Dvar Torah for Parshas Ki Teitzei

       In this week’s parshah, Parshas Ki Seitzei, Moshe discusses with Bnei Yisrael the laws of different day to day cases that will come up during their life in Eretz Yisrael. In the third aliyah, Moshe tells Bnei Yisrael the Halacha that any Ammonite or Moabite man can never become part of the Jewish Nation. The pasuk explains why, “…וַאֲשֶׁר שָׂכַר עָלֶיךָ אֶת בִּלְעָם בֶּן בְּעוֹר מִפְּתוֹר אֲרַם נַהֲרַיִם לְקַלְלֶךָּ” “…and because he (the nation of Moab) hired Balaam the son of Beor from Pesor in Aram Naharayim against you, to curse you” (Devarim 23:5). This show of hatred can never be erased and therefore, no man from either of these nations can convert and join us.

       The Torah continues, “וְלֹא אָבָה יְ־הֹוָ־ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לִשְׁמֹעַ אֶל בִּלְעָם וַיַּהֲפֹךְ יְ־הֹוָ־ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לְּךָ אֶת הַקְּלָלָה לִבְרָכָה” “But Hashem, your God, refused to listen to Balaam, and Hashem, your God, reversed the curse to a blessing for you…” (23:6). The Kli Yakar asks two questions on this pasuk. First of all, how can a curse turn into a blessing? It’s one thing to give a blessing in place of a curse, but to switch the actual curse into a blessing is seemingly impossible! Secondly, the Gemarah in Sanhedrin (105b) says that by looking at the blessings that Balaam blessed the Jews with, you can see what his true intentions were. That which was in his heart to curse Bnei Yisrael instead came out as a brachah. However, the Gemarah says that only one curse actually changed into a blessing, the rest never reached “curse status”, rather they were blessings that Balaam was forced to say in place of curses. The only curse that was changed was that Balaam blessed Bnei Yisrael that there should always be Batei Medrash (Study Halls) and Shuls (Synagogues) wherever and whenever they are throughout history. Where did the Gemarah see this specific brachah from the pasuk? And why would this specific brachah be the one to change?  

       There is a general rule that Hashem does not like to change the laws of nature. There have been very few miracles where these laws were broken and every time they were, it is noted as a monumental occasion. Two of the most famous ones are the Giving of the Torah and the Splitting of the Red Sea. The same idea applies to blessings and curses, whenever someone attempts to curse Bnei Yisrael, Hashem takes the actual curse itself and uses it for something good. However, if this is impossible, Hashem will then, and only then, turn the entire curse around into a blessing. But His first intention is to take the curse itself and simply change its’ meaning to mean something good. For example, when Bnei Yisrael left Egypt, they left under the planet Ra’ah, which signifies blood. While the Egyptians thought this meant the Jews would be slaughtered in the desert, Hashem simply made this blood the blood of the Milahs that Bnei Yisrael underwent.

       With every curse that Balaam attempted to bring on Bnei Yisrael, there was no way to turn it around to mean something good so Hashem had to force Balaam to say them as blessings. However, there is a time where it is an advantage for Bnei Yisrael to not have Batei Medrash and Shuls and therefore, Hashem switched this curse directly to a blessing. When is this? When Bnei Yisrael do aveiros, instead of punishing the people themselves, Hashem will take His anger out on the bricks and mortar of our holy buildings. This is exactly what happened when the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, instead of wiping out Bnei Yisrael, Hashem destroyed the holy building and spared Jewish lives. In this way, we see how the actual words of the curse turned into a blessing. When Balaam said that there should not be any Batei Medrash or Shuls amongst Bnei Yisrael, he meant it as a curse, but Hashem changed it directly to a blessing, that there should be no Shuls instead of fewer people.

       This teaches us an important lesson about Emunah, belief, in Hashem. He is always going to do what is right and also what it best for us at the same time. So even if something appears to be a curse, don’t worry, it’s just another opportunity for Hashem to turn something evil into the best situation for Bnei Yisrael.

Shabbat Shalom!       

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Dvar Torah for Parshas Shoftim

       Parshas Shoftim deals with all the potential leaders Bnei Yisrael would have once they entered Eretz Yisrael. Judges, prophets, and kings are a few examples among the different ones discussed. The portion concerning kings is one of the most discussed topics by the commentaries in the parshah. This is because that while in our parshah Hashem treats it as one of the mitzvos, when it came time for Bnei Yisrael to select a king, the response was not as approving.

       The pasuk in our parshah says, “כִּי תָבֹא אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יְ־הֹוָ־ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ וִירִשְׁתָּהּ וְיָשַׁבְתָּה בָּהּ כִּי תָבֹא אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ וִירִשְׁתָּהּ וְיָשַׁבְתָּה בָּהּ וְאָמַרְתָּ אָשִׂימָה עָלַי מֶלֶךְ כְּכָל הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר סְבִיבֹתָי שׂוֹם תָּשִׂים עָלֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בּוֹ” “When you come to the land that Hashem, your God, is giving you, and you possess it and live in I, and you say, ‘I will set a king over myself, like all the nations around me’. You shall set a king over you, one whom Hashem, your God, chooses…” (Devarim 17:14-15). In Sefer Shmuel, after many years of being led by Shoftim, Judges, the Bnei Yisrael ask Shmuel HaNavi to appoint a king over them. Shmuel, however, does not approve of their request, and is very upset with them. Based on our pasuk, why should Shmuel have had any problem? The pasuk clearly states that the appointment of a king is not only approved, it’s expected! The Abarbanel brings two possible explanations. First, that they requested a king, “לְשָׁפְטֵנוּ כְּכָל הַגּוֹיִם” “to judge us like all the nations” (Shmuel I 8:5), and not to judge them like the nation of Hashem. The second way is that our parshah is not making the appointing of a king a mitzvah, but rather Hashem is just telling Bnei Yisrael at this time that later on in history when or if they will want a king, He will approve of it, but they should know that it is still not the optimum.

       The Kli Yakar explains that the reason Hashem wanted Bnei Yisrael to have a king was not in order for him to act as the supreme justice over the nation, there were courts set up in every town for that purpose, but rather that there should be a sense of fear amongst the people of the king’s power. As it says in Pirkei Avos, “הוי מתפלל בשלומה של מלכות שאלמלא מוראה, איש את רעהו חיים בלעו” “Pray for the welfare of the government, because if people did not fear it, a person would swallow his fellow alive” (Avos 3:2), having a king around, even if he might not be the one judging, would be very good deterrent to bad behavior. This is what the pasuk in our parshah means, “שׂוֹם תָּשִׂים עָלֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ”, “place a king upon you” (Devarim 17:15), meaning that the fear of him should be upon you.

       However, in the times of Shmuel, this was not what the Bnei Yisrael asked for. The pasuk says, “שִׂימָה לָּנוּ מֶלֶךְ”, “appoint for us a king” (Shmuel I 8:5), Bnei Yisrael did not ask for a king that they could respect and fear and who would keep order in the land, rather they wanted a king who would be for them, someone whom they could manipulate and use to their advantage. Not someone to keep them in check but someone whose influence could be used and abused for their own personal gain. The request for this type of king was met with disapproval by Shmuel and with seeming amusement from Hashem who congratulates Shmuel on being so incorruptible that Bnei Yisrael asked for a new, different kind of leader who perhaps could be used.

       Later, Shmuel returns to Bnei Yisrael to respond to their request and says, “וַיֹּאמֶר זֶה יִהְיֶה מִשְׁפַּט הַמֶּלֶךְ אֲשֶׁר יִמְלֹךְ עֲלֵיכֶם” “He (Shmuel) said, ‘This is the protocol of the king who will reign over you” (8:11). With this, he told Bnei Yisrael that their requested leader would not be given to them. They then realize their mistake and respond, “וַיֹּאמְרוּ לֹּא כִּי אִם מֶלֶךְ יִהְיֶה עָלֵינוּ” “They said, ‘No! There shall be a king over us” (8:19).

       To me, the most interesting part of this whole discussion is what the king of Bnei Yisrael is meant to be, not a judge, but a presence. Perhaps we can apply this to our relationship with Hashem as well. While Hashem obviously judges the whole world and everything contained in it, perhaps He would like us to be able to judge ourselves as well and just be able to act as that “presence” in the world. As Rosh Hashanah approaches, let us be more conscious of our actions, let us be more aware of our surroundings, and let us catch our own mistakes and correct them without needing the Judge to do it for us.

      

Shabbat Shalom!

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Dvar Torah for Parshas Re'eh

       “רְאֵה אָנֹכִי נֹתֵן לִפְנֵיכֶם הַיּוֹם בְּרָכָה וּקְלָלָה” “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse” (Devarim 11:26). So begins Parshas Re’eh as Moshe Rabbeinu further prepares Bnei Yisrael for their entrance into the Land of Israel. This pasuk is a continuation from last week’s parshah, Eikev, where we said that the main theme of the parshah is to teach Bnei Yisrael to keep the mitzvos first out of fear and eventually out of love. The blessing and curse mentioned in this pasuk are the results of either keeping or not keeping the Torah.

       The commentaries on this pasuk ask, what is the purpose of the word “הַיּוֹם”, “today” in the pasuk? This word does not seem to add anything extra. We will mention just a few of the numerous answers to this question. 

       The Kli Yakar says that the word “הַיּוֹם” refers to the normal passage of time. All things change due to passage of time, clothes wear out, light bulbs burn out, food cooks, but none of these things happen as a direct result of time itself, but rather through the interference of Human activity. By themselves, clothes would not wear out, nor would food cook, only through Human usage do they evolve and eventually decompose. So too by the blessing and curse mentioned in this week’s parshah. It requires no change in nature by the hand of God for either ones of these to take effect, left to its’ own accord, the world would function like a well-oiled machine. The changes only come through Human interference. If we keep the Torah and mitzvos, then the world will continue to run as it should. But if not, the world will function differently, but either way, it is only a result of Human behavior. That’s what the word “הַיּוֹם” teaches us, by nature the world will run smoothly and everything will be a blessing, only through our mistakes will that status quo be changed.

       The Ohr HaChaim gives several answers of which we will only bring one. He bases his answer on a gemarah in Avoda Zarah (5b) which says that a student cannot fully grasp or comprehend his rebbi’s teachings until he has studied by him for forty years. This day that Moshe laid out the blessing and curse was the fortieth anniversary of the Bnei Yisrael traveling in the desert, therefore they could now completely understand the teachings of Hashem, Moshe and the Torah and could fully comprehend the meaning of the blessing and the curse that Moshe was telling them (hence the word “הַיּוֹם” “today”).     

Shabbat Shalom!

        

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Dvar Torah for Parshas Eikev

This week marks the beginning of the third year of AIMeM Divrei Torah. Thank you for your continued support and may we share many more words of Torah together for many years to come!

       In this week’s parshah, Parshas Eikev, Moshe continues his final address to Bnei Yisrael. With each parshah in this Sefer we see Moshe focusing on a different idea for Bnei Yisrael to work on. This week is about accepting the yoke of Mitzvos and performing them first through fear, but eventually through love and devotion. We see this idea clearly in the parshah of וְהָיָה אִם שָׁמֹעַ, the second section of the Shema, which is found in this week’s parshah. The entire paragraph says how all success and failures for Bnei Yisrael are results of them keeping or not keeping the mitzvos.

       The pasuk at the end of this paragraph says, “לְמַעַן יִרְבּוּ יְמֵיכֶם וִימֵי בְנֵיכֶם עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע יְהוָה לַאֲבֹתֵיכֶם” “In order that your days may increase and the days of your children, on the land which Hashem swore to your forefathers” (Devarim 11:21). The Gemarah in Brachos (8a) tells a story that the Rabbis came and told Rebbi Yochanan (who lived in Eretz Yisrael) that there were elderly people living outside of Eretz Yisrael. This was extremely perplexing to him since this pasuk implies that only in the land which Hashem promised us, Eretz Yisrael, will there be elders. But outside of Eretz Yisrael? Impossible! However, once they told him that these elders arrive early and leave late to Shul, the Gemarah says that he understood.

       Says the Kli Yakar, this Gemarah does not make sense. The pasuk is quite clear, only in Eretz Yisrael will people live to advanced ages, so why would it matter how long they stayed in Shul, they were still not in Eretz Yisrael?

       He answers by bringing another Gemarah in Maseches Megillah (29a) which says that in the times of Mashiach, every Synagogue and Study Hall outside of Eretz Yisrael will be transferred to Eretz Yisrael. As a result of this, the ground where every Shul currently stands is considered the ground of Eretz Yisrael. The same way the ground beneath an embassy belongs to that country even though the country may actually be thousands of miles away, so too the embassies of Hashem, the Shuls and Batei Medrash, are also considered the ground of the one place where Hashem continuously watches and rests his Shechinah, Eretz Yisrael. Therefore, the people who spend extra timetime in Shul can be included in the brachah of this pasuk and can grow old even outside of Eretz Yisrael.

       For those of us not living in Eretz Yisrael, this is a tremendous idea. But even for those of us living in Eretz Yisrael, we can still take a lot from this. For us, we have luck upon luck. Not only do we live in the kedushah of Eretz Yisrael, but we also can daven in Shuls and learn in Batei Medrash that are in Eretz Yisrael proper, not just embassies in foreign countries.

Shabbat Shalom!

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Dvar Torah for Parshas Va'eschanan

       Sefer Devarim is Moshe’s farewell address to Bnei Yisrael. In it he reviews everything that happened to the nation from after they left Mitzrayim until this point as well as most of the mitzvos. In this week’s parshah, Parshas Va’eschanan, we have several famous passages such as the parshah of Ve’ahavta from the daily Shema, the Aseres Hadibros (with a few changes from the original in Parshas Yisro) and Ve’haya Ki Yiveacha, one of the parshiyos contained in Tefillin, which highlight key mitzvos and events. Even without these important and famous parshiyos we could easily deduce that whatever is contained in Sefer Devarim must be extremely important as this is what Moshe chose to give over right before he died. However, sometimes it’s not only what we see from Moshe’s words, but from his actions that we learn the greatest lessons from.

       At the beginning of Shlishi, the pasuk says, “אָז יַבְדִּיל מֹשֶׁה שָׁלֹשׁ עָרִים בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן” “Then Moshe separated three cities on the side of the Jordan” (Devarim 4:41). These cities are in connection to the Arei Miklat (Cities of Refuge), the collection of cities where someone who killed accidently would run to and live until the death of the Kohen Gadol. There were three of these cities in Eretz Yisrael and three on the other side of the Yarden, the Jordan River, where the tribes of Reuven, Gad, and half of Menashe lived. The pasuk says that Moshe set aside the three cities outside of Eretz Yisrael before he died. Rashi adds something which makes this seemingly side detail unbelievable. The Gemarah in Makkos (10a) says that the three Arei Miklat outside of Eretz Yisrael had no significance at all until the three cities in Eretz Yisrael were set up. If someone killed accidently in the meantime, they did not go to those three cities. This means that Moshe’s efforts at this time were wholly unnecessary from a practical point of view. We learn from here that when you have the opportunity to participate in a mitzvah, or even just the planning of a mitzvah, you should do as much of it as you can.

       We see this same idea by Dovid Hamelech, even after Hashem told him that he would not be the one to build the Beis Hamikdash, he still collected many of the materials needed for its construction to give to his son Shlomo. Another example would be an old man planting an esrog tree. Since esrog trees take a few years to mature, by the time the fruit would be ready to use for the mitzvah, the old man may have already passed away. However, his planting the tree for other people to use is his contribution to the mitzvah even if planting the tree is not a mitzvah.

       The Kli Yakar uses this to explain the language of the pasuk immediately before ours. It says, “וְשָׁמַרְתָּ אֶת חֻקָּיו וְאֶת מִצְוֹתָיו אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִיטַב לְךָ וּלְבָנֶיךָ אַחֲרֶיךָ” “And you shall observe his laws and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may be well with you and your children after you…” (4:40). The word “אַחֲרֶיךָ” “after you” seems to be extra, why can’t the pasuk just say “and your children”? He explains that the mitzvos that you do are not only for you and your children, they are potentially for your children many generations later! This is why the pasuk used the words “אָז יַבְדִּיל מֹשֶׁה”, it connects it directly to the pasuk before where we discussed doing mitzvos for even after your lifetime. We see in the very next pasuk Moshe doing this very thing.

       The Kli Yakar explains further that in Pasuk 44 when it says, “וְזֹאת הַתּוֹרָה אֲשֶׁר שָׂם מֹשֶׁה לִפְנֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל” “And this is the teaching which Moshe set before the children of Yisrael” (4:44), it is referring to this very idea. We should preform every mitzvah in this way, in preparation not only for ourselves but for future generations of Jews.

       With all the lessons that we learn from Moshe in Sefer Devarim, this one resonates the most. We always prepare for later in life in order to be set up for when we can no longer take care of things. Perhaps we should do the same with mitzvos. Let’s start to look around and see what steps we can take in order that we will always have mitzvos ready and waiting for us. And if it doesn’t end up being for us, then let’s make sure that someone else will be able to produce a mitzvah from our efforts. As we see from Moshe Rabbeinu and Dovid Hamelech, we must always strive to do mitzvos even if we know that we won’t be the ones fulfilling them. With that attitude, the performance of mitzvos in Bnei Yisrael will only increase bringing mashiach closer and closer.

Shabbat Shalom!   

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