Dvar Torah for Parshas Eikev

AIMeM would like to thank Nussi Samuel for filling in this week

In this week’s Parsha, Moshe continues speaking to Klal Yisrael in the Midbar. The Parsha begins with detailing the reward for continuing to do the mitzvos, and Hashem’s assurances that Klal Yisrael will be able to conquer Eretz Yisrael as part of this reward. Moshe recalls various events that occurred while Klal Yisrael was circling in the Midbar, and speaks about the Manna – the heavenly food that fell from Heaven. 

It is clear from pesukim beis and gimmel in perek ches that Hashem’s intent in providing manna was to spiritually challenge the Jewish people, (Devarim 8:2)” לְנַסֹּֽתְךָ֗ לָדַ֜עַת אֶת־אֲשֶׁ֧ר בִּלְבָֽבְךָ֛” – “To test you, to know what’s in your heart”. But what about receiving food from Heaven involves a test?

Life in the Midbar was like being in an incubator. The constant awareness of Hashem was so great- Ananei Hakavod, miraculous food and clothing – Hashem’s presence was so visible and tangible. Reward and punishment took place immediately. It seems rather strange that this was the test that demonstrated what was in the hearts of the Jewish people.

The Manna wasn’t something that existed within the laws of nature and was therefore completely unfamiliar to Klal Yisrael. As the Pasuk says in Parshas Bshalach (16:15) that Klal Yisrael called it Manna (what is it?) because “כִּי לֹא יָדְעוּ מַה הוּא”- “they did not know what it was” In this week’s Parsha, the Pasuk (8:3) says “וַיַּֽאֲכִֽלְךָ֤ אֶת־הַמָּן֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹא־יָדַ֔עְתָּ וְלֹ֥א יָדְע֖וּן אֲבֹתֶ֑יךָ” “They ate the Manna which they did not know, and neither did their fathers know.”

The test was accepting something outside their concept of natural, beyond their limited perspective on the world. Its existence defied logic. Living in the Midbar was an existence “beyond nature”. The Sforno writes (Devarim 8:2),” וזכרת אתכל הדרך- שנתן לך לחם לאכול ובגד ללבוש שלא בדרך טבע” – You should remember the entire road – that Hashem gave you bread to eat and clothing to wear in a manner that isn’t natural.”

Another element of the test of the manna was, as the Rashbam explains (both in this week’s Parsha and in Parshas Beshalach), that Klal Yisrael could only collect enough manna daily to last for that day. Klal Yisrael needed to be entirely dependent on Hashem for their sustenance. When living within the confines of the natural world, we are taught to worry for tomorrow, and to “put something away for a rainy day.” Ultimately, the Manna represented a blueprint of our Parnassah and how we should relate to it. The ideal attitude to Parnassah would be concern for only the here and now. We obviously live in a world that makes decisions based on the future, but that is simply part of our Hishtadlus. That was the manna’s test: to trust that Hashem would provide today for today and tomorrow for tomorrow. When we ate manna, we broke out of our preconceived notion of how things are supposed to be, and we passed the test by eating “beyond-natural”, heavenly food. By adhering to the instruction not to leave over manna from one day to the next, we believed and accepted that Hashem would provide- thus, the manna represents the foundation of our Emunah.

The Pasuk tells us in regard to the Manna (Devarim 8:3) “כִּי לֹא עַל הַלֶּחֶם לְבַדּוֹ יִחְיֶה הָאָדָם כִּי עַל כָּל מוֹצָא פִי יְהוָה יִחְיֶה הָאָדָם” – “For not on bread alone does man live, but rather by what Hashem decrees will man live on” Hashem says, I made bread

 satiate, I can make anything satiate. Hashem is not bound by nature, for He created nature. The Manna served to showcase and demonstrate true belief and trust in Hashem- a trust we imbibed in the Midbar, that continues to sustain the Jewish people for eternity.   

Shabbat Shalom!

Nussi Samuel is originally from New York and now lives in Yerushalayim with his family, where he studies and teaches in various yeshivos. He is a first-time contributor to AIMeM Torah.

Mazel Tov! This week we are celebrating the beginning of our 7th year of AIMeM Torah! May we merit to share many more words of Torah together!

Click here for last year's Dvar Torah for Parshas Eikev

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Introducing the AIMeM Torah Podcast

       We will be on hiatus for the next few weeks, so we decided this would be the best time to introduce our newest project, the AIMeM Torah Podcast! Your favorite Dvar Torah is now available in audio form! Click the link here to learn all about it.
       The Podcast will be available on iTunes or by visiting www.hashkafahandbook.com/category/podcast/

Shabbat Shalom!

Click here for last year's Dvar Torah for Parshas Va'eschanan

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Dvar Torah for Parshas Devarim

       This week we begin Sefer Devarim, the final section of the Torah. It mostly consists of Moshe giving direction and advice to the entire nation before he passes on while they continue to Eretz Yisrael. In each parsha in this Sefer, Moshe discusses a point that he feels is important for future generations to know and understand in order to act properly as Jews. (See below for a link to an essay which points out the theme found in each parsha.)

       The end of the parsha discusses the wars fought by the Bnei Yisrael against the various nations surrounding Eretz Yisrael. These wars were important as they were the beginning of the process of settling Eretz Yisrael. The most important of these wars was the one fought against Sichon, the King of Emori, who joined with Moab to fight against Bnei Yisrael. When Moshe tells over the story of Hashem commanding him to go to war, Rashi adds in an interesting fact.

       “הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֗ה אָחֵל֙ תֵּ֤ת פַּחְדְּךָ֙ וְיִרְאָ֣תְךָ֔ עַל־פְּנֵי֙ הָֽעַמִּ֔ים תַּ֖חַת כָּל־הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם” “Today I will begin to put the dread of you and the fear of you upon the nations that are under the entire heaven” (Devarim 2:25). Rashi explains that the nations of the world are described as being “under the entire heaven”, because during the battle with Sichon, the sun stood still and didn’t set until the fight was over in order to allow Bnei Yisrael to finish the fight during the day. Consequently, by observing the change in the sun’s pattern, the entire world realized that Hashem had done a tremendous miracle for the Jews.

       This wasn’t the only time Hashem stopped the sun for the Jews. In the times of Yehoshua, Hashem stopped the sun during one of the battles he fought while conquering Eretz Yisrael (See Yehoshua 10). However, by Yehoshua, the pasuk tells us explicitly that the sun stopped. How do we know that the sun stopped by Moshe if it’s not written out in the pasuk? By using a method known as Gezeira Shava, finding a common word between the two stories, Chazal make a connection between Yehoshua and Moshe and learn that the sun stopped for Moshe as well. The word used to make this connection is “אָחֵל”, which comes from the root “to begin”.

       The Kli Yakar points out an interesting idea based off this connection. The battle with Sichon is referred to by the pasuk as when the Nations began to fear Bnei Yisrael. According to Chazal, this was a result of witnessing the unbelievable occurrence of the sun stopping its course. What is the significance of this particular miracle being used to commence the settling of Eretz Yisrael?

       One way Chazal explain the order of the Ten Plagues is that they were designed in a way that Hashem would show unequivocally that He was the Ruler of the World. The first step to that was to remove any and all significance of the gods of Egypt. By attacking the gods of the Egyptians, Hashem was striking at the core of their existence and beliefs. Therefore, He first attacked the Nile River, the primary form of worship in Egypt, by turning it into blood. He performed a similar idea with the nations surrounding Eretz Yisrael.

       Many of these nations worshipped the sun; therefore, Hashem decided to “attack” the sun. By changing the normal pattern of the sun, He showed that the gods of these nations were powerless and ultimately false and meaningless. After removing the “power” of their gods, He then told Bnei Yisrael to attack them and destroy them physically. So stopping the sun really was the beginning of the end for these nations, just like the pasuk explains.

Shabbat Shalom!

Click here for last year's Dvar Torah for Parshas Devarim

Click here to learn about the 4th Annual 'Summer of Subscribers'!

Click here for the themes of Sefer Devarim

For any questions, comments, or to subscribe to our email list, please email is at AIMeMtorah@gmail.com.

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Dvar Torah for Parshas Masei

       

Due to the eighth day of Pesach falling out on Shabbos, Eretz Yisrael and CHU"L have been one parsha off for a few months. This week we have finally caught up! This week in CHU"L, they will be reading a double parsha of Matos-Masei. Click here for a Dvar Torah for Parshas Mattos.

       Over the past several parshiyos, the Torah has discussed several times the land inheritance for the different tribes in Eretz Yisrael. The end of Sefer Bamidbar finds Bnei Yisrael on the edge of entering the Land, so Parshas Masei continues this trend and continues to provide details on future life in Eretz Yisrael. This week, we learn that even though the tribe of Levi had no portion in Eretz Yisrael, they were given 42 cities scattered throughout the country in which to live. (See Bamidbar 35:1-8.) What, if any, is the significance to this number 42?      

       Parshas Masei also introduces to us a concept that will be discussed several times in Tanach, the Arei Miklat, the Cities of Refuge. An Ir Miklat was used when a person would accidentally murder another person, and it was proven in court to be truly an accident, they had to go live in one of these six cities. They couldn’t set foot outside the city for any reason, and had to stay there until the current Kohen Gadol passed away. These six cities were also officially under the auspices of Shevet Levi, bringing their total number of cities to 48. Why was Shevet Levi in charge of these cities?

              The Kli Yakar answers both of these questions. First, Parshas Masei begins with a listing of all the places the Bnei Yisrael camped during their 40 years in the desert. The total number of these encampments was 42. In each one of the 42, the Bnei Yisrael could never settle and make themselves comfortable. They knew that they weren’t meant to stay where they camped since they were on the way to Eretz Yisrael. Furthermore, they never knew exactly how long they would stay in any particular place, it could have been a day or a year or more; so they could never truly feel comfortable wherever they were. The amount of cities given to Shevet Levi corresponds to this number.

       Secondly, the idea of placing someone in exile is to make them uncomfortable, to place them in unfamiliar surroundings. This is the punishment given to the accidental killer.

       Shevet Levi, while given 42 cities to settle in, had no real portion in Eretz Yisrael. These cities were scattered all over the country so they didn’t necessarily live near each other. Plus, they were required to spend time in the Beis Hamikdash each year and were the ones responsible for the dissemination of Torah throughout Bnei Yisrael. So between both of these things, they didn’t have a lot of money, land, or room to expand; they were essentially strangers in their own land. (Why this was the lot of the Leviim is a different discussion.) This is why the Arei Miklat were run by Shevet Levi.

       We are commanded several times in the Torah to be sensitive, kind, and understanding of גרים, usually translated as converts, but really means “strangers”, meaning anyone who finds themselves in an unfamiliar environment, far from where they call home. Who better to run these cities that are built specifically to make people uncomfortable then the Leviim, the ones who can be the most understanding of their situation. And in order to remind the Leviim of their extra responsibility, they were given the same amount of cities, 42, as there were stops on their sojourning on the way to their homeland.

       Next week, we begin Sefer Devarim, in which Bnei Yisrael prepare to enter Eretz Yisrael, the land they have dreamed of since their ancestors came to Mitzrayim. But before they do, Hashem wants them to capture that feeling of the desert, that they should remember the feeling of unsettledness, and remember to always be sensitive to that issue.

Chazak Chazak V’Nischazek!

Shabbat Shalom!     

Click here for last year's Dvar Torah for Parshas Masei

Click here to learn about the 4th Annual 'Summer of Subscribers'!

Click here to learn about the Themes of Sefer Bamidbar

For any questions, comments, or to subscribe to our email list, please email is at AIMeMtorah@gmail.com.

Please Like us on Facebook.

Don't forget to check out hashkafahandbook.com to learn about my book,Reality Check. And Like it on Facebook.

Check out our other AIMeMTorah project, Nation's Wisdom!

AIMeM