Reducing The Distance From Head To Heart

Parshas Vaeschanan

Posted on August 14, 2019 (5779) By Rabbi Shlomo Jarcaig | Series: Kol HaKollel | Level: Beginner

After relating some of the miracles that G-d performed on behalf of the Jewish people, and prior to commanding us to keep the mitzvos (Divine commandments), the Torah instructs us, “You shall know this day and take to your heart that G-d, He is the Lord – in the heavens above and on the earth below – there is none other.” (Devarim/Deuteronomy 4:39)

 

It is part of human nature that our rational knowledge that certain actions and attitudes are wrong, when this knowledge is not taken to heart, will most likely do nothing to change our behavior and help us to become better people. The Torah, therefore, advises us that in order to truly be a G-d conscious Jew we must take our knowledge of what is right and wrong and actively instill it within our hearts. Our challenge is: How exactly are we supposed to take this knowledge to heart? We are often fully cognizant that we have developed habits that, while enjoyable, are ultimately harmful. What do we have to do in order to bring our knowledge of right and wrong from our heads to our hearts?

 

In the preface of his classic work, Mesilas Yesharim (Path of the Just), Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1) states that it is quite possible that the reader will not find in the text many things of which he was not already aware. The stated purpose for writing the book was to remind people of these essential concepts and philosophies and, through constant and consistent review, the ideas will be inculcated into one’s daily activity due to his heightened awareness.

 

Another approach to help us take these ideas from the conceptual to the practical is that of Rabbeinu Bachya (2), who advocates intense meditation upon the conceptual truth. A more profound understanding and appreciation of the ramifications of one’s actions can help prevent him from justifying the negative consequence of the deed.

 

Whatever method works for a particular individual, the Torah is telling us that it is our responsibility to see to it that we take our knowledge of true right and wrong to heart, and act upon it. By setting aside time to focus upon our actions, understanding them, and reminding ourselves of the course we genuinely wish to follow, we will be able to excise our bad habits and become the type of people the Torah is encouraging us to become.

 

Have a Good Shabbos!

Fatalism and Acceptance

Parshas Vaeschanan

Posted on July 21, 2021 (5781) By Rabbi Berel Wein | Series: Rabbi Wein | Level: Beginner

Although our teacher Moshe figuratively tears down the gates of Heaven with his prayers and supplications to be allowed to enter the land of Israel, his wish is not granted. Over the centuries, the commentators have offered various explanations as to why Heaven, so to speak, remains so adamant in refusing his request and prayer.

 

Even though many great and noble insights have been advanced to rationalize and explain this refusal of the prayers by Moshe, the question itself remains a vexing one, even thousands of years later.

 

The simplest and, perhaps, least satisfying answer to the problem is simply that we can never understand or fathom the judgments and decisions of Heaven. The mortal mind can never cross the line of eternity and will always be left with questions and difficulties. All of this is encompassed in the words of G-d: “No human being while alive can fathom or see Me”.

 

Naturally, we are greatly frustrated by our inability to deal with eternity on a rational basis. We are frustrated by the realization of our limitations, whether they be physical, mental, spiritual, or even mundane. The aptitude to live and function within the limitations of one’s own shortcomings is a great talent, and, unfortunately, there are many who do not possess it, and are constantly unhappy, disappointed, frustrated, pessimistic and morose.

 

All the utopian ideas and legislation currently being promoted in much of the Western world is simply an outlet for the disappointment that is felt when one realizes that society is not perfect, and that life usually is messy.

 

Moshe is told by Heaven that he should no longer pursue this course of prayer. He is to give up on his lifelong dream and accept the will of Heaven, even though he may not understand or agree with the decision that is being rendered. This becomes part of the matrix of the greatness of Moshe, in that he does accept this judgment against him, and we do not find him pursuing the matter any longer.

 

In his closing words to the Jewish people, Moshe will refer again to the fact that he will not lead them into the land of Israel, and that he will die and be buried in the land of Moab. But these statements are not made in bitterness or in complaint, but simply in recognition of the truth of the situation that faces him and the Jewish people.

 

Judaism is a religion of optimism, opportunity, and multiple choices, but contains within it a certain degree of fatalism – an understanding that the will of Heaven will not be thwarted, no matter what, and no matter how mysterious it may appear to an ordinarily mortal.

 

In Yiddish, this streak of fatalism is expressed in the word ‘bashert’. After all our attempts and actions have taken place, there still is this element that governs the outcome after all our efforts and seeming accomplishments. Such is the relationship between the created and the Creator.

 

Shabbat shalom

Rabbi Berel Wein

 

 

In Our Best Interest

Parshas Devarim

The Three Weeks

Posted on July 19, 2023 (5783) By Rabbi Elly Broch | Series: Kol HaKollel | Level: Beginner

“You slandered in your tents and said because G-d hates us he took us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorite to destroy us.” (Devarim/Deuteronomy 1:27) In his review of Jewish history in the wilderness, Moshe admonished the Children of Israel for the episode of the Spies (Bamidbar/Numbers 13 & 14), who brought back a discouraging report and gloomy forecast of the prospect of conquering the Land of Israel. This precipitated bitter complaints from the Jewish Nation.

 

Sforno (1) explains the masses believed that they earned G-d’s displeasure due to the indiscretions they had committed while in Egypt, especially the sin of idolatry. They admitted their past misdeeds and attributed them as the cause of their apparently hopeless situation. That they felt unworthy of Divine assistance in conquering the Land of Israel would seem to be a sign of humility. If repentance and introspection into one’s deeds are positive undertakings, why were the People of Israel so severely criticized and punished for their reaction?

 

Rabbi Avigdor Miller (2) explains that in every situation of difficulty or adversity one must contemplate the real possibility that the challenge is a blessing that is soon to be realized. This generation had witnessed G-d’s great kindliness towards them and Moshe was now leading them to gain the great and fertile land of Israel. This Nation of great spiritual stature was expected to focus upon the great delight that had been foretold to them instead of mourning and worrying that their past misdemeanors would now frustrate their entitlement to Israel.

 

A story is told of a family from London planning a vacation to Florida over 15 years ago. Given the many expenses of an international vacation, they opted for a less expedient but less expensive flight. To their dismay, they learned their Air India flight from London had been delayed by many hours that, aside from the inherent inconvenience, would also cause complications with the connecting flight from New York. To their surprise, there were still vacant seats on the more expensive flight and it was leaving in the next couple of hours. But the increased expense would so deplete their resources they would have insufficient funds for their time in America. Heavy hearted, they made accommodation plans for the long wait until their flight, and they watched enviously as the passengers boarded the earlier plane. A short time later the news announced a plane had exploded over Scotland minutes after its departure from London. Soon it became evident that the plane that exploded above Lockerbie was the Pan Am flight that was too expensive.

 

It is a fundamental Jewish principle that the Creator of the World Who bestowed upon us the wonders and beauty of nature and Who took us to be His Nation only has beneficial intentions towards us. The Torah and Prophets are replete with examples in which hopeless and frustrating situations turn out to yield the greatest benefits and opportunities (see Beraishis/Genesis 29, the story of Yosef/Joseph). Obviously, in retrospect, it was ridiculous for the family in the story to have become despondent over their lack of funds for the earlier flight and their subsequent long delay. However, living in the present with this G-d consciousness takes a great deal of work. Sometimes the advantageous components of situations take a long time to surface; at other times they can elude us completely.

 

In our haste, we often jump to conclusions when we encounter challenges and difficulties. Our efforts yield results different than we had envisioned and our plans and goals appear frustrated. But the Jewish Nation was severely rebuked for jumping to the conclusion that G-d hated them. We must maintain the conviction that our Creator, Who throughout history has enabled our nation to survive two millennia of exile and has demonstrated His love by blessing us constantly with His benevolence, is not punishing us and certainly does not wish ill upon us. Our limited scope and perspective may, at times, make it impossible for us to logically understand why we experience certain life events. But our souls know that the myriad stories of clear Divine intervention – whether in ancient times with Yosef, or in our times with this writer’s family not flying Pan Am – serve as beacons to the truth that G-d cares and is involved, and, in providing us with everything we have, He gives us only what is in our best interest.

 

Have a Good Shabbos!

 

The Stuff of Real Life

Parshas Masei

Posted on July 6, 2021 (5781) By Rabbi Naftali Reich | Series: Legacy | Level: Beginner

This week’s Torah portion concludes with an overview of the Jewish nation’s wanderings in the wilderness, as well as key laws and preparations associated with their inheriting the land. Moshe Rabbeinu designated six Levite cities, three in Eretz Yisrael and three in Trans-Jordan, as cities of refuge where an accidental murderer can escape an avenger from the victim’s family.

 

Although his act of homicide was not premeditated, the Torah considers him culpable for being negligent, and not adequately protecting another’s life. The time he spends in the Ir Miklat will enable him to realign his values and correct the habits that led to his negligent behavior. The Levite city was the ideal place to achieve this rehabilitation. The Levites were landless and wholly devoted to teaching and guiding their fellow Jews. Even while in Egypt, the Levites were preoccupied with spiritual advancement, and distanced themselves from the pursuit of material prosperity.

 

Their conduct was emblematic of the highest degree of moral responsibility. Living among people of this caliber would re-educate and sensitize the murderer to the supreme sanctity of human life.

 

The Talmud asks why were there precisely the exact number of “refuge” cities in Trans Jordan as there were in Israel? After all, Trans Jordan was only home to two and a half tribes, while the remaining nine lived in Israel. Why not distribute the cities of refuge in a way that would more accurately reflect the demographics?

 

The Talmud answers that in Trans Jordan there were more homicides and the population’s sensitivity to human life became diminished. The likelihood of accidental murder was therefore greater. The average citizen was less conscious of the need to exert himself to the utmost to protect his fellow Jew; he would be more likely to pursue his own needs at the expense of his fellow citizen.

 

The great sage R’ Itzel of Volozhin offers a different interpretation of the Talmud’s assertion that bloodshed was more prevalent in Trans-Jordan, thus requiring more cities of refuge in that region. The problem, he explains, lay not in the higher incidences of accidental homicide in Trans-Jordan but in the over-eagerness to avenge it. Since the inhabitants of Ever HaYarden were less sensitive to murder, it was far more likely that an accidental killer would be pursued by a family member driven to exact vengeance for unsavory reasons. The Torah therefore provided the perpetrator with more immediate access to an Ir Miklat.

 

The culture of tolerance toward bloodshed would delude people into thinking they were motivated by moral principles in trying to avenge their relative’s death, when all too often they were simply trying to even the score with a hapless fellow Jew.

 

The underlying message of the portion is that nothing affects our mindset and value system more than our social environment. We are all conditioned by repeated and constant exposure to the prevailing culture. Harmful outside influences can easily pollute our ability to distinguish right from wrong and can easily desensitize us from appreciating the value and sanctity of every humans life.

 

This underscores the importance of ensuring that our homes are bastions of light, joy and an appreciation for the kedusha of Klal Yisroel. These values must permeate the atmosphere to the point where they are imprinted on the minds and hearts of our children. Only by building our homes according to the Torah’s blueprint can we turn them into lighthouses of positive energy. They will thus become the miniature ‘cities of refuge’ that will protect ourselves and our families from the steady onslaught of moral decay and corruption in the surrounding culture.

 

Wishing you a wonderful Shabbos

 

Creatures of Our Environment

Parshas Matos Masei

Posted on July 24, 2003 (5763) By Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Series: Lifeline | Level: Beginner

In this week’s reading, G-d commands the nation of Israel to set aside Cities of Refuge throughout the land — three in the Land of Canaan, and three east of the Jordan River.

 

A City of Refuge could only be used by a person who killed another accidentally, but negligently. An alleged murderer would be taken from the city and judged, and returned only if the killing was unintentional. A truly accidental killing, on the other hand, was not punished — a person was liable only if he or she might have taken appropriate precautions and avoided the accident. So the Torah prescribed very different treatment for those who murdered, those guilty of manslaughter, and those who were blameless.

 

The Talmud tells us that there were two parallel lines of three Cities of Refuge running from north to south, on each side of the Jordan. The three cities on each side were divided such that each was equidistant from the others and also from the borders — dividing the Land of Israel into equal quarters from north to south.

 

There is, however, an obvious problem with this division. A person living in the middle of the country would have to travel no more than half the distance that a person on the northern or southern border would travel in order to reach the nearest city. Someone who lived at the midpoint between the northern and middle cities would have to travel one-eighth of the length of the country to reach either city, but someone living in the very south of the country would have to travel one quarter of its length to reach the southernmost City of Refuge.

 

Perhaps one could resolve this question by saying that the center of the country was more populous, so more cities were required. But if so, we have a different problem: there were three cities on each side of the Jordan River, while the great majority of the population lived in the Land of Canaan on the western side.

 

Abbaye, one of the great scholars of the Talmud, provides a very simple answer: there were more cities where there were more murderers! Those areas with more cities per square mile had more people who needed to make use of them, resulting in a roughly even division of population between the six cities.

 

There is something wrong with this answer, though. As we just discussed, the Cities of Refuge were not for murderers, but only for those guilty of manslaughter, those who had negligently but not deliberately killed someone. The relative abundance or paucity of murderers should not matter.

 

Some of the early commentators, such as the Ramba”n (Nachmanides), answer by pointing out that murderers would also flee to these cities, in order to make their actions look accidental or under the misconception that they would be safe there. Since it took time to clarify who could stay and who would be removed, more cities were needed where murderers were more common.

 

There is also, though, another possibility. Indeed, there were more Cities of Refuge where there were more murderers, and not only because the murderers would run there. In places where there were more murderers, there was less concern for life — and this was something that affected even those who would never contemplate deliberate homicide. Those who were exiled were hardly murderers — they made a mistake! They didn’t look carefully, they didn’t think carefully — but this very lack of caution and concern for human life also enabled the lowest members of society to contemplate murder.

 

We cannot imagine that when we live in a world where not only common street criminals but corporate executives engage in thievery, we will not be tempted to “borrow” that which is not ours. And we cannot delude ourselves by thinking that we can expose ourselves to thousands of murders per year on television and in movies, and we will remain every bit as committed to the sanctity of life. We are, indeed, creatures of our environment.

 

It is our responsibility, then, to build a different environment – to remove poisonous influences from our lives as much as possible, and to surround ourselves with role models, friends and other influences that promote love, life, and holiness.

 

Good Shabbos,

Rabbi Yaakov Menken

 

 

No Little Things

Parshas Pinchas

Posted on July 5, 2023 (5783) By Rabbi Naftali Reich | Series: Legacy | Level: Beginner

What is the image that comes to mind when we think of the ideal national leader? Someone who has a grasp of the issues, who can see the big picture. Someone who is strong and courageous, who can hold his own in the arena of international affairs in times of war and peace. Someone who has a vision for the future and the ability to make it happen. Someone who, through his words and actions, can inspire and galvanize his people.

 

But in this week’s Torah portion we find an altogether different measure of leadership. As the Jewish people approach the Promised Land, Hashem appoints Joshua as the successor to Moses. And what is his qualification for leadership? That he is attuned to the spirit of each and every individual Jew.

 

The commentators explain that this is the overriding quality required of a leader. It is not enough for a leader to have grand schemes and plans. It is not enough for a leader to deliver soul-stirring addresses to the people. A leader must be able to relate to his people on every level. He must be sensitive to their needs and aspiration. He must empathize with their pain and joy. A true leader cannot stand off in the distance. He must be thoroughly attuned to the most minor requirements of his people in order to lead effectively. For a true leader, there are no little things.

 

For forty years, Moses had fulfilled this role. During all this time, as he enjoyed daily prophetic encounters with Hashem, Moses was constantly growing in holiness until he reached a point where he was, according to the Midrash, half human, half angel. Even so, whenever the people had challenged the divine will, he had fathomed their motivations and defended them. Even as he ascended from the mundane to the celestial, the gulf between him and his people had never widened to the point where he could not relate to them. Now that it was time for a change in leadership, Hashem chose Joshua who also excelled in his sensitivity to the nuances of each individual’s spirit. This was the fundamental quality that Hashem wanted for a Jewish leader.

 

A revolutionary general was trying to revive the fighting spirit of his trapped and starving guerillas. “If we can fight our way out of this corner,” he announced, “I will issue a large bonus to each man. You will have enough money to buy all the bread and meat and fruits and vegetables you need to recover your strength.”

 

The guerillas responded to the promise. They fought like tigers and were able to break out and get away. As soon as they got to safer territory, the general, true to his word, awarded each man his bonus. The next day, the one of the general’s aides stormed into his tent.

 

“Sir, a whole group of the men took their bonus money and wasted it!”

 

“Indeed?” said the general. “And what did they do?”

 

“Instead of buying food to rebuild their strength,” the aide said furiously, “they spent all their money on tiny tins of caviar!”

The general stroked his chin thoughtfully for a few moments.

 

“Thank you for telling me this,” he said to his aide. “It is important information. This caviar must have been very important to them if they would spend all their money on it even when they are starving and exhausted. Apparently, the men need occasional splurges of luxury to help them deal with the tensions of battle. I will make sure to provide it for them in the future.”

 

In our own lives, as we seek to grow spiritually, we must never lose sight of the physical needs of those around us. A great sage once said, “My spiritual need is to serve the physical needs of others.” There is profound spiritual fulfillment in bringing comfort and happiness to other people, even on the physical level. But in order to do so, we must be extremely sensitive and attuned, for as people are different from each other so are their needs.

 

Text Copyright © 2008 by Rabbi Naftali Reich and Torah.org.

 

Great Leaders

Parshas Pinchas

Posted on July 5, 2023 (5783) By Rabbi Shlomo Jarcaig | Series: Kol HaKollel | Level: Beginner

In his first public address to his followers after he was appointed as a leader in the community of Vilna some 120 years ago, Rabbi Yaakov HaDarshan took note of a peculiarity in the verses in which Moshe requests of G-d to appoint a new leader. As Moshe neared the end of his life, he expressed to G-d his concern that he be replaced with a competent leader.

 

“May G-d, Lord of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the assembly, who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall take them out and bring them in; and let the assembly of G-d not be like sheep that for them there is no shepherd.” (Bamidbar/Numbers 27:16-17) Following the maxim that the Torah is always concise and precise in its use of words – never is there a superfluous, purposeless expression – Rabbi Yaakov noted the most succinct way for Moshe to conclude his request would be to ask that the assembly not be like sheep “bli roeh”, without shepherd; why did the Torah add seemingly unnecessary words and ask that they not be like sheep “asher ein lahem roeh”, that for them there is no shepherd? The word “lahem” – for them – is a necessary characteristic of a leader. Moshe knew that there would certainly be another leader. His concern was that it be a leader who would not be concerned with his own honor and reputation.

 

They would certainly have a new shepherd, but Moshe wanted to make sure that he would be “lahem”, for them.

 

Indeed, the Midrash (Shemos Rabbah 2:2) tells us that before G-d chose to appoint King David as the leader of His nation, He tested him to see if he was compassionate with the sheep of which he was then in charge. In order to earn the responsibility of being the King of Israel, he had to demonstrate that he was prepared to sacrifice his own energies for those under his charge.

 

Going about our daily business most of us do consider ourselves to be amongst “the leaders”, but, in reality, we are all leaders in particular circumstances in our lives. As responsible superiors we are the mentor for our children and coworkers; in many circumstances we become a role model for peers and acquaintances. The Torah’s paradigm for leadership is an essential lesson for all: the successful leader is one who focuses on the needs and wants of the constituency.

 

Have a Good Shabbos!