“One Nation Under G-d”

The Parsha starts off by saying “today you are all gathered, all of you.” Rashi tells us that
Moshe Rabeinu gathered the entire nation as he was about to die to give them this proclamation. What is the word “Kulchem” “all of you” adding?
Let us look at what the Torah says, after we read about all the different groups, it is in order to come into the covenant of Hashem, if you want to be part of the nation of Hashem, and Hashem should be your G-d. You first have to recognize that every single Jew is part of the Klal, even the people who aren’t with you today.

Friends, as we head into Rosh Hashana, a time when Hashem says, “Say before me Malchiyos (Coronate me as king) so that I will be your king” What the Torah is teaching us, is that an essential part of the Avoda of Rosh Hashana, not G-d forbid knocking people down, but building them up, not Chas Veshalom pushing people even little children out of the shul. What kind of chinuch is that anyway? Why on earth would you be shocked when the teenagers of your community don’t come to shul when they are a little older? They are listening so well to the lesson you taught them in front of the entire neighborhood when he was younger, he remembers you clearly saying “this is not your place”. Rather bring them in and show them how amazing it is that no matter who you are, it does not matter what you have done, Hashem says to you, come together and coronate me as your king, so that I will be your king.

Has this Gollus not been long enough?? Do we really need to go through another year in this situation where We do not truly feel that relationship with Avinu??? We all want this to end, right? Imru Lifanai Malchiyos, we need to Coronate Hashem as king, and in order to do that it has to be Nitzavim Kulchem, recognizing that we could have our own identity within a wider klal, and it is ok if someone does not conduct his life exactly like me. Bez”h if we can say Malchiyos with this in mind and keeping kol Beis Yisroel in our Tefilos, Hashem will become our king in a way that we will be able to truly feel it with the end of this Gallus, with the coming of Mashiach through the Ahavas Chinam, Amen

Good Shabbos,
Ksiva V’chasima Tova,
Zevi

Seize the Opportunity

This week’s Parsha mentions the Tochacha, a whole list of curses. What are these curses for? That Torah tells us: “Tachas Asher Lo Avadeta Es Hashem Elokecha B’Simcha B’tuv Leivav Umeirov Kol / Because you did not serve Hashem with Happiness, with a good heart, and with everything you had (Whenever you had the opportunity).

There is a Rashi, at the end of the Parsha on the words, “Hashem, did give them the heart.” Rashi points out that this means, “the Heart to understand, and recognize the wonderful kindness of Hashem, and become connected to Him”.

Friends, we need to look deep into our hearts, and see all the tremendous kindness that Hashem does for us everyday. Realize how many opportunities we have to serve Hashem, with “Everything” that we can, with a good heart, and we must do it happily, out of our Love for Hashem. We need to make sure that what we are doing, we are doing it for the right reasons, not just out of habit. If we do it all happily, we will be spared from all the curses, and retain all the many Brachos that are written as well.

Good Shabbos,
Zevi

Pick them up and bring them back and help them ease their burden

Hashem tells us in this week’s parsha as follows “Don’t look at the ox of your friend or his sheep wandering and walk away from them return them to your brother. If Brother is not close to you or perhaps you don’t know him, bring the animal into your home and it will be with you until your brother comes to pick it up and your should return it to him. DO this for his donkey, his garment and anything he lost. Don’t see the donkey of your brother or his ox falling under their burden and walk away pick it up with him.”

The Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh teaches us, that these pesukim are teaching us specifics of the responsibility to guide, on the the Tzadikei Hador, who because of their closeness to Hashem are called “Brothers to Hashem” These great Tzadikim are commanded that when they see the Tzon Kedoshim, the holy sheep of Hashem, Klal Yisroel, when they see them “straying” away from Hashem it is their responsibility to try and bring them back to Hashem, and the Torah uses the words “Hashev Teshiveim”, a double language to emphasise this Mitzvah Of bringing these long lost souls back to their father in heaven. “If your brother is not close”, is referring to the dark long Gollus we are in, “he is not close” meaning to say we have no idea how close he is to us, and because of that “distance” is what is driving these souls further away. Then bring this soul “into your house” referring to the Beis HAmedrash, and don’t worry about being negatively influenced by them, because the power of the Torah will wipe out all of their silly ideas. This called returning him until the day when Hashem will want him and take him. A Chochom, a wise man must lead his people and work with them, to bring them close till the day he dies, “never turning his back and giving up hope.

There are three levels in which a person must be taken care of a) his physical health b) his emotional well being, his spirits, and c) his Torah needs. “So shall you do to his Donkey” refers to his physical needs. “And for his garment” refers to his spiritual and emotional well being, as it says in the Gemara meseches Shabbos, a parable lto a king who gives out the garments of the king to his servants, this makes him feel good, he may need to be reminded of the good that Hashem has been showering him with. “ANd so shall you do with the lost object of your brother” this refers to his needs to learn Torah, The torah was given to every single one of us at Har Sinai, even this lost soul, and part of the reason he is so lost, and Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai tells us that the reason he feels subconsciously under such a burden which is driving him crazy is because he is missing something that belongs to him, which is the Torah, so we can return it to him.

The Possuk continues, “don’t see the donkey of your brother struggling” to teach us that don’t think you only have to help those who are already gone, but even the ones who are struggling on the brink, because we know that a person who is struggling has the potential of doing much worse, so help him now, and therefore we need to help him get up, dare we see these aching souls “vehisalem/ and give up” but rather “hakem takem imo/ work with him to help him get up” The pasuk is very clear and says “Imo/ with him” to teach us that as long as he wants to grow and become closer to Hashem, we need to work with him on his level, as long as he wants to grow, but if he does not want to grow, your relieved of your duty and you are “patur”.
Friends, I think the Ohr Hachaim teaches us very clearly what our role must be, and just because one is patur from working with this neshama, does not mean he has to stop working with him, in the Holocaust they were patur from lighting the chanuka candles, patur simply because they were bigeder oines, in a state out of their control, yet many found egg shells and squeezed the oil out of whatever food they had so that they could do some form of Menorah, us, when we are dealing with Hashem’s Tzon Kedoshim, how dare we give up?

Good Shabbos,
Zevi

Give it Straight!

This week’s Parsha talks about honest judges who should not take bribery. It uses the following terms, “And they shall judge the nation and honest judgment”, not saying, “And they should judge honestly”. The Ohr Hachaim points out that when a judge is dealing with two parties in a case, he shall not say, “Look, if you want to learn like this, then Reuvein is chayav, if you want to learn the other way Shimon is chayav.” Rather, he should answer the Shayla in a way that should make the two parties realize that really there was no Shayla. If he needs to kler which side to go within a machlokes, he should do that not in front of the arguing parties.

Friends, we are so lucky to have Chachamim and Poskim who give of their time Blev Ub’nefesh to answer the shailos placed before them. We should appreciate their Lomdus that went into giving the answer we receive, it is not the time to question the Psak, we are mekabel the Psak. Once we are Mekabel can we then ask “Rebbi, Torah Hi, V’Lomad Ani Tzorich” and go through the Lomdus when the Rav/Posek has time.

P.S The going through the Lomdus does not have to be at the time you ask your question.

Good Shabbos,
Zevi

Do It “Right”!!

The Torah in this week’s Parsha tells us, “You should pay attention and listen to the word that I command you so that it will stay with you and your children after you, forever, whenever you do what is good and right in the eyes of Hashem, your G-d.” Rashi quotes the Sifri and explains, “What is good” is in the eyes of Hashem, “and right” is in the eyes of people.

R’ Mordechai Gifter ZT”L tells us that Chazal is not just referring to Mitzvos that are between man and G-d and Mitzvos that are between man and his fellow man. However, Chazal’s intentions were to teach us that whenever a person does a mitzvah, whether it is between man and G-d or man and his fellow man, he must always make sure that it is both “good” in the Eyes of Hashem—it must be done as much as possible in the way Hashem commanded to do it—AND “right” in the eyes of man, meaning it must be done in a way that causes Kiddush Kvoid Shamayim. Sometimes, we are under certain circumstances where we are not able to do the Mitzvah precisely the way that it should be, still, we must make sure that what we are doing will be “right” in the eyes of man.

Friends, how often do we think we are doing Mitzvos, yet it is just so far from the truth. An example of this would be, a person drives from the Catskill mountains to Manhattan to visit his friend in the hospital, he gets there, and his friend’s mother tells him, “He is not up to visitors.” Sometimes, we say, “That does not apply to me, I just came in from the mountains, and I’m not coming back.” We have to remember that the Mitzvah has to be “right” in the eyes of people.

Good Shabbos,
Zevi

Where does the strength come from?

Sometimes in life, we are faced with difficult situations, and we ask ourselves, “How will I get out?” Then, out of nowhere, comes a burst of energy you never knew you had, and you get the strength you need to succeed. Did you ever ask yourself, “where did that energy come from? Where did I get the strength?”

The Pasuk in this week’s Parsha tells us, “Vzacharta es Hashem Elokecha Ki Hu Hanosein Lecha Koach Laasos Chayil/Remember Hashem, your G-d for He is the one who gives you the strength…..”

The Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh says that from this we see how important it is for one to recognize and be aware of all the wonderful things Hashem does for us. The Ohr Hachaim points out how the very next pasuk tells us, “Vehaya Im Shachoach tishkach es Hashem Elokecha, V’ Halachata acharei elohim acheirim, va’avadtam/And it will be if you forget Hashem your G-d, and you follow other G-d’s and serve them…” The OHr Hachaim tells us the significance of this pasuk coming immediately after is to tell us, that if we don’t pay attention and we don’t recognize the goodness and the kindness Hashem does for us, we will end up serving other gods, G-d forbid.

Friends, let us all try for just a few minutes before going to sleep at night, to count the things that we recognize Hashem did for us and thank Him for them, and IY”H with that, the list will grow, and our relationship with our dear Father in Heaven will be strengthened like never before and may He shower us with Brachah, ad bli dai, like never before.

Good Shabbos,
Zevi

A True Leader

There was a story about a king who had a son that he used to get upset at, quite frequently, for good reason. Sometimes, he got so mad he wanted to kill the boy. Except for every time he wanted to kill the child, his wife, the queen, convinced him out of it. One day, the queen passed on and left this world. A few days later, the king’s servants witnessed the king crying. They asked the king why he was crying. He told them, “I’m not just crying over my wife, but I’m also crying for my son who my wife prevented me from killing quite a few times.”

The Medrash Tanchuma on this week’s Parsha uses this Mashul to explain what is happening at the time of Moshe Rabbeinu’s death. Many times, when Hashem got angry at Klal Yisroel and wanted to wipe the nation out, Moshe Rabbeinu talked Him out of it. Now that Moshe was about to die, the Malachim saw Hakadosh Baruch Hu crying. The Malachim asked why and He told them that He was crying not just for Moshe, but for Kal Yisroel, now they won’t have Moshe to stop Him from punishing them when they deserve.

Friends, Hashem does not want to show us the Midas Hadin, but we consistently go against His word. We leave no choice for the Midas Hadin not to punish us. We need to feel the comfort that Hashem loves us so much, that He is crying when taking away our leader because he does not want to punish us. Let us not give Him any more reasons to challenge us, let us show our love back to Him.

Good Shabbos,
Zevi

Like a Father Treats His Children

Last week, we discussed how the events of the week usually connect with the week’s Torah portion. One such instance, if we paid attention to it, is the connection between Parshas Devarim and Tisha B’av. Parshas Devarim, for a bulk of it, discusses the story of the Meraglim who spoke bad about Eretz Yisroel, the beautiful present that Hashem was ready to give us, and caused the entire nation to cry for no reason. For this, Hashem said, “Since you cried for no reason, I’m going to give you a reason to cry on this day for generations.” That day was the 9th day of Av. It is interesting to note, that regardless of whether the year has an extra month (leap year) or not, no matter how the year comes out, Devarim is always read the Shabbos before Tisha B’av, to remind us of Hashem’s infinite love for us, His Children.

How did the people of the Jewish nation come to this? These were people who were enslaved by the Egyptians, witnessed the Ten Plagues leading up to their redemption, not only witnessed but actually walked through the Split Sea, watched their oppressors drowning after them, reached a level, 40 days later, that enabled them to receive the Luchos and hear the Ten Commandments straight from Hashem’s mouth. They messed up with the Egel, the Satan got to them, but they received the second Luchos, they saw open miracles, for Heaven’s sake, their food came to their door, their clothing grew with them. Yet, when it came to Eretz Yisroel, they said, “Let us scout out the land,” after Hashem said, “You will defeat the nations of the land.” Even more questionable, how did the Meraglim, who saw the beauty of Eretz Hakodesh, Admas Kodesh, come back with such a bad report. How could it be? Eicha?

An answer that I heard, in the name of the Slonim Rebbe, the Nesivos Shalom, is as follows: A boy comes home every week from school with a hundred on his test, and one week, he gets a 90. He might be very scared to show it to his parents, out of fear that he may have let them down, and be worried that he would be in trouble and be doomed and have no future. However, once he shows his parents the 90, and they show him the same amount of love they show him when he gets 100, and they tell him, “Beautiful, you did a great job and next week, you will do better…”

then he knows that his parents still love him. What about a 49? What if a child got a 49 on his test, after getting 90’s and 100’s on his tests for years. Now he is petrified. “Do I go home or not? Maybe I will be grounded? Maybe no supper for a week? Who knows? But, if he comes home and his parents tell him, “Sweetest yingeleh, you know we love you, and we know this test was hard. You know what, maybe next week we will review the material with you better. We still love you.” He knows that as long as he gets higher than a 49, his parents still love him.

Friends, Hashem allowed certain situations, such as Klal Yisroel reaching the 49th level of Tumah, before taking them out of Mitzrayim, to show that even while we were so stooped in the Tumah of Mitzrayim, we are still the children of Hashem and are royalty and He still loves you the same. Perhaps we can say the same of the Chet Hameraglim. Even when we get punished for it, it is not out of anger. It is coming from a loving Father in Heaven, who is trying to teach us a lesson, “I Love you, but why won’t you just listen to Me. You don’t appreciate what I am giving you, I won’t force you to take it”. We need to show Hashem that we got this message and we see that even in the darkest of times that He is running the show, and we are ready to follow wherever he takes us and trust his even if we don’t exactly see where he is taking us we put our full trust in him, and with that we will Imy”H be Zocheh to Sasson V’simcha Vnas Yagon Vaanach B’shuvi L’Yerushalayim. Amen.

Good Shabbos and Have an Easy fast, if there will be one, otherwise you are all welcome to join us in our home Sunday for Levyassan Sushi in Yerushalayim.

Zevi

Make it Kosher!!!

“And Eliezer the Kohen said to the men of the army who were coming to war: This is the statute of the Torah…. But the gold and silver…” (Bamidbar 31:21,22)

This section of the Torah deals with the Kashering of Keilim, dishes, that were once used for non-kosher food. It is important to remove any non-kosher food that was absorbed in the Kli, dish, before using it for kosher food. First, it is necessary to clean out the Kli very well and remove the rust. Then the Kli is Kashered by the same method in with it was used. If it was used directly on the fire, it needs to have direct contact with fire to make it fit to be used. If non-kosher food was cooked in it with boiling water, it now needs to be dropped in boiling water to remove what was absorbed.

The Chofetz Chaim says regarding this, that the same applies to purifying people from their spiritual impurities and defects. First, a person must remove the “rust” of his Aveiros by means of Teshuva; regretting what one has done wrong and accepting upon oneself not to continue doing those things. After you accept not to do the bad things anymore, you have to be careful that the Mitzvos that you do counteract the Aveira you did. L’mashal, if you used to run to do Aveiros, then run to do the Mitzvos. If you have used your mouth to speak Lashon Harah, then talk Torah. If, Rachmana L’tzlan, you did so much wrong in your life, then devout your life to just doing Mitzvos.

Good Shabbos,
Zevi

Holy Zealots

This week’s Parsha discusses the story of Pinchas. Pinchas saw Zimri Ben Salu performing an act with Kazbi Bas Tzur and, angry with them, stabbed them to death. He was angry, and so he was Zocheh to become a Kohein and to become Eliyahu Hanavi. Because he acted like a “Mad man”!! with kaas, anger, which we as jews know is a terrible thing. Could it really be that this is why he was Zocheh?

Rashi tells us that he was Zocheh to all the brachos, because what he did, he did l’man Hashem, for the sake of G-d and for no other reason, and for that he was Zocheh.

Friends, we have to be so careful when treading this line of Zealotry. While true Zealotry is a wonderful and great thing, we must also remember that Hamalbin Pnei Chaveiro (someone who embarasses his friend) has no portion in the world to come. This is something we must ask ourselves before running to any Hafgana / Shabbos Protest etc., and especially before bothering people individually about their own decisions. Even when we are right, we need to consider, “Am I doing this because I am uncomfortable, or am I doing this really doing this for Hashem?” May we be zocheh to achieve the true meaning of L’shaim Shamayim.

Good Shabbos,
Zevi