The end of this week’s Torah portion of Re’eh discusses the Yomim Tovim of Pesach, Shavuos, and Sukkos. In fact, this section is read on the last day of Yom Tov in exile.
While speaking about Shavuos the Torah writes, “Then you shall observe the festival of Shavuos for Hashem, your G-D; the voluntary offerings that you give should be commensurate with how much Hashem, your G-D, will have blessed you” (Devarim 16:10). By the Chag of Sukkos, in pasuk 17, the Torah concludes, “Everyone according to what he can give, according to the blessing that Hashem, your G-D, gives you.”
The Ralbag learns from these pesukim that it is appropriate for all people to limit their expenses according to what they have earned, in order so that they can consistently spend for these particular mitzvos. Without this attitude one might throw away all his earnings in one shot and be left with nothing. For this the Torah says, “commensurate with how much Hashem, your G-D, will have blessed you” and it also says, “Everyone according to what he can give, according to the blessing that Hashem, your G-D, gives you.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
Shavuos was a time of bringing the bikkurim, first fruits, to the Beis Hamikdash. It was a time of great celebration and elaborate decorations for this gift to Hashem. Sukkos, even today, has the mitzvos of sukkah, lulav and esrog where one has a chance to fulfill many mitzvos in the most beautiful and exquisite way. If a person internalizes the importance of performing mitzvos with the enhanced mitzva of beautifying the mitzva, then without a doubt there would be an urge and a push to spend a lot of money to ensure the mitzvah is done properly in the most tremendous way possible. Why not take out a loan and deal with paying it back later?!
For all that Hashem does for us every moment of our lives, the least we can do is go all-out in doing His will and performing His mitzvos. One would think it is a matter of bitachon, trust and faith in Hashem, to spend whatever you feel appropriate in fulfilling mitzvos and glorifying them. Surely Hashem will give you the ability to pay back the loan in exchange of doing His service. Yet there is a gemara, in Bava Kamma 9b, that talks about this very issue and says “Hidur mitzvah ad shlish” one should only spend up to a third of his expenses and nothing more in beautifying a mitzvah. Why is this so? Why can’t we spend more money; what about bitachon that we will be able to pay it all and get more money to live in the future?
However, we see from this Ralbag that the opposite is true, proper bitachon, trust and faith in Hashem, dictates that one should have the proper bitachon that what Hashem has given him or her to spend on a mitzvah is the blessing one is deserving from Hashem, and one must use it and perform it wisely.
It’s not so easy to know exactly how much to spend and not spend in the performance of mitzvos or really anything in life, but really properly serving Hashem involves taking the time to accurately calculate what is within your means to spend on performing the mitzvah at hand, making sure you don’t spend too much or too little. The effort put into calculating exactly how Hashem wants you to perform the mitzvah and accepting the blessing Hashem gave you, and the opportunity of performing the mitzvah the way which is destined for you to perform is a show of true faith and trust in Hashem.
Every person has their own potential to be fulfilled in life. Hashem expects us to live within our means when doing His will. This will facilitate a constant and consistent ability to serve Hashem properly which is our purpose in this world.
Good Shabbos and chodesh tov,
Rabbi Dovid Shmuel Milder
Eikev – What’s Good About Shabbos?
This week’s Torah portion of Eikev begins, “This shall be the reward when you hearken to these ordinances and you observe and perform them; Hashem, your G-D, will safeguard for you the covenant and the kindness that He swore to your forefathers ” (Devarim 27:12).
In the first medrish in the Medrish Rabba on this portion Hashem asserts: “‘Do you think I gave to you Shabbos as a detriment? I only gave it to you for your own good.’ How? Rebbe Chiya bar Abba said [that Hashem says], ‘You sanctify the Shabbos with eating and drinking, wearing clean clothes and delighting your soul; and I will give you reward.’ How do we know this? Because the pasuk in Yeshayahu (58:13) says ‘And you call the Shabbos a delight…’ What is written after that (58:14)? ‘Then you will delight on Hashem.’ ‘And he will give to you whatever your heart desires’ (Tehillim 37:4). The Jews said to Hashem, ‘When will you give us our reward for the mitzvos that we do?’ Hashem said back to them, ‘You will now eat from the fruit of the mitzvos that you do but it’s reward will be saved for the future in the World to Come and will be given to you then.’ How do we know this? From the fact that we call it in this portion, in this circumstance, ‘This shall be your reward when you hearken to these ordinances'” (Devarim Rabba 3:1). (Click here for Hebrew text.)
Why would Shabbos be a detriment to us? And in Hashem’s response, what does it mean that ‘we will eat the fruit of the mitzvah now? ‘
The Maharz”u has two ways to understand why people would think Shabbos is a detriment:
1. “[Hashem admits], It is suffering for you, for I forbade you any form of melacha (work that was done to build the mishkan) and business, as well as kindling and putting out a fire to the extent that even if an entire house is ablaze (assuming that it is a situation which is non-life threatening) it is still forbidden to put out the fire. To this [Hashem] says that the reward is much greater than the loss, for the loss is occasionally and very little and the reward is constant and in abundance.
What does it mean that the reward is constant?
The Maharz”u explains that the delight one will get from enjoying and observing Shabbos is that Hashem will always listen when this person cries out to Him. The Maharz”u proves this from pesukim in Iyov. Now we can understand what the fruit of performing the mitzvos in this world is and why it is constant. Imagine, just for observing Hashem’s Shabbos and enjoying it by eating fancy food and drinking delicious drinks while getting all dressed up, Hashem will always listen to your prayers when you cry out to Him. That is quite impressive fruit coming from your mitzvah on a consistent basis!
Somehow, this overshadows the circumstances when the house is burnt down and one loses all his possessions, and the many times when people lost their job and livelihood for the sake of Shabbos observance; why? Furthermore, the inconveniences that make the day harder, less comfortable, or supposedly not as pleasurable, like not being able to turn on and off lights, drive the car, write, or even choose things the way you want to choose them; why are they really worth it at the end of the day?
However, if one truly contemplates what it means for Hashem to listen to and answer ALL of your prayers in this world, the delight to have an all-powerful, all-knowing being willing to listen to you besides the belief and understanding of the infinite reward in the World To Come, then truly any supposed “detriments” are miniscule and insignificant. The key is that one must contemplate, imagine, and focus on the benefits and believe it is true, for then the detriments are truly insignificant.
2. The second possible detriment discussed by the Maharz”u is based on a very deep concept found in another medrish (Vayikra Rabba 13:3). “Mitzvos were only given to mankind in order to refine a person, to purify them from evil forces. [One might think] only the mitzvah of Shabbos specifically was not given to purify them from evil for they are commanded to eat, drink and to delight. There is no suffering, affliction, or purification. Not only that but you get rewarded for all the pleasure you have. However, even on Shabbos there is a refinement for one cannot eat whatever he wants just like during the week.”
This explanation is absolutely incredible if you analyze what the Maharz”u is saying! It seems people would think that Shabbos is a detriment, because if you go through all the mitzvos, there is a certain refinement that the mitzva does to a person by needing to abide by certain rules and not being allowed to do whatever one wants. For example, one cannot eat whatever he wants, there is the mitzva of kashrus. One cannot wear whatever he wants, there is the mitzva of shaatnez. Even mitzvos like tefillin have specific rules of where to place them and how to wear them; it can be a pain and a hassle to observe everything. But that was done on purpose by Hashem, to refine the human being from all negative effects inside and around him. Yet one might think that because there is a mitzvah to enjoy oneself on Shabbos then he can do whatever he wants. Eat the fanciest foods, kosher or not, drink the best wines, and wear the fanciest clothing! Imagine having a buttered pork chop, clam chowder, with chocolate mousse for dessert while wearing a Hugo Boss suit which is full of shaatnez! That might sound delicious and fancy (at least to some people), and it might be a great way to observe the mitzva of enjoying and honoring Shabbos; but what a detriment, because it is at the cost of transgressing other sins! Therefore, Hashem says it’s better to observe the rest of my mitzvos properly, as you would during the week, than to honor the Shabbos the best possible way.
Hashem says, “It is the effort that you put into doing things correctly and trying your hardest to produce proper intentions, not to do what you think is the best way to observe the mitzvos of Shabbos. If you listen to My will then I will listen to your prayers plus you will get much reward in the World to Come.”
Bonding with Hashem is the pure essence of Shabbos. Take advantage it has plenty of benefits and is well worth it!
Vaeschanan – Reality Check About Honesty
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The gemara in Rosh Hashanah 21b relates that there are 50 gates of bina, understanding, and all except for one were given to Moshe Rabbeinu, as it says “You give him dominion over Your handiwork, You placed everything under his feet” (Tehillim 8:7). Yet in the beginning of this week’s Torah portion of Vaeschanan, when Moshe is praying and beseeching Hashem to be allowed to enter the Land of Israel, Moshe says, “My Lord, Hashem Elokim, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand… Let me now cross and see the good land that is on the other side of the Jordan, this good mountain and the Lebanon” (Devarim 3:24-25).
One of the lessons the Ralbag learns from these pesukim is that “it is befitting for a person to not glorify himself with his wisdom and understanding though he has attained so much of it. Rather it is better to view oneself as if one is greatly lacking, for in this way one will be quicker to beseech perfection. For don’t we see by Moshe Rabbeinu with all the power of understanding he had reached, he still considered himself very much lacking, to the point that he said he was just beginning the path of reaching perfection and for this reason he said, ‘Hashem, Elokim you have begun to show Your servant Your greatness etc.'” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
We must put into perspective the situation. Moshe Rabbeinu was the greatest prophet to have ever lived. He is referred to as the father of all prophets. The levels of spirituality and knowledge of Hashem is unfathomable, and to get a glimpse of what that means one should read the obscure medrish, Medrish Kitapuach Bi’atzei Haya’ar, which depicts Moshe’s ascent through the 7 Heavens when he went up Mount Sinai. Does this mean Moshe was lying when he said he has only begun to understand Hashem and His ways?
Granted Moshe is known in the Torah as the humblest person on earth, but even so, my Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Henoch Liebowitz zt”l, in a shmuz on this concept (Chiddushei Halev Bamidbar 12:3) says, ” humility is defined as recognizing one’s special advantages and strengths and therefore understanding his purpose in life, but nevertheless feeling that people are better than him. Moshe recognized all his advantages; he knew he was humble and more perfect than any other person. He also understood that his purpose in life is to be the greatest leader of the generation for the Jews, and still in all he felt that all the Jews are better than him, because they have advantages that he does not have.”
This does not sound like he is lying to himself; so why does it seem like he is lying to himself here and saying he is only beginning to know Hashem, if in fact he was really so close to Him already and on levels of wisdom and understanding that we can’t even fathom?
In fact, the Ralbag, in his first lesson on these pesukim refers to Moshe as perfect: “Those that are perfect only choose this physical existence in order to add on to their perfection. For this reason, Moshe told Hashem that the reason why he is requesting from Hashem to cross the Jordan to see the land was because Hashem had already started to show him His greatness and His mighty hand. For this reason, Moshe chose to enter the land which was known to be the choicest and most influential by Hashem, in order so that he can add perfection to his perfection and behold Hashem’s greatness and mighty hand more than what he has already seen until now. And he did not choose this in order to eat from the fruit of the land as fools have thought.”
We see from this Ralbag that Moshe in fact recognized his perfection, that he had fulfilled his potential in the desert, but he wanted to reach higher and greater heights of the infinite levels of perfection one can attain, and that is why he desired to enter the Land of Israel. If so, then why in the very next lesson does the Ralbag depict Moshe as thinking he has just started to gain understanding of Hashem and His ways; isn’t that not true?
However, it seems clear, and if one thinks about it, it makes a lot of sense, that no matter how smart one might be, and no matter how holy or close to Hashem a person has attained, it can be levels unfathomable to the normal human mind, still in all, to truly understand Hashem Himself, His ways, intentions and infinite wisdom is so vastly impossible that in fact Moshe was telling the truth when he said he has just started learning and understanding about Hashem and His greatness.
All the more so we have to never be satisfied with our spiritual and mental growth and always strive to gain more heights and reach more levels of understanding Hashem, His ways, and doing His will.
Devarim – Human Sensitivity to Authenticity
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A person’s sensitivity to the real truth is acute, and there is an apparent proof to this from a Medrish Rabba (1:4) in this week’s Torah portion of Devarim. The Book of Devarim begins with Moshe Rabbeinu rebuking the Jewish nation, climaxing with the curses in the portion of Ki Savo.
The medrish states, “Rebbe Acha the son of Rebbe Chanina said that Bilaam should have said the rebuke (the curses mentioned in parshas Ki Savo, according to the Maharz”u) and the blessings (bilaam said) should have come from the mouth of Moshe. However, if Bilaam would have rebuked them, the Jews would have just said an enemy rebuked us. And if Moshe would have given the Jews the blessings, then the nations of the world would have said their loved one blessed them. Therefore, Hashem said let Moshe who loves them rebuke them and Bilaam who hates them bless them so that it is clear that the rebuke and blessings are meant for the Jews.” (Click here fore Hebrew text.)
The Maharz”u explains that if the Jews would have heard the curses from the mouth of Bilaam, they would have said this is what he desires – but that is not really the truth. The nations of the world would have said that because Moshe, their loved one, desires to bless them, but what he said is not really true; therefore Moshe began to rebuke them as it says ‘These are the words etc.’
It is apparent from this medrish and Maharz”u that Bilaam should have been successful at cursing and rebuking the Jews, as he originally planned on doing. They would have been the same curses and rebuke as written in the Torah, but if he would have done that, they would not have accepted it as truth and would have thought it was just what he felt in his heart.
But why would they not accept the rebuke? First off, there is a medrish a few paragraphs later (1:9) which proves that if the Jews accept rebuke Hashem must then bless them. If that is the case, assuming they know this, as apparent from that medrish, then why would they not accept Bilaam’s rebuke, as it would all be for the good in the end? Surely if they would focus on what Bilaam would have said they might have even realized it would have been the truth, Divinely inspired by Hashem, since in fact the curses and rebuke did come from the Truthful Torah. So why would they have not accepted it, if it would have come from the mouth of Bilaam?
It must be that even though the reality would have been that Bilaam would have been saying the truth, and accepting the rebuke and curses upon themselves if they would do wrong would have been in their best interest because it would have guaranteed blessing from Hashem, still in all, if there is some excuse to rely on to not accept it as truth, then they would have denied its authenticity.
People are looking for authenticity. They want to hear things in a vacuum of truth without any possible biases that might overshadow the truth, therefore it is hard to accept even what is really the truth from someone whom there is reason to believe might be making something up.
May we see the Final Redemption speedily in our days, and no need for a fast.
Mattos & Maasei – Always Watch Your Back and Your Friend’s Back
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This week is the double portion of Mattos and Maasei, and it also concludes Sefer Bamidbar. In Mattos we find the Jewish people waging battle against the Midianites out of revenge for causing 24,000 Jews to perish in sin at the end of Parshas Balak. They were victorious in battle and collected many spoils from the war. We actually learn the laws of kashering utensils from this portion because of all the utensils collected from the non-Jewish Midianites after the war. Hashem told Moshe, “Divide the spoils in half, between those who undertook the battle, who go out to the legions, and the entire assembly. You shall raise up a tribute to Hashem from the men of war who go out to the legion, one living being of 500, from the people, from the cattle, from the donkeys and from the flocks” (Bamidbar 31:27-28). When the leaders of the army approached Moshe, “They said to Moshe, ‘Your servants took a census of the men of war under our command, and not one man of us is missing. So we brought an offering to Hashem: what any man found of gold vessels, anklet and bracelet, ring, earring, clasp, to stone for our souls before Hashem” (Bamidbar 31:49-50).
There is a very valuable lesson the Ralbag learned from here. “One who has received good from Hashem should recognize that good and thank Hashem for it because this will help not to forget Hashem. For this reason, the Torah tells us that the ministers of the 1000s and 100s donated a lot of gold vessels to Hashem for all the good He did for them, that not one person died in battle. For this reason also, Moshe required that they themselves bring all the gifts to the Tent of Meeting to leave it there for the incredible wonder that took place. For this reason also, Hashem commanded them to take a portion of the gifts to Hashem from the spoils to the Kohanim and Leviim to show them that all this incredible good came to them from Hashem and not due to their own power and strength.”
(Click here for Hebrew text.)
The leaders of the army felt humbled by the show of care and love that Hashem had for his children, and not one was killed or captured in the war with the Midianites. They had heartfelt gratitude towards Hashem for the miracles that had happened to them, so they felt a need to give back and to donate a chunk of the spoils to Hashem. The donations were publicized and placed at the entrance of the Ohel Moed (Tent of Meeting) to enhance the gratitude towards Hashem. Hashem felt it was important that He had to give part of the gifts to the Kohanim and Leviim just to humiliate them by giving away part of the gifts so that there was no room to think that they could give themselves credit for the victory. (Parenthetically an interesting concept comes from this that repackaging gifts and giving them to other people is an embarrassment to the first giver if they find out what you did, so you should be sensitive of that matter). But why did Hashem feel he had to humiliate these donors in this way? Weren’t they clearly showing that they attributed 100% of their success to Hashem?
It must be that there is always room for the trait of haughtiness to slip in and every angle must be taken to avoid it, without any excuse. Hashem felt personally responsible to do this and not leave it up to free choice, for the leaders to choose to work on themselves to stay humble, since He would be the cause of them feeling this haughtiness potentially.
Pinchas – Making it Your Mitzvah
Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of the month, is a special day, or two. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 417) sites the custom for women to refrain from strenuous work, like laundry on Rosh Chodesh. There are those who don’t shave, get haircuts, or cut their nails, based on a decree of Rebbe Yehuda HaChasid. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 419) says there is a mitzvah to enhance one’s meal on Rosh Chodesh. In many high school yeshivos they have a special Rosh Chodesh breakfast. From all this we find that the Jewish people treat the beginning of the month in an extra special manner.
In fact, according to the Sforno in this week’s Torah portion of Pinchas there is a special reason of why this is so. The Torah, discussing the Musaf offering brought for Rosh Chodesh, states: “On your New Moons, you shall bring a burnt offering to Hashem: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs in their first year, unblemished” (Bamidbar 28:11). The Sforno points out “that there used to be a Jewish custom on Rosh Chodesh that made it considered extra holy in some way, as the pasuk in Shmuel Alef (20:19) testifies, ‘Where you hid yourself on the day of the deed.’ This pasuk was referring to the fact that they did not go into work on Rosh Chodesh. This is why the pasuk here associated Rosh Chodesh with the Jews, ‘your head of the months’. We don’t find this by the festivals. It doesn’t say by Shabbos, your Shabbos or by Shavuos, your Day of Bikkurim, or by Sukkos, your Sukkos. The reason for this custom is because it would seem that the success of the Jewish people in this world is in some way similar to the moon, which by itself does not have light accept from what it gets from something else, i.e. the sun.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
We see from this Sforno that the concept of treating Rosh Chodesh as a special time or day for the Jewish people is a custom that dates back at least to the times of David and Yonatan, son of King Shaul, which the pasuk in Shmuel was referring to; but most definitely even before that. But what was so special about them not working on Rosh Chodesh? They didn’t work on the festivals and Shabbos either, as Hashem commanded, and doesn’t Chaza”l say greater is one who is commanded to do something and fulfills the command then one who is not commanded? Furthermore, we see throughout history how each Yom Tov was treated with extra care, with people going out of their way to get the best lulav and esrog set, beautifying their Sukkah, having elaborate seders on Pesach, etc. etc. So why in fact is Rosh Chodesh so special that Hashem and His Torah, which is not time-bound, foresaw that the Jewish People would decide not to work on Rosh Chodesh and treat it as a special day, any more than Shabbos and all the Yom Tovim, so that the Torah calls it “Your New Months”?
It is true that one who performs mitzvos because Hashem commanded him to is better than one who voluntarily performs mitzvos, because the one commanded is showing more dedication in following what he was told to do. However, that is not in contradiction with this, because no one was commanded to do anything by Rosh chodesh besides bring a Mussaf sacrifice. Hashem foresaw that because they all personally related to this time and made it very special for themselves to the extent that they chose to take a day or two off from work, depending on how many days Rosh Chodesh was that month and they made it festive and even sang partial Hallel to Hashem then they owned it and it’s called ראשי חדשיכם, “your New Months” in the Torah.
We can glean from here a very important lesson, for Klal Yisrael as a whole was commended for taking to heart and treating with extra care the time of Rosh Chodesh. It makes sense that on a personal level, of course everyone should treat all mitzvos with the utmost importance and beautify them, but an individual has the ability and should try to find one mitzvah which he can relate to more than any other and make it his, own, make that mitzvah extra extra special, then it will be yours!
(Parenthetically, in many editions of the Sforno this text is found as a reason why the Jews related personally to Rosh Chodesh more than any other time: “Although prior to the sin of the golden calf the Jewish people’s fate was totally independent of any foreign domination, described as חרות על הלוחות, a kind of absolute independence, freedom engraved on the Tablets (the first set no doubt), (compare Exodus 32,16) as well as Eyruvin 54 and Tanchuma, Ki Sisa 16), once they had sinned they (divested themselves of this privilege, (and) no longer made use of this “Royal crown” at all times as did the other nations, so that they did no longer appear to enjoy this advantage over the other nations of the world.
Ever since that spiritual disaster, the Jewish people could enjoy their original privilege of independence from the restrictions imposed by the fact that one is part of the “laws of nature” only on rare occasions in their history, whereas most of the time they were dependent on “light”, i.e. good fortune, from external sources not under their control. To that extent, their history reflects the situation of the moon with its periods of ascent and decline month after month. When the moon is not directly exposed to the light of the sun it becomes invisible. The expression אין מזל לישראל, (Shabbat 126) means that the Jewish people do not generate light of their own, do not work at being masters of their own fate, but rely entirely on Hashem to guide their fates. They receive this Divinely emanated light when their deeds are pleasing to Hashem.
This is why in the parlance of our prophets Hashem Himself is referred to as: “אור ישראל” Israel’s source of light. (compare Isaiah 10,16 as well as Psalms 27,1 where David refers to Hashem. as אורי וישעי, “my light and my salvation.”)
Whenever the Jewish people are in a state of sin, their sins act as a barrier between them and their G-D so that they are deprived of their source of light. When Isaiah describes their state of being when sinful, he speaks of their G-D hiding His face from them, as Israel walking in darkness harassed by the gentile nations. (Isaiah 59,2).
Whenever the Jewish people’s fortunes are at low ebb this represents a desecration of Hashem’s name, i.e. His reputation, as the gentiles refer to us sneeringly as עם ה’ אלה “are these the ones who describe themselves as Hashem’s special nation?” We can understand what our sages have said in Gittin 58 that whenever the Jewish people are in trouble, Hashem is automatically forced to share their troubles. Having linked His honor to the honor and glory of the Jewish people, He suffers with us, (allegorically speaking). Whenever we suffer, whenever we are in a state of being oppressed, Hashem is described as saying that “the pirate has attacked Me and you simultaneously.”
Seeing that the sin offering presented on Rosh Chodesh/New Moon’s day is an atonement for the Jewish people who are the cause of preventing the light of the moon to shine, or the reason it shines so weakly when it does shine, the sages in our prayers on that day referred to that sin offering as לכפר בעדם זכרון לכולם יהיו תשועת נפשם מיד שונא, “to obtain atonement for themselves. They were to be a memorial for them all, and a salvation for their soul from the hand of the enemy.” This is the reason that this is the only sin offering described as חטאת לה’, “a sin offering on behalf of Hashem.” Presentation of this offering is also in respect of the damage the sinful behavior of the Jewish people has inflicted on Hashem’s image among the gentile nations.
When we read about the dialogue described between the moon and Hashem in Chulin 60, where Hashem is eventually described as saying to the Jewish people “bring a sin offering on My behalf,” (in expiation for My diminishing the light of the moon) what the sage (Rabbi Shimon ben Pezzi) wanted to explain by putting such strange sounding words in ‘Hashem’s mouth’ is that ultimately the reason why the moon was diminished was because seeing it has a kinship with the Jewish people and they did not always live up to their lofty destiny, the moon [as a celestial representative of Hashem Himself, Ed.] therefore has to suffer alongside with them for their shortcomings. Seeing this may not sound quite fair, Hashem allegorically ordered a sin offering to be brought by the Jewish people on Rosh Chodesh/New Moon’s day in order appease the moon.)”
Sefer Chofetz Chaim hilchos rechilus chapter 5 halachos 5-7
There is a terrible habit that people have that they feel the need to know what other people did to them or said about them and if they ask and the person refuses to tell them he badgers the guys until he divulges the information. This is certainly rechilus if there is no purpose to knowing, meaning there is no threat against him and even there is potential threat we learned you can’t believe what you here, only take precautions. There are many prohibitions that could be transgressed and mitzvos not fulfilled if one is not careful in this matter. Also, one has to be very careful not to jump to the conclusion all the time that there might be threat against him and he is allowed to listen and inquire about what someone did or said about him. There is a fine line between being cautious and sensing a hunch of a threat and constantly overreacting and that line must be balanced.
The way to find that balance is to be adherent to the positive mitzvah of “with righteousness you shall judge your nation,” which includes judging your fellow favorably. Now this doesn’t only apply to someone who most probably meant you know harm, but the Chofetz Chaim says that if the Torah went out of the way to make a mitzvah for this it must unexclusive, or rather inclusive of many situations including especially if it would seem the person was trying to be malicious, still there is a mitzvah to judge him or her favorably until it is apparent with clear proof and no other choice that he or she is guilty. But if you just know what you heard was true, ley say you even can confirm it on video, still there is a mitzvah to judge favorably, that maybe something was overlooked which could change the whole story. Even if the story could go 50/50 either according to what you heard who are you to make the judgment that what you heard can go either way, if the All-Knowing Hashem makes a mitzvah to judge favorably why should you decide well
that’s only someone who might deserve to be judged favorably but under the circumstances that in my mind this person doesn’t deserve to be judged favorably, how does one have a right to just make that decision, maybe it wasn’t as bad as it it’s made out to be?! Why pick a fight and blow out if proportion a situation that does not have to be blown out of proportion? Therefore, it must the mitzvah if judging favorably even applies in situations where it can go 50/50 either or even if it looks worse than good. It’s not just a nice thing to judge favorably it’s a Torah obligation until it is unequivocally clear what happened.
Now if one has committed the sin of accepting rechilus the way to repent is to first remove from your heart the belief that what you heard is true. If that is hard to do, then just convince yourself that you are missing a part of the story. Maybe something was taken out or was added or the way it was said came out more negative than it really is, including the way his voice sounded might have changed the story if it was said over in a different tone of voice and he skipped up saying it. You should also accept upon yourself in the future to not ever accept lashon hara or rechilus about any Jew again, and say vidui, meaning admit to your sin. This will fix the sin transgressed as long as you have not spread what you heard to anyone else, which is a different story, not impossible to fix, because teshuva is always possible but not for this discussion right now.
Balak – Destroying the Root of Evil by Storm
At the end of this week’s Torah portion of Balak, after Bilaam failed to curse the Jewish people, he instead blessed them. Bilaam then tried to destroy them by seducing them to sin. The Torah reports, “Israel became attached to baal-peor, and the wrath of Hashem flared up against Israel. Hashem said to Moshe, ‘Take all the leaders of the people. Hang them before Hashem against the sun and the flaring wrath of Hashem will withdraw from Israel.’ Moshe said to the judges of Israel, ‘Let each man kill his men who were attached to baal-peor'” (Bamidbar 25:3-5).
A lesson the Ralbag learns from this episode is that as soon as evil begins to sprout it is worthwhile to put in efforts to immediately remove it, without any laziness, so that nothing more will sprout. For this reason, Hashem commanded Moshe to gather together the judges of Israel to immediately kill all those attached to the idol of baal-peor, so that His wrath would rest from among the Jews. He also commanded to do this in broad daylight so that all of Israel will suffer and they will remove the bad from amongst them in totality. (Click here for Hebrew text.)
We see from here that the Torah advocates for the annihilation of evil with speed and alacrity even if it means killing human beings and causing psychological trauma. It is acceptable in order to wipe out the evil among us. But killing is not required; any method that gets rid of the evil, while convincing others to not follow the bad ways is enough to ensure proper success.
But why should stopping the evil come to violence? Isn’t that extreme and sending the opposite message? Especially if it is necessary to be done in broad daylight in front of others. Can’t it cause too much trauma potentially? Isn’t it better to teach morals with proper civility? What about criminal justice reform?
It is true that Hashem is absolutely and only good, and He advocates for peace at all times. Indeed, one of His names is Shalom, peace. However, Hashem also stands for truth, His signature is אמת, and truth cannot bear within its proximity evil; something which is not good is the opposite of truth, it is a lie. For this reason, anything which is evil should be nipped in the bud and removed as quickly as possible, as soon as it starts, if it can’t be avoided altogether.
However, this logic can easily be misinterpreted and taken into the wrong hands, and evil can use it as an excuse; that they are killing and destroying for the sake of good; so how can this be accepted? For this reason, the Ralbag points out that the Torah emphasizes that Moshe appointed judges, people who are sages, that knew and understood the letter of the law They had higher standards and morals and knew when and how to wipe out evil in the most appropriate way. When having these checks and balances, evil can be removed from among Klal Yisrael and we will have the chance to serve Hashem in the ideal peaceful and honest way which Hashem desires.
Sefer Chofetz Chaim hilchos rechilus chapter 5 halachos 3-4
If there is a possible threat to you physically or monetarily then you are allowed to listen and even inquire with others if what you heard is true in order to take proper precautions for your safety. Even if it is just a feeling you have that something is wrong, like someone looked at you the wrong way or you have any inkling he hates you and want to harm you, you have a right to investigate and even inquire to see if you or your property are in danger and take proper precautions. This is not considered speaking rechilus even if it sounds like you are making someone look bad, but you have every right to protect yourself. But that is all you are allowed to do. You can’t accept anything you hear as truth and act upon it even if you hear the same thing from many people. He should be treated as any other Jew you are just allowed to protect yourself and property from harm’s way. For example, you can’t hate him in your heart and if he asks for a loan or tzedaka you must give it to him. If you don’t then you will be transgressing don’t take revenge or bear grudge especially since he has not done anything to you yet. You also can’t embarrass or treat him any less than any other Jew besides taking precautions to be sure you don’t get hurt. Even if there are rumors that he told on you to the government and they might now be after you, which in that case he is not considered part of “your nation” and you can withhold things from him bit until you know for sure he did it you have to treat him as any other Jew and just protect yourself. The Chofetz Chaim bring a gemara on Shabbos 56a as proof that you can listen and inquire of people to protect yourself from the story of the prophet Shmuel telling King David that he is allowed to listen to and cross check Tzova who was a known enemy of Mefiboshes about whether Mefiboshes, a relative of Shaul, was rebelling against the king and deserves to be caught and sentenced to death. King David only had a slight indication of a rebellion from the fact that Mefibishes didn’t attend a feast King David invited him to, but that was enough to be allowed to inquire about his motives and the potential threat. Those this might have been a more serious matter, a threat to life, but the Chofetz Chaim felt this was a good enough example to prove that any threat physically or monetarily can be researched, inquired into with taking proper precautions as long as you don’t accept it as truth until knowing for sure on your own, with accepting it from other that there is a problem.
Chukas – Microscopic Focus
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In this week’s Torah portion of Chukas, Moshe Rabbeinu commits the sin of hitting the rock which was the ultimate cause for him not being allowed to enter the land of Israel. However, the pasuk says, “Hashem said to Moshe and Aharon, ‘Because you did not imbue belief in Me in the eyes of the Jews, therefore you will not bring this congregation to the Land I have given them’” (Bamidbar 20:12). Why is Aharon also mentioned and blamed? What did he do wrong?
The Medrish Rabba, quoting this pasuk, gives an insight as to why Aharon was punished. “This is what the pasuk says, ‘There is futility that takes place on earth: Sometimes there are righteous men who are treated as if they had done the deeds of the wicked; and there are wicked men who are treated as if they have done the deeds of the righteous. I declare this too is vanity’ (Koheles 8:14). You find that when the snake was cursed, and He said you shall be cursed etc. He didn’t allow him to claim anything, for the snake could have said before Hashem, ‘You told man not to eat and I told him to eat, why should you curse me?’ He did not allow him to claim anything. And Aharon should have claimed, ‘I did not go against Your words why should I die'” (Medrish Rabba Chukas 19:11)? (Click here for Hebrew text.) The Maharz”u sights a Medrish Tanchuma in this parsha (10) which elaborates more on this very matter. The Anaf Yosef on the Medrish Tanchuma asks a basic question in belief in Hashem related to why Hashem didn’t allow the snake to make his claim or didn’t claim for him. This is even though there is a concept in Jewish courts called טענינן ליה that the court will make the claim for the litigant, if justified. The question is, that if the all-knowing Hashem knows the snake’s claim, which would make him innocent in court, then why was he guilty? How can the Judge of the world not exact proper justice? The Anaf Yosef gives two answers. One is based on a Yefeh Toar on Breishis Rabba (20), that says that he really deserved to be punished, but he gave some excuse to wiggle himself out of punishment. However Hashem didn’t let him give that excuse, because if He would then Adam and Chava would be punished and he, the perpetrator, the seducer, would not have been punished. Therefore, Hashem didn’t make the excuse for him, since he really deserved punishment for causing the mortality of man. The second answer is based on a gemara in Sanhedrin 29a. We learn from the snake that we don’t make any claims of innocence for one who was proven to be a masis, one who convinces others to sin. So Hashem did not make any excuse for the snake because he convinced Chava to sin, but in order not to allow the snake to make an excuse for himself, which according to halacha would have to be accepted so Hashem immediately sentenced him to his deserved punishment. Normally even if one is sentenced to death, if there is any claim that can reverse the sentence we listen to it. But we learn from this episode that for a masis, one who purposefully causes others to sin, we don’t have any mercy, and don’t allow anyone to claim for him once he is sentenced to death. (Click here for Hebrew text.)
The Maharz”u on the Medrish Rabba, when explaining the medrish, says that the snake’s claim would have been ‘Why did he leave Your command and go after mine, the words of the teacher and the words of the student who should he have listened to?’ (דברי הרב ודברי התמיד דברי מי שומעים)However, since he was wicked, convincing them to sin, Hashem didn’t allow the snake to make any claim of innocence for himself. The Maharz”u concludes, “And what occurred to the wicked snake occurred to the righteous Aharon.” So, what did Aharon do wrong?
The Etz Yosef on the Medrish Tanchuma points out that Aharon is praised for not telling Hashem ‘I did not sin,’ but the reason why he was punished in reality is because he should have protested what Moshe was doing and not have agreed to his action [of hitting the rock twice.]
Even if he didn’t stop his brother Moshe Rabbeinu when he could have, does that mean he should be equated with the snake, as if he purposefully seduced Moshe to sin? Not even close! So why was Aharon Kohen Gadol compared to the snake and sentenced to death for his inaction of not preventing Moshe’s mistaken decision to hit the rock?
From here we see a clear proof that the righteous are judged by Hashem very meticulously, on a whole different level than others, since they are held to much higher standards. (ד’ דן הצדיקים כחוט השערה) This case is a clear explanation of this concept since Aharon, a rodef shalom, one who Pirkei Avos says ran after peace, as well as the beloved older brother of Moshe Rabbeinu, who Moshe treated with extreme respect and looked up to, could have said something to Moshe, Moshe would have definitely listened and none of this would have happened so since he didn’t, it literally is as if Aharon convinced him to sin like a masis, and therefore deserved to die without any excuses, because of his high level of righteousness and the standards he was judged on. However, without a doubt in anyone’s mind this was a punishment incurred in this world but in the next world, The Eternal World, Aharon earned a position extremely close to Hashem.