Shalom

The Gemara relates that one who sees a kettle, or river, or bird in a dream should expect to find shalom. The three factors that prevent the achievement of perfection are jealousy, lust and haughtiness. All three drive wedges between people and destroy harmonious cooperation and co-existence. The pot unites the power of fire and water to cook food for our sustenance. Yet the pot itself gains nothing and is burnt and blackened. The lustful individual, by contrast, seeks only his own gratification and bases his conduct on one consideration: “What’s in it for me?” The pot negates this attitude.

Contemplation of the river is the antidote for jealously. The river is so beautiful and useful when it stays within its boundaries, and yet so destructive when it overflows those boundaries. Shalom requires each person to recognize his place in the world and the unique role he has to play, while at the same time recognizing the contributions and worth of his fellow man. To combat haughtiness, one must learn from the bird. The bird is flexible and light, ever ready to make way for others and fly away.

Rashi comments on the opening words of the sedrah, “Korach took — He took himself off to one side.” Korach separated himself. He did not see himself as a part of the klal (whole community), but rather as a detached, isolated individual. His sense of separation caused his jealousy of Elizaphon ben Uziel, when the latter was appointed as the family head, and led to his lust for the glory of the kehunah gedolah. His attitude was the very antithesis of shalom, which depends of each Jew fulfilling his unique role without jealousy or selfish motivations.

Reb Zusya was asked if he would accept the opportunity to switch places with Avraham Avinu. He replied, “What would Hashem gain? There would still be one Avraham Avinu and one Reb Zusya.” Each individual has to aspire to achieve the maximum he can in his individual role and not to duplicate the role entrusted to another. There can be only one Kohen Gadol. Had Korach taken the attitude of Reb Zusya it would have made no difference to him whether it was Aaron or himself, as long as the duties of the office were performed in accord with G-d’s will.

(Rabbi Zev Leff)

Faith, Faith, Faith

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פרשת שלך לך

The cries of the Jewish people, at the cusp of entering the land of Israel, have now echoed for millennia. That fatal mistake of believing the report of the spies has reverberated for generations. As Hashem forewarned, since they cried without reason at that time, the ninth of Av would be forever a day with a reason to cry. The immediate ramifications of their reaction to the spies’ account was both severe and tragic, forbidding them from entering the Promised Land. The challenge here lies in understanding why the penance for their error was so harsh. For as Rashi says, Hashem caused many natives to be buried on one day, creating a situation in which there would be a risk of stumbling. Was it their fault that they therefore concluded that it was a land that consumed its people?

The journey from Egypt to the Promised Land was a voyage of self-discovery and growth for the Jewish people. They began as a humble slave nation, unworthy recipients of miracles and wonders, emancipated despite their lowly status. But through their striving upwards they were able to raise themselves to increasingly great heights of faith. For within faith in Hashem, explains the Darchei Mussar, there are escalating levels. It begins with the simplest, knowing with certainty that there is a Creator. The next stage is a conviction in Hashem’s complete mastery over everything that occurs, and crucially, that despite our own efforts, it is only Hashem that ultimately determines our fate. But the highest level and the one that the Jewish people critically lacked, was a belief in Hashem under all circumstances. It is a trust in Hashem and His word no matter how much events may seem to contradict our understanding of Him and His declarations. This was the level that was required for those worthy of entering the Holy Land. By letting what they saw and heard create doubt in their minds with regard to Hashem’s promise to give them the land, they showed that they were not at the stage that they needed to be. They did not merit to enter the land of Hashem.

We have spoken previously about the need to believe in Hashem, no matter how difficult it may be to understand His goodness at that time. However if we focus for a moment on the second level, it can be just as challenging. For when there is a tragedy or ordeal and we cannot do anything to help. When there is nothing left but trust in Hashem, it can to some degree be easy, and perhaps comforting, to place our faith in Him. But when we can play our part and there are practical ways in which we can try to resolve our problems, it is then incredibly hard to remind ourselves that our success is ultimately due only to Him. To look at what we appear to have achieved and acknowledge that it is all Him. That is remarkable faith in Who really runs the world and decides what happens. That is true belief.

*May we see Hashem’s hand in everything this Shabbos*

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Parshas Shelach (for those outside Israel)

This week’s parsha concentrates on the episode of the twelve spies sent by the Jewish people to check out the Land of Israel. They returned and (ten of them) slandered the land, dissuading the Jewish people from wanting to go there. There are lots of difficulties with the whole story – one point of confusion is that at the time of their appointment they were considered to be great people (13:3 with Rashi) and yet when they left they had bad intentions (Rashi 13:26). What happened to them between being appointed and leaving for their mission?

They were indeed distinguished people when they were appointed. And this was their undoing. They were appointed to check out the Land. But merely checking out the Land, they felt was beneath their dignity. They were too important for a mission that any soldier could perform, they needed a more dignified role, they needed to judge and decide whether it was appropriate to enter the Land of Israel. Once they had fallen into the trap of seeking honour, they were no longer impartial, and when a person is impartial his perspectives become warped. This was the start of their downfall. (Birkas Peretz – quoted)

Birds Of A Feather

In this week’s parsha (for those outside Israel), Shlach Lecha, we find the tragic episode in which the Jewish People sent spies to “search out” the “Promised Land.” The spies came back with a very negative report which successfully persuaded the rest of the nation that the Land of Israel was not what they had hoped it would be and that it wasn’t worth entering. The Jewish people cried a cry which eventually rebounded on them causing a “cry for all generations”- the destruction of the Temples which took place on that very day many years later- the date was the 9th of Av.

Amongst the 12 spies were 2 of the “all greats”, Kalev, the husband of Miriam and Yehoshua, the loyal pupil of Moshe, the future leader of the nation. These two remained loyal to the will of Hashem and sought to challenge the conclusions of the others and they unsuccessfully tried to persuade the people of the positive attributes of the Land. We find that the correct path which these two followed didn’t come easy. Moshe made a special prayer and even added letters to Yehoshua’s name pleading with Hashem that Yehoshua be saved from joining in with the evil reports that the others gave. Similarly we find that Kalev made a special trip to the graves of his ancestors in order to pray that he be spared from succumbing to the influence of the others. The obvious question is that we are dealing here with very great and holy people, surely they had sufficient strength of character and fear of G-d that succumbing to the influence of the other spies should not have been a problem, why all the fuss?

An answer offered is that we see from here how far peer pressure can go and that therefore how crucial it is for a person to mix with the right people. Even very spiritually elevated people like Yehoshua and Kalev ran the risk of being negatively influenced by the others- no one is immune from being influenced by his local environment, we have to make sure that we “hang around” the wright people!!

R’ Ezer Pine

Shabbos Mevarchim

This coming Shabbos is the last shabbos of the month – Shabbos Mevarchim.

It is customary to announce the coming of the new month, during the service on Shabbos.

In a certain way, this also commemorates the sanctification of the new moon that the Beit Din used to perform. Therefore, the custom is to announce the exact time at which the new moon will appear (the molad). This is also why we stand during the ceremony, because the people used to stand before the Beit Din when it performed the mitzvah of Kiddush HaChodesh.

We announce the coming of the new month specifically on Shabbos because that is when the entire congregation is gathered in the synagogue, and everyone will hear when Rosh Chodesh is due to fall. Furthermore, all the days of the week receive blessing from Shabbos, and even the sanctity of Rosh Chodesh flows from the Shabbos that precedes it. Therefore, we bless the new month on that day. This is why we begin to feel on that Shabbos the festiveness of the forthcoming Rosh Chodesh[

R’ Adam Philip

Can You Remove Your Tallis?

This may be a little complicated but I am sure you can manage.

If one brother dies and does not have any children, there is a mitzvah for his brother to marry his widow (known as the mitzvah of yibbum). If he does not want to marry her he should do a process called chalitzah which allows her to get remarried. Suppose there are four brothers, two of them are married to two sisters and both of these brothers die. We would assume that both live brothers could do yibbum to each widow. But the sages (Yevamos 18a) tell us that it is forbidden to nullify the mitzvah of yibbum – if the one live brother would do yibbum, and then the other live brother would die, the mitzvah of yibbum could not be done to the second widow as she is a sister of his current new wife and one man cannot marry two sisters. Therefore the live brother should rather do chalitzah. Even if the other brother dies afterwards, the original brother can still do chalitzah to the second widow and there would be no nullification of the general mitzvah of yibbum – chalitzah would have been performed on both widows.

We see that we are not allowed to nullify mitzvos. Why then are we allowed to remove our talleisim after davening – wearing the tallis (with tzitzis) is a mitzvah. How can we nullify the mitzvah?

The two cases are very different. By the brothers, when a brother dies without children and there is a live brother there is a situation that warrants yibbum. If the live brother is already married to a sister of the widow, he is technically unable to do yibbum because he cannot be married to two sisters, but the framework for yibbum is still there. In such a case a person cannot do an act that may lead to nullifying actually performing the mitzvah. However, the case of tzitzis is different. If a person is not wearing the garment with tzitzis the

whole framework for the mitzvah does not exist and so there is no problem of nullifying a mitzvah. The mitzvah simply does now not exist. (Mishmeres Chayim)

The Sin Of The Spies

This week’s parsha (Shelach, for those outside Israel) contains the difficult episode of the sin of the spies. Our forefathers in the desert were aware that upon entering the Land of Israel the manner in which Hashem related to us would change from one of open miracles to one of miracles within nature. Manna would no longer descend from the heavens; rather we would plow and plant and harvest in order to eat. A well would no longer accompany us; rather we would depend on rainfall to quench our thirst.

Their mistake, however, was to reason that if their lives were apparently subject to the same natural order as the rest of the world, then their ultimate success or failure depended on their own military prowess. This was a grievous error. Even though there would be more effort required to secure a livelihood in the natural setting of Eretz Yisrael than in the desert, the final result would depend no less on G-d than when the manna descended directly from Heaven.

Unfortunately, only Calev and Yehoshua grasped this point. The others saw only that it was beyond their “natural” abilities to conquer the land, and concluded that even God Himself, as it were, could not help them sinceHe had chosen to let them be governed by the natural order. This reasoning led to the purposeless crying on the night of Tisha B’Av when the people wept as a sign of hopelessness.

To correct the purposeless tears of that Tisha B’Av eve in the desert, our Temples were destroyed on Tisha B’Av and we were thrust into exile where we would come to see clearly our dependence on Hashem. But rather than crying of our helplessness, our tears on Tisha B’Av must proclaim: “Hashem, You promised that we would be redeemed from this exile. We cannot achieve this redemption through our own efforts. Therefore You must redeem us. ”

Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz, the great Mirrer Mashgiach, explains the Mishnah at the end of Sotah to mean that Mashiach will not come so long as we attribute our successes and failures to “natural” causes. As .long as we look for political, economic and sociological explanations of world events and excuse ourselves from Torah learning on the grounds that we must earn a livelihood, we will not merit an end to our exile.
(Rabbi Zev Leff)

I Am What I Am

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דבס”

Miller’s Musings

Parshas Beha’aloscha

Although perhaps not first choice for the role, that particular status being originally in mind for the firstborns, the Levi’im went on to play a central role in the service of the Mishkon (tabernacle). Our Parsha deals with the consecration of the Levi’im and is noted by Rashi to repeat the words “Children of Israel” five times, when a pronoun could have been used, such as ‘them’, instead. Rashi explains that the multiple duplication was to make known to all how dear the Jewish people are to Hashem. We are however still left to ponder why it is specifically in this Parsha this message is chosen to be conveyed?

The notion of absolute equality is not one that the Jewish religion necessarily aspires to. Equal respect? Absolutely. Equal worth? Certainly. But to say that every Jew must have the same role as each other and must have the right to fulfill any function they desire, goes against what we see as the structured system set out by the Torah. We each have a different place in the order of things, some more visible and high profile than others, but that is not to say any of them are of higher value or more worth. Every person is entirely essential and identical in the importance their part plays in fulfilling Hashem’s purpose in creation. That being said, it could be easy for someone to lose sight of this fact and see the Levi’im ministering in the holiest place on earth and perhaps become despondent or inappropriately self-critical, believing their own position to be of lesser significance. In order to combat this the Torah reminds us during the sanctification of the Levi’im just how precious we all are to Hashem. We are all equal in the eyes of Hashem and every one as cherished.

We seem to have come to a point where all that we are is questioned and even the most basic facts about our identities are malleable. It appears that an acceptance and sense of pride in who we really are has become lost. Hashem has created us a certain way, with a certain composition of characteristics, both internal and external, and this is how He clearly wants us to be. An acknowledgement of this is the only way that we can hope to achieve what Hashem has in mind for us. It is the only means by which we can refine the attributes that we have been given. If we don’t know who we are, how can we hope to perfect that person. We must have pride in ourselves, our strengths and our flaws. We must look at our situation in life as a badge of honour bestowed upon us by our Creator. As a gift that only we can receive and only we can utilize as intended. We do not need to be like anyone else, nor is that the way Hashem wants it. He wants us to be us, but the best version that we can be. This is our purpose. This is the meaning for which we strive. We can never be someone else and we should never want to be. Hashem doesn’t and neither should we.

*May we appreciate the value and dignity in ourselves this Shabbos*

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם

Parshas Beha’aloscha (for those outside Israel)

The Rambam (Teshuva 5:2) says that anyone can become a tzaddik (righteous

person) like Moshe Rabbeinu. How can that be true? Moshe Rabbeinu reached a level of greatness that we cannot fathom!

Moshe Rabbeinu was indeed born with enormous potential, but that was not his greatness. His greatness is described by the Torah (12:7) – he was an eved Hashem – his life was totally devoted to Hashem. We may not be able to achieve the greatness of Moshe Rabbeinu in absolute terms, but we can achieve what Moshe Rabbeinu achieved – he utilized every one of his attributes to serve Hashem and nullified all his personal desires for the sake of Hashem’s will. We too can achieve this. We can live a life for the sake of Hashem and not for our own selfish motivations. Then we too will be avdei Hashem. We too will be like Moshe Rabbeinu. (R’ Elchanan Wasserman – quoted)

Obviously it is still not easy, but a person has the ability of shifting the focus of his life from him being the centre of everything to Hashem being the centre.

Enduring Excitement

This weeks’ parsha (outside Israel), Behaaloscha, opens with the temple service involving the lighting of the candelabra. Hashem instructed Moshe to tell his brother Aharon about the commandment to light the temple candelabra on a daily basis. The following verse relates that “And so did Aharon perform (the said commandment)”. Rashi comments that with these words the Torah is praising Aharon that he “didn’t deviate” from his instructions.

The commentators ask what kind of praise is it that the great Aharon actually fulfilled the Divine commandment directed personally to him- wouldn’t you?

An explanation offered is that the words “lo shinoh” in this context doesn’t mean “didn’t deviate” but rather “didn’t change”- throughout his life, the enthusiasm and excitement that he felt when he performed this mitzvah was no different from what he felt the very first time that he performed his personal mitzvah- his attitude was always upbeat and filled with excitement. Aharon understood and appreciated the enormous privilege that he had, as we do, to keep G-d’s commandments and thereby further our relationship with our Maker.

How fortunate we are.

R’ Ezer Pine

(Based on the writings of the Sfas Emes)