Theדבר תורה  is לזכות רפואה שלימה ל-אברהם בייניש בן גאלדה שפרינצה.ולאה בת חנהAnd לזכר נשמת ר’ אברהם בן שמחה זצ”לר’ חיים בן ר’ צבי ארי-ה זצ”לר’ יחיאל יהודה בן ר’ אברהם מרדכי הכהן זצ”לור’ אליהו מרדכי זצ”ל בן ר’ אברהם יעקב נ”י This weeks email is in honor of Mr. & Mrs. Beinish Mandel on the occasion of their daughters wedding. Mazel tov.
 
Prior to the Bnei Yisroel entering Eretz Cana’an, Moshe Rabbeinu states that Hashem wants to sign a covenant with klal Yisroel – just like he did with the Avos – to reinforce their acceptance of the Torah. Why did Hashem insist on klal Yisroel signing a treaty? The pasuk says that it is because when they left Egypt, they passed through a number of different nations. The pasuk continues, ‘you saw their avoda zarah and their despicable idols-of wood and stone, of silver and gold that were with them.’ Since they were exposed to these sights, Hashem wanted to ensure that it wouldn’t have an effect on them; he therefore wanted them to reinforce their commitment to his Torah through a covenant.
 
When the pasuk mentions “their despicable idols-of wood and stone, of silver and gold that were with them”, what exactly does this mean? According to the simple translation, it means that in those days there were various different types of idols. There were idols of wood, gold, silver, and stone. Being that they saw so many different types of avodah zara, the Ribono Shel Olam was concerned that it had an affect and some of klal Yisroel would start having some doubts.
 
Rav Sholom Schwadron offers a unique explanation of this pasuk, in the name of his Rebbi – Reb Leib Chasman Zt”l.
 
He explains that although the pasuk mentions many different forms of avodah zara, in reality they were all the same. If so, why does the Torah use four different names and forms of idols? The answer is that the Torah is teaching us an important lesson. The first time klal Yisroel saw an avodah zara, it was disgusting to them. It was something that they had never seen before. They couldn’t imagine anyone serving such a god. It was so despicable to them, that they didn’t concentrate on its form. The second time they saw it, they were not as disgusted but they already discerned a form. The third time they saw an idol, they were already desensitized and it didn’t bother them as much. Already by the fourth time, they saw it clearly and might have been slightly attracted to it.
 
The powerful lesson is that people unfortunately do aveiros, no one is perfect. The problem that evolves is that a person gets accustomed to doing that aveira. The more one becomes accustomed to doing or seeing something wrong, the more desensitized he is to that particular aveira. If you look at an aveira as disgusting then you won’t even consider doing it. Once a person is exposed to an aveira again and again, it enters the realm of possibility.
 
The Chofetz Chaim once walked out of a shul (outside of Radin) and he saw a Jew being mechalel Shabbos. He sat there and he cried for a full hour. The next Shabbos, he walked out of the same shul and saw another Jew being mechalel Shabbos.  He cried for an hour and a half. The talmidim asked, Rebbi – why did you cry longer than you did last week? The Chofetz Chaim responded that when he saw this Jew being mechalel Shabbos, he cried for forty five minutes and he felt that it was enough. He then realized that he had cried shorter than last time, and that he must have lost his sensitivity to chilul Shabbos! He therefore cried for another forty five minutes for that loss.
 
The more accustomed a person becomes to something, the less important it becomes to him.  This goes for anything. A mitzvah, an aveira (chas v’shalom), or even a mundane act. May we all be zoche to be sensitive to the Torah’s values, and not to chas v’shalom lose our sensitivity towards any mitzvah or our disgust towards any aveira. In this zechus Hashem will be sensitive towards each of us on this upcoming Yom HaDin.

HAVE A GREAT SHABBOS.

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