Small Coincidences

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Posted on May 23, 2019 (5779) By Rabbi Naftali Reich | Series: Legacy | Level: Beginner

 

Fire and thick clouds descended on Mount Sinai as millions of Jewish people trembled in awe at the foot of the mountain. And then the voice of the Almighty spoke directly to all the people, the first and last time that such an incredible divine revelation would occur in all the history of mankind. What did the Almighty say to the Jewish people on that historic day at Mount Sinai? He gave them the Ten Commandments.

 

But what about the rest of the Torah? Where and when was that given to the Jewish people? In fact, all the rest of the Torah was also given to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. The encampment remained at the foot of the mountain for over a year, and during this time, Moses taught the entire Torah to the Jewish people, and the process of study began.

 

This week’s portion, however, when presenting the laws of the sabbatical year, opens with a strange statement. “And Hashem spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, saying . . .” What is the connection between Mount Sinai and the sabbatical year? wonders the Talmud. After all, wasn’t the entire Torah taught at Mount Sinai. Why make particular mention of Mount Sinai with regard to one commandment?

 

The Talmud explains that this we are meant to draw a parallel from this commandment to all the other commandments in the Torah. Just as the laws of the sabbatical year, which require that the land be left fallow every seventh year, were taught in full at Mount Sinai so too were all the laws of the Torah taught there.

 

The question remains: Why were the laws of the sabbatical year singled out as the example which all the other laws follow?

 

The commentators point to an interesting passage a little deeper into the Torah portion we are reading this week. “And if you shall say, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year? Behold, we cannot plant nor gather in our produce,’ then I will command My blessing for you in the sixth year, and it will yield enough produce for three years.”

What an amazing statement! Here is clear proof (among many others) of the divine origin of the Torah. First of all, do laws of the sabbatical year sound like something people would make up? And even if we could conjure up some motivation for instituting such laws, how exactly did they plan to deliver on the three-for-one crop in the sixth year? This was not written by men. It couldn’t have been.

 

This, the commentators explain, is the point the Torah is making here. Just as the sabbatical laws were formulated by the Almighty and not by men, so too are all the other laws of the Torah from Mount Sinai, divine in origin and not the product of human imagination.

 

A man, who had business in a distant city, bid his wife farewell, left his apartment and went out to the street to find a taxi. To his delight, a taxi was standing at the curbside. At the airport, he found a skycap waiting to take his luggage just as he opened his door. His ticket was waiting for him at the counter, and once again, he was delighted to discover he had been assigned his favorite seat. What wonderful coincidences, he thought.

 

The coincidences continued throughout his trip, and he marveled at his good fortune. Finally, he arrived at the hotel in the city of his destination and found that a delicious meal had been prepared for him. Moreover, the food was prepared and arranged exactly as he preferred it!

 

Aha! he thought. This is too much to attribute to coincidence. Now I clearly see my wife’s loving hand. She made sure that I was happy and comfortable every step of the way. I must thank her not only for the meal, but for every convenience I have so fortuitously encountered on my trip.

 

In our own lives, most of us can easily think of at least one or two times when we saw clearly    the Almighty’s hand leading us through difficult times. But think about it. Doesn’t it stand to reason that all the other good things that have happened to us in the normal course of events, all the little coincidences that we are so accustomed to taking for granted, all of these were also engineered by the loving hand of the Almighty? Once we come to this realization, our relationship with Him will rise to a new level and will be forever spiritually enriched.

The Formula for Success

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Posted on May 23, 2019 (5779) By Rabbi Label Lam | Series: Dvar Torah | Level: Beginner

 

Hashem spoke to Moshe on Mount Sinai, saying: Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them: When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall observe a Sabbath rest for HASHEM. For six years you may sow your field and for six years you may prune your vineyard and you may gather in its crop, but the seventh year shall be a complete rest for the land, a Sabbath for HASHEM… (Vayikra 25:1-4)

 

What is the relationship between the “Sabbatical Year” and “Mount Sinai”? Just as the details of the Sabbatical were given on Mount Sinai so all the other Mitzvos and their particulars were given on Mount Sinai. (Rashi)

 

Rashi asks a question and he answers it! What is the connection between Mount Sinai and the Law of the Sabbatical year? It is quite remarkable that the Laws of Shmitta are connected to Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai and the experience in the desert, eating heavenly bread and learning all day is a world apart from entering a physical land with loads of agricultural needs.

 

Why should the Shmitta be mentioned in connection to Mount Sinai? And even according to Rashi what’s the importance of knowing that the details of the Sabbatical were promulgated at Mount Sinai?

 

The Zohar tells us that if Adam HaRishon, the first man, would have eaten first from “The Tree of Life” before eating from the “The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil” then he would have lived forever in the Garden of Eden. We know that that’s not what happened. He ate from “The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Bad”, first and that made all the difference.

 

In practical terms, what are these two trees? They are actually two distinct ways of learning about life. “The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil” is subjectivity. It is the school of hard knocks, not Fort Knox, hard knocks. The tuition for this school is free at first but in the end it turns out to be extremely costly. It’s when we learn and discover through experience.

Many great lessons can be learned through difficult and even bitter experience but the fallout from those lessons linger on. Sure, a person can learn who to marry and how to stay married and how to raise children properly by trial and error, but the human toll and the loss of time and can be devastating and tragic. No one wants to look back and utter the words, “I wish I had known this sooner! I could have saved myself and others loads of aggravation.”

 

Years back we paved a huge piece of land in our backyard and installed a basketball court. “Today I mention my sin”. I took up the cause of setting in cement and assembling the basket. While my oldest son was busy carefully studying the instruction manual, I was already at work putting things together. We came to the same discovery at the same time. He looked up at one moment and declared first you have to put this part on and only then attach the other. I had already done it in reverse order and was wondering why it didn’t fit quite right and why do I have an extra nut and bolt. Well, I messed up and my mistake was unable to be undone. For the next 20 years it always had a distinct wobble; a constant reminder and a permanent monument to my false bravado.

Alternately, “The Tree of Life” is utter objectivity. It’s a code word for Torah. It means making use of the instruction manual for life.

 

Employing “The Tree of the Life” versus “The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Bad” is the difference between going food shopping with an itemized shopping list and food shopping without a list. If one has a list there is a greater likelihood that he will navigate through all the tempting food isles and exit the store with only what was needed. If one doesn’t have list then the shopping cart will be filled with extra junk and the cost will be high.

 

When the Jewish People learned about the Laws of Shmitta well in advance to entering the Land of Israel, they were in fact reversing the faulty trend initiated by Adam HaRishon. Now they were gaining a mind of objectivity before engaging a heart of subjectivity. Learning the laws and the guiding principles of marriage before getting involved in the emotional world of a relationship is the formula for success.

Blind Faith • Torah.org

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Posted on May 23, 2019 (5779) By Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky | Series: Drasha | Level: Beginner

 

The commandment of Shemitah is a test of our faith and an examination in our true belief in the Almighty’s ability to sustain us. The Torah commands us that every seven years we must let the land of Israel lie fallow, with no harvesting or planting of crops. But Hashem promises us that if “you shall perform My decrees, and observe My ordinances and perform them, then you shall dwell securely on the land. The land will give its fruit and you will eat your fill; you will dwell securely upon it” (Leviticus 25:18-19). Rashi explains the blessing “even if you eat only a little, it will be blessed in your stomach,” The little you eat will grow into a bounty of satiation. But after assuring us that our little will feel plentiful the Torah talks to the naysayers. The Torah talks about that group of people. “If you will say – What will we eat in the seventh year? — behold! We will not sow and not gather in our crops!” Hashem assures them as well. “I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year and it will yield a crop sufficient for the three-year period.” (Ibid v.20-21)

The Kli Yakar and a host of other commentaries ask. Why should a Jew ask that troubling question? Didn’t Hashem command his abundant blessing in the sixth year? Didn’t the little bit of food leave them satisfied? Why do they have concern about the ensuing years?

 

My dear friend Rabbi Benyamin Brenig of Golders Green, London recently related this wonderful story to me: Reuvain and Shimon were two men, who lived on opposite ends of town. They each inherited a fortune of gold. Each of them decided to bury their fortunes in their backyards. They wanted to make sure that they would have something to sustain them in their old age. On their respective properties, they each picked a landmark, paced twenty steps due north and dug a large hole.

Reuvain, the more nervous of the two, was careful to make sure that no one was watching. Every other second he glanced furtively over his shoulder to make sure that no one saw him bury the treasure. No one did.

 

Shimon, by nature, was trusting and carefree and he was not so careful. He was not worried that anyone would steal his fortune. But he was wrong. He was spotted by a nosy neighbor, who was also a thief.

 

In the middle of the night, the thief dug up the fortune. Out of mercy, he left few coins at the bottom of the pit, and removed the coins. He refilled the hole and packed the ground perfectly as if nothing was disturbed. Then he took off with the fortune.

 

Reuvain’s fortune, however, remained intact. But he was, by nature, a worrier. And so, the next day he decided to dig up the hole to make sure that the gold was still there.

Accidentally, he counted only fifteen paces from his landmark and dug. There was nothing there. Reuvain was frantic. Someone must have seen him dig the pit, he figured. For the rest of his life, he worried. On his property, he had a pit filled with gold coins, but all Reuvain did was worry!

Shimon on the other hand had nothing but the remnants of a few coins. Everything else was stolen. But he never checked the fortune, and was merrily content, assured that when the time would come he could dig up the pit and retrieve his fortune. Reuvain, the millionaire, died heartbroken and frantic. Shimon, the man with but a few coins left for his old-age lived his life content as if he was the wealthiest man in the world.

 

The Torah tells us about the different types of blessings. For the faithful, Hashem says, “I will command my blessing in the sixth year,” in which Rashi assures us that even a bit will feel like a bounty. But we must acknowledge that despite Heavenly assurances, there are those who always worry. They need to see the money! They ask, “What will we eat in the seventh year? Behold! We will not sow and not gather in our crops!” Hashem must assure them that he will increase their bounty in a way that is visible to them.

Some of us can believe without seeing immediate results. We can sleep well, with full satisfaction on empty stomachs. The greatest expression of faith is when we do not see the blessing, but we feel it in our hearts and even in our stomachs. That blessing transcends tangibility, and the fear of deficiency. I think that is a noble goal.

 

For the rest of us, those who keep looking over their shoulder and check their fortunes every day, they need a different type of blessing. Sometimes we dig for tangible salvation, even though the treasure is sitting undisturbed in our own backyard.

 

Dedicated by Aleeza & Avi Lauer and Family, in memory of Avi’s father, Rabbi Elias Lauer – Harav Eliezer Ben Aharon Dovid, A”H, on the occasion of his yartzeit, 26th day of Iyar, and in memory of Avi’s grandfather, Aaron Lauer – Ahron Dovid Ben Eliezer, A”H, on the occasion of his yartzeit, 28th day of Iyar.

Good Shabbos!

Copyright © 1997 by Rabbi M. Kamenetzky and Project Genesis, Inc.

 

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The author is the Dean of the Yeshiva of South Shore.

 

Drasha is the e-mail edition of FaxHomily, a weekly torah facsimile on the weekly portion which is sponsored by The Henry and Myrtle Hirsch Foundation