Beha'aloscha

‎The second year after the exodus signaled that it was time for the Jews to start their journey from Sinai to the land of Israel. Hashem wanted them to get there quickly so He had them travel a three day’s journey in one day. Yet, the people complained how they struggled so much on the journey & didn't rest for three days. Then, the rabble that was among them, riled them up to complain more, so they started complaining about the food saying, “who will feed us meat?” זכרנו את הדגה אשר נאכל במצרים חנם, we remember the fish that we would eat in Egypt free of charge. 

Rashi tells us that they definitely did not get fish for free; the Egyptians wouldn't even give them straw’ they surely didn't give them fish. The Chasam Sofer explains the posuk with a teaching that's brought in the חובות הלבבות, which says that the power of memory that a person has, is one of the greatest gifts Hashem gave us.  Without it, the world could not exist . 

Imagine if a person would walk in one door & have no memory, he wouldn’t know how to get back out. Also, if one eats something good the memory serves him to remember it, so one will want more & that's what keeps him alive. This is what the Jews meant when they said, "we remember the fish that we ate for nothing"; we are remembering it for nothing because here in the desert there is no fish so the memory is useless to us.

For us, it's difficult to understand that a generation that was freed from national servitude by Hashem, saw all the miracles that He did by the splitting of the sea & now they have this heavenly food which tastes like anything one wants & they're complaining about fish & melons? 

Many answers are given to this question but, perhaps for us, the lesson to learn is to be thankful for what we have. For although it seems that they had everything, they still complained. People become complacent with what they have & then, no matter how good one has it, he could always find something to complain about. 

The power of memory is only one of the many great things that Hashem gives a person. There are times, says רב יצחק זילברשטיין that a person looks around & sees all the good that Hashem does for him & just wants to shout it from the rooftops, but he doesn't & the moment is gone. So how does one go about keeping that feeling alive? Someone wrote to Reb Zilberstein that many great things happened to him that he wanted to remember & thank Hashem, so he decided to write down everything as it happened. Then, before he went to sleep, he would read the paper and thank Hashem for the good he did for him that day.

I heard a similar concept from Rabbi David Asher who repeated this story   A man who in charge of raising the funds for a very large Kollel in Israel, once came to Rav Shlomo Zalman Orbach zt"l with the following problem. He said that, for years, he had been able to raise the money. However, recently it had become very tough, and his days were filled with stress and worry. He went to a doctor, as his health was declining due to the stress. The doctor said that his only solution is to close the Kollel and stop the fundraising. 

Rav Shlomo Zalman told him, "The doctor is right. You must get rid of the stress. Yet, there is another way of doing it. If you follow it, it will also bring you blessing in your efforts. Take a little notebook and start writing down each time you see that Hashem helped you in any way. Then, before each Tefila, read over the list and make sure you thank Hashem for each one of them in מודים -  the thanksgiving Beracha. This will be the key to your salvation." 

The man followed instructions and started writing down small things. For example, one day, he wrote about how he was in a big rush and had to stop at a grocery store to buy milk. Just as he walked in, a shipment of milk arrived and the cartons were all piled up in front of the cash register. He was out of the store in less than a minute. One day, he was running late for work and arrived at the bus stop a few minutes late. However, that day, the bus was even later, and he still made it on time. He continued the process of writing and thanking. Eventually, he started giving thanks for the big checks that were arriving, just in time for him to pay all the stipends.

Perhaps if we take this advice & write down even the littlest things that we saw Hashem helped us with & read it every day, then we will not become too complacent & complain; rather we will always be thanking Hashem who then will want to shower us with everything that's good!

Naso

‎The Torah presents an elaborate introduction to the laws of nazir: 'איש או אשה כי יפלא לנדר נדר נזיר לה  , a man or woman who shall set himself apart by taking a nazirite vow, to set himself apart to Hashem. The Alshich asks why the Torah opened with all these words? It could have just simply stated the laws of nazir?

The Chafetz Chaim used to‎ comment about people who would rationalize using the “if” excuse -  if only I was brought up differently; if I had different desires; if I lived in a different community; if I had different friends; then I would be a better person, if, if, if. 

The Chafetz Chaim chastised those who would use this reasoning. The Torah says specifically:  כי המקום אשר אתה עומד עליו אדמת קודש הוא   because ‎the place where you are standing is holy; the place where you are now, exactly how you are, with these friends & this family & the environment that you are in, with all your individual  trials & tribulations, with all that you did & all that you went through, that itself  is holy. That's your challenge - what you were meant to overcome.

The midrash tells us that whoever makes himself holy down here, Hashem makes him holy up there.  Just as the nazir holds himself back from wine & makes himself stricter obligations in order to get closer to Hashem. Hashem makes his restrictions of impurity similar to those of the Kohen Gadol‎. ,Hashem is, in essence, saying, to Me, you’re just as great as the Kohen Gadol.  

The Gemara brings a story of a nazir who was extremely good looking, with beautiful curly long hair who came to the beis hamikdash to bring his nazir korban & shave his hair. Shimon Hatzadik said, “I said to him, my son why would you want to cut such beautiful hair? He said to me I was a shepherd for my father in my town. Once I went to draw water from the well & I saw my reflection in the water. My evil inclination then tried to get the better of me to cause me to sin. I said to him, why are you trying to get me to glorify in a world that's not mine? In the end, I'll be maggots & worms. I swear that I will shave my head for Hashem. I got up & kissed him on the head & said, there should be more nazirim like you in Klal Yisroel. It's you whom the posuk is talking about.” 

This is what the Alshich answers.  After the separation of the tribe of Levi to be the ones in the service of Hashem, from whom the kohanim & the greatest of all the kohanim gadolim would descend, one could have thought that in order for someone to be holy they had to be born into it. It has nothing to do with man & his choices. So, to counter that, the Torah is telling us that any man or woman that wants to increase his/her own holiness can make his own choices & become holy until a point that they are קדוש יהיה . They would have the same laws as the holiest man in Klal Yisroel, the kohen gadol , which teaches us that no matter who we are or where we have been, each & every one of us has the power to reach the epitome of holiness!

Bamidbar / Shavuos

Sefer Bamidbar focuses on the years of the Jews’ sojourn in the wilderness. The parasha begins with Hashem commanding Moshe & Aaron to conduct a census of all the tribes. The one tribe that was left out was Shevet Levi, as the posuk says הקרב את מטה לוי, bring near the tribe of Levi, they were singled out to dedicate their lives to the service of Hashem & are counted separately. 

Shevet Levi were the ones that were destined to be the teachers of the Jewish people. The Midrash relates the words of our posuk to what is written in tehillim:  צדיק כתמר יפרח a righteous man like a date palm will flourish כארז בלבנון ישגה, like a cedar in Lebanon he will grow tall שתולים בבית ה , planted in the house of Hashem. 

The בעש"ט explains ‎that there are two types of tzaddikim. One serves Hashem with his full body & soul; however, he is locked up in his own space without influencing anyone. He just focuses on his own growth, so he is compared to the cedar tree that doesn't bear fruit. The other type of tzaddik doesn't only think of himself; he is out there teaching & influencing others to get closer to Hashem, so he is compared to the date tree that gives forth sweet fruit. 

Chazal tell us that Shevet Levi were compared to the date tree for they didn't stay home just focusing on themselves. Rather, they were out there teaching the masses & bring them closer to Hashem. Nowadays, this role is not necessarily representative of only the Levi'im, but has been taken on by the rabbis & teachers. 

Now that the yom tov of Shavuos is upon us, it is time to reconnect to Hashem & the Torah. It's time that all of us that can, go out & teach; go out & influence others to keep the Torah. The Zohar informs us that one who stays up the night of Shavuos & learns all night is guaranteed to live out the year. Nothing bad will befall him the whole year. 

Another way to ensure longevity can be gleaned from the following story told by Rav Zilberstein. A few years ago, an old man of over a hundred years of age who was very weak and frail came to me & asked: “according to the opinion that the counting of sefira is a totality of one mitzva & if one can't count all the days with a bracha, he can't count any, am I permitted to start counting because the doctors are only giving me a few days to live?”  

   

‎I advised him to do the opposite. What does a child whose mother told him he can't have a candy, do? He says the bracha of shehakol & then the mother is forced to give him the candy so as not to cause a bracha l’vatala, a blessing made in vain. 

So I advised him to do the same thing; start counting the sefira with a bracha & then Hashem will have no choice but to keep him alive until after sefira. He listened to me & lived until after Shavuos. This is true by all mitzvos. Once a person starts something, Hashem will have to let him stay here to finish it. So, perhaps a way to ensure that we have a good year, is to take on a project in Torah; something that will spread Torah; something that will help other people grow. If one makes sure he is needed here by Hashem to complete his task, he needn’t worry.  As long as he hasn’t finished his work, he can't go anywhere!

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Bechukosai

‎At the end of our parsha, the Torah tells us about separating “maaser” from the cattle, כל אשר יעבר תחת השבט העשירי יהיה קדש, any that passes under the staff, the tenth one is holy. 

Rashi describes the manner of selection by passing all the cattle through a doorway and counting each one as it goes.  The tenth one is hit with a staff with a red pigment on it so that we know which one is holy which will be sacrificed to Hashem. 

The gemara tells us that there is no short cut.  One may think that if he has one hundred animalsto take ten and separate them. Therefore, the Torah stresses עשירי, the tenth, that you can't just take the ten animals & give them; rather each one has to go through the door & you have to count each one until you count ten & then that one is maaser. 

The אהל יעקב asks why was the Torah so stringent on this point? Why does each one need to go through the door & be counted? Why can't we just give as many as we have to in one shot?

He answers that if one would just give the ten animals without the counting, then the ones that are maaser would have nothing to do with the others. However, now that we count each one until the tenth would be the masser one, it makes all of them a little.  When the tenth one is given, it takes away the obligation from all of them ‎.

Another answer was given by רב מרדכי דב טורסקי . Once he went to visit one of his chasidim who was exceptionally, but very miserly. The wealthy man greeted him warmly and was very happy when the rabbi started taking an interest in his possessions. He started giving the rabbi a tour showing off his expensive items. As they went around with the wealthy man showing all his items, the rabbi kept asking "is this all yours?" The man kept answering, ", yes, it's all mine".  When they finished the tour, the wealthy man asked the rabbi why do you keep asking me ‎if it's all mine? 

‎The rabbi answered, “I'm trying to teach you something. Do you know why when you take maaser from the animals you have to count each one before you take the tenth as maaser? For the Torah knows that, at times,  it's difficult for a person to give all his maaser at once.  Let's say someone has a thousand animals & he has to give a hundred at one shot, it's very hard to do. In order to make it easier on a person, the Torah has him count it out, one for me, two for me, three for me until finally he gets to ten & then, after counting out all of his own, it's not so hard to give the tenth away. That's why I kept asking you if it's all yours, for after saying so many times how much you have, it will be easier for you to give from your money to tzedaka. 

This is true really for all aspects of our life, not just maser. If before one complains about something in his life that isn't going as planned, he would stop & count all the blessings that he has, it will be much easier to deal with the things that aren't going as planned. The Torah is giving us the key to how to deal with life; take things one at a time & count your blessings out loud!

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