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Succos 5771-סוכות תשע”א

September 22, 2010 // Posted in Yomim Tovim (Tags: ) |  No Comments

The Tur, in siman 417, writes in the name of his brother (Reb Yehuda), that the three yomim tovim correspond to the three Avos: Avraham symbolizes Pesach, Yitzchok Shavuos and Yaakov Succos. He quotes a Pasuk in parshas Vayishlach (33; 17) that says, “And Yaakov journeyed to Succoth and built himself a house, and for his livestock he made shelters. It seems a bit puzzling that the mere fact of Yaakov building shelters for his cattle is significant to the extent that we associate the yom tov of Succos with it. What is the meaning of these Succos that Yaakov built, and why are they so special that they are viewed as the source for Succos?

Secondly, most of us are aware of the fact that the Succos is intended to remind us of the ananei hakovod, the clouds of glory. These wondrous clouds enveloped us and protected us from the usual dangers and inconveniences associated with traveling through a desert. Yet, we are also aware of the other nissim that accompanied us through the midbar such as the be’er and the Maan. Why are we not celebrating and commemorating the other nissim that we benefitted from in the Midbar?

The Mabit offers an amazing insight which may help us appreciate the Tur as well. When the Ribono Shel Olam tells the yidin to journey through the desert, a place where there is no food and no water, he had to provide them with these basic staples. How are they to survive out there without these basic necessities? However, the ananei hakavod were not ‘necessary’ for our basic survival. Nevertheless, Hashem gave it to us anyways due to the extra compassion He had-just as a father pity’s his son. It is for this extra showing of love that we celebrate by sitting in our Succos.

In the aforementioned pasuk, quoted by the Tur in parshas Vayishlach, (33; 17) it says, “And Yaakov journeyed to Succoth and built himself a house, and for his livestock he made shelters; therefore he called the name of the place Succoth”. The Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh raises an obvious question. What is the great significance of Yaakov building shelter for his cattle that they even named a city in its honor? Says the Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh, ‘up until now, we don’t find that anyone built a dwelling for animals.’ Yaakov had an abundance of pity on his animals, and he took action that was unheard of in his time. He demonstrated an exceptional sensitivity to his livestock and treated them with extra care. He taught us that when caring for others, even animals, one must try and go beyond the call of duty with their care. This was something entirely new and extraordinary on Yaakov Avinu’s part; he went above and beyond the accepted standard and built shelters for his cattle.

Now we can see the connection that Yaakov Avinu has with Succos.  Yaakov excelled at providing care beyond the basics. And perhaps, it was in this zechus that we were the beneficiaries of the Ribono Shel Oilam’s extra kindness and chessed by providing us with the ananei hakovod, that we celebrate on Succos.

This could also be why Succos is right after Yom Kippur. We’ve just finished asking Hashem for life and sustenance, yet we have to understand that He gives us much more than the life and sustenance we simply asked for.

Based on this pshat one can infer that the theme of this yom tov can be ‘going that extra mile’, just as Yaakov Avinu practiced with his cattle. With this thought in mind, as we enter the yom tov of Succos, may we all try to go above the call of duty and go the extra mile when we help a friend, family member and in our observance of all mitzvos! May this year bring us continued hatzlacha, in all aspects, and may we merit that in the zechus of all of us going above the ‘norm’, Hashem in return, bring the Moshiach speedily in our days. Amen.

(Search by: succos; mabit; tur; going the extra mile; being compassionate to animals; ohr hachaim; avos corresponding to yom tov; connecting Yaakov to succos; the connection Yaakov has to succos)

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Yom Kippur 5771-יום כיפור תשע”א

September 17, 2010 // Posted in Yomim Tovim (Tags: ) |  No Comments

When Chazal describe the mood of the yamim noraim, they portray the scene of a scale. On one side the scale is weighing a person’s mitzvos and on the other side his aveiros.  The simple explanation is that one side weighs a person’s good deeds, while the other side weighs a person’s misdeeds. Whichever way the scale tips is the way that person chose to conduct himself the previous year. The scale of a beinini is even; both his good deeds and his misdeeds are equal.

The apparent question is, does Hashem really need a scale to see how many mitzvos or aveiros a person has done? If a person has four quarters sprawled out on a table, would he need to count each individual quarter out loud to confirm that it totals a dollar? Certainly not; the same is true by Hashem. He knows everything, so why the need for the scale?

The Beis HaLevi answers with an idea for all of us to think about.

The pasuk in Koheles (7; 29) says “Hashem made man straight and they sought many cheshbonos.” Rav Chaim Volozhiner expounds on this and explains as follows. At the time Hashem created Adam he was created straight; he had no inclination, from his own perspective, to do any bad. He was able to ‘choose’ bad, but had no desire to do any bad. However, when the snake seduced him into committing a sin, Adam was then infused with an influence from an outside source (i.e. yetzer hara). The gemarah in Shabbos (146) says that from that moment on, man was instilled with a natural ‘inside’ inclination that draws us to do aveiros.

On the other hand, we also have a neshoma that pushes us to act properly. Therefore, a person is born with two equal forces each pulling in the opposite direction.  As a person grows in this world, he has the ability to create inclinations; if he portrays good actions then he strengthens the yetzer tov thereby creating a desire to do what is good; or vice versa is also true.

Through his actions a person has the ability to create new inclinations. Says the Beis HaLevi, this is p’shat in the scale. When the scale is leaning towards one side it doesn’t necessarily mean that this person did more mitzvos. Rather, it shows which way a person is naturally inclined to bend! Is this the type of person who is a ruchniyos type of person and who looks to help others and learn or is he chas v’shalom, a person who doesn’t care about others and always has excuses why he can’t learn? Which side is the scale tipping? A person can create a new ‘tevah’; a new natural desire-through his actions. A beinini is a person who is drawn in both directions and has an equal inclination to do good and bad. On Yom Kippur, a person is judged by which way his natural ‘tevah’ draws him.

The Rambam and Rabbeinu Yona write that a person has to have charata, have disgust and pain when doing teshuva for his sins.

There are two questions of the Rambam and Rabbeinu Yona. Firstly, why does one require feeling pain? Secondly, what type of pain should one have?

The answer is that through this pain and remorse, one will have removed his natural draw to sin, because he views his old ways as repulsive and disgusting. When something is disgusting you won’t go near it; causing a person to stay further away from sinning.  The day of Yom Kippur is so special that the moment a person says that he has charata, Hashem cleanses him. As the pasuk says ‘lifnei Hashem teet-haru’. That is how special the day is.

Part of our avodah on Yom Kippur is to try and remove our natural draw that causes us to sin; to get rid of our inner yetzer hara. We start by asking Hashem to forgive us and by admitting our flaws and showing remorse to the Ribono Shel Olam. Then He starts by cleansing us and we hope and have full faith that He will ultimately be mechaper us-bringing us back to our original state-when we had no inner draw to do bad. On such a level we can be sure that we will be able to focus totally on serving Hashem in the Bayis shlishi. May Hashem grant this to us this coming year together with Moshiach b’mheira v’yameinu, Amen.

Wishing everyone a Gmar Chasima Tova and a gut gebentched yur.

(search by: yom kippur; removing ones natural cause to sin; beis halevi; rav chaim volozhin; koheles; rambam; rabbeinu yona; tipping the scale; which way are you inclined to bend; avodah of yom kippur; snake seducing Adam; creating ppositive inclinations)

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Rosh Hashana 5771-ראש השנה תשע”א

September 7, 2010 // Posted in Yomim Tovim (Tags: ) |  No Comments

Did you ever think about why Rosh Hashana comes before Yom Kippur? All agree that Rosh Hashana is the Day of Judgment, when we get judged on all our previous actions, and Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement, when we are forgiven for all our sins. Wouldn’t it make more sense for us to get pardoned from our sins first and THEN go to trial? Why is it that we keep the current order and do not make Yom Kippur before Rosh Hashana?

Another interesting question to ponder is that the first two days of Rosh Hashana have another name; they are also the first two days of Aseres Yemei Teshuva. Yet, we find no mention of a chait or vidui in our Rosh HaShana davening. It doesn’t seem like we’re doing teshuva. It’s the first two days of an opportunity for us to repent and it seems as if we are passing up on it. What seems to be a logical explanation?

The gemarah in kedushin (81) speaks about a woman who makes a neder, a vow. The Torah notes that if she was to make a vow and her husband was to nullify it, even if she didn’t know that it was nullified, or she says ‘I don’t care’ and she breaks her promise, she still needs to receive a kapara from Hashem - ‘vaHashem yislach la’. The gemarah wonders about this and asks why she needs atonement, if there is no misdeed?  The gemarah answers, her intention was to sin and she did not know that her husband had nullified her vow. Since she thought she was sinning, she requires atonement. The gemarah continues and makes a kal v’chomer: If someone who thinks they sinned has to beg for forgiveness from Hashem, how much more forgiveness must one ask from Hashem for ACTUALLY sinning?

However, the above gemarah still needs some clarification because there was still no sin committed. So why then, would she need a kaparah?

R’ Elchonon Wasserman, Zt”l quotes the Chofetz Chaim who offers the following novel idea.

Every mitzvah is comprised of two elements. The first is known as tikkun-fixing the world; building up the world through good deeds. The second is known as rotzon Hashem- by you doing a mitzvah you are fulfilling the will of Hashem. Says Reb Elchonon that aveiros are also comprised of two elements; the exact opposite composition of a mitzvah. The first element is known as mikalkel-a person is causing destruction to the world by sinning. The second, as mirida-rebelling; rebelling against Hashem.

What the gemarah is saying is that when a person makes the mental decision to sin he has in essence caused destruction to the world. In order for him to fix it, they need tikkun-which comes about through mitzvos. How does one fix the fact that he rebelled against Hashem? By being mamlech Hashem; by saying that everything I do is for Hashem, like a slave who serves his master so too I am serving Hashem! Why? Because He is the king and I follow his command. This is pshat in being mamlech Hashem on Rosh Hashana.

We stated that an aveira consists of two elements; therefore, teshuva has to address these elements too because the purpose of teshuva is to rectify the elements of rebelling and destroying the world. How do we do that? Firstly, we’re mamlech Hashem. We confess and say that we rebelled; we’re sorry and are working to reaffirm our commitment to Him. This takes care of the element of rebelling, which we have with every single sin. Secondly, we have to do teshuva. We ask Hashem to forgive us for what we have done wrong and through our begging for forgiveness we fixed the element of kilkul, destroying the world, which is the second element found in every aveira.

A Rebbi of mine mentioned to me, that in last weeks parsha (vayelech 31; 18) Hashem tells Moshe what will happen to klal Yisroel after he dies. “They will stray from me and they will break the covenant they made with me. I will be angryt at them and I will hide my face from them. They will become prey and evil will encounter them. On that day it will be said ‘is it not because my God is not in my midst (and that’s why this is happening to us?)”. The pasuk continues and says ‘v’anochi hastir astir panai bayom hahu’- And I will surely have concealed my face from them [for the evil they have done; for they have turned to gods of others]“.

The Ramban notes that bnei Yisroel sinned against Hashem and even before doing teshuva they realized they erred. They recognized the void in their midst was because they betrayed Hashem. It seems from this Ramban that the beginning of every teshuva is recognizing that you rebelled against Hashem and that you have to rectify it. How?  By being mamlech Him. This is the reason why we have Rosh Hashana prior to Yom Kippur. First, we are mamlech Hashem, to fix the rebellion we had against Him and then we take care of the kilkul, the destruction, by asking forgiveness from Hashem which is on Yom Kippur.

With this thought in mind I wish all my readers a K’siva V’chasima Tova and a gut gebentched yur. May we all have a year filled with nachas, gezunt, and an abundance of parnassah. We should have all have our health, gutta kinder and the ability to excel in our limud HaTorah. May we merit hearing the shofar shel Moshiach speedily, in our days.

כתיבה וחתימה טובה

(Search by: Rosh Hashana; rav elchonon wasserman; chofetz chaim; teshuva; Yom Kippur; reb ari; being mamlech Hashem; kedushin; kaparah; tikkun; mirida; kilkul; ramban)

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Nitzavim Vayelech-פרשת נצבים וילך

September 2, 2010 // Posted in Weekly Parsha Divrei Torah (Tags: ) |  No Comments

Prior to the Bnei Yisroel entering Eretz Cana’an, Moshe Rabbeinu states that Hashem wants to sign a covenant with klal Yisroel - just like he did with the Avos - to reinforce their acceptance of the Torah. Why did Hashem insist on klal Yisroel signing a treaty? The pasuk says that it is because when they left Egypt, they passed through a number of different nations. The pasuk continues, ‘you saw their avoda zarah and their despicable idols-of wood and stone, of silver and gold that were with them.’ Since they were exposed to these sights, Hashem wanted to ensure that it wouldn’t have an affect on them; he therefore wanted them to reinforce their commitment to his Torah through a covenant.

When the pasuk mentions “their despicable idols-of wood and stone, of silver and gold that were with them”, what exactly does this mean? According to the simple translation, it means that in those days there were various different types of idols. There were idols of wood, gold, silver, and stone. Being that they saw so many different types of avodah zara, the Ribono Shel Olam was concerned that it had an affect and some of klal Yisroel would start having some doubts.

Rav Sholom Schwadron offers a unique explanation of this pasuk, in the name of his Rebbi - Reb Leib Chasman Zt”l.

He explains that although the pasuk mentions many different forms of avodah zara, in reality they were all the same. If so, why does the Torah use four different names and forms of idols? The answer is that the Torah is teaching us an important lesson. The first time klal Yisroel saw an avodah zara, it was disgusting to them. It was something that they had never seen before. They couldn’t imagine anyone serving such a god. It was so despicable to them, that they didn’t concentrate on its form. The second time they saw it, they were not as disgusted but they already discerned a form. The third time they saw an idol, they were already desensitized and it didn’t bother them as much. Already by the fourth time, they saw it clearly and might have been slightly attracted to it.

The powerful lesson is that people unfortunately do aveiros, no one is perfect. The problem that evolves is that a person gets accustomed to doing that aveira. The more one becomes accustomed to doing or seeing something wrong, the more desensitized he is to that particular aveira. If you look at an aveira as disgusting then you won’t even consider doing it. Once a person is exposed to an aveira again and again, it enters the realm of possibility.

The Chofetz Chaim once walked out of a shul (outside of Radin) and he saw a Jew being mechalel Shabbos. He sat there and he cried for a full hour. The next Shabbos, he walked out of the same shul and saw another Jew being mechalel Shabbos.  He cried for an hour and a half. The talmidim asked, Rebbi - why did you cry longer than you did last week? The Chofetz Chaim responded that when he saw this Jew being mechalel Shabbos, he cried for forty five minutes and he felt that it was enough. He then realized that he had cried shorter than last time, and that he must have lost his sensitivity to chilul Shabbos! He therefore cried for another forty five minutes for that loss.

The more accustomed a person becomes to something, the less important it becomes to him.  This goes for anything. A mitzvah, an aveira (chas v’shalom), or even a mundane act. May we all be zoche to be sensitive to the Torah’s values, and not to chas v’shalom lose our sensitivity towards any mitzvah or our disgust towards any aveira. In this zechus Hashem will be sensitive towards each of us on this upcoming Yom HaDin.

(Search by: parsha; chumash; nitzavim; parshas nitzavim; nitzavim veyelech; torah; chofetz chaim; reb shalom schwadron; reb leib chasman; avodah zara; being accustomed to something; being sensitive towards an aveira; being sensitive to Torah values)

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