Parshas Shoftim

How Large A Gift Did YOU Get?!

 

“That his pride does not increase over his brothers and he does not stray from the commandment right or left….” (Devarim 17:19-20).

The onset of the month of Elul should be an awakening call. It signals that there is only one month before Hashem judges us and determines our fate. During this month, Hashem’s Holy Presence is extra close to us. We have an especially golden opportunity to come close to Hashem. Our teshuva, our repentance, will be more readily accepted at this time. It is incumbent upon us to improve our ways.  Often, if one tries to improve everything at once, he is totally unsuccessful. We will be more successful if we try to improve in fewer areas. We should think of one or two areas in which we can improve. We should resolve to take those one or two things and make a permanent change. Even if it is only a minimal change, Hashem will see that we are trying and we will be considered amongst those who are doing teshuva.

The Vilna Gaon told the Dubno Maggid that it was challenging to avoid feeling pride and avoid feeling that he was better than other people. After all, Hashem granted him a very high level of wisdom and the ability to delve into the secrets of the Torah. That greatness could make him more prone to feeling a tinge of arrogance. The Vilna Gaon asked the Dubno Maggid for a moshel, parable, to inspire him to overcome this temptation.

The Dubno Maggid began with a question on the p’sukim. It says that a Jewish king should have two personal sefer Torahs written (Ha’emek Davar 17:18 says that he does not have to write them himself), one of which he should always have with him. “…He is to read it all the days of his life, in order that he learn to fear Hashem and to guard every word of this Torah…. That his pride does not increase over his brothers and he does not stray from the commandment right or left….” (Devarim 17:19-20). The Dubno Maggid asked what the connection is between the caution against undue pride in the first part of the pasuk and the warning against disregarding Hashem’s commandments?

The Dubno Maggid answered his question with a beautiful moshol.  Several merchants were traveling home from the fair, after buying merchandise that they planned to sell later, at a profit. One of the merchants was leading a horse who was pulling a carriage laden with valuable merchandise. Walking alongside him was another man pulling a small pushcart filled with an assortment of cheap articles. The wealthy merchant turned to the small trader and said,” How dare you keep company with me and walk alongside of me as if you were my equal.”  The small trader acknowledged that the merchant was wealthy and well known. He pointed out that they had both purchased their merchandise on credit. The trader’s purchases were not costly whereas the merchant’s purchases were very costly. Thus, the merchant’s debt was much greater than the debt of the small trader. The trader said, “You may be much richer than I, but the burden of debt that you carry is correspondingly much greater than mine!”

Similarly, in the Torah, Hashem admonished the Jewish kings, telling them that they are no better than their subjects. They may have a lofty position and may be wealthy but “the greater the gifts that you have received from Hashem the greater your debt to Him!” Therefore, the kings had to put in much effort not to be overbearing and not to deviate from Hashem’s mitzvos, “either to the right or to the left”. This was the message that the Dubno Maggid also gave to the Vilna Gaon, that “the greater the gifts that you have received from Hashem the greater your debt to Him!”. (The Maggid of Dubno and His Parables by Benno Heinemann)

Rabbeinu Yona says (Shaarei Teshuvah 3:34) says that the trait of pride, of arrogance, is among the severest sins and is an abomination to Hashem. Pride is the very first midah that sefer Orchos Tzadikim discusses, as it says because “pride is the doorway to many evils”. The Torah warns a king against pride. Certainly, an ordinary person should not attempt to lord over another. Even if one only thinks in his heart that he is better than someone else it is still abominable in Hashem’s eyes. An arrogant person forgets Hashem and thinks that his successes are due to his own intellect and actions. In reality, all our successes are due to Hashem.

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All of us have challenges. Often, we look for special sugulos such as davening by the grave of a tzadik or getting a bracha from a great rabbi. There is actually a very, very powerful segulah that we can readily do. That is, to respond to kaddish, with all our concentration, “Amen, Yehei Shmei Rabbah mevarach l’olam ul’olmei ulmaya”, “May His great Name be blessed, forever and ever”. When someone does that, the Talmud (Brachos 3A) says that Hashem says, “Happy is the King Who has such praise in His house”.

The Talmud (Shabbos 119B) brings Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi who says that all who respond, “Amen, Yehei Shmei Rabbah mevarach l’olam ul’olmei ulmaya” with all their might, can annul all harsh heavenly decrees.  Rashi explains, “all one’s might” means one’s total concentration. Rif says that even an evil decree of 70 years can be ripped up when we respond “Amen, Yehei Shmei Rabbah mevarach l’olam ul’olmei ulmaya”with all our concentration! Answering “Amen, Yehei Shmei Rabbah…” with one’s total concentration can change one’s entire destiny!

The Chofetz Chaim (Mishna Brura, Siman 56) says that certainly one should be exceedingly careful not to speak in the middle of kaddish! Meseches Derech Eretz brings a story with Rabbi Chama who saw the prophet, Eliyahu with thousands of camels carrying anger, to punish those who speak during kaddish or kedusha.  Sefer Chasidim brings a story of one chasid who saw his friend, another chasid, who had died. His face was green. Why? Because he spoke during 3 parts of tefillah, one of them being during kaddish. Mate Moshe quotes a Midrash that tells of a chacham who had died. He appeared to his student in a dream and had a stain on his forehead. Why? Because he was not careful to refrain from speaking during the shalich tzibbur’s recitation of kaddish.

We should always remember that every Jew is special. Our looks, our wisdom, or our success do not make us better than anyone else. Everything we have is from Hashem.

The more that we have, the more Hashem expects of us.

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We should also remember the special segulah of answering kaddish with total concentration. Certainly, we should never ever talk during kaddish!

Parshas Shoftim

Let’s Use The Power!

 

“She called the Name Hashem Who had spoken to her. You are Almighty Who sees ….” (Bereishis 16:13)

In the city of Ofakim, there was a couple who were not blessed with children for many years. Many years of treatment and visiting doctors in many parts of the world did not bring the desired results. One day, the rav of Ofakim, Rav Shimshon Dovid Pincus zt”l told the husband to come to his house after midnight. He did so. Rav Shimshon ushered him outside and into his car. Rav Shimshon drove for a long time. Finally, he stopped in the middle of the desert and told the husband to leave the car. “Right here, right now, you will be alone in the desert. Just you and the Ribbono Shel Olam. Now is the time for you to break down and cry real tears. Daven to Hashem like you’ve never davened before. Hashem wants to hear your t’fillos – and in the merit of this s’gulah, you will see a salvation. I will come back for you in a half hour.” The man got out of the car. All alone, in the pitch darkness, he davened. He begged and screamed and davened like never before. Thirty minutes later, Rav Shimshon drove up and rolled down his window. “No, you did not cry enough,” said the Rav to the astonished man. “This is not how to cry. Cry! Really cry! Beg and plead and cry from the depths of your heart and soul! Give it every, last ounce of energy. Use all of your remaining strength! Then, you will see salvation!” Rav Shimshon rolled his window back up and drove away a second time! The young man walked back into the desert night and let it all out. He screamed at the top of his lungs and cried to the point of total exhaustion. When Rav Shimshon pulled up 30 minutes later, he got out of the car and smiled. “Yes! This is what I meant by crying!” The man’s face was bright red and he was soaked through and through from perspiration and buckets and buckets of salty tears! “Now, you will surely see Hashem’s salvation,” concluded the Rav. Nine months later, almost to the day, the couple was blessed with a beautiful, healthy baby boy!

How great is the power of true t’fillah from the depths of one’s heart! (Queens Jewish Link by Rabbi Dovid Hoffman)

Teshuvah, Tefilla and Tzedakah annul the evil decrees against us.

We are already in the month of Elul, preparing for Rosh Hashana, Yom Hadin. Prayer is one important area to strengthen. We can reap great dividends from it!

v The Talmud (Brachos 28B) tells us that each time Rabbi Necḥunya ben Hakana entered the beis midrash to learn Torah or exited the beis midrash, he recited a brief prayer. When he entered, he prayed for Divine help that he should not make a mistake in his learning or teaching Torah.  Upon exiting he thanked Hashem for giving him the great privilege of learning Torah.

Rabbi Menachem Meiri, a Rishon from the 1200’s, says we can learn from this that anytime we need any type of help we should compose a prayer, in our own words, asking Hashem for what we need. This will help us always feel connected to Hashem.

v Hagar, our Matriarch Sarah’s maidservant who also became our Patriarch Avraham’s wife, ran away from Sarah to the desert (Bereishis 16:6). Angels appeared to her, each one giving a different message. They told her to return to Avraham and Sarah and that if she showed proper respect to Sarah then she would become pregnant and have a son, Yishmael.

Rashi says that Hagar understood that the angels were representatives who were sent by Hashem. She had been used to seeing angels coming to Avraham’s house. She was surprised that she saw them in the wilderness. She responded by offering a prayer to Hashem, “She called [She prayed in] the Name Hashem Who had spoken to her. [She said] You are Almighty Who sees [everything]….” (Bereishis 16:13)

Sforno explains that Hagar’s new insight caused her to daven to Hashem. In her tefillah she praised Hashem for noticing her pain. Until now she had assumed that revelations from Hashem were confined to Avraham’s house. Now she learned that Hashem may reveal Himself in any location. She learned that Hashem notices people’s pain. That inspired her to increase her level of tefillah as she praised Hashem. 

Rav Henach Leibowitz zt”l said when we daven, if we would realize the extent of how much Hashem cares about us and how much Hashem feels our pain, it would inspire us to daven with complete kavana, concentration!

v Before Moshe passed away, he criticized Klal Yisroel for not davening to Hashem to remove the decree that forbade him from entering Eretz Yisroel. The Midrash (Devarim 7:10) states that Moshe told Klal Yisroel that he davened to Hashem to save them from annihilation due to the sin of the golden calf. Moshe said, “One person could redeem 600,000 by the egel but 600,000 could not redeem one person?” Rav Henach Leibowitz zt”l said that it is not logical to say that the Jewish People did not daven at all for Moshe. After all, he had done so much for them.  The Jews did daven! However, the decree was very strong, and it required a very strong prayer to remove it. Prayer comes from the heart and there are different levels of intensity that are possible. Moshe was telling the Jewish People, had you davened with even more intensity and with more tears, then the decree against me would have been removed.

Maharzu says (Devarim 3:11) in order for Klal’s Yisroel’s tefillah to have been effective to remove the decree against Moshe, they would have had to initiate the tefillah on their own. They did not. Even had Moshe told them explicitly to daven for him, the tefillah would not have been powerful enough to have their request granted.

The power of our prayers is increased by the level of sincerity of our tears and the deep feeling in our hearts. An added nuance of feeling can make the difference in how our tefillah is answered.

Anytime we need any type of help we should compose a prayer, in our own words, asking Hashem for what we need. The realization of the extent of how much Hashem cares about us, will inspire us to daven with more kavana, concentration! Prayer comes from the heart and there are different levels of intensity that are possible. Every added nuance of feeling can make the difference in how our tefillah is answered. We have the power of prayer. Let’s use it!

 

Parshas Shoftim

Don’t Judge a Book By Its Cover. It Is What Is Inside That Counts

“Do not plant an Asheirah for yourself [or] any tree near the altar of Hashem….” (Devarim 16:21)

The Talmud relates an interesting story (Ta’anis 7A-7B and Nedarim 50B). Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya was not good looking. The daughter of the Roman emperor said to him, “You are the epitome of magnificent Torah, but it is stored in an ugly vessel”. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya responded by asking, “Does your father keep his wine in simple clay vessels? Is there no distinction between the emperor and ordinary people? You should place your wine in vessels of silver and gold.”  After hearing this, the emperor’s daughter had her father’s wine placed in vessels of silver and gold. A short time afterwards, the emperor tried drinking the wine, but it had all turned sour. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya wanted to demonstrate that fine material is best preserved in the least of vessels. Rabbi Yehoshua said to her, “The same is also true of the Torah. It spoils if it is contained in a handsome person”. She asked him, “But are there not people who are both good looking and learned in Torah?” He replied, “If they were ugly, they would be even more learned.”

 

The Torah (Devarim 16:21) prohibits the planting of an asheirah (a tree devoted to idolatry) on the Temple Mount, near the mizbayach for Hashem. The Rambam (Laws of Avoda Zara 6:9) explains that it was the practice of idolators to plant trees near their altars, to attract attention and encourage people to come and serve the idol. The Da’as Zekainim says that the idolaters brought sacrifices on their altars in honor of those trees.

The Ba’al HaTurim says that the gematria, the numerical value, of the word asheirah (506) is the same as the value of the phrase, “a judge who is not fitting” [dayan she’aino hagun]. That indicates that anyone who appoints a judge who is not fit, is considered as if he planted an asheirah tree near the mizbayach. Rav Chaim Soleveitchik zt”l quotes the Talmud (Sanhedrin 7) citing Raish Lakish who says that whoever appoints a judge who is unworthy, is considered as if he had planted an asheirah. What’s the comparison? An object that is worshipped as an idol, is evident that it is an idol. It is obvious to any Jew who sees it that it is an idol, and he knows to move far away from it. An asheirah is different. To the naked eye, it looks like any beautiful tree. In reality, the tree is an idol. This is comparable to the appointment of an unworthy man to be a judge. His outward appearance may be regal, befitting a judge. Inwardly, however, he is unfit for the job. He will have a negative impact on truth and justice. (quoted in Ituri Torah by Aharon Yaakov Greenberg).

Similarly, the Sforno says that an asheirah is something beautiful and decorative. Yet, at the same time it is, in actuality, something ugly from the vantage point of holiness, since it leads to idolatrous practices. When choosing a judge, we should choose one who possesses positive spiritual qualities rather than an unworthy one who only makes a good superficial impression.

According to the Talmud (Sanhedrin7A), the appointment of a judge in a Jewish court has major repercussions for all the Jewish People. Any judge who does not render a judgment truthfully, causes the Divine Presence to withdraw from the Jewish People. Conversely, any judge who does render a judgment honestly, causes the Divine Presence to rest among the Jewish People.

Reuven visited older adults in a nursing home. Initially, he felt that these were simply “old” people. When he spoke to them, he realized that they were much more than that. Many of them had accomplished much in their lives. Some were even heroes. One lady had fought in the Resistance, fighting the Nazis. One man had been a principal of a Jewish school and had encouraged thousands of children to draw closer to Hashem. One man was a firefighter who had saved numerous people from burning buildings. When Reuven left the nursing home, he had an entirely new perspective on life. He understood that just as you can’t judge a book by its cover, you can’t judge a person by what they look like.

We should not label others and judge them by the way that they look. There can be great people, righteous people, and accomplished people sitting right next to us, unbeknown to us. There can be people who maintained faith in Hashem through difficult challenges, thus making them very special people. There can be someone who merely did one good deed; yet that deed was very precious to Hashem. We are incapable of “rating” others, as only Hashem knows one’s abilities and what he is capable of. We should not be arrogant. The person upon whom we are looking down, may actually have a greater portion in the World to Come than we have. We must have respect for all people. Our mutual respect for one-another will foster feelings of love and respect. May these actions help speed the coming of Moshiach.