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Parshas Balak-פרשת בלק

June 24, 2010 // Posted in Weekly Parsha Divrei Torah (Tags: ) |  No Comments

This weeks parsha has the infamous story that Bilam’s donkey spoke and answered him back. If you read through the dialogue, you’ll notice the following. Bilam was told by Hashem not to go, but he still goes. He then saddles his own donkey and leaves with the officers from Moav.  En route, the donkey sees a malach that Bilam doesn’t and starts to veer off course.  After being forced three times to veer off the course and Bilam hitting it, the donkey finally gets upset and responds. He says: why did you hit me these three times? Had I not served you and been good to you my entire life? It was only then that Hashem opened up the eyes of Bilam and he saw the malach standing in front of him.

The loshon that the donkey used was ‘zeh shalosh regalim’-these three times. The donkey was telling Bilam, that if you’re trying to annihilate this nation that has three yomim tovim, you’ll never succeed. The obvious question is what is the correlation?  What does the three moadim have to do with the reason why Bilam won’t succeed? Why wont Bilam be matzliach due to the fact that we celebrate three regalim?

Rav Shaul m’Amsterdam offers a beautiful idea. The pasuk says (24:1) ‘Vayashes el hamidbar panav, Bilam looked towards the midbar to view klal Yisroel from a different angle. The Targum translates this pasuk to mean that Bilam looked back into the midbar to try to remind Hashem of the egel we worshipped. Bilam was trying to conjure up in the mind of Hashem the episode of the egel. He was saying: you think klal Yisroel is different? You think they’re special? They aren’t; remember they served the egel in the midbar? Bilam was attempting to use the sin of the egel as his weaponry towards bnei Yisroel, so that his curse would be cast on klal Yisroel. He was trying to make us like we were a nothing.

One of the piyutim we say on pesach, composed by one of the rishonim, says ‘ratzoi eleh-v’eleh hem mo’adoy’-meaning you were appeased with the eleh elokecha yisroel from the eleh hem mo’adoy. How did we get Hashem to forgive us for the chait h’egel? From the fact that we celebrate three regalim.

The Sforno writes that the biggest part of the sin of the egel was that bnei Yisroel was rejoicing over the aveirah. When Moshe Rabeinu saw them rejoicing over it he knew there were major issues going on and that’s why he broke the Luchos when he got down and not when he was still in shomayim.

When klal Yisroel is happy and rejoicing with something it shows what they’re all about. If a person is happy with something and rejoices over it then that too shows what they are all about. If one rejoices with spiritual things then we can assume they are on a high level spiritually.  If they rejoice over mundane things we can see they are a very simple mundane empty person.

The essence of a yom tov is to rejoice and to be happy. We all must understand that one of the main goals while erforming a mitzvah is to be happy; it should not feel like it’s a burden.

The Avnei Nezer writes in his hakdamah to the Egeli Tal that what does it mean that someone learns Torah l’shma? How does one know if its l’shma or not? He answers; when someone is happy when he learns that’s purely for the sake of Torah.  Bilam was trying to say ‘look, they rejoiced over the egel’. But the donkey said right back ‘yes, but they fixed it by rejoicing over mitzvos and the three regalim.

May we all be zoche to reach a level of performing mitzvohs and learning Torah l’shama and may we continue to try and elevate ourselves through doing mitzvos b’simcha.

(search by: chumash; torah; parsha; balak; parshas balak; rav shaul Amsterdam; sforno; avnei nezer; donkey; bilam; rejoicing over something; doing mitzvos b’simcha; eglei tal; learning l’shma; moadim; shalosh regalim; egel; midbar; rejoicing over a mitzvah)

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Parshas Chukas-פרשת חקת

June 17, 2010 // Posted in Weekly Parsha Divrei Torah (Tags: ) |  No Comments

This weeks parsha discusses the incident of the mai merivoh, where Moshe committed an aveiroh that ultimately led to his punishment of not being allowed in Eretz Yisroel. This aveira is of great significance because had he gone into Eretz Yisroel, the medrash says, the Bais Hamikdosh would have been built immediately and would have never been destroyed. All the exiles, suffering and pain that klal Yisroel experienced throughout history would have been avoided had Moshe gone into Eretz Yisroel. And yet the Torah is extremely vague and unclear about what exactly the aveiroh was; יען לא האמנתם בי להקדשני לעיני בני ישראל (20:12), because you didn’t believe in Me to sanctify Me in the eyes of bnei Yisroel.

The rishonim attempt to define these vague words and offer different p’shatim in trying to pinpoint the exact chait. The sefer Haikrim suggests that the chait was that Moshe was not mekadesh shem shomayim because he did not attempt to draw water from the rock on his own accord and trust that Hashem would fulfill his will. When Moshe heard klal Yisroel complaining that there was no water, he should have taken the initiative and made an effort to draw water from the rock.

These words seem somewhat puzzling. All of the miracles that Moshe preformed in Mitzrayim were all done following Hashems orders. Krias yam suf, the mon, slov and the bier Miriam were all carried out as commands from the Ribono Shel Olam. Why do we suddenly hold Moshe liable for not initiating and attempting to perform a miracle on his own accord?

The Meshech Chochmo explains that it was because this incident occurred after the confrontation with Korach. As Korach began challenging the authenticity of Moshe and began falsely accusing him of favoritism, the reputation of Moshe’s integrity was on the line. So Moshe responded by challenging Korach and his cohorts to a test that would validate his truthfulness and expected Hashem to back him and create a new form of death. He anticipated that the unnatural occurrence of the ground opening its mouth and swallowing all his challengers along with their belongings would solidify his faithfulness and erase any doubts created by Korach. It was because of this that he was expected to initiate drawing water from the rock. For when his own reputation was being questioned and doubted he expected Hashem to change the natural course of the world to prove him right. Yet when klal Yisroel began complaining of thirst he didn’t feel it was necessary to attempt to change the natural course of the world. That could lead to some cynics saying that he is only concerned with his own honor and not the honor of Hashem and His people. He was expected not to mislead people into thinking that he is only concerned with himself and not the Honor of Hashem.

It was known that Harav Shach Z’tl would refrain from putting food into his mouth every morning before nine o’clock. When asked about this seemingly strange custom he responded with a powerful lesson. He said; every morning at eight o’clock there are millions of non frum kids that walk into a classroom to begin their day. But their day does not begin with modeh ani. Their day does not begin with shema Yisroel. Their day begins without a mention of the Ribono Shel Olam. Their day starts without acknowledging the gifts and favors they receive from Hashem. What a chilul Hashem! How can I possibly sit down and eat in a time of the day that the Ribono Shel Olams name is being desecrated by millions of Jewish kids.

We all should be zoche to have feelings and emotions of being mekadesh shem shomayim and treating the honor of the Borei olam as our own.

(Search by: parshas; torah; chukas; parshas chukas; chumash; meshech chochma; moshe hitting rock; rock; chait of moshe; rav shach; being mekadesh shem shomayim;)

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Parshas Korach-פרשת קרח

June 10, 2010 // Posted in Weekly Parsha Divrei Torah (Tags: ) |  No Comments

In this weeks parsha, Korach contests Moshe Rabbeinu as the leader of klal Yisroel. He also contests Aharon and his kehuna and the Nasi of Shevet Levi, which in turn created tremendous machlokes amongst klal Yisroel. Korach wanted to know why he wasn’t given an important position in klal Yisroel and why certain people held certain titles/positions?  It is explicit from the pasukim that there was a test given to prove the authenticity of shevet Levi and that they were  ‘chosen’ by Hashem as to be exclusive from amongst the children of Yaakov Avinu.

The pasuk starts (17:17) by Hashem telling Moshe to advise each shevet to take a staff and inscribe the name of their nasi on it and bring it to the ohel moed to be chosen from. When they are all there, I will choose one staff (shevet) that will blossom for all to see. In the next pasuk (17:23), it states that the staff of Aharon (which represented shevet Levi) was the staff that blossomed and developed almonds. Moshe brought out all the staffs from all the shevatim and everyone saw how the staff of Aharon blossomed thus proving to all that he was chosen by Hashem. The pasuk ends that after each shevet saw how shevet Levi was chosen from Hashem they all took their staffs back.

The evident question is why are the shevatim taking back their staffs? What significance was there in their staffs that weren’t chosen? Were they simply a souvenir?

Secondly, from the fact that there was a test done to prove shevet Levi’s authenticity must infer that there is some kind of uniqueness that shevet Levi has obtained  What was so special about shevet Levi that they were ‘chosen’? What was so special about them that they proved themselves chosen from this test?

When the Bnei Yisroel conquered Eretz Yisroel all the Shevatim received some land to build on it, invest with or to develop on for their livelihood.  That is, every shevet except Shevet Levi who wasn’t given any land. With this we can answer the question; Shevet Levi was chosen because they were willing to forfeit any land and all mundane arrangements to spend their entire lives around Torah and around the Mishkan. As long as they were surrounded by ruchnious they were willing to forgo all materialistic pleasure.

Rav Zalman Sorotzkin zt”l, says all the other shevatim were willing to forgo their portion in Eretz Yisroel for the privilege to be surrounded by Torah. Every shevet produced a staff but at the end it was Aharon’s staff that grew almonds. Every nasi brought home his staff to show his wife and his children that they too tried to live a life of Torah; they tried to forfeit all their gashmiyus and to dedicate themselves to a lifestyle devoted to Hashem and His Torah. But they weren’t chosen!

Every single person whether they were zoche to reach a certain level of yiddishkeit or not has to show his wife and his children that he tried. He wanted to. He was prepared to live that type of life on that type of level but plain and simple wasn’t chosen.

The purpose of the staff was to be mechazek them. Every time they saw that staff, the one that wasn’t chosen, it reminded them of what happened and strengthened them in their limud hatorah. A person could say I tried; I spent five, ten or fifteen years in kollel but I couldn’t do more. I tried. They showed everyone their she’ifus (desire) through their staff.

In the times of European Jewry when all the bochurim came home for yom tov their fathers would all line up outside the house of R’ Chaim and bring their children who had come home from out of town yeshivas to wish him a good yom tov. The fathers would say ‘my son is learning in Baranovich; my son is learning in Kaminetz; mine is learning in Mir’, etc…There was this one father who was on line and his son wasn’t in yeshiva but rather in college in Berlin.  As the line quickly moved forward this man found himself in front of Reb Chaim. Not sure what to say he overheard the man in front of him say that his son learned in Volozhin. As this man approaches he says ‘we wanted to send him to Volozhin but he ended up in Berlin‘. Rav Chaim said back to him ‘interesting…you had a desire to send him to Volozhin but you actually sent him to Berlin’.

When a person has a desire to do something he has to act on it.  Besides the yearning he has to be willing to execute and carry out his desires as well. We all have desires and we all strive to be better. But are we willing to execute them and act on them?

May we all merit the day when we will once again be able to feel and appreciate the uniqueness in shevet Levi as they once again perform the avodah in the Beis Hamikdash b’karov.

(Search by: torah; chumash; parsha; parshas korach; korach; reb chaim; volozhin; rav zalman sorotzkin; machlokes;aharon; moshe; shevet levi; why shevet levi was chosen; aharons staff blossomed; blossom; desire; forfeiting materialistic things; living a life full of torah)

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Parshas Shelach-פרשת שלח

June 4, 2010 // Posted in Weekly Parsha Divrei Torah (Tags: ) |  No Comments

This week’s parsha starts off with the unfolding story of the spies. Last week’s parsha ends with the story of Miriam speaking loshon hara about Moshe. Rashi asks the obvious question: what is the common thread running thru these two stories? He answers that the spies were wicked because they saw how Miriam was punished for speaking loshon hara and they didn’t learn a lesson from her. We can infer from this, that there was a certain aspect of the story with Miriam that shed light on a new halacha of loshon hara that Miriam taught us, yet the spies didn’t pick it up. Rashi doesn’t say that the sin came just from the fact that they spoke loshon hara about the land but rather their defiance from the actions of Miriam that the spies did not pick up on.  Asks Reb Shimon Schwab Zt”l, what new chiddush was learned from the episode of Miriam?

Reb Shimon, Zt”l answers with an important lesson:

A person can assume that the issur of loshon hara is between two or more human beings. When a person and his friend (bein adam l’chaveiro) speak negative about someone else, the other party ultimately get insulted and may even struggle financially because of it. However, what about loshon hara on sticks and stones? What about loshon hara on a building? They obviously have no feelings, so a person can justify his actions by saying ‘what’s the big deal it’s an inanimate object, they have no feelings?

One could say that Moshe Rabbeinu had no feelings because the pasuk says Moshe was the most humble person that ever walked on the face of the earth. We can be certain that he held no grudges, no complaints and forgave everyone that ever mocked him allowing nothing to bother him. Why should there be any issur of loshon hara on him? Yet, we see that Miriam still got plagued.

We see from here that the lesson to be learnt is that although there were no feelings involved and no one seemed to get insulted nevertheless it is still forbidden to speak bad about something holy. Moshe, as we know, spoke to Hashem ‘peh el peh’, he was a walking shtick kedusha. If someone spoke badly about Moshe it was as if he insulted Hashem because Moshe was on such a high level.

The same is true about the holy soil of Eretz Yisroel. Yes, it’s just land; but it is the place of Hashem’s house. Hashem says ‘ki li ha’aretz’…the land is mine; someone who speaks loshon hara about it is as if he walked into Hashem’s backyard and insulted Him. For that, one will get reprimanded.

That was the chiddush that the spies failed to learn from Miriam. From the fact that even on Moshe Rabeinu there was an issur for someone to speak loshon hara should have taught them that for anything that’s a davar shebikdusha, especially Hashem’s backyard, one must choose his words extremely wisely. Although land has no feelings, but Hashem does. By the spies talking bad about the land it was as if they spoke chutzpa to Hashem……‘eretz she’ani doresh osah’…

Rav Pam, Zt”l would often say, people complain about Eretz Yisroel that it’s a poor country and it has many problems and it’s not safe with all the fighting . He asks, if a person unfortunately has a brother with a disability, would he blurt it out to everyone he meets or would he try to keep it within himself? That’s how one has to look at Eretz Yisroel….. it’s OUR brother. Although it has no feeling of its own, the issur still applies. That’s what the spies failed to grasp causing them to get punished.

The next time we want to comment about a yeshiva or a shul or any other davar shebikdusha one should be careful to choose his words wisely; the issur still applies.

(Search by: chumash; parsha; shelach; parshas shelach; torah; reb shimon schwab; rav pam; loshon hara; spies; meraglim; Miriam; Israel; eretz yisroel; speaking loshon hara; learning from others; the chiddush halacha of loshon hara)

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