Thursday, June 14, 2012
Vanquishing Evil
11:51 AM | 
Posted by
Rabbi Chaim Coffman |
By Rav Moshe Sternbuch
Yichus
Take a
census of the sons of Gershon, of them too, following their fathers' houses,
according to their families (4:21)
The fathers'
houses must be according to their families, i.e. someone with an illustrious
ancestry must live up to the greatness of his ancestors. Yichus imposes
obligations and should primarily inspire us to become aware of our own inherent
potential greatness and of the ramifications of failing to realize it.
The Shlo
Hakodosh comments that the possuk towards the end of the tochocho
in Bechukosay “then will I remember My covenant with Yaakov, and also My
covenant with Yitzchok, and also My covenant with Avrohom will I remember” is
not a reference to the merit of our forefathers, but, on the contrary, a
reminder of our failure to emulate their deeds, which resulted in the
calamities foretold in that parsha.
AVODO
From the
age of thirty years and upward until the age of fifty years, who are fit to perform
the service for the service (laavod es avodas avodo) (4:47)
How are we to
understand the phrase avodas avodo? Superficially, someone who carries
the poles of the oron does not
seem to be performing a divine service of obvious importance, but in reality
this act is suffused with major kedusho,
because any act enabling an avoda to be performed is itself an act of avodo.
In the same
vein, we see with the poro adumo that atonement is achieved even by
means of something as seemingly insignificant as the ashes of the cow, because
any object used to perform the will of Hashem per se acquires
fundamental significance.
Unintentional sins
When a man
or woman commits any of the sins against man to act treacherously against Hashem
(5:6)
Even sins
committed inadvertently are considered to be treacherous acts which stain the
soul and require atonement. The Vilna Gaon explains that this is because Hashem
arranges events in such a manner that a person will commit an inadvertent act
because his soul has already been damaged due to an intentional sin
committed previously, even in a different area. Had he not committed the previous
sin, Hashem would have saved him from the current unintentional pitfall.
MINUS
Then the
kohen shall write these curses on a scroll and erase it in the bitter water (5:23)
The medrash
says if it is permitted to erase the name of Hashem for the sake of making
peace between husband and wife, all the more so is it permitted to erase books
by minim (people who deny the fundamental articles of faith) even if
they contain the names of Hashem, because they create hostility towards the
Creator.
The din
of the soto is a novelty, because, normally speaking, a woman does not
become forbidden to her husband merely because she secluded herself with
another person, and it is only because of the severe impact that immorality has
on the sanctity of the nation that a special gezeiras hakosuv makes the soto
forbidden until she drinks the
bitter water even though it is very likely that she did not commit actual
adultery.
Similarly, books written by minim
must be destroyed even at the expense of erasing the divine name, and even
though there does not appear to be any obvious fault with the contents, because
the danger of minus is very great, especially when it is wrapped up in
various garbs of supposed kedusha. Only gedolei yisroel, using
their unsullied and unbiased judgment, are in a position to decide what we must
keep a distance from and we must obey their rulings.
Minus
includes publications such as newspapers (even nominally religious ones) which
convey the impression that the world is run by politicians or the laws of
nature, rather than by Hashem, and scientific works written by minim,
even if they contain no manifest minus.
The effect of nezirus
And after
this, the nozir may drink wine (6:20)
Once the nozir
has completed all the actions annulling his status as a nozir it seems obvious that he reverts to his former
status and may once again drink wine, so this phrase seems superfluous.
The Avnei Nezer suggests that
we might have thought that since the nozir initially took a vow to abstain altogether
from wine because he realized the detrimental effects which his addiction to
wine was having on him, he should continue his period of total abstention, even
after he stops being a nozir. The possuk therefore
emphasizes that the experience of keeping the halochos of nezirus with all the associated
humiliation, is sufficient to wean him from this
weakness and he may now drink wine – within halachik boundaries -
without hesitation.
Dependency on torah
This is how
you shall bless the bnei yisroel (6:23)
Hashem decided
that we need the blessings of the kohanim for the sake of both our
spiritual and our material welfare. At the time of the Beis Hamikdosh the
kohanim represented the elite of the nation, the talmidei chachomim. Since
the churbon the nation has become dependent, in addition, on the merits
afforded by talmidei chachomim and bnei Torah as a whole.
At a time of
sundry internal and external problems the issue that seems to evoke the
greatest consensus amongst politicians in Eretz Yisroel is the drafting
of yeshiva bochurim to the army. How tragic it is that they do not realize the extent of their folly.
Without Torah there can be no question of any continued survival in this
country. They may attribute their supposed achievements to the strength of
their own handiwork, the skill and power of the army etc., but that is all a
mere delusion.
TWO TYPES OF PEACE
May Hashem… protect you [Sifri: from the evil inclination] … and grant you
peace (6:24-26)
A person who
is dominated by his evil inclination and subjugated to his desires can enjoy no
peace. This brocho of peace at the end of the birkas kohanim is a
blessing for protection from the yetzer horo and freedom from the
captivity of the desires with which it seeks to allure us.
The Baal
Haturim (parashas Toldos 25:25) notes that Eisov has the same gematria
as sholom. The Avnei Nezer explains that there are two ways of attaining
peace. Eisov achieved peace by not engaging in any battles whatsoever with the
evil inclination, with the result that it did not bother chasing him at all,
and they concluded a bogus "peace pact".
The righteous,
on the other hand, achieve genuine peace only after incessant battles with the yetzer
horo. Although even the righteous cannot vanquish the evil inclination in
this world, and in fact their ever-increasing greatness is dependent on their
battles with it, the blessing of the kohen is that the righteous should be
successful in these battles to such an extent that by using the power of their
good inclination they are completely victorious in one area, so that they can
move on to another areas, thus increasing their nekudas habechira (see
Michtav Mi’eliyohu) perpetually.
Unique contributions
One nosi each
day, one nosi each day, shall present his offering for the dedication of the
altar (7:11)
The Torah is
usually very sparse with its words. Numerous details of halocho such as hilchos
Shabbos are encapsulated in a few words. Why, then, in the parashas
henesi’im are the korbonos of each nosi repeated in such great detail?
If we picture a minyan davening shmone eisre in mincha together everyone appears to be performing
the same act. Everyone is saying the same words. However, in shomayim each person's mincha bears no resemblance whatsoever to his
neighbour’s. One person may be praying with total concentration following years
of avoda dedicated to controlling his thoughts,
whereas the next person may still be struggling unsuccessfully with his level
of concentration. A third person may not even be struggling, but merely
mouthing the words.
The nesi’im were obviously
all men of immense stature, but even they were not clones of each other. Each
one had a unique personality and contribution to make to the avoda of
the korbonos. By describing their korbonos at such great length,
the Torah is teaching us that it is each person's input into the external act
of a mitzvah which constitutes its main component. The joy and
dedication accompanying mitzvos are the elements which elevate them to
superior levels in the upper worlds and completely change their effect and how
they are viewed in shomayim.
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