Dvar Torah for Parshas Eikev

       This week marks the beginning of the fourth year of AIMeMTorah. Thank you very much for all your support over the years. May we share many more words of Torah together.    

       Parshas Eikev begins, “וְהָיָה | עֵקֶב תִּשְׁמְעוּן אֵת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים הָאֵלֶּה וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם”  “And it will be, because you will heed these ordinances and keep them and perform” (Devarim 7:12). All the commentaries ask the purpose of the word “וְהָיָה” “And it will be”; wouldn’t the pasuk be just as understandable without it?

       The Ohr HaChaim brings a Chazal which explains that the word “וְהָיָה” is used to represent happiness. Moshe Rabbeinu is using this language to give over his Mussar in a pleasant, easy way for Bnei Yisrael to accept and understand it. He is explaining that only when you perform all the mitzvos can you be truly happy. However, as long as you are lacking in even just one mitzvah, true happiness is not attainable.

       The word “עֵקֶב” as well has a different meaning other than the simple translation. Chazal explain that it is used to mean a conclusion. The pasuk is then read as follows: When you complete fulfilling the mitzvos, then it will be the time of Simcha, happiness, for you. But once again, true happiness only will be achieved by fulfilling all the mitzvos.

       May this Shabbos lead and inspire us to fulfilling all the mitzvos and achieving true Simcha.        

Shabbat Shalom!

The Ohr HaChaim gives several more explanations on how this theme of happiness fits into the idea here of doing the mitzvos. If you are able to, I would strongly encourage everyone to see the rest of them.

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

Click here for an essay on the themes of Sefer Devarim

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Dvar Torah for Parshas Vaeschanan

       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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Dvar Torah for Parshas Devarim- Message for Tisha B'Av 5773/2013

       Sefer Devarim begins with Bnei Yisrael about to enter Eretz Yisrael after forty years of wandering through the desert. Moshe Rabbeinu however, was not going with them. This sefer is his “farewell address” to the nation, in which he gives the nation Mussar and guidance to take with them into the Land. The first way he gives Mussar is through telling over the history of their journey through the desert.

       Moshe spends a significant amount of time talking about the sin of the Meraglim (Spies). He tells over that that entire generation was not allowed to enter Eretz Yisrael and died in the desert. All except two people, Calev and Yehoshua, since they were the only two spies to bring back a favorable report about Eretz Yisrael. The pesukim read like this: “זוּלָתִי כָּלֵב בֶּן יְפֻנֶּה הוּא יִרְאֶנָּה וְלוֹ אֶתֵּן אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר דָּרַךְ בָּהּ וּלְבָנָיו יַעַן אֲשֶׁר מִלֵּא אַחֲרֵי יְהוָה. גַּם בִּי הִתְאַנַּף יְהוָה בִּגְלַלְכֶם לֵאמֹר גַּם אַתָּה לֹא תָבֹא שָׁם. … יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן נוּן הָעֹמֵד לְפָנֶיךָ הוּא יָבֹא שָׁמָּה”  “Except Calev the son of Yephuneh, he will see it, and I will give him the land that he trod upon, and to his children, because he has completely followed Hashem. Hashem was also angry with me because of you, saying, ‘Neither will you go there’. But Yehoshua the son of Nun, who stands before you he will go there…” (Devarim 1:36-39).

       Snuck in between the pesukim about Calev and Yehoshua is a statement from Moshe that he too cannot enter Eretz Yisrael, and blames Bnei Yisrael for Hashem’s anger against him. Moshe’s blame here is puzzling. It is well known that the reason Moshe could not enter Eretz Yisrael was because of an incident back in Parshas Chukas where he was supposed to draw water from a rock by speaking to it. Instead, Moshe did not follow Hashem’s instructions and hit the rock which caused a Chilul Hashem, a desecration of God’s name. As a result, Moshe was not allowed to enter Eretz Yisrael. So why does Moshe mention here, right in the middle of him saying who the two people are that can enter Eretz Yisrael, that he cannot go in? And furthermore, the reason Moshe couldn’t go in wasn’t connected to the spies, so why mention it here?

       To answer this question, we must reexamine the story in Parshas Chukas. There are many varying opinions as to what Moshe’s exact sin was. The pasuk says, “וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה וְאֶל אַהֲרֹן יַעַן לֹא הֶאֱמַנְתֶּם בִּי לְהַקְדִּישֵׁנִי לְעֵינֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לָכֵן לֹא תָבִיאוּ אֶת הַקָּהָל הַזֶּה אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי לָהֶם” “And Hashem said to Moshe and to Aharon, ‘Since you did not have faith in Me to sanctify Me in the eyes of the Bnei Yisrael, therefore you shall not bring this assembly to the Land which I have given them” (Bamidbar 20:12). The Kli Yakar explains that Moshe was supposed to raise the Bnei Yisrael’s level of faith in Hashem by speaking to the rock and having the water flow from it. By hitting it, he did nothing to raise their faith and was punished for it. This seems to indicate that if the Nation’s level of faith had already been high, it would have been unnecessary to hit the rock and Moshe would not have been punished.

       So what caused Bnei Yisrael’s faith in Hashem to drop? The Torah tells us after the Splitting of the Red Sea that the Bnei Yisrael’s faith in both Hashem and Moshe as his messenger was complete. But all that changed with the episode of the Spies. At that moment, their level of faith declined to new lows, making it necessary for Moshe to perform a miracle in front of them; a miracle which ended up costing him his entrance into Eretz Yisrael. So in reality, the sin of the Spies did indeed cause Moshe to not be able to enter the Land. Perhaps this is also why he slips it in between talking about Calev and Yehoshua; really, Moshe was supposed to be the third person from that generation to enter Eretz Yisrael together with Calev and Yehoshua, however, due to the sin, he was unable to.  

       This week’s parshah is always read the week before Tisha B’Av, the anniversary of the destruction of both Batei Mikdash. Chazal teach us that the Spies returned with their evil report on Tisha B’Av as well, and when the nation cried that night over the fact that they were inheriting such a “terrible” country, Hashem decreed that we would be given a real reason to cry on this day. We must work this week on repairing the damage done and work towards rebuilding the Beis Hamikdash.

       However, as with all tragedies, Hashem does it all for our good. Chazal also tell us that a Beis Hamikdash built by Moshe could not have been destroyed. If Moshe had ended up building the Beis Hamikdash, instead of punishing us for our sins with the destruction of a building (albeit a holy one), we would have been destroyed instead. So as we mourn this week and pray for better times, remember that even in the darkness of destruction, the light of redemption is right around the corner.

Shabbat Shalom!

Click here for last year's Dvar Torah for Parshas 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 Matos-Maasei

     AIMeM would like to thank Mrs. Zohara Jaffe for filling in this week.

        Parasha Mattos begins with the laws off making a vow or an oath. It specifically only comes after we have discussed the halachos of the Yomim Tovim such as, Pessach, Shavuoths, Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, etc… The reason for this is discussed by the Me’am Loez.

       Generally speaking, when preparing for festivals, many preliminary measures are taken such as the decorations, the food, and especially the beverages of wine or alcohol, some of the main ingredients that help us celebrate and rejoice. There is however a boundary that a person must not cross; if that path is crossed then there are dear consequences to pay. When a person becomes intoxicated, his base instincts are aroused and he is lured into sinning. There is a recorded passage found in the book of Job where after a full round of festivities, Job arises early in the morning in order to sanctify his people by offering a burnt offering. This was a precautionary measure he took just in case the people had drunk too much and had sinned. Job said: "It may that my sons have sinned and blasphemed G-d in their heart" (Job 1:5), so without waiting he hurried up to offer sacrifices in order to protect his children from punishment. 

       There are stories of sages of old times that during festive meals, after drinking, they would start breaking precious crystals vessels.  Once the hangover subsided, these sages regretted their behavior and became saddened and frightened. At that point they established the blessing of "Ha Tov Vehametiv", before they drank wine, and as a result, they were not influenced by their base instincts. A person must reflect and think that, if these great men who were Torah scholars and performed mitzvoth were nervous in such situations, then surely the common man who is not learned, and who is not performing any mitzvoth should take the proper precautions before he drinks. This would hopefully help a person to drink less and as a result, not be tempted to sin.  

       Now for the connection to our parshah: if a man is weak and can't control his drinking habits he should make a vow to not drink wine during a Chag unless it's to fulfill the mitzvah. These steps, if taken can help a person control himself.

  

       This explains why our parshah is only said after the parshah of the Yomim Tovim. Hashem gave us the concept of a vow in order to help the Jewish people. We must note however, that when a vow or an oath is violated, a person denies Hashem's existence (G-d forbid). And when a violation takes place, there is no atonement that can be made.  It said in the scriptures that Hashem will not allow anyone to take His name in vain (Exodus 20:7). 

Shabbat Shalom!

Click here for last year's Dvar Torah for Parshas Matos-Maasei

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

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Writers Wanted!

This week i will be traveling on Wednesday and Thursday and will have a difficult time writing up a dvar torah. As usual in these situations, I would like to enlist my readers help in putting out a dvar torah this week. If anyone would like to write a dvar torah for this week's parsha, Parshas Matos-Maasei, please let me know.


AIMeM

Dvar Torah for Parshas Pinchas

     Parshas Balak ends with the story of Pinchas killing Zimri, the Nasi of Shevet Shimon, as he was involved in an aveirah with Cozby, the princess of Midian. The halachah is when a person commits Gilui Arayos with a non-Jewish woman, any קנאי (translated as zealot for lack of a better term) is allowed to go and kill him. When Pinchas saw what Zimri was doing, he went straight away and killed both of them! In this week’s parshah, we learn how Pinchas was rewarded.

     When Aharon and his sons became Kohanim, the Kehunah was given to their descendants as well. However, this included only unborn children. Anyone who was already born at the time, including Pinchas, did not become Kohanim. So, at the beginning of this week’s parshah, Hashem rewards Pinchas by making him a Kohen. This sounds all good and wonderful but how is it possible? How can someone just become a Kohen? After all, a Kohen is born, not made. You can answer simply that Pinchas did a huge Kiddush Hashem, deserving of becoming a Kohen, but there have been many people throughout history who have done huge Kiddush Hashems. Why did they not become Kohanim?

     There is the possibility of answering on a personal level pertaining to Pinchas. Pinchas showed an enormous commitment to Hashem and his zealotry clearly showed his desire to be involved completely in the service of Hashem. Hashem puts us in certain circumstances which allow us to reach certain levels. If we reach those levels and show our desire to reach even higher, Hashem gives us even greater opportunities. After this act on Pinchas’ part, the only circumstance where he could devote himself even more to Hashem was through being a Kohen, a job where you work in the Beis Hamikdash and your entire livelihood comes from Hashem, basically, a life of complete commitment to God. However, this doesn’t completely answer our question. Pinchas was already a Levi, whose position in the Beis Hamikdash was also a position of great importance and also prevented him from making a living. So why did he need to become a Kohen? Furthermore, this is still not a good enough reason to change the normal process of becoming a Kohen, namely, by being born one!

     A better way of looking at this is by examining the actual act that Pinchas did. He is called a קנאי, so what is it about being a קנאי that becoming a Kohen is a fitting reward? Let us examine what it means to be a קנאי and maybe then we can understand what the connection is to the Kehunah.

     The word “קנאי” comes from the word קנאה, jealousy. Someone who is a קנאי for Hashem is someone who is jealous in place of Hashem. What does that mean? How can you be jealous in place of someone else, either it’s your jealousy or theirs? The Ramchal in his sefer Mesillas Yesharim explains love as having three branches with one of these branches being קנאות. What does this mean? When someone you love is being abused in some fashion, the first thing you do (or are supposed to do) is immediately stand up for that person and do what needs to be done to restore that person’s safety and respect. When you make that person’s honor so important that it hurts you to see him disrespected, when you make someone’s agenda as important as your own, and you act on that feeling, you are called a קנאי. When Pinchas went to kill Zimri, he wasn’t worried that Zimri was an important person, he wasn’t worried about what the general populace would think of him, Pinchas, no more special than anyone else, taking care of business himself. It hurt Pinchas so much to see Hashem’s honor being desecrated right before his eyes that he acted right away. He knew the halachah allowed him to kill Zimri. He took a spear, and went and killed him. Pinchas loved Hashem enough that this desecration of Hashem’s name in public drove him to (permissible) murder. And someone who loves Hashem loves everything about Hashem.

     My mashgiach, Rabbi Elchonon Fishman, explained to us in a schmooze that the parshah introduces Pinchas as “פִּינְחָס בֶּן אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן” “Pinchas the son of Elazar the son of Aharon the Kohen” (25:11). There was only one Elazar at the time who was a Kohen, that should have been enough to identify who Pinchas was. Why did the Torah bother to include Aharon also in the introduction? He answered that Aharon is described as “אוהב את הבריות ומקרבן לתורה” “one who loved people and brought them closer to Torah” (Pirkei Avos 1:12). He was prominent amongst the nation not only as the Kohen Gadol, but also as the person who brought peace between families, neighbors, and friends. And because Aharon’s love for the people was so great, he brought them closer to Torah, the most precious gift anyone would want to give! Aharon was the first Kohen Gadol. The Kohen Gadol represents the entire nation. When he brings a korban, he brings it for everybody, when he goes into the Kodesh Hakedoshim on Yom Kippur, he goes in alone, but represents the entire nation while he is in there. He walks around the whole day with the names of the Shevatim on his shoulders as part of the Eifod (apron), and on his chest as part of the Choshen (breastplate). He has the responsibility of keeping the entire nation on the right path. A Kohen Gadol’s entire life is about thinking and caring for the nation, and as we said before, someone who loves Hashem loves everything about Hashem, including his children and chosen nation. Meaning us, the Jewish people.

     Pinchas had this same middah as Aharon, he loved every single Jew so much. Why? Because the kavod of the Jewish people was as important to him as was the kavod of Hashem! That’s why the Torah introduces him as the grandson of Aharon, he inherited that quality from his grandfather. When Pinchas went to kill Zimri, it wasn’t only to defend the kavod of Hashem, it was to defend the kavod of the entire nation! He was concerned that the nation should not be embarrassed by someone committing a horrible aveirah in public.

      Now it’s simple to understand why Pinchas became a Kohen. Who was more qualified to become the next Kohen Gadol than the person who risked his life to defend the honor of Klal Yisrael! Additionally, according to one commentary, all future Kohanim Gedolim were descended from Pinchas. Based on this explanation, this makes complete sense. This quality which they inherited from their grandfather is the perfect gene to perform the job of Kohen Gadol.

     While we might not be on the level of pure קנאות, we can still try to replicate this middah of Aharon and Pinchas, this pure love of every Jew leading us to do everything in our power to help them, care for them, and ultimately give them the ultimate gift of Torah. To start off, we must take care that we treat the respect of every person as our own.  Through this, we will become true קנאים and defenders of the honor of Hashem and Klal Yisrael.

Shabbat Shalom!

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

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Dvar Torah for Parshas Balak

       After their conquests over Sichon and Og in last week’s Parshah, the next set of enemies standing in front of Bnei Yisrael were Moav and Midian. Balak, the king of Moav, decided to employ the sorcerer, Bilaam, to curse Bnei Yisrael. Bilaam was unique in history as the only non-Jewish “Navi”. Even though he was not on the level necessary to receive prophecy, Hashem still gave Bilaam that ability since if the Goyim had never had a Navi, they could have possibly claimed that had they had one, they would have followed the Torah as well as the Bnei Yisrael. This way, that claim was made redundant. However, Bilaam’s title still belongs in quotations as there were some key differences between his prophecy and everyone else’s.

       After Bilaam arrives in Moav to curse the Jews, Balak gives him everything he needs to accomplish his mission. Bilaam then goes to daven to Hashem that he should know the best way to curse the Jews. Hashem’s response shows us the difference between Bilaam and all other prophets. “וַיִּקָּר אֱלֹהִים אֶל בִּלְעָם וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אֶת שִׁבְעַת הַמִּזְבְּחֹת עָרַכְתִּי וָאַעַל פָּר וָאַיִל בַּמִּזְבֵּחַ” “God chanced upon Bilaam, and he (Bilaam) said to Him, "I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on [each] altar.” (Bamidbar 23:4). The Meforshim have different ways to explain this word “וַיִּקָּר”. Rashi explains that it shows that Hashem really did not want to talk to Bilaam since he was not on the proper level to be a Navi. Furthermore, this was the first time Hashem ever spoke to Bilaam during the day! Normally, He would only speak to him at night when no one could see. However, at this moment, out of love for Bnei Yisrael, Hashem came to Bilaam during the day and Bnei Yisrael ended up being blessed because of it (the result of His love for them).

       The Ramban gives us a different perspective of how Hashem changed his way of talking to Bilaam. The word “וַיִּקָּר” denotes a happenstance occurrence. Normally, Bilaam received his messages from Hashem at certain times and in certain situations. This time however, Hashem “happened” to come to him, at a time where he was not prepared; similar to a real Navi who had to be ready to receive a message from Hashem at any time during the day. When Bilaam saw that he was receiving a prophecy, he was shocked and completely overwhelmed by it and immediately defended himself by stating that he had built the alters and brought sacrifices and therefore, deserved to have his prayers answered.

       The Daas Zekeinim asks an interesting question on this story. How come whenever Hashem called Moshe, Moshe had to come to Him but numerous times in our parshah, Hashem calls out to Bilaam and then meets Bilaam wherever he is at the time! Doesn’t Moshe deserve the same respect? He answers using a parable. If the king has a servant with whom he desires to speak, however, this servant is very ill, there is no way the king would let him into the palace to speak with him! The king would much rather meet him outside than let him in the palace and spread his illness around. However, a different advisor who is completely healthy will be welcomed in with open arms to the king’s throne room. Is the second servant offended that he had to come to the king instead of the king coming to him like the first servant? Absolutely not! Coming into the palace is a privilege that not everyone receives. The connection to our story is obvious. Bilaam is the sick servant who while Hashem desires to speak to him, He doesn’t want him dirtying up the palace by coming in. Hashem would rather go out and meet him by his place. Moshe however, is privileged enough to be welcomes into the king’s palace with open arms and able to have his audience in the Mishkan itself. Do not think that Bilaam was more privileged than any of our Neviim. He was simply a necessity while the Prophets were fully deserving of their lofty status.

Shabbat Shalom!

Click here for last year's Dvar Torah on Parshas Balak

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