Eikev

When we sleep at night, a spiritual impurity rests upon us. When we wake up, the impurity leaves our body & settles on our hands, so we wash our hands to get rid of the impurity.

Why, asks the מליץ יושר, did the Torah choose the hands of all the limbs on one’s body to have this impurity rest until washed away? He answers that a person might err & say כוחי ועוצם ידי עשה לי את החיל הזה,my strength & the might of my hand made me all this wealth. One attributes his success to the might of his hands. Since there is no greater impurity than believing in one’s own power, it is the hands that get the impurity to show that believing in the strength of our hands is impure.

The next posuk says כי הוא הנתן לך כח לעשות חיל that is was He who gave you the strength to make wealth. It is interesting to see that אונקלוס translates this as " that it was He that gave you advice to buy possessions." Chazal say that reshaim are full of regrets. If that statement would be referring to regretting sin, then they wouldn't be called reshaim, but rather tzadikim. So it must be referring to regrets regarding the mundane. The בש"ט explains that they’re called reshaim because they regret the mundane, for one has to believe that all his dealings are under the guidance of Hashem. He is the one who puts the ideas into one’s head so to regret a deal or purchase that one feels didn't go well is showing that he doesn’t believe that all comes from Hashem. A tzaddik would realize there is no reason to regret for that was the will of Hashem.   

To help us understand this, ר"י לוינשטיין would bring the words of the חובת הלבבות that says: just as with life & death everybody realizes that it’s all in the hands of Hashem, so, too, we must believe regarding worldly matters.

There's a story told over by רבי חיים חייקין that exemplifies this point. Once, ר' אליהו לידר was a guest in the home of a wealthy man  & overheard him bragging to his friend that nothing could harm him. He had so many different avenues of income that even if one or two failed, there were always others that worked. He had unlimited funds, so he felt invincible. When the rabbi heard him talking like that, he was afraid for him & asked him to refrain from such talk. However, the wealthy man just continued to revel in his monies.

A few years later, Tsar Nikolai passed through the town of this wealthy man. On his way, he went on a bridge that this man had built. However, these bridges were built to handle light loads which was normal for that city. When the Tsar came with his whole entourage & fully laden carriages, the bridge collapsed under them, killing some of his best soldiers. This was an affront to the Tsar himself. Since the one responsible was a Jew, undoubtedly the penalty would be death. Before they would realize who was responsible, the wealthy man ran out of town with just the clothes on his back, penniless.

Left with no choice, he had to go around begging for food. One Shabbos he ended up in the same house as ר' אליהו לידר . When he saw him, he cried & said "I still hear your words ringing in my ears......

The Chofetz Chaim used to tell this story often to prove that a person has no control & everything is given & taken by Hashem.  
If only we could internalize this lesson & really believe that we have no control, we could put our complete faith in Hashem & have no more worries!

Va'eschanan

When recounting Mattan Torah, Moshe describes the extent of the people’s proximity to Hashem by saying אתה הראת לדעת כי ה הוא האלקים אין עוד מלבדו you have been shown to know that Hashem is Lord; there is no other power besides Him. אוצר חיים questions the inclusion of the word  לדעת for if we are shown something, of course it’s that we should know. What's  לדעת coming to teach us?

The עלינו לשבח recounts a fascinating story that he prefaces with this thought; there are times in one’s life that one feels his world is crashing in on him with no one to save him. One looks for a segula or anything that can save him, usually to no avail. However, there is one segula that can help: the segula of רבי חיים מוולזון who writes in his sefer נפש החיים that a person has the ability to ensure that no bad befall him by taking away any reliance in man. He should think & believe in his heart that only Hashem does & controls everything.

He writes that when one establishes this fact in his heart, that there is no force but Hashem, then no force will be able to harm him. One should read & study these words to make them a part of oneself saying; הלא ה' הוא האלקים האמיתי ואין עוד מלבדו יתברך שום כוח בעולם , וכל העולמות כלל מלא רק אחדותו יתברך, ומבטל בלבו ביטול גמור ואינו משגיח כלל על שום כח ורצון בעולם, ומשעבד ומדבק טוהר מחשבתו רק לאדון יחיד בה. כן יספיק הוא יתברך בידו שממילא יתבטלו מעליו כל הכוחות והרצונות שבעולם שלא יוכלו לפעול לא שום דבר כלל. ( Hashem is the true G-d & there is no power other than Him, and all the worlds are filled only with His oneness, nullify your heart completely & don't take into account any other power or will in the world & when your pure thoughts are only on Hashem then He will insure that no outside force or will in the world will be able to dominate you)

There are countless stories told of people who were saved by focusing on these words in their time of trouble. I will share one. Although a few years prior a valve had been implanted in Rabbi Peretz's heart, now suddenly he wasn't feeling well again. His blood counts were down & he was taken into the hospital. After the doctors checked him, they concluded that they would have no choice but to operate & replace the valve, a very dangerous operation. The family secured the services of the best surgeon to perform the operation, which they scheduled for that Sunday. However, once the doctor saw how sick Rabbi Peretz was, he couldn't operate until Thursday to give Rabbi Peretz time to get back some strength.

Meanwhile, a friend of this man’s brother, Rabbi Vizel, told the brother that in a situation like this, he should try the segula of the גר"ח. On Monday, the brother took the sefer with him to the hospital & the family read that chapter. On Tuesday they were informed that it wasn't enough to read the words, rather they had to learn them & to accept upon themselves with a full heart to strengthen their belief in אין עוד מלבדו until they’re convinced that there's no outside power. By the fourth day, they had learned this segula over & over. They were so strong in their belief that the only way out was with the help of Hashem.

Later that day, the brother & mother had to go out for a little & were going to return that night to be with him for the operation in the morning. At home, the phone rang & he sees that it’s the hospital calling. He wonders, “what now?” Picking up the phone, he hears them say, “no operation tomorrow.” His heart sinks for he thinks it’s because his brother still isn't well enough. Instead, they tell him that the doctor did one last check up before the operation. To his shock & surprise, there was nothing wrong with the valve; the operation was canceled & the man was able to go home.  

Perhaps this is what the לדעת is coming to teach us: that it’s not enough just to believe that Hashem is the one who controls everything. We have to really know it, live it, learn it & make it the core & essence of our lives. If we could do that, we will merit to have Hashem be the only one calling the shots for us & no outside force could ever harm us!

Devarim

As Moshe is recounting the years in the wilderness he recalls the time when he appointed leaders over the people. He says, איכה אשא לבדי טרחכם ומשאכם וריבכם , how can I alone carry your trouble & your burden & your quarrels?

Rashi explains this to mean that the Jewish people were troublesome, rebellious & quarrelsome.

Ramban says that we could learn from these words three things that are incumbent on leaders of our nation. טרחכם, your trouble, that the leaders should trouble themselves to teach the people Torah. ומשאכם , your burdens , that the leaders should carry the nation on their shoulders by praying for them & trying to alleviate any problems that they have. וריבכם , your quarrels, the leaders should try to resolve the quarrels of the people.

Moshe felt that it was his responsibility to see to all of the needs of the nation. The אוצר התורה relates a story that shows how our leaders emulate this trait.

Reb Moshe Weinberger relates this story as told to him by the one it happened to: " I was a young boy when my parents sent me to learn in the yeshiva in Grodno. It was a three day train ride, however, my parents were so poor they didn't even have the train fare, so I had to walk. Supplied with meager provisions & warm wishes, I set out. My parents told me to ask Jews along the way to share their food with me when mine ran out. Throughout the journey I slept on hard benches in the back of shuls, or even on the hard floor & had to beg for food from the kindhearted people along the way. Aside from the dangers of the journey, I was naturally worried whether I would even pass the entrance exam & be admitted into the yeshiva. All throughout the trip I reviewed the page of gemara I prepared, & by the time I got there I knew it by heart.

I finally arrived tired & hungry, but anxious to be tested. I was directed to the home of the Rosh Yeshiva , Reb Shimon Shkop to take the exam. Reb Shimon greeted me warmly & asked where I came from. He then said to me, I have only two questions for you. I was sure the exam was about to begin & I was ready!
Reb Shimon continued, my first question is, "when was the last time you had a hot meal?' I was taken aback by the question, & after a slight pause replied, around three weeks ago. Reb Shimon got up & prepared a hot meal for me himself after eating my fill I was really ready for the test.
Reb Shimon said, now for the second question. When was the last time you slept in a bed? Again the unexpected question & I answered that I couldn't even remember the last time. Reb Shimon went into the bedroom made up the bed & told me to lay down. I slept there all night, only finding out later that he had given me his own bed.
This was my entrance exam to Grodno.

After telling R' Weinberger this story, the student, now an old man, concluded, "Many years have passed and much suffering & pain have come my way , including the loss of my entire family to the Nazis. Throughout all the tragedies, the one thing that kept me connected to yiddishkeit were those two questions - my entrance exam to Grodno!

We can take a lesson from our leaders how much care & sensitivity we have to have for our friends. How to see what is needed without being asked & in that way rectify the sins of שנאת חינם that destroyed the Bais Hamikdash & may it be rebuilt in our days!

Matos/Maasei

The end of our parsha concerns the unintentional murderer, one who kills unintentionally and has to go to a city of refuge. In a seeming paradox, the only way for the accidental murderer to go free is by the death of the כהן גדול.

Numerous reasons are given. Rashi maintains that the כהן גדול should have davened that a tragedy like that could never happen. So great is the responsibility upon the כהן גדול that the gemara in Makkos says that, if during the trial, the כהן גדול dies, a new one is appointed after which he's sentenced, he doesn’t go free until the second כהן גדול dies.

The gemara continues by asking what should the second כהן גדול have done. Now the unintentional murderer has to wait for him to die. The gemara answers that he should have davened that the murderer be acquitted & he didn't.

What is the great concern we have as to what the כהן גדול must have done wrong? Why must he have done something wrong? Why must we find reasons why the unintentional murderer’s freedom hinges on his death ?

The mishna tells us that even though the cities of refuge on the other side of the Jordan were set aside right away, they didn't afford refuge until the ones in Eretz Yisroel were separated too. The משך חכמה gives an interesting explanation as to why; whenever one would kill unintentionally & have to go to a city of refuge, he always held out hope that the כהן גדול would die. However, they all knew that אלעזר, the כהן גדול, would be the one to distribute the land. Had the ones in Transjordan worked, there would have been no hope of anyone going free because the land wasn't divided yet, therefore אלעזר wasn't going to die. The Torah wouldn't sentence someone to exile with no hope of freedom! Therefore, those cities couldn't be functional until after they had captured & divided Eretz Yisroel & set aside three more in Eretz Yisroel.

Interestingly, the mother of the כהן גדול would bring these unintentional murderers food & drink in order that they shouldn't daven that the כהן גדול die. Imagine, these careless individuals who had no regard for human life that they killed another person, would even daven for the כהן גדול, the leader of Klal Yisroel, to die so they could go home. Had the mother of the כהן גדול not befriended them & given them food & drink convincing them not to pray, their tefilos would have helped to cause the כהן גדול to die early; how powerful is prayer that comes from the heart!

I heard an interesting peshat from Rabbi Paysach Krohn. The second beracha in the Amida is מחיה מתים which we all take to refer to the resurrection of the dead. In fact, it says  מחיה מתים three times in that beracha. What are they all referring to?

Rabbi Krohn says that the first one is referring to the sustenance that Hashem gives us, for without food we couldn't live. The second one says מלך ממית ומחיה , king who causes death & restores life, refers to one who is on the brink of death when miraculously Hashem brings him back to life. The third one refers to the afterworld.

There's a story told about the sister of the חזון איש that exemplifies this. When she was a little girl, she got very sick & all the doctors gave up hope. She lay there lifeless with no hope at all; the chevra kadisha were already by the bedside just waiting but the חזון איש didn't give up. He davened with all his heart & soul that the little girl would recover. With tears & a broken heart he cried out to Hashem to heal her. His prayers broke through the heavens & miraculously she started to recover.

This is perhaps why we are so concerned about why the freedom of the unintentional murderer hinges on the death of the כהן גדול. We see that the fault of the כהן גדול was that he didn't daven hard enough for the people but this murderer now would daven from the heart. This teaches us that prayer is the ultimate tool; no matter how bad things seem, there always has to be a way out. Just as the Torah wouldn't put even a murderer in a situation where there's no way out, we would not be put in a situation with no way out. We could learn from the murderer that when it seems there's no other way out, the answer is prayer. If we were to pray from the heart and really mean what we daven for, then Hashem will answer us!