at a time.
Maybe that one thing should be what the Torah is teaching us here; to avoid at all costs anything that might embarrass someone. If we're careful about that then we're one step closer to rebuilding the בית המקדש in our day!
Rashi explains that Moshe was trying to admonish them before his death & was alluding to all the times that they angered 'ה along the way. The reason he didn't explicitly recount their wrongdoings & just alluded to them, was because of כבודן של ישראל, he didn't want to embarrass כלל ישראל.
The sins we're talking about were serious ones, like the מרגלים for which they wandered in the desert for 40years, & the sin of the עגל for which we still suffer from today. Every calamity that befalls us is in some way a punishment for the sin of the golden calf. Still, Moshe didn't explicitly say the sins in order not to embarrass them. This, says הגר"ח שמולאביץ, shows us how careful we need to be with someone else's feelings.
Don't think that this is only because it was the whole nation, for even the honor of one person is of utmost importance to 'ה. The gemara tells us that the shame suffered by Bar Kamtza upon being publicly thrown out of a banquet caused 'ה to aid him in destroying the בית המקדש.
R' Eliezer said regarding this story, "look how great the power of embarrassment is! For 'ה even helped Bar Kamtza who was of lowly stature retaliate for his embarrassment & burnt the בית המקדש, exiling the Jewish people. So we see that even for one person's embarrassment untold suffering comes to the world.
There's a story told about ר' אביגדור הלברשטם, who once came to a town for שבת, & was put up in the home of one of the distinguished townspeople. As was custom, the serving dish was placed before him to take, & then to be passed to the rest of the people. However, instead of just taking a little, he finished the entire bowl. He then asked if there was more & finished that too. No one understood what was going on, especially since he usually ate very little.
After they left the town, he explained that when he took the first bite there was a foul taste, & he realized that the wife accidentally used vinegar instead of oil. In order not to embarrass this woman, he ate all the food.
How come later on in the parsha Moshe seemingly has a change of heart, & explicitly goes through each sin in detail. How can we learn not to embarrass from the first posuk where he alludes to the sins, when a little while later he recounts each one? What happened to not embarrassing anyone?
The שפתי חכמים answers that in the first posuk when he alludes to the sins, he's talking about all the sins they did. That has to be done with a hint for to say them all at once would be embarrassing. However, later on when he relates one at a time, there's no embarrassment for אין צדיק בארץ אשר יעשה טוב ולא יחטא, there's no righteous man in the land that only does good & doesn't sin. Therefore, to be rebuked for one sin is normal & there's no embarrassment, as opposed to when it's a lot of sins all together. That's why here, Moshe just alluded to them.
Why bother alluding to them in the first place? Why wouldn't he just go through them one at a time & avoid any possible embarrassment the hinting could cause?
Perhaps it's to teach us something. Every year on תשעה באב we are told about all the sins that were committed which in turn led to the destruction of the בית המקדש. We are told that since משיח hasn't come we're still doing the same sins. For most people that's a little overwhelming & therefore nothing changes. When there's so much to work on, nothing gets done.
What Moshe is trying to tell us is not to be daunted by all the sins that the בית המקדש was destroyed for. We should just focus on making one thing better; take one thing at a time.
Maybe that one thing should be what the Torah is teaching us here; to avoid at all costs anything that might embarrass someone. If we're careful about that then we're one step closer to rebuilding the בית המקדש in our day!
Friday, July 20, 2012
Mattos / Masei
As they near the land on the other side of the Jordan, the tribes of ראובן & גד ask Moshe for that land, instead of their rightful inheritance in the land of Israel.
Moshe gets angry & says, האחיכם יבאו למלחמה ואתם תשבו פה "Shall your brothers go out to battle while you settle here?" Moshe goes on to admonish them that they're potentially destroying the moral of the people. He says, this is what your fathers did when they sent the spies. He then continues to recount all the calamities that befell the people because of the spies.
Since they had no intention of not fighting together with their brothers, & even offered to lead them in battle, why would they let Moshe continue to rebuke them & not say right away that they were going to lead the fighting?
There's a story told about the Sfas Emes when he was a young man. One night he learned through the night with his friend, davened at dawn, then lay down to rest for a little before his morning seder with his grandfather the Chidushei Harim. He overslept & came a little late. Immediately his grandfather gave him a lengthy lecture about the value of time. When the young Sfas Emes made no attempt to excuse himself, & just took the criticism without comment, his friend asked, why didn't you tell your grandfather why you were late? Tell him we were up all night learning. He replied incredulously, "And miss out on a musser shmuz from my grandfather?"
The Sfas Emes took out a chumash & showed his friend this story, & asked him why didn't the tribes of ראובן & גד stop Moshe's rebuke right away? He answered, because they wanted the rebuke from their rebbi. Sometimes even if you don't deserve it, a little musser can't hurt.
As it says in אורחות חיים לרא"ש , rejoice when you hear rebuke like you found a great treasure. Rebuke a wise man & he will love you.
Now that might explain why the tribes of ראובן & גד didn't stop the rebuke, but why was Moshe so harsh on them? Why didn't he give them a chance to explain? They never said they weren't going to fight, & he did give them the land so there was obviously some merit to their request.
Rav Dessler explains that Moshe was upset because their priorities were messed up. They saw the land & were more concerned with their livestock than their families. They were willing to forgo their spiritual well being living with the rest of כלל ישראל just for the sake of their material needs.
It's interesting to note that originally only the tribes of ראובן & גד came to Moshe requesting the Transjordan. However, when he gave them the land, half the shevet of מנשה was suddenly included. How did they get involved?
Even after moshe got upset & admonished the בני גד and בני ראובן, they continued to have their priorities messed up & said we'll build pens for our flock & then homes for our families. They were still putting their possessions before their families. Moshe saw that they didn't get the message, so he sent half of מנשה, who were great torah scholars, along with them to mentor & teach them so that maybe they would learn to listen to rebuke & straighten out their priorities.
We have to take a lesson from them, to put our families first, & not let anything come before them. We should be able to listen to others who might know better, and be able to take rebuke & mend our ways. We have to have our priorities straight & not sacrifice our spiritual pursuits for material ones, enabling us to grow in the service of 'ה!
Moshe gets angry & says, האחיכם יבאו למלחמה ואתם תשבו פה "Shall your brothers go out to battle while you settle here?" Moshe goes on to admonish them that they're potentially destroying the moral of the people. He says, this is what your fathers did when they sent the spies. He then continues to recount all the calamities that befell the people because of the spies.
Since they had no intention of not fighting together with their brothers, & even offered to lead them in battle, why would they let Moshe continue to rebuke them & not say right away that they were going to lead the fighting?
There's a story told about the Sfas Emes when he was a young man. One night he learned through the night with his friend, davened at dawn, then lay down to rest for a little before his morning seder with his grandfather the Chidushei Harim. He overslept & came a little late. Immediately his grandfather gave him a lengthy lecture about the value of time. When the young Sfas Emes made no attempt to excuse himself, & just took the criticism without comment, his friend asked, why didn't you tell your grandfather why you were late? Tell him we were up all night learning. He replied incredulously, "And miss out on a musser shmuz from my grandfather?"
The Sfas Emes took out a chumash & showed his friend this story, & asked him why didn't the tribes of ראובן & גד stop Moshe's rebuke right away? He answered, because they wanted the rebuke from their rebbi. Sometimes even if you don't deserve it, a little musser can't hurt.
As it says in אורחות חיים לרא"ש , rejoice when you hear rebuke like you found a great treasure. Rebuke a wise man & he will love you.
Now that might explain why the tribes of ראובן & גד didn't stop the rebuke, but why was Moshe so harsh on them? Why didn't he give them a chance to explain? They never said they weren't going to fight, & he did give them the land so there was obviously some merit to their request.
Rav Dessler explains that Moshe was upset because their priorities were messed up. They saw the land & were more concerned with their livestock than their families. They were willing to forgo their spiritual well being living with the rest of כלל ישראל just for the sake of their material needs.
It's interesting to note that originally only the tribes of ראובן & גד came to Moshe requesting the Transjordan. However, when he gave them the land, half the shevet of מנשה was suddenly included. How did they get involved?
Even after moshe got upset & admonished the בני גד and בני ראובן, they continued to have their priorities messed up & said we'll build pens for our flock & then homes for our families. They were still putting their possessions before their families. Moshe saw that they didn't get the message, so he sent half of מנשה, who were great torah scholars, along with them to mentor & teach them so that maybe they would learn to listen to rebuke & straighten out their priorities.
We have to take a lesson from them, to put our families first, & not let anything come before them. We should be able to listen to others who might know better, and be able to take rebuke & mend our ways. We have to have our priorities straight & not sacrifice our spiritual pursuits for material ones, enabling us to grow in the service of 'ה!
Friday, July 13, 2012
pinchas
The Torah describes the process for the division of the land among the Jewish people as inheritance based on who came out of Mitzraim. The daughters of צלפחד came to Moshe & said, “why should our father’s name be lost from his family because he has no son? Give us a possession amongst our father’s brothers. When Moshe asked 'ה what do to, 'ה answered, “they have spoken well; give them an inheritance amongst their father’s brothers.” Then the Torah proceeds to teach the laws of inheritance.
Rashi says that the parsha regarding the laws of inheritance should have been given to Moshe just like the rest of the Torah. Because the בנות צלפחד were deemed worthy, it was written through them. אשרי אדם שהקב"ה מודה לדבריו , praiseworthy is the one with whose words 'ה agrees.
We see a stark contrast to Moshe's own sons later on in the parsha. When 'ה tells Moshe to start preparing for his own death, Moshe’s first concern is that the Jews have a leader to take his place & lead them.
Moshe asks 'ה to appoint a leader, about which Rashi explains the words 'יפקד ה, that 'ה should appoint, that Moshe's intention was to pass along his position of leadership to his son. He based this hope on Hashem’s decision regarding the בנות צלפחד . Hashem though, said “no, your position is going to Yehoshua.”
What was so special about Yehoshua that he surpassed Moshe's own son?
When Moshe was requesting the new leader he said he wanted someone אשר יצא לפניהם ואשר יבא לפניהם ואשר יוציאם ואשר יביאם , “who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall take them out and who shall bring them in.” ר' משה מנדל asks why the double lashon?
An interesting explanation is offered by ר' ישראל סלנט on the saying of פני הדור כפני הכלב “the face of the generation is like the face of the dog”; the normal action of a dog is that it runs ahead of its master so it appears as if the dog is leading the master. However, when the dog comes to a turn in the road, it waits to see which way the master turns & then continues to run in that direction. At that point it’s obvious who the master is & who's leading whom. This is what Chazal say is going to happen at the time of משיח: the פני הדור, the leaders, will be like פני הכלב; they will look like they're leading but will really be looking back to see how the people want them to behave.
This says ר' משה מנדל is why the Torah used the double lashon stressing the need of the leader to be someone who was going to lead and always be before the people leading & not looking back to see if they approve.
This was Yehoshua. When 'ה denies Moshe’s request for his son to take over, He says the reason is that Yehoshua should be rewarded for his service of לא ימיש מתוך האהל,” he would not depart from within the tent.” On the surface, this means that he never left Moshe’s side. Perhaps there is an alternative explanation. He never departed from the tent means that he would never depart from the teachings that were taught in the tent no matter whether he had public approval or not. Therefore he was the one who was chosen to lead the people.
This teaches us that a person has the ability to make his own destiny. From the בנות צלפחד whose father was killed because of his sins & yet they still rose to the highest level of having 'ה admitting to their words to Moshe’s sons, whose father was the greatest leader of all time, yet they didn't merit being his successor, which teaches us that no matter the level of a person’s situation, from the highest to the lowest, we all choose our own destiny. Since the choice is ours, we need to make it a good one!
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