netsavim - vayalech

The Torah tells us that when we return to Hashem He will gather us from around the world and bring us back to the land of our forefathers. All the curses will go on our enemies and we will get an abundance of blessing. Then the posuk continues, כי המצוה הזאת אשר אנכי מצוך היום לא נפלאת הוא ממך ולא רחקה הוא, for this commandment that I command you today, it is not hidden from you and it is not distant. כי קרוב אליך הדבר מאד בפיך ובלבבך לעשתו , rather the matter is very near to you in your mouth and in your heart to perform it.
 
The Ramban says that the mitzva referred to over here is the mitzva of teshuva, for that is the mitzva that's near to you and easy to do because its  בפיך ובלבבך לעשתו it’s in your mouth to admit what you did wrong and in your heart to accept upon yourself to be better from now on. It’s something that requires no outside intervention, one does it oneself.
 The אוצרות התורה asks, how can you say that teshuva is easy and near to you? We all know how hard it is to break a habit and stop doing whatever sins you're used to doing and not to give into temptation and change your ways.  How could the Torah say about teshuva כי קרוב אליך הדבר מאד that is so close to you to do?
 
Someone once asked רב משה פיינשטיין זצ"ל why many of the children of the immigrants who came from Europe to America in the previous generation didn't remain frum. They withstood great trials to remain shomer Shabbos; a lot of them went through fifty two jobs each year because they were fired every week when they didn't show up on Shabbos. How is it after such self-sacrifice their children didn't remain shomer Shabbos?
 
Reb Moshe answered that even though they had great self-sacrifice they failed on one point. Each week after being fired, they would complain and become depressed and upset about it saying, "It’s hard to be a Jew". The children grew up constantly hearing how hard it is to be a Jew in America and that it required great self-sacrifice. They felt that they weren't on that level of constant hardship so they left it all behind. Contrast that with the ones who when they too were fired every week came home full of joy exclaiming to their families how lucky they were to be able to withstand the tests and trials that they were given and now would be able to keep Shabbos properly. Those children were infused with a love for Shabbos and mitzvos and remained true to Torah.
 
Perhaps what the Torah means over here is a different kind of Teshuva. Conceivably it's referring to a teshuva of attitude. For the most part we all try to do the right thing. We daven three time a day, we learn when we can, do chesed give tzedaka etc. But are we happy about it? Do we complain as we do it? Maybe what the Torah is telling us is that teshuva can be easy. You're already doing the right thing, now its בפיך ובלבבך לעשתו it's in your mouth and heart to do it. Do it with the right attitude; make that change of heart and be happy with what you're doing. Always show the love you have for Mitzvos so that your children will see that they’re enjoyable and you’re happy when you do them and will want to share the joy and emulate you!

Ki savo

As the Torah warns us of all the bad that will befall us if we don't keep the Mitzvos, one of the reasons it gives for the curses coming upon us is תחת אשר לא עבדת את ה' אלקיך בשמחה ובטוב לבב , because you did not serve Hashem, your God, with gladness and with goodness of heart.  

It’s incredulous, wonders רב האי גאון that because we didn't perform the Mitzvos with joy, these devastating curses would befall us?!

In contrast, רבי אלעזר אזכרי זצ"ל relates in his sefer, that the secret to the greatness of the אריז"ל & the reason he was able to accomplish so much, was because of his tremendous simcha when performing the mitzvos. He explained the posuk as follows: תחת אשר לא עבדת את ה אלקיך בשמחה ובטוב לבב מרוב כל because you did not serve Hashem, your God, with gladness and with goodness of heart out of an abundance of everything. He says מרוב כל means that the simcha one gets from a Mitzva should be, מרוב כל , a greater happiness than any other pleasure in this world, greater than gold or jewels. The Mitzva has to be the ultimate happiness which was the simcha of a mitzva that the  אריז"ל had.  
Why does this simcha merit such greatness?

There's a humorous story told over by Reb Henoch Alexander about a farmer who couldn't get his son to  learn even the alef bais. He went to the big city & brought back a teacher to whom he promised great compensation if he could get his son to learn. Getting through was not easy but the efforts paid off. After a few months during which the teacher toiled tirelessly to teach this boy, he finally taught him the alef beis with the vowels.

Excitedly, he called the father to come listen to the son read. The teacher pointed to the letters which the boy read each perfectly. Then the teacher went back over them asking him what's underneath the "alef", "beis" etc. He was doing great until the teacher asked what's underneath the "hei". When the boy didn't answer, the teacher asked again what's under the "hei". Again, he wouldn't respond. The father started asking him but still he wouldn't open his mouth. Finally, in frustration, the father hit him & yelled, “what's under the "hei". The child, with a pleading voice, said to his father ,”if you’re going to continue to beat me, I will have to tell everyone that the calf you stole is hidden under the hay.

Reb Henach concluded by saying, when we can't find it in ourselves to serve Hashem with joy, it’s because there's some sin hidden beneath the surface that’s causing our unhappiness.
It’s not that the curses & punishments come because we didn't serve Hashem happily. Rather, because of the root of the problem, which is we are too entrenched in sin to serve happily. Contrast that with the Arizal who wasn't plagued with sin & therefore was able to reach the highest plateau of Torah learning & even prophecy.

Most of us probably won't get to the level of the  אריז"ל , but let's at least try to find the underlying reason why our Mitzvos are not always done with the greatest joy. Let's find what's  hidden under the hay that's holding us back from experiencing the true joy of mitzvos. Then, let us eradicate it so that we will be able to put the joy back into Yiddishkeit & doing mitzvos!

Ki Seitzai

Our Parsha begins כי תצא למלחמה על איביך ונתנו ה' אלקיך בידך ושבית שביו , when you go out to war against your enemies, & Hashem will deliver him into your hand & you will capture its captives.
Rashi says that the war we're referring to here is מלחמת רשות, one that's not a mitzva but rather an optional war.  

Many commentators say that the battle we’re referring to is the constant battle with the Yetzer Hara. The gemara says that one’s evil inclination would overpower him every day if it weren’t for Hashem himself interceding & helping one to overcome it. How do we merit for Hashem to intercede on our behalf?

As the posuk says כי תצא למלחמה על איביך you go out to battle & then  ונתנו ה אלקיך בידך Hashem will give him into your hand. As we have all seen at one time or another when trying to battle the yetzer hara, you thought something was out of your control; he had overpowered you. Then you really tried; you took a step back & said I won't do that anymore. All of a sudden the impossible became possible; something you thought you couldn't control became controllable because, once you went to war, Hashem helped you.

The main thing, says the Chafetz Chaim, is to go to war. Then, not only will you succeed in conquering the Yetzer Hara, as the posuk continues  ושבית שביו you will take captives. These captives, he continues, are the sins that you did before you went to battle. Once you go to war with him & win, then all those sins you did beforehand you will take back from him. When one does complete teshuva, even the sins he did prior to then become merits.

How does Rashi’s commentary of an optional war coincide with the war against the yetzer hara? That can't be optional!

Once, when the Chafetz Chaim was very old, he woke up early one morning & thought to himself, “I'm too old to get up this early in the freezing cold. It’s not healthy for a man my age.” He almost went back to sleep when he jumped up & yelled at the yetzer hara saying " you won't convince me to stay in bed! Look, you’re way older than I am & you came a lot farther a lot earlier to try to get me not to go to daven. Well, I will learn from you. Just as you never stop doing what's incumbent upon you, I will never stop doing what's incumbent upon me, no matter how old I get".

Maybe this could resolve the two commentaries. Really, the war with the yetzer hara isn't optional. However, at times, like the story with the Chafetz Chaim, it may seem optional. It may seem like there's no war. He had a great point: how could I endanger my health to go to shul when I could just daven later at home. Really that is the war. The Yetzer Hara tries with things that make sense at first; little things that seem optional. Then, when he gets you on that, he moves onto bigger things. That's why, says the Choftez Chaim, we can't give in on anything because once you let him in, he takes over. Imagine two partners & one notices that the other is stealing from him, does he just let it slide saying, “hey it was just a little?” No. If he does that, then the partner will keep stealing more each time.  

We have to take this lesson from this parsha. Don't let the yetzer hara convince you that mitzvos are optional. If he does, he won't stop. But, if you fail, know that all you need to do is make that resolution & go to war. With Hashem's help you will conquer!

Shoftim

At the beginning of our Parsha Moshe tells us to appoint Judges & Officers throughout the land, שפטים ושטרים תתן לך בכל שעריך.

The commentators all ask why it says  תתן לך in the singular when it’s addressed to the whole nation. They answer that it teaches us that each one of us has to judge all of our actions to see if they conform to the Torah or not.

The אוצרות התורה adds that from the singular  תתן לך we also see that a person has to know that it’s only himself he must watch. There's no comparison to what someone else does. Each person is judged based on his own individual qualities, strengths & weaknesses; no two people are alike. What for one person is a mitzvah, could be a sin for the other. We can't look to see what the other is doing & justify our actions.

The בן איש חי explains that the Torah is hinting here that it’s incumbent on every one of us to appoint our own judges; the brain & the heart that rule over our limbs & our feelings to turn us to do good. One way for that to work is by always judging oneself & taking to heart what will come out of one’s sin. Recognize how low he can sink if he lets sin overcome him.

The next posuk also gives advice how to judge yourself: לא תטה משפט , don't pervert judgment, don't always judge yourself for good when going over your actions. On the contrary, if you find fault in your actions, embrace it & work on it to fix it. In that way, you will constantly improve yourself.

Learn from דוד המלך who, when נתן הנביא confronted him about his sin, even though he had good reasons. he answered " I sinned to Hashem". The Navi then said, Hashem will remove your sin. Dovid admitted his sin & was forgiven. Unlike שאול המלך, who when confronted by שמואל הנביא about not killing the king of Amalek, made up excuses justifying himself thereby losing everything. We can't deny or justify our sins; we need to acknowledge them & fix them.

The עלינו לשבח adds, that שפטים ושטרים תתן לך בכל שעריך.... לשבטיך is referring to an individual person’s troubles. The word  לשבטיך hints at troubles, as it says שבטך ומשענתך המה ינחמוני ,  to teach us that one has to examine himself to establish the cause of his troubles. This concept of determining from what sin these troubles came is exemplified by the following story.

There was a woman whose son was born with a serious birth defect & would never be normal. While the whole family took it very hard, when people would come to console her, she would say " I know why Hashem brought this hardship on me".

This woman had a playgroup for little children. One day, a woman came to enroll her son who had this same defect, but I wouldn't take the child. No matter how much the mother pleaded & cried that I take in her son, I just couldn't do it. Now Hashem has paid me back & has given me a son like that so that I would feel that woman's pain.  

This woman, instead of just assigning it to chance, saw the hand of Hashem & was able to realize her own wrongdoing & make changes. This is what the Torah teaches us here. We have to watch ourselves, find what we’re doing wrong & fix it.
If we could do that, we will be sure to triumph in the ultimate judgment in the heavenly court!

Parsha thought: Re'eh

When the Torah tells us what will happen when we inherit the land it says that we have to destroy all the alters & monuments that were used for idol worship. Then it says when you enter the land Hashem will choose a place where you will bring all your offerings. Then the posuk says ושמחתם לפני ה אלקיכם אתם ובניכם והלוי אשר בשעריכם כי אין לא חלק ונחלה אתכם , you shall rejoice before Hashem, you and your sons and the Levite who is in your cities, for he has no share and inheritance with you.

The Posuk is seemingly strange. It's implying that the reason for the Levi to rejoice is because he has no inheritance & no share in the land. Wouldn't that be a reason for him not to rejoice? Why does the Torah say that that's his reason to rejoice?

The Ohel Yaakov explains that while for the average person getting a share of the land & all its goodness is a reason to rejoice, for the Levi who is on a higher plane, he rejoices that he has no share & no worldly pursuits so he is free to dedicate all his time to the service of Hashem.

Interesting explanation although how does that coincide with the rest of the posuk that says ושמחתם לפני ה אלקיכם אתם ובניכם ובנתיכם ועבדיכם ואמהתיכם והלוי אשר בשעריכם כי אין לא חלק ונחלה אתכם which includes even the children & slaves, implying that everyone is together on the same level? If the Levi's simcha is one of spiritual bliss & everyone else's is on the mundane how does the Torah equate them?

There were two young boys who grew up together through childhood into adulthood & always remained close throughout their yeshiva days. They both got married & joined the kollel. After a few years one of them got a job opportunity & moved away. Years passed & the one who went into business was very successful & became wealthy, while the other one didn't have much money, but became an accomplished Torah scholar. One day they ran into each other & told each other about their lives. The businessman was overcome with envy & thought to himself, " Had I remained in yeshiva I too would be great in Torah.. What a shame that I had to leave it." His friend on the other hand, was thinking " maybe I too should have gone out into the word. Would it be so bad to have some financial security?"

On the surface it might seem like the kollel man is more connected to Torah then the businessman, when in reality it's the business man who really is, since it"s the desire that matters. Perhaps what the Torah is telling us by equating everyone from the slave to your children & then the Levi, is that no matter what your stage in life or what your doing, as long as your heart is in the right place & your connection is with Hashem & His Torah then all are equal. It's not what you do but how you do it & where your heart is.

As the Otzer HaTorah says " True spiritual status is determined not by how one spends his time, but by what one values." The גר"א מולנה explains the reason the posuk starts off saying ראה אנכי נתן , see, I place. Instead of ראה אנכי נתתי , see I placed. Is to teach us that Hashem gives us the choice each & every day to choose good or bad. Let's take the opportunity no matter what we do, to want to choose good that at least our desire should always be to get closer to Hashem & His Torah!