Friday, July 5, 2013

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!


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AIMeM

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