Tetzaveh

‎‎Our parsha details all the garments worn by the Kohanim. Among the extra articles of clothing that the Kohen Gadol wore was the eiphod, upon which was placed the Choshen. This was held up by two straps which had two stones placed upon them. The Torah tells us to engrave the names of the Bnei Yisroel ששה משמותם על האבן האחת six from their names on one stone, ואת שמות הששה הנותרים על האבן השני כתולדתם, and the names of the six remaining ones on the second stone.

‎Reading these words one can't help but wonder why the posuk calls the second six הנותרים , the leftovers? Are they worth any less than the others? The אור החיים increases the wonderment by saying that they were listed כתולדותם in order of their birth. Does being born later mean they had less value? So why does the posuk call them the leftovers?

The last thing the Torah commands us to build is the golden altar upon which we are to bring the Ketores twice a day. 
The Ketores was made up of eleven different spices. One of them was the Chelbina, which had a foul odor yet was included in the spices of the incense, to teach us that even the sinners among us should be included in serving Hashem. 

The בן איש חי has an interesting perspective. He says that even though the Chelbina was included, it was included only as an extra. There are ten main spices & added to them is the one different one with the bad smell. Like the story with the בעל ההפלאה, he called together a minyan of men to his home. However, one of the people who came was a sinner & the בעל ההפלאה didn't want to count on him for the minyan so he asked another person to come too. The man went up to the בעל ההפלאה & said, “Rebbi, why won't you include me? We see that even the Chelbana was included in the Ketores, even though it had a bad smell!?” The rabbi answered, “I did just like the mishna says, אחד עשר סממנים היו בה , eleven spices were in it.... however asks the בן איש חי , if in reality we do include the Chelbina, why isn't it part of the main ten?

He answers that the Chelbina with its bad smell wasn't meant to harm the good smell of the rest of the spices. Rather the good would  totally encompass the bad just as light isn't noticeable without having the dark, good isn't as noticeable without having the bad. Therefore, first it was necessary to have the complete ten to be good; then we could include the bad. So, too, it is with the sinners. If we include them, then the prayers of the good people look so much better. When we include the Chelbana spice, the good smell of all the other spices is so much more noticeable & the bad smell is indiscernible. So, too, by the actions of the wicked, the good people are much more noticeable.

Another possible reason to include the sinners, is that when they are included & are part of the group, they may become inspired to change. Perhaps that's the reason the Torah calls the six names on the second stone, the leftovers. It’s teaching us this lesson that even if someone feels like they're a leftover, not really part of the group, we are telling them that they are included. Not only that but anyone could feel like that & come back just like the ones on the second stone. They were no less great than the ones on the first stone but are called leftovers. Anyone who feels down & out can always come back and be just as great as everyone else!

Terumah

‎‎The command to build the Mishkan states: ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם , they shall make Me a Sanctuary so that I may dwell among them. 

‎There are two interesting points. First, why does the Torah state make me a Mikdash & then goes on to describe to us the making of the Mishkan?  Shouldn't it have been consistent and said make Me a Mishkan? Second, why does it say I will dwell among them; shouldn't it say I will dwell in it?

Chazal explains that the words, I will dwell among them, refers to the people, not the building.  The Torah is telling us that Hashem will dwell in each & every one of us. That's also why it uses the word Mikdash, which translates as “holy”; for as long as we sanctify a portion of ourselves, leaving a place for Hashem to dwell, then He will be a part of us.  

‎The Midrash tells us that when Hashem told Moshe to make him a sanctuary, Moshe was terrified for he felt how could we make a home suitable for Hashem? Hashem calmed him saying I don't want you to do anything based on My standards, rather just do according to your abilities. 

Reb Yeruchim from the Mir explained that Moshe’s wonderment was how could the magnificence of Hashem be confined to such a small place? Hashem's answer was that I will dwell in even the smallest space, if it's worthy. One shouldn't say I'm like withered wood unworthy of Hashem's presence. Rather any person can merit to have the Shechina rest on him. 

So what can we do to merit that the Shechina, Hashem’s glory, would rest on us?

The Chafetz Chaim uses this Midrash to demonstrate that Hashem only wants from us what we are capable of doing. He only wants us to do what we can.  He’s not expecting regular people to suddenly become the biggest tzadikkim.  Rather, He wants us to serve Him to the best of our ability. each person in his own unique way. 
One of Reb Yisroel Salant's students once said to him "if only I had the Midos of Rebbi & the heart of this rabbi & the brain of that rabbi then I would be able to accomplish & become great like them. Reb Yisroel said to him, “no, you have to succeed with your brain, with your heart & with your Midos to have the Shechina rest on you. It’s with your talents & no one else's that you will accomplish.” 

However, this is not a free pass to just sit back & say this is all I can do, without really trying. Reb Tarfon says, “great is work " for Hashem would not rest His Shechina on the Jewish people  until they did the work. As it says ועשו לי מקדש, make for me a Sanctuary, do the work & then ושכנתי בתוכם, I will dwell amongst you. First, you have to do the work; then I will come. 

So, too, with us; if we want to have Hashem dwell with us, then we can't just sit back & say this is who I am. First, one must do the work, try hard to make within each day of one’s life a place for Hashem. 

When one does whatever he can do, regardless of capabilities, as long as he gives it his all, he too will merit to have Hashem Himself dwell with him!   


Thanks! Yitzy

Mishpatim

‎‎
‎‎Among the various laws our parsha teaches us about how to deal with other people, is the law of how one should treat a widow & orphans. אלמנה ויתום לא תענון, you shall not persecute any widow or orphan. אם ענה תענה אתו , if you will persecute him כי אם צעק יצעק אלי שמע אשמע צעקתו, for if he will cry out to Me, I shall surely hear his cry.   

The כי seems to be an extra word. What does it add? 

The incidents of Satan  with איוב and Penina with Chana can give us a perspective on this question.

The gemara says that the Satan and Penina acted לשם שמים , for the sake of Heaven. The Satan felt that Hashem was enamored with איוב so he worried that Hashem would lose some of the love he felt for Avraham, replacing him with איוב. So he challenged Hashem to test איוב. 

Penina harassed Chana because she wanted her to feel the pain of not having children in order to daven much more intensely so that she would be granted a child. If that's true, then, when Chana finally did have children, why did two of Penina's died for every child that Chana had?  Why would she be punished like that if she only harassed Chana for her own benefit? 

This, says the קול אליהו, teaches us that, even if one has good intentions, if they do it at someone else's expense, it's unacceptable. As Reb Yisroel Salant once said, a person tends to worry about his friends’ spiritual level but his own worldly needs. The Torah here is teaching us the opposite; one should worry about his own spiritual needs & his friends’ worldly needs. That's what the extra word כי is telling us; even if you have the best intentions, if you hurt the widow or the orphan & they cry out to Hashem, He will hear their cry. 

There's a story told of Reb Hirsch Broide from Kelm who once employed a young orphan girl in his home. After a little while, it seemed like there was always something missing in the home: money, jewelry etc. The rabbi's wife suspected the girl & asked the rabbi if she could summon her to Beis Din. He said she could. When the date arrived & the wife was getting ready to go, she saw her husband also putting his coat on to go. She said to him that I don't need you to come with me. I can handle it alone. He answered, “ I am not going to help you; rather I'm going to help the girl who has no one else to come to her aid. 

We see how far one has to go as not to cause pain ‎& suffering to an orphan. A young widow one came to Reb Shlomo Zalman Auerbach & said that her husband had recently died leaving her with small children. She could find no peace. She asked him what she could do as a merit for her husband's soul. He answered, "go out & buy some toys & play with your children to make them happy. That's the best thing you can do for him"!  He understood her heartache & told her to do something in her husband's memory that would help to really heal her pain.

We have to take this lesson to heart & try to help minimize the pain of those in need & certainly not cause anyone pain which would cause them to cry out to Hashem. Reb Levi Yitzchok of Barditchiv used to cry when he came to our posuk; he would say, “Hashem, there are countless times in the Torah that it says not to antagonize the orphan. However, we are all orphans as the prophet ירמיהו said in Aicha, יתומים היינו ואין אב we are orphans with no father. So why doesn't Hashem pity us & take us out of this galus? 

One answer could be that we don't cry out to Hashem. The posuk says, “if he cries I will answer him. So let us take this opportunity to cry out to Hashem like orphaned children so that He will answer us & bring us home! 
‎
‎

Yisro

‎Parshas Yisro presents us with our first introduction to the Ten commandments, the עשרת הדברות , which the Torah repeats later on with some slight differences. One of these differences occurs in the commandment of כבד את אביך ואת אמך , honoring your father & mother. In Yisro, the reward is stated as למען יאריכון ימיך, that you will increase your days while by the second one, the Torah adds ולמען ייטב לך , so that it will be good for you.  

Why the difference? Why was that phrase not mentioned in our Parsha?

The Ramban states that the reason for the Mitzva of כיבוד אב ואם , is that one’s parents are partners with Hashem in bringing one into the world, so one has to acknowledge the good they did & honor them for that. However, the gemara records an argument between Bais Hillel & Bais Shammai as to whether it is better for a person to be born or to have never been born at all. The gemara concludes that it would have been better for one never to have been born at all. If that's the gemara’s conclusion, then why should we be grateful to the ones that bore us? Tosafos resolves the question by explaining the gemara as referring only to a regular person; however, a righteous person is certainly better to have been born than not. Therefore, says the Chasam Sofer, after we accepted the Torah we have an obligation to honor our parents who brought us into the world for now we have the opportunity to merit the next world. Therefore, by the second Luchos  it says  למען יאריכון ימיך , referring to this worl‎d & למען ייטב לך , referring to the next world.

The Mishne in Avos says regarding the truly righteous: ‎יפה שעה אחת בתשובה ומעשים טובים בעולם הזה מכל חיי העולם הבא , better is one hour of repentance & good deeds in this world than the entire life of the world to come. 

At this point, before the sin of the golden calf, the entire Klal Yisroel was on the level of the truly righteous. Therefore, the first commandments didn't have to say למען ייטב לך , because that was referring to ‎the next world which they didn't want anyway. However, after the sin of the golden calf, when the nation wasn't on that level anymore, the Totrah had to state both - one for this world & one for the next. 

This mitzvah of כיבוד אב ואם  was given for people on all different levels. The level of the truly righteous is exemplified by this story.  
‎One night in the middle of a harsh winter, when the people were returning home from shul in the town of Salant, they saw what looked like a person digging & fixing the ground. They came closer to see who it was & what he was doing so late at night. 
They got close & saw that it was Rav Zundel in his winter coat with a shovel in his hand, dripping with sweat & out of breath from his tedious work. The people were amazed! What was the rabbi doing? He explained that this is the route where his mother would walk on her way to shul the next day.  Since there had been much snow & rain, the ground was impassable. That’s why I'm fixing the ground so that when she walks to shul tomorrow, the path should be comfortable for her. Imagine how magnificentlyour gedolim showed concern for their parents! 

Even the not so righteous can participate in the mitzvah of honoring one’s parents, as exemplified by this story. A Yerushalmi man received money from his son in America.  However, the man didn't want to accept the money because his son wasn't shomer Shabbos & may have earned that money on Shabbos. The man went to Rav Cook to ask what to do. The rav answered as follows: “according to what you’re telling me, your son doesn't even keep Shabbos; so now the one mitzva that he wants to do, כיבוד אב , you want to take away from him?

‎This shows us that no matter what level we are on, one thing is a constant that we must always be looking out for our parents & helping & honoring them as much as we can, so that we too could merit the Bracha of longevity of our days!‎
‎
‎
‎