BS"D

RE'EH
Set Your Sites

FRIDAY NIGHT:

See, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse... Devarim 11:26)

This is the third "Shabbat of Consolation", which is easier to feel since
Tisha B'Av is now far behind us. Sometimes Tisha B'Av falls early in the
week, and there is time to become consoled by Shabbat Nachamu. However,
this year Tisha B'Av fell on Thursday, and having one day to catch up on
the cleaning in advance of Shabbat, only served to emphasize that we were
mourning for the calamities of the Ninth of Av.

With a war raging in the background, and many of the Gedolei Torah coming
out against taking "vacations", especially trips for pleasure, there is
little consolation this year. Now, I don't know about you, but for me,
once Tisha B'Av leaves I feel as if I am on a fast track to Rosh Hashanah
and the Aseret Yemai Teshuvah, the most serious time of the year. Summers
aren't what they used to be when I was young.

Indeed, the "Three Weeks" are VERY connected to the Aseret Yemai Teshuvah,
to the extent that they are considered to be the preparation for Aseret
Yemai Teshuvah. To begin with, there are fifty (Nun) days from Tisha B'Av
until Rosh Hashanah, and there are ten (Yud) days from Rosh Hashanah until
Yom Kippur. After Yom Kippur, there are four (Dalet) days until the first
(Aleph) day of Succot. If you combine the letters together, they spell G-
d's Name: Aleph-Dalet-Nun-Yud, which corresponds to the sefirah of
Malchut, and therefore Malchut Shamayim - the Kingdom of G-d.

The Maggid of Koznitz explains this idea with a wonderful parable based
upon the posuk:

Judah went into exile because of affliction and great servitude; she
settled among the nations, [and] found no rest; all her pursuers overtook
her between the boundaries. (Eichah 1:3)

The Hebrew word for "pursuers" is "rodfeiyah", which can be read "rodfei"
followed by the Yud and the Heh, which spell G-d's Name.

Thus, the word can be read "the pursuers of G-d", which is followed in the
posuk by the word "overtook", or actually "will reach", as if to say, "the
pursuers of G-d will reach Him." Says the Maggid of Koznitz:

For, The Blessed One goes out to assist us, as it says, "I will be what I
will be" (Shemot 3:14), the gematria of which is twenty-one. This twenty-
one alludes to the days of "Bein HaMetzarim," to say "I will be with them
to help them." Therefore, it is easier during these days to come closer to
G-d more than other days. It's like a minister who sits in his chamber
protected by his guards, and as a result, he is difficult to see.
Furthermore, you usually have to bring a large gift just to be able to get
in and see his face! However, when he travels it is much easier to see
him, and one does not have to even bring a large gift, only a small one,
such as a couple of cakes.

SHABBAT DAY:

All her pursuers overtook her between the boundaries. (Eichah 1:3)

Thus, the Maggid is saying, during the Three Weeks the King goes out to
help us, and therefore it is easier then to meet Him. So, contrary to what
one might think, at that time of year there is only Hester Panim (the
hiding of G-d's face); and in truth, it is more like the Divine Presence
going out on the road to look for us, making it easier for us to "reach"
Him.

"However...," the Maggid continues:

...There is a difference between seeing him in his house as opposed to
seeing him as he travels. For, one who sees him in his house sees him
dressed in his finest clothes, whereas one who sees him along the way,
sees him dressed in his traveling attire.

Thus, during the time of the Aseret Yemai Teshuvah, we visit the King in
His Palace, so-to-speak. There is a much greater demand upon us if we are
going to get close to the king, but what a vision it is, with all its
royalty and splendor. However, during the Three Weeks, the sense of
royalty is greatly reduced, greatly toned down due to the needs of His
traveling.

BUT, the Maggid emphasizes, it is still much easier to greet the King,
which explains why these weeks are the weeks of comfort, seven all
together prior to Rosh Hashanah. For, once G-d decides to approach man
once again, His anger assuaged by the destruction of bricks and stone, He
descends from the seven levels of Heaven each subsequent week:

Thus, during these days G-d goes out because of their seriousness and
difficulty, because on Tisha B'Av at night they ignited it, "And His anger
was finished on wood and stone" (Eichah Rabbah 4:14). This "sweetens" the
judgment, and thus at Minchah we include the prayer "Nachem". Then begins
the fifty days until Rosh Hashanah, when the Nun Sha'arei Binah (the Fifty
Gates of Understanding) are opened, which are the "Fifty Gates of
Teshuvah". For this reason the Tanna taught: "Be (Heh-Vav-Yud) diligent
(shakeid) to learn Torah", the gematria of which is twenty-one, alluding
to these days which are also twenty-one, which "grow" like shekeidim
(almonds), which ripen in twenty-one days as well.

This certainly presents a different picture of the Three Weeks, and the
period of time that follows them. How important it is to know this at this
time of history, as the battle against Jewish enemies continues to rage
(at least as I write this). And, as with so many aspects of Jewish life,
this time also has two faces, but only one set of eyes, the eyes that we
need to use to see G-d, and ESPECIALLY at a time when G-d seems to be the
furthest away.

SEUDAT SHLISHIT:

See, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse... (Devarim 11:26)

On the topic of seeing, it is worth discussing something that has come up
before: Brit Krut L'Einayim - the covenant made with the eyes. Everyone
knows about Brit Milah, and some even know about Brit Sefatayim, the
covenant regarding the lips, meaning that we should only say that which is
holy. This is also called "Brit HaLashon", the Covenant of the Tongue,"
which is interesting because even Brit Milah means "covenant of the word."

However, there is an additional brit, one that is more important than the
others, especially in this generation where everything is done for the
eyes. The Torah tells the Jew to be holy, which means remaining focused on
the ultimate goals of Torah, something that is not so easy to do when
physicality is jumping out at you everywhere you turn, and there is such
an emphasis on attracting attention.

Of all the senses, sight is probably the most powerful in terms of its
effect on how we feel. A person can be hungry and smell delicious food,
but still shut it out upon finding out that it is treif food he is
smelling. Even taste is not overwhelming enough that upon being told that
he is eating (delicious) treif food, the person doesn't end up saying, "Oh
no! I can't spit it out... it is too good... I have to swallow..."
Certainly hearing is something that most people have enough self-control
over, that if they hear that something is forbidden to them, they can put
their hands over their ears.

But sight is something different altogether, and therefore that much more
dangerous. It seems to come with a built-in vulnerability that, even if
people know that what they are looking at is not permissible, they take
their time before pulling their eyes away. If curiosity has sway over any
of the senses, its main servant is sight. "I just want to see..." are the
famous last words of many a transgressor.

And equally bad as looking at things one ought to avoid is not looking at
things that one ought to see, which can be even more dangerous. For
example, how many sins are done with the eyes by people who refuse to look
into the Torah to find out if is from G-d, and what He holds when it comes
to what we are supposed to look at?

Thus, the brit that applies to our eyes is not only to not look at that
which is wrong for us to see, but it includes looking at that which we are
commanded to see, which is what Moshe Rabbeinu is indicating to us with
his opening words in this week's parshah. This also includes our "seeing"
the matzav and acting appropriately, especially while we are on a "break"
from learning in yeshivot.

To make his point, Rav Eliyashiv, shlita, when discouraging Jews from
going on trips while this war is going on, said, "If anyone has difficulty
understanding why it is inappropriate to go on pleasure trips during the
break, he should go to the hospitals and visit the wounded." Apparently,
there is a very big difference between knowing about those who have been
injured in battle, and seeing the injured themselves.

MELAVE MALKAH:

Perception is a real problem today. It is amazing how peoples can be so
similar and yet so different. I recently saw Honest Reporting's
film "Obsession", an expose of the depth of the problem of Islamic
Fundamentalism in the world today. Even though I am quite aware of what is
going on in that world from other sources, I was still left feeling quite
uneasy by the magnitude and utter hopeless of the problem.

As the opening quote by Edmund Burke says, "All that evil needs to triumph
is that good people do nothing", setting the stage for the rest of the
film. As one speaker pointed out, even if the American-Jew-hating
fundamentalists only make up ten to fifteen percent of the Muslim world,
you're still talking about a population larger than that of the entire
United States of America!

Yet, so many in the Western world choose to be oblivious to the problem
and just ignore it and hope it will go away, even though the militants
themselves are saying that the ONLY direction they are prepared to go is
after the destruction of America and Israel. If anyone has ever intended
to carry out their threats, it is these people, Terrorism Inc. And they
certainly have the money and the chutzpah to make good on their threats.

If the war in Lebanon has proved anything at all, it is how short-sighted
the Western world is with regard to the problem AGAIN - call it a bad case
of Chamberlainism - and how na?ve or selfish other parts of the Israeli
population were a year when the Gaza Strip was given away to terrorists.

It was so obvious last year that one year later we'd be battling the same
old enemy again in the same old way. This is not a case of 20-20 hindsight
either; it was SEEABLE from the start. The only thing that was hard to see
at the time was the other point of view, what made their gamble seem worth
it. As then Deputy Prime Minister Olmert told reporters, "Take a look at
Lebanon. We pulled out of there, and they're loading up on missiles, and
none of them have been sent to Israel. We can trust that Ashkelon won't be
in danger from Gaza either."

Wrong on all accounts!

So, we kept asking ourselves, "Maybe they SEE something we can't SEE?
Maybe there is a security issue that those of us not privy to classified
information don't know about? Maybe there is a secret agreement between
the Jews and the Arabs, or at least between Israel and the Americans, and
everything will be just fine in the end?"

No, beautiful Gush Katif is no more, and its kedushah burned in the fires.
Ten thousand people, once happy and loyal citizens of Medinat Yisroel are
now homeless, broken, and very despondent, and even worse, forgotten by
the government they risked their lives to trust. They gave everything and
got nothing back in return.

About a week before the kidnappings led to the invasion of Gaza, I
was "invited" to attend eight hours of driver's ed, a refresher course. On
the second day, during one of the breaks, the person sitting next to me
started up a conversation with two people behind us, both expelled from
Gush Katif the year before. He inquired about their "journey" since then,
and as they bemoaned the failure of the government, another young lady
behind this couple vehemently took up the other position.

I didn't feel like getting involved because the break was about to end,
and this young lady appeared quite transfixed on her opinion that it was
definitely in the best interest of the country to have left Gush Katif and
give it away to the Arabs. She felt that if anything, doing so would
guarantee peace for the rest of the country.

Needless to say she has since been proven wrong, but I doubt that she will
admit it even now that Ashkelon has been hit, and the Galil has been
destroyed, just as the Talmud predicted. Certainly, the "border people" of
the north have become far more sympathetic to the plight of the Katifers,
albeit far too late, as they too wander from city to city, just as the
Talmud predicted they would.

And, can you imagine: Olmert still wants to pull back further to the
cities closer to the sea!

This country is really a microcosm of the bigger problem which covers the
whole world, and it all has to do with perception. We think that people
who seem intelligent should be intelligent, especially if they are
eloquent and erudite. We just assume that people who seem to be mature in
so many other areas of life act mature in this area of life as well. But
these are assumptions that have been proven to be quite tenuous throughout
history, especially when the Jews are involved. And what's even more
amazing is that the Jews involved, in spite of so much good knowledge to
the contrary, are just willing to make those assumptions and do little or
nothing to change the situation.

We forget that the Nazis, y"s, trained many Arabs to be just like them,
and while the Allies put an end to the Nazi regime at that time, the Arab
segment of the Nazis just kept going until today. Who knows, maybe the
president of Iran is really a reincarnation of Hitler, y"s! A chilling
thought, especially if he came back with his cohorts.

There are still plenty of good people in the world, thank G-d. But getting
them to do something about the very large problems that loom over us is
not easy, and completely a matter of perception. But that is to their
disadvantage, as September 11, 2001 proved in no uncertain terms.

Have a great Shabbos,
PW

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Perceptions, Copyright ? 2006 by Rabbi Pinchas Winston and Torah.org.

Permission is granted to redistribute, but please give proper attribution
and copyright to the author and Torah.org. Both the author and Torah.org
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posted by Gruven Reuven at 11:50 PM

BS"D

MATTOT-MASSEY
A Body and Soul Job

FRIDAY NIGHT:

Moshe answered the descendants of Gad and Reuben, "Should your brothers go
to war while you live in peace here? Why would you discourage the
Israelite na-tion from crossing into the land which G-d has given to them?
That's exactly what your ances-tors did when I sent them from Kadesh-
Barnea to scout the land . . ." (Bamidbar 32:6)

When it comes to spiritual growth, it is all about increasing "the light."
The more the light, the stronger the connection is to G-d and therefore,
the greater is the spiritual growth. Hence, we learn more Torah, pray with
more intention, and do even more mitzvot in order to draw additional light
towards ourselves and achieve greater spiritual heights.

But what are we really trying to improve in the end, to our souls or to
our bodies? Are we trying to enhance our spiritual or our physical
component, so that it can retain more of the light that is already there,
but we simply don't access because at the present time, we can't? Is life
about adding candles to a dark room, or about finding a bigger glass with
which to draw water from the sea?

As the Vilna Gaon points out, life is about "shevirat hamiddot," the
breaking of traits, as in negative character traits, which are obviously a
function of the body, but not the soul. We come into this world with
strengths and weaknesses, with the goal of using the former to rectify the
latter. We are born to be "craftsmen," in order for us to bring perfection
to the kli - the physical vessel with which we have been born into so that
it can access the light that is already there.

That is why Bilaam changed his mode of attack. For, when he tried to curse
the Jewish people, an attack on their soul, he failed, because the Jewish
soul is, by definition, blessed. Hence, his next attack was on the Jewish
body, and with respect to that he was VERY successful when he sent the
daughters of Midian in to draw the tribe of Shimon in a very "physical"
direction.

With the vessel damaged through the entire episode of Ba'al Peor, the
light of G-d and Torah could not longer be retained and a transformation
occurred. Hence, not only did the tribes of Reuven, Gad, and Menashe ask
to live outside of Eretz Yisroel, something that was unfathomable at that
stage of Jewish history. They couldn't even sense on their own how they
had repeated the mistake of their ancestors just forty years prior! Even
after hearing Moshe Rabbeinu's reply, and then after he agreed to their
terms for living there, they could not sense the importance of abandoning
their plans and desires in order to contribute their part to the Geulah
Shlaimah - the Final Redemption.

This is, in fact, the basis of what Rashi says on the fourth posuk of the
Torah:

G-d saw that the light was good, and G-d separated be-tween the light and
the darkness. (Bereishit 1:4)

G-D SEPARATED: He saw that the wicked were unworthy of using it (the
light); He therefore set it apart for the righteous in a Future Time.
(Rashi)

As we have pointed out before, this time "Future Time" does not refer to
Yemot HaMoshiach, but history henceforth. In other words, access to the
holy Primordial Light of Creation was going to be limited once mankind was
created, limited to those worthy of using it.

Hence, as the Talmud points out, Adam HaRishon had access to the light for
a while, and it allowed him to see from one end of the world until the
other end (Chagigah 12a). Thus, the Leshem explains:

He [G-d] made a separation in the illumination of the Light that it should
not flow or give off light except for the righteous, whose actions draw it
down and make it shine. However, the actions of the evil block it, leaving
them in darkness, and this itself was the hiding of the Light. (Sha'arei
Leshem, p. 133)

Thus, the light IS there, but it just won't enter them; their bodies
simply block it, being instruments of evil.

SHABBOS DAY:

The concept of teshuvah is very fascinating, for a number of reasons. It
is even more fascinating to watch another person go through the process of
teshuvah, knowing that one day he or she will become the very thing that
he or she, at the present time, is terrified of becoming.

"I could never wear a kippah full time," someone I used to learn with once
told me. "I can't stand having anything on my head for a period of time,"
he explained.

Two months later, the kippah went on full time and he never complained
about it, nor did he look uncomfortable about wearing it all the time.
Quite the contrary, he wore it like a crown of distinction.

"And I could NEVER wear those fringes . . . EVER!" he said quite
emphatically. "It's one thing to put on Tefillin every morning for an hour
in shul, but I grew up wearing T-Shirts all summer long. Just looking at
you guys wearing your . . . what are they called again? Tzi . . .
tzi . . . uh . . ."

"Tzitzis."

"Right, tzeetzees. Watching you wear that AND your jackets and hats on 90-
degree days makes me want to pass out from heat exhaustion right on the
spot. I don't know how you guys survive, but I would go NUTS!"

Well, needless to say, after learning for a while longer he didn't go
nuts, and he went to the tzeetzees man to buy his own pair . . . and today
he wears the entire get-up, tzeetzees, jacket, hat, and all.

"Cover my hair?" a beginner once said to me when I taught in a girl's
seminary. "NO WAY! My hair is one of my best features . . . so I'm not
about to cover it up! Besides, my family will think I've really gone off
the deep end this time . . ."

I could only smile that knowing smile, for she was walking the path tread
by so many ba'alei teshuvah before her. After a few years of learning, and
a confirmed commitment to G-d and His holy Torah, she will begin to date
young men who will only marry someone who covers her hair, as she dreams
of building her own "Bayit Ne'eman B'Yisroel."

Granted, you put anything religious on the body before it is ready and it
will buck like a wild bronco. And, since Judaism places such a great
emphasis upon using one's free-will to decide to serve G-d, the body has
to buy into the sacrifice of physical freedom, which can only happen after
a process that includes Torah education and a refining of the spiritual
body itself.

In fact, you wouldn't believe how spiritual the body can become, based
upon how physical it became. And now, at this late stage of history, the
body has been taken to its lowest point of spiritual potential, as the
Western world goes to extremes to physically enhance it with all its
materialistic experiences. We have truly arrived at the end of history,
for how much more can Heaven put up with?

The question is, what is happening when a person does teshuvah, on any
level? For a secular Jew, it is about embracing the totality of Torah. For
an already religious Jew, it is about being committed to continuous growth
in the direction of G-d, which includes yearning for redemption and the
return to Eretz Yisroel. If a Jew is out of step with any Torah concept,
either in thought or in action, teshuvah is necessary to bring him back in
line with every aspect of Torah. What is teshuvah really about?

SEUDAT SHLISHIT:

Every concept, like a Holy Spark, is an aspect of the Divine Light, a hint
to the Ohr Ain Sof. Any misconception is the result of the lack of this
light, something that is most pronounced during times of Hester Panim,
when Divine Providence works behind the scenes and in seemingly mysterious
ways.

As the rabbis teach, the Torah is the blueprint of Creation, which means
that Creation must, by definition, exude all of Torah,. In other words,
every concept is there in the world all around us, and our being able to
see each one depends upon our body's ability to receive and retain that
light. If we are lacking some aspect of Torah understanding, it is
because, for some personal reason, our bodies are not capable of receiving
that particular aspect of the Ohr Ain Sof. Our "keilim," that is
our "vessels" are damaged in some respect, and teshuvah is about making
the necessary repairs.

For, even though service of G-d is not an all-or-nothing thing, it is,
nevertheless, limited by what is missing from the totality available to
man. This is why "dereck eretz" (good character traits) must come before
Torah, because it is pointless to pour Divine Light into a "kli" that
cannot retain it. On the contrary, it can be damaging, as the Talmud
warns: "Torah can be either an elixir for life or one for death" (Yoma
72a); it all depends upon the body's ability to receive the Torah's light.

Hence, teshuvah is about returning the body to its illustrious state
of "Kesones Ohr," when it was more like a soul rather than a body, prior
to the sin of Adam HaRishon. Indeed, the whole point of Techiyat HaMeitim
(Resurrection of the Dead) is to achieve precisely this. In that period of
time, the body that will return will resemble an angel more than a man,
and thus be ready to enter the next phase of history, after the year 6000.

However, in the meantime, that is what we are supposed to be trying to
achieve on whatever level it is possible, based upon our spiritual
advantages and disadvantages. And, the important thing to remember is that
whatever we don't do on our own time through learning and mitzvot, we do
in G-d's way and as He determines. Kabbistically, this is called "tziruf
v'libun," - "refinement and whitening," and as cleansing as the term
sounds, it refers to the suffering we undergo in life.

MELAVE MALKAH:

The descendants of Reuven and Gad had a lot of cattle, and saw that the
land of Ya'azer and Gilad was a good place for cattle. The descen-dants of
Gad and Reuven approached Moshe, Elazar the kohen, and the princes of the
congregation, and asked, "Atarot, Divon, Ya'azer, Nimrah, Cheshbon,
El'aleh, Sevam, Nevo, and Beon, in the land which G-d struck before the
Children of Israel is a land for cattle, and we have cattle. Therefore, if
it is good to you, allow us to take it. Do not require us to cross the
Jordan." (Bamidbar 31:1-5)

The upshot of this is that the request of Reuven, Gad, and the half tribe
of Menashe revealed the "damaged goods" that arrived with Moshe Rabbeinu
to the border of Eretz Yisroel. As the nation stood there at that
momentous occasion of history that was literally the threshold of the
Final Redemption, and the light of Eretz Yisroel emanated out in all
directions, it could not penetrate the keilim of these three tribes.

Therefore, they remained unmoved and uninspired to live in the land they
had been traveling to for forty years, if not longer if you also take into
account the dreams of the Forefathers. Instead, their bodies were then
more attuned to the frequency of materialism, though they were committed
to keep all the Torah they could on the east side of the Jordan river.

The light emanated out, and those unaffected by the episode of Bilaam, and
those that had at least done teshuvah and fixed their keilim, were able to
absorb it and become transformed by it. There was spiritual ecstasy, and
an even greater draw to enter the land and to settle it, even though
others had just the opposite reaction.

In fact, it is very interesting how different Jews react to Eretz Yisroel.
You have some who are religious and can't leave the land, and you have
some who are religious and can't tolerate it. As well, there are those who
are secular who love the land, while there are those who are secular who
have no connection to the land whatsoever. You have some who have lived
here all their lives but yearn to be elsewhere, and some who grew up in
Chutz L'Aretz (outside the land) but came to love the land only after
moving here.

What's the difference? Is it all only just a matter of upbringing?

Yes and no, for as much as we are genetically the products of our
ancestors, our physical bodies can still vary quite a bit from those who
came before us. On the other hand, each family has its own approach to
life, even if there is a major common denominator, such as Torah, guiding
all of us. Thus, the patterns that one family chooses to live by can be
very different from those of their neighbors and the rest of their
community.

This has an effect on the body, making it more receptive to some of the
aspects of G-d's light, and less receptive to others.

So, therefore, as we sit down to do our "Cheshbon HaNefesh,"
our "Accounting of the Soul," we should recall that it is really an
accounting of our bodies, a reality check of what we are prepared to
accept as truth, and what we reject without any basis. Knowing this allows
us to chart a course across our own "Jordan river," a course of teshuvah
that allows us to finally receive and benefit from the Ohr Ain Sof that
flows all around us.

CHAZAK!

Have a great Shabbos,
PW

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Rabbi Winston has authored fourteen books on Jewish philosophy
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posted by Gruven Reuven at 11:34 PM

Two other interesting items to note. On the day after Tisha B'Av (the 9th of Av fast day on the Jewish calendar), Israel started the retreat from Gush Katif. A day before the 17th of Tammuz (the fast day that starts the 3-week mouring period) in under a year, war starts. As Rabby Brody wrote, "the current breach of Israel's borders , including the unprecedented attacks on Haifa and Tzfat, has been the 17th of Tammuz, the exact same day when the city of Jerusalem was breached before the destruction of the Second Temple."
posted by Gruven Reuven at 2:15 PM

Parshas Pinchus 5766
Rabbi Label Lam
Who Dares to Care

And it will be to him and his descendants after him an eternal covenant of
priesthood because he zealously took up G-d’s cause and made atonement for
Israel. (Bamidbar 25:13)

In one courageous moment Pinchus earned an eternal contract for himself
and his children. This was no incentive package. It was payment for a job
well done. Well, what had he done? How was he able to earn such great
credit from a single deed?

It’s admittedly a bad joke but it may help illustrate what the case of
Pinchus is not like. A schul Rabbi and an Israeli Egged bus driver are
called before the heavenly court upon the occasion of their having parted
this world. The bus driver’s life is made to appear upon the computer
screen. The interviewing agent hums and haws and evaluates. Afterward a
door is thrown open with a glowing light of love that embraces the driver
lovingly as he enters. Now the Rabbi confidently takes his place next
before the screen that shows his life in review. The angelic agent sadly
shakes his head and reveals the opening to another door. Streaks of
intensely hot fire jump forth to grab the poor fellow. The Rabbi shouts in
protest, “Why did that simple bus driver get preferential treatment. He
just drove a bus but I was a Schul Rabbi and the leader of a precious and
loyal flock!” He is given the following explanation, “Rabbi, you must
understand that when you gave your speeches- your sermons people became
extremely tired and fell asleep, but when that Egged bus driver started
driving his bus ooohhhh everyone began to pray!”

In this crazy account the funny point is that one is considered to have
achieved and is credited so due to secondary results he had no idea he had
inspired while another’s good and noble intentions and deeds are deeply
discounted. By the incident involving Pinchus the opposite forces may have
been be more at play.

The Mishne in Chapters of the Fathers makes the following amazing
claim, “All who exert themselves for the community should do so for the
sake of heaven, for then the ancestors will assist them, and their
righteousness will endure forever. And you, I will bestow upon you as
great a reward, as though you had done it” What does this mean?

The Maharal explains that there is universe of difference when one
performs a deed for some local immediate concern or if one has in mind the
total and eternal mission of G-d and Israel. Just like the patriarchs were
the architects of the entire building and share in every detail of the
future accomplishments of their children throughout history so too any
later personality that has in his mind that even his small part should
have a positive affect upon the entirety of the edifice will be credited
as if he too had created the whole thing, even though he had only worked
on one part of a part of one floor and even though his part was hardly his
own doing. Wow! Working for the community can have some incredible
benefits and dividends. One can borrow from the bank account of the
patriarchs and with the correct mind-set be credited with accomplishments
far beyond one’s individual means.

The verse reveals that Pinchus was granted unending generations of
Priesthood – holy public service, because his action was not a response of
anger, personal and passionate or of zealous rage. Rather he purely
intended to take up G-d’s cause and to achieve atonement for the Children
of Israel. Since he was focused, in that single deed, on defending the
honor of the Almighty and the welfare of the Nation of Israel, he was
rewarded with a gift of endless opportunity, available to those who dares
to care!

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DvarTorah, Copyright © 2006 by Rabbi Label Lam and Torah.org.

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posted by Gruven Reuven at 12:34 PM

PARSHAS CHUKAS/BALAK - 12 TAMMUZ 5766
UNCOMMON COURTESY
by Rabbi Pinchas Avruch

"And G-d said to Balaam 'Do not go with them [the emissaries of Balak] and
do not curse [the nation of Israel] for it is blessed.' And Balaam arose in
the morning and said to the officers of Balak, 'Go to your land, for G-d
refuses to let me go with you.'" (Bamidbar/Numbers 22:12-13) Rashi, the
fundamental early medieval commentator, explains that "you" is the pivotal
word: G-d will not let me go with you, but he might let me go with a
delegation of higher rank (Balak got the hint and did, as the following
verses indicate, send a mission of greater officers). But, concludes Rashi,
we see that Balaam was haughty, for he did not disclose that G-d had
expressly forbidden him from cursing the Jewish people.

Rabbi Chaim Shmulevitz (1) notes that Balaam's statement was not deceptive.
Indeed, G-d gave him two distinct commands: not to accompany an unbefitting
delegation and not to curse the Jewish nation. How did Balaam know that G-d
was concerned for his honor?

Ohr HaChaim (2) explains that G-d's simple query as recorded by the Torah
("Who are these people?") is actually the opening of a longer, more
complicated question. The question was really "Who are these people that
you let them into your private inner chamber?" Once Balaam appreciated
that G-d was genuinely concerned for his honor, he understood the deeper
meaning of the Divine statement "Do not go with them": because it is
beneath you. Ohr HaChaim further notes that this component of the command
preceded the instruction not to curse them. Conveniently Balaam spared
himself the discomfort of revealing the second reason, but it was only
because he had the more compelling first one: G-d was concerned for his
honor.

Similarly, the Talmud relates that G-d killed Balaam's donkey to spare the
owner embarrassment. Had the donkey lived, every time it went to the
marketplace the masses would comment, "That is the donkey that chastised
Balaam". Rabbi Shmulevitz contemplates the incredible sanctification of the
Divine Name that would have come from that phenomenon. Everywhere that
donkey would travel people would be reminded of the Divine mandate of all
mankind to follow G-d's will, as well as the moment-by-moment Providence
given to the welfare of the Jewish people. Nevertheless, the gain did not
justify the ongoing shame and humiliation of Balaam.

Most noteworthy is the appreciation of for whom G-d did all this, Balaam.
At his essence, Balaam was evil. True he may have possessed such a profound
awareness and comprehension of G-d that he merited prophecy, but G-d
granted prophecy to one so evil only to pre-empt the claim of the Nations
of the World: Had G-d given us a prophet then we would have followed His
will (G-d did and the nations still did not). After G-d told him that he
could not curse the Jewish nation, he accepted the invitation of Balak's
second delegation to curse them. And while G-d did not allow him to curse
them and forced Balaam to utter blessings, three times Balaam expended a
genuine effort to fulfill Balak's charge. Nevertheless, so great and
valuable is the honor of our fellow human, concludes Rabbi Shmulevitz,
that G-d went so far and "gave up" so much to preserve the honor of
someone so evil.

And how will we react the next time someone pushes their shopping cart
ahead of ours at the market? Or the next time our child neglects to put
his dishes in the dishwasher after dinner?

Have a Good Shabbos!

(1) famed Dean of the Mir Yeshiva, who brought the Yeshiva intact to
Shanghai in the early days of World War II, and after the War transplanted
the institution in Jerusalem
(2) Biblical commentary of eighteenth century scholar and Kabbalist Rabbi
Chaim ben Atar


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KolHaKollel, Copyright © 2006 by The Milwaukee Kollel and Torah.org.

Permission is granted to redistribute, but please give proper attribution
and copyright to the author and Torah.org. Both the author and Torah.org
reserve certain rights. Email copyrights@torah.org for full information.
posted by Gruven Reuven at 8:22 AM