Torah for your table!

The fifth book of the Torah, Devarim, starts its discussion with Moshe telling the Jewish people, “Today Hashem, your G-d, commands that you do these laws” (16:26). Wait a minute, wasn’t the Torah given to the Jewish people forty years earlier, and didn’t Hashem command the people to follow the laws then? What is the sense of the repetition?  In other words, Hashem wants Bnai Israel to follow the Torah each and every day as it if was just given to them. He wants the Jewish people to feel as connected to following the commandments as they were on the day they received the Torah.

Throughout our lives, we have our inspiring moments that drive our souls to places we never knew existed, and we have moments where we feel as though we are holding onto our faith by a shredding thread. Despite the volatility of our inspiration, we have to keep the Torah near and dear to us, just as if we had just received in on Mount Sinai. By developing this sense of awareness, our inspiration and connection to the mitzvot will heighten without question, and a part of our neshama- soul- will feel as though it is constantly receiving the wisdom of the Torah at every moment.

Emunah- Devarim’s Powerful quotes

Emunah- Devarim’s Powerful quotes

Emunah- commitment/loyalty- is the foundation of the Jewish people.  When we pray to Hashem, we say, “our G-d, G-d of our forefathers, etc.” We are calling out to Him as our Father first and foremost. In His greatness, we are meant to attach ourselves to Him through fulfilling His commandments. The Book of Devarim teaches a Jew how to strengthen his emunah to Hashem. Additionally, Devarim discusses many mitzvot pertaining to believing in Hashem’s oneness, loving, and fearing Him.

Throughout our thousands of years in exile and the much suffering our nation has endured, the one thing that has kept us inspired is our emunah. Yirmeyahu, the prophet, quotes, “My soul is bereft of peace, I have forgotten the good times, I thought my eternal world and my souls are lost from Hashem, because I sinned so greatly” (Aicha 3:17:18). However, he immediately encourages himself and says, “this I recall to my heart and therefore I will hope: Hashem’s kindness does not cease, His mercies do not end. His mercies are new every morning, great is His emunah” (ibid 2:21:23). What does Yirmeyahu mean when he says, His emunah? Rashi explains that Hashem promised to never forsake us and that He will keep His promise to us (our future redemption) and continuously extend His kindness to us. Despite the bad times we may experience, we must always encourage ourselves, just as the great prophet Yirmeyahu did, and remember the eternal kindness Hashem displays toward His people.

Additionally, the book of Devarim teaches us: “Only guard yourself and guard your soul very much, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life, but teach them to your sons and your sons’ son- the day you stood before Hashem, your G-d at Sinai” (4:9-10). The Torah recognizes that there are many factors that may lead us astray from observing Hashem’s mitzvot, hence causing us to lose our emunah. The drive for greed, honor, lust, etc., are some of the many factors that may drive us away from serving Hashem with our entire heart. Moreover, by misinterpreting the Torah, or not having the sufficient knowledge to observe it properly, we stray from Hashem.

Our goal as Jews is to continuously strive to stay connected and develop our emunah. We need to pray that Hashem will strengthen it. We need to be persistent and determined to fight all the evil inclinations that pull us away from serving Hashem with joy. Additionally, we need to know that Hashem is in control of our lives and all the circumstances we are presented with. With this awareness and developed emunah, we will be able to maintain the bond Hashem created with our ancestors all those years ago.

Parshas Mattos and Ma'say-- Gratitude

This week's double parsha begins listing all the places Bnai Israel camped over their forty year sojourn in the desert. What is the significance of Hashem going through all of the different places?

The Torah continuously describes the locations where the Jews were in the desert, in order to show that those places were completely uninhabited by anything-- humans, vegetation, or animal life. Moreover, former generations know that those areas were uninhabited, more proof that the Jews had divine assistance from above.

He is showing that the only way Bnai Israel survived the conditions in the desert was through His assistance. By having the Jews sojourn in the desert for forty years, Bnai Israel learned to build their emunah- loyalty/commitment- to Hashem, recognizing that, had He not sustained them, they would not exist.

Furthermore, Hashem wanted to proclaim to the entire world that it was He who sustained the entire nation of Israel.

 This should inspire us all to see Hashem in our everyday lives. He sustains us in more ways than we appreciate. From our shelter, to the food we are blessed to eat, we should continue to develop gratitude for the One who has given us everything we have, regardless of how much or little that may be.

Quotes that matter

‘One who slays an individual, it as if he destroys the whole world’

The parsha continues to discuss the placement of the different tribes of Israel. The Levites, were not given a land in Israel, like the other tribes because they did not farm the land; they devoted their lives to the service of Hashem.  Of the forty eight Levite cities, Hashem commanded that six of them be designed Cities of Refuge for men who committed unintentional murder. Why it is that Hashem placed these refugees with the Levites? Despite the fact that these men had committed murder, even though it was unintentionally done, they were resented by many people of society; however, the Leviites completely understood that all that occurs is in Hashem’s will. They kindly accepted all the refugees into their society. Additionally, Hashem wanted to put these men in an environment where they could be elevated by the kedusha-holiness- that surrounded them—the Levites carried spirituality and kedusha no matter where they were, so to, Hashem’s intention was that their influence would rub off onto the refugees and it would inspire them to repent.

The Torah places extra severity on the sin of committing bloodshed—‘One who slays an individual, it as if he destroys the whole world.’ A person who was killed does not rest until his blood is avenged for, so to, the punishment for murder is adverse, even if murder is committed unintentionally.  This parsha unfortunately relates to what has been going on globally. This week, the Jewish world painfully experienced two tragic events: the death of HaRav Elyashiv Ztz”l and the brutal murder of seven Israeli's in a terrorist attack.

Regarding the former, we have lost a great Torah scholar, one that can never be replaced. The mystics teach us that tzadkkim are the foundation of the world. Because they completely immerse every breath and moment of their lives to Torah, they nullify the sins of the community at large.

Regarding the latter, not only was this a hate crime against the nation of Israel, this should be looked at a humanitarian hate crime against our human race. The world cannot continue to tolerate such acts of violence and hate. We have become desensitized to violence and murders that have plagued our world. We many mourn for a moment, but then move on to living our lives. What the Torah comes to teach us is how each person in fact equivalent to that of a whole world. With the crimes that we have been plagued with, it seems as if the world is continuously being destroyed. Unfortunately, we no longer are being protected by HaRav Elyashiv Ztz”l, so we have to look at these events as a wakeup call for action.

In order to shed any light to the people who have tragically lost their lives, and avenge their honor so that they may rest in peace, we can make small improvements in our own lives to sanctify their memory. By committing ourselves to doing slightly more, i.e. take on additional brachot, having more kavona-concentration- when praying, to fulfilling mitzvot with more joy, in the merit of those who have unfortunately perished, we can try to shed some light back into the unfortunate darkness we are currently experiencing.

Parshas Pinchas

This week’s parsha, Pinchas, commences with Hashem praising Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon (Pinchas the son of Elazar, the son of Aaron), for killing Zimri. Zimri, who was the nassi- leader- of the Tribe of Shimon, openly descreted Hashem’s name when he committed acts of immorality (a.k.a extra marital affairs) with Balak’s daughter, Kozbi (she was a Midiyanite princess).

Why does the verse state Pinchas son of Elazar son of Aharon? Wouldn’t have it been enough to just state Pinchas the son of Elazar? The Torah is extremely concise, thereby, an additional wording must be teaching us something important.

Firstly, to understand the root of this ‘extra wording’ we have to analyze what is really going on in the story. Can you believe that Pinchas was praised by Hashem for murdering a fellow Jew? A nassi of a Tribe committing murder?! Moreover, no one even gave him the permission to do so. Why exactly was Pinchas praised for this act? Additionally, one can’t help ponder whether Pinchas killed Zimri to sanctify Hashem’s name or out of hatred against Zimri. What is going on here?! In order to clear up any confusion about the true motivations behind Zimri’s death, Hashem tells Moshe to publically proclaim that Pinchas is a tzadik ben tzadik (a righteous man son of a righteous man) in order to portray that his true motivations were in fact inspired by the same motivations of his righteous father, Elazar, and grandfather Aharon. In other words, this portrays how the merits and attributes of our parents and grandparents are passed along to us, as Aharon’s were passed down to Pinchas.

Furthermore, when Hashem mentions Pinchas’s relationship to Aharon he is sending us a message that Pinchas’s deeds were emulating that of his grandfather Aharon. Aharon was known for bringing peace and kindness to all of Bnai Israel. Whenever there was conflict, or rebuke was necessary, Aharon always provided it gently. Although it seems that Pinchas’s act was much harsher than that of his grandfathers’, by killing Zimri, Pinchas saved Bnai Israel from death. The fact that Bnai Israel tolerated those sinful acts amongst their very midst indicted them to death.

This should shed light onto all of us. Everyday we witness many Jews sinning and committing acts against the will of Hashem. We stand idly and do nothing about it! By doing nothing about it, on a spiritual sphere, it is as if we are guilty of committing the sin as well! Although we may not be in the position to rebuke others, we can take action by being a positive example for those around us. Our positive behavior may shed some light onto others to look retrospectively within; thereby, possibly contemplating a change. If our own actions can influence and bring positivity to others, shouldn’t that be motivation enough to become better people? The answer is easy, the choice is yours.

‘Quotes that matter’

“He who guards the fig tree shall eat its fruit, and he who serves his master shall be honored” (Mishlei 27:18)

The parsha continues discussing Moshe appointing a new leader over Bnai Israel. Moshe did not want Bnai Israel to be like a flock without a shepherd. So to, Hashem told Moshe that He had already chosen a leader, but it was not one of Moshe’s sons. He said, “I have chosen a leader, Yehoshua, he who guards the fig tree shall eat its fruit, and he who serves his master shall be honored.” Although Moshe’s sons were as wise as Moshe’s student Yehoshua, Yehoshua’s love for Torah exceeded theirs. He invested every ounce of his energy to Torah.  He spent every minute he had to increase his knowledge and wisdom of Torah. He was always the first one in the Bait Hamedrish- place of studying Torah-, and the last one to leave.  Because of his commitment and love for Torah, Hashem had blessed the fruits of his labor. From this, it is clear that not only are we rewarded for the Torah knowledge we amass, but also for the pure devotion we put into our studies.

Moreover, why does Hashem liken a student of Torah to that of a fig tree? Most trees, such as the olive, date, and vine, bear their fruit all at one time. The fig tree however, produce their fruit in astonishing amounts all at different times, and the fruit are picked off gradually, rather than all at once. Furthermore, the Torah is likened to a fig tree because just as a fig tree constantly has fruit ripening on it, a Jew too, must constantly devote himself to learning Torah, because there is always more to learn and master, a Jew is continuously ripening in many areas of his life and in his personal development. One cannot expect to become a scholar overnight, rather years and years of harvest are necessary to bear him intellectual fruit.

Rather than getting discouraged from the mass amount of Torah there is to learn and comparing oneself to scholars who know so much more, we should keep in mind that they too where once at a level where they didn’t know as much; however, through much toil and discipline they become as fruitful as the fig tree, and they continue to ripen throughout their lives.

Torah for your table! dvar torah in under a minute! Committing to Hashem

The parsha continues to discuss the purpose of sacrifices. Why are these laws discussed at this point in the parsha?

Because Moshe knew that he was soon leaving this world, he asked that Hashem appoint a new leader on his behalf to pray for and defend the people if they sinned. Hashem responded and said, “Rather than worrying about who will be the nations intermediary to Me, instruct the people to serve Me well.” Hashem told Moshe to instruct the people in the laws of the tamid (daliy) sacrifices, which would unite the people and bring them closer to Hashem.

Hashem explained to Moshe that the essence of the sacrifices were not for Hashem. Hashem, being the creator of the universe, does not need any sacrifices; He created everything, and is not in need of anything. So what is the sense of giving these sacrifices? Essentially, when Hashem sees that the Jewish people are fulfilling His miztvot, He is overcome with joy.

When the Jewish people follow Hashem’s mitzvot, they are attaching themselves to Him. Each and every day, we should continuously strive to find more ways to attach ourselves to Hashem. Through observing more mitzvot, to being more G-d conscious, we are developing the senses we need to cling to our one and only Source.