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!
Friday, October 26, 2012
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!
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