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  • #2195919
    Reb Eliezer
    Participant

    ארון נושא את עצמו, as the kohanim where happy to carry the Aron, the Aron made itself light by carrying itself so as not to be a burden.

    #2198140
    Zugger613
    Participant

    Behaaloscha: What do you Want?

    A peculiar turn of phrase is used to describe when the Jews complained for meat rather than mun. The passuk says they were התאוו תאוה, desiring a desire. What does that mean?

    The Akeidas Yitzchak explains that the nation did not actually desire meat. They were not hungry. They did not see anybody else eating meat or smell it’s tantalizing aroma. Rather, what they wanted was something to want. They desired to have something that they could desire, something to feel a passion and longing for. This is far worse than desiring something specific that you happened to have come across.

    R’ Aaron Lopiansky takes this a step further. He explains that one who is searching for something to desire only does so because they feel a sense of emptiness in their own life. A basic human need is to feel like one is pursuing something that they want. But the proper way of channeling this feeling would have been for the Jewish nation to seek spiritual pursuits to be busy with, to fill their days chasing opportunities to do Mitzvos and to help others.

    The fact that the nation chose to try to build up an appetite for physical rather than spiritual things showed that being an elevated nation was not high up enough on their priority list.

    לע״נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
    לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בן ר׳ בןציון שלום

    #2200255
    Zugger613
    Participant

    Shelach: Your Tears Define You

    After they received the negative report of the Meraglim, Bnei Yisroel cried. The Gemora famously tells us Hashem’s response: הן בכו בכיה של חינם, ואני אקבע להם בכיה לדורות – they cried for no reason, now they will cry for generations to come.

    But why do Chazal stress the crying? Wasn’t the issue that Bnei Yisroel believed the Meraglim and doubted that Hashem could conquer Eretz Yisroel?

    R’ Aron Lopiansky explains that one only cries about things that are core to their very selves. You can have many things, and you can lose many things. But you will cry if you lose something that is integral to who you are.

    The fact that Bnei Yisroel cried over something meaningless (חינם) was a big problem. It showed that they thought of things that were meaningless as being integral to who they were. They missed the “free food” that they got in Mitzrayim, when they were חינם מן המצות. This was what mattered to them.

    This problem had no easy fix. To redefine oneself takes time, for an individual and even more so for an entire nation. It will take generations for us to lose the nonsense that we too often identify ourselves with. That difficult separation from things that we used to see as integral will be the resultant בכיה לדורות.

    לע”נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
    לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בן ר׳ בןציון שלום

    #2202563
    Zugger613
    Participant

    Korach: Seeing Both Sides

    The Zohar makes a cryptic statement about Korach. It writes that Korach argued on Shalom itself. But what does it mean to argue against peace?

    R’ Aaron Lopiansky explains that Korach wasn’t willing or able to see any truth in any perspective other than his own. For example, Korach brought a Tallis that was all Techeiles. This symbolizes that he was only able to see Hashem through one color, and wasn’t able to see any kernels of truth in any other viewpoint. When one cannot take other perspectives into account, their view will always be flawed.

    Boaz’s Beis Din decided that one should greet another Jew with the name of Hashem. When two Jews greet each other, the Shechina comes from the duality of both of them acknowledging each other. One who cannot see anything other than himself and his own opinions cannot access the divine.

    This is true in perspectives, but also true in personality types. If I am very creative and chaotic, it may be hard for me to get along with somebody who is all about organization and structuring. But it takes all types to make society function. The fact that I gravitate towards one extreme cannot blind me to the value that others bring to the table.

    לע״נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
    לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בן ר׳ בןציון שלום

    #2204514
    Zugger613
    Participant

    Chukas: Wellspring of Torah

    In the middle of the Shira that Bnei Yisroel sung about the miraculous באר מרים, Chazal find a surprising series of allusions. From the words ממדבר מתנה, we darshan: if one makes themselves הפקר כמדבר, then Hashem will give them Torah as gift. But what does this have to do with the well of Miriam?

    R’ Aaron Lopiansky explains that the Torah is actually very similar to a well. One needs to work hard to dig a well. But once they have the well, they still do not think they have created the water. Rather, they have worked to uncover what was always there beneath the surface.

    This needs to be our attitude towards Torah. We cannot just wait for Hashem to give us understanding; we need to work for it. But after we do understand, we still must think of the Torah as a gift from Hashem. The truths we see in the Torah are ideas we have uncovered, not created.

    A well serves as a portal. From within a very small hole, one can extract a nearly endless amount of liquid. So too with Torah. Torah is not a finite pool of wisdom, it is a portal from which we can draw endless amount of Divine wisdom and inspiration.

    לע״נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
    לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בן ר׳ בןציון שלום

    #2206252
    Zugger613
    Participant

    Pinchas: Held Back

    The Torah refers to only two days as being עצרת – the last day of Pesach and the last day of Sukkos. And yet we find that in the Mishnayos, the word עצרת means the Yom Tov of Shavous. Why is that?

    R’ Yechezkel Abramsky explains that the “last days” of Pesach and Sukkos have something in common. The first days each have a special mitzva that makes them memorable – eating matza, shaking lulav. The last days have none of that. They are only עצור ממלאכה, “held back” from doing melacha.

    Explains R’ Yechezkel Abramsky, as long as the Beis HaMikdosh was still with us, we had a special mitzva to do on Shavous – to bring the שתי הלחם. However, now that the Beis HaMikdosh is destroyed, we have no special mitzva for Shavous. This why during the times of the Mishnah, after the churban, they began to use the name Atzeres to refer to Shavous.

    As we begin the בין המצרים, perhaps this is to serve as a reminder of how much of Yiddishkeit we are missing so long as we do not have the Beis HaMikdosh.

    לע״נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
    לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בן ר׳ בןציון שלום

    #2208224
    Reb Eliezer
    Participant

    Hashem wants to spend time with us. The Ramban says that sefira is chal hamoad between Pesach and Shevuos. So Shevuos would also be Atzeres.

    The Midrash says for Shemini Atzeres עשה לי סעודה קטנה make Me a small meal. Explains the Binah Leitim, Succos we sacrifice all the oxen against the umas haolom, for all other nations. When we have a big meal, we tend to be busy with the food but by a small meal the showing of comraderie and friendship becomes more important. Regarding the goyim, Hashem kavayachel is busy with food rather than show any love and friendship towards them but by the Jews, the sacrifice is small to be able to spend time of love with us.

    #2208263
    Zugger613
    Participant

    Matos: Your Mouth Matters

    The Torah uses an interesting turn of phrase when instructing us to keep any נדר or שבועה that we make. The passuk first says לא יחל דברו, “he should not make his words mundane”, and only then tells us that ככל היוצא מפיו יעשה, “he should do whatever he has said”. But why do we need the first instruction not to make our words mundane, if the passuk is separately commanding us to keep our word?

    The Chida quotes a homiletic interpretation from R’ Chaim Vital and R’ Shimon Tirano that addresses this point. לא יחל דברו, do not make your speech about דברי חולין, mundane matters. ככל היוצא מפיו יעשה, for all of your words have an effect in the heavens.

    The fact that a person can create a new מצוה דרורייתא by making a neder shows us just how much a person’s words can change in the heavens. Every word of Torah and Tefilah can have an enormous effect, both high up in the heavens and deep down within one’s heart. What a shame it would be to waste that ability.

    לע״נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
    לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בן ר׳ בןציון שלום

    #2209977
    Zugger613
    Participant

    Devarim: Old Mistakes Die Hard

    Devarim begins with Moshe hinting to all the mistakes the Jewish nation had made during their stay in the desert, including the עגל and the מרגלים.

    But the Sfas Emes points out that the people Moshe was talking to hadn’t participated in those events. Those who were responsible had already died over the past forty years. Why was Moshe rehashing the mistakes of the parents to their children?

    The Sfas Emes explains that each generation inherits both good and bad traits from the previous generations. Our job is not only to build on the good, but to identify and to fix the errors of the past. If we do not, we will simply repeat the same mistakes over and over throughout history.

    This is is why Chazal tell us כל דור שלא נבנה בימיו, כאילו נחרב בימיו any generation in which the Beis HaMikdosh is not built, it is as if the Beis HaMikdosh was destroyed. It is up to us to identify and fix the mistakes of the past, both those that are בין אדם לחברו and בין אדם למקום.

    לע״נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
    לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בן ר׳ בןציון שלום

    #2210075
    Reb Eliezer
    Participant

    If one does not desecrate their word, then ככל היצא מפיו יעשה Hashem will do everything that one says and wishes.

    #2211530
    Zugger613
    Participant

    Vaeschanan/Tisha B’Av: How Much Do You Want It?

    The Parsha tells us just how much Moshe yearned to enter Eretz Yisroel, and how many hundreds of times he begged Hashem to let him in.

    We all know that the Rambam list thirteen עיקרים. Twelve of the ikarim are things that we need to believe. Once we are certain of them, we have fulfilled our obligation.

    But when it comes to the coming of Moshiach, it is not enough to just believe. The Rambam writes that part of the 12th ikar is to be מחכה, to yearn for the coming of Moshiach. The source for this may be the Gemora that says after a person passing, they are asked: צפית לישעיה, did you yearn for the redemption?

    The good news is, we already mention the Geulah in six of the brachos of a weekday שמונה עשרה – in the brachos beginning ראה בענינו, תקע בשופר, השיבה שופטינו, ולירושלים, את צמח דוד, רצה. If we would think about the Geulah even one time per each שמונה עשרה, we would be Davening for the Geulah over 1,200 each year.

    לע״נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
    לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בן ר׳ בןציון שלום

    #2213426
    Zugger613
    Participant

    Eikev: Don’t Forget

    When recounting all that had happened in the desert, Moshe makes an interesting juxtaposition. He starts speaking about how Hashem gave us the מן, then talks about how we are about to go into ארץ ישראל, and then moves on to ברכת המזון. What is the connection between these three things?

    R’ Shamshon Refael Hirsch explains that there is a progression here. The point of being in the desert was to הודיעך כי לא על הלחם לבדו יחיה האדם, to teach us that it is not our own efforts and power that sustain us. Rather it Hashem, and Hashem alone, who sustains us.

    But that lesson was coming to an end. The Jewish nation was about to enter Eretz Yisroel, and go back to living with the mirage of nature. How would they hold on to their grip of the reality that it is only Hashem who sustains us, and not fall into the trap of כחי ועוצם ידי עשה לי את החיל הזה?

    The answer is the mitzva of ברכת המזון. When are satiated, we are in danger of becoming full of ourselves, of thinking that we are the reason for our success. It is then that we say ברכת המזון and remember that all of our success is due only to the grace of God, and that it is Him alone who sustains us.

    לע״נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
    לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בן ר׳ בןציון שלום

    #2215080
    Zugger613
    Participant

    Re’ah: See For Yourself

    The opening passuk of this weeks Parsha seems to contain a discrepancy. ראה אנכי נותן לפניכם, see what I have placed before you. But while ראה is lashon yachid, seemingly addressing an individual person, לפניכם is lashon rabbim, addressing everyone at once. Why is that?

    The Kotzker explains that the Torah is given to every Jew, and every one of us has an equal claim to it. However, each person sees the Torah differently. The more time, effort, and energy a person puts into to pursuing the Torah, the greater the depths of wisdom that they will see in it.

    The Ramchal makes a similar point. Based on a passuk in Mishlei, he says that Torah is like a coal. The more you stoke and blow on a coal, the more light and warmth you will get from it. So too with Torah; the more effort you put into it, the brighter you will see it shine.

    לע״נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
    לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בן ר׳ בןציון שלום

    #2217157
    Zugger613
    Participant

    Shoftim: Osmosis

    In his youth, the Chofetz Chaim had a dilemma. He had two choices for where to Daven for Yomim Noraim. His first option was a minyan with many serious תלמידי חכמים. The second option was a minyan with far simpler folk, but every year, these people would cry during the Davening of Yomim Noraim. He went to his Rebbi, R’ Nuchum of Hordona, and asked for his advice.

    R’ Nuchum answered by citing a Passuk in this weeks Parsha: מִי־הָאִ֤ישׁ הַיָּרֵא֙ וְרַ֣ךְ הַלֵּבָ֔ב יֵלֵ֖ךְ וְיָשֹׁ֣ב לְבֵית֑וֹ וְלֹ֥א יִמַּ֛ס אֶת־לְבַ֥ב אֶחָ֖יו כִּלְבָבֽוֹ. He who is scared should go home and not fight in a war, for he will cause the hearts of those around him to melt in fear.

    We see from this Passuk that just being around people who are afraid will cause you to feel fear. Daven together with the simple people, R’ Nuchum told the Chofetz Chaim; because when they cry, you will cry with them.

    By simply being in the company of people who take something seriously, we are likely to start taking that thing seriously as well. The same is unfortunately true in the reverse. This is why it is so important to try to keep the company of people whose attitudes are worth adopting.

    לע״נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
    לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בן ר׳ בןציון שלום

    #2219490
    Zugger613
    Participant

    Ki Seitzi: Undying Gratitude

    Mitzrayim was the first enemy we faced as a nation. We were enslaved by them for hundreds of years, forced to endure backbreaking labor and torture.

    And yet, the Torah clearly instructs us: לא תתעב מצרי, do not hate an Egyptian. Why not? כי גר היית בארצו, because when Yaakov and his sons needed a place to live, Mitzrayim let them in.

    The Gemora points out that Mitzrayim did not take in Yaakov and his sons with any noble intentions. Rather, they did it for purely selfish reasons: they thought that Yosef’s brothers would be likely to make great governmental officers.

    Human nature is that when someone has wronged us, that is all that we tend to remember about them. But we see from here how different the attitude is that the Torah wants us to take. We must forever remember the one favor Mitzrayim did for us, even if they did it for selfish reasons, and despite their making our lives hell for hundreds of years afterwards.

    Never forget the good that others have done for you.

    לע״נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
    לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בן ר׳ בןציון שלום

    #2220536
    Reb Eliezer
    Participant

    According to the Kli Yakar at the end of parashas Vayigash, this teaches us an important lesson. The servitude came because the Jews forgot that they were strangers in a strange land. ויאחזו בה they grabbed on to the land becoming strong and the Mitzriim became jealous of them and had them work to weaken them.

    #2221972
    Zugger613
    Participant

    Ki Savo: When the Going gets Tough

    When we would bring Bikkurim to the Beis HaMikdosh, we list all that we are thankful for. We are thankful not only for a successful crop, but for all Hashem has done for us: from when He rescued Yaakov from Lavan, to when He he took us out of Mitzrayim, and everything else He’s done for us until today.

    And yet, we also discuss some less pleasant things in the Parsha of Bikkurim. We talk about the bitterness of Galus in Mitzrayim, and how Lavan tried to destroy us. If we’re meant to be giving thanks for the good, why do we also focus on the bad?

    R’ Chaim Mintz explains that the hardship that we had to endure was no accident. The Gemora says that there are three gifts that Hashem gives that only come through יסורים: Torah, Eretz Yisroel, and Olam Haba.

    Tough times are not fun, but they are necessary. They push us to work harder, and show us just how much we can accomplish if we have our backs to the wall. Without difficulties, we could never become the best version of ourselves, and never be deserving of all the good that Hashem wants to give us.

    We must thank Hashem not only for the good, but also for the tough times that make us who we are.

    לע״נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
    לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בן ר׳ בןציון שלום

    #2222011
    Reb Eliezer
    Participant

    In the Hagaddah we seem to minish Pharoh’s deeds over Lavan. The fact that Lavan wanted to uproot everything happens to be good us as Hashem swore that the Jews will always exist, so his wishes will never become a reality. The holy Alshich explains that Lavan destroyed the intention of Yaakov to marry Rachel first. If this would have occured, Yosef would have been the first born and no jealousy would have happened among the brothers and they never would have descended to Mitzraim.

    #2223892
    Zugger613
    Participant

    Nitzavim: Talk to Yourself

    When exhorting us to do Teshuva and keep the entirety of the Torah, Moshe says the following stirring statement: כי קרוב אליך הדבר מאוד, בפיך ובלבבך לעשותו – for this matter is very close to you, in your mouths and in your hearts to do it.

    R’ Aaron Lopiansky points out that it is interesting that the mouth is listed before the heart. Doesn’t everything that comes out of the mouth first originate in the heart?

    R’ Aaron Lopiansky sees in this Passuk a source for one of the primary teachings of R’ Yisroel Salanter: that the path to the heart is through the mouth.

    The point of Mussar is to make the heart feel what the mind already knows. R’ Yisroel Salanter taught that the way to bridge that gap was for one to repeat to themselves passages from Chazal that deal with Yiras Hashem. But it is not enough to merely mouth it. It must be with שפתים דולקות, with a burning fervor. By doing so, one will make what they know intellectually feel real to them on an emotional level.

    לע״נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
    לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בן ר׳ בןציון שלום

    #2225741
    Zugger613
    Participant

    Rosh HaShanah: Malchus 👑

    We know that the primary avodah of Rosh HaShanah is תמלכוני עליכם, accepting Hashem’s Kingship. But how is this different than קבלת עול מלכות שמים that we say twice a day in שמע?

    R’ Gedalya Schorr explains that every day, we accept Hashem as our boss, accepting our obligation to do as He says. But the Malchus of Rosh HaShanah goes far deeper than that.

    On Rosh HaShanah, we accept Hashem as our King. We do not do what He says only because He controls our fate. Rather, we accept Him as King because we want to have a connection with Him. By relating to Hashem as a King, we are able to form a relationship with Him that we would not otherwise be able to have.

    By accepting Hashem as our King, we are not actually changing His role in this world. What we are changing is our role. We are His people, and He is our King. Our very identities are intertwined, defined by our relationship to each other. And we would would not have it any other way.

    לע״נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
    לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בן ר׳ בןציון שלום

    #2227237
    Zugger613
    Participant

    Haazinu: Unstoppable

    Rashi points out that in this Parsha is one of three times that the Torah uses the phrase בעצם היום הזה. Quoting the Sifri, Rashi explains that each time this phrase is used, there were people who had announced their intentions to thwart the plans of Hashem.

    In the times of Noach, the people had said that if there was a מבול, they would stop Noach from entering the תיבה. The Mitzriyim had made clear that they would never let the Jews leave their land. And in our Parsha, the Jews had said they wouldn’t let Moshe leave them.

    In each case, Hashem made a point of acting בעצם היום, publicly and in the middle of the day. You think you can stop the Divine plan? Go ahead and try.

    But there is another time when this phrase is used: וכל מלאכה לא תעשו עד *עצם היום* הזה, כי יום כפורים הוא לכפר עליכם.

    The Ramchal and many others go on at great length to explain the effects of our aveiros. Every mistake we make has ruinous consequences, both in the heavens above and deep within ourselves. We can sometimes feel that since our mistakes are so serious, they can never be undone.

    But the Divine plan cannot be stopped. When Hashem says כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם לטהר אתכם מכל חטאתיכם, He means it. As long as we regret our mistakes and pledge to do better, He will erase the past as if it never was, and absolutely nothing can stop Him.

    לע״נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
    לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בן ר׳ בןציון שלום

    #2227285
    Reb Eliezer
    Participant

    השטן adds up to 364 as the day of Yom Kippur, the yetzer hara has no effect over us.

    #2227351
    Reb Eliezer
    Participant

    The above about the Satan is in Yoma (20,1).

    #2228406
    Zugger613
    Participant

    Schach: בצל שקי יתלונן

    The Rashbam gives a fascinating explanation for why Sukkos is during Tishrei, despite the fact that it is in remembrance of Hashem providing us with shelter when He took us out of Mitzrayim which happened in Nissan.

    The Rashbam explains that Tishrei is the end of the harvest season, when people had storage houses full of grain. It is at this moment of material satisfaction that we must remember that our success is not due to כחי ועוצם ידי, but rather that everything always has and always will be provided only by the will of Hashem.

    We can suggest that this message is hinted to in the halachos of the Schach. Schach must be made from something that grows from the ground (גידולי קרקע), but has not been fashioned into a vessel (אינו מקבל טומאה).

    Perhaps this is to remind us that our shelter comes naturally from the hand of Hashem, symbolized by what grows naturally from the ground, not from what we have made with our own hands.

    לע״נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
    לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בן ר׳ בןציון שלום

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