Thursday, July 12, 2012
Hashem takes care of the yeshivos
9:39 PM | 
Posted by
Rabbi Chaim Coffman |
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.
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