Thursday, July 26, 2012
Litmus Test for Leadership
9:43 PM | 
Posted by
Rabbi Chaim Coffman |
By
Rav Moshe Sternbuch
power of speech
“Moshe spoke
to the heads of the tribes of the Bnei Yiroel, saying, “This is the thing that Hashem
has commanded” (30:2).
Only in this
section dealing with nedorim and in the one dealing with shechutei
chutz (korbanos slaughtered outside the confines of the Bais
Hamikdosh) does it say, “This is the thing.”
Generally
speaking, Moshe Rabbeinu was taught the Torah by Hashem briefly, but he
conveyed it to the heads of the shevotim in a much more detailed
fashion. Only in these two sections did Moshe convey what he had been taught by
Hashem to the heads of the shevotim in exactly the same concise manner
in which he had heard it, and it was only the heads of the shevotim who
explained the halachos of these two sections to the rest of the nation
more elaborately.
Nedorim
teach us about the immense power of speech. Through them, a person can prohibit
certain actions on himself, giving them a force equivalent to an absolute Torah
prohibition, which, in certain circumstances, he cannot retract. Similarly, by
sanctifying an animal with his mouth, he becomes liable to koreis if he
proceeds to profane his statement by slaughtering the animal outside the Bais
Hamikdosh. In everyday life, too, life and death are in the power of the
tongue.
By adding not
even one word in his speech to the heads of the shevotim regarding these
halochos pertaining to speech, Moshe Rabbeinu was emphasizing how
careful we have to be not to speak more than necessary, and to use our ability
to speak, which is the most important attribute that distinguishes us from the
animals, wisely and with circumspection.
oaths to state the truth
The Sifri
states that one should not take an oath even to confirm the truth, and that if
one does so, it is tantamount to swearing about a lie. How are we to can
understand this?
The posuk
states, “You shall fear Hashem, your G-d, worship Him, and cleave to Him and
swear by His Name” (Devorim 10:20). Only someone who fears Hashem
and keeps his promises to serve Him properly can swear by His Name, since he
can claim that just like I do not deceive Hashem, so will I not swear falsely
now. However, since most of us do not keep our promises to Hashem to behave the
way we should, and therefore cannot make such a claim, we should refrain from
taking an oath even to declare the truth.
Fear of fire
“And Hashem
will forgive her” (30:6).
Rashi brings
the Gemara (Nazir 23a) that this refers to a woman who made a vow
to become a nozir and her husband heard the vow and annulled it without
her knowledge. She then transgressed her vow by drinking wine or coming into
contact with a dead person. This woman requires forgiveness, even though, in
reality, her vow had been annulled. The Gemara (Kiddushin 81b)
says that Rabi Akiva cried when he reached this posuk, saying that if
the Torah says that someone who intends to eat pork and inadvertently eats
kosher meat requires atonement, then if someone who intends to eat pork and in
fact does so, how are much more so does he require atonement?
What point regarding intentional sins did
Rabi Akiva become aware of?
Whenever
someone commits a sin, aside from the damage caused by transgressing the word
of Hashem, he also sins through his very thoughts and desires to commit a sin,
which, in and of themselves, are considered to be a great sin requiring
forgiveness. The person who inadvertently ate kosher meat did not perform any
sinful act, but he still requires atonement for his evil intention to eat chazer.
Rabi Akiva
began to realize that as part of our atonement for intentional sins too, it is
not sufficient to just undertake to refrain from that sin in the future. Rather,
we must aspire to uproot our desire to sin altogether to the point where we no
longer feel any such desire. Just like a person instinctively fears fire and is
afraid to even approach it, so should a person feel towards committing a sin or
even coming close to doing so.
annual judgment
“He shall
bear her iniquity” (30:16).
This refers to
the opposite situation, where a husband pretends to annul his wife's vow after
having upheld it. He only tells his wife about the annulment, which in reality
had no effect. The wife then acts as if her vow had actually been annulled. The
posuk tells us that the husband bears complete responsibility for his
wife's inadvertent sins committed as a result of his deceit. The Sifri adds that this teaches
us that anyone who causes another person to stumble receives the punishment for
that other person's actions, bearing their iniquity as if they themselves had
actually committed it.
All the more
so if someone assists or is instrumental in the performance of another person's
mitzvos. It is considered as if he himself performed those mitzvos,
and he has a share in the reward for those actions. This is yet another
incentive for getting involved in outreach work.
Similarly, a
person is judged every year on the day of his death. Although a person is
judged immediately after he dies, this process is repeated on an annual basis.
If the deceased caused other people to sin during his lifetime, he is judged
every year for those actions and their ramifications since he died. If he
caused others to perform mitzvos and good deeds during his lifetime, his
soul becomes elevated on his annual judgment due to all the actions performed
in the meantime by those people, and by others as a result, in a never-ending
chain of events. The yahrtzeit of a tzaddik is considered to be a
festive occasion (hilula), because the assumption is that he only had a
positive influence on other people while he was alive, and we celebrate the
further elevation of his soul due to all the actions performed since his petirah.
Litmus test for Jewish leaders
“From the
thousands of Yisroel one thousand was given over for each tribe, twelve
thousand armed for battle” (31:6). Rashi: “This indicates
the virtues of Jewish shepherds [leaders] - how cherished they were by the
Jews. Before they had heard of his death, it says, ‘Just a little
longer and they will stone me,’ but as soon as they heard that Moshe’s
death was contingent upon the revenge against Midyan, they refused to go, until
they were given over against their will.
The Satmar Rov,
Rav Yoel Teitelbaum zt”l, asked two questions on this Sifri
cited by Rashi. Firstly, it should say that this indicates the virtues
of the Jews, not of their leaders. Secondly, how can the Medrash compare these two pesukim? “Just a little longer and they will stone me” refers to
the statement by the Eirev Rav as opposed to the refusal by the people
to hasten the death of Moshe.
The answer is
that the sign of a true Jewish leader is when the wicked hate him, because he
rebukes them for their deeds, and the righteous love him for his saintly
character and loving rebuke. If the wicked praise him, that should make him
worry about whether he is performing his job properly. Here, too, the Eirev
Eav despised Moshe Rabbeinu
so much that he was worried that they would stone him, but the majority of the
nation loved and respected him so much that they were unwilling to hasten his
demise by engaging Midyan in a battle. The fact that the wicked hated him
indicated that he was doing what he had to well.
Action before intellect
“A thousand
from each tribe” (31:6).
The Medrash
says that none of the tzaddikim who were sent to the war against Midyan
put on their tefillin shel rosh before their tefillin shel yad. The
tefillin shel rosh symbolizes the dedication of our minds to Hashem,
whereas the tefillin shel yad symbolizes
our service of Hashem through active mitzvos. Moshe Rabbeinu was not interested in
philosophers with a tenuous connection to Torah observance.
We, too, must keep the mitzvos because Hashem commanded us to, even if we do not comprehend the
reasons for them. Only once we have become punctilious about our mitzvah observance should we start delving into their profound reasons and
endeavor to develop our devotion to Hashem through those mitzvos.
For this reason, too, someone who puts on
only tefillin shel yad has fulfilled the mitzvah of tefillin, but
someone who puts on only tefillin
shel rosh has not fulfilled
the mitzvah properly. The emphasis is always on naaseh¸ the active unquestioning performance of mitzvos before nishma,
intellectualizing, and even before emotional devotion.
Moshe Rabbeinu
wanted only first-rate tzaddikim who would perform the Divine
commandment of avenging ourselves against Midyan, without wondering about the
ethical justification for destroying the men, women and boys of a whole nation.
He wanted people who subjugated their intellect to the Divine Will.
mitzvas yishuv Eretz Yisroel
“And you
shall drive out the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein” (33:53).
The
commandment to dwell in Eretz Yisroel is
made conditional on driving out not only idolatrous inhabitants, but also
idolatry. Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld zt”l
was once asked why he did not call for
all the Jews in the Diaspora to come and live in Eretz Yisroel in
order to fulfill the important mitzvah of yishuv Eretz Yisroel.
He replied that we can learn from the
precedent of the mitzvah of milah, which is not less important than mitzvas yishuv Eretz Yisroel. After
all, it even overrides Shabbos, and yet if someone had two sons who died as
a result of the performance of this mitzvah, the third son is not circumcised.
Similarly, concluded Rav Sonnenfeld, unfortunately, many people suffer a
spiritual death, which is worse than physical death, due to the heretical
atmosphere prevalent in Eretz Yisroel, and so he cannot encourage people to come and live here, because a
person is not obligated to expose himself to such a danger, and he must wait to
fulfill this mitzvah until he is certain that no danger will be
posed to his spiritual future or that of his family as a result of living here.
Positive environments
“Among the
cities you shall give to the Levi’im shall be six cities of refuge” (35:6).
The arei
miklot, cities of refuge, were meant to be places where those who had
unintentionally killed someone were forced to spend time away from their family
and friends to determine what might have led to this terrible event, to
reassess their spiritual status, and to repent. The cities populated by the Levi’im were the most appropriate ones to house the
arei miklot, because the Levi’im, who dedicated their lives to serving Hashem and instructing others how
to do so, were likely to have the best influence on the inadvertent murderers.
Similarly, baalei
teshuvah should move away from
their friends and former environment and relocate to places of Torah, where they
can rejuvenate themselves spiritually. This process of rejuvenation is likely
to be facilitated by absorbing all the positive things in their new surroundings.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Rewards
By Rav Moshe Sternbuch
just reward
The midrash
says: "Hashem said: Pinchos legitimately obtained his reward [of kehuno]”.
How are we to understand this in the light of another Chazal which tells us
that there is no reward in this world?
Since
Torah and mitzvos have an eternal effect on the neshomo and on the upper worlds,
it would not be appropriate to limit the reward for our deeds to this ephemeral
world, and, therefore, in principle, our actions are rewarded only in the
eternal World to Come. However, someone who goes beyond the strict letter of
the halocho and performs actions, which he is not obligated to perform
merely out of his great love of Hashem, is rewarded mido keneged mido (measure
for measure), beyond the letter of the law, in this world too.
Pinchos
was not obligated to kill Zimri and in the specific situation in which Pinchos
found himself he was certainly not obligated to risk his life (the gemoro
in Sanhedrin relates various miracles that took place which saved him).
Hence, it was only fitting that Pinchos, who went far beyond the call of duty,
should receive his reward also in this world. So too are we rewarded in this
world whenever our actions are performed with extra love, devotion and dedication.
Compromise for the sake of Peace?
"I hereby give him My covenant of peace (25:12)
The vov in the
word sholom (peace) is cut short (ketuo), so that it reads shalem
(complete, whole). Since “the ways of the Torah are pleasant and all its paths
lead to peace”, observing the Torah must perforce also lead to peace. However,
sometimes we must abandon the ways of peace in order to preserve the
completeness of the Torah and the Jewish nation. Our secular and
quasi-religious brethren often preach that we should be more lenient, to make
life easier for them. If only we would be more flexible, they say, they would
be more amenable towards leading a religious lifestyle, or at least towards
meeting our requirements.
Our
response is that the Torah is not a man-made system of legislation, which is
ours to dispense with based on the whims of any particular generation. Genuine
peace cannot be achieved by cutting short even one letter of the Torah. When
the sheleimus (completeness) of the Torah is at stake, preserving it
takes precedence over preserving peace. For example, if our erring brethren
suggest "compromises" in the form of "only" so and so many
boys that must be drafted to the army, it is not within our power to agree to
such proposals.
Zealotry WITH LOVE
“Because
he was zealous for his G-d and atoned for the bnei Yisroel” (25:13)
The conventional
picture of a zealot is of someone who is cruel by nature and persecutes anyone
with views that do not take his fancy or merely as an act of personal vengeance
disguised as some holy endeavor. The genuine Torah zealot, by contrast, has no
personal score to settle with anybody. In fact, he should have no personal
interest whatsoever in the outcome of his actions. His sole desire is to increase
peace in the world.
Pinchos
risked his life in order to prevent a desecration of the Divine name. He was
overflowing with love for his fellow Jews, and the possuk here is emphasizing that his seemingly cruel
act aroused Divine mercy and atonement for the whole nation. Since he made peace
between Hashem and his holy Nation, he was rewarded with a covenant of peace.
It says
“his G-d” and not just “G-d”, because a person's closeness to Hashem depends on
his level of avodas Hashem. The closer he wants to be to Hashem, the
closer he actually becomes to Him. Thus, Pinchos attained his level of
zealousness by virtue of his personal closeness to Hashem.
Hidden enemies
“Harass
the Midianites, and smite them” (25:17)
Chazal
tell us that that we were not commanded to take vengeance on the Moabites, even
though they also submitted their daughters to immorality, because they did so
out of fear of the Jews, as opposed to the Midianites, who got involved in a
quarrel in which they had no personal interest, and also for the sake of Ruth
and Naama who were destined to issue from Moav.
However,
although this explains why we were forbidden to wage war against Moav, it still
seems surprising that we were not commanded to harass or hate them. Perhaps
this was because the daughters of Moav did not commit their actions in secret,
and did not conceal their intention to cause the Jews to sin, as opposed to the
Midianites, who furtively advised the Moabites from a distance to lead the Jews
astray through immorality. A hidden enemy who pretends to mean us no harm is
far more dangerous than a declared enemy, who we know to keep a distance from, and
that is why we were commanded to harass and smite the Midianites without mercy.
Feeling responsibility for the entire nation
“Korach's
sons did not die” (26:11)
Rashi: “They were originally involved in the conspiracy, but during the
dispute they contemplated repentance; therefore, an elevated area was set apart
for them in Gehinnom, and they stayed there”.
After
having been involved in the dispute and contemplating repentance, they should
have attempted to influence others to desist from the dispute. Instead, they
made do with saving their own skin and avoiding punishment by breaking away
from their previous sinful behavior. Since they did not feel a responsibility
for the welfare and fate of all their fellow Jews, they did not merit to enter gan
eden
If we feel
mutual responsibility for the interests of all yiden when there is a rebellion against Hashem or
His Torah, even in situations where our own interests are not
endangered, we will obtain the commensurate recompense awarded to the entire
nation, but if we are not concerned for the souls of our erring brethren, not
only will we not share in such a reward, but we will also be forced to witness
the punishment of the wicked, due to our failure to attempt to get them to desist
from their wicked deeds.
On the
other hand, not only were the sons of Korach spared from having to actually
endure gehinnom due to their
thoughts of repentance, but Shmuel, whose stature was equivalent to that
of Moshe and Aharon, issued from them, and their songs for the honor of Heaven are
also to be found in Tehilim. Clearly, then, their repentance was
accepted by Hashem. This shows how precious even thoughts of repentance are in
the eyes of Hashem, and the eternal rewards that await those who have them.
Spiritual heirs
If a
man dies and has no son, you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter (27:8)
The gemoro
(Masseches Bovo Basro 116a) derives from this possuk that whoever
does not leave a son behind to inherit him Hashem becomes angry with him. If
someone has not been fortunate enough to leave behind a son, what sin has he
committed?
The
inheritance referred to here is not a monetary or physical bequest, but rather that
of a son who continues in the path of his father after his demise. If a person
does not make the financial and emotional investments in the education of his
children required to ensure the future transmission of the Torah and the values
of our forefathers, he is held responsible for this failure.
In
addition to physical sons, a person leaves his mark through students, or anyone
on whom he has had a positive influence during his lifetime. Any time they
continue on the path set out by the deceased they bring about the everlasting
elevation of his neshomo so that he is amply rewarded for his efforts in
this world.
Moshe Rabbeinu’s VISION
“And when you have seen
it, you too will be gathered to your people” (27:13)
Moshe
Rabbeinu had no desire to see Eretz Yisroel like a tourist. By this
stage of his life he had become so pure and holy that his spiritual essence
dominated his physical senses, and his sense of sight was no exception. Hashem
was telling him that when he would ascend Mount Abarim he would perceive the
spiritual characteristics and advantages of the holy country, which he was not
permitted to enter in a way that no other flesh and blood could perceive, and
even Moshe Rabbeinu was only in a position to perceive this at the time that he
was about to depart from this world.
Jewish leaders
“And he
took Yehoshua” (28:22).
Rashi: He took him [by encouraging him] with words, and informed him of the
reward in store for the leaders of Israel
A Rebbe
once noted that the rewards awaiting Jewish leaders are limited to the World to
Come, since in this world they often endure only suffering for their actions. Yehoshua
had witnessed how the nation had treated Moshe Rabbeinu since he took them out
of Egypt
Lay
leaders of the community and askonim too should not expect any gratitude
or rewards for their actions in this world, but they will amply rewarded in the
World to Come for all their deeds.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Ask the Raavad
QUESTIONS
and ANSWERS
QA Responses to your halachic questions
from senior posek
RAV
MOSHE STERNBUCH
Raavad of Yerushalayim
QA Your questions in hashkafah and machshavah
By Rabbi Daniel
Travis based on divrei halacha heard from Rav Moshe Sternbuch, rosh av bais din
of Yerushalayim. Questions may be sent to editor@yated. com and selected
answers will be printed in this column. The answers given here are the general rule,
but each case has its merits and drawbacks and must be referred
to a posek.
Question: I understand that any food
that can be eaten raw does not present a problem of bishul akum. Today,
many people enjoy raw fish in the form of
sushi. Does this mean that the prohibition of bishul akum does not apply to fish?
Another question I have is regarding the halacha of nechal al shulchan
melachim,
i.e., bishul akum only
applies to a food that is served at a stately banquet. What if a food is cooked
in a place where a food is in this category and then brought to a place where
the food does not fit in this category? Does this remove the prohibition of bishul akum?
Thanks.
Asher Sebbag
Answer: In regard to your first
question about cooking fish, the vast majority of fish is not used for
this purpose, so the fact that fish is used
today for sushi does not remove the prohibition of bishul akum. If there is a fish whose
majority use is for sushi, then the prohibition of bishul akum would not apply to it.
As far as your second question is concerned,
if food is cooked by a non-Jew in a place where it is fit to be served at a
stately banquet, then it is considered bishul akum and is prohibited. However,
if that food is taken to a place where it
is not fit to be served at such an affair,
since it is no longer considered to be oleh al shulchan melachim, it is permitted to be
eaten.
The reason for this is that the prohibition of
bishul akum is
eating it, not cooking it, so it is permitted as long as one does not eat it in
a place where it is oleh al Shulchan melachim.
Question: I am a working mother and have
non-Jewish help in our home. I leave the house early in the morning and only
return later in the afternoon, and I would like my non-Jewish help to cook
lunch for my children. Is there anything I can do to avoid the problem of bishul akum?
Very grateful,
Lynn G.
Answer: The Rama (Yoreh Deah 113:7) mentions a number of
ways that Ashkenazim can
avoid the problem
of bishul akum. One way is for a Jew to participate in
making the fire. In this vein, Rav Yisroel Salanter would go to the non- Jewish
bakery and throw a cigarette into the fire.
Another option the Rama mentions is for the non-Jew
to take from a fire started by a Jew. If you have a gas stove with a pilot light
that a Jew lit, then every time you light the fire of the stove, it is as if
you are taking from the
fire lit by the Jew. This makes it as if a
Jew lit the fire. Some factories rely on a heter of putting the equipment on a timer that
turns it on every day.
While this leniency is acceptable for a
one-time use of an appliance, it cannot be relied upon on a daily basis, but
rather one must reset the timer every day that he wishes to use it, and this
way it is as if a Jew turned it on every day.
Some rabbonim, like Rav Eliyahu Falk, do not permit this
method, for they do not consider this to be as if the Jew lit the fire.
Some factories have the mashgiach light the machinery every day
via a cell phone. Since the mashgiach is restarting the equipment every day, this
is an acceptable way to avoid the prohibition of bishul akum. Therefore, this is
considered an acceptable way to avoid bishul akum. The Rama mentions another heter of throwing a small piece
of
wood into the oven. In this vein, some
factories have a light bulb in the oven that adds a minute amount of heat to
the oven. This is not an acceptable way to permit bishul akum, since a new action is not
being performed each day.
Question: Does the prohibition of bishul akum apply to cooking or heating
up food in a microwave oven?
Thank you.
Avraham Dovid
Michael Salasnik
Answer: The halacha of a microwave depends on
whether we consider it to be like kavush, pickling,
which is not considered cooking, or like
regular cooking. Since a microwave can cook food in a
similar and at times equal way as cooking on
a fire, the prohibition of bishul akum applies.
Hashem takes care of the yeshivos
By Rav Moshe Sternbuch
Political success
Bolok
the son of Zippor saw… Bolok the son of Zippor was king of Moav at that time (22:2-4)
Why
does it not say straight away that Bolok was the king of Moav? He was not the
king initially, but only became a monarch after he had started spreading
propaganda about the danger posed by the Jews to his nation. Throughout history
any anti-Jewish platform has been a sure recipe for political success.
Similarly, today in Eretz
Yisroel politicians vie with
each other as to who can come up with the most venomous anti-chareidi policy.
Bilom’S Blessing
Whomever
you bless is blessed and whomever you curse is cursed (22:6)
If Billom had the power to bless, why did
Bolok not ask him to bless him for success in his attempts to wage war against
the Jews, instead of asking him to take the circuitous path of cursing the
nation so that they could not succeed?
The urge of anti-Semites
throughout history to witness the downfall and suffering of their (real or
imagined) enemies was stronger than their concern for their own welfare. That
was why Bolok preferred Bilom to curse the Jews rather than bless him.
Alternatively, by
natural standards, Moav had nothing to worry about, since they were situated in
their own territory with a mighty army, as opposed to the Jews who were
isolated in the wilderness, and Bolok’s only fear was from the Might of Hashem,
who in His love for His nation would fight for them supernaturally. Hence, any
blessings by Bilom for Bolok to succeed in his battles with the Jews would be
totally futile, because Hashem was with them. Only by cursing them with his
evil eye, and bringing out some defect in them, was there any chance that Bilom
could succeed in his efforts for Hashem to take away His divine protection from
His nation.
Avoiding blessings from the wicked
You
shall not go with them! You shall not curse the people because they are blessed
(22:12).
Rashi: He said to Him, “If so, I will curse them in my place.” He replied to
him, “You shall not curse the people.” He said, “If so, I will bless them.” He
replied, “They do not need your blessing, ‘for they are blessed.’” As the
saying goes, “We say to the wasp, ‘Neither your honey, nor your sting.’”
Why would Bilom, who
hated the Jews so much, want to bless them?
The so-called blessings
of the wicked are no less detrimental to us than their manifest curses, and no
good can come from them. Bilom’s request from Hashem was that all the blessings
of the Jews should come from him, because that would effectively ruin them as
much as an outright curse from him. Hashem responded that he had no permission
to bless the Jews, because they were themselves the source of all blessings,
and had no need for any of his.
During the Second World War, Rav Moshe
Schneider’s yeshiva suffered terrible financial straits, but even when there
was no bread to feed the boys, Rav Schneider refused offers from mechalalei
Shabbos to come to the yeshiva’s rescue, arguing that in order to ensure
its continued success, the funds supporting the yeshiva had to come only from
pure sources. In a similar vein, Rav Chaim Brisker zt”l , said that the Volozhiner Yeshiva eventually closed down,
because the people responsible for collecting funds for it had not been particular
about the character of the donors, and this had affected the kedusha of
the Yeshiva.
Faith
What
have I done to you that you have struck me these three times (22:28). Rashi: He
hinted to him, “You seek to uproot a nation which celebrates three festivals in
a year”?
Why did Hashem
praise the Jews specifically for this mitzvah?
When the
Jews performed the mitzvah of aliyo loregel three times a year, leaving
their homes exposed to thieves and plunderers in reliance on the divine promise
that "no one shall covet your country", that was the ultimate demonstration of faith
in Hashem. It is this superior quality of faith which has sustained us each and
every generation, and continues to sustain us, whenever anyone seeks to harm or
destroy us.
Hashem was
rebuking Bilom for attempting to uproot a nation with such steadfast faith, and
telling him that no curse by any mortal could have an effect on a nation which
placed its faith in Hashem so fearlessly.
Eternal
Torah
It is a
people (am) that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations
(goyim) (23:9)
Rav Elchonon
Wasserman zt”l hy“d was once in London
Bilom was
saying that the Jewish nation shall dwell alone, it does not need to be an “am”,
because it differs from the rest of the world population in its religion and
customs, and is therefore distinguished as a nation in its own right without
having its own territory. Nor shall it be reckoned as a “goy”, because
territory is not required in order to make it into a nation, and the reason we
yearn to live in Eretz Yisroel is on account of its sanctity and the mitzvos
which can only be observed there, but our national essence is not dependent on
living there.
He
continued to expand on this theme, even though his audience was becoming
sparser by the minute, as the majority consisted of Zionists who walked out in
protest. Rav Sternbuch recalls that by the time he had finished there was
barely a minyan left. Rav Elchonon, who knew from experience about the
likely response to his words of rebuke, and the consequent loss of donors,
explained to his amazed questioners who remained behind that he felt it to be his
duty to increase kvod shomayim (the Honor of Heaven) regardless of the
consequences. Hashem has guaranteed the eternity of Torah and Torah learners,
and He would surely find a way to support his yeshiva.
Here in Eretz
Yisroel, not only our spiritual but our physical existence is dependent on
the undisturbed functioning of the yeshivas and kolelim. Rav
Sternbuch noted at a demonstration two weeks ago that as servants of Hashem, we
have no authority to agree to any “compromises" regarding the issue of
drafting yeshiva or kollel students, who make up the soldiers of
Hashem’s army, and that their task at this time is to reinforce their Torah and
yiroh.
the
Segulo of Kerias Shma
And they were weeping at
the entrance of the Ohel Moed (25:6)
The Targum
Yonoson comments that the bnei Yisroel were saying Kriyas Shma. This
teaches us about the great power of Kriyas Shma recited with devotion.
At a time when the powers of tumoh represented by Bilom achieved some
success in making inroads into the sanctity of the Jewish nation and lowering
their superior level when the nosi of a tribe committed such a serious
transgression, the nation decided to reinforce their kedusha by reciting
Kriyas Shma.
When we
recite Kriyas Shma properly in the mornings or evenings we inject
holiness into all our limbs and destroy the mazikin (evil spirits),
which have been created as a result of our sins. For this reason the gemoro
(Masseches Berochos 12b) says that if it would not have been too much of
a burden on the public, Chazal would
have instituted the recital of parshas
Bolok together with Kriyas Shma
in order to remind us of the power of Kriyas Shma and the
necessity of reciting it with the
appropriate level of concentration. When we are meyached shmo properly
the forces of kedusha are increased and the forces of tumo
disappear on their own.
Tapping into previous generation
By Rav Moshe Sternbuch
Educational advice
Have
them take for you a perfectly red unblemished cow, upon which no yoke was laid (19:2)
A
perfectly red unblemished cow is very difficult to come by, and can only be
located after much effort. Clearly, obtaining tahara (purification) from
tumas mes (the impurity of a dead body) was not meant to be an easy
task. Similarly, anyone seeking to purify himself from his evil ways must
realize that his goal can only be achieved after expending a lot of effort.
A cow,
which had a yoke laid on it, was not qualified to serve as a poro adumo.
(the red heifer) This teaches us that if the holy is intermingled with the
secular this diminishes from the potency of the tahara, which is inherent in the holy component.
From the outset all the objects and the actions surrounding the poro adumo
had to be infused with complete kedusho.
If we want
our children to grow up dedicated to serving Hashem and His Torah, we have to
make a point of inculcating unadulterated Torah and yiras shomayim (fear
of heaven) from the outset, without any secular components at all. That way our
efforts to ensure that they acquire a love of Torah and mitzvos are
likely to be crowned with success.
Why we wear yarmulkes
Any
open vessel which has no seal fastened around it becomes unclean (19:15)
This possuk
may be taken as a general instruction to "fasten" our openings. We
must endeavor to maintain control over our mouths and thoughts, and make sure
that we do not speak or even think things contrary to the Will of Hashem. In
the absence of such control tumah will become embedded in our neshomos.
It is
clear from the gemoro (Masseches Shabbos 156b) that the purpose of
covering our heads is to increase yiras shomayim. Rav Shimon Sofer zt”l¸ the Rav of Krakow adds that head
coverings on a Jewish boy or man teach him the lesson that he has to rein in
his thoughts and control his imagination.
Interestingly,
one of the first actions undertaken by the first generations of anti-religious maskilim,
who rebelled against their religious upbringing, was to take off their
yarmulkes. By doing so they demonstrated that their thoughts were no longer
subjugated to any higher purpose, and certainly not to daas Torah and chazal.
Jewish mother
The
congregation had no water (20:2) Rashi: From here we learn that all the
forty years they had the well in Miriam’s merit.
The mon
came down in the merit of Moshe Rabbeinu¸ and the anonei
hakovod hovered above them in the merit of Aharon. Why did they require the
merit of Miriam specifically for water, the most basic commodity of human
existence?
The ideal
Jewish mother is an akeres bayis, a housewife, the mainstay of the whole
household, who is always next to her children, and raises them from the very
first day. She lays the foundations for the continued existence of the Jewish
home, be it in matters of tznius, kashrus, chesed¸
hospitality, and so on. It is within her power to maintain the purity of the
home and to prevent foreign influences from infiltrating into it.
This is the lesson of Miriam’s well. The righteous women of each
generation are the cornerstones of the nation, and they preserve the kedusha and tahara
of their households. Miriam was the role model for Jewish women from her day to
our own times, and the water which the whole nation enjoyed in her merit
symbolized the basic and essential role of the Jewish mother.
Significance of each individual
The
Canaanite king of Arad
They were obligated to wage war for the sake of saving even one
maidservant from the danger of assimilation. Every individual is indispensable,
because all the upper worlds derive their sustenance from the avoda of each and every one of us in
this world, and we cannot imagine the importance and preciousness of each yiddishe neshomo. This should inspire
us not only to improve our own avodas Hashem,
but also to do more to draw even one person closer to his Maker. Anyone who
succeeds in doing so is to be envied.
Wells of TOrah and Yiroh
A well
dug by princes, carved out by nobles of the people (21:18)
Targum Yonoson
writes: “the well which was dug by the forefathers
Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov… was dug by the heads of the nation Moshe and
Aharon”. In other words, the leadership and avodo of Moshe and Aharon
was based on the avodo of our holy forefathers, and without their
preparation and efforts, the Jewish nation would not have merited what they did
in the generation of Moshe and Aharon.
We mentioned above that that is not easy for a person to purify himself from his
evil ways. On the other hand, we must it that if we
persevere we can easily reach extremely high levels, since the generations
preceding us have already dug wells consisting of water filled with Torah and yiras
shomayim from which we can
benefit. All we have to do is to tap into those potential treasure
troves by means of our own avodo.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Respecting talmidei chachomim
By Rav Moshe Sternbuch
pride and humility
The medrash says
"What motivated Korach to make a dispute with Moshe Rabenu? He saw
the section dealing with para adumo”. The commentators have difficulties
understanding this medrash.
In the mitzvah of para adumo
we are commanded to use the cedar tree, which symbolizes pride, and, by
contrast, the hyssop, which symbolizes humility. The para adumo was metaher
teme’im and metame tehorim. (it made those who were impure pure and
made impure the ones that were pure) Pride is one of the most severe sins, but
sometimes it is essential to utilize it. If a person, when first embarking on
his avodas Hashem, tells himself that he is nothing, then that can
become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Instead, he must initially use the qualities
of the cedar tree and strive for greatness. For example, Rav Moshe Schneider zt”l
would point out to each of his students that they had great potential and inherent
greatness. Only once a person has managed to realize some of his potential,
should he start using the qualities of the hyssop, and remind himself of how
far he still has to go to completely fulfill his potential.
Korach learnt from parshas
para adumo that even someone
who has not yet attained the superior levels of holy people should endeavor to
attain them. Although the Rambam does say that everyone is obligated to strive
to attain the level of Moshe Rabbeinu, Korach in his great desire to emulate
Moshe and Aharon, thought that if he would only obtain a position similar to
theirs, he would also be able to reach their high levels. His mistake lay in
assuming that obtaining a high position is a prerequisite for greatness (see
more on this below), and in failing to accept Hashem’s decree regarding the
appointments of Moshe and Aharon.
Alternatively,
Korach was hinting at the fact that the para adumo came to atone for the
chet hoegel, (sin of the Golden Calf) and his argument was that since Aharon had
still not achieved complete atonement for that sin, there was no reason why he
should be more suitable for the kehuna than Korach.
Good intentions not enough
“And Doson and Avirom” (16:1). Rashi: He dressed them with cloaks made
entirely of blue wool. They came and stood before Moshe and asked him, “Does a
cloak made entirely of blue wool require tzizis, or is it exempt?” He replied,
“It does require tzizis.” They began laughing at him saying, "Is it
possible that by a cloak of another material, one string of blue wool exempts
it, and this one, which is made entirely of blue wool, should not exempt itself?”
The talis made entirely of
techeles was an allusion to the argument that since the entire congregation
was holy they did not need a leader. Although not every member of the nation
might be on the level of Moshe and Aharon, their intentions were good, and Moshe
and Aharon had no right to lord it over their coreligionists. Surely, they
concluded, Moshe Rabenu was only
interested in leadership for his own purposes. Moshe replied that even a tallis
is made only of techeiles it was still not exempt from the mitzvah of tzitzis. In other words, good
intentions are not enough, and the nation does need a leader.
The early Christians lehavdil
also argued that a good heart and a person's intentions were the main qualities
which Hashem is interested in, and therefore most of the divine commandments
could and should be dispensed with. Similarly, one still comes across some
not-yet observant Jews who defend their way of life by claiming that they have
a "Jewish heart” and that is the main thing. In reality, of course, the
Torah expects us to combine physical mitzvos with pure intentions, and
both are indispensable.
The art of forgiveness
“Moshe heard and fell on his face
(16:4). Rashi: because of the
rebellion, for this was already their fourth offense. When they sinned with the
calf, “Moshe pleaded”; in the episode of the complainers, “Moshe prayed”; with
the spies, “Moshe said to Hashem, ‘But the Egyptians will hear…” , but now, at
Korah’s rebellion, he became disheartened”.
The gemoro in Masseches
Yomo (87a) relates the
following episode. There was a butcher who offended Rav. On erev yom kippur that butcher did not come to Rav to ask his
forgiveness, and so Rav decided to go to him to give him the opportunity to
appease Rav. However, instead, the butcher told that him that he had nothing to
say to him. After that he suffered a work accident and was killed.
This gemoro teaches us a big chiddush: someone who has
offended another person must degrade himself and beg forgiveness from his
victim. Rav surely forgave the butcher in his heart, but that was not enough. For
that reason he went out of his way to give his "enemy" a chance to
obtain forgiveness, but he lost that chance.
Here too, Moshe made himself available and
waited for Korach to seek his forgiveness. When he saw that this was not happening,
he realized that this was a very problematic situation as far as Korach was
concerned. Although he could ask Hashem once again to forgive Korach’s
rebellion against Hashem, as he had done on three previous occasions, and he
could also forgive Korach in his heart for the offence against himself, he knew
that that would be not be enough until Korach himself would ask Moshe Rabbeinu
for forgiveness. That was why Moshe fell on his face, not knowing what to do.
“Careers" in the TORAH world
“Is it but a small thing for you
that Hashem has separated you from the congregation of Yisroel to draw you
close to Him…” (16:9)
Rav Yecheskel Abramsky zt”l used to apply this possuk
to a ben Torah who dedicates his
entire life to Torah. He said that someone who sits in the Beis Hamedrash and sanctifies himself
through Torah, should not think in terms of obtaining a position in the Torah
world. The best "position" a person can attain is to be a ben Torah and thereby cleave to
Hashem. Accordingly, the possuk is saying the following: “Is the “position”
of being a member of shevet levi, or a ben Torah, through which Hashem
draws you close to Him, such a small thing, that you now also seek the kehuno. Why are you looking for a more important position than to be a member of shevet levi, or to be a ben Torah? You
will not find any better position than that.”
Hashem separated shevet levi, and every ben torah, from the rest of the
congregation, and He has great expectations from them than from the rest of the nation. This position comes with responsibilities
attached to it. Hashem wants a
ben Torah to maintain sacrosanct learning schedules, get up on time, and
not whenever he feels like it etc. If he accepts the yoke of Torah, Hashem will
remove the yoke of making a living from him.
Disgracing talmidei
chachomim
“If one man sins, shall You be
angry with the whole congregation” (16:22)
If only Korach himself sinned,
why was Hashem in fact angry with the whole congregation?
Their sin consisted in not
protesting, or not protesting enough, the way Korach had publicly disgraced
Moshe Rabbeinu with his accusations. Someone who witnesses the disgrace
of a talmid
chachom, and
does not protest it, is considered an accomplice in the very severe sin of bisuy
talmid chachom, which Hashem is very particular about.
Spicing our wealth
“It is like an eternal covenant
of salt before the Lord” (18:19)
Just like salt spices food, so
too do the matnos kehuno and all types of charity spice our possessions.
When we give charity we prove that there is a purpose to our wealth. On the
other hand, the assets of wealthy people who spend all their time aimlessly accumulating
more and more possessions serve no purpose whatsoever. Only someone who observes
the mitzvah of tzedoko properly, and dedicates a tenth of his
assets to needy talmidei
chachomim
or other designations set out in the hilchos maaser kesofim, will be
blessed and can live secure with the knowledge that his assets are serving a
useful purpose.
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