Parshas Re’eh

Feel Safe in This Pilot’s hands!

“You are children to Hashem your G-D – You shall not cut yourselves… For you are a holy people to Hashem…” (Devarim 14:1-2)

Every person has difficulties and challenges in life. Many tragedies occur every day. Why do they happen? Doesn’t Hashem love us?

The Ibn Ezra gives a novel explanation of the above pasuk. “Since you know that you are “children to Hashem” and He loves you more than a father loves his child, do not cut yourself in anguish over anything that He does – For everything that He does for you is for the best. And this is so even if you do not understand it, just as small children sometimes do not understand the actions of their father but rely on him nevertheless. For you are a holy people, unlike the rest of the nations…”.

A small child can’t understand why a father hit his hands. Yet, it was a loving hit, to keep his hands from getting burned from touching the hot flame on the stove.

Rabbi Akiva was traveling with his donkey, rooster and a lantern. Towards evening he entered a small town and was refused lodging. He couldn’t understand why not, but he kept his faith that whatever Hashem does is for the best. As Rabbi Akiva prepared to sleep in the nearby forest, wild animals killed his donkey and rooster. He didn’t complain to Hashem, “Why are You doing these terrible things to me?” Rather, his response was, “Whatever Hashem does is for the best”. He gave the same response when the wind blew out the flame on his lantern, just as he was learning Torah. The next morning, when Rabbi Akiva re-entered the town it was deserted. Robbers had come in the middle of the night and kidnapped all the townspeople. Now Rabbi Akiva understood that everything that had happened to him had actually saved him from being kidnapped.

The Ramban once made a deal with a dying student. The Ramban agreed to accept the responsibility of marrying – off his student’s seven daughters if his student would return to him in a dream (after he died) to explain why Hashem was bringing such terrible pain and anguish on the Jewish People. The student did not appear to The Ramban in a dream until after his seventh daughter was married. He explained that he had not come sooner because from his perspective in heaven, he didn’t see any bad things happening to the Jews! In heaven, he had a clear understanding that all that was occurring was truly good!!

I remember reading a Midrash, when I was younger, about Eliyahu the prophet. Eliyahu came down to the earth to travel with a specific person. At night they were graciously welcomed into the home of a poor couple. The couple gladly shared their supper with the guests. They gave them their own straw mattresses to sleep on. The next morning, after opening their home so graciously, their only cow died. The next night Eliyahu and his companion tried to get lodging in the mansion of a very rich man. They were refused. Only after much pleading, did the rich man permit them to sleep in the barn with his animals. The next morning, Eliyahu showed his appreciation by fixing a stone wall that was about to fall. Eliyahu’s traveling companion was dumbfounded. The kind couple was “punished” while the unkind, wealthy person was “rewarded”? Eliyahu explained that man cannot understand the actions of Hashem, his loving Father. Things are not what they seem. It had been decreed that the poor man’s wife was supposed to die that morning. Because of their act of kindness, Hashem killed their cow instead. There was a treasure under the rich man’s fence. His unkind actions made him undeserving of the treasure. Eliyahu fixed his wall so well that it would not fall and uncover the treasure.

Rabbi Ashear tells the story of a young girl who was a passenger on the plane. The turbulence was so bad that the other passengers were very afraid. This young girl was totally calm. She explained that her father was the pilot. She felt totally safe in his hands; She knew that he would bring her safely home.

We should always feel the way this young girl did. Hashem, our loving Father, is piloting the plane of life. He is directing everything that that happens to us, to be only good for us. Through the turbulent ride of life, we should feel the same calm confidence that our Father will get us safely to our destination.

Parshas Eikev

I Also Want To Be A Heavyweight Lifter!

“This shall be the reward when you listen to these mitzvos”. (Devarim 7:12)

According to Rashi, Hashem promises bountiful blessings if we fulfill the “minor” mitzvos-Those mitzvos that we consider unimportant-the ones we “trample on”.

Vasily Alekseyev was the Soviet super heavyweight lifter who reigned as the so-called world’s strongest man in the 1970s. He gradually lifted more and more until he lifted a world-record 1,323 pounds!

Ben Azzai said (Pirkei Avos 4:2) a person should run to do a “minor” mitzvah. There are various explanations what that means. Rabbeinu Yonah explains, when you perform a mitzvah you become conditioned to obey Hashem’s will. It is just like weightlifting. After doing one “minor” mitzvah which seems unimportant or is very easy to perform, you are then able to do another mitzvah which is slightly more difficult than the first one. When you do three “easy” mitzvos it becomes habit-forming. Then you will do mitzvos even if they are more difficult for you to do.

Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi said (Pirkei Avos 2:1) to be as careful in performing a “minor” mitzvah as you are in performing a “major” mitzvah because you don’t know the reward for mitzvos. Maybe the mitzvah that you feel is insignificant is the one that Hashem values the most.

There is a parable about a king who asked workers to plant an orchard for him. He said that he would pay a different amount for each type of tree – but he didn’t specify the amounts. Had he told them which tree he would pay the most for, that is the only tree that they would have planted. This way the king had a beautiful orchard with all types of trees. Similarly, the Torah doesn’t specify the specific reward for mitzvos. If it would, we would only do the more “valuable” ones. Then we would be lacking in total perfection, which requires us to do all the mitzvos.

Rav Yisroel Salanter explained that for some mitzvos the Yetzer Hara doesn’t fight against us as strongly as he does for others. These mitzvos are easier to do. If we fail to fulfill these “easy” ones, we are held more accountable.

The Maharal explained that even for a mitzvah which you don’t think will result in much reward, the reward is very great.

The giant, Og, once did a specific good deed for selfish reasons. He informed Avraham that his nephew Lot was captured. Even though he had an ulterior motive for doing so, Og received abundant longevity.

Our matriarch Rivkah performed an act of kindness – giving water to tired travelers and their camels. The way in which she did this mitzvah was so special that it elevated this mundane action, making her worthy of becoming the mother of the Jewish People.

We were created to perform mitzvos. Performing mitzvos helps our souls feel good. The Yetzer Hara is always trying to prevent us from doing them. We should take advantage and not ignore the “minor” mitzvos that come our way. It is very easy to respond amen to a bracha or to a kaddish. It is easy to say a bracha before eating. It is generally easy to lend or share a small item to/with a friend. It is easy to wear tzitzis. There are many other easy mitzvos which we can do.

When we “grab” the “minor/easy” mitzvos, we get tremendous reward! We also become conditioned to obey Hashem’s will and it becomes easier for us to do the “more challenging” mitzvos.

Parshas V’eschanan

Grab Them While You Can!

“Then Moshe set aside three cities on the bank of the Jordan…” (Devarim 4:41)

When the Jews would eventually settle in the Land of Israel, some cities would be set aside as “safe (refuge) cities”. A person who killed accidentally could run to one of those six “safe cities” and be protected from harm (from the victim’s relatives).

Before Moshe died, he designated three cities on the side of the Jordan River, outside the Land of Israel. These cities would serve as “safe cities” for the two and a half tribes that would live there.

Why did Moshe go to the trouble of designating these three cities? What did he accomplish? After all, these cities would not be open and operating as “safe cities” until the Jews were totally settled in the Land of Israel and the rest of the “safe cities” would be designated. That would not happen for numerous years. Why was Moshe “wasting his time” doing a meaningless action?

Rashi answers, Moshe felt very strongly that he should do any mitzvah he possibly could. Even if he couldn’t complete it, at least he should start it.

The Sforno adds that Moshe had just finished telling the Jewish people the importance of keeping the mitzvos. Now he wanted to demonstrate to the Jews this very important lesson. He wanted them to understand how meaningful and significant it is to do a mitzvah.

We see a beautiful lesson in the importance of doing mitzvos. Do as much as you can; grab as many mitzvos as possible! Start them even if you will not be able to complete them!

There is a beautiful story from the Chofetz Chaim illustrating this point:

A poor person sailed to a far-off island in hope of becoming rich. When he arrived, he started pocketing diamonds that were all-over the street. He soon stopped, after the natives laughed at his foolishness. Diamonds had no value in their country as they were freely strewn all over. Instead, he spent his time earning chicken fat, which was valuable there. After a year, the man returned home. He realized that he had wasted his time when he was on that island instead of gathering diamonds which were truly valuable to him.

The Chofetz Chaim explains that we are in this World to collect as many mitzvos (which are true riches, like the diamonds in the story) as we can. Many mitzvos are so easy to do (just as it was easy to collect the diamonds which were just lying in the streets). Unfortunately, many people spend their time collecting money and things at the expense of collecting mitzvos.

We can’t lose focus on what “true wealth” is – the performance of mitzvos.

Parshas Devarim

Who is Our Not-So Secret Admirer?

“…We went through the entire great and awesome Wilderness…” (Devarim 1:19)

Imagine that you have a secret admirer who loves you so much. He will secretly do anything for you. In fact, he has already done many things for you without your knowledge. He has even saved your life a few times, unbeknownst to you. How can you feel anything towards him if you don’t even know that he takes care of you and loves you?

In this week’s parsha, Moshe discusses the past events that occurred to the Jewish People. After they left Har Sinai, Hashem led the Jews through “the great and awesome Wilderness”. Rashi and others explain that the wilderness is described as great and awesome because of the enormous and terrifying snakes and scorpions that they saw in this wilderness. The Mizrachi asks, “How could the Jews have feared these animals if they didn’t see them – Didn’t the Heavenly cloud that protected and preceded them kill all the snakes and scorpions?” The Sifri answers, that they saw the rotting and terrifying bodies of the dead snakes and scorpions, as they passed them along the way. Just the sight of those terrifying creatures gave the Jews goosebumps.

Why did Hashem leave the carcasses of these terrifying creatures for the Jews to see? Perhaps it was to clearly show, unlike the secret admirer above, how much Hashem truly loves us. Hashem takes care of us constantly and protects us regularly. The Kli Chemda (Rabbi Shmuel Laniado, student of Rav Yosef Caro) explains that Hashem purposely sent the Jews along this dangerous route so that we would recognize Hashem’s kindness & the miracles that He does for us. This would also give the Jews the added courage when they would have to fight against the mighty kings of Canaan, as they entered the Land of Israel.

In Parshas Chukas, the Amorites were planning on ambushing the Jews as we came through a valley, on the way to the Land of Israel. Hashem miraculously saved us. Hashem said, “Who is going to tell My children about these miracles (of how I saved them)?” Hashem caused the well of Miriam to flow near the Jews, carrying the blood and bodies of their enemy. Then they realized that Hashem had performed miracles for them.

Hashem loves us more than we can imagine. He only wants what is truly good for us (even though, at times, it might not be evident to us). Hashem has performed miracles for us (as a people and as individuals) to show His love for us and His desire to take care of us. We should always feel His love.

Similarly, when we do a favor for people or for their children we should let them know about it! When they see how much we love them or their children, they will feel loved and cherished by us. They will then reciprocate our love.

All this love, of one Jew for another, will help bring Moshiach speedily.