Parshas Chukas- Kedushas Sefer Torah

The Maharal Diskin as a young boy would sit at the entrance of his father's study and any question that would come before his father would be told to him first. After his father had ruled he would compare his own psak with that of his father's. He once said that he always thought of the same psak as his father, except for once. A qustion came before his father regarding a Sefer Torah that was burned. As the questioner was leaving the Maharal asked what was his father's answer. He said that his father upon hearing that a Sefer Torah was burnt fainted, it hurt him just as if a close friend was killed. That reaction of closeness to the living Sefer Torah the Maharal Diskin didn't have as a young child.
On Erev Shabbos Parshas Chukas Tzadikim fast for it was a day that twenty crates of Seforim were burnt in France. The Rishonim said that it was the the week of Chukas and not the day of the month that caused the tragedy. The Ramchal explains that the highest leval of tumah is death - the departure of the soul from the body. This tumah can only be rectified through Parah Adumah. The Ramchal says that in today's day when we are in exile and we ourselves distance our souls from our bodies through sin, there are two options instead of the Parah Adumah. The first punishment would be death c'v. Hashem in his infinite mercy is moser nefesh himself for our sake. The Marsha says that the Torah is made up of Hashem's names and is in essence Hashem himself. When a Torah is burnt Hashem himself is letting himself be burnt for Klal Yisroel's sake- just like the Parah Adumah in the times of the Bais Hamikdosh. The way we could save the Torah is if we are moser nefesh for Hashem and his Torah, as the Gemora derives from the Parsha of Parah Aduma- that Torah cannot be acquired only if one kills himself for its sake. This seems like an impossible level to attain, if one is dead how does he acquire torah?
The Chazon Ish (Igress Chazon Ish chelek aleph pg. 27) explains that Chazal aren’t referring to death in its actual meaning, rather a superficial death. A person is defined by his actions, the character traits he was born with. If one by nature is easily angered, by definition he’s an angry person. Every time this person doesn’t get angry he’s in essence ‘killing’ himself. With every bad middah we overcome we leave our previous lives and live a new life on a higher plane then before. That is what the Chazal teach us, Torah can only be acquired if we work on our middos, kill the bad traits we were born with and live the life that the Torah prescribes for us.
This week - Parshas Chukas in Eretz Yisroel- eight Sefri Torah were burnt. Did we even feel the pain? Was our reaction anywhere near that of fainting? Can you hear Hashem calling to us children look i'm putting myself into the fire just to protect you! Are we ready to sacrifice anything for His sake?

Mazel Tov to family Hollander on the birth of their adorable little girl.

The Holiness of A Sefer Torah

The Maharal Diskin as a young bochur would sit in front of his father's bais din room and any question that was brought before his father would be told to him first and while the question was being asked to his father he would do the research and come to his own conclusion. He said that came to the same conclusion as his father in all shailos except for one. The only shailoh that he didn't come up with the same answer as his father was a question regarding a burnt Sefer Torah. The questioners came out from his fathers study and he told them what he thought the ruling was and asked what his father had said. They answered that his father upon hearing the question fainted. In that aspect the Maharal Diskin said, he didn't come close to his father, to react to a Sefer Torah as one reacts to a loved one and to feel the pain of a Sefer Torah and just faint upon hearing that one had been burned. The Alshach in last week's Parsha says that holiness of a Sefer Torah isn't just because it's a holy book that tells us how to live - rather it is a part of Hashem himself. Every letter in the Torah is a name of Hashem- which is the way Hashem manifests himself in this world. That is the meaning of what we say Shabbos Mincha "Ata echad, Veshimcha echad" the name of Hashem is one means that the Torah which is made up of Hashem's names are one. How many of us gave any more then a sigh when we heard that four Sifrei Torah were burned? Was our reaction anywhere close to fainting? Do we really realize that every Sefer Torah burned is just as if Hashem himself is being burned?