Pesach

We read in Hallel that when the Jews were running from Pharaoh, they came to the sea, הים ראה וינס "the sea saw and ran".
The Midrash says, what did the sea see that it ran & split? It saw ארונו של יוסף, Yosef's coffin, coming toward the sea.

Hashem said, let the sea flee before the one who fled, as it says ויעזב בגדו בידה וינס he left his garment in her hand & fled.
This seems to imply that the great miracle of קריעת ים סוף occurred because of this great act of Yosef's; that he didn't grab his cloak back rather just ran out. However, what is so great about this act when compared to the real sacrifice he made by not succumbing to Potifar's wife's seduction?

Answers רבי יהודה ליב חסמן based on the רמב"ן who says the reason Yosef left his garment in her hand was out of respect for his master's wife. He didn't want to forcibly take back his cloak even though he knew that, with it, she could frame him. This was an incredible demonstration of הכרת הטוב to her for taking him into her home.

The מהר"ל says the essence of the Haggada is expressing our הכרת הטוב to Hashem for redeeming us. At the splitting of the sea, the finalizing of the geulah materializes just to repay Yosef for his great הכרת הטוב

Based on this, that the essence of Pesach is הכרת הטוב, wouldn't we be more appreciative if it were easier to prepare? Wouldn't our הכרת הטוב be more complete if we didn't have to work so hard & spend so much to celebrate Pesach?

The mishna says רבי חנניא בן עקשיא אומר רצה הקב"ה לזכות את ישראל לפיכך הרבה להם תורה ומצוות , Hashem wanted to do good for the Jewish people so he increased the Torah & Mitzvos. All the commentators ask, if one wants to do good for someone, does he increase liabilities? Does he give him so many obligations?

To helps us understand this ר' יוסף משאש זצ"ל מתלמסאן presents us with a parable to explain this seeming conundrum. There was once a wealthy merchant who, in his travels, passed by a destitute town. Wanting to do something to help, he went to the first person he came across & gave him a gold coin. He said I need a place to sleep & eat & I am willing to pay five gold coins for each item of the meal to anyone who will host me.

Door to door this man  went to try to find a host for the rich man to no avail , for to think that someone would even pay one gold coin for the entire meal was outrageous, let alone five per course!
Finally at the outskirts of town he found one poor man who thought, "What do I have to lose? I'm sure he'll pay something", so he agreed to take in the stranger.

While the man went and told the wealthy man that he had found a host, the poor man went out, bought fruits & vegetables, and everything else he needed to prepare a nice meal for his guest. He prepared a bed for him to rest from his journey.  In the morning he prepared a lavish meal.

When it was time for the rich man to leave, he asked his host to prepare a list of what he had served so that he could be paid for each item. The host gave him a list that read: fruits, vegetables, fish, chicken, etc. When the rich man read the list, he said, "no, that's not how I want the list; enumerate each item. Instead of vegetables, write: carrots, peas, tomatoes etc. Do that for each item & include any pots, pans or utensils you used. For each little part I will pay five gold coins." From that one meal the host turned fabulously wealthy.

So too 'ה gives us all these obligations in order for us to earn merits in the world to come where He can shower us with unimaginable rewards. This concept, says the אוצרות התורה is what we need to be cognizant of when we prepare for Pesach. Every little thing we do will be accounted for, and the reward will be immeasurable. If we realize this, then we will understand how much הכרת הטוב we should have for performing all the work coming into Pesach. All that work is what's going to get us the ultimate reward!

Tzav

When the Torah proceeds to teach us about the חטאת, the sin offering, it says במקום אשר תשחט העלה תשחט החטאת, in the place where the elevation offering is slaughtered shall the sin offering be slaughtered.

Rabbeinu Bechaya explains that the reason the Torah specifies that the חטאת is brought in the same place as the עולה is because the עולה is brought for just the thought of sinning without actually doing anything, whereas the חטאת is brought for actual sin. In order for a person who sinned not to be embarrassed, we have them both bring their offering in the same place so no one will know if it's just for the thought or for the actual sin.

Why is it so important not to embarrass someone who sinned? Wouldn't the embarrassment help them to mend their ways?

One of the stanzas we read in the haggada is ברוך המקום ברוך הוא which the haggada says goes on the four sons. One of the sons, the rasha says מה העבדה הזאת, what is this that you're doing? We answer him this is the korban pesach that we are bringing because Hashem passed over our houses & saved us while He destroyed Egypt.

The posuk continues, and the people bowed.
Rashi says they bowed because of the good news, for being that the Torah says their children will ask, there's a guarantee that they would have children. Asks Reb Tzuddok, what's the great news? This is the question of the rasha. Is it great news that they will have children that will be reshaim?
He answers that what the posuk was guaranteeing them was that no one would be lost from Klal Yisral. All their children, even the ones who are reshaim will never be permanently lost and that's what they were happy about.

How do we ensure that no one will be permanently lost?
There's a story told in the book Reb Moshe about a family who lived in a small town in Pennsylvania with no Jewish schools. All they had was an after school Talmud Torah. The parents tried raising their three boys as orthodox Jews, but in that climate with almost no other Jews around it was very difficult. At thirteen, the oldest could read the siddur but not much else, & his younger brothers knew even less.

One day a collector was in their town & the parents of these boys were talking to him about the future of their children. They were concerned that it would be very difficult for them to stay religious in their current situation. The collector said why don't you come back to New York with me & try to put the boys in a yeshiva there.?
They came to New York & the collector arranges an interview for them with the principal of the yeshiva. The principal tests them & sadly tells the father that the boys are too behind to be accepted into the yeshiva.
Dejected they prepare to head home when the collector tells them let's give it one more shot. They take a train to MTJ, & as they walk in the building Reb Moshe was walking down the stairs. He greeted them, and the father explained why they came. Without a moments hesitation Reb Moshe said go register them. Astounded the father said register them?! You didn't even test them!

Answered Reb Moshe, they came to learn; first register them then we'll see what class to put them in. All three stayed in the yeshiva through beis medrash raising families that were bnei torah, all because Reb Moshe gave them a chance, not embarrassing kids who obviously were not up to par. Rather he showed them love & kindness, taking them in without question.
Although this story isn't about sinners we can learn from it how to treat all people from those that are just not at our level to those that are outright sinners. By not embarrassing them, by showing compassion and love to all no matter who they are or what their level is, we show them that we care & when people see that you care they will want to mend their ways ensuring that no one will ever be completely lost from Klal Yisroel!

Vayikra

As we enter sefer Vayikra, we are taught about the mitzvos of korbanos, sacrifices. The first one mentioned is the קרבן עולה which gets offered on the mizbeach & is totally consumed.

The Torah ends the first section of עולה by saying , 'עלה אשה ריח ניחוח לה a fire offering, a satisfying aroma to Hashem.

Rashi explains the word ניחוח to mean contentment, that Hashem gets pleasure from us because we did His bidding.

The כוה"ק explains each word separately. The word עולה means to go up, that we should always be refining & raising our character traits & actions. The word אשה to be strong as the passage in Yeshaya states  זכרו זאת והתאוששו , meaning to be strong in your convictions & not to be influenced by the outside world or let doubt enter your heart. The words ריח ניחוח mean that Hashem should desire your actions and want your good deeds.  
How do we merit to have Hashem desire our deeds?

The sefer ברכי נפשי relates an incredible story that happened at the wedding of רב אברהם דב אויערבך , the son of רבי שלמה זלמן  & the daughter of the rabbi of the city of Tveria רבי אשר וורנר.  

As can be expected  at a wedding of the children of two great leaders, there were many great rabbis & important people in attendance. All was going smoothly until after the chupa when everyone sat down to eat. There was a commotion from the kitchen as it became known that all the fish that was to be served had spoiled!

That might not seem so bad to us for there's never just one thing to eat at a wedding. However, at that time, that was all there was & now there would be nothing to eat!  

Imagine if that would happen to us, our anger and resentment at the caterer. We would confront him saying how could you do this to me, to embarrass me in front of all my guests etc.

What did רבי שלמה זלמן do? He went quietly over to the caterer & said my mechutin & I had agreed to each pay half of the wedding but now that the food is spoiled, I'm afraid he won't want to pay all of his part. Let me pay you now for the entire wedding in order that you don't lose out.

Incredible as that is, the owner replied to רבי שלמה זלמן that just a few minutes before, the mechutin came in & said almost the same words, offering to pay the entire wedding because you might feel you don't have to!

This, says רב זילברשטיין  is how our gedolim act, people whose whole desire in life is to find favor in Hashem’s eyes. They know that one of the ways to do so is by looking away from things, even if it means not getting what's rightfully yours. Even under those conditions, you’re careful that someone else shouldn't get hurt; that's what Hashem desires that we do.

For most people to do something like that is all but impossible. However, this story indicates to what extent we should be willing to forgo even what's rightfully ours. This is what we should strive for and by so doing we will ensure that Hashem will desire what we do too!

Vayakel - Pikudei

When the time came to contribute to the Mishkan, the leaders said, “let the people bring whatever they can and whatever is missing we will supply”. When it came time for their contribution, the Torah states והנשאם הביאו את אבני השהם and the leaders brought the Shoam stones, for that was all that was left to give.

Rashi says that the reason the word נשיאים is spelled without the yuds is because they erred by not donating first but rather waiting to see what would be left.

The Brisker Rav says we need to study this further. Their decision not to bring first was לשם שמים ; they were willing to take up all the slack & donate whatever would be missing. He concludes that this teaches us that whenever one has a mitzvah to do, don't go analyzing and making cheshbonos. Just do what is incumbent upon you to do without putting your two cents in.

Reb Reuvain Grozovsky takes it a step further and says that one’s purpose in life is not to perfect the world, rather to perfect one’s self. When one does the mitzvos with זריזות , alacrity, he is showing that the mitzvos are his main focus in life.

When the Jewish people were told to contribute to the Mishkan, it wasn't because Hashem needed their money. He could have done it without them. Rather, it was to give them a means by which to strive for spiritual perfection, by running to give. However, the leaders failed by trying to complete the building instead of figuring out how to complete themselves, missing the point that it’s not the end result but rather what you put into it.

We see this concept, too, later on in Pekudei when the Torah tells us after the completion of the Mishkan,  ויביאו את המשכן אל משה. They brought the mishkan to Moshe.

Rashi relates the Midrash that says the reason they had to bring the Mishkan to Moshe was they couldn't erect it themselves. Since Moshe didn't do any of the other work in the Mishkan, Hashem left the erecting for him.  

No one else was able to erect it because of the weight of the beams which ordinary man doesn't have the strength to lift. Moshe said to Hashem, how is it possible for man to lift them? Hashem said to him "you start to lift them & then it will appear as if you’re lifting them when in reality they will rise & stand by themselves.

This, says the Sefer Zichron Mayer, teaches us the importance of working hard when it comes to spiritual matters. Unlike physical matters where the work is just a means to an end, by spiritual matters it’s the work itself that counts. As the posuk says כי אדם לעמל יולד, that man was created to work and as reward for the work, one can accomplish even what couldn't be done by natural means as we saw by Moshe.

There's a story that exemplifies this concept. An old, blind talmud chacham came to Rav Issur Zalman Meltzer with some of his chidushim and said that these were the last ones he would write in his life.

When the Rav asked him to explain , he said " a short time ago I lost my eyesight. I went to the doctor who did an in depth exam & said I'm not surprised that you can't see. What I don't understand, is how you were able to see for the last ten years!  

Then said the old man, I realized what the answer was. Before I became old, I used to work hard at learning Torah. I gave it all I had looking in sefarim, finding answers & developing chidushim. As I got old & weak, I thought to myself that it would be enough for me to just exercise my mind and let my body rest. I know a lot of mishnayos & gemara by heart so I will just review leisurely, not delving into the seforim as I used to. Once I came to this decision, my eyesight left me. As long as I was working hard in Torah using my eyesight to delve into the seforim, Hashem watched over me & made sure I could see. Once I decided to take it easy, I wasn't worthy of the miracle anymore.   
This teaches us that if we work as hard we can, it doesn't matter if it’s impossible. We just have to try our best, work hard & then Hashem will make sure that we will be able to continue, giving us what ever we need to ensure that we have the means to accomplish!

Ki Sisa

After the sin of the golden calf, Moshe turns to Hashem to ask forgiveness and says ועתה אם תשא חטאתם ואם אין מחני נא מספרך אשר כתבת , and now if You forgive them, good, and if not, erase me from the whole Torah.

Rav Yeruchim Levovitz asked, what did Moshe gain by saying erase me from the Torah? Would he gain anything by that? Would sudden salvation come because his name was taken out?

Chazal tell us that the reason that the section dealing with the death of Miriam was put next to the section of the Parah Aduma was to teach us that just as the Parah Aduma grants atonement, so too, the death of tzadikim grants atonement which implies that tzadikim, when they're alive, don't grant atonement.

That's hard to understand, though, for we see by Sedom that Hashem would have been willing to save the whole city if there were just ten Tzadikim. These would be tzaddikim while alive, showing that they are not mechaper only in death. It must be that tzadikim are able to mechaper in all circumstances. First they are mechaper while alive while if that doesn't help, then they are mechaper after they die.

There's a story told of a young man in the yeshiva of Radin who was suffering from a very debilitating disease who went into the Chafetz Chaim and cried bitterly about his lot. The Choftez Chaim didn't answer him which made the boy feel as if he had no hope & his fate was sealed. Nevertheless, he kept coming to the Chafetz Chaim to cry to him for help. On one such occasion, the Chafetz Chaim said to him I can help you on one condition. The boy, grasping for a shred of hope, said of course, whatever it is I will do it. The Chafetz Chaim told him go to a very old rabbi in a certain city and ask him for a bracha. You will be healed on the one condition that you never tell anyone about this. It must remain between me and you. Of course the boy agreed, went to that town, got a bracha from the old rabbi & was immediately healed.

He later married, had a family and lived on for many years. One day, his wife's sister came down with the identical sickness that he had had. She, too, could find no cure. His wife recalled that he had had this sickness and started asking him how he got cured. Of course, he didn't answer. However, they continually harassed him to reveal the secret but he wouldn't budge. They were relentless, calling him merciless & evil. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore & revealed what had happened.  

Almost immediately his sickness came back.

The Chafetz Chaim, although very old, was still alive so this man ran back to him and told him what happened. He asked him again, “can you please do something for me?”

Answered the Chaftez Chaim with a broken heart, " my son, you should know that in order to help you last time I fasted for thirty days; but now, in my old age, I just don't have the strength to fast & daven for you like I had done.

Think about what the Chafetz Chaim did. He fasted & davened for thirty days straight for someone else. That's feeling someone else's pain which, says  Reb Yeruchim, is what Moshe was saying to Hashem. My main interest is that You forgive them now while I'm alive. However, if I'm not successful in obtaining forgiveness for them now, then erase me and let me atone for them in my death. Since the essence of tzadikim is to be mechaper for the people, I want to atone for them whichever way possible, even by death. Such was the selflessness of Moshe Rabbainu.
We have to learn from here how to make someone else's pain our own, how to feel for another person, and to daven for someone else the same way you would daven for yourself, emulating the ways of Moshe rabainu!