Va'eschanan

Towards the end of the parsha we have a commandment that we ‎actually verbalize three times a day, ואהבת את ה אלקיך, love Hashem your God.  

Reb Akiva Eiger asks, since it's not possible to force someone to love, how can there be a commandment to love Hashem?
He answers that we end the bracha right before Shema with the words הבוחר בעמו ישראל באהבה , who chose the nation of Israel with love, because love is reciprocal & when we see & feel that Hashem loves us we will in turn love Him back. 

How do we really get this feeling of love for Hashem? Ben Yaer Hakohen explains that the mitzva to love one’s fellow man is stated in Vayikra whereas the mitzva to love Hashem is only brought later in Devarim. The fact that the Torah commands one to love one’s friend before it commands to love Hashem teaches us that it's impossible to come to love Hashem unless you first have love for your fellow Jew‎. 
When one trains himself to love his fellow Jew, he will be training himself to love Hashem too.

I heard a fascinating story from Rabbi Frand about Reb Zelig Epstein who had befriended a couple that survived the war. However, after all the atrocities that they lived through, it was just too much for the man & he ended his own life. The widow had no one & Reb Zelig became her figurative shoulder to cry on. 

Unfortunately, this woman's troubles didn't end with her husband’s death.  Her son became sick & again Reb Zelig was there helping her to take care of the son, taking him to treatments etc. However, he could not recover and passed away on Erev Yom Kippur. 
As Reb Zelig was walking to Kol Nidre, it dawned on him that maybe this tragedy would be too much for this woman to bear so he decided that he would skip Yom Kippur in shul & spend it with her. As he was walking, he realized that it would take him well over an hour to walk which might be too much for this woman to be alone. So he went to the yeshiva where his Rebbi, Reb Yaakov Kaminetsky was davening. He walked up to him in the middle of Maariv & asked him if he was allowed to take the bus so that this woman wouldn't have to be alone for even an hour. 
Reb Yaakov pointed to his shtender where he had his money & told him to take the money & get on the bus!

Can any of us imagine doing something like that? We tend to look the other way when there are problems. Who wants to get involved?  To take a bus on Yom Kippur and to spend the entire Yom Kippur with a widow instead of being in shul is something that's unheard of.  It's people like Reb Zelig & his actions that show what real love for a fellow Jew is. 

‎However, how does this get us to love Hashem? Perhaps, since we said love is reciprocal, if we show Hashem that we love His children He will in turn show His love for us & when we see that He loves us we will automatically feel the love for Him too. We say it three times a day. Let's mean what we say & take it upon ourselves to try to help one another & be there for those that need it. By showing our love for one another, we will come to the ultimate love, the love of Hashem!  

Devarim

The midrash describes the reaction of the Jews when Hashem speaks to them. ‎ When the Jews heard the first two utterances from Hashem, the evil inclination was removed from their hearts but once they asked Moshe to be the one to speak to them, the evil inclination returned.  Moshe, therefore, was upset with them that they didn't want to hear directly from Hashem but rather wanted to hear from him. 

A similar incident occurs in our parsha.  Moshe proposed the idea that he appoint others to assist in judging & teaching them; the people eagerly jumped at the idea, so Moshe was upset at them that they wanted to learn from his students rather than from him. He felt that they were taking a step down by learning from the students & not from Moshe himself. 

This seems to be an opposite reaction. Moshe gets angry because they didn't want him to lead & didn't want to learn from him, yet by the ten utterances, he got angry because they did want him to lead and wanted to learn from him. What was the difference?

In our parsha, what would be the benefit of hearing from Moshe directly? Simply understood, we would say that there is benefit in receiving information from a primary source rather than a secondary one. Since Moshe heard directly from Hashem, he would give it over much more clearly. 
Rashi, however, explains differently & says that the reason the Jews should have insisted on learning from Moshe was that he suffered to acquire his Torah. Torah acquired through toil is of a much higher quality. When a student knows that his teacher worked hard to acquire the knowledge, the student develops a greater appreciation for the teacher’s words and will exert himself to the utmost to understand his teachings. 

The story is told of Reb Shimon Shkop who studied in the Yeshiva of Volozhin under the Netziv. However, Reb Shimon did not usually attend the Netziv's classes. One night, when Reb Shimon was studying late at night, he was having a very hard time understanding the commentary of the Rashbam. As he was grappling with it, the Netziv walked into the Bais Medrash so Reb Shimon asked him to help understand the Rashbam. The Netziv replied "this Rashbam"? My dear child, in order to understand this Rashbam, I more than once went to the graves of my forefathers to pray to Hashem that he help me understand His Torah. Such was the awe with which Reb Shimon received this pronouncement, that, from that day on, he attended all the Netziv's classes, for someone to work so hard & to go pray that he understand his learning was someone to learn from.   

Returning to our two incidents, the difference might be this point of working for it. By the judges, Moshe wanted them to learn from him because he worked so hard to get it; he toiled and went without food or sleep for forty days & nights. With all the effort he put in, he felt they should learn from him. However, when they ‎wanted to learn from him & not straight from Hashem, it was for the opposite reason. They didn't want to put in the extra effort that it took to learn directly from Hashem.

What we have to learn from this is not to take the easy way out. We should not give up because something is difficult. We have to learn from Moshe that it's the effort, the work, the toil that pays off.  That's what counts & is what he was trying to impress upon the people. Put in the effort; the more toil one has to put in,  is, the more one will gain!‎
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Matos Masei

The second of the double sedra we read this week tells us about the entire journey of the Jews from Egypt until they were about to enter the land of Israel ‎. אלה מסעי בני ישראל , these are the journeys of the Jewish people. 

‎Rashi explains the reason for mentioning all the different stops along the way is to show the kindness of Hashem.  Even though it was decreed that the Jews wander in the desert for forty years, one should not think that they wandered constantly without any peace. Out of a total of forty two journeys, fourteen were in the first year before the decree & eight were in the last year so in thirty eight years there were only twenty journeys . Another way to look at it is like a king whose son was sick. They had to make a long journey to get him healed, so on the way back the father counts all the stops they made along the way; here we slept, here it was cold, here your head hurt etc. 
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The סבא מקלם, in explaining the posuk by Bilam, 'וישם ה דבר בפי בלעם, that Hashem put the words in the mouth of Bilam.  How could He do that? What happened to Bilam's free will? The סבא מקלם answers that Hashem didn't take away his free will, rather he just opened his eyes to the greatness of the Jewish people. Then, he didn't want to curse them anymore & spoke of their praises instead. 

Later on the Torah tells us to prepare cities of refuge for the unintentional murderer. This mitzva shows us that we have to address the needs of all people, even those that we feel are ethically & morally inferior, because Hashem loves all His people.  Even when the Jews sinned in the desert or when someone killed unintentionally, Hashem still finds ways to help & care for them. 

The following story shows how great men can differentiate between criticizing the actions of sinners & the need to care for them. This story was repeated by a prominent member of the Zionist Organization: In the early 20's, when the struggle between the Zionists & the Agudah, led by Reb Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld was at its peak, one of the leaders of the Zionists who was known for his antireligious attacks, became critically ill. After four weeks in the missionary hospital, the doctors gave up hope. 

The prominent member continued, “I was asked to think of a way to save him, so I advised them to transfer him to Shaarei Zedek hospital. However, when we brought the patient in, Dr Wallach heard that he came from the Missionary hospital and refused to admit him. After much deliberation, we concluded that Reb Sonnenfeld would be the only person who could influence the Dr. Since I had connections in the religious community through my father who was a famous talmid chacham, I was elected to go to Reb Sonnenfeld. 

I ran to Battei Machseh. On the way, a terrific thunderstorm hit, so when I arrived at the Rabbi\'s house I was drenched & shivering. I knew that he was upset with me for casting my lot with the Zionists, ‎yet he still received me warmly. I told him the whole story including the name of the patient & asked him to write a letter to the doctor requesting him to admit my friend into the hospital. As soon as I finished speaking, the Rabbi got up & started to put on his coat. I said you don't need to come out in this weather; just give me a letter which will be enough. R' Yosef Chaim's response was unequivocal and emphatic: when a Jewish life is in danger, a letter is not enough. I must personally fulfill this great Mitzva! 

‎Through the torrential rains we went, finally arriving at the hospital. Immediately, the rabbi was through the door with me trailing behind. When I finally caught up to him at the doctor's office, I heard him say, 'Since when is the doctor an authority on the laws of saving a Jewish life? Admit this patient immediately!        

The impossible occurred so that two weeks later, my friend recovered & was released from the hospital. Knowing the tense relationship between Reb Sonnenfeld & my friend, I didn't tell him who was responsible for his recovery. A while later, my friend was giving a speech about the lofty aims of Zionism & ended by shouting, ‘we will build this land in our own way, fighting to the death against the black arm of Reb Sonnenfeld & his followers!’ 

At this point, I lost control & stood up & shouted at him, “How dare you speak like that! Show some respect for the man who saved your life!”  My friend was shocked into silence.  I took the podium & explained to all how the 'black hand of Reb Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld’ had interceded to save the life of the one who had vowed to destroy him'.     

This teaches us a major lesson. We have to treat every Jew, no matter what, with understanding and reverence. From Hashem being kind to us throughout the journeys, even though we sinned; as we see the Torah allowing concessions for the unintentional murderer; as Reb Yosef Chaim went out of his way for someone who was bent on destroying him; we, too, have to treat every Jew with kindness & respect no matter what!   
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Pinchas

When Hashem tells Moshe that it's time for him to prepare to leave this world‎, Moshe's main concern is that Hashem appoint a good leader to follow him. The posuk tells us that Moshe speaks to Hashem asking that He find them a good leader, & giving different qualifications that are important in a leader. He then concludes by saying ולא תהיה עדת ה' כצאן אשר אין להם רעה , and let not the assembly of Hashem be like sheep that have no shepherd ‎. 

The verse seems a little awkward ‎. Why not simply say that proper leadership is required so that the people will not be like shepherdless sheep כצאן בלי רועה? Why the extra words?
The literal meaning of the posuk is "they not be like sheep that there is no shepherd to them.”
 
‎Reb Zalman Sorotzkin explains that Moshe had no doubt that a leader would emerge. While there is never a shortage of potential leaders, most candidates will cater more to themselves than to the needs of the people. The people might have a shepherd but not one that will be to them for them; instead, he might be one with his own interests in mind.  Moshe's request was that they get a leader who will be only concerned with them. 

As Rav Yaakov Yuzef explained, there are two kinds of shepherd: one that does it just to make a living & one that does it because he cares about the well-being of the sheep. The latter will make sure that whatever he does is for the benefit of the sheep & not what's better for his bottom line. This is the kind of leader we need!

Reb Shalom Schwadron tells us a story about one of our leaders that personifies this trait. There was a Talmudic student who got very sick.  As time went by, the doctors gave up hope & each passing day his condition worsened. The student went to his Rebbi, the Chafetz Chaim, to ask for a Bracha that he should recover. The Chafetz Chaim answered him that he will give him a way out of this sickness on condition that he never tell anyone what it was. The student readily agreed. 

The Chafetz Chaim told him to go to an unknown scholar who lived in a tiny town far away and tell him your situation. He will give you a Bracha & with Hashem's help you will be healed. The young man immediately went to that town to search out that talmid chacham. He found him & explained to him what was happening, got his bracha & went back to Radin, to yeshiva. Within a few short weeks, he was completely healed & continued his studies in the Yeshiva. 

Eventually, he married, moved away, raised a family & never told anyone what happened to him. Some twenty years later, his sister in law became sick with the same sickness he had all those years ago but he didn't say a word. His wife, though, remembered that he had been sick & asked him how he got better. However, he refused to answer. His wife kept pressuring him to reveal the secret that she felt might save her sister yet he still didn't answer. The wife & sister didn't stop pressuring him thinking that this secret would save her life until he finally couldn't take it anymore. 

He thought to himself that after all these years, he had already fulfilled his promise to the Chafetz Chaim & he told them what happened. His wife & sister were then filled with hope that this would be their salvation. A short time later he began feeling ill & became very afraid. He traveled to the Chafetz Chaim who was by then very old & weak. As the man told him his story, the Chafetz Chaim listened silently. Finally, he broke the silence & said in a broken voice, "I wish I could help you again but what can I do? When you had the sickness the first time, I fasted for forty days so that you would get better. Now, I'm too old & weak to do it again. 

‎This is a leader! Not only did the Chafetz Chaim fast for forty days for one student but he orchestrated the whole thing to look like it was because of someone else's blessing. He didn’t even take credit for helping him. That is what should be the leaders of the Jewish people. May we all merit to be under the guidance & influence of such leaders!  


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Balak

In the well-known story of Bilam and the donkey, when the Angel reveals himself to Bilam & admonishes him for hitting his donkey, Bilam replies חטאתי כי לא ידעתי כי אתה נצב לקראתי בדרך , I have sinned for I did not know that you were standing opposite me on the road. 

Asks רמה'כ ‎, how does Bilam's answer that I didn't know you were standing there, answer the question of why did you hit the animal? Even if no one is watching, are you allowed to torture animals? 

Three maskilim from the Volozhin yeshiva were sitting in their room smoking on Shabbos, when their Rebbi walked in. The first one said, “Rebbi, I forgot it's Shabbos; the second one claimed that he forgot that smoking was forbidden on Shabbos while the third one said "I forgot too; I  forgot to close the door! 

Of course, even if no one is watching, you can't sin. Bilam's attitude was it's only wrong because I got caught! In order to counteract this attitude, the Rema begins his commentary on the Shulchan Aruch by teaching the verse 'שויתי ה לנגדי תמיד , I place Hashem constantly in front of me as a most important principle that one must follow. This is how the righteous live, with the sense that they are always in His presence & it doesn't matter whether you get caught or not. One must act & speak differently because he is in Hashem's presence.

We can also learn from the other character in this parsha, the donkey. We see the importance of the power of speech - what we say & what we talk about - ‎from the following story. 
‎Once, Reb Moshe Segel was at a gathering of wealthy men to help out the community. As they were getting everyone together, some of the people started arguing with one another, putting each other down saying, “do you know who I am? I'm wealthier than you”. His friend retorted back. “You? Your father was a shoemaker while mine was a great rabbi etc etc”. The rabbi tried to stop this calmly to no avail. Finally, he banged on the table & said quiet! I want to say something.  

He stated, “The donkeys & horses came to Hashem with a complaint asking why we are worse off than all the other animals? Wild animals have no master & are free to come & go as they please. The small animals get to live in peace eating during the day & sleeping at night, while we are at the mercy of our owners. We work all day & if something comes up at night, they whip us until we go to work at night, too. We never have peace.  Worse, we can't talk. Often, we’re in pain & the owner will hit us where it hurts & we can't even say anything!  

Hashem heard their complaint & gave them a chance; He let one donkey talk, Bilam's donkey.  What did it say to Bilam? Instead of telling him to be careful how he ties the reins, or what to feed him to make him healthier, or what he needs to be more comfortable, he talks to him about his 'yichus'. “I'm your donkey that you always rode upon etc”. Then the power of speech was taken from him. Concluded Reb Moshe, “Fools! You were given the power of speech; use it constructively & don't destroy your power by bragging or putting down your friends! 

Perhaps the lesson we could take from our parsha is twofold: first, we need to learn from Bilam that even if no one is around, we still can't sin. It's not only about getting caught, rather it's about knowing that we are always in Hashem's presence; second we must take our power of speech & use it to do good & not to destroy!  
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