Haazinu/Rosh Hashana

The song of Haazinu is the song of the history of our nation, our ups & downs & ultimately our final redemption. One of the stanzas concludes with the words הלוא הוא אביך קנך , is He not your father, your acquirer?

Rashi gives an alternate translation for קנך meaning שקננך , for He nested you. The Chafetz Chaim says that's what the posuk is telling us. Is He not your father and your nest? Never stray far from Him. Just like the dove to which the Jewish people are compared always keeps in sight of the nest, so, too, we must always keep Hashem in our sight to be able to return to Him at any time.

Reb Chaim Berlin explains this beautifully by narrating a story that happened to him when he was the rabbi of Moscow. One day, a man came to him & asked him to circumcise his son in his house secretly. When Reb Chaim asked why the secrecy, he explained that he didn't live his life as a Jew & didn't want anyone to know what he was doing, so that no one would suspect that he was a Jew. Even more perplexed, the rabbi asked, why are you going through all this trouble? Why do you care if your son has a bris or not? After all, you’re embarrassed to be a Jew!

The man answered, “That's all true; however, I don't want to close the door on my son. Let him have the opportunity to make his own decision.”  

Like the dove who, when it leaves the nest, always looks back to make sure the nest is still in sight, so too, the Jew, even when he leaves his roots & strays from the ways of Hashem, still הלוא הוא אביך קנך he doesn't go so far that he can't see the nest & return to it when he's ready.

Where does this come from? How is it that Hashem is willing to take us back & that we want to come back?

Rabbi Reisman relates an interesting thought from Reb Isaac Sher. When we enter into the ten days of repentance, we add different things to the davening. One of them, זכרנו לחיים , asks Hashem to remember us for life while another states, המלך הקדוש , proclaiming Hashem our king. Interestingly enough, the more important one seems to be המלך הקדוש for if you forget the change, you have to go back. However, if you forget זכרנו לחיים asking Hashem to give us life, you don't go back. What is so special about המלך הקדוש ?

There are two kinds of laws: the law of beis din which is black & white. If something was done wrong, there is an exact punishment for it. For example, whether someone stole food because his children were hungry or just because he wanted to hurt the other person, the law is the same. Then, there is the king’s judgment which is not based on rigid laws. When Nosson Hanavi came to Dovid Hamelech & asked him what the law was in the case where a rich man, who had everything, stole the  only sheep this poor man had. Dovid said, “kill him!” Normally, the punishment for stealing isn't death. How could Dovid say that, with no dispute from anyone? This shows us that a king has the power to take mitigating circumstances into account & then render judgment.  

In selichos we say אל תבא במשפט עמנו don't come into judgment with us which seems like a pretty odd request when we are being judged now for the whole year.

What we are asking for, says Reb Sher, is for the king’s judgment, not the black & white judgment. We want the king’s judgment where He could take all mitigating circumstances into account.

Perhaps, this is why one can always come back & Hashem will always take him back because He’s the king & the king sees all the mitigating circumstances. He can forgive an individual’s dissension & let him back in the nest. Let's take the opportunity that's upon us to receive the King’s judgment for He will understand why we messed up & will take us back with open arms!

Netzavim / Vayelech

On the day of Moshe's death, he gathered all the people together to enter them into a covenant with Hashem warning them what will happen if they stray from the path of Torah. Moshe ends by saying, הנסתרת לה' והנגלת לנו ולבנינו עד עולם , the hidden ones are for Hashem & the revealed ones are for us & our children forever.  
Rashi explains  והנגלת לנו ולבנינו , the revealed ones are for us & our children, to eradicate the evil from our midst. If we don't, everyone suffers.

The Chafetz Chaim says that this teaches us that when the Jewish people accepted the Torah, they didn't only accept it upon themselves, rather they accepted that they would do whatever they could to strengthen Torah observance in Klal Yisroel. Essentially, they became guarantors for one another. Anyone in Klal Yisroel can be מוציא his friend in a Mitzva obligation even if one has already fulfilled that Mitzva. If your friend is lacking a Mitzva, then you too are lacking that Mitzva so you can exempt him. The opposite is true too. If you can stop your friend from sinning; if you don't, you get punished too.

However, this regards only the sins we know about, that we can stop. The ones we don't know about are the ones that are 'הנסתרת לה , they are hidden & are for Hashem to deal with.

The Chasam Sofer interprets the verse a little differently.  He says that the posuk is telling us how to live our lives so that we & our children will be able to carry out the words of the Torah. In order to do so, there has to be a proper balance between the holy & the mundane. Although our inner being & focus should be totally on the spiritual, we cannot remove ourselves from the mundane & the necessity to provide for our families. That's why the Torah is saying  'הנסתרת לה the hidden inner dimension of our lives has to be for Hashem, but the revealed mundane activities  לנו ולבנינו have to be for us & our children.

Additionally, he says that the posuk also alludes to how one could show his children & others around him the proper way to behave. There are righteous people that remain solitary & do all their good in private so that no one should know their greatness. However, they are lacking the ripple effect of people learning from them. The righteous person who does good publicly encourages empathy from other people.   'הנסתרת לה one who is good in private, his good is for Hashem, while the one who does good publicly  לנו ולבנינו עד עולם will ensure that his children follow in his ways & that will be everlasting through the generations.

Once, in the Chafetz Chaim’s town, there were some politics with the Chevra Kadisha. Some people went & established a new Chevra Kadisha. Before the inevitable feuds would break out, the Chafetz Chaim, old & feeble, walked up to the podium & said "my dear brothers, had you offered me a thousand rubles to come speak to you, I wouldn't have accepted. However, I feel the need to talk to you. I have been living here for over fifty years. I remember all the people that used to come here. Where are they today? They are remembered only by a headstone in the graveyard. One day, that's where we'll all be & have to give an accounting for our deeds

Remember gentlemen, that machlokes is among the worst of sins. When it's your turn to come to judgment, the fear & awe will cause you to grab onto any thread of hope & say, there was a man in our town named Yisroel Meir who was known to be a Torah scholar; he saw what was going on & didn't say anything. Therefore I'm begging you, don't mention my name. I have my own problems; I don't need yours.

Then, he broke down in tears... They disbanded the new chevra, while the old one did their work as a chesed for the next three years free of charge. Sometimes, speaking up can effect change.
The Torah teaches us that we are all connected; when people do wrong, we must attempt to correct them; conversely, when we act correctly, people will see it and hopefully follow suit!

Ki Savo

When we are told the brachos we will get for keeping the word of Hashem, the posuk states 'ונתנך ה לראש ולא לזנב והיית רק למעלה ולא תהיה למטה , Hashem shall place you as a head and not as a tail; you shall be only above and you shall not be below.

The sefer תכלת מרדכי asks, why does the posuk say לראש ולא לזנב as a head and not a tail which is an analogy to animals instead of using the phrase as a head and not a heel which would be more appropriate for people?

Additionally, asks the חיד"א, when discussing the curses, the Torah states, הגר אשר בקרבך יעלה עליך מעלה מעלה ואתה תרד מטה מטה, the stranger who is among you will ascend above you higher and higher, while you descend lower and lower. Why, when discussing the brachos, the Torah only states that you will be למעלה, above, but when it’s giving the power to our enemies, it says יעלה עליך מעלה מעלה that they will rise way above. Why, when we’re good, don't we get that beracha of מעלה מעלה?

The מר"ך answers as follows. When a person reaches the highest level, it is very probable that he will fall. However, if he just comes close but doesn't actually reach the highest level, it’s much less likely for him to fall. Conversely, when it comes to a person going downhill, the further he falls the better for him, for once a person hits rock bottom, the rebound back will come much quicker and stronger.

Therefore, by the brachos it says רק למעלה; only that you will go up but not all the way up so that ולא תהיה למטה, you won't go down. By not going all the way up, there is less chance that you will fall. Whereas by our enemies it says that they will rise all the way up so that they will eventually fall. However by the curses the Torah said that you will go all the way down, so that you will come back stronger.  

Perhaps that is why the Torah uses the analogy to an animal to recognize that when a person falls and goes down, it’s better that he falls all the way down to animal level so that the way up will be that much quicker and everlasting.  

There's a story told about ר' אליעזר אשכנזי that illustrates this point that when you get too high, it’s dangerous. He was one of the advisers to the king of Egypt who was so close to the king that he gave him a very exquisite ring to show his love for him. On the king’s birthday, ר' אליעזר was going to the palace to give the king a blessing. On the way, one of the king’s other advisers asked ר' אליעזר if he had forgotten the ring at home. When ר' אליעזר showed him that he was wearing the ring, the advisor hit his hand so that the ring fell into the river below.

By some miracle, he was able to find the ring and continue on to the king. When he arrived at the party, he was accorded much more honor than all the other advisers. When he got home, he was troubled for he felt that he had reached the highest level possible and said to himself לפני שבר גאון, before brokenness is grandeur.  He thought that after the great honor he got, there was nowhere left to go but down. So he took his precious stones and gold coins and got on a boat and headed out to sea.  It is said that a wise man is better than a prophet.
That very night, people conspired to tell lies about him to the king. When they did so, the king sent officers to go grab him and put him in prison!

We have to take this lesson and do things in moderation. Don't try to bite off more that you can chew for then you’re just setting yourself up for failure. Be careful when you climb so high that there's nowhere else to go. The Torah is teaching us here to always leave room to improve!

Ki Seitzei

Towards the end of the parsha, the Torah teaches us a very interesting mitzvah: כי תקצר קצירך בשדך ושכחת עמר בשדה לא תשוב לקחתו , when you harvest your crop in your field, and you forget a bundle in the field, you shall not go back to take it. It now belongs to the poor.

The Tosefta in Peah relates a story of a righteous man who forgot a bundle in the field & said to his son, “let's go bring a korban oleh & korban shelamim”. The son asked what's so special about this mitzvah that you want to celebrate more than any other mitzva? Answered the father, “every other mitzvah was given to us to be done with intent; however, this one was given to us to do without intent, for if you leave the bundle purposely you don't fulfill the mitzvah. Since Hashem felt me worthy of this bonus mitzvah, I celebrate.

Why the anomaly? Why is this mitzva done only unintentionally? Why didn't Hashem command us to deliberately leave a bundle over for the poor person? Also curious: why did the righteous man bring an oleh which atones for not doing a positive commandment? What did he do wrong?

The sefer אגרא דפרקא explains beautifully that we know that all one’s actions in this world are not for naught. Even ones thoughts are not for nothing. Accordingly, even when one davens without kavana, it’s not for nothing. The Zohar says that there is an angel that holds onto all the words & when this person says one tefilla with proper intent, all the previous tefilos go up with it.

The same would be true with mitzvos that require action. We would think that if we do them without intent, we’d lose them. However, instead of them being worthless, Hashem gives us the mitzvah of שכחה that only works without intent, so when we do this mitzva it brings along with it all the other mitzvos that were done without intent.
That's why the end of the posuk says למען יברכך ה אלקיך בכל מעשה ידיך that Hashem will bless all the work of your hands, for through this mitzvah, all the previous mitzvos are credited too.

When the righteous man saw that he forgot the bundle, he brought the olah for he understood that he must have had mitzvos that he did without intent. This meant that he had positive commandments that he didn't fulfill, so he brought the Shelamim as thanks to Hashem for letting him fix his misdeeds

Another anomaly in this parsha involves the בן סורר ומורה , the wayward son whom the parents have to bring to court to be killed. The gemara says that the wayward son never happened & never will happen. It is written just so that you should learn about it & get reward. The בן איש חי asks, “we know that we are supposed to learn, not to get the reward. Why here does it say that the only reason the Torah includes this is that we learn & get reward?

Perhaps we could answer this with what we have just learned. There are certain mitzvos that we do just as a catalyst for other mitzvos. The reason we need to learn something that seemingly has no point is so that it will then take all the learning that we do without the proper intent & bring it all along. This teaches us an important lesson. Even when mitzvos seem to make no sense to us, don't take them lightly for we can never know what else they are accomplishing!