Parshas Yisro

The Aseres Hadibros are written twice in chumash, with a number of differences. We tend to believe, based on Chazal, that the version in this week’s parsha is what was written on luchas rishonim- the one we received on 7th day of Sivan and was broken when we sinned with the eigal. The version that we read in Parshas V’eschanan is luchas shneios- what was returned to us on Yom Kippur after we were forgiven for the eigal. One of the differences is the way the commandment for Shabbos is stated. In luchas reshomin it starts with the word ‘zachor’- remember the Shabbos. This is the mitzvas asseh- positive commandment of Shabbos. In luchas shneios we are told the negative commandment of Shabbos- the commandment opens with the word ‘shomer’- watch the Shabbos. Clearly both versions were said and heard at kabolas hatorah at Sinai as we are taught; זכור ושמור בדיבור אחד נאמרו. The two different versions of aseres hadibros was what we understood from it. Luchas rishonim, when we heard zachor and shomer we understood that the focal point was zachor and shomer was just an added dimension. At luchas shneios we understood shomer, and zachor was just an added dimension.
One can contemplate who brings more pleasure to Hashem, a tzadik- one who dedicates his life to Hashem and never did anything against His will- or a baal teshuvah- one who struggles in his fight with the yetzer horah. If we judge them by their deeds, the tzadik is definitely greater. A perfect tzadik has never strayed from Hashem’s ways. Every deed he does, every word he utters, every step he takes, every detail in his life brings glory to Hashem’s name. His very nature is one of perfection and deveikus b’Hashem. On the other hand, a baal teshuvah, while he struggles to be close to Hashem, he still does many things that distance him from Hashem. He does not enjoy the deveikus b’Hashem that a tzadik does.
Yet we are taught במקום שבעלי תשובה עומדין אין צדיקים גמורין יכולין לעמוד. In a sense a baal teshuva is greater than even the greatest tzadik. We can judge them by the hard work they put into their avodas Hashem. For a tzadik to do good comes natural, his body and soul are programmed to do Hashem’s will. A baal teshuvah struggles all his life for Hashem’s glory, every waking hour of his day he is a soldier fighting to do what’s right. The toil he puts in to do what’s right, is what makes him greater.
Luchos rishonim was given to Klal Yisroel at their point of perfection. Klal Yisroel, with the luchos rishonim were to be free of sin, free of the yetzer horah and free of death - a nation of tzadikim only capable of glorifying Hashem’s name. Had we physically gotten the luchos we would have kept that level and been an eternally perfect nation and brought perfection to the world. But we didn’t manage to bring the luchos down to the world. With the sin of the eigel, we lost the luchos, the handiwork of Hashem was smashed before our eyes, the broken pieces lie at the foot of the mountain. We put ourselves back into the world of imperfection. We now struggle to keep ourselves holy and close to Hashem. We are a nation of baalei teshuvah.
One, who is pure in all ways and has distanced himself from all wrongdoing, must be told only of the positive commandments. His main avodah is running after mitzvos. His greatest pleasure is to actively serve Hashem with love. The negative commandments aren’t really necessary for him for there is no will to do any wrong. A baal teshuvah, on the other hand, must first be told of what not to do- the negative commandments, and only then can he be told of the positive mitzvos, how to actively serve Hashem.
Parshas Yisro relates to the level we were on when we received the first luchos- on the level of tzadikim. In luchos reshonim Shabbos is given to them as a positive commandment- zachor. In parshas V’eschanan Klal Yisroel was after the sin of the eigal- on a lower level, a level of baalei teshuvah. Luchos achronim came to an imperfect nation, what they had to hear was the negative commandment- shomer.

Parsha Chayai Sorah

When Eliezer went out to find a wife for Yitzchok, he planned a simple 'test' to see which girl would be right for Yitzchok. He would request a drink of water from a girl. If she would give him and then offer his camels to drink, she would surely be the right wife for Yitzchok.
There are two middos that seemingly are the same, but are vastly different- the midda of chesed and that of rachamim. Both look the same, for both involve giving to someone anything that he lacks. Yet the difference is elementary. A baal rachamim dosn't just give out of the goodness in his heart. If a pauper comes his way he feels bad and hurt for the fellow and helps him accordingly. As much mercy as he has on the poor man, that's how much he will help him- he is there to fill the needs of others. A baal chesed on the other hand is much greater. He is someone that feels a need to give, a need to help others. This need stems from his own feeling that he must give and goes out to find people that he can do favors for. That was the middah of Avraham- chessed. On a scorching hot day he sat outside looking and running after guests- for he felt a need to give and couldn't rest unless he was helping someone else. Eliezer was looking for someone who was ready to join the house of Avraham and the most important quality she had to posses was that of chessed. He devised a plan to see if the girl was a baalas rachamim or was she on the higher level of a baalas chessed. He would ask her for a drink - if she was a baalas rachamim she would gladly offer him- a wary travler- some water to drink. But he was looking for much more. He wanted to see if she would go the extra mile and do extra for him. Would she out do her duty and find a way to give more- was she a baalas chessed? If she offered the camels a drink also, she did more then she was asked- then she was the right one to join the house of chessed.

In the zemiros of Friday night we say, דורשי יי זרע אברהם אוהבו. המאחרים לצאת מן השבת וממהרים לבא

Why do we refer to Klal Yisroel as the children of Avraham when we say that they anxiously wait for Shabbos to begin?
All mitzvahs have an exact time and place when and how they can and should be done. We have no right to add or subtract fom any mitzvah. We don't have permission to do a mitzvah more then we are told to do just because we want to do more - it is baal tosef. The only mitzvah we could add to is Shabbos. We can accept Shabbos a little early and extend it a few hours into the night after nightfall- the mitzva of Tosfes Shabbos. That is the way we show Hashem that we serve him not because we are told, but rather because it's what we really want to do- our middah of chessed in doing mitzvahs. The middah of Avraham is what gave us the zechus of Tosfes Shabbos.

Lzchus refuah shleima for Shaindel bas Golda

Parshas Bereishis

The shir of Shabbos begins with an introduction מִזְמוֹר שִׁיר לְיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּֽת this is the shir of Shabbos. (Point to ponder: why doesn't any other shir shel yom start with the same introduction?) If you read and learn the rest of the chapter you will not find a single reference to Shabbos. How did this chapter become the chapter of Shabbos? Why when you say this chapter, do some poskim hold that you were mekabel Shabbos?
Let us learn the chapter of Tehilim to get a better understanding. טוֹב לְהֹדוֹת לַיהֹוָה וּלְזַמֵּר לְשִׁמְךָ עֶלְיֽוֹן- everything Hashem does is perfect and should be praised. לְהַגִּיד בַּבֹּקֶר חַסְֽדֶּךָ - in the dawn when everything is bright, tell the world of Hashem's chesed. וֶאֱמֽוּנָֽתְךָ בַּלֵּילֽוֹת- when it's dark and there's no hope in sight, talk of your faith in Him. Dovid Hamelech goes on to answer the question that has bothered everyone since Moshe: בִּפְרֹחַ רְשָׁעִים כְּֽמוֹ עֵשֶׂב - Why do the wicked florish? Why is it that the evil can enjoy the world while the rightous suffer? To this King Dovid answers: לְהִשָּֽׁמְדָם עֲדֵי־עַֽד - they will be lost forever. The wicked enjoy this world for it is all they have, they don't have a part in the world to come. צַדִּיק כַּתָּמָר יִפְרָח כְּאֶרֶז בַּלְּבָנוֹן יִשְׂגֶּֽה- The righteous don't need the pleasures of this world. שְׁתוּלִים בְּבֵית יְהֹוָה בְּחַצְרוֹת אֱלֹהֵינוּ יַפְרִֽיחוּ - they will florish and enjoy the house of Hashem in the world to come. The theme of the mizmor is perfection. If you look at the world through Hashem's lens you will not see any bad in the world- every good deed is payed in full, while no bad deed will go unaccounted for. We just dont have the eyes to see it and sometimes we need to rely on our faith, לְהַגִּיד כִּֽי־יָשָׁר יְהֹוָה צוּרִי וְֽלֹא עַוְלָתָה בּֽוֹ - that all of Hashems ways are perfect.
The final posuk of the six days of creation- the posuk that ushered in the first Shabbos is: וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת-כָּל-אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה, וְהִנֵּה-טוֹב מְאֹד - Hashem looked at the entire creation, at everthing that will ever traspire in the world- the yetzar tov and the yetzar horah, the good and the evil, everything- and it was very good- perfect. וַיְהִי-עֶרֶב וַיְהִי-בֹקֶר, יוֹם הַשִּׁשִּׁי - with that knowledge the world was ready to enter Shabbos. Shabbos is 'Yom shekulo tov' the day when all in the world is perfect, a day that we leave all of our worries of the week and we enter the world of Hashem- the world of perfection.
What is a more appropriate shir to welcome the Shabbos then the shir that sings of the perfection of the world?

Adopted from Pachad Yitzchok- Shabbos mamer 2.

Parshas Shelach

Rashi says that the story of the mekoshesh eitzim comes to tell us the downfall of Klal Yisroel. They kept the first Shabbos, but the second Shabbos they were mechalel. (Point to ponder; why was all of Klal Yisroel guilty of chilul Shabbos if only one person was guilty) The Mahral explains that Rashi saw from the Pesukim that the story happened when they were commanded about Shabbos. He asks how does Rashi Know that it happened the second Shabbos and not the first?
The 16th day of Iyar a Sunday, the Mon started to fall. That Friday the 21st of the month a double portion of mon fell and Yisroel was told of the hilchos Shabbos. The posuk tells us that on Shabbos Klal Yisroel went out to look for the Mon and they found none. The Marahal says it was that Shabbos that was the first one that Klal Yisroel rested and is the first time that the seventh day of the week is called Shabbos. Up until Parshas Beshalach- Parshas Hamon- there is no mention of the word Shabbos. The day only got the name Shabbos after klal Yisroel rested on that day. That is what Rashi means when they kept the first Shabbos- for had they not it wouldn't have been Shabbos at all. The first possible Shabbos that the story was able to take place was thus the second Shabbos.
What needs explanation is what does the term Shabbos mean and why was it only applied after Klal Yisroel rested?

The reason we have a Shabbos is to show our belief that Hashem created the world from nothing. The Bnie Noach are also obligated to believe in one G-d, so why is it a Goy that rests on Shabbos is punished by death?
The basic concept of the number seven s that every physical object has six sides- the seventh element is the inside- the hidden, that keeps it together. There are six day of the week and the seventh day- the belief in Hashem, is what keeps the world together. Every single society has a seven day week, nowhere in the world- to my knowledge- did they change that yet. For everyone has this basic belief ingrained in them. Klal Yisroels Shabbos is more then that. When we rest on Shabbos we connect to the source of creation- Hashem! Shabbos takes Klal Yisroel to 'Yom sheculo tov' out of the phyisical and into the world of Hashem. To that world the goyim have no connection. Up untill Klal Yisroel first forged that connection the seventh day was just that- the seventh day. No inherent kedusha, just the fact and belief that there is one G-d. When Klal Yisroel rested that first Shabbos they created a new reality- a reality called Shabbos, one that connects us to Olam Haba and the world of pure spirituality.

Parshas Korach

The Mishna in Avos says that ten things were created Friday afternoon bein hashmoshos- one of them being the hole that swallowed Korach. The Maharal explains that Friday afternoon is the bridge between the mundane days of the week and the holy Shabbos. The twelve and a half minutes of bein hashmoshos is part of the six days of creation and thus something had to be created. At the same time it’s part of Shabbos so whatever was created had the spark of Shabbos in it- an added kedusha. The ten things created at that point were all things that are physical but yet have an extra spark of ruchnius- spiritualism. (I.e. Bilam’s donkey was a regular donkey but had a spiritual charge that gave it the power of speech.) That is why we light Shabbos candles at that moment for the candles are the spark that links the days of creation into the world of menucha.
Rabbeinu Yona says that when one is born he gets his neshoma from the heavens and his body comes from the ground. When one is niftar the two parts separate and return to where they came from, the body is buried in the ground while the soul returns to heaven for judgment and eventually back to the heavenly throne where it came from.
May we suggest that under normal circumstances the earth cannot swallow a human soul. The ability for the earth to rise up and be able to swallow a human soul - something purely spiritual, was something that was only able to be created bein hashmoshos on Friday. Just like everything else on the list the ‘mouth of the earth’ that swallowed Korach, was something physical with a touch of spirit added.

Parshas Naso

The last part of the Parsha talks about the chanukas hamishkan and the twelve days that followed. (Interesting to note that that day in history- the First of Nissan- is mentioned in Sefarim Shemos, Vayikra and Bamidbor). The narrative begins with "B'yom kalous Moshe lhokim es hamishkan"- The day Moshe set up the Mishkan. The Medrish compares the Mishkan to the creation of the world and ends off with the comparison of the word ‘kalous’ with the word “Vayichal’ Elokim bayom hashevie” - from the posak that completed the creation of the world. The Alshach explains this with a famous Medrish. The Medrish says that the Seven days prior to the building of the Mishkan, Moshe would set up the Mishkan and dismantle it twice a day- once for the morning Korban Tomid and one for the evening one. What needs understanding is- why did Moshe have to dismantle it every day? Couldn’t he just leave it standing throughout the week? The Alshach explains that the Mishkan couldn’t stand naturally, only through a nes. The Mishkan in its mere physical state could not stand, it needed the Kedusha, the Neshoma from Hashem. That is why the days prior to the inauguration it just couldn’t stand so Moshe had to dismantle it. The same is true with the world at large. Hashem created the world in six days, the state of the world was that of a ‘golam’ until Shabbos came along and gave it its spark, its life- its kedusha and neshoma. The six days of the week would not be able to last if it were not for Shabbos that comes every Seventh day.
This is what the Medrish is comparing, the day of Shabbos when the world was complete- which was the day that gave it the possibility to go on. To the Mishkan the day that it was complete- the First day of Nissin- gave it the power to stand.

Parshas Emor

In Parshas Emor we find a few posukim that talk about the Lechem Haponim that were set on the Shulchan. The Posuk (24;8) says “Beyom hashabbos beyom hashabbos yarchenu lefnai Hashem” loosely translated - Each Shabbos he shall set it before Hashem. What has to be understood is why does the Torah repeat the words “beyom hashabbos”? The Alshich explains this by pointing out that the Lechem Haponim were actually on the Shulchan for eight days. The day they were put on- Shabbos, is day one and taken off the following Shabbos which is day eight- the point of it being eight days is of great significance, but we’ll leave that for now. That is what the meaning behind the writing two times “beyom hashabbos”.
Chazal say (Shabbos 118) that if Klal Yisroel would keep two Shabbosim they would be redeemed. The Sedurai Shel Shabbos in his hakdomah explains that Shabbos lasts until the following Tuesday. The new Shabbos comes in on the Wednesday before. (Hence we end off the Shiur of Wednesday with the first posak of lecha nerannenah). He says that if we really kept Shabbos it would take us through the week up until the next Shabbos. The Gemorah is telling us that is we keep two Shabbosim- meaning we connect the two Shabbosim. If Shabbos lasts us till Tuesday and we are ready for Shabbos Wednesday then our whole week is one big Shabbos and that is what can bring the Geulah. May we suggest that this is the lesson of the Lechem Haponim. It rested in the Mishkan from Shabbos to Shabbos for Eight days thus connecting the two Shabbosim- making it one day “shekoolo Shabbos”.