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Posted on January 24, 2023 by Administrator — 16 Comments ↓
The Ramban at the end of Bo is a classic work on Jewish philosophy and probably the most quoted Ramban in Chumash. It's well worth seeing inside. Here's a summary:
Reason for the Plagues
The Ramban says that from the time of Enosh there were three types of heretics: 1) Those that didn't believe in G-d at all; 2) Those that believed in a G-d, but didn't believe He knew what was happening in the world; 3) Those that believed in G-d's knowledge, but didn't believe that He oversees the world or that there is reward and punishments.
By favoring the Jews and altering nature through the plagues, the falsity of the heretical views became clear to all. The supernatural wonders indicate the world has a G-d who created it, knows all, oversees all and is all powerful. And when that wonder is publicly declared beforehand through a prophet, the truth of prophecy is made clear as well, namely that G-d will speak to a person and reveal His secrets to His servants, the prophets, and with acknowledgement of this principle the entire Torah is sustained. (The Ramban brings down a number of pesukim supporting this.)
Reason for so many Mitzvos regarding the Exodus
Now, because G-d does not perform a sign or wonder in every generation in sight of every evil person and disbeliever, He commanded that we should have constant reminders and signs of what we saw in Egypt and we should transmit it to our children thoughout the generations. G-d was stringent in this matter as we see from the strict penalties regarding eating Chometz on Pesach and neglecting the Pesach offering. Other mitzvos regarding the Exodus are tefillin, mezuzos, remembering the Exodus in the morning and evening, Succos.
There are also many other commandments that serve as a reminder of the Exodus (Shabbos, the festivals, redemption of the firstborn,…). And all these commandments serve as a testimony for us through the generations regarding the wonders performed in Egypt, that they not be forgotten and there will be no argument for a heretic to deny faith in G-d.
The Reason behind Mitzvos in General
When one does a simple mitzvah like mezuzah and thinks about its importance, he has already acknowledged G-d's creation of the world, G-d's knowledge and supervision of the world's affairs, the truth of prophecy and all the foundations of Torah. In addition he has acknowledged G-d's kindness towards those that perform His will, for He took us from bondage to freedom in great honor in the merit of our forefathers.
That is why Chazal say, be careful in performing a minor commandment as a major one, for all of them are major and beloved since through them a person is constantly acknowledging his G-d. For the objective of all the commandments is that we should believe in G-d and acknowledge to Him that He created us.
Purpose of Creation
In fact this is the purpose of creation itself, for we have no other explanation of creation. And G-d has no desire, except that man should know and acknowledge the G-d that created him. And the purpose of raising our voices in prayer and the purpose of Shuls and the merit of communal prayer is that people should have a place where they can gather and acknowledge that G-d created them and caused them to be and they can publicize this and declare before Him, "We are your creations".
This is what the sages meant when they explained "And they shall call out mightily to G-d" as from here you learn that prayer requires a loud voice for boldness can overcome evil.
Everything is a Sign of Hashem
Through recalling the great revealed signs of Hashem of the Exodus, a person acknowledges the hidden signs of everyday life which are the foundation of the entire Torah. For a person has no share in the Torah of Moshe unless he believes that all our affairs and experiences are signs from Hashem, that there is no independent force of nature regarding either the community or the individual.
Reward and Punishment
Rather if one observes the commandments his reward will bring him success and if he transgresses them his punishment will destroy him. Hidden signs of Hashem can be more clearly recognized as regards the affairs of a community as in the predictions in the Torah in the matter of the blessings and the curses as it says – And the nations will say, "For what reason did Hashem do so to this land…?" And they will say, "Because they forsook the covenant of Hashem, the G-d of their forefathers". This matter will become known to the nations, that this is from G-d as their (the Jews) punishment. And it is stated regarding the fulfillment of the commandments, "Then all the people of the earth will see that the Name of Hashem is proclaimed over you, and they will revere you."
First published in January, 2008. Last 2 paragraphs updated January 2012
Posted in Hashkafa, Parsha
Posted on January 19, 2023 by Azriela Jaffe — 20 Comments ↓
People often ask me, "what mitzvah was the hardest one to take on? Was it covering your hair, or eating kosher, or the laws of mikvah?" I reply: "None of the above. It was the attitude change I had to make, which I still struggle with to this day, even after over a decade of observance."
"Does G-d really care about this detail?" This is the question that haunts me. Why would the creator of the Universe care about whether I wait 3, 4, or 6 hours after eating meat before I enjoy an ice cream cone? Why does the Almighty concern Himself with which bird is sacrificed for which sin, and the actual materials that go into the building of the mishkan? If I listen to music today, or my husband and son get a haircut, and it's not Lag B'Omer yet, this matters to Hashem? The same creator who gave us oceans, and mountains, and oxygen? Details, details, details, the Torah is filled with millions of them, and my former allegiance to being Reform crops up time and again. I make Judaism a me-centered religion every time I ask this question: "Why can't I just do it my way instead?"
It's been sinking in slowly over the last ten years: to become observant means that I believe that G-d does care about these details, and even when I question a certain detail, I ACT as if G-d cares, because I now believe that if it's in the Torah, and if it's been passed along by the oral tradition for thousands of years, then G-d really does pay attention to what I put in my mouth, or on my head, or in my heart. I can't fathom it, but that's my limitation.
Yesterday I made a silly faux pas in the kitchen, and it led me to think about this question metaphorically.
I was making brownies from scratch for Shabbos — Ultra rich godiva chocolate fudge brownies. Even though I published a kosher cookbook for those concerned about eating kosher food with less fat, calories and carbs, this recipe was NOT in that book! Nothing dietetic about them. I placed them into the oven to bake and started to clean the kitchen. One finger swipe of the chocolate ganache pan told me these brownies were going to be worth the calories. Then I took another finger swipe from the batter bowl — and gagged. It was one of the worst tastes I could ever describe. What went wrong?
It didn't take long to figure out that I had mixed up the two jars in my kitchen — one that read salt, and one that read sugar. Long ago I poured sugar and salt into glass jars that sit on my kitchen counter to make it easier to bake without shlepping the sugar or salt out of my pantry. Do you know what brownies taste like when you put 1 1/4 cups of salt into the batter instead of 1 1/4 cups of sugar?
Pretty darn awful.
I had to throw away the whole pan, and as I was cleaning up the mess, I got to thinking. I learned my lesson — my salt and sugar will now be put in dissimilar looking jars. I'll only make this mistake once. But more than that:
What if G-d has a very precise recipe for how the world is supposed to operate, and how I, as a Jew, am supposed to live my life? Maybe the sugar and the salt look a lot a like, but substituting one for the other results in one lousy tasting brownie.
To be observant means that when I'm tempted to substitute my own ways for Hashem's, I can remember the taste of that brownie gone wrong in my mouth.
Torah is the recipe I am to follow. Lucky for me, there's more sugar in it than salt.
Originally published May, 2007
Posted in Halacha, Hashkafa
Posted on December 7, 2022 by Rabbi Dovid Schwartz zt"l — 2 Comments ↓
Why didn't Yaakov simply pass Esav by instead of engaging him?
Why did Yaakov send Angels to his brothers rather than humans?
Yaakov sent representatives ahead of him to his brother, Esav, to Edom's Field toward the land of Seir.
— Bereishis 32:4
The representatives returned to Yaakov and told him: "We came to your brother, Esav, and he's also heading toward you. He has [a force of] 400 men with him."
—Ibid:7
One who grows angry while passing by a quarrel that does not concern him is akin to one who seizes a [sleeping] dog by the ears.
— Mishlei 26:17
Let sleeping dogs lie
— Popular idiom version of passuk in Mishlei
Our Sages (Bereishis Rabbah 75:2) criticized Yaakov for this [sending representatives and gifts to Easv] comparing it to waking a sleeping dog by yanking its ears: The Holy Blessed One said to Yaakov "he [Esav] was going his own way [not considering any hostilities to Yaakov] and you had to send him representatives and remind him [of the old dormant enmity] 'to my lord Esav. Your humble slave Yaakov says … '"?
— Ramban Bereishis 32:4
Yaakov remained alone. A man wrestled with him kicking up dust until the darkness lifted
— Bereishis 32:25
… Our Rabbis explained (Bereishis Rabbah 77:3, 78:3) that the wrestling man was the prince (guardian angel) of Esav.
— Rashi Ibid
… Rivkah became pregnant. But the offspring clashed/ scurried inside of her …
— Bereishis 25:21,22
Our Rabbis (Bereishis Rabbah 63:6) interpreted it [the word וַיִתְרוֹצִצו] as an expression of running/ scurrying (רוֹצָה) . When she passed by the entrances of [the] Torah [academies] of Shem and Ever, Yaakov would scurry and struggle to come out; when she passed the entrance of [a temple of] idolatry, Esav would scurry and struggle to come out.
Question: Isn't it true that the yetzer hara-the inclination to evil; is not operative in-utero and that it is not within man until man is born … [if so why was Esav drawn to evil before he was even born]? The answer is that while it's true that man has no yen and desire for evil, as part of his free-will equation, until after he is born; what Esav was doing here [when scurrying towards the temples of idolatry] was qualitatively different. Esav was not yielding to the seductions of his yetzer hara, instead he was magnetically drawn towards his source, nature and species, as it were. For all things are aroused by, and inexorably drawn towards, the source of their intrinsic nature and self-definition.
— Gur Aryeh- supercommentary of the Maharal to Rashi Ibid
It is indeed odd that Yaakov would have awakened the sleeping dog/ giant. At first glance, what could possibly have motivated him to do so is incomprehensible.
According to one approach of the Midrashic sages the representatives that Yaakov dispatched to Esav were heavenly angels. Many commentaries have addressed Yaakov's "need" for angels. Rav Shmuel Dov Asher-the Biskovitzer Rebbe, maintains that Yaakov was on what, in the contemporary parlance, might be called a mission of kiruv rechokim-bringing those distant from righteousness/ G-d closer. Yaakov was unwilling to stand idly by as his twin brother degenerated deeper and deeper into the hellish depths of evil. He had hoped that the angels would prove equal to the task of discovering and nurturing Esav's deeply buried goodness until it overwhelmed all his accretions of evil and washed them away in a cleansing wave of teshuvah-repentance. After all, the passuk teaches us that angels are uniquely endowed with the capacity of advocating for deeply flawed individuals who possess as little as one tenth of one percent of decency and goodness: "If one has even a single angel out of a thousand advocating on his behalf by declaring his uprightness, then G-d will be gracious to him and say 'redeem him from descending into destruction [i.e. the grave] for I havefound atonement/ ransom for him.'" (Iyov 33:23,24)
His interpretation is supported by a fuller, closer reading of the Midrash of "awakening the sleeping, vicious dog." After citing the passuk in Mishlei the Midrash continues: Shmuel the son of Nachman said "this is comparable to a traveler who awakened the leader of a gang of thieves sleeping at the crossroads and warned him of the imminent dangers [from wild animals]. Instead of thanking the traveler, the gang leader began beating his benefactor. The traveler cried foul 'you cursed man [is this how you repay me for trying to save your life?]' The gang leader then said '[you deserve it, it's your own fault] I was slumbering comfortably and you woke me!'"
In this allegory Yaakov is represented by the traveler while Esav's role is played by the gang leader. Nowhere in this allegory do we find a frightened Yaakov devising strategies and tactics to save himself and/or his family. On the contrary, Yaakov is a selfless do-gooder trying to save the life and limbs of someone else, fast asleep and unaware of the looming, lurking dangers. Yakkov's good deed did not go unpunished and not only is he forced to struggle with the malicious ingrate Esav but, later, he was forced to contend with his evil guardian angel as well.
While it's often said that "the path to hell is paved with good intentions" it is still hard to grasp what occurred in this case. Why did Yaakov's well intentioned plan to save his twin from the wild animals of spiritual ruin go so badly awry? This is especially quizzical in light of the Zohar's observation that "praiseworthy is he who takes the guilty/sinful by hand [and leads them along the path of repentance and tikkun]"
The Biskovitzer explains that while kiruv is a most praiseworthy endeavor it is wasted upon those whose evil is intrinsic and incorrigible rather than those whose evil is acquired through the incorrect exercise of their free-will. Echoing the Maharal's clarification for Esav's in-utero scurrying towards temples of idolatry and, no doubt, paraphrasing earlier sources, the Biskovitzer goes so far as to identify Esav with the primordial serpent who enticed Adam and Chavah into Original Sin. In other words; Esav is not a good kid gone bad, he is just plain bad. He is not one who falls prey to the yetzer hara he IS the yetzer hara. Such evil is incorrigible, dealing with it in any way, even for the noble goal of its rehabilitation, is doomed to failure and to vicious, attacking ingratitude.
Read more Forbidden Kiruv ›
Posted in Continual Spiritual Growth, Dvar Torah, Free Will, Great Seforim, Hashkafa, Kiruv, Question of The Week, Teshuva
Posted on July 7, 2022 by Rabbi Dovid Schwartz zt"l — 6 Comments ↓
By Rabbi Dovid Schwartz-zt"l
How does Jewish sin differ from sin in general?
I have recorded a homiletic interpretation … of R. Moshe Hadarshan … And have them take for you: … just as they took off their own golden earrings for the calf, so shall they bring this [cow] from their own [assets] in penance. A red cow: This is comparable to the baby of a maidservant who soiled the king's palace [with fecal matter]. They said, "Let his mother come and clean up the mess." Similarly, let the cow come and atone for the calf.] … [Midrash Aggadah and Tanchuma Chukath 8]
–Rashi Bemidbar19:22
A Kohen who converted to an idolatrous religion should not "raise his palms" in the priestly blessing. Others say that if he repented then he may perform the priestly blessing.
–Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 128:37
But if he actually worshipped an idol, even if he was forced to do so and even if he subsequently repented, he may not perform the priestly blessing.
–Be'er Heitev ibid footnote 63
Approach the altar: [The salient corners of the altar reminded Ahron of the juvenile horn-buds of the Calf] because Ahron was embarrassed and frightened of approaching [the altar] Moshe said to him: "Why are you ashamed? You have been chosen for this [role]!"
– Torath Kohanim on VaYikra 9:7
Fire came forth from before HaShem and consumed them [Nadav and Avihu], such that they died before HaShem. Then Moshe said to Ahron, "This is precisely what HaShem meant, [when He said], 'I will be sanctified through those near to Me (Shemos 29:43) … "
–VaYikra 10:2,3
מוֹצִיא מִזָּלוֹת יְקָרוֹת. מַתִּיר מֵאֲסוּרוֹת מֻתָּרוֹת. נוֹתֵן מִטְּמֵאוֹת טְהוֹרוֹת
HaShem brings forth the priceless from the worthless, He allows the permissible from the prohibited, He produces the pure from the impure.
Piyut-"Yotzros" for Parshas Parah
The mei chatas-the waters whose main ingredient were the ashes produced from immolating the carcass of the Parah Adumah-the Red Heifer, are the only means to gain purity after contracting impurity through contact with the dead- tuma'as meis. A person who has become tamei meis may not consume the korban Pesach-the Passover sacrifice. (Or, for that matter, any consumable sacrifices.) When the Bais HaMikdash-the Temple in Jerusalem, stood those who were tme'ei meis would undergo the mei chatas purification process required to enable them to offer their korban Pesach. Nowadays, as the Bais HaMikdash lies in ruins, the four special parshiyos/ maftir readings that precede Pesach are all meant as a preparation for the holiday. So we can easily understand that it is apropos to read Parshas Parah at this time of the year.
However, during each of the shalosh regalim-pilgrimage holidays, multiple offerings had to be sacrificed and consumed in a state of ritual purity. This being the case, the Biskovitzer asks: Why is the reading of Parshas Parah limited to pre-Pesach preparation? Logically, we ought to be reading it before Shavous and Sukkos as well. The insights that he and other members of the Izhbitzer school provide by way of answering this question reveal a profound and deep-seated difference between Jewish sin, and sin in general.
In Torah literature the Parah Adumah is known as THE Chukas haTorah, THE (most) irrational mitzvah of the Torah (preceded with the definite article.) In a broad sense the entire body of Torah law covering the rules of purity and impurity contains only chukim-irrational mitzvos. After all, the states of ritual purity or impurity rise above sensory perception. We can neither see taharah-purity nor smell tumah-impurity. Similarly, there seems to be no rhyme or reason when trying to connect the dots between cause and effect in either tumah or taharah or in endeavoring to understand their various levels. But what makes the Parah Adumah a category of chok unto itself is the conundrum of it being a factor causing both tumah and taharah. Those who prepare and handle it contract a low level of tumah while those who were sprayed with the mei chataas regain a state of purity after being in the thrall of the most powerful and fundamental form of tumah.
Tumah is identified with sin while having attained atonement and rapprochement is associated with taharah. As such, the conflicted nature of the Parah Adumah serves as a metaphor for the convergence of sin and repentance; of merit and the demerits; of kilkul-spiritual ruination, and tikkun– it's repair and restoration. The Parah Adumah itself is seen as atoning for the greatest of all sins; the Golden Calf. It is the mother that comes to clean up the mess that her baby left in the king's palace.
While the Calf is the "child" and the Red Heifer the "parent" oddly enough, in this case, it is the child that gives birth to the parent. Absent the Golden Calf there would never have been a Red Heifer. The Biskovitzer maintains that the message of the Parah Adumah is that Jewish sins even the most catastrophic an egregious of Jewish sins; are not all bad. A weed cannot produce a tasty apple. If we were to see a delicious apple hanging from a noxious weed we would be forced to conclude that there's more to this weed than meets the eye. While it may look and smell like a weed, it must contain some genetic material capable of producing such delicious and nourishing fruit.
If ever there was a sin, a metaphysical weed that looked "all bad" it was the Golden Calf. Yet when considered on a deeper level it was motivated by something virtuous. K'lal Yisrael, the Jewish People wanted (a) god to lead them. Ultimately HaShem agreed to this and said "and they should make a sanctuary for me and I will cause my Divine Indwelling to be among them." (Shemos 25:8) And when they besieged Ahron to become their agent to serve/ worship and to build the altar this too remained as a permanent fixture in the Divine service of HaShem, as Ahron became the Kohen Gadol.
Rav Tzadok, the Lubliner Kohen, when listing many examples of spiritual/metaphysical darkness that are the necessary prerequisites to the light that follows, goes so far as to say that the sin of the Golden Calf was the primary cause of the construction of the Mishkan and that the sin of Nadav and Avihu was the primary cause of the Mishkan's holiness. Still, the Lubliner Kohen pointedly reminds us that, while the light is contained in the darkness and that spiritual purity and sanctity are present in potentia in every Jewish sin, that sin nevertheless remains, well, sinful … and something to be ashamed of. (cp Taanis 11A Tosafos D"H Amar Shmuel). Otherwise, why would it be prohibited to remind those Ba'alei Teshuvah-masters of repentance, who were motivated to repent by the love of HaShem, of their earlier misdeeds? While we know that repentance motivated by such love has the power to transform premeditated, and even malicious, sins into zechuyos, merits/ mitzvos, there is nonetheless something untoward and unseemly about the original acts which still appear as sins in the historical record.
This explains Ahron's reticence and sense of shame and apprehension when he first approached the altar to do the Divine service. Ahron had done absolutely nothing and exerted no efforts to attain the Office of Kohen Gadol. On the contrary, his culpability in the sin of the Golden Calf would have seemed to torpedo any chances that he had to serve in the Mishkan. The halachah states that a Kohen who worshipped idols is disqualified from serving again as a Kohen to HaShem, even after returning to the fold and repenting. How much more so for the "enabler" of this foulest idolatry of the Jewish People? It was only his profound sense of shame over his involvement in the sin of the Golden Calf and his feelings of unbridgeable distance and alienation from HaShem that, paradoxically, brought him closer to HaShem than anyone else. To paraphrase the paytan-liturgical poet, of the Parshas Parah yotzer vis-à-vis Ahron; HaShem brought forth the premier servant from the most mutinous rebel.
The Biskovitzer concludes that while ritual purification from contact with the dead is required in order to consume any of the korbanos we read Parshas Parah before Pesach because they convey the identical message. During the Exodus from Egypt the ministering angels "challenged" HaShem's salvation of the Jews and simultaneous destruction of the Egyptians by saying; "these and those are both idolaters." Yet, during the night of the slaying of the firstborn, HaShem "passed over." He, kivyachol-as it were, leapfrogged from one Egyptian occupied home to the other while leaving the Jews occupying the homes in the middle, unscathed. On a level so profound, deep and imperceivable that even the angels could not grasp it, there was, indeed, a difference between Jewish idolatry, and the concomitant descent into the 49 gates of impurity, and the idolatry of the Egyptians. While both Egyptians and Jews worshipped idols, the Jews had suffered terribly for k'vod Shamayim-for god's greater Glory. Jewish idolatry was not all bad, somehow the purity and sanctity of Mattan Torah-the revelation at Sinai inhered in the degradation, defilement and, yes, even in the idolatry of the Jewish slavery experience in Egypt.
~adapted from Neos Desheh Parshas Parah
Takanas HaShavin 5 page 21
Resisei Laylah 24 pages 30–31
This post is An installment in the series of adaptations
From the Waters of the Shiloah: Plumbing the Depths of the Izhbitzer School
For series introduction CLICK
Posted in Amazing BTs, Dvar Torah, Emuna, Hashkafa, Identity, Parsha, Question of The Week, Teshuva, Yom Tovim
Posted on November 3, 2021 by Guest Contributor — 35 Comments ↓
By Rabbi Gershon Seif
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch lived over a century ago, and yet his insights into the Torah and his teachings of the Torah's view of life remain very current.
This brief essay cannot do justice to an explanation of the times within which Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch lived, his battles, and his worldview. Nor can it provide a real appreciation of his writing which is comprised of commentaries on the Torah, Psalms, Siddur, Ethics of the Fathers, as well as Horeb, an explanation of Jewish Law and the meanings behind those laws, and The Nineteen Letters, Hirsch's first published work, which serves as an amazing digest of all of Hirsch's future writings and views. In addition, there are eight volumes of collected writings, mostly culled from his years of writing articles to his community on a wide variety of topics. I highly recommend reading the introduction to Horeb to get a more complete picture of what these works are about as well as appreciating Hirsch's mission.
Hirsch was the leader of a community at a time in history when change was everywhere. The number of observant Jews in Germany was dwindling as the masses were being swept up with the birth of the Reform movement. Hirsch was the brave warrior who battled two simultaneous battles.
While the older generation of his time was to be commended for its staunch adherence to the Torah, nonetheless Hirsch felt that much of that observance was dry and lacking in depth and meaning. He felt that this was a large part of why so many observant youth had abandoned their faith. Hirsch was an inspired, poetic soul. He saw symbolism in every Mitzvah. He saw meaningful, relevant lessons in every page of history, both Biblical and current. He was forever exhorting the observant community to appreciate the depth and beauty that lies within our Torah.
Those same talents were put to use to stem the tide of Reform. Hirsch challenged those who were abandoning Orthodoxy to have another look. He mocked the Reform's need for "Up-to-date Judaism". They needed an education in the beauty and depth of the Torah. They needed to be shown that the Torah is authentic. Symbolism of Mitzvos is only meaningful if they are Mitzvos of God, and if those Mitzvos teach us lessons of how to live, not the other way around. At that time, many were discarding most of the Mitzvos, yet claiming to maintain the spirit of the Torah. Hirsch sought to develop a system of understanding the spirit of the Torah directly from the study of the minute specifics of each Mitzvah. He used his linguistic skills to show profound meaning in every nuance of the Torah's wording. He wrote many articles debating the claims that the Torah was not God-given.
Perhaps the term that appears most often in Hirsch's writings is that of Torah Im Derech Eretz. Much ink has been spilled in attempts to explain Hirsch's take on this Midrashic phrase which became his mantra. Derech Eretz (the way of the land) is taken by Hirsch to mean engaging in the world in a way that will uplift the world and all Mankind. Torah with Derech Eretz means that the Torah guides us through all of our experiences in the world and teaches us how to do this. There are many ways that this manifests itself.
Mitzvah observance is one way. When I keep the laws of kashrus, I sanctify my body and imbue it with all the lessons of the symbolism of that Mitzvah. The Laws of Shaatnez do the same in the realm of the clothes that garb my body. When I make a blessing over wine for Kiddush, the wine becomes elevated, as does the one who makes the blessing. When I buy a home and consecrate the home at the Channukas Habayis, I have elevated the home and myself as well. The family is a further extension of this idea.
Building a community based on Godliness is another way. The Torah gives us a whole body of civil law and teaches us about charity and kindness to sanctify our community life. As Hirsch quotes on numerous occasions when he discusses this topic: "Ikar Shechina B'tachtonim" – God's presence has descended to this world, and it is our task to raise this world up and allow space for God to fill it.
In this same context, history is understood to be God's conversation with Mankind. It is our task to understand history and be an active part in that conversation. One needs to understand God's plan for all of Mankind as well as how and why the Jews are to be a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation – A light unto the world.
Earning a livelihood, expressing oneself through the talents of writing, art and music are all part of Derech Eretz. Of course we must always remember that it is Torah Im Derech Eretz. We are all to study Torah daily, and every community has its "Levites" who immerse themselves in the study of Torah completely. But Hirsch was convinced that for the average Jew on the street, his duty was to live a balanced diet of Torah study, communal involvement, and family life.
Hirsch himself attended a secular university as did many people in his community. Without a doubt, before Hirsch came on the scene, the people were already doing so in Germany. It is wrong to assume that it was Hirsch who introduced this notion into Orthodox living. Having been born into such a society and with his understanding of Torah Im Derech Eretz, he had no qualms advising his community to live by that model. Would Hirsch recommend that for today? That's the subject of a big debate. I believe he would, provided that the students were well equipped to deal with the many challenges that confront a young, impressionable student that might otherwise shake his or her faith and level of observance.
Posted in Hashkafa
Posted on November 12, 2020 by Rabbi Dovid Schwartz zt"l — 1 Comment ↓
Why did Avraham consider Eliezer to be cursed if Lavan referred to him as "the blessed of HaShem"?
If the cursed cannot bond with the blessed how are we to understand the unions of Shechem and Dinah, the Queen of Shevah and Shlomo the King et al?
Why didn't Eliezer seek a girl who would do chessed proactively before having to be asked?
He [Noach] said, "Cursed is Cannan! He shall be a slave's slave to his brothers"
— Bereishis 9:25
"I will compel you with an oath in the name of HaShem, L-rd of Heaven and L-rd of earth that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live."
"My master compelled me with an oath 'Do not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I reside. Instead you must go to my father's house, to my family, and get a wife for my son there.' I [then] said to my master 'Perhaps the woman [from your family] will not follow me [back to Canaan]'? "
— Bereishis 24:37-39
Perhaps the woman will not follow me: It [the word אֻלַי (perhaps)] is written [lacking a "vav" and may be read] אֵלַי (to me). Eliezer had a daughter, and he sought a pretext so that Avraham would tell him, to turn to him [i.e. Eliaezers family], so that Yitzchok would marry his daughter. Avraham said to him, "My son is blessed, and you are cursed [Eliezer was a descendant of Canaan who had been cursed by Noach], and an accursed one cannot bond with a blessed one."
And Lavan said "Come O he who is blessed by HaShem! Why are you still standing outdoors? I have cleared the house [of what you might find offensive] and prepared a place for the camels."
Why is Mt. Sinai so called? [Sinai is, alliteratively, similar to the lashon kodesh-biblical Hebrew; word for hatred] Because it was there that hatred descended to the idolaters [for they rejected the Torah that was revealed there].
— Shabbos 89A and Rashi ibid
The intensity of the hatred that ignorami have for Torah scholars exceeds that of the anti-Semitism that the idolaters bear towards the nation of Israel …
— Pesachim 49B
As faces in the reflecting pool mirror one another, so too do the hearts of men.
He [Eliezer] prayed O HaShem, L-rd of my master Avraham, be with me today and grant favor to my master Avraham … If I say to a girl 'Tip over your jug and let me have a drink' and she responds 'drink and I will also hydrate your camels' she will be the one whom You have designated [as a bride] for your servant Yitzchok."
When discussing the metaphysics of matchmaking Avraham declares "… an accursed one cannot bond with a blessed one." Yet TeNaC"h-the Jewish Torah canon; is replete with desired, attempted and actual unions, both marital and extra-marital, between evil and good. The assertion that evil cannot unite with good, that curse cannot cleave to blessing; seems to be unsupportable in light of such matches and near-miss marriages as those of Shechem and Dinah, Potiphar's wife and Yoseph, Kozbee and Zimri and Achashveirosh and Esther, et al.
Moreover Rav Tzadok, the Kohen of Lublin, observes that while, per Chazal, Avraham rejected Eliezers marriage proposal on the grounds of Eliezer being cursed the Torah quotes Lavan as describing Eliezer as "he who is blessed by HaShem." Presumably "the Torah of truth" would not record nonsense, hyperbole or the insincere flattery of a sycophant. If Lavans words are true it means that at some point between Avraham rejecting his shidduch proposal and Lavan greeting him, Eliezer underwent a qualitative transformation from being accursed to being blessed.
The Lubliner Kohen illuminates the dynamic of a metamorphosis at least as astonishing as that of the caterpillar-into-butterfly variety.
Evil and Good are in a state of constant and intense antipathy towards each other. They want no truck with one another and do not desire merger. Shlomo the king teaches in Mishlei that "as faces in the reflecting pool mirror one another, so too do the the hearts of men." The nature of "emotion" is cyclical and reciprocal and so, the vicious cycle of abhorrence and recrimination between Evil and Good perpetually intensifies the alienation between the two. But, at the risk of sounding trite, this begs the question: Who started the hostilities and estrangement? Who's to blame for the inability to come together?
A close reading of Rashi, "an accursed (one) cannot bond with a blessed (one)"reveals that it is evil that finds itself incapable of cleaving to good; it is not the other way around. I might add that this understanding is further supported by the gemara in Pesachim 49B that speaks of the hatred of the ignoramii and the idolatrous nations first, although it is safe to presume that the Torah Scholars and the Nation of Israel bear reciprocal loathing towards those who hate them. The passage in Shabbos 89A that pinpoints the origin of the Divine Hatred of the idolatrous nations at Sinai, only after they rejected the Torah, further bolsters this argument. Yet this makes it even more difficult to understand why it was Eliezer who initiated the proposed match between the daughter of Eliezer the cursed and the son of Avraham the blessed.
It is important to note that that Eliezer never articulated an explicit marriage proposal. The proposal, such as it was, was an insubstantial allusion, a mere wordplay. The Vilna Gaon explains that Chazal detected the subliminal marriage proposal in Eliezer employing the word אֻלַי–perhaps; connoting a desired outcome, rather than פן–lest; connoting a scenario to be avoided. Moreover the Kotzker Rebbe insightfully points out that even this mere hint of a proposed match does not appear in the Torahs narrative of the actual dialogue between Eliezer and Avraham. It is only later, during Eliezers repetition of that conversation to Rivkas family, that he had an epiphany and understood why he had employed the word אֻלַי rather than פן.
Along these lines, and to address the issues of evil and good bonding, the Lubliner Kohen maintains that during his actual conversation with Avraham, Eliezer revealed his subconscious desires in what contemporaries might call a Freudian slip, because he only had blessed potential at the time, but was not quite ready to transform into a full-fledged blessed being until after his encounter with Rivka. The nascence of his transformation from cursed to blessed began as soon as he accepted the mission of his master Avraham but, as he had not yet actualized his potential for blessedness he was, as yet, incapable of verbalizing his desire to unite with and cleave to the good and blessed on an overt level.
Read more When Opposites Attract ›
Posted in Anti Semitism, Chesed, Continual Spiritual Growth, Dvar Torah, Great Seforim, Hashkafa, Jewish Thought, Question of The Week, Shidduchim
Posted on June 25, 2019 by Rabbi Dovid Schwartz zt"l — 10 Comments ↓
Why are so many segulos ineffective?
In particular why doesn't fulfilling the Mitzvah of tzitzis transform us into spiritual supermen, as promised by the Torah?
These shall be your fringes and when you look at them, you'll remember all the commandments of HaShem, and do them; and will not [continue to] go astray [following] after your own heart and your own eyes, which [have had the ability to this point of] leading you to immorality. So that you will remember and do all My commandments, and be holy unto your Elokim.
—BeMidbar 15:39,40
"So that you will may remember and do all My commandments." This is comparable to one thrown into the raging waters to whom the ship's captain flung a rope. The captain told [the man thrown overboard] "grasp this rope in your hands and don't let go for if you do … you're a goner." Similarly, the Holy Blessed One told Israel: "as long as you hold fast to the mitzvos [you will live] [as it says] 'And [only] you who cling to HaShem your Elokim are all alive today' (Devarim4:4). And it says 'Take fast hold of mussar-reprimands /moral instruction; don't let go; guard her, for she is your life.' (Mishlei 4:13)"
—Midrash Rabbah BeMidbar17:6
In this allegory the life-preserving rope represent the strands of the tzitzis-fringes. Through them, we remember HaShem's commandments and do not "drown" in the "raging waters" of malicious transgressions.
—Commentary of Rav Dovid Luria ibid
Antigonus ish Socho received the tradition from Shimon the Righteous. He would say: "Do not be as slaves, who serve their master for the sake of receiving reward. Rather, be as slaves who serve their master not for the sake of receiving reward. And the awe of Heaven should be upon you."
—Pirkei Avos 1:3
We live in an era when the ideal of serving HaShem with no ulterior motives has become almost passé. As one wit put it "How did the Ahm Segulah become the Ahm Segulos?" It seems as though almost every worthy cause and endeavor is marketed as a "you scratch My Back and I'll scratch yours" tradeoff kivyachol-as it were; with HaShem … Many people grow bitter and disappointed when, despite their best efforts at adhering to the segulah-prescribed practices, the promised yeshuos-deliverances; never come about.
Yet distinctions must be made between latter day segulos of unripened vintage and of dubious provenance and segulos that appear in the Gemara — or in the Chumash itself. For notwithstanding Antigonus ish Socho's admonitions for completely selfless, non self-serving avodas HaShem-serving G-d; there are many mitzvah practices whose promised rewards are, in fact, guaranteed by the Gemara or in the Chumash.
Apart from the article of our faith that, in a general sense, observance of the Torah's commandments reaps rewards (while transgressions evokes Divine retribution in the form of punishments); there is a lengthy causality list linking particular mitzvos and areas of Torah study to earning specific rewards: "Length of days" for honoring parents or shooing the mother bird away from the nest before taking the eggs or hatchlings, bountiful crops in the years preceding the Sabbatical and Jubilee years in consideration of scrupulous halachic observance of those years, wealth for proper tithing and offspring who are Talmidei Chachamim-Torah sages; in exchange for care and concern in the kindling of mitzvah lamps/candles — to name but a few.
Still another distinction must be made between activities that are mesugal– supposed to cause material benefits to accrue; and those that are mesugal for spiritual advances, greater intellectual acuity and / or ethical edification. This last category comes a lot closer to Antigonus ish Socho's paradigm than those segulos that promise temporal benefits.
Rav Shmuel Dov Asher Lainer, The Biskovitzer Rebbe, maintains that the mitzvah of tzitzis–ritual fringes on four-cornered garments; is a segulah for comprehensive tzidkus-righteousness/ saintliness. Moreover, this segulah is explicitly described by the Torah. After all, the pasuk says that when we see our tzitzis we recall all of HaShem's commandments and, knowing that they are commandments, not non-compulsory suggestions, and that we are the commanded, how could we do anything but carry out our Divine orders? Thus, the pasuk concludes with the promise/ prediction … "and you will do them."
The Biskovitzer then poses a very pointed, but rather obvious question. Why doesn't this segulah work? One would be hard pressed to find a self-described Torah-observant Jew who does not perform the mitzvah of tzitzis regularly. So why are true tzadikim-righteous/ saintly people; i.e. those who both recall and keep all of HaShems mitzvos and who resist all petty temptations, so few and far between?
This question is of far more than mere philosophical or exegetical interest. For if a Torah guaranteed segulah does not fulfill its promise it can bear the toxic fruits of disillusionment, bitterness and doubt. To paraphrase Einstein; the definition of skepticism is repeating the same experiment that worked so well in the past over and over again without yielding the expected results.
A close reading of the Midrash , writes the Biskovitzer, provides us with the answer.
If we viewed tzitzis as the sage of the Midrash does the segulah of tzitzis would prove effective and deliver on its promise to make us righteous and saintly. But, instead, we are willfully blind to the life-rope / breathing-tube that a Merciful and Paternal Providence flings our way providing us with the means to escape the clutches of sin-cum-death.
The paramount rule of Divine Administration of all creation is midah k'neged midah-quid pro quo. For good or for bad; for better or for worse; HaShems rewards and punishments are not merely just, but are informed by poetic justice. So if we refuse to see the real nature of HaShem's mitzvos, i.e. that they are the lifelines that tether us to Him … the Life of all lives, then, in return, HaShem blinds us to the reality of the temporal world and its temptations. Instead of seeing raging cataracts of sin tossing us willy-nilly and threatening to inundate us once and for all, we perceive the world as safe, tranquil and secure natural-habitat.
If the man thrown overboard were delusional; if he continued to breathe easy — imagining that he was still on the deck of the ship in calm, windless waters, he too would reject the rope the captain flung him. Unaware of the danger and the means of escaping danger at his disposal we would, tragically, drown.
This, concludes the Biskovitzer, is why not everyone who wears a tallis metzuyetzes-a fringe bearing four-cornered garment; is, perforce, a tzaddik recalling and scrupulously observing all the mitzvos of the Torah immune to all of the attractions that lead people astray.
We do not lose faith in the segulah of tzitzis because it fails to work — it fails to work because we fail to believe in what the tzitzis truly are.
—Neos Deshe Parshas Shelach D"H Dahber
Bshalach 5774-An installment in the series of adaptations
Posted in Bitachon, Disappointments, Dvar Torah, Emuna, Great Seforim, Hashkafa, Question of The Week
Posted on June 19, 2019 by Mark Frankel — 1 Comment ↓
Rabbi Avigdor Miller ztz"l was one of the pioneers of taping and diseminitating shiurim and writing seforim for the English speaking public. I listened to his tapes and read some of his books, but I wouldn't have called myself a chassid. That has changed.
TorasAvidgor.org has been producing a weekly parsha booklet, taken directly from the words of Rav Miller. Each parsha booklet is based on a wide range of the Rav's tapes and seforim, and is edited slightly to allow for easier reading. For me, every week has been a homerun! It's longer than the average parsha sheet, but it is packed with amazing ideas that you can actually implement.
Last week it discussed the idea that when we bless others, G-d blesses us, as G-d promised to Avraham, "I will bless those that bless you" (Bereishis 12:3). In the gemora Chullin (49a), Rav Nachman bar Yitzchok teaches that when the Kohanim bless the Jews, Hashem blesses them, and this applies to any Jew or non-Jew at any time. The gemora there learns that even if a non-Jew says "Good Morning", he will receive a blessing.
Rabbi Miller teaches that if you say "Yasher koi'ach" with some thought of the meaning – "May your strength increase", then you're davening for him! Rabbi Miller continues: "Those words now have an entirely different power. And we're learning now that it's not going to remain unanswered – in your own life! You're going to get a blessing for that too. In the measure by which you bless others, that's how much you will be blessed."
"You're walking on the street on Shabbos and you say, "Good Shabbos, good Shabbos." All day long you're passing by people and wishing them well. And then you pass by and forget all about it. It's a tragedy to waste the opportunity! So five paces later say "Good Shabbos" to him again. This time he doesn't hear it. But this time you mean it more.
"And under your breath you should add the peirush hamilos – with a few peirushim! How much thought, how many blessings could be included in a good Shabbos! "Your meals should be geshmak; your wife's challah and kugel should taste exceptional." "Hashem should help you enjoy your family." "You should have a good Shabbos nap and be matzliach in your learning over Shabbos." "You should get shlishi and it shouldn't cost you too much money!" There's so much to think about when you wish somebody a good Shabbos."
"But there is something else here that is very important – maybe even more important than what you just heard – and that is to rejoice in somebody else's happiness; to have an actual love for the Am Yisroel – a love that causes you to desire the happiness of others."
"Hakodosh Boruch Hu loves His people more than anything else. And so when we fill our days with blessing the Am Yisroel because we love them, we are fulfilling the mitzvah d'oraisah of v'halachta b'drachav – "And you should walk in the ways of Hashem".
"If you want to become a big ba'al dei'ah, a ba'al machshava, a ba'al emunah, then there's a lot of work to be done. In order to achieve middos tovos, to acquire good character, there's training you must follow, a lot of important things. And they're not easy, but they're worth the effort.
But I'm not proposing that for all of you right now; I'm saying easier things. We're learning here about an achievement that is immensely easy. And the profit is immensely great. And that is the career of blessing fellow Jews. Now, when I say career, I mean that you must take the ideas that you're studying here tonight, impress them upon your minds, and consider how to incorporate them into your regular practice, your regular routine of life. Because with a little bit of thought and some planning, you can live a life of "I will bless those who bless you". Because, tell me, what difficulty lies in this exercise of good character? Nothing really! It's one of the easiest things in the world to do – to bless your fellow Jew."
"Let's make it clear to ourselves that this is what we're in this world for. We're here to pick up all those diamonds on the floor. That's our purpose. When a person is discouraged as he walks through the diamond fields, so he's thinking that he has rachmanus on himself, he has pity on his status in life – "If only this would have happened;" "If only I would be in his shoes" – so he walks through life not even looking where he's going"
Please read the whole article at https://torasavigdor.org/parshas-naso-blessing-his-beloved-people/
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Posted on June 12, 2019 by Rabbi Dovid Schwartz zt"l — 9 Comments ↓
Why is the Sotah's case adjudicated through trial by watery potion?
Why do kohanim put their hands together when bestowing the priestly blessing?
He [the kohen] will then make the [suspected adulteress] woman drink the bitter curse-bearing waters and they will begin to take effect. ~BeMidbar 5:24
Speak to Ahron and his sons, saying: This is how you must bless the Bnei Yisrael-the Nation of Israel. Say to them … ~BeMidbar 6:23
Your right Hand O HaShem is awe-inspiring in strength, Your right Hand O HaShem pounds the enemy … You stretched out Your right Hand the earth swallowed them. ~Shemos15:7,12
Another interpretation (of the repetition of "Your right Hand) When the Bnei Yisrael perform the Will of G-d they transform the left into the right. But when they don't, they transform the right to left as the pasuk (Eichah 2:3) says "He has drawn back His right Hand from before the enemy" ~Mechilta on Shirah Parshah 5
And he said: … I saw HaShem sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right Hand and on his Left. ~Melachim I 22:19
Does G-d have a left Hand/Side? [How could this be] when the pasuk states "HaShem's right hand is exalted; the right hand of HaShem performs valiantly." (Tehillim 118:16) [implying that, kivyachol -as it were; there are two Divine right Hands but no left Hand at all]. Rather [the meaning is] those Angels that advocate for clemency and mercy are described as being on the Right while those angels that prosecute and demand retribution are described as being on the Left. ~Rashi ibid
Rabi Shmuel bar Nachman said "Woe to the wicked who transform the right into left ….and the righteous who transform left to right are commendable ~Bereshis Rabbah 73:2
[Do not divert from the ruling of the Judges] either right or left: Even if this judge tells you that right is left, and that left is right [believe them]! ~Rashi to Devarim 17:10,11 from Sifri
For the vast majority of human beings (estimates range from 70-95% of the population) who are right-handed, their left hand is the weaker and less nimble of their two hands. This statistic is reflected in our traditional Theology. In Jewish thought the middah-Divine trait for administration of creation; of Chessed– lovingkindness; is identified with the right side/ arm while the middah of Gevurah-rigor/ justice- untempered-by-mercy/retribution; is identified with the left side/ arm. This is because the middah of Chessed is relatively stronger, kivyachol-as it were; than the middah of Gevurah. Chessed is, kivyachol, HaShem's "original" intent and antedates His administration of His creation, it is the middah that informs His very Creative process itself. In the words of the psalmist "For I have said: 'For the olam– cosmos; is built through Chessed" (Tehillim 89:3)
Gevurah is sometimes viewed as Chessed's handmaiden; meant to add traction and heft to Chessed. The principle of nahama d'kisufa-"the bread of shame"; teaches that were Gevurah not even a possibility then the unearned gifts of Chessed heaped upon the recipients would humiliate them.
Alternatively, Gevurah is deemed to be obstructed, frustrated Chessed. One great late-twentieth century thinker explained the relationship between the two middos allegorically. When one throws a ball in a certain direction the throwers expectation is that the ball will run its course in the same direction that he threw it. If a sudden impediment, e.g. a wall, springs up in the balls path the ball will not merely fall to the ground, it will boomerang back in the opposite direction, but with less force and velocity. Our own misdeeds (or sinful thoughts or words) are barriers to the Divine "plan A" kivyachol of bestowing favor and blessing. The frustrated, impeded Chessed that could not run its course and reach its target ricochets and manifests itself as Rigor and Retributive Justice.
The disciples of the Izhbitzer school taught that our sidrah provide examples of the right "becoming" left, i.e. of Chessed and Rachamim-mercy; becoming Gevurah and Din-justice and vice versa.
There are infinite possibilities for miracles. In TeNaK"h we find miraculous Divine retributions as diverse as the 10 plagues, a gaping orifice in the earth's crust, incendiary fire-and-brimstone carpet-bombing and tumbling city walls; to name but a few. Rav Tzadok, the Lubliner Kohen, addresses an unarticulated question about the sotah-the suspected adulteress: As she is tried and, if found guilty, punished, by miraculous means why is the medium of her punishment water, davka-in particular?
To understand the Lubliner Kohen's answer we must first examine the deeper insights that he offers into the symbolism of water and dehydration and into the antithetical natures of Chessed and Gevurah.
Water is the source of all enjoyment and pleasure. The Gan Eiden-the Garden of Pampering Pleasures; is identified with the four great rivers whose headwaters originate there and with the rain-giving cloud that rises from it. Idiomatically things that are pleasure giving are often described as juicy, zaftig-full of sap; or having lachluchis-moisture. Conversely, the most austere and pleasureless of all terrains are deserts. The great desert to the south of Eretz Yisrael-the land of Israel; is known as the Negev. Literally, this means the dehydrated place. In modern Ivrit the word for a towel is magevet as it is meant to dry out and dehydrate the surface it is drawn over.
And so, when pursuits of pleasure are perverted and exploited by the wicked and sinful it is considered an abuse of the very nature of water. It has often been said that we are not punished for our sins — but by them, and, as such, middah k'neged middah-quid pro quo; those whose sins are derived from ta'avah-lusty, sinful hedonism; are punished via water. The generation of the Great Flood (all flesh has perverted its way upon the earth) and Egyptian civilization (the nakedness of the earth/ land) at the Sea of Reeds were both annihilated via water. These are case histories of the wicked transforming right of Chessed-waters into left.
In stark contrast, the Bnei Yisrael, whose kedushah-holiness; derives in great part from their chaste moderation in the pursuit of pleasure, merited having the Sea of Reeds "tear" i.e. part to let them past. This hearkens back to the Genesis narrative when Gevurah cleaved the waters for the first time as HaShem decreed: "there shall be a firmament (rekeea) in the middle of the waters that will divide between waters and waters." (Bereshis 1:6) [Maimonides, in his commentary to mishnayos, (Avos 5:8 ) opines that the miracle of the tearing of the Sea of Reeds was, in fact, rooted in the natural order as the Divine pronouncement of "there shall be a rekeea" established the natural capacity for waters to divide.]
The Lubliner Kohen goes on to explain the reason that the tearing of the Sea of Reeds became a Talmudic metaphor for kivyachol a "hard" or "tough" Divine piece of work. It is because that which is wrought with Gevurah requires power and might and is not soft, warm and fuzzy. Yet when, the Bnei Yisrael sang the "Song of the Sea" they praised HaShem [the Divine name of Mercy] as having two right hands. This is a case history of the virtuous transforming the arid,dehydrated left of Gevurah into right.
The medium of capital punishment for the sotah is water. Why water? Because if guilty, she too abused the power of water; source for all Chessed and it's dark underbelly, taavah, to pursue forbidden pleasure with her paramour.
Of the three patriarchs, the one identified with Gevurah and, consequently, with the tearing of the Sea of Reeds, is Yitzchok. Like his Rebbe, the Izhbitzer before him, the Lubliner Kohen interprets the pasuk "And he (Yitzchok) dwelled in the Land of the Negev"(Bereshis 24:62) to mean that through Gevurah, antithetical to Chessed, Yitzchok had dehydrated himself of all taavah and bequeathed this spiritual capacity for ascetic kedushah to the Bnei Yisrael, especially at the tearing of the Sea of Reeds. Yitzchok is described in the gemara (Shabbos 89B) as displaying G-d to the Bnei Yisrael to see with their own eyes. Sure enough, Chazal teach us that at the tearing of the Sea of Reeds the lowest starta of the Bnei Yisrael saw HaShem with a prophetic clarity unmatched even by the navee– prophet; Yechezkal in his "work of the Chariot" such that they could point with their fingers and declare "This is my G-d and I will exalt Him."
When kohanim confer Birkas Kohanim-the Priestly Blessing; they manipulate their hands in a way that A. two adjacent fingers "fuse" as if they were one broader finger and B. as if an ox could bring the horns from either side of his head to converge and then to protrude out of the center of his forehead to approximate a unicorn bovine, the kohanim bring their two arms together as if they were reducing two hands into a single hand with bulkier fingers.
Rav Leibeleh Eiger explains that Birkas Kohanim is intended to transform the two hands into one "right" hand, evoking a Divine Emanation of pure, unadulterated Mercy with no admixture of Rigor and Retributive Justice . He bases this on a passage in the Zohar that points out that in the Hebrew original of the pasuk describing the first priestly blessing ever: "And Ahron lifted his hand(s) up toward the people, and blessed them" (Vayikra 9:22) the word is spelled yado not yadav and would translate as the singular "hand" rather than as the plural "hands".
Toras Emes Naso D"H Hinei Ikar
Kunteris Kedushas Shabbos 7 D"H v'Chol Ahmahl page 49
Mei HaShiloach I Chayei Sara D"H v'Yitzchok
Originally posted May 2014.
Posted in Chesed, Dvar Torah, Great Seforim, Hashkafa, Parsha, Question of The Week
Posted on April 26, 2018 by Administrator — 1 Comment ↓
One of the most famous Rambans in the Torah is on Vayikra 19-2, where the Torah says "You Shall be Holy". Here is translation of that Ramban from Sefaria.
You shall be holy: "One should be separate from sexual transgressions and from sin, for any place that one finds a fence [before] sexual transgressions, one [also] finds holiness (kedusha)" – this is the language of Rashi.
But in Sifra, Kedoshim, Section 1, Chapter 2, I saw only, "You shall be holy." And [so,] they learned there (Sifra, Shemini, Chapter 12:3), "'And you shall sanctify yourselves and be holy, since holy am I' (Leviticus 11:44) – Just like I am holy, you should be holy; just like I am separate, you should be separate."
But according to my opinion, this separation is not to separate from sexual transgressions, like the words of the rabbi (Rashi). But [rather], the separation is the one mentioned in every place in the Talmud where its [practitioners] are called those that have separated themselves (perushim).
And the matter is [that] the Torah prohibited sexual transgressions and forbidden foods, and permitted sexual relations between husband and wife and the eating of meat and [the drinking of] wine. If so, a desirous person will find a place to be lecherous with his wife or his many wives, or to be among the guzzlers of wine and the gluttons of meat. He will speak as he pleases about all the vulgarities, the prohibition of which is not mentioned in the Torah. And behold, he would be a scoundrel with the permission of the Torah.
Therefore, Scripture came, after it specified the prohibitions that it completely forbade, and commanded a more general [rule] – that we should be separated from [indulgence of] those things that are permissible: He should minimize sexual relations, like the matter that they stated (Berakhot 22a), "That Torah scholars should not be found with their wives [constantly] like chickens." And he should only have relations according to the need for his execution of the commandment.
And he should sanctify himself from wine by minimizing it – just as Scripture calls the Nazarite, holy (Numbers 6:5); and mentions the evil that comes from it in the Torah with Noach (Genesis 9:21) and with Lot (Genesis 19:33).
And so [too], he should separate himself from impurity – even though we are not prohibited from it in the Torah – as they mentioned (Chagigah 18b), "The clothing of ignorant people are [considered] midras (a type of impurity) for perushim." And just as the Nazarite is also called holy for his guarding [himself] from the impurity of the dead.
And he should also guard his mouth and his tongue from becoming defiled from the multitude of coarse food and from disgusting speech, as mentioned by Scripture (Isaiah 9:16), "and every mouth speaks a vulgarity." And he should sanctify himself with this, until he comes to separation (perishut) – as they said about Rabbi Chiya, that he never spoke idle conversation in his life.
For these [things] and similar to them comes this general commandment – after it listed all of the sins that are completely forbidden – until he includes in this general rule the command of cleanliness of his hands and his body. As they stated (Berakhot 53b), "'And you shall sanctify yourselves' – these are the first waters (to wash hands before the meal), 'and be holy' – these are the last waters (to wash hands after the meal), 'since holy' – this is fragrant oil (to ward off bad odors)."
As even though these commandments are rabbinic, the essence of Scripture prohibits things like these; that we should be clean and pure and separate ourselves from the masses of people, who dirty themselves with those things that are permissible and with those things that are ugly. And this is the way of the Torah to state the particulars and [then] the general rules.
And similar to this is when after the prohibition of the specific laws of trade among men – do not steal, do not burglarize, do not deceive, and all of the other prohibitions – it states the general principle, "And you shall do the straight and the good" (Deuteronomy 6:18), so that it places into a positive commandment, uprightness, compromise and going beyond the letter of the law towards the will of his friend – as I will explain (there), when I get to its place, with the will of the Holy One, blessed be He.
And so [too] with the matter of the Shabbat, it forbade the types of work with a negative commandment and the exertions with a general positive commandment, as it states, "rest"; and I will explain this more (Ramban on Leviticus 23:24), with the will of God. And the explanation of the verse saying, "since Holy am I the Lord, your God," is to say that we merit to cling to Him by our being holy.
And this is like the matter of the first statement in the ten statements (Ten Commandments – Exodus 20:3). And it commanded (Leviticus 19:3), "A man, his mother and father must fear" [here], since there (in the Ten Commandments), it commanded about honor, and here it will command about fear. And it said [here] "and guard my Shabbats," since there it commanded on the remembering [of the Shabbat] and here on the guarding and we have already explained the matter of both of them (see Ramban on Exodus 20:8).
Posted on February 1, 2018 by Rabbi Dovid Schwartz zt"l
Yisro-An installment in the series of adaptations
By Rabbi Dovid Schwartz
… and Israel camped there opposite the mountain
-Shemos 19:2
וַיִחַן[the singular form, the pasuk does not say that the Israelites camped there. This indicates that they camped there] "as one man with one heart", but all the other encampments were [on bad terms] with complaints and strife. — [from Mechilta]
-Rashi ibid
I am HaShem your Elokim who brought you out of Mitzrayim, from the place of slavery.
Sleep is one 60th of death.
-B'rachos 57B
Many meforshim – commentaries address this question: why is HaShem's calling card in the 10 commandments so provincial? Why does He introduce Himself as "the One who brought you out of Egypt" rather than as "the One Who created the cosmos"?
Conventional wisdom views sleep as, at worst, a benign activity. When sleeping we recharge our batteries, no more and no less. But the Izhbitzer school takes a much less sanguine approach to slumber than we do.
The Bais Yaakov, the second Izhbitzer, explains that that when one is asleep there is a kind of disintegration and dissolution at work. It is only the wakeful, conscious mind that integrates a human being into an organic whole. Under the sovereign direction of the mind and soul all of the body's organs, limbs and digits work towards the attainment of the common goals that are mutually beneficial to the person as a whole.
Asleep and in a horizontal position the human head is on the same plane and level as all the other limbs and organs of his body. This is true both literally and metaphorically. The position of the recumbent sleeper is that of the proverbial level playing field. It is an egalitarian posture in which no one member of the body has any pre-eminence or dominance over any other.
Then, the soul begins to stir the body into wakefulness and the human being transitions from a horizontal position to a vertical one. The life-giving soul stands the person up and, by doing so, establishes a hierarchy (a shiur komah) in which the feet scrape the floor and the head, containing the mind and soul, is at the very top of the pecking order.
Our sages teach us that we don't wake up merely because, when our batteries are fully recharged, so to speak, we are "done" sleeping. Instead it is because our souls, mostly absent during slumber, have been restored to our bodies. This concept underpins the first words we utter upon waking "I admit to You, O living and eternal King that You have compassionately returned my soul within me, Your trustworthiness is abundant" and the morning blessing that is part of our daily liturgy that begins with the phrase "my L-rd, the soul that You put into me is pure etc." It is only when we are awake and vertical that our diverse limbs, organs and faculties become truly incorporated into a united whole.
In stark contrast; death does not merely render the body inert and motionless. Death initiates the dissolution of the human being. In death, anatomical connections begin loosening and the body breaks apart. The teaching of our sages can now be understood to mean that the disintegration of sleep is 1/60 of the decomposition, and utter disintegration, of death.
The unity that K'lal Yisrael – the Jewish People, achieved prior to the Revelation at Sinai was more than preparatory, it was anticipatory. As HaShem's Shechinah –Divine Indwelling, began shining forth from Sinai, it was the macro-soul beginning to enter the slumbering body of K'lal Yisrael that blended the various tribes and the conflicting interest groups of Israel into an integrated organism "as one man with one heart." A plural, multiplicity of "Israelites" fused together to become "Israel" in the singular.
Rav Gershon Henoch, the Radzyner Rebbe spells out his father's Torah more explicitly:
The aseres hadibros are most commonly translated as the 10 commandments. However this translation is both literally and factually inaccurate. The translation is erroneous on a literal level, because dibros, a plural form of dibur, translates as "sayings" or "pronouncements." Factually imprecise, because only the last nine dibros are expressed as mitzvos-commands, the first one is not. The opening of the Decalogue is a statement of fact, a presentation of credentials, as it were.
On the macrocosmic level the head and soul of the cosmos is HaShem Himself. The Radzyner explains that it was K'lal Yisrael 's clear, expanded consciousness of HaShem's Oneness and Omnipresence, that nothing and no one but He truly exists – ein od m'Lvado, that exerted an irresistible tug on them to follow the Head, the Mind and the Soul and, as such, to coalesce and form an organic whole. With this clarity of G-d consciousness a command to believe in G-d was not only unnecessary, it was inconceivable. It would have been as if a person's two legs began walking in opposite directions or if his respiratory system began hyperventilating without any physical exertion and the mind would suddenly need to verbalize a command saying "hey YOU pay attention, I'm in charge here!
This explains why the first of the aseres hadibros ends with the limited "the One who took you out of Egypt" rather than with the universal "the One Who created the cosmos." For if HaShem is the Omnipresent Soul that animates everything and all, what is it that is unique about K'lal Yisrael in particular? The answer to this question is contained in the exodus experience. The letters that spell the word Egypt, Mitzrayim, also spell the word constraints, metzarim.
When HaShem brought K'lal Yisrael out of Egypt He was also unshackling them of all the narrow-minded constraints that conceal and camouflage His control and management of the cosmos. The balance of humanity was never liberated from these. HaShem's control and management of the cosmos is beyond their comprehension. When "introducing" Himself to, and into, K'lal Yisrael HaShem informs them that it is only because I brought you, in particular, out of Mitzrayim /metzarim that you were uniquely capable of integrating and uniting to sense my Divinity, the Mind and Soul that directs and animates all.
There is a minhag Yisrael kedoshim – Jewish custom, of staying awake throughout the first night of Shavuos. The Magen Avraham–494 bases this minhag on the midrash that says that the Jews "overslept" the Revelation at Sinai and that kivyachol – so to speak, HaShem had to awaken them. We stay awake in order to be metaken – put right, the negativity generated by those who overslept.
I would add that the Izhbitzer insight adds richness and complexity to this custom. Oversleeping the Revelation was much worse than a breach of etiquette or an extremely poorly timed slothful self-indulgence. It was antithetical to the entire experience and to the first of the dibros in particular. At the foot of Mount Sinai, organic unity for K'lal Yisrael was both the prerequisite for, and the direct response to, HaShems Revelation. The souls (re HaShems) return to the body (re K'lal Yisrael ) requires one that is awake, alert and able to coalesce and integrate, not one that is disintegrated through death-like slumber.
~adapted from Bais Yaakov Yisro 40 (pp113B, 114A)
Sefer Hazmanim , First Day Shavuos 5643 D"H Vayeechan page 61
Posted in Achdus, Berachos, Death, Dvar Torah, Hashkafa, Mindfulness, Parsha, Question of The Week
Posted on January 25, 2018 by Rabbi Dovid Schwartz zt"l — 5 Comments ↓
Beshalach-An installment in the series of adaptations
This weeks From the Waters of the Shiloah is dedicated in memory of Gitel Leah A.H. bas Menachem Mendel HY"D; Mrs. Lidia Schwartz, the authors mother, whose yuhrzeit is Thursday, 8 Shevat.
Please learn this dvar Torah l'ilui nishmasah.
HaShem will wage war for you [against Egypt] and you must remain silent. And HaShem said to Moshe, Why do you cry out in prayer to Me? Speak to the children of Israel and let them travel.
-Shemos 14:14,15
The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "This is no time to pray at length, when Israel is in distress." Another explanation [of God's question (Why do you cry out to me?) implies]: "The matter depends on Me and not on you,"
And so it was that as long as Moshe held his hands up Israel would be winning but when he let his hands down then the battle would turn in Amalek's favor … and his hands remained faithful; steady until sunset.
All is foreseen, yet autonomy is granted
-Avos 3:14
And Rabi Chanina said "all is in the Hands of Heaven except the awe of Heaven"
There are two conflicting approaches to confronting the enemy that appear in this week's Sidra. Towards the beginning of the Sidra, when the Jewish people literally had their backs against the wall with the pounding surf of the Sea of Reeds before them and the Egyptian cavalry giving chase from the rear, the Divine command for silence came. Not only were the Jews not allowed to wage war against their enemies; they were not even permitted to pray for Divine intervention.
In sharp contrast to this, at the end of the Sidra, we find that prayer was the weapon of choice when the Jews were waging war against the Amalekites. Our sages teach us that during the Amalek war, when Moshe had his arms outstretched in prayer, the tide of the battle would turn in the Jews favor (Targum Yerushalmi ad locum). When the hands would drop and the prayers stop, so would the military advances. The Mei HaShiloach asks: why were there such a drastic difference in tactics and strategies for confronting these two mortal enemies?
His answer is based on the succinct epigram that encapsulates kivayachol -if you will, the "division of labor" between HaShem and human beings. "All is in the Hands of Heaven except the awe of Heaven IE how one serves HaShem." This means that absolutely everything in our lives; our health, our wealth, our popularity and the success of our relationships is up to HaShem. The only area in which we enjoy a true autonomy is in exercising our human free-will to make moral and ethical choices.
Both halves of the axiom are equally true. To claim that "not everything is in the Hands of Heaven" is patently heretical. This position advances a false theology that would limit HaShem's Infinite Power. But in Judaism it is not enough to have an accurate and true theology. One must maintain an accurate and true "humanology" (for want of a better word) as well. To deny the second half of the axiom by saying that there are no exceptions to the rule; that ALL is in the Hands of Heaven, period, including "the awe of Heaven" IE including how one serves HaShem, is no less heretical.
The Mei HaShiloach explains that, historically, the nations of the world that have opposed, antagonized and oppressed Klal Yisrael-the Jewish people have been proponents of one of these two heresies. Their cultures, their weltanschauungs, their very collective national beings, were predicated either on the proposition that not everything is in the Hands of Heaven or that, on the contrary, all is in the Hands of Heaven including human awe of Heaven IE that human free choice is an illusion and that all human behavior, even apparent moral and ethical choices, are entirely controlled by HaShem .
The Egyptians under the Pharaoh are archetypes of the first heresy. Having positioned himself as a deity in his own right Pharaoh could hardly have conceded exclusive and absolute control of the cosmos to a "rival" deity. On the contrary Pharaoh portrayed himself as the one in total control of all the transpired in Egypt as he declared; "The [Nile] river is mine, and I have made it."(Yechezkel 29:9). He was a living incarnation of "It was my own might and the personal power of my hand that has brought me all this prosperity"(Devarim 8:17)
The nation of Amalek is the quintessence of their progenitor, Esav. Esav is portrayed by our sages as a yisrael mumar-a Jew who has traded true faith for heresy (Kiddushin 18A). There are as many ways to become a heretic as there are heresies and the precise nature as of the Esavs heresy is unclear. However, Chaza"l (Sanhedrin 60A,Berachos 10A-Hagahos HaBac"h footnote 2) use this term, yisrael mumar, to describe another Biblical character; Ravshakei.
He was the one who said to the emissaries of King Chizkiyahu "Did I now arise against this land to destroy it without HaShem? HaShem said unto me: go up against this land, and destroy it." (Yechezkel 36:10). Ravshakei and the emperor he represented, Nebuchadnezzar, had exercised their free-will to arrive at the decision to destroy Chizkiyahu's kingdom. Yet he did not consider himself accountable. He attributed his own choice to G-d. In his soliloquy Ravshakei asks many rhetorical questions. Expecting no answers, he was actually telling Chizkiyahu's emissaries "don't rely on your military alliance with Egypt. But don't rely on HaShem either, for it was He who sent me to destroy you. I am no more than a knight in the hands of the Divine chess master."
The Izhbitzer asserts that Ravshakei's ostensible affirmation of emunah is, in fact, a denial of humanity, of the grandeur of human free-will and that this denial of humanity is the precise heresy of Esav and Amalek as well. Esav/ Amalek is a mumar because of believing that all is in the Hands of Heaven, there is no "except etc." Amalek maintains that all of the evil that he does is, chalilah, the Will of G-d, that absent HaShem's Will he would never have been able to have done it. Superficially, it is almost as if Amalek accords greater honor to HaShem than K'lal Yisrael does. The stance of Amalek-Esav is that HaShem's control and authority is absolute. They deny that humanity has any autonomy at all.
As one great 20th century thinker put it, when our sages taught that Amalek is "one who knows his master and intends to rebel against Him" they don't mean that Amalek intends to rebel against HaShem in spite of knowing that HaShem is their Master, but because of knowing that HaShem is their Master; that their rebellion consists of knowing that HaShem's mastery over them is absolute. There is no wiggle room. Not one small space, albeit a tiny one, for human independence, autonomy and free choice.
We can now resolve the apparent contradiction between the dissimilar tactics of war employed to battle the Egyptians and Amalek. When the enemy rides under the banner of "not everything is in the Hands of Heaven" then the Jewish response must be to emphasize HaShem's control. Against the Egyptians it would've been out of place for the Jews to highlight and emphasize human free-will. Free-will, AKA "the awe of heaven", human avodas HaShem, is best exemplified through prayer; the "service of the heart"(Ta'anis 2A). So they silenced their prayers, eliminating their part in the "division of labor" and HaShem took total control of the battle. All, absolutely everything, was in His Hands.
But when the enemy rides under the banner of "ALL is in the Hands of Heaven with no exceptions" and that human free-will is a sham, then the proper Jewish response is to exercise our free-will. Human free-will is best exemplified through our service of the heart , our avodas hatefilah. And so, during milchemes Amalek when Moshe would raise his arms in prayer the Jewish warriors would advance. When his prayers faltered IE when his arms grew weak so would the Jews military efforts.
~adapted from Mei Hashiloach Beshalach D"H HaShem yilachem
Posted in Big Challenges, Dvar Torah, Emuna, Explaining Judaism, Free Will, Hashkafa, Making Choice, Question of The Week, What is Torah Judaism
Posted on January 11, 2018 by Rabbi Dovid Schwartz zt"l
VaEra-An installment in the series
Therefore say to the Bnei Yisrael-chidren of Israel, "I am HaShem. I will extricate you from the burdens of Egypt and free you from their slavery. I will redeem you with a demonstration of My power and with great acts of judgment.
-Shemos 6:6
I will harden Pharaoh's heart and thus will produce the opportunities to display many miraculous wonders and signs in Egypt.
At the end of parshas Bo, in validating the centrality of the mitzvos that serve as reminder to the exodus from Egypt, the Ramban famously explains that the makkos– the 10 plagues, were meant to pierce the veil that conceals G-d. The strands of which that veil is woven are the Laws of Nature. All of the makkos were openly miraculous, flouting numerous Laws of Nature in the most overt way.
The Maharal and the Chidushei haRi"m explain that the 10 makkos , seven of which occur in our Sidra, were the bridge between the asara ma'amoros shebahem nivra haolam– the 10 pronouncements through which the world was created, and the aseres hadibros-the 10 commandments through which the Torah was revealed. A world that does not perceive god as the Creator is unready to accept G-d as the Divine Legislator. By laying bare the existence of a Force that superseded Nature, that could utterly manipulate Nature and that could bend Nature to It's supernatural Will, the makkos removed any the lingering doubts about the existence of G-d the Creator and proved the truth of numerous principles of our faith.
Thus understood, one could jump to the erroneous conclusion that the G-d-concealing, illusion-of-independence-projecting, natural order is constantly at odds with G-d. In fact, nature is the regular and consistent expression of the Divine Will. Why and when the Divine Will chooses to superimpose the hanhagah nisis– the miraculous management of the cosmos upon and, apparently, against the hanhagah tiv'is– the natural management of the cosmos, is something that only the Divine Mind knows.
In this same vein many of us striving to make good moral/ethical choices and grow spiritually regard our own human natures as G-d-negating, mortal enemies. We are conditioned to fight our natural impulses. We associate them with our yetzer hara – inclination to evil. But the pasuk says "everything that HaShem has made is for His own sake."(Mishlei 16:4) That is to say for His greater Glory. All of the works of creation are expressions of the Divine will.
When inanimate objects and living beings behave according to the laws of nature they are fulfilling the will of HaShem. The great challenge with things behaving "naturally" is that they appear to be on autopilot. The Divine Will that created the Laws of Nature and that continues to direct natural law often becomes obscured by natural processes. This is why Torah numerologists have pointed out that Elokim shares an equal numerical value with hateva-the Nature (86) and why Torah etymologists teach that the root of the word olam-cosmos, world, is he'elam-concealment.
When Rabi Pinchos ben Yair traveled to redeem a captive Jew (pidyon sh'vuyim-redeeming captives, is the highest form of tzedakah-charity) he reached the banks of the Ginai River and could go no further. He commanded the river waters to interrupt their flow so that he could cross through the riverbed and proceed on his mission of mercy. The river responded "you go to do the Will of your Creator and I go (flow) to do the Will of my Creator. There is only a chance that you will fulfill the Creator's Will but, so long as I flow, I'm most definitely fulfilling the Creator's Will. If so, why should I cease my flowing so that you can get going?" (Chulin 7A).
Ultimately the river split for Rabi Pinchos ben Yair and he accomplished his mission of pidyon sh'vuyim. But the "conversation" between him and the river is significant in that it establishes beyond a shadow of a doubt that even inanimate things functioning according to the Laws of Nature are doing the will of the Creator, HaShem. It belies the philosophy that Nature opposes G-d. Nature is no more G-d's enemy than the veil is the face's adversary.
HaShem brought the cosmos into being through the "10 pronouncements". All that exists in the cosmos, and the way in which they function, are expressions of HaShems will. We define a mitzvah as a thought, word or act having a positive and ethical charge. What makes them "good" or positive is that they are consistent with, and fulfillments of, HaShem's will. As such it follows that every one of HaShem's non-free-will-endowed creatures that behave according to natural law is, in a sense, performing mitzvos.
Rav Tzadok, the Lubliner Kohen, teaches that just as in the macrocosm, a river running downstream is "running to do with the Will of its Creator" so too, in the microcosm known as man, all the natural impulses induce man to "run to do the Will of his Creator." When a man thirsts, it is G-d's will that he hydrate himself. When a man hungers, it is G-d's will that he ingest nutrition. When a man desires intimacy it is G-d's will that he procreate. When a man grows fatigued it is G-d's will that he sleep. When human acts of eating, drinking, procreating and sleeping are done as responses to the dictates of human nature they too are mitzvos. When they are indulged in excessively, going beyond the dictates of nature, they are not. This is the point that the gemara is trying to get across when it says that when one engages in physical intimacy that he do so "as if compelled by a demon" (Nedarim 20B). Absent an irresistible compulsion to act, physical intimacy fails to rise to the level of "running to do with the Will of his Creator"
Over the past decade Perek Shirah has gained enormous popularity. This concept is the deeper meaning of Perek Shira. When we hear a frog croaking cacophonously we run for a pair of earplugs. We hardly consider this croaking to be the music of a symphony orchestra. But when the frog tells King Dovid that "I sing HaShem's praises day and night" (Zohar Pinchos 222:B)what it really means to say is that just acting naturally and croaking, in accordance with the nature endowed in the frog by its Creator, is sweet music, a "singing of the Divine praise."
… [The frogs will be] in the homes of your officials and the people, even in your ovens and in the kneading bowls.
-Shemos 7;28
Why did Chananiah, Mishael and Azariah deliver themselves to the fiery furnace, for kiddush HaShem-the sanctification of the Divine Name? They argued a kal v'chomer- a fortiori to themselves: If frogs,[of the second plague] which are not commanded concerning kiddush HaShem yet it is written of them, "and they shall come up and go into your house . . . and into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls." when are the kneading bowls to be found near the oven? When the oven is hot! [Then we must certainly do so.]
-Pesachim 53B
While behaving "naturally" is the default setting for "running to do with the Will of the Creator" it is essential to remember that in some unusual times and circumstances, supernatural and contra-natural behaviors are required in order to "run to do with the Will of the Creator". The most basic instinct for all species is the survival instinct. Yet, during redemption process, when HaShem chose to superimpose the supernatural hanhaga nisis upon the hanhaga tiv'is, then, as part of the second plague, the frogs threw themselves into the hot ovens flames contravening their survival instinct.
While humans are endowed with free-will and the rest of G-d's creatures are not, we must nevertheless learn from them and exercise our free-will choices appropriately. While choosing to maintain our lives and responding to the dictates of our natures is often a mitzvah, making choices that are contra-natural, even to the point of mesirus nefesh and self-destruction, can be "running to do with the Will of the Creator" as well. As the pasuk says "[HaShem] Who teaches us — from the beasts of the earth, and makes us wiser — from the birds of heaven."(Iyov 35:11)
As it goes for the macrocosm so it goes for the microcosm. There is room for the redemptive and the supernaturally, contra-naturally miraculous within human beings as well.
Adapted from: Tzidkas Hatzadik 173
Posted in Dvar Torah, Free Will, Great Seforim, Hashkafa, Parsha, Ruchnius/Gashmius
Posted on November 16, 2017 by Rabbi Dovid Schwartz zt"l — 2 Comments ↓
Why didn't Avraham bless Yitzchak?
Why was Yitzchak unaware of whom he was actually blessing?
Neither Yaakov nor Moshe required savory dishes before offering their respective blessings.Why did Yitzchak require a savory dish before blessing his son?
Yitzchak, who dined on Esavs game, loved him while Rivkah loved Yaakov.
And it was as Yitzchak aged and his eyes grew too weak to see that he summoned his older son Esav and said "My son" and he [Esav] responded "I am here." … "go out in the field and trap me some game and make me a flavorful dish the way I love it and bring it to me to eat, so that my soul will bless you before I die."
— Bereishis 27:1,3-4
And Elokim said "the earth should issue forth flora; seedbearing grasses and trees that are fruits that produce seed infused fruits along species lines upon the earth." and it (almost) happened. The earth issued forth flora, plants bearing their seedbearing own species and trees [that are wooden] producing seed infused fruits …
— Bereishis 1:11-12
and trees that are fruits [The Divine Creative Will was] that the taste of the tree should be identical to the taste of the fruit. However, it [the earth was insubordinate and] did not do so but "the earth issued … trees [that are wooden] producing seed infused fruits," but the trees themselves were not fruit. Therefore, when man was cursed because of his Original Sin, it [the earth] too was punished for its sin (and was cursed.)
— Rashi Ibid from Bereishis Rabbah 5:9
HaShem Elokim said to Adam "Because you hearkened to your wife's voice and ate of the Tree regarding which I specifically commanded you 'Do not eat from it' the earth will be cursed on account of you. All the days of your life you will eat of it [the earth's produce] with sorrow. It will sprout thorns and thistles for you … "
— Bereishis 3:17,18
HaShem Elokim commanded the man saying: "Eat from all the trees of the garden. And from the Tree of Knowledge /Union of Good and Evil do not eat from it. For on the day that you it from it you will definitely die."
The woman saw that the Tree was good to eat, desirable to the eyes and attractive as a means to gain intelligence. She took from its fruits and ate and also gave some to her husband with her — and he ate.
— Bereishis 3:6
… but you shall not sever it; for man is a tree of the field
— Devarim 20:19
The Biskovitzer poses several pointed questions about the brachos-blessings; that Yitzchak bestowed on Yaakov, while under the impression that he was Esav:
Why, in fact, did Yitzchak deliver his brachos erroneously and unconsciously? Why was Yaakov's worthiness for benediction concealed from Yitzchak, the conduit of blessing? Even with his physical vision impairment and the willful blindness caused by his love for his eldest son, as a prophet, Yitzchak could easily have been informed by HaShem that Yaakov is the son deserving of blessing.
We find two other great figures in TeNaK"h who bestowed brachos; Yaakov — first on his grandchildren Ephraim and Menashe — and then later, on his deathbed, on his sons. Immediately preceding his death Moshe blessed the Tribes of Israel as well. Yet neither Yaakov nor Moshe requested mataamim-a flavorful dish; in order to elicit their brachos; so why did Yitzchok?
In order to appreciate the Biskovitzer's approach to resolving these questions we must first examine how some of the great Torah thinkers understood the roots of blessing and curse.
The Original Sin of the first human beings was not merely the first in a long unbroken chain of transgression on the part of humanity; it was qualitatively different from almost all subsequent sins. The magihah-writer of the annotations; in Nefesh haChaim explains that while the original humans were endowed with bechirah chofshis-free will; there was still a paradigm-shifting difference between their bechirah chofshis and ours.
While our yetzer hara-inclination to evil; is internal and presumes to be, at minimum, a component of our essential identities, the yetzer hara of Adam and Chavah was extrinsic to their beings and distilled, clarified, unadulterated evil. Our yetzer hara's "pitch" to us is: "here's what I want to do." Whereas the nachash hakadmoni-the primordial snake; said "here's what I think you ought to do." The nachash hakadmonis powers of seduction and persuasion were delivered in the second person. Like a presidential candidate from the opposition party trying to unseat the Incumbent kivyachol-as it were; the nachash hakadmonis exhorted Adam and Chavah to vote for the yetzer and against the Yotzer-the Creator; yet the "voters" never conflated the identity of the opposition candidate with their own. When they exercised their bechirah chofshis to sin they understood that they were submitting to the will of the nachash hakadmoni — not acting on their own initiative.
However, as the Original Sin was the ingestion of the fruits of the Tree of Union of Good and Evil the first humans incorporated evil into their very beings. It is not merely that the Original Sin was qualitatively different from all subsequent sins; it was that, by its very nature, it effected that transformation. Man became what he ate, a tangled amalgam of good and evil. For the remainder of their lives Adam and Chavah, and all subsequent generations of human beings (until our patriarchs blazed the trail and the nation of Israel stood at the foot of Mt. Sinai) have been conflicted and ambivalent. Even when humans use, rather than abuse, their bechirah chofshis by choosing to do good and shunning evil they are often convinced that they have gone against their own desires. Once internalized, the yetzer hara becomes as inextricably linked with all human thought, speech and deed as a conjoined twin.
Rav Chaim Volozhiner taught that the meaning of the passuk (Koheles 7:20) "For there is not a righteous man on earth, that does good, and doesn't sin," is that even the greatest of tzaddikim-righteous people; do good with "something lacking." There good is not clarified, distilled unadulterated good. It may be miniscule, but on some deeply concealed subconscious level there is an admixture of self-interest — of a tad less than lishmah-for its own sake; — in even the noblest persons Torah learning and mitzvah performance.
Conversely, Rav Chaim and some other thinkers have argued that there is no evil perpetrated by even the wickedest people that does not incorporate some tiny smidgen of goodness. This is the meaning of the passuk (Iyov 7:20) "If there will be even one angel among a thousand, an advocate, to vouch for a man's uprightness." The better angels of our nature may be testifying to a 1 tenth of one percent amount of noble intentions against 99.9% of evil drives and motivations, nonetheless, it is there.
As man is a microcosm, or more accurately as the cosmos is a macro-man, the Original Sin brought about a merging and mixture of good and evil on a cosmic level. An overt manifestation of this effect on the cosmos are the presence of weeds, thorns and thistles growing in the same fields that grow the good, delicious and nourishing produce. The earth cursed through the Original Sin brings forth a jumble of good/nutritious and evil/noxious.
The Biskovitzers approach is predicated on the concept that, after the Original Sin, merely choosing good and rejecting evil is insufficient. To effect a genuine tikun-repair; of the Original Sin birurim-sifting and selections; must take place. The hodgepodge of good and evil in both the microcosm and the macrocosm must be untangled and clarified. Until and unless evil is distilled and expunged from the muddled fusion, man and the cosmos will not have been rectified. It is not enough to bestow blessing on man still conflicted and ambivalent and on an earth still cursed and pregnant with the thorns and thistles of evil.
When Chavah was first tempted to commit the Original Sin she made three observations: that the Tree was "good to eat, desirable to the eyes and attractive as a means to gain intelligence." The Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah 65:13) says that while Chavah yearned for gratification of the palate, visual stimulation and intellectual satisfaction, Yitzchak declared that he would derive pleasure from taste alone. As he commanded his son "make me a flavorful dish the way I love it and bring it to me to eat." Yitzchak was blind and he was ignorant i.e. he lacked knowledge of the factual events surrounding his bestowing of blessing. The Biskovitzer asserts that eliminating the elements of attractiveness to the eyes and the mind that initiated the Original Sin was indispensable to the tikun process.
It is striking and noteworthy that while the Divine Creative Will was that trees and their fruits should share an identical flavor, there was never an expression of the Divine Creative Will that trees and their fruits should share the same qualities of visual attractiveness or extend the same benefit to cognition. Yitzchaks blindness and ignorance of the facts removed two of the three factors of Original Sin. This cut things to the chase by leaving only the element that had been corrupted and broken even before the creation of the human beings; the dissonance in flavor between tree and fruit, between producer and product.
Paradoxically the earth's anticipatory, pre-Original Sin contained within it the seeds of tikun at the very moment of kilkul-deficiency and ruination; for the Tikunei Zohar (99B) reveals that the Tree of Knowledge itself was entirely good. It was only in the fruits of this tree in which good and evil merged together. The Tree was created as clarified, 100% pure good while its fruits required birurim. While Adam became what he ate, the Biskovitzer understood the Midrash to be teaching us that Yitzchak became what Adam had never ingested or tasted; the Tree itself. Yitzchak, the bark of the Tree of Knowledge itself, avoided the ill effects of the bite of its fruit. But like the Tree of Knowledge itself, Yitzchak the man-tree bore fruits of good and evil united in utero. These human fruits of the Tree of Union of Good and Evil required birurim.
The Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah 61:6) teaches that Avraham abstained from from blessing Yitzchak because, as both evil Esav and good Yaakov existed within him in potentia, blessing him would have been comparable to cultivating a "tree of life attached to a tree of lethal poison." Now, in Yitzchak's advanced age, maintains the Biskovitzer, the time had come for the tikun of the Original Sin by threshing away evil from good and bestowing blessing exclusively on distilled goodness and life. As the Zohar (Volume I, 143A ) reveals, when Yaakov received the blessings the earth finally emerged from its curse. The blessed Yaakov manifests man restored to his pre-Sin state. As death is the wage of Original Sin this is why, per our sages (Taanis 5B) our patriarch Yaakov never died. Adam is rectified and restored through Yaakov and — as teshuvah and tikun always reach back into the past and modify it — we now have, as the Izhbitzer taught, an alternate narrative and a new reading of HaShem's command to Adam: "HaShem Elokim commanded the man saying: 'Eat from all the trees of the garden and [also eat] from the Tree of Knowledge of Good … (And) [But] Evil do not eat from it.'" Yaakov is that clarified-by-birurim soul of man that reveals retroactively that Adam was nourished exclusively by the good of the Tree.
Only those who are purely good, with no admixture of even the slightest trace of evil, can be safely and truly blessed. To do otherwise is to irrigate and fertilize a field of weeds, thorns and thistles. This is why Yitzchak bestowed a blessing while Avraham did not. When Yitzchak tasted the savory dish that Yaakov and Rivkah had prepared for him he discovered his own fruit with no difference in flavors, the taste of the bark and the taste of the fruit were identical. Yitzchak, needed to be blind to, and ignorant of, the fruit of evil and to discern the uniformity of flavors, and the blessing worthiness of his "fruit" only through his palate. This is one of the meanings of the gemara (Taanis 8B) that teaches that "blessing is not to be found other than in a thing hidden from sight."
~adapted from Mei Hashiloach Bereishis D"H Vayetzav
Neos Deshe Toldos D"H Vayehi
Nefesh HaChaim 1:6 in the Hagahah
Posted in Derachim, Dvar Torah, Explaining Judaism, Free Will, Great Seforim, Hashkafa, Question of The Week, Teshuva
Posted on November 2, 2017 by Rabbi Dovid Schwartz zt"l — 2 Comments ↓
Why did Avram seek advice before proceeding with milah-circumcision?
Why did some of his closest friends and disciples oppose his undergoing milah?
HaShem appeared to him [Avram] in the Plains of Mamre while he was sitting at the opening of the tent as the day['s heat] blazed.
Why did HaShem appear to him in the Plains of Mamre? [He appeared there] as a reward Mamre for his offering Avram positive advice and encouragement concerning circumcision.
… And He said to him [Avram] "I Am Keil Shakai. Walk yourself before Me and become perfect. And I will tender My covenant between me and you …
— Bereishis 17:1,2
This is My covenant between Me, and between you and your offspring that you must observe: you must circumcise every male. You shall excise the flesh of your foreskin and this will be the mark of the covenant between Me and you.
The refugee came bringing intelligence to Avram the Hebrew who was living serenely in the Plains of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshkol, and brother of Aner; they were the masters of Avram's covenant.
Why was Kiryas Arba-the Town of the Four; so called? Because of the four saintly people living there; Aner, Eshkol, Mamre and Avram
— Bereishis Rabbah 58:4
When the Holy Blessed One told Avram that he should circumcise himself, Avram sought the advice of his three beloved friends; Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. He first went to Aner and said "HaShem commanded me to do such and such." Aner responded "He wants to make you a baal mum– someone defective/ an amputee?! The relatives of the Kings that you slew will seize this opportunity to kill you in reprisal as you will not be able to flee." He left him and then proceeded to Eshkol. "HaShem commanded me to do such and such." Eshkol responded "You're old. If you circumcise yourself you'll hemorrhage and lose too much blood. You won't be able to endure it and you'll die." He left him and then proceeded to Mamre. "HaShem commanded me to do such and such. What is your advice?" Mamre responded "You ask me about this? Wasn't it HaShem who saved you from the fiery furnace and wrought all the miracles for you? Wasn't it HaShem who saved from the kings? If not for His Might and Power the kings would have slain you in battle. HaShem has saved all 248 of your limbs and organs [numerous times] and you're asking my advice about the small appendage to a single organ? Do as He commands.
— Midrash Tanchuma Vayera 3
הקנאה, התאווה והכבוד – מוציאים את האדם מן העולם
Jealousy, lust and the pursuit of honor eradicate a person from the world
— Pirkei Avos 4:28
The Izhbitzer School addresses various questions that arise from a superficial reading of the Tanchuma. How could Avram, greatest of the believers in HaShem, who had already withstood many Divine trials, grant Aner and Eshkol and Mamre "veto power" over a direct command from HaShem? Had all three advised against circumcision would he have actually complied with their advice instead of obeying HaShem? Why did Aner and Eshkol, described as "the masters of Avrams covenant" and as tzadikim-righteous ones; advise against circumcision? In Avrams previous and subsequent trials he did not seek anyone's advice. Why did he seek advice regarding circumcision?
Rav Shmuel Dov Asher-the Biskovitzer, understands the dialogues between Avram and his consultants as not being a question of "yes or no?" but of "how"? What's the best way to go about this? He wanted to decide whether to undergo circumcision inconspicuously or publicly.
The fact was that 20 generations had passed since Adam without anyone undergoing circumcision and that people have a strong predilection for resisting change and having a skeptical attitude towards innovation. Avram considered the possibility that publicizing this groundbreaking development in Man's relationship with G-d would evoke enough opposition of others to try and prevent him from going through with it or, at minimum, mocking and scorning this bizarre operation, after all circumcision affects a most sensitive area. This societal ridicule and scorn would diminish the gravity and appeal of the Monotheism that Avram had devoted his life to teaching and preaching. Avram did not want HaShem to become cholilah-Heaven Forefend; a laughing-stock.
Additionally, Aner opposed publicizing the covenant of circumcision because of the personal danger it would expose Avram to. Opportunistic relatives of the 4 kings bent on vendetta killings would consider a circumcision-weakened Avram an easy target. Aner reasoned that one shouldn't rely on miracles when natural means to avoid danger, in this case keeping the circumcisions secret, were available. While clear-headed and cautious, this advice did not appeal to Avram. HaShem had Chosen to Grant him victory over the kings in the most transparent, prominent and famous way. How then could fulfilling HaShem's command publicly and openly lead to his downfall?
Eshkol thought that the threat of Avram dying as a result of post-operative complications was very real and that, perhaps, the trial of circumcision was a kind of auto-Akeidah; would Avram be willing to kill himself at G-d's behest? But Eshkol fretted over the disastrous PR consequences of "passing" such a test. How many potential new monotheists would be discouraged and dissuaded? How many of Avrams proselytes would drop out of a religion demanding such supreme human self-sacrifice? How many people would condemn the G-d of Avram as a wrathful and capricious Deity? If the circumcision-related causes of Avrams death were to become widely known an epic chilul HaShem-desecration of G-d's name; would result. On the other hand if the circumcision was a well-kept secret and, worst-case scenario, Avram did not survive it, the cause of death could reasonably be attributed to Avram's "old-age" or any number of causes. Avram rejected this as well. He thought it inconceivable that HaShem would command him to do something that would result in his death.
Mamre's recommendation and encouragement resonated with Avram for all the reasons that the suggestions of Aner and Eshkol did not. Avram followed the advice of his consultant Mamre and "B'etzem hayom hazeh-In the very core of that day; Avram and his son Yishmael were circumcised. All the men of the household both homeborn and bought for cash from a stranger were circumcised with him." (Bereishis 17:26,27). Elsewhere Chazal have taught that the phrase "B'etzem hayom hazeh" connotes an in-your-face challenge to would-be opponents, scoffers, skeptics or those who would stop it outright. As if to say "I/We did it out in the open at high-noon … stop us if you can!"
As he often does, the Biskovitzer concludes with a take-away lesson that we can apply to contemporary Avodas HaShem. He maintains that each of us have an internal Aner, Eshkol, Mamre. When we exercise our free-will to do good and perform mitzvos there are still "voices" within us that will try dissuading us from performing HaShem's Will in the best and most fulsome way, more often than not by voicing some iteration of the fear of ridicule and public misunderstanding.
The approach of Rav Tzadok-the Kohen of Lublin, takes to demystifying the Tanchuma requires some background divrei Torah:
There are three basic, deep-seated drives and yearnings of the human spirit/ psyche: The drive for pleasure and sensual gratification AKA taavah-lust; the drive for control and domination of others AKA kinah-jealousy; and the drive for transcendence and eternal perpetuity AKA kavod-the pursuit of honor. Honor and transcendence accrue to those who produce progeny. As the passuk (Mishlei 17:6) declares "Children's children are the tiara of grandfathers."
All of these drives can be sublimated and harnessed for Avodas HaShem and, in a broad sense; each of the Patriarchs embodies one of these drives that have been refined and distilled into an essence of kedushah-sanctity; and Avodas HaShem. Avram, the pillar of chessed-lovingkindness; is the spiritual "hedonist" who seeks the ineffable pleasure of uniting with his Creator. Yitzchok, the pillar of gevurah-might and self-control; is the holy warrior who fights, controls and dominates his internal foe; the inclination to evil. Yaakov, the pillar of emmes-truth; is the father of twelve tribes and morphs into Yisrael. His progeny, who bear his name, are an eternal Nation that transcends time and space for truth is, by definition, eternal and transcendent. That which expires and fades away cannot be true. As the passuk teaches "The lip of truth shall be instituted forever" (Ibid12:19). That said, while each of the Patriarchs may have "specialized" in a particular drive every one of them was motivated by, and refined elements of, all three of these primal drives.
The drives toward pleasure and sensual gratification and for control and domination can metastasize into the pure evils of murder and fornication. In contradistinction, every yearning for transcendence and eternal perpetuity, i.e. honor, is essentially good and holy, it can never devolve into something truly evil. At worst this drive can be less than perfectly lishmah– for the sake of Heaven. It can sometimes be underpinned by ulterior motives settling for ersatz honor that may outlast the split second but that is not truly eternal. This helps explain why, in the development of kedushas Klal Yisrael-the holiness of the Nation of Israel; Avram and Yitzchok sired sons who were incarnations of the evils of kinah — culminating in murder (Esav) and taavah — leading to fornication (Yishmael), while all of Yaakov/ Yisrael's sons were good and holy.
The mystery of HaShem's covenant of circumcision is veiled in the passuk of "Walk yourself before Me and become perfect." For we know that this alleged "perfection" was achieved through self-mutilation. The pre-circumcision Avram was imperfect although his entire physical plant was unblemished and intact. The letter hei was added to his name post-circumcision to express his new control of the five limbs/ organs that were beyond his control pre-circumcision (see Bereishis17:1 Rashi v'heyei.) The covenant of circumcision, accomplished through excision of the foreskin, is an act of addition by subtraction, of perfection through deficit and maiming.
By loving and attaching themselves to Avram, by becoming the masters of his covenant, the three Emorites; Aner, Eshkol, Mamre were drawn to Avodas HaShem and the sublimation of the three primal drives. Aner was drawn to sublimating kinah, Eshkol to refining taavah and Mamre to purifying kavod. Nevertheless in waging these cosmic, spiritual battles they were never more than the knight/warrior-Avram's squires and weapons bearers (cp. Rashi Bereishis 14:24).
The Lubliner Kohen explains the Tanchuma in light of Aner, Eshkol and Mamres specialties in terms of the three primal drives. Perhaps subconsciously, the advice that they offer Avram gives voice to their own core motivations and drives. The kinah and taavah sensibilities, especially if not fully refined, can never grasp the mystery of milah-circumcision. For the desire for control and domination would never countenance even a temporary loss or deficiency. The kinah drive works under the adage of "dominate or be dominated" and lives in mortal terror of every loss, deficiency or temporary setback. And so Aner tells Avram "the relatives of the Kings that you slew will seize this opportunity to kill you." If you do not keep yourself whole and healthy, if you do not press every advantage to dominate and subjugate, then you will be the one who becomes dominated and subjugated.
The drive for sensual gratification is fundamentally narcissistic and selfish. The hedonist is a collector and a hoarder and is especially fond of those collectibles that complete, aggrandize and fulfill the self. The notion of giving rather than taking, of relinquishing rather than retaining is utterly foreign to the taavah drive. And so when asked for his thoughts on milah Eshkol cries "you'll hemorrhage and lose too much blood." Any loss is an anathema to the one driven by taavah how much more so when the loss of a body part or the bodily fluid containing the very life-force of the hedonist?
It is only Mamre, informed by kavod — the drive for transcendence; who possesses the sensibility that a temporal loss can result in an eternal gain, that nothing can become perfect unless and until it's incomplete. On the contrary, being defeated and dominated, unfulfilled and incomplete, are the keys to eternity and deathlessness because, ultimately, the other two drives seek that which cannot endure. Many of the greatest Emperors, who subjugated millions, saw their empires crumble in their lifetimes. All of them died knowing that their dominion would pass to others. Many of the greatest hedonists aged or were impoverished to a point where they could no longer indulge their lusts. All of them died and lost the sensual coil that they spent a short, blink-of-the-eye lifetime gratifying. Only honor is transcendent. And so Mamre, whose defining middah was kavod, advised Avram to pursue the temporary loss of milah that would lead to the promise of offspring, the vehicle for deathlessness and undying glory.
~adapted from Neos Deshe Vayra D"H Vayera (the first)
Kometz Haminchah 40
Posted in Big Challenges, Bitachon, Character Development, Free Will, Great Seforim, Hashkafa, Jewish Thought, Question of The Week
Posted on August 31, 2017 by Rabbi Dovid Schwartz zt"l — 2 Comments ↓
Why is the war mentioned at the beginning of Ki Seitzei offensive while the one mentioned in Behaaloscha defensive?
Why is victory guaranteed in the war mentioned at the beginning of Ki Seitzei ?
And when war will come in your land against the tormenter that puts pressure on you, you shall sound a staccato on the trumpets. Then HaShem your Elokim will remember you and will save you from your adversaries.
— BeMidbar 10:9
When you set out to wage war against your adversaries HaShem your Elokim will give you victory over them such that you will capture [his] prisoners.
In the day of good be absorbed of good, and in the day of evil observe; for Elokim has made one parallel the other.
— Koheles 7:14
And the two of them were naked, the Adam and his wife, but they felt no shame.
— Bereshis 2:25
Prior to the sin they were purely good and they related to "the face below" as they did [and still do] to "the face above" [i.e. as there is no shame in eating, hearing, smelling or seeing or in the organs that are the channels of these senses so too there was no shame in reproduction or the organs of reproduction]. For the component of evil that became incorporated in human beings is what differentiates between the two "faces". It is in the lower portion of the human gestalt where evil acquired an abode. By way of proof observe: The sign of the holy covenant is surrounded by a husk, the foreskin, which HaShem commanded to excise for it is there that shidah rested [see Yeshayahu 34:14].
— Ohr HaChaim ibid
There are several marked differences between the two pesukim-verses; describing the wars of the Bnei Yisrael– the Nation of Israel. The pasuk in BeMidbar describes a defensive war, a war that "will come" to you while the pasuk at the beginning of our sidrah-weekly Torah reading; speaks of an offensive, aggressive war: "When you set out to wage war". While rescue and living to fight another day is promised in the former pasuk, victory over the opponent is guaranteed only in the latter pasuk.
When weighing the decision of whether or not to wage war there are a myriad of factors that require consideration. The first among them is if the projected war or fight is winnable. No individual, nation, tribe or even terrorist entity launches a fight or a war that they know that they can't win. While combatants may be prepared to lose many rounds or battles and to clash for years and even decades; no one sets out to lose the war.
That said few war decision-makers are 100% certain of their ultimate victory. Military history is replete with many "David vs. Goliath" upset victories. Hubris, megalomania, underestimation of the enemy, bad intelligence, poor diplomacy and a host of other uncontrollable factors may delude combatants into thinking that their victory is assured. Still, most rational military men understand that it takes more than valor or superior technology and manpower to win a war. They understand that they must remain ever vigilant, persistent and brave because; "it ain't over till it's over".
This is what makes the opening of our sidrah so odd. The prophecies of war should have been stated conditionally; "When you set out to wage war against your adversaries IF HaShem your Elokim will give you victory over them and if you will capture [his] prisoners." In point of historical fact the Bnei Yisrael were not victorious in every war nor did they always capture prisoners. Why then does the pasuk guarantee victory?
Understanding that all of the wars of Bnei Yisrael are not merely physical and geopolitical but metaphysical and spiritual and that, when applied to the microcosm of individual Jews, they translate into milchemes hayeitzer-the war against our inclinations to evil; Rav Leibeleh Eiger explains the distinctiveness of the war described at the beginning of our sidrah allegorically.
Imagine a great warrior king whose crown prince is his only son. While the king wants the prince to achieve the glory and honor that only military victory can accord, he is unwilling to actually risk his only, irreplaceable son's battlefield defeat and death. And so the king, aware of the tactics, strategy and covert intelligence reports, waits until "the fix is in" and does not dispatch the crown prince to wage a war until and unless he, the king, knows that victory is not only probable — but a foregone conclusion. Military observers, combatants and reporters following the war may imagine it to be a closely contested competition — but the king knows better.
When it comes to milchemes hayeitzer our Heavenly Father and King, HaShem, would never risk the death and defeat of His only son; the Bnei Yisrael. While the war may endure a lifetime for individuals and the entire span of human history for the nation as a whole; the ultimate victory is not a question of "if" but of "when". There is no possibility of defeat. In the end HaShem your Elokim will give you victory and deliver the enemy into your hands … including all that had been yours that the enemy had temporarily captured.
To carry the metaphor a step further: After deciding to wage a war because of its presumed winnability the first strategic consideration is whether to launch a preemptive or even surprise attack or to wait until the enemy makes the first move and, only then, to retaliate.
Rav Leibeleh Eiger goes on to view our sidrahs opening pasuk through the prism of the doctrine of Sefiros-Divine Emanations; in order to understand the offensive, aggressive nature of this war.
As this is the sixth sidrah in Sefer Devarim-the Book of Deuteronomy; it corresponds to sixth Sefirah of Yesod-Foundation. The Kabalistic tradition associates with the Sefirah of Yesod with the reproductive organ as this is the font and foundation of life and of the holiness of life. It is precisely because it is the foundation for the entire structure of life and sanctity that so much passionate, powerful opposition to life and holiness concentrates against Yesod. For "Elokim has made one parallel the other." It is there that many of the greatest battles of milchemes hayeitzer are waged. This is why the war must be waged preemptively and aggressively. The only effective defense in this primary war is offense. This is why the bris milah-covenant if circumcision; is performed as soon as the human is born before any sentience of evil and lust inherent in the organ is even felt, i.e. before the enemy brings the battle to us … we strike a blow, and draw first blood.
Once the first, preemptive strike is struck there will still be many battles. These will be incessant and exhausting. There may even be many battles lost and much ground relinquished but "the fix is in". The war will be won. The King would never allow his only son to be vanquished and killed.
~adapted from Toras Emes Ki Seitzei the third D"H Ki
This post is an installment for Ki Seitzei 5774 in the series of adaptations
Posted in Big Challenges, Dvar Torah, Great Seforim, Hashkafa, Middos, Parsha, Question of The Week
Posted on June 13, 2017 by Guest Contributor
Rabbi Itmar Swartz (Author of Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh)
Link to post from which this post was excerpted.
Link to whole sefer on this topic.
Our Goal – Reaching Our Soul So That We Can Become Close To The Creator
We will attempt to study the power of machshavah (thought) in a person.
"The end of actions is first with thoughts". First we need to learn what the purpose of this study is before we learn about what it is.
The purpose of learning about our thoughts is not for the sake of developing our thoughts, but it is only a tool to reach a greater purpose – to reach our soul.
There are three parts to the soul – the Nefesh, the Ruach and the Neshamah. To be specific, the Nefesh is located in the liver, the Ruach is in the heart, and the Neshamah, which is the Godly intellect of a person, is located in the brain[1]; the Neshamah is the highest part of our soul. Building up our mind is thus essentially to reveal our Neshamah. The reason why we should want to reveal our Neshamah is because we want to become close to Hashem. The Rambam[2] writes that we are attached to Hashem only through our minds, and that is why we should want to develop our mind.
In short, that is the purpose of this book. We will now, with the help of Hashem, begin to explain the foundations of how we build our power of thought.
Our Thoughts Can Take Us Beyond Our Limits
What are our thoughts? Thoughts are termed by the Sages as "a bird flying in the sky." A person can be lifted up by his thoughts and fly away from where he is, when he thinks of something that isn't in front of him.
All of the physical senses – such as smell, hearing, and speech – have limits. The root of all senses is the brain, but the brain itself can go above limits. Thoughts are not limited to any one place or time – a person sits in one place, but his thoughts can go to another place. This is why thoughts are called "a bird that flies in the sky", because thoughts can fly above all boundaries!
However, the disadvantage to our thoughts is that we can fly too much with them. Our thoughts, if unbalanced, will be unstable and fly around too much, just like birds that can fly wherever they please.
We are referring to the problem of dimyonos – imagination. When a person's thoughts take him too far, he enters into his imagination. Reb Yisrael Salanter[3] wrote that a person's imagination roams around to go wherever it pleases – which is detrimental. Our thoughts can take us away to faraway places that we should not go – the imagination. Most people who have not worked on developing their thoughts are wandering around with their mind, and their minds are lacking stability.
When it comes to our abilities to act and talk, most people are able to stay focused. But when it comes to our thoughts, people usually don't focus and go from one subject to another in their minds, and all this takes places very quickly.
This is why we see that most people who haven't worked to build their thoughts have a problem in that their heads are wandering around all day with all types of thoughts. They are lacking a stability in their thoughts.
When it comes to our actions, we don't jump too quickly from one action to another; we stay focused on what we are doing before we start something else. When we talk, we usually do not jump from one kind of conversation to another within three words; we focus on the topic at hand. But when it comes to thoughts, we think many different things in one minute!
This is unlike our actions and our speech, which we usually don't lose focus on. Of course, our actions and our speech could also use some improvement, but with our thoughts we can see clearly that we are jumping around too much.
If a person goes over what he thought about the entire day, he would discover that he thought about thousands of different things each day. Our thoughts literally fly around like birds in the sky.
Forming A Place In Our Mind To Build Our Thoughts
If we don't develop our thoughts, they wander to far-away places that we shouldn't go – places which our mind doesn't belong in.
It is written (Mishlei 24:3), "With wisdom you shall build a house." In order to build anything, one needs wisdom. If a person's thoughts are roaming around, he lacks structure to his mind.
The root of this is really because ever since Adam sinned, the world became mixed up with good and evil, and so our thoughts as well are all mixed up. This affected our thoughts to become shaky and unstable, lacking a certain groundwork to hold it up.
In order to build up our thoughts properly, we need to first build a foundation to lay the ground upon. Just like when you want to build a building you first clear a big space on the ground so you can have a foundation to build it on, so do we need spiritual groundwork in order to build up our thoughts.
This is the root of beginning to build it – we need the ground to build it upon. Without this solid foundation, our thoughts will not last, just like a building that isn't founded on anything; it will topple over.
If we try (and with the help of Hashem, we should succeed) to build and understand what this groundwork for our thoughts is, then we will be able to have the groundwork to be able to build our thoughts. But before we learn how to actually build our thoughts, first we must know what the groundwork of it is.
The Effect Of Our Thoughts
Before we` build up our thoughts, first we need ground to lay upon its structure. This groundwork we need is essentially to enter a new world. We need to enter a whole different world if we are to begin building our thoughts.
The ground we need to build upon our thoughts with is not from this physical world. Just like if you go to the moon you will find different material there than on the earth, so will we need different material to build our thoughts — a spiritual kind of material. We will explain what this is.
What is this groundwork we will need? People usually think that thoughts aren't real. We think, let's say, if we have to do something or not…but what we actually think doesn't seem to be reality. But the truth is that thoughts are real. How do we see this?
The Sages (Avodah Zarah 20b) warn a person not to think lewd thoughts during the day, because if he thinks such thoughts, he will become contaminated at night. Why does this happen? It is because when he had these thoughts, these thoughts were like reality to him. The reality of these thoughts are revealed at night in his sleep.
Thoughts are reality. In the example of one who thinks about forbidden thoughts, we see this in an evil usage. But the very reality of our thoughts can be either evil or good.
In the case of one who thinks evil, he is laying the "ground" for his thoughts by giving in to his thoughts for an evil desire. The evil thoughts are then built up on this ground, and eventually he will commit evil acts as well from those thoughts. He absorbs the evil thoughts during the day, which lays the groundwork for the building of further evil thoughts.
From a superficial viewpoint, thoughts seem to be intangible. But from an inner viewpoint, which is the truth, there is nothing more clearly felt than a thought.
Posted on May 18, 2017 by Rabbi Dovid Schwartz zt"l — 3 Comments ↓
When you come into the land that I am giving you, the land must be given a rest interlude, a sabbath for HaShem. For six years you may plant your fields, prune your vineyards and gather your crops. But the seventh year shall be a sabbath of sabbaths for the land, it is HaShem's Sabbath during which you may neither plant your fields, nor prune your vineyards … You shall sanctify the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land for all its inhabitants; This is your jubilee year; when each man shall return to his hereditary property and to his family … Do not make him [your brother] pay advance interest , nor give him food for which he will have to pay accrued interest … And if your brother becomes impoverished and is sold to you, you may not work him like a slave. He shall be with you just like a hired servant, or a resident [farm] hand. He shall serve you only until the year of jubilee.
—Vayikra 25:2-4,10,37,39,40
A sabbath to HaShem: For the sake of HaShem, just as is stated of the Sabbath of Creation (i.e the Shabbos we observe on a weekly basis)
—Rashi Vayikra 25:2 from Toras Kohanim 25:7
I.e., just as every seventh day is a holy Sabbath day, acclaiming that G-d Himself rested on the seventh day [after creating for the first six days] and thus confirming that G-d is the Supreme Creator of all that exists, similarly, man must refrain from working the land on the seventh year, for the Glory of G-d, not for the benefit of the land, so that it should gain fertility by lying fallow for a year.
— Sifsei Chachamim ibid
The mekubalim-expositors of the Torah mystical tradition; teach that all that HaShem created exists on the three parallel planes of olam/shanah/nefesh-world/year/soul i.e. in the realms of space, time and spirit. (cp. Sefer Yetzirah) In Parshas Behar the Izhbitzer school explores several applications of this concept. Among our Sidrah's opening topics we find the Shmittah/Shvi'is-sabbatical year; d'ror avadim-the liberation of slaves; and ribis-the prohibition of charging interest. The Izhbitzer explains the common denominator of these three topics in light of olam/shanah/nefesh.
A ma'amin-one who is theologically correct and believes in the thirteen articles of faith should, in theory, have complete bitachon BaShem– reliance upon G-d. Believing that G-d is Benevolent, Omniscient, Omnipotent and directly controlling of the infinite to the infinitesimal (hashgachah p'ratis) it would be foolish to place ones trust in anyone or anything else. Yet, as the chasm separating our dispassionate beliefs from our heartfelt emotions is vast; people are constantly looking for substitutes for G-d to place their trust in and to rely upon. First and foremost we search for things to vouchsafe our ongoing existence; ways and means that can maintain and sustain us and, broadly speaking, these ways and means fall into one of three categories; property, time-charges and other people.
The most tangible and static of properties is real estate. Once a mortgage has been paid off real estate ownership is permanent. Unlike movable property real-estate cannot be removed by thieves. Inasmuch as the structures comprising residential or commercial real estate can depreciate, be partially damaged or be completely destroyed the most solid and reliable of all real estate is, arguably, farmland. Farmland represents the owners tangible kinyan-possession; in olam-space; and that which he relies and depends on to sustain him with produce and which he hopes will enrich him with its surplus produce.
The mitzvos of Shmittah/Shvi'is force the farmer to lay down his tools and throw the gates of his agricultural properties open for man and beast. These laws demonstrate that real-estate property ownership is an illusion; that all space belongs to HaShem. In so doing the farmer exposes his own reliance and dependence on his farmland, his kinyan in olam, for the mirage that it is.
While attorneys rack up billable hours and taxi-drivers meter their fares, at least in part based upon elapsed time, neither of these are the purest manifestations of the maxim "time is money." In truth, the client or the cab rider are paying for a service rendered. Time is merely the yardstick used to determine how much or how little of the service in question was provided.
The purest manifestation of the "time is money" equation is the charging of interest. When charging and collecting interest, whether simple or compounded, the lender collects a fee from the borrower for the units of time that the latter held and used his funds. No greater goods or services are rendered on a $10,000 principal amount whether the loan is paid off in one year or in five years. The higher interest paid by the lender for a five year loan is exclusively for the elapsed time. When it comes to collecting interest, time is literally money.
Interest represents the lenders tangible kinyan in shanah-year/time; and that which he relies and depends on to sustain him with accruing wealth by transforming time into money. The Torahs prohibition of interest and usury denies this ersatz security to those who would place their faith and trust in time rather than in the time-transcendent G-d.
The most G-d-like of all substitutes in which people invest their reliance and trust — are other people. People are, after all, created b'tzelem Elokim-in the image of the Divine; and we are attracted to "dependable" people. This may be the most noxious form of bitachon-reliance; substitution inasmuch as it inverts the relationship between the one relying and the One being relied upon. Instead of relying on and trusting HaShem Whom they must serve; people rely on and trust a variety of people who will serve them.
We depend on our domestics to keep our homes clean, on our gardeners to keep our lawns well-groomed and we trust our physicians to dispense correct prescriptions and medical advice and our stockbrokers to manage our portfolios to profitability. The salaries and fees that we pay these laborers and professionals represent our concrete kinyan in nefesh-soul.
But the starkest iteration of a kinyan in nefesh is slave ownership. When one holds a slave he is not "renting" a particular talent or skill, a mere particular koach hanefesh; but has acquired the nefesh in toto. Every talent and faculty of the slave can be harnessed and depended upon to fulfill the owners' needs. The slave is a wholly owned subsidiary of the slave owner, so much so that the reliance and trust that the slaver invests in the slave can almost be deemed self-reliance and self-confidence. The mitzvah of d'ror avadim in yovel-the jubilee year; conveys the truth that one Jew can never possess another Jew, even one who had his ear bored through because he refused to leave his master. All bonds of interpersonal human reliance are ephemeral and an ownership which must be surrendered is, in fact, no ownership at all, even before it is relinquished.
Collectively the three mitzvos of Shmittah/Shvi'is, d'ror avadim in Yovel, and ribis give the lie to being able to cultivate a true kinyan, and thus acquiring the security and insurance through, either olam, shanah or nefesh. We have no one and nothing to lean on but our Father in heaven.
The Izhbitzer's disciple, Rav Tzadok the Lubliner Kohen, applies the olam/shanah/nefesh model to link the end of Parshas Emor and the start of Parshas Behar. His interpretation is based on a commentary of the Ba'al HaTurim that Parshas Emor essentially ends with the narrative of the Megadeph-the one who cursed G-d; and Parshas Behar begins with the laws of Shmittah/Shvi'is because, as Rabbah bar bar Chanah taught in Rabi Yochanan's name: "The the sages convey [the elocution and precise meaning of the Divine] Name of four letters to their disciples [only] once in a seven year period. Others opine, twice in a seven year period." (Kiddushin 71A) Cursing the Name is a capital offense only when the curse was cast against the Name that had been articulated and pronounced correctly.
The Lubliner Kohen is unconvinced by the Ba'al HaTurim's approach because the gemara does not indicate when, precisely, within the seven year period it was that the sages revealed the secrets of the Divine four letter Name of to their disciples. For the link between the sidros to be validated we must first establish that the secrets of the Divine Name were revealed during the Shmittah/Shvi'is year. Additionally, the conclusion of the gemara reads: Said Rabi Nachman ben Yitzchok "Reason supports the view that it was [only] once in a seven year period for we read, 'this is My Name forever [le'olam]' which is written 'to conceal' [le'ahleim]." This explanation requires further clarification, for if the Divine four-letter Name must be concealed why is it permissible to reveal It's secret even once in a seven year period? On the other hand, if the spelling of the word le'ahleim does not absolutely prohibit revealing It's secrets then why limit it? Perhaps it could be taught twice in a seven year period?
Rashi cites the Toras Kohanim/ Safra that equates the Shmittah/Shvi'is year with Shabbos. The Lubliner Kohen asserts that Shabbos is to time what Mikdash-the Temple in Jerusalem; is to space. The Mikdash was a consecrated space which was somewhat exempted from the prohibition of articulating the Divine Name explicitly. When the kohanim would confer the Birkas Kohanim-priestly benediction; in the Mikdash they would explicate the Divine Name and when the Kohen Godol would confess sins over various offerings on Yom Kippur he too would explicate the Divine Name. Just as the secret of the Divine name could be divulged in the Mikdash in the sphere of space; so too could it be exposed on Shmittah/Shvi'is year in the sphere of time.
As to why the parallel is to years rather than to days (it is absolutely prohibited to explicitly utter HaShem's name on the weekly Shabbos of a non-Shmittah year) the Lubliner Kohen incorporates the Ramban ad locum. The essence of his answer is that just as HaShem created the world in seven days, history endures for seven millennia. For each of G-d's "days" lasts a millennium as the psalmist wrote "For a thousand years in Your Eyes are but as yesterday when it is past … " (Tehillim 90:4) The seventh millennium, that epoch which lies beyond the scope of olam hazeh-this world, is the time when our consciousness' are raised to perceive the Divine without veils and obfuscation. The very derivation of the prohibition of explicating the Divine Name comes with a built in statute of limitations. The prohibition must only persist for the duration of the "lifespan" of the temporal here-and-now world. The le'ahleim- concealment is for the le'olam-this world. The Lubliner Kohen concludes that it was permissible for sages to reveal the secrets of the Divine name during every Shabbos of the Shmittah/Shvi'is year. This is the deeper meaning of the Ba'al HaTurim's commentary.
~adapted from Mei HaShiloach I Emor D"H Dahber
Pri Tzaddik Emor passage 7
This post is an installment for Behar in the series of adaptations
Posted in Attitudes, Bitachon, Dvar Torah, Emuna, Hashkafa, Jewish Thought, Parsha, Question of The Week
Posted on March 23, 2017 by Rabbi Dovid Schwartz zt"l — 5 Comments ↓
Pikudei-Shekalim-An installment in the series of adaptations
By Rabbi Dovid Schwartz-
Everyone who is to be counted in the census must give a half-shekel according to the holy standard where a shekel is 20 gerah … the rich may not increase [their donations over and above] and the poor may not diminish [their donations below the amount of] (than) this half-shekel …
I believe with absolute assurance that the Creator, Blessed is His Name, rewards those who observe His commandments with good and punishes those who violate His commandments.
-Maomonides 11th principle of Faith
Our Rabbis taught: A man should always regard himself as though he were half guilty and half meritorious [so that] if he performs one mitzvah, fortunate is he, for he has tipped his personal scale towards merit; if he commits one aveirah-transgression, woe to him for tipping his personal scale towards guilt … Rabi Eleazar son of Rabi Shimon said: Because the world is judged by its majority, and an individual [too] is judged by his majority [of his personal good or bad], if he performs one mitzvah, fortunate is he for tipping the scale, both for himself and for the whole world, [down] on the side of merit; if he commits one transgression, woe to him for tipping the scale for himself and the whole world towards guilt …
-Kiddushin 40A-B
The silver census money collected from the community came out to 100 kikars–talents and 1775 shekels by the holy standard … The 100 [silver] kikars were used to cast the foundation sockets for the Mishkan and that the cloth partition. There were a total of 100 foundation sockets made out of 100 [silver] kikars, one kikar for each foundation socket.
–Shemos 38:25,27
Everyone, both rich and poor was commanded to contribute exactly the same coin. As the census numbers were calculated by counting these coins the need for a standardized contribution is easily understood. If the wealthy were to drop multiple coins, or a larger, weightier denomination, into the contribution box it would have been impossible to arrive at an accurate tally. Still, it would seem that a full shekel coin, the standard unit of currency, would have been a more appropriate uniform contribution for one and all. On a pragmatic level, it could simply be that this level of contribution might prove onerous for the poorest people in K'lal Yisrael-the Jewish People, whereas everyone could afford a half-shekel without being pinched too severely. But the Izhbitzer drew a great, defining lesson in avodas HaShem-serving HaShem, from the use of the half, rather than the whole, shekel.
In our newfangled economies cash money has become nearly obsolete. With the advents of ACH, wires transfers and scanning codes for payment; even credit cards and checks, that supplanted cash, are becoming passé. But once-upon-a-time cash was the "new" currency. The truth is that our "fiat money" — paper document banknotes, AKA cash, is intrinsically useless and valueless; they are used only as a medium of exchange. They replaced banknotes of the gold and/or silver standard economies under which governments would not print more banknotes than they had precious metal reserves to back. Under the bimetal standards, one could redeem their dollars for fixed amounts of gold and silver. Before that there was no paper money at all. Currency was exclusively coins made of precious metals; gold and silver. These coins did have inherent value and the value of the various coin denominations was determined by the weight of precious metal that each contained. E.g. a silver dollar weighed four times as much as a silver quarter.
We can now understand the etymology of machatzis hashekel-the half shekel. The verb in lashon kodesh-the holy language, for weighing is sh'kol, the noun for weight — mishkal. Thus, a more precise translation for machatzis hashekel would be "the half weight". The full unit of currency, the shekel, was very aptly and descriptively named, as it was the standard unit of weight of precious metal for the currency system. Larcenous coin-debasement practices such as coin-clipping and coin-sweating aimed at reducing the weight of precious metal of the coin while continuing to circulate it at face value. In fact, striping or engraving the rims of coins was first introduced to prevent clipping the coins' circumference.
Mefarshim-commentaries, have explained that Maimonides 11th principle of faith; belief in reward and punishment, also expresses the belief in human Free-Will. For as of the Rambam himself writes; if human Free-Will was an illusion if our thoughts, words and deeds were predetermined by Divine Providence then "through what system of justice would HaShem exact punishment from the wicked or compensate the righteous with reward? Would the Judge of all the earth not render justice?" (Hilchos Teshuvah 5:4)
Based on the Gemara in Kiddushin the Izhbitzer extrapolated from the maftir of Shekalim that we read this week, that the opposite is equally true; that there can be no human Free-Will or, at least, that human Free-Will cannot be fully exercised, unless the willful choices that we make result in the ultimate in reward and punishment. If, when facing every new situation we do not confront the ultimate in reward and punishment, then we are self-sabotaging our Free-Will.
On the Beyond Teshuva Blog the challenge of plateauing has been explored many times. Most people begin their lives as ovdei HaShem with the period of sustained growth. Of course we stumble and suffer setbacks but, in general, the arrows on the graphs of our spirituality head upwards. Then, for a variety of reasons we begin to flatline. We get into a groove (some would call it a rut) and, essentially, we stop growing.
The Izhbitzer avers that the two primary causes of plateauing are the smug self-perception of secure, set-for-life spiritual wealth on the one hand and the utter hopelessness and sense of futility arising from the self-perception of spiritual poverty on the other hand.
Like the young entrepreneurs who may have found themselves in the right place at the right time making boatloads of money in a go-go economy, some of us, who've already learned lots of Torah and performed many mitzvos feel as though we can coast for the rest of our lives. The spiritually rich, and sometimes even the spiritually nouveau riche, feel as though they're so far ahead of the game that their next move, i.e. their next free choice opportunity, could not possibly negatively impact them, nor could the next 10,000 such moves. In their delusional organization of reality they imagine that they have a very thick safety cushion, that they have accumulated such a huge pile of Torah and mitzvos that spiritual bankruptcy, and the draining of their heavenly reward points accounts awaiting them in the afterlife, is unthinkable.
In stark contrast, the spiritually impoverished are paralyzed by hopelessness. Their self image tends to be one of an inveterate sinner. Like the compulsive gambler or the irresponsible social climber who purchased a home that he could not afford, who finds his mortgage underwater and his credit rating damaged beyond repair, the spiritually impoverished delude themselves into thinking that the hole of debt that they have dug themselves into is just too deep and profound to ever climb out of. The spiritually poor, and sometimes even those who just transgressed one "whopper" of a sin, feel as though they're so far behind the game that their next move, i.e. their next free choice opportunity, could not possibly positively impact them, nor could the next 10,000 such moves.
But what the rich and the poor share in common in these cases is an apathetic, detached approach to the future based on a profound sense of one-sidedness and imbalance. In their minds eye the scales of Divine Justice, reflective of their own personal ledgers, are not in equilibrium. There is no balance at all between their merits and their demerits, between their credits and their debits between their mitzvos and their aveiros. As a result the next move is of no consequence. Irrespective of what they do next time, the lopsided scales will not budge. What both the smug and the hopeless lack is the machatzis hashekel sensibility. If only they were to follow the advice of Chaza"l and view the personal, civic and global scales of spiritual merits and demerits to be in perfect equilibrium; their every move would be invested with cosmic consequence. There would be no room for either taking it easy or for giving up.
This, says the Izhbitzer, is what the pasuk means. The status of the rich and the poor described in the pasuk is not determined by the size of the persons bank account. Rather, these terms describe their personal spiritual ledger; the scales of the persons mitzvos and aveiros or, at least, their perception of those scales. The Torah issues as a stern warning "the rich may not give a more and the poor or may not give less than this half weight." The Torah doesn't ask us to build a house of G-d with the full shekel sensibility. The Torah demands that they "give" i.e. that they perceive and come to realization, that half the standard unit of weight weighs down one side of the scales and that the other half standard unit of weight weighs down the other side of the scales in perfect equilibrium, and that the persons next move, his next exercise of Free-Will, shall tip the scales one way or the other.
Chaza"l have a very close, precise reading of the pasuk "they will make a sanctuary for Me and I will dwell in THEM." (Shemos 25:8) Per Chaza"l this means that HaShem declares "I will dwell in them (the builders-klal Yisrael) not in it (the mere building.)" In other words each and every one of us can become a tabernacle and sanctuary for the Divine Indwelling. Rashi (Shemos 30:15) says that there were three separate terumos and that the first one that the Torah demanded of klal Yisrael, the machatzis hashekel, was used to supply the silver for the adanim-the foundation sockets of the Mishkan. I'd like to add that in light of the Izhbitzer's Torah that we learn this take away this lesson: Our lives are meaningful. Our thoughts, our words and our deeds are of cosmic importance and that this gift of the machatzis hashekel sensibility and perception forms the very adanim-foundation sockets, of restructuring ourselves as abodes for the Shechinah.
~adapted from Mei HaShiloach II Ki Sisa D"H Inyan Machatzis
See also Bais Yaakov Ki Sisa 17
Posted in Attitudes, Dvar Torah, Emuna, Hashkafa, Parsha, Plateauing, Question of The Week, Rosh Chodesh, Spirituality
Skepticism — the Beginning of True Faith
Posted on February 16, 2017 by Rabbi Dovid Schwartz zt"l — 2 Comments ↓
Why do the episodes of the war with Amalek and Yisro's arrival serve as lead-ins to the revelation at Sinai and the Decalogue?
Is it better to be shrewd or gullible?
Is there any room for skepticism in the hearts and minds of believers in the 13 Articles of Faith?
And [thus] Yehoshua weakened Amalek and his allies by the sword
— Shemos 17:13
And Yisro priest of Midyan , Moshe's father-in-law heard about all that Elokim had done for Moshe and His people Yisrael, when He extricated Yisrael from Egypt … And, along with Moshe's wife and sons, Yisro came to the desert where Moshe was camped near Elokims mountain.
— Shemos 18:1,5
And Yisro … heard: What news did he hear that [motivated him enough] to come? The splitting of the Sea of Reeds and the war with Amalek. —(from Zevachim 116A, and Mechilta)
Now I know that Hashem is the greatest of all the deities, for [He came] upon them [the Egyptians] with the very thing that they plotted.
Of all the deities: This teaches us that he [Yisro] was familiar with every type of idolatry in the world, and there was no pagan deity that he had not worshipped. (from Mechilta)
Destroy all the places, where the nations that you are driving out served their gods, [whether] upon the high mountains, the hills, or under every verdant tree.
— Devarim 12;2
For your gods were as numerous as the number of your cities, O Judah …
— Yirmiyahu 11:13
… yet upon every high hill and under every leafy tree[traditional places of idols and their worship] you recline, playing the role of a harlot.
— Yirmiyahu 2:20
The naïf believes everything; but the incredulous understands the correct footsteps to tread.
Strike the scorner, and the naïf grows shrewd.
"Strike the scorner" this refers to Amalek "and the naïf grows shrewd" this refers to Yisro
— Shemos Rabbah Yisro 27
I am HaShem your Elokim who extricated you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery
— Shemos 20:2
And he [Bilaam] gazed at Amalek, and took up his allegory, and said: "Amalek is the first among the nations; but his end shall come to eternal destruction."
— BeMidbar 24:20
Like fire and atomic energy; faith can be a tremendously positive and constructive or a negative and destructive force. When one has faith in HaShem, true prophets and chachmei haTorah-authentic Torah sages; it sustains and nurtures the life of the faithful, as the pasuk teaches v'tzadik b'emunaso yichyeh-and the just will live in/through his faith (Chavakuk 2:4). However, when faith is invested in false gods, false prophets and/or assorted charlatans, there is nothing more corrosive, detrimental to society and self-destructive. To carry the simile further, just as nations are better served by building safe and secure nuclear power plants than in stockpiling surplus nuclear warheads, one must be extremely judicious and discriminating in deciding what and/or whom to invest their faith in.
So, while faith can potentially be the greatest of virtues, it is not to be confused with gullibility and naïveté. Faith unleavened by healthy doses of discernment and skepticism is folly and, as Yirmiyahu the prophet implies by describing the idolatrous Jews of his era as "playing the harlot" and having as many deities as cities, a kind of promiscuity of the heart and mind. The emunah-faith; of one who has "complete and perfect faith" in the thirteen fundamental articles of Jewish belief is of diminished value if he also believes in every outlandish hoax ever publicized or if he can be swindled into buying the Brooklyn Bridge because he is convinced of the seller's integrity. For faith in truth and belief in reality to be commendable one must first stop suspending his disbelief in mirages and repudiate the bill-of-goods that he had formerly been convinced of for the lies that they are.
At one time or another Yisro believed in every possible manner of fabrication. Chazal teach us that there was not a single pagan deity that Yisro did not worship. To buy in to so much and such varied deception means that Yisro was possessed of an extremely credulous and gullible nature. The lashon kodesh-biblical Hebrew; word that defines this kind of folly is pessi-a naïf who'll believe anything.
At the extreme opposite pole of human nature stands the letz-scorner/scoffer who believes in nothing and no one. Such people wear their incredulous disbelief as badges of honor marking them as wiser and as sharper than the credulous. They scoff at believers, first and foremost by mocking all that they believe in. Such skeptics scorn across the board and no target is safe from their sneering, scathing "appraisals." Such letzim are the Wildean cynics who "know the price of everything and the value of nothing."
Amalek is identified by Chazal as the letz incarnate. The national character of Amalek is wired to scoff and mock everything, up to and including all that is real, true and holy. How else can we understand that while all other nations were awestruck by the events of the Exodus from Egypt and the Parting of the Sea of Reeds, so much so that they had come to some level of belief in the invincibility-borne-of-chosen-ness of the Bnei Yisrael-the Jewish people; and the Infinite Power of the G-d of Israel, Amalek remained unimpressed? The preemptive attack launched by Amalek was their über-skeptical "I'm from Missouri, you've got to show me" moment.
The Izhbitzer explains that once letzim are inevitably set in evil ways they become irredeemable. All exhortations to tikkun-repairing ones evil; depend on getting the perpetrator to believe in the value of change and improvement. But the scoffing, scornful, skeptical letz does not recognize or tolerate chashivus-value and significance. One can try to rehabilitate the letz with both high-minded arguments and/or corporal-punishment "convincing" and both will be wasted on those who know the value of nothing. On the other hand, when dealing with a pessi there is someone to talk to and something to work with. The ethical challenge of the pessi is that he believes in the value of too many things. Discernment and a healthy dose of skepticism come with experience and education, sometimes even from education gleaned from the lessons and exhortations wasted on the letz.
Read more Skepticism — the Beginning of True Faith ›
Posted in Anti Semitism, Conversion, Dvar Torah, Emuna, Great Seforim, Hashkafa, Jewish Thought, Parsha, Question of The Week