Parshas Shoftim

A Lesson in Life Courtesy of “Professor” Ant

Pirkei Avos (Ethics of the Fathers. 2:4) Hillel says, “… do not say when I am free, I will learn for perhaps you will not become free”.
Mishlei (Proverbs 6:6) King Shlomo says, “Go to the ant, O lazy person, regard her ways and be wise.”

We tend to procrastinate, pushing off tasks for later. Sometimes we procrastinate so much that the task NEVER gets done.

“When we first got married, my wife brought home a whiteboard on which we could list the jobs that needed to be done. About a year later it disappeared. Just before our silver wedding anniversary, I found the whiteboard in our garage. There were about 20 jobs on it. None of them had been done – and most of them still needed to be done.”  Steve Swift, Alton, Hampshire as quoted in BBC News Magazine Aug 30, 2012

A prime reason for procrastination is laziness.

The Midrash Yalkut Shimoni quotes Rav Yehoshua the son of Prachiya as saying, “In the future the reshaim who had already passed away will ask Hashem for an opportunity to repent. Hashem will respond to them, ‘Fools! The world that you had been in is compared to a Friday afternoon, while this [eternal] world is compared to Shabbos. If a person doesn’t prepare food before Shabbos, he will have nothing to eat on Shabbos. Similarly, if a person is going on a sea voyage and doesn’t prepare food while still on dry land, what will he eat?  Furthermore, you should have learned from the ant. You didn’t learn from the ant because of your laziness and foolishness, and therefore you didn’t repent while you were still able to’.”

It says in Orchos Tzaddikim (The Ways of the Righteous) that a person should learn from the ant the quality of zeal so that he may save his soul by preparing for Olam Haba (the next, eternal world).

The Talmud tells us that we can learn many good traits by viewing the world around us. Even the miniscule ant can teach diligence to a human being. It busily accumulates thousands of seeds, far beyond its own needs, as a lesson to man to apply himself to a similar diligent accumulation of wisdom and good deeds.

Midrash Rabba (Devorim 4:2) says that an ant only lives for 6 months.

It only eats 1 and ½ grains in its entire lifetime. Yet It spends the entire summer collecting food.  The winter is too cold for it to do so. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said that 300 kur of grain, approximately three hundred million grains of wheat were once found in a single ant’s hole!  Therefore, King Shlomo said that a lazy person should view the actions of an ant and prepare mitzvos in this world for the next world.  He should do them while he can just as the ant collects grain when it is able to, during the summer.

Why does the ant accumulate so much more food than it needs? The Midrash continues, that the ant thinks that perhaps Hashem will grant it a longer life. Therefore, it continues gathering in order that it would have the food that it needs.

The likelihood of an ant living longer is doubtful, yet it puts all its efforts into accumulating more food-just in case. Our eternal life in olam haba is a certainty. Surely, we should use all our time in this world to accumulate “food for our soul”.  That spiritual “food” is our Torah learning and our mitzvos.

Rav Dovid Leibowitz zt”l explains in the name of the Vilna Gaon why one feels pain upon dying. It is the pain of realizing that it is too late to do any more mitzvos! It is the pain of realizing that we could have and should have done more while we were able to.

We, like the ant, should be diligent to use our time in this world to the utmost. We should learn as much Torah and do as many mitzvos as we can.

Parshas Re’eh

Blow Away the Fog!

“See, I present before you today a blessing and a curse.” (Devorim 11:26)

Shimon was Reuvein’s best friend. When they were younger, they used to play toy soldiers together.  Shimon’s toys were so cool. He had all kinds of soldiers, trucks, and tanks.  He had everything. Reuvein wished he could have such cool stuff. Shimon told Reuvein that he was going to give him some of his stuff, at some point. Once, while they were in the middle of playing, Shimon had to leave the room for a few minutes. Reuvein started thinking how he really wanted Shimon’s cool toys.  Furthermore, Shimon had promised to give some to Reuevein. Reuvein thought that Shimon won’t miss a few small things. With those thoughts in mind, Reuvein rationalized and took some of Shimon’s toys for himself. He was right. Shimon didn’t notice that a few, small toys were missing.

Robert was a teacher for many years. Whenever his son, Ralph, needed school supplies, Robert was able to get them from his school. Robert figured that it was okay. The school had so many supplies a they wouldn’t mind if he would use some of them for his personal needs.

Tom was angry at the government. Congress just passed a new tax that would cost Tom thousands of dollars. Tom was furious that this tax only applied to the citizens while all Congressmen were exempt from it. When Tom was filling out his yearly tax forms, he felt that this was his chance. Since the government didn’t treat him fairly, he felt that he had the right to get back at them by cheating on his taxes.

Reuven, Robert, and Tom all had one thing in common. Although they did the wrong thing, they all rationalized that their actions were appropriate.

Moshe told the Jewish People about the blessing and curse that would be said on Mount Gerizim and Mount Eval. If the Jewish People follow Hashem’s commandments then they would receive blessings in abundance. If they would stray from the proper path, then they would receive numerous curses.

We would think that the purpose of hearing the blessings and curses was to motivate the Jews to do mitzvos and avoid sinning. What better motivation could there be than to say if you do the mitzvos you will receive unbelievable reward? What better motivation could there be than to say if you sin you will receive terrible punishments?

The Midrash Rabbah (4:1) gives a different explanation of the purpose of the blessings and curses. The intention was not to motivate us to do mitzvos or to withhold ourselves from sinning. Rather the purpose was to teach us right from wrong.

The explanation of the Midrash is puzzling. Don’t we learn right from wrong from the Torah itself? The laws in the Torah teach us what we can and can not do. Aren’t the blessings and curses just a motivation for us to act properly?

HaRav Henach Leibowitz zt”l posed and then answered this question. He explained that without the motivation of the blessings and curses, we would not do the appropriate actions. We would often rationalize our actions and sin, all the while thinking that we were acting properly and even doing a mitzvah. The yetzer hara has that power to confuse us. If we desire something, we can think of numerous reasons why we would be justified in fulfilling the desire even if the Torah clearly says it would be forbidden. We can even convince ourselves that we are doing nothing wrong. However, deep inside ourselves, we know the truth, that the action we want to do is forbidden. When we visualize reward and punishment, our rationalizations disappear. If we visualize the gates of Gehinnom open, in front of us, with our lives possibly in the balance we won’t be so quick to rationalize our actions. We will be honest with ourselves and only do what is truly permitted. The yiras ha’onesh, the fear of punishment, will remove the “fog of rationalization” and help us think clearly, without rationalizations. Visualizing the magnificent reward awaiting us, will help us do the mitzvos correctly.

Visualizing the glorious reward or serious punishment for our actions will enable us to be honest with ourselves. That will motivate us to act appropriately.

Parshas V’eschanan

Mazal Tov! My Plate Gave Birth!

“Do not add to that which I command you, and do not do less…” (Devorim 4:2)

The Torah and its commandments were Divinely given. They weren’t made by man but by Hashem Himself. They are the absolute truth. Thus, we can’t make any changes in the laws of the Torah. To do so would show that we think we know better than Hashem. Had Hashem felt any changes were “necessary” then Hashem, Himself, would have been incorporated it into the Torah.

Some people may say that we can easily understand why we can’t detract from the Torah. However, what is wrong with adding to the existing laws? Wouldn’t they just increase the scope of the Torah? We can easily understand why the Torah tells us not to do LESS of the mitzvah that we are commanded to do. However, what is wrong if we do more?

Rabbi Yaakov Kranz from Dubno, known as the Dubno Maggid zt”l, answers this question with the following parable:

Reuven once lent a plate to his neighbor, Shimon. When Shimon returned the plate, he gave Reuven an additional plate. Reuven asked Shimon why he gave him two plates. Shimon said that the first plate had “given birth” to the second plate and it rightfully belonged to Reuven. Reuven accepted the second plate from Shimon without another word. A few weeks later, Shimon borrowed a pitcher from Reuven. When he returned it, he gave Reuven two pitchers and gave the same explanation. The pitcher had “given birth” so he returned it to Reuven, its rightful owner. Reuven accepted the second pitcher without saying a word. A few months later, Shimon asked Reuven if he could borrow a silver candlestick. Reuven eagerly said yes. Clearly Reuven was expecting to get back two silver candlesticks. Some time passed and Shimon had not yet returned the candlestick. Reuven went to Shimon to ask for it back. Shimon sadly said that he was sorry, but the candlestick had “died”. Reuven got very upset and told Shimon that candlesticks don’t “die”! Shimon responded that Reuven had not complained when he was told that his plate and pitcher had “given birth”. If he believed that those items could “give birth” then he should also believe that candlesticks could “die”.

The Dubno Maggid explains, if we allow ourselves to add new laws of our own to the Torah then we will gradually forget that the Torah was given by Hashem. We will cease to believe in its Divine nature. Without even realizing it, we will come to stop fulfilling those commandments that seem too difficult or inconvenient. The Torah and the commandments will not be strengthened but weakened. Therefore, the Torah says that not only can’t you subtract from the Torah, you can’t even add to it. (from The Maggid of Dubno and His Parables by Benno Heinemann)

In the Torah, Hashem explicitly permitted our Sages of blessed memory to enact laws to protect the Torah laws (‘You shall safeguard My charge”, Vayikra 18:30). One example is the laws of muktzah, enacted by the Sages to help protect us from transgressing a law of the Torah. However, the Sages had to state explicitly that the law they were enacting was merely a safeguard but not an actual Torah law (Binyan Yehoshua commentary on Avos Drav Nosson 1:3).  The Sages had to clarify that their safeguard was not on equal footing as the Torah law.

Hashem commanded Adam not to eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. When Adam told this warning to Chava, he added that they were not permitted to even touch the tree.  Adam did not tell Chava that this was not Hashem’s command but rather was his own safeguard. As a result, his addition which was meant to safeguard Hashem’s command, had the opposite result and led to the sin of eating the forbidden fruit. (Midrash Rabba 19:3)              

The Torah was written by Hashem. As such, it is perfect and the complete truth. Its laws are eternal. Following Hashem’s commandments is the secret to living a happy and fulfilling life.

Parshas V’zos Habracha

No Good Deed Goes Unnoticed!

“He buried him in the… land of Moav” (Devarim 34:6)

Hashem is very loving and exceedingly just. When you do a good deed Hashem will reward that good deed in a similar way and often through the person you had helped.

An older woman died in a nursing home. She had no known relatives and the nursing home administrator was planning on burying her locally, in an area for the poor of different faiths. After a series of “coincidences” a religious Jew brought her body to New York. He called a few Jewish burial societies to see if they any space. The first few had no space. The next one thought that there was no space either. When they doublechecked, they were surprised that they had one plot left. This woman merited a Jewish burial in a Jewish cemetery. After the burial they discovered an amazing “coincidence”. Many years earlier, this woman and her husband graciously purchased burial plots to donate to the poor. She was buried in the plot that she herself had purchased!

Rabbi Yissocher Frand had tried several times, unsuccessfully, to go to “visit” a relative’s grave. Each time, an urgent matter arose which caused him to postpone it. Finally, the day arrived when he was able to go. As he was leaving the cemetery, he noticed a few people around a grave. They asked him to be the tenth man to complete the minyan, to say kaddish for the person who had just passed away. Had Rabbi Frand not been there, they would have not been able to say kaddish for the benefit of this neshama. After they said kaddish, Rabbi Frand noticed the name of the deceased. It was the man from Seattle who, years earlier was instrumental in helping to send Rabbi Frand to attend Yeshiva high school. Hashem orchestrated events to arrange for Rabbi Frand to be at the cemetery at this exact moment. This enabled Rabbi Frand to give honor to this deceased person. This was a fitting appreciation for what the man had done for him.

Rashi tells us that Hashem, Himself, buried our great leader Moshe. The Midrash asks, “What special merit did Moshe have to receive such an honor?”

The Midrash answers that at the time of redemption from Egypt, all the Jews were busy getting gold, silver and other riches from the Egyptians, as Hashem had requested them to. During this time Moshe busied himself looking for Yosef’s coffin. Before Yosef’s death, the Jewish People had promised that they wouldn’t leave Egypt without taking Yosef’s body with them. Moshe searched tirelessly for three days and three nights, looking all over for Yosef’s coffin. However, he couldn’t find it. Moshe met Serach, Yaakov Avinu’s granddaughter, who was still alive. She told him that the Egyptians had placed Yosef in a heavy metal coffin and sunk it in the Nile river. The Egyptians wanted this tzaddik’s body to bring blessing to the River, causing it to overflow to irrigate their land. They also wanted to ensure that the Jews would never leave Egypt since they wouldn’t be able to find Yosef’s body. Serach showed Moshe exactly where the coffin had been placed. Hashem performed a miracle and Yosef’s coffin rose from the river. Then Moshe took it and carried it away. Hashem told Moshe because you ignored the riches from Egypt to take care of Yosef’s body, I, Myself, will take care of your burial. It was a special merit for Yosef to have Moshe Rabbeinu, himself, be involved in finding and raising his body for burial in Eretz Yisroel. It is interesting to note that it was Yosef, himself, who was involved with burying Yaakov Avinu and he merited that Moshe himself should be involved in his burial.

The Talmud (Sota 13A) praises Moshe for being involved in a mitzvah instead of gathering wealth. The Midrash concludes- Hashem said to Moshe, “You feel that your action [of looking for Yosef’s body] was something insignificant. Your act of kindness was great because you ignored the opportunity to gather riches. I too will act kindly to you and be involved in your burial”.

Hashem repays us for every single act of goodness that we do, measure for measure.

Parshas Ha’azinu

If Hashem is Just, Why is Life So Unfair?

“The Rock, [Hashem], perfect is His work, for all his paths are justice…” (Devarim 32:4)

The Chofetz Chaim zt”l was bothered by the following question: The pasuk declares that Hashem is just. Yet, sometimes we see “injustice” such as a righteous person lacking life’s basic needs like food and clothing. The Chofetz Chaim asked, “Isn’t Hashem also capable of providing the tzadik’s needs without him needing to beg for assistance?”

The Chofetz Chaim answered this question with a parable:

The only child of a very wealthy man fell deathly ill. No doctor could heal him. An expert doctor was brought in from afar and was successful. The doctor told the father that to prevent a relapse, the son must never eat fatty meat. Once, when no one was looking, the son ate some fatty meat and became deathly ill. Only with much effort was the expert doctor successful in saving this child’s life, again. Sometime later the father hosted a party at which he kicked his son out of the dining room. The guests were in shock at the actions of this “cruel” father. Only the father knew that this was an act of love to prevent the death of his beloved son.

Hashem is like the father in this parable. Sometimes Hashem must “remove” a tzadik from the “dining room” FOR HIS OWN BENEFIT, even though bystanders can’t understand the reason.

Everything that Hashem does is for our ultimate good even though we don’t always understand it.

During the Holocaust, there was a brother and sister whose family had perished. The sister was caught by the Nazis and was brought to Gestapo headquarters. The brother couldn’t bear to lose his beloved sister and acted without thinking. He walked into Gestapo headquarters and demanded his sister’s return. The Nazi on duty looked at him in disbelief. He was ready to shoot him on the spot when he had a strange thought. “Jew”, he said, “When you grow hair on the palm of your hand, I will let you take your sister”. The Jew opened his hand and to the Nazi’s shock, there was hair on his palm. With a terrified scream, the Nazi shouted,” Jewish devil! Take your sister and leave, quickly!” The brother and sister ran into the forest and survived the war.

What happened here? A few years earlier, the brother was in an accident in which his hand had gotten caught in a piece of machinery. During surgery, the doctors grafted a piece of skin from his leg onto his palm. The grafted piece of skin grew some hair on it, which was a very unusual occurrence. I am sure, at that time, the brother wasn’t very happy about the accident or his grotesque hand. It was only years later, when this “accident” proved to be the means of his sister’s survival, that the brother could appreciate the past “accident”. [from Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust by Yaffa Eliach]

HASHEM LOVES US SO MUCH AND ALL THAT HE DOES IS FOR OUR ULTIMATE BENEFIT!

Parshas Vayelech

First Impressions Count!

“At the end of seven years… when all the Jews come to appear before Hashem… Gather together the people – the men, the women, and the small children… And their children who do not know – they shall hear, and they shall learn to fear Hashem…” (Devarim 31:10-13)

Susan, a woman in her fifties, had brain surgery. Boruch Hashem it was successful. When she went to the doctor for a follow-up appointment, he casually mentioned to her, “I hear that you love opera”. She looked at the doctor incredulously, “Are you kidding? I hate opera”! He said,” Well, in the middle of the surgery, when we were touching your brain with our instruments, you suddenly started singing opera”. The doctor’s comment bothered Susan very much. Over the next few weeks she tried to figure-out why she would sing opera. At her next appointment, she had her answer. She told the doctor a story that happened to her when she was nine years old. “My class was going to the park for an outing. When we arrived, we were disappointed that we couldn’t go in since an opera was performing”.

Susan’s only experience with opera was the one time when she was nine years old. That memory remained with her – forever. It was dormant but when the doctor touched the part of the brain that held this memory, she started singing the opera that she had heard.

We must be so careful what we see and hear – as children and as adults. The music that we hear and the pictures that we see remain with us forever! They are stored in part of our brain. Certain actions or scenes can trigger that memory and bring it back into our mind.

Every seven years, the entire Jewish nation – men, women, and small children, would come to the Beis HaMikdash, the Holy Temple, to hear the Jewish king read portions of the Torah.

Why were the small children brought? They were incapable of studying the Torah portion that was read. They weren’t even able to listen and understand it on a simple level. Rashi says, they were brought solely to reward the parents who brought them.

The Sforno explains, that the small children who didn’t understand enough to ask, would at least hear the Torah being read. When they got older they would be able to discuss and ask. Perhaps the Sforno means that an indelible impression would be made on the small children, even though they didn’t understand what was being said.

Rabbi Zelig Pliskin quotes Rabbi Simcha Zissel of Kelm: “Even though the young children do not understand what is being said, just being there when the king reads the Torah in the presence of the entire nation will have a major influence on the child for the rest of his life. He gains an experience of how important the Torah is… Every experience makes an impression; make certain to give your children many positive Torah experiences”.

Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky once visited a kindergarten whose mezuzah was placed on a low spot on the doorpost, for the children to kiss it. Rabbi Kamenetzky said, “It’s a lovely idea to let the children reach the mezuzah but put it where it belongs, on the upper third of the doorpost and let the children use a stool to reach it. Otherwise they will grow up thinking that a mezuzah can be put anywhere you wish”.

The circumstances that we put ourselves and our children into, make an indelible impression that will never be erased from our brains. May we always allow only positive impressions to enter.

Parshas Nitzavim

Drill, Drill, Drill “My” Boat -Not “Your” Boat, Gently Down the Stream

“The hidden [sins] are for Hashem, but the revealed [sins] are for us and our children forever, to carry out all the words of this Torah.” (Devarim 29:28)

Zalman, Yisacher, and Beryl went on a boat. When they reached the middle of the ocean, Beryl took an awl and began making a hole in the boat. Yisacher laughed and calmly said to Zalman, “Poor Beryl. Doesn’t he realize that he will drown if he finishes that hole?” Zalman shouted to Beryl to stop. Then he turned to Yisacher and said, “Don’t be a fool! If Beryl would succeed in making a hole, WE WOULD ALL DROWN!”

The entire Jewish nation was standing before Hashem to enter into a covenant with Hashem. The contract was that we would be Hashem’s people and we would accept only Hashem as our G-D.

The covenant of having Hashem as our G-D, places upon us a responsibility for our fellow Jew. If one Jew sins (and we are aware of it) and we don’t try to stop him, we too will be punished for that sin.

All Jews are ONE. We have a natural feeling to help a fellow Jew in need because he is part of our extended family.

When a young Jewish girl was lost in the woods, after a school hiking trip, hundreds of Jews; “strangers” drove upstate to help in the search. Countless thousands around the world davened and said Tehillim (Psalms) for her safe return. The next day the Hatzalah radios announced she was found, unharmed. Jews, “strangers”, the World-over, cried when hearing this good news about their “sister”.

Besides feeling closeness to and oneness with our fellow Jew, we have a responsibility to him and to the entire Jewish People. All Jews are in the “rowboat of life” together. Our destiny is determined by the collective actions of all Jews. If one Jew sins, that affects the rest of us too. Rav Yisroel Salanter used to say that one Jew’s sin affects Jews elsewhere. A sin done by a Jew in America can affect a Jew in Israel. Similarly, a mitzvah done by a Jew in America can protect and save a Jew in Israel (or elsewhere). We should keep in mind the difference that each of us can make by strengthening our mitzvos and being more careful of our sins.

We must always look to strengthen the Torah values of our fellow Jews. When a Jew sins, we can’t turn-away and say, “It’s his problem”. It’s OUR problem! We must instruct and encourage IN A NICE WAY without embarrassing him. If our friend is about to eat non-kosher or to eat kosher without saying a bracha, or about to speak improperly, or to disturb learning or to desecrate Shabbos (to name a few examples), we can’t turn our backs. We can’t say, “I’m too embarrassed to say something to him”. What would have happened if Zalman would have said, “I am too embarrassed to tell Beryl to stop making a hole?” He would have drowned!

Reminding others, in a nice way, to do the right thing will benefit the collective destiny of all Jews.