ראה אנכי נתן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה. The meforshim all ask, why does the posuk start using the singular form- "You ('Reai' singular) shall see" and continue in the plural- "Before you ('lefnaichem' plural)"?
The Kotzker aswers, the Torah was given the same to every Jew, each one of us have the same potential connection to the Torah. The only difference is how much we as individuals connect and learn the Torah. Every Jew has the potential to fully attach himself to every word of Hashem, for it was given to all of us together. It's our personal choice of how much we realy want to be connected and live with Hashem's words.
With this in mind the question doesn't start, each one of us has to see for himself how much of the Torah- that was given to all of Yisroel- he wants.
29 August, 2008
22 August, 2008
This week’s parsha we learn about the mitzvah of bentching. The posuk seems to tie the mitzvah of bentching and Eretz Yisroel together.
There is a machlokes (Tur, Orach Chaim; 208) regarding the wording of the brocha of ‘Al hamichya’. Some reshonim (so is the Sfardic custom) take out the words ‘Venochal mepirya v’nisba metuva’ where we ask to be able to enjoy the fruits of Eretz Yisroel. Rabbianu Yona explains that in a prayer where we ask for the rebuilding of Yerushalayim, our aspirations shouldn’t be the wanting of eating of the fruits. In such a special brocha we should much rather ask to be able to fulfill the mitzvos that are special to Eretz Yisroel. The Bach defends the Ashkenazic custom. He writes that the land of Eretz Yisroel is actually blessed by Hashem and there is a spiritual manifestation in the actual soil and thus in every fruit that grows in Eretz Yisroel. The only way to get that piece of Hashem into your body is if you go and eat a part of the land- which would be a fruit. So that the prayer and yearning to eat the fruits of Eretz Yisroel isn’t merely to be satiated with delicious fruits, rather a will to ingest part of the kedusha of Eretz Yisroel into our bodies.
Every one of the seven parshios that we read after Tisha B’av has a special message of nechama in them. We could say that this is the message of the Parsha. We are fixing the first tragedy that led to the churban- the meraglim. Their mistake was that they didn’t perceive Eretz Yisroel as Hashem’s land. The Torah puts them both together - the fruits of the land and the mitzvah of bentching - to thank Hashem for what we ate and to remind us to yearn to be able to eat the much more delicious fruits- the ones that have a piece of Hashem in them.
18 August, 2008
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?
08 August, 2008
Shabbos Chazon
The tragedy of Tisha Bav started when Klal Yisroel cried all night and didn’t want to enter Eretz Yisroel, after hearing the meraglim’s report. This was the beginning of many tragedies that befell us on this day. But the Mishna associates it as the first of five disasters that include and are related to the churban habais. And as mentioned last week, parallel the five tragedies of the 17th of Tamuz.
This weeks Parsha when Moshe recounts the story of the meraglim he tells them that when they requested the meraglim the asked for spies that would come back and tell them an answer. In Parshas Shelach- when the story happened the posuk doesn’t say anything about them bringing an answer back to Moshe and Klal Yisroel.
Back in Parshas Shelach Rashi says that the Meraglim all went with bad intentions. The Maharal asks that there is an apparent contradiction, Rashi just a few pessukim before says that at the time when they were appointed they were all tzadikim. When did this turn about from tzadikim to them having bad intentions come about? The Maharahl answers that they might have been tzadikim at the time of departure but they went with their own intentions not that of Moshe. Moshe told them just to spy the land- not with any intention of getting feed back of how to conquer Eretz Yisroel. Moshe knew that there is no need for that knowledge- for Hashem had promised them the land. Moshe’s intention was that Klal Yisroel should see that Eretz Yisroel is not like any other land that even the mere physical in the holy land, is just that- holy. Klal Yisroel was living in a dessert in a pure spiritual environment. The bread they ate was the mann- straight from the heaven, their water was from the well- again straight from heaven and even their living quarters were the clouds of glory. Klal Yisroel wasn’t ready to live in a physical land where they would eat potatoes and wheat that grow from the ground and yet stay and the spiritual level of eating mann. Their mission was to go and see that Eretz Yisroel is precisely that where the water that comes from a well is just like the Well of Miriam and the wheat that makes the bread is just like the mann. They went with their own intentions that Eretz Yisroel is just a land and has to be conquered just like any other land and the fruits are the same as every other land.
There is a story said about the Baal mechaber of the Baer Lachai Roi. He came to Eretz Yisroel and complained to a friend, that he was told that the stones in Eretz Yisroel are diamonds but he looked around and he didn’t see any. The guy told him must be your problem if you can’t see it. He locked himself into a room and sat there and yearned for a closeness to Hashem. He came out and sent a message to his friend that he was right, with proper closeness to Hashem he now sees the diamonds clearly.
The mistake was just like that of the eigal, they took Hashem out of the equation. They didn’t see Eretz Yisroel as The land where ‘The eyes of Hashem’ are focused. And without Hashem even Eretz Yisroel became just like any other land and even the Bais Hamikdosh the holiest place on earth became a trotting ground for animals. And its no wonder how yidden- people that are have a piece of Hashem in them, can be lead like sheep to slaughter- if we ourselves ignore the G-dlieness that lies in our souls.
This weeks Parsha when Moshe recounts the story of the meraglim he tells them that when they requested the meraglim the asked for spies that would come back and tell them an answer. In Parshas Shelach- when the story happened the posuk doesn’t say anything about them bringing an answer back to Moshe and Klal Yisroel.
Back in Parshas Shelach Rashi says that the Meraglim all went with bad intentions. The Maharal asks that there is an apparent contradiction, Rashi just a few pessukim before says that at the time when they were appointed they were all tzadikim. When did this turn about from tzadikim to them having bad intentions come about? The Maharahl answers that they might have been tzadikim at the time of departure but they went with their own intentions not that of Moshe. Moshe told them just to spy the land- not with any intention of getting feed back of how to conquer Eretz Yisroel. Moshe knew that there is no need for that knowledge- for Hashem had promised them the land. Moshe’s intention was that Klal Yisroel should see that Eretz Yisroel is not like any other land that even the mere physical in the holy land, is just that- holy. Klal Yisroel was living in a dessert in a pure spiritual environment. The bread they ate was the mann- straight from the heaven, their water was from the well- again straight from heaven and even their living quarters were the clouds of glory. Klal Yisroel wasn’t ready to live in a physical land where they would eat potatoes and wheat that grow from the ground and yet stay and the spiritual level of eating mann. Their mission was to go and see that Eretz Yisroel is precisely that where the water that comes from a well is just like the Well of Miriam and the wheat that makes the bread is just like the mann. They went with their own intentions that Eretz Yisroel is just a land and has to be conquered just like any other land and the fruits are the same as every other land.
There is a story said about the Baal mechaber of the Baer Lachai Roi. He came to Eretz Yisroel and complained to a friend, that he was told that the stones in Eretz Yisroel are diamonds but he looked around and he didn’t see any. The guy told him must be your problem if you can’t see it. He locked himself into a room and sat there and yearned for a closeness to Hashem. He came out and sent a message to his friend that he was right, with proper closeness to Hashem he now sees the diamonds clearly.
The mistake was just like that of the eigal, they took Hashem out of the equation. They didn’t see Eretz Yisroel as The land where ‘The eyes of Hashem’ are focused. And without Hashem even Eretz Yisroel became just like any other land and even the Bais Hamikdosh the holiest place on earth became a trotting ground for animals. And its no wonder how yidden- people that are have a piece of Hashem in them, can be lead like sheep to slaughter- if we ourselves ignore the G-dlieness that lies in our souls.
01 August, 2008
Serving Hashem
Five things happened on the 17th of Tamuz and five things on Tisha B'av. The Maharal explains that the two sets of five mirror each other, the ones from Sheva Aser Betamuz are the beginning of the churban while the five things that happened on Tisha B'av are the end of the churban. The first thing the Mishna states is the breaking of the Luchas on the seventeenth day of Tamuz, after Klal Yisroel made and worshiped the golden calf. (Interesting to note that there is no mention of the making of the eigal in the Mishna, only the aftermath). What is the relationship between the breaking of the luchas and the churban of the Bais Hamikdash? What about that tragedy led to the churban Habais?
Let us try to understand a little bit of what the sin of the eigal was and why Moshe’s response was to break the Luchas.
In the Kuzri the King of Kuzar asks the Rabbi, how is it that the same people that received the Torah were able to turn around and sin the way they did and worship a graven image? To which the Rabbi answered- had they built a temple and built an alter in the middle and read from a scroll- would you be at peace with it? Of course we would- we do it everyday – it’s part and parcel of our Judaism. The problem we have in relating to the eigal is that the concept of worshiping a golden calf is foreign to us but to them a golden calf was the way everyone served g-d. One of the thirteen Ani Mamins is that Hashem is not a physical being and that no physical being can fathom him. At Matan Torah the skies opened and we all saw the highest levels- Klal Yisroel saw that there is nothing to see- that there is no physicality in heaven at all. Forty days later Klal Yisroel felt that they couldn’t relate to Hashem totally divorced from physicality, they felt that they needed something down here that could connect them to Hashem. R’ Shamshon R. Hirsch says that they were serving Hashem the way they saw fit, not the way that Hashem had told them to. Thus they had taken the G-dliness out of serving Hashem and that is making an avodah zorah out of Hashem. Moshe didn’t break the luchas as a punishment, he showed Klal Yisroel that if you take Hashem out of the picture, even something as holy as the Luchas- something that came straight from Hashem- is worthless and can be broken. Klal Yisroel’s mistake was not realizing that the only way to serve Hashem is by listening to him. The kapporah for the Eigal was the building of the Mishkan, which at every step the posuk says ‘Al pi Hashem’- everything was done solely because Hashem had said. The Meshach Chochma says that the Luchas had to be broken or else Klal Yisroel would have thrown away the Eigal and worshiped the Luchas as an alternative to their idea of serving Hashem and not the way that Hashem had commanded.
The same thing repeated itself many years later in Eretz Yisroel. Klal Yisroel served Hashem the way they felt appropriate and even with the Bais Hamikdosh they managed to lose sight of Hashem and his commandments. With that Klal Yisroel took Hashem out of his own city and only then were the Babylonians and later the Romans able to step foot into Yerushalayim.
Let us try to understand a little bit of what the sin of the eigal was and why Moshe’s response was to break the Luchas.
In the Kuzri the King of Kuzar asks the Rabbi, how is it that the same people that received the Torah were able to turn around and sin the way they did and worship a graven image? To which the Rabbi answered- had they built a temple and built an alter in the middle and read from a scroll- would you be at peace with it? Of course we would- we do it everyday – it’s part and parcel of our Judaism. The problem we have in relating to the eigal is that the concept of worshiping a golden calf is foreign to us but to them a golden calf was the way everyone served g-d. One of the thirteen Ani Mamins is that Hashem is not a physical being and that no physical being can fathom him. At Matan Torah the skies opened and we all saw the highest levels- Klal Yisroel saw that there is nothing to see- that there is no physicality in heaven at all. Forty days later Klal Yisroel felt that they couldn’t relate to Hashem totally divorced from physicality, they felt that they needed something down here that could connect them to Hashem. R’ Shamshon R. Hirsch says that they were serving Hashem the way they saw fit, not the way that Hashem had told them to. Thus they had taken the G-dliness out of serving Hashem and that is making an avodah zorah out of Hashem. Moshe didn’t break the luchas as a punishment, he showed Klal Yisroel that if you take Hashem out of the picture, even something as holy as the Luchas- something that came straight from Hashem- is worthless and can be broken. Klal Yisroel’s mistake was not realizing that the only way to serve Hashem is by listening to him. The kapporah for the Eigal was the building of the Mishkan, which at every step the posuk says ‘Al pi Hashem’- everything was done solely because Hashem had said. The Meshach Chochma says that the Luchas had to be broken or else Klal Yisroel would have thrown away the Eigal and worshiped the Luchas as an alternative to their idea of serving Hashem and not the way that Hashem had commanded.
The same thing repeated itself many years later in Eretz Yisroel. Klal Yisroel served Hashem the way they felt appropriate and even with the Bais Hamikdosh they managed to lose sight of Hashem and his commandments. With that Klal Yisroel took Hashem out of his own city and only then were the Babylonians and later the Romans able to step foot into Yerushalayim.
25 July, 2008
Parshas Mattos
The Rambam paskens (Ramban counts it as a mitzvah) that when conquering a city one should not to surround it from all four sides - only from three sides in order to leave room for anyone who wishes to escape. He learns it from a posuk in this week’s Parsha, (31;7) “And they formed an army against Midian as g-d had commanded Moshe”. (Based on a Sifri) They were commanded in the ways of war.
This Halacha is quite strange, why at a time when your at war with you enemy, do you let them escape, isn’t that counterproductive?
The Torah Temimah and the Meshach Chochma explain that the Rambam is giving us a brilliant strategy when going to war and in everyday life. When one is cornered into a corner he does all that he can to save himself. Ever see kids chasing a cat? The cat’s running for its life until it’s stuck and can’t get out. At that point the cat attacks and fights its way out scratching and kicking - when given no option it fights with all its might. When a city is surrounded from all four sides by the enemy and no one has any place to escape to, they will fight for their lives for they have nothing to lose - and that is a much more dangerous enemy.
(The Ramban explains that the reason for this is that it is in order for us to work on our Rachmonus- mercy and hence he counts it as a Mitzva).
This Halacha is quite strange, why at a time when your at war with you enemy, do you let them escape, isn’t that counterproductive?
The Torah Temimah and the Meshach Chochma explain that the Rambam is giving us a brilliant strategy when going to war and in everyday life. When one is cornered into a corner he does all that he can to save himself. Ever see kids chasing a cat? The cat’s running for its life until it’s stuck and can’t get out. At that point the cat attacks and fights its way out scratching and kicking - when given no option it fights with all its might. When a city is surrounded from all four sides by the enemy and no one has any place to escape to, they will fight for their lives for they have nothing to lose - and that is a much more dangerous enemy.
(The Ramban explains that the reason for this is that it is in order for us to work on our Rachmonus- mercy and hence he counts it as a Mitzva).
18 July, 2008
Parshas Pinchos
Rashi (27;16) quotes a Medrish that Moshe davened that his kids should take over his leadership of Klal Yisroel after he was nifter. Hashem answered that Yehoshuah Ben Nun would take over, in the zechus that he served Moshe and never left his side.
Were Moshes children worthy to lead Klal Yisroel? Did they have the qualities of a true leader? If yes why was it that Moshes prayers weren’t answered and if not why did Moshe want them to be the leaders?
The Hafloh answers, (R’ Shimon Schwab writes similarly) in truth no one was worthy to take the place of Moshe. It was impossible for anyone to lead Klal Yisroel the way Moshe did. Only Moshe spoke to Hashem and received the Torah straight from Hashem. Moshe in his great humility felt that he wasn’t either deserving of the position and felt that he got it as a gift from Hashem. His prayer was that being that no one was capable and deserving of being the leader of this great nation and who ever whould lead would be getting an extra dose of seatah dishmayah he wanted his sons to get that madriegah of closeness to Hashem. To which Hashem told him that even though no one was at the level Moshe was, Yehoshua Ben Nun was the only one that was worthy of getting the gift of greatness and thus be worthy of leading Klal Yisroel.
The Medrash states (quoted partially by Rashi 27;20) that when Yehoshuah took over, the zekainem said “Moshes face was like the sun (he was the source of light) and Yehoshuah’s face was like the moon (reflecting the light of the sun), woe is the embarrassment”. The basic understanding is that they were sad about the fact of how low they fell with the death of Moshe. The Baal HaIkrim explains that the zekainim realized that Yehoshuah wasn’t either worthy of leading, but was given that zechus in Klal Yisroel’s honor. At that point they realized that they too could’ve been zoche to such holiness had they just tried a little harder and served Moshe as faithfully as Yehoshuah did- and that was embarrassing to themselves.
Were Moshes children worthy to lead Klal Yisroel? Did they have the qualities of a true leader? If yes why was it that Moshes prayers weren’t answered and if not why did Moshe want them to be the leaders?
The Hafloh answers, (R’ Shimon Schwab writes similarly) in truth no one was worthy to take the place of Moshe. It was impossible for anyone to lead Klal Yisroel the way Moshe did. Only Moshe spoke to Hashem and received the Torah straight from Hashem. Moshe in his great humility felt that he wasn’t either deserving of the position and felt that he got it as a gift from Hashem. His prayer was that being that no one was capable and deserving of being the leader of this great nation and who ever whould lead would be getting an extra dose of seatah dishmayah he wanted his sons to get that madriegah of closeness to Hashem. To which Hashem told him that even though no one was at the level Moshe was, Yehoshua Ben Nun was the only one that was worthy of getting the gift of greatness and thus be worthy of leading Klal Yisroel.
The Medrash states (quoted partially by Rashi 27;20) that when Yehoshuah took over, the zekainem said “Moshes face was like the sun (he was the source of light) and Yehoshuah’s face was like the moon (reflecting the light of the sun), woe is the embarrassment”. The basic understanding is that they were sad about the fact of how low they fell with the death of Moshe. The Baal HaIkrim explains that the zekainim realized that Yehoshuah wasn’t either worthy of leading, but was given that zechus in Klal Yisroel’s honor. At that point they realized that they too could’ve been zoche to such holiness had they just tried a little harder and served Moshe as faithfully as Yehoshuah did- and that was embarrassing to themselves.
04 July, 2008
Parshas Chukas
Chazal learn from this week’s Parsha 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 Chazzon 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. It’s a goal that might be difficult- but definitely attainable.
The Chazzon 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. It’s a goal that might be difficult- but definitely attainable.
27 June, 2008
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.
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.
25 June, 2008
Story Time
R' Tzvi Kunstlinger Zatza"l who was a rav in Yerushalayim mid century, lost a few kids during his lifetime. His escape- just like any gadol- was a blatt gemora, he would immerse himself in learning and forget all his worries. One of his sons was nifter at the age of 35, on the operating table. The family didn't know how to break the news to him and decided on a plan. When he was learning they approached him and said that they asked the Belzer Rebbe Zatza”l how to do the operation but the doctors weren't successful. He looked up from his Gemora and said, "silly children you don’t ask a Rebbe how to operate you ask if you should operate” and with that went back to his Gemora.
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