Author: Rabbi Milder

This Shabbos is Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan on which we read a special haftorah from the last chapter of Yeshaya. Most of the haftorah depicts the end of days, after Moshiach reveals himself and Yerushalayim  is rebuilt with the Beis HaMikdash, and many non-Jews will bring the Jewish people back from exile, with honor, up to Yerushalayim. However, there will be one f(r)action who will rise up to attack the Jewish people in Yerushalayim, who will then fall in a blazing storm of fire and brimstone as a show of Hashem’s awesome might and power. The war, the war of Gog and Magog, is depicted in a number of places in Navi including Zecharya, Yechezkel, and the last chapter of Yeshaya.

After the great fall of Gog and Magog, the survivors of the war will spread out to the corners of the earth to publicize Hashem’s sovereignty and bring everyone else, including lost, assimilated Jews, up to Yerushalayim to proclaim Hashem’s Majesty and Oneness over the entire world. Yeshaya says: “And they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a tribute to the Lord, with horses and chariots, and with covered wagons and with mules, and with joyous songs upon My holy mount, Yerushalayim, says the Lord, as the Children of Israel bring the offering in a pure vessel to the house of the Lord. And from them too will I take for priests and for Levites, says the Lord” (Yeshaya 66:20, 21).

The Radak explains that even those Jews who will be entrenched in the ways of the gentiles, living on far off islands to the point that they forgot their roots and did not return from exile with the rest of the Jewish people –  still in all Hashem will take them to be Kohanim and Leviim for they are already from the family of Koheins and Levis. He will take the Koheins to serve as kohanim before Him and the Levis to serve as Leviim to sing and play musical instruments. The Radak goes on to quote from our sages that when Hashem says “I will also take from amongst them…” They [the gentiles] will bring them and their gifts, amongst them will be a Yisrael, a Kohen, and a Levi.For example, if they were sold into slavery and  forgot their roots, and were forced to be assimilated amongst the gentiles, Rebbe Eliezer says that also from them I will take. For they will bring them to the King Moshiach anyone who had amongst them a Yisrael, Kohen or Levi, I will also take them from amongst. those who came and who were brought. (Click here for Hebrew text.)

The Metzudas Dovid points out that these Jews must have some proof that they are Jewish, having come from a Jewish mother. Whether they are aware of this or someone else knows that their mother’s mother was Jewish, whatever the case,  they  must be authentic Jews. However, once that is determinedand Eliyahu HaNavi identifies that they have Kohen or Levite lineage (which means their father was a Kohen or Levi), they will then  serve in the Beis Hamikdash like any other devout Kohen or Levi.

Imagine Zeeks, the heavy metal rock star from Australia, with piercings all over his body, totally assimilated into the Australian pop culture, dragged to Jerusalem, being told he was not only a Jew but a Levite and his Jewish nation just became rulers of the entire world with The King Moshiach at their helm, with everyone bowing down to The King Almighty Master of the Universe. He now has the chance to sing praises to Hashem in the Beis HaMikdash with all the other Leviim. Or imagine Jonathan the fisherman, who has a knife collection and loves to hunt and fish off the shores of Alaska. Living amongst the Alaskan Eskimos whom he befriended, living off of fresh bear meat and fish. Now he is told he is Jewish and is brought to Jerusalem, bringing gifts before Hashem andsanctifying His Holy Name. Eliyahu HaNavi identifies him as a Kohen and he is now assigned to be part of the rotation to serve in the Beis HaMikdash.

The Beis HaMikdash, a place which one could be executed for stepping into in a state of  impurity. It is a place of the highest degree of holiness, the focal point of where Hashem’s Divine Presence will rest, speedily in our days. The service in the Beis HaMikdash must be done with the utmost of purity and to the most minute degrees of perfection, with not even  a wayward thought crossing one’s mind, lest it affect  the offering. Certainly every action must be meticulous and done with the utmost concentration and fear of Hashem; yet, a Kohen or Levi who until now has been totally assimilated into the gentile physical world, the antithesis of purity and Jewish Law, will now come and serve in the Beis HaMikdash, either to sing and play instruments amongst the Leviim if he is a Levi, or to perform the services like bringing the offerings in the Beis Hamikdash, on the alter itself (of course after he is purified and taught what to do)? One would think these services would only be reserved for those of utmost holiness, those who spent their whole life yearning for this day to come! The ones who looked forward to and prepared themselves for the Final Redemption and the rebuilding of Beis HaMikdash. Once Moshiach comes, only people ingrained with deep levels of fear in Hashem and a lifelong wealth of knowledge of how to serve Him should be deserving of participating in such pristine holiness and divine service.Yet we are taught here that even one who was totally lost from the guild and engrossed in a mode of life far from holiness will be accepted with open arms to play his role in serving Hashem as anyone else in the Beis HaMikdash. How can this be?

We see from here that no matter how far gone a Jew is from Judaism he is still a Jew, and if he is a Levi or a Kohen he is still a Levi or a Kohen, and nothing can take that away. No matter what he has done in his life he still has the potential to reach the greatest heights and to reconnect with Hashem on the highest levels. No matter how delicate and sensitive the service, he has the potential to perform that service just as well as anyone who grew up preparing and working on themselves for that very opportunity. This is what he was born to do, it’s inside him. It just has to be unleashed or revealed. G-D willing, may all Jews come together and witness this incredible experience speedily in our days!

“Rebbe Chananya ben Akashya said: HaKadosh Baruch Hu wanted to give merit to the Jewish people, therefore he gave them a lot of Torah and mitzvos, as it says: ‘Hashem desires for the sake of His righteousness, that the Torah be made great and glorious’ (Yeshaya 42:21)” (Last Mishna in the tractate of Makkos).

This famous verse in Yeshaya is said in our prayers every day at the end of U’va Litzion. It is also in the haftorah for the Torah portion of Breishis. The pasuk before states: “There is much to see but you do not observe, to open the ears but no one listens” (Yeshaya 42:20). Yeshaya then says, in the very next pasuk:  “Hashem desires for the sake of His righteousness, that the Torah be made great and glorious.” Rashi over there comments that Yeshaya is telling the Jews: “You see a lot of things before you but you don’t watch to concentrate on My deeds and to return (do teshuva) to Me. I am actively opening your ears through My prophets and no wise person is listening to My word.  Hashem desires to show you and to open your ears for the sake of His righteousness; therefore He makes great and makes more splendorous Torah for you.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)

Hashem’s will can potentially be seen all around us, simply by looking around at the world. The medrish relates that Avraham Avinu figured out how to observe the entire Torah simply by opening up his eyes and ears to what was around him, with the express intent to try and figure out what the Almighty wanted from him. This is obviously not an easy task; the people in the times of Yeshaya were not even listening to the prophets Hashem sent them (in order to return them onto the right path). Eventually, the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed and the Jewish People were exiled.

Hashem said that out of his pure righteousness and love for his people, he set down on a silver platter the means to follow His will and to make this world a better place. That is why He gave us the Torah on Har Sinai – because He knew it would not be easy to figure it out all by ourselves. The Torah, with all its depth, breadth, and minutia, is still not out of our reach. It will also be with us forever. However, we still have to willingly open our eyes, ears, and hearts, in order to find it, and to live a life of merit.

The concluding Torah portion of Vezos HaBracha is read on Simchas Torah. In this Torah portion we are at the very end of Moshe Rabbeinu’s life, during which he blessed all the tribes. In Levi’s blessing he says: “They shall teach Your ordinances to Yaakov, and Your Torah to Yisrael; they shall place incense before You, and burnt offerings upon Your alter” (Devarim 33:10).

The Ralbag learns a very important lesson from this pasuk: “It is befitting for anyone who has a part of the perfection of man to perfect his fellow man. For this is the way Hashem ensures the perfection of those around in a fashion that they will not be cut short from reaching as much perfection as they can accept. This is why it states, “They shall teach Your ordinances to Yaakov, and Your Torah to Yisrael,” as if to say they shall know Your ordinances and Your Torah to instruct them, meaning after they know it they are obligated to teach it to Klal Yisrael.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)

The teaching and dissemination of Torah is perfecting oneself and his fellow man because the Torah, being the blueprints of creation, is also the handbook or guide for life itself. Imagine you were a doctor and you walk onto a battlefield strewn with injured men, and worse. Some are sick, some have lost limbs, all are in pain and agony for not being in a healthy state. You are pained and sickened at the sight but you can’t turn away. If you have the ability and tools to help them recover, you must tend to them. You must heal them. You should feel empowered to do whatever it takes to get them back to perfect health when you can.

This is all the more true for one who has the wealth of Torah under his belt. The Torah is what brings us to perfection since it was created by the Almighty, and any part of the Torah which one learns brings one closer to perfection. Therefore, living in the battlefield of life, among others who are more and less perfect than you, one must feel compelled to perfect oneself and, in turn, perfect others, when he or she has the tools and ability to do so.

The Ralbag said this is the method that Hashem uses to spread the instruction booklet of life. Not with humongous billboards or pamphlets dropping from heaven, but with teachers teaching what they were taught from their  instructors, going back for generations from when Moshe received the Torah from Hashem. Since this is the method to perfect humanity, anyone who has the proper means to contribute to the perfection of the world should feel, and is, obligated to do so.

We are now in the midst of the Yomim Noraim, the Days of Awe; a time of heartfelt prayer between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Ironically, we can learn about a whole new dimension of prayer from this week’s Torah portion of Haazinu. The Torah says: “The Deeds of the [Mighty] Rock are perfect, for all His ways are just; a faithful G-D, without injustice He is righteous and upright” (Devarim 32:4).

The Medrish Tanchuma elaborates on this pasuk: “[Hashem] is righteous for he does righteousness with his children. When He sees a person who is poor but he has done good deeds and he prays before Him, and says, ‘Like Your Great Name do for me righteousness,’ Hashem would then open up the treasure houses and give to him, this is the proper judgement for he has done righteousness. And this is what King David meant in Tehillim 31:20 ‘How great is Your goodness that You have laid away for those who fear you etc.’ King David said before Hashem, ‘I know you have treasure houses of abundance of righteousness and if you don’t apportion any of it to me and my friends who need them what is the great goodness you have laid away’” (Medrish Tanchuma, Parshas Haazinu, paragraph 5).

One might mistakenly think that he or she should ask Hashem for the reward that he deserves for doing good deeds; it would enhance his trust in Hashem by acknowledging that Hashem is in charge of everything. Why else would the medrish mention the good deeds the poor man did? Either righteousness means that Hashem acts in the proper manner, which means he gives what people ask for which should be coming to them, or it can mean that he goes above and beyond what people deserve and acts kindly to everyone, regardless of the good deed he or she did. So why does the medrish mention the good deeds of the poor man?
Yet this is incorrect thinking, as the Etz Yosef points out: “Judgement refers to strict judgement and being straight and righteous refers to going above the letter of the law. So we find that if a person has done good deeds, is poor and asks from Hashem to give him in the form of tzedaka (charity), and Hashem gives him, this is strict judgement and charity together. It is strict judgement because the person has done good deeds but it is also charity but no person has anything against Hashem at all.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)

It is clear that this poor person is asking of Hashem to help him out of pure righteousness or charity; not because Hashem owes him something.  It would be a chutzpah to request reward for the good deeds a person has done. On the contrary, we say in the long Tachanun on Monday and Thursday mornings after shemoneh esrei: “For not because of our righteousness do we cast down our prayers before you, rather because of Your abundant compassion.”

One might ask: Why is it better to deny recognition of our good deeds and ask Hashem to help us out of pure charity? On the contrary; it makes sense to say that even Hashem specifically wants us to pray for our reward in order that He can give us even more reward for acknowledging that Hashem is the ultimate giver of everything. We must therefore ask for our reward within our prayers, and not expect it to just come to us. It is true that all our good deeds pale in comparison to what Hashem does for us – that is why we ask Hashem to have mercy on us and not simply look at our deeds, but judge us at our own level. There is worth to what we have done, which has value in Hashem’s eyes; so why can’t we ask for this reward?

However, the reality is that this attitude of faith in Hashem is flawed, because we should never feel that something should be coming to us, that we deserve it and could request from Hashem to take for what we have given – because that right there is a lack of humility. We have to recognize that what we do is insignificant compared to what Hashem does for us; that we are really undeserving of any reward, but we have to live somehow; so we must ask Hashem to help us out of pure righteousness.

One might then ask: what is the point of doing good deeds? But of course Hashem weighs each deed we do. The last mishna in the fifth chapter of Pirkei Avos says in the name of Bar Hei Hei: “According to our efforts is our reward.” We can’t just ask for it; Hashem out of his benevolence decides to reward us for what we have done even though it pales in comparison to what Hashem does for us.

We can gain a greater appreciation of Hashem by doing His will and acknowledging that whatever we can do is miniscule compared to what he does for us. But we have that drive to live, and to live wholeheartedly; therefore we must ask Hashem to please take care of us, not because we deserve it, but because He is righteous and we need His charity.

May everyone have a healthy, happy and prosperous new year and may we all be written into the Book of Good Life and Peace!

There is a famous Medrish in this week’s Torah portion of Netzavim, based on the pasuk: “For this mitzvah which I command you this day, is not too wondrous for you, nor is it far away” (Devarim 30:11). This Medrish assumes the mitzvah this pasuk is referring to is the learning of Torah, and anyone who puts their mind to it can accomplish a a tremendous amount in their learning.

The Medrish Rabba says: “This is what the pasuk in Mishlei (24:7) refers to when it says: ‘Wisdom is as pearls to the fool; in the gate he will not open his mouth.’ What does ‘Wisdom is as pearls to the fool’ mean? Rebbe Tanchuma says this fool walks into a shul and he sees them involved in learning the Talmud and he does not know what they are saying. He is embarrassed as it says, ‘in the gate he will not open his mouth’… Another thing, the Rabbis say that this fool enters a shul and sees them deeply involved in learning Torah and he says to them, ‘How does a person start learning Torah?’ They say to him, ‘First read from a megilla, and then learn from a book of the Torah, and after that Prophets, and after that Writings. One who finishes learning Tanach (Bible) starts learning the Talmud and after that Halachos (Jewish Law), and after that Agados (Stories that one can learn lessons from in Rabbinic literature.)’ When he hears this he says in his heart, ‘When will I learn all this?’ And he leaves the entrance, this is what ‘in the gate he will not open his mouth’ refers to. Rebbe Yannai said, to what is this comparable to? To a loaf of bread hanging in the air (on a branch). The fool says, ‘Who can bring this down?’ A clever person (פיקח) would say, ‘Wouldn’t the one who hung it there bring a ladder or stick and bring it down?’ So to anyone who is stupid says, ‘When will I be able to learn the entire Torah?’ And one who is clever what will he do? He will learn one chapter every day until he finishes the entire Torah. Hashem says, ‘It is not wondrous for you, and if it is too wondrous for you that you cannot get involved in it, then ‘For this mitzvah [which I command you this, is not too wondrous for you, nor is it far away’]” (Medrish Rabba, parshas Netzavim 8:3). (Click here for Hebrew text.)

The Maharz”u comments on the step of the Medrish which describes how to start learning Torah, by starting with reading from a megillah: “That after one knows how to formulate the letters into words using vowels, then you start reading from a small book, which is a megillah.” For in their days there were  few books written other than the  Tanach (Bible), with the five megillas included. One would teach small children first with a small book, which is one of the five megillas, and then from one of the five books of the Torah, and so on and so forth.

The clever person looks at the breadth and depth of the entire Torah and strategizes. He figures that if he does “one chapter” a day he might actually get everything done and eventually learn the entire Torah. On the other hand, as the RaDa”L notes, the Torah is not really too wondrous for the fool; the fool is the one causing the Torah to be too overwhelming for himself.

Yet, is this really true? Especially in light of the Maharz”u, who says this order of learning is how a child used to begin to learn Torah. If so, the fool has a good point; for he is older and does not have as much time as a child has. A chapter a day might not accomplish learning the entire Torah by the end of his life, for he did not start as a child; so why isn’t it too overwhelming?

However, we are forced to say, based on this medrish, that the fool’s claim is only an excuse.I If a person  simply has the patience  and the foresight to see that if he does a little each day, with some schedule, he will accomplish a lot and Hashem will give him the ability to potentially complete the entire Torah.  Whether it will be the ability to learn more than just “one chapter” a day, or a longer lifespan to accomplish more in learning, whatever it might be, old age is only a challenge. But if one puts his mind to it, and patiently decides to take things step by step, then Hashem will give him the ability to succeed.

This is true about any challenge. If one  has ADHD and can’t sit still, that is still just a challenge. And one who is clever, not necessarily smart and intelligent,  but clever enough to have the patience and foresight to make the proper decision to create some system of success (which anyone, if he or she puts his or her mind to it could do), will ultimately be able to create a system that works, even in the face of ADHD.

On the other hand, the foolish individual has such little patience that when he sees others delving into the depths of gemara he is embarrassed and speechless. He caused the embarrassment on himself by not having the patience to develop a system to get to that level of learning. Imagine – embarrassing someone is akin to killing them in the eyes of Chaza”l; yet he is doing that to himself out of a lack of patience and an inability to sit down and try to learn a little bit each day! It is his fault that he is embarrassed; it is his fault that it is too overwhelming for him.
Ultimately it is in Hashem’s hands how long one lives, how smart one is, and how much Torah knowledge one will be able to learn in his lifetime. However, the medrish is referring to how much effort we put in to trying to accomplish everything. And that effort is up to us; to choose to put all our energies into it and not just walk away from the challenge because it is too much.

Does anyone really know the impact of one’s prayers? Hashem listens to everyone and weighs each person’s sincerity, and every prayer is answered, in some form or another. The Baal HaTurim gives us a glimpse into one aspect of the impact of prayer.

In this week’s Torah portion of Ki Savo, it is written:  “And Hashem has selected you on this day to be His treasured people, as He spoke to you, and so that you shall observe all His mitzvos. And to make you supreme, above all the nations that He made, as praise, a name, and glory, and so that you will be a holy people to Hashem, your G-D as He spoke” (Devarim 26:18, 19).

The Baal HaTurim says that “as praise, a name and glory” means that when the Jews laud and give praises to Hashem, it is His glory. Indeed, this is what we say in Megilla 15b: ‘in the future Hashem will be a crown on the head of each righteous person,’ meaning the same crown that they crown Hashem with, their prayers will be returned to them. But one who speaks idle chatter in shul will have his body surrounded by thorns. (Click here for Hebrew text.)

Our prayers, the praises we sing to Hashem everyday and at any time, are “crown jewels” on Hashem’s “Head.”  It follows, then, that the more kavana, enthusiasm, and excitement we put into praising Hashem, the shinier and more eloquent our eventual crown will be.

In the gemara in Megilla it says that only righteous people will be crowned with this crown made from their prayers in the World to Come, because they humbled themselves. As an extension, it would make sense to add that part of the quality of the crown is from whom it is being given. The more righteous the person is, the more it adds to the beauty of the crown.

However, it seems from the Baal HaTurim, that anyone is able to crown Hashem with his or her praises, but that not everyone gets that crown back in the future, since everyone is not a tzadik, righteous. One might ask: why it is fair? As long as a person gives acclaim to Hashem, what difference does it make about his or her status? So what if I am not so righteous, and I make mistakes, and am haughty most of the time; I still praised Hashem! So why don’t I get back the crown I made, at the right time, just like the righteous?

Obviously, that is the wrong approach. We should praise Hashem with all our energy and might whenever we can, and we should also have the attitude throughout life that we have the potential and ability to be righteous. We can then strive to get there and G-D willing in the future we will all be deserving of being bestowed with the precious crowns we adorned Hashem with through our prayers.

The Torah commands that six events be remembered always: (1) Remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt, (2) Remembrance of receiving the Torah at Har Sinai, (3) Remembrance of the golden calf, (4) Remembrance of the Shabbos, (5) Remembrance of Miriam, (6) Remembrance of Amalek’s attack. The last two are in this week’s Torah portion of Ki Seitzei; the last one begins: “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way, as you departed from Egypt” (Devarim 25:17). Why must this episode always be remembered? What is the lesson we can take from it?

The Rosh quotes a Medrish Tanchuma (paragraph 9) in the name of Rebbe Levi who proposes a novel approach in the name of Rebbe Nosson: “[The Amalekites] came from the road like bandits. They had traveled 400 parsah from Mount Seir to Refidim. Hashem warned us to remember this matter. This is compared to a king who has a vineyard surrounded by a fence with a guard dog. The king said, ‘Whoever tries to break through the fence will be bitten by the dog.’ The son of the king came, broke through the fence, and the dog bit him. Whenever the king wanted to remind his son of his sin that he broke through the fence he would tell him about the dog biting him. So to whenever Hashem wanted to remind the Jews what they did in Refidim as it says ‘Is Hashem amongst us’ (Shemos 17:7), He would mention the bite of the dog, i.e. ‘Remember what Amalek did to you on the way.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)

The Jews had a weakening of faith in Hashem right after He took them out of Egypt, when they traveled without water for three days. Hashem punished them with the attack of Amalek. The mitzvah to remember Amalek, according to this medrish, is to remind ourselves to strengthen our faith when we feel we are becoming lax. If one is waning in faith, or has any difficulty, wouldn’t it be more practical to be reminded, as clearly as possible, to get back on the right track?  Why not simply say: ‘Remember to strengthen your trust in Hashem when you feel you are losing it!?

Based on the context of the Rosh, we are not dealing with a onetime mistake but rather a problem with some level of frequency. The Rosh says the best way to handle it is to set a reminder of the original punishment given for the mistake. This has a greater impact on a person, to help him correct his ways, rather than to constantly be spelling out what he or she did wrong. In this case, we have a mitzvah to always remember what Amalek did to us. Some people even recite this paragraph every day with the five other events. That would seem to mean that it is very easy to lose one’s trust in Hashem and we need constant reminders to build our faith.

However, there is another practical lesson we can learn from here, which is that, as parents and teachers, the proper way to redirect children who  are continuously slipping in some area is to remind them of the original punishment they received for the mishap, and that will reinforce the notion to do the right thing.

There is a mitzvah upon all of humanity to set up court systems. Even non-Jewish nations are commanded to do so as part of the Seven Noahide Laws; yet there is something special about a Jewish Court, run by Torah Law.

The Torah commands us in this week’s Torah portion of Shoftim: “Judges and police you shall give within all your gates that Hashem your G-D has given to you to your tribes and they will judge the nation righteous judgement” (Devarim 16:18).

The Medrish Rabba (Shoftim 5:7) quotes a parable by Rebbi Levi: “What is this compared to? To a king who had many children but he loved the smallest one more than the other. He also had a garden and he loved that more than anything else he owned. The king said, ‘I will give this garden which I love the most to my smallest son who I love the most.’ So to Hashem said, ‘From all the nations I have created I only love the Jews,’ as it says ‘For the Jews are young and are His loved ones,’(Hoshea chapter 11). ‘From all I have created I only love judgement’ as it says I am Hashem who loves justice,’ (Yeshaya chaper 61). Hashem said, ‘I am going to give what I love to the nation whom I love, this is the intention of the pasuk ‘Judges and police…’ Hashem said to the Jews, ‘My children, I swear on your life, in the merit of you observing proper judgement I will become elevated.’ How do we know this? As it says, ‘And Hashem the G-D of Legions will be elevated through justice’ (Yeshaya chapter 5). ‘And because you elevate me through judgement I will in turn do righteousness and rest My holiness amongst you.’ How do we know this? As it says, ‘And the Holy G-D will be sanctified through righteousness’ (Yeshaya chapter 5).  ‘And if you observe both the righteousness and judgement immediately I will redeem you with complete redemption.’ How do we know this? As it says, ‘Thus said Hashem if they keep justice and do righteousness, for my salvation is close to come and my righteousness to redeem’(Yeshaya chapter 56).” (Click here for Hebrew text.)

The Maharz”u commenting on this parable says: “That it is the nature of the world to love the youngest child for even though one has older children and he loves all of them, but all his fun and entertainment is with the youngest child. So to by the garden, even though one might have a lot more, more expensive property, still in all, all his fun and entertainment is in the garden.”

The Maharz”u explains the application gleaned from the parable as follows: What it means when it says that the Jews are ‘a lad and his beloved’ is that we are the ‘fewest amongst all the nations,’ as is written in the end of the Torah portion of Vaeschanan. This means that Hashem’s love for the Jewish people is due to our humbling of  ourselves; therefore Hashem loves us, and therefore he commanded us regarding justice. What it means when it says that Hashem will be elevated, is that if there is judgement on earth there is no need for judgement in Heaven; so for having judges and police on earth [enforcing justice] there is no judgement and punishment [needed] to come from Heaven rather there is only righteousness.Everyone will then praise Hashem, and this is what it means when the pasuk in Yeshaya says: “And Hashem the G-D of Legions will be elevated through justice and the Holy G-D will be sanctified through righteousness.” The more you guard the righteous,  the closer they will come to the true redemption.
There are a lot of observations that could be made from this Medrish, and the Maharz”u’s explanation of it. First off, the parable says that the king loved his youngest child more than the rest of his children, whom he also loves, but in application the Medrish says Hashem only loves the Jews. Secondly, according to the Maharz”u, the youngest isn’t meant literally; rather, it means ‘the most humble,’ or, literally, the nation which belittles itself the most. Thirdly, why and how is judgement and humbling ourselves Hashem’s entertainment and fun?  Finally: what is the connection between all of this and the final redemption; why hasn’t it yet come? The Mishna in Pirkei Avos (3:18) that Rebbe Akiva used to say: “Beloved is man for he was created in G-D’s image; it is indicative of a greater love that it was made known to him that he was created in G-D’s image, as it is said: ‘For in the image of G-D He made man.” This means that all of mankind is loved by Hashem – but we must say that the love of Hashem towards the Jewish people is so immense that the love towards the rest of the nation are, in contrast, like nothing.  But this Mishna in fact goes on to point out how Hashem loves the Jewish people on two accounts: “Beloved are the people of Israel, for they are described as children of the Omnipresent, as it says ‘You are children to Hashem our G-D.’ Beloved are the people of Israel, for a cherished utensil was given to them; it is indicative of a greater love that it was made known to them that they were given a cherished utensil, as it said: ‘ For I have given you a good teaching; do not forsake my Torah.”

Hashem accepted us as His beloved children and gave us the treasured gift of the Torah because we humbled ourselves by subjugating our life to Him when we said naaseh vinishma [”We will do and then we will listen”] before accepting the Torah. And what is justice? It is arriving at and enforcing the truth. Hashem’s truth is not subjective; it is objective. My Rosh HaYeshiva zt”l used to say that one of the most important character traits one must perfect and live by is honesty, truth. No wonder justice is Hashem’s fun and entertainment; he is totally honest – since there is no falsehood by Him, the enforcement of truth is His delight! So Hashem gave this enforcement of honesty, “His fun,” to those who humbled themselves and were willing to abide by this objective truth.  That is why we are more beloved than any other nation by Hashem. Now, if we are able to enforce law and order and hand out punishment according to the truthful way of the Torah, then people could be properly atoning for their sins in this world and would be able to go straight to heaven if they went through the process of repentance, in the Next World. This gives Hashem the opportunity to imbue holiness into the world, which is His way of acting righteously (instead of needing to punish man in Gehinom when they sin). If we would just keep pure and keep up proper judgement, this would be one formula for bringing the complete redemption of ultimate truth to the world, may it come speedily in our days.

Obviously not contaminating the holy, and even constantly enforcing strict and proper judgement, seems not to be that easy. Yet that is one possibility why the coming of Moshiach and the final redemption have not yet arrived. What we as individuals can do is to work on humbling ourselves, to be open and accepting of understanding Hashem’s objective truth, the only real truth – the Torah.  In that way we can properly observe the Torah and Hashem can spread more holiness on earth, so one day, in our lifetime, we will be redeemed back to Zion forever.

At the end of one of the pasukim in this week’s Torah portion of Re’eh, we find the following: “And Hashem your G-D will bless you in all you do” (Devarim 15:18). The Ralbag in lesson 10 teaches us a lesson in character development: “This is to inform us that it is not becoming for a person to stand idle not doing anything to be sure to keep the mitzvos of the Torah and to rely on Hashem that He will provide for his needs. This will lead to a loss and possibly with that a diminishing in faith in Hashem. For this reason the pasuk says ‘Hashem will bless you in all you do’ to teach us that one has to earn his blessing from Hashem by not sitting around idle, but rather doing actions which will spur upon him His blessing, and then Hashem will bring to him [blessing] in all that he does.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)

It is possible that a person can choose to dedicate his entire life towards performing Torah and mitzvos, which in theory means he will be learning Torah all day and all night, and performing all the other mitzvos, including davening, chesed, etc. when they are required.  But he will then be unable to work for his livelihood,  and would rather   completely trust in Hashem that He will provide for His dedicated servant. That person, the Ralbag says, will lose everything and might even lose his faith in Hashem. How can that be? Isn’t one supposed to have a tremendous level of undaunting faith in Hashem and, in turn, dedicate himself  towards the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos? Isn’t this the ideal state?  How can it be counterproductive? It seems obvious from this Ralbag,  however, based on the pasuk, that Hashem also wants us to do some work. Built into our very existence is the need to work; only then does Hashem shower us with his blessing, and shower us with the fruits of our efforts.

That does not, necessarily, mean that one must have a profession in order to live. The pasuk does not say that Hashem will bless you in the profession (אומנות) you choose to go into; rather, every person has to have some type of plan, some  means to support themselves. Even at its minimum, Hashem will bless the actions one takes on behalf of his livelihood.

This does not mean that everyone should be learning in kollel their whole life on some minimal system of support. Not everyone can do that, and there is a need to spread the Torah that one has learnt to the world. Indeed, not everyone is cut out to be a full-time learner or teacher. There are many types of positions that must be filled in the world: doctors, lawyers, accountants, salesmen, plumbers, electricians, psychologists; the list goes on and on. Everyone has their own purpose in life and they  must figure out what that purpose is, and integrate it into their observance of Torah and mitzvos.

The attitude one should have is not that I am a full-time learner, or a teacheror a doctor, but rather I am an eved Hashem[servant of Hashem]. And one must constantly ask him or herself what is the best way, at that very moment, to serve Hashem.

My Rosh HaYeshiva zt”l, Rav Henoch Leibowitz, used to say that there is a sixth volume of Shulchan Aruch which deals with middos, one’s character development, and we only have to look into chaza”l to learn how to be a mentche, to act with proper derech eretz and manners, to improve our character, and to be normal. The means   accomplishing this is to constantly be asking ourselves: ‘What is Hashem’s will for me at this moment,’ and to maintain the  attitude that I am simply a servant of Hashem. Only then will He  bless you in all your endeavors.

Sefer Devarim is Moshe’s final discourse to his people. It is primarily made up of rebuke, in which he scolds  the Jewish people with great scrutiny and precision. In the middle of this week’s Torah portion of Eikev, while rebuking them about sin of the golden calf, Moshe throws in Aharon’s death: “The Children of Israel traveled from Be’eiros Bnei Ya’akon to Moseirah. There Aharon dies and was buried there; And his son Elazar took over the priesthood” (Devarim 10:6). Rashi has a whole slew of questions on this pasuk: (1) “Why is this relevant here, (the sin of the golden calf which prompted the smashing of the tablets and Aharon’s death was almost 40 years apart.)?… (3) Also ‘There Aharon died’ didn’t he die on Mount Hor…?”  Rather, Rashi answer, this is part of the rebuke  (see Rashi there).

The Ralbag in his commentary, which happens to address Rashi’s third question, says: “Everyone knows that Aharon did not die in Moseirah or B’nei Ya’akon, rather he died on Mount Hor and was buried there. [Mount Hor] was one of the travels of whence they left Bnei Ya’akon as mentioned in the Torah portion of Massei. The intention here is to tell us that during the travels that ensued he died and was buried there because of what happened at Mei Merivah. This is the way the story was told over about the bitterness of the Jews. [For the Jewish people fought with Moshe and Aharon, and their lack of faith in Hashem was the reason why Moshe and Aharon had to pass away as the Ralbag explained in the Torah portion of Chukas (20:13), so that they won’t be able to inherit the land of Israel in a complete fashion.] This is why the pasuk here says “Be’eiros” (wells) of Bnei Ya’akon as if to explain that all the places they passed through until now when they arrived in Kadesh they had water to drink and now the Jews complained for no good reason by Mei Merivah which resulted in this loss.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)

The Ralbag in his lessons on this Torah portion, lesson 16, learns from the pasuk that it is not right for one who is giving rebuke to tell over something which would make it possible for those being rebuked not to accept the message. For this reason, Moshe did not want to reveal the place about which he was rebuking the Jews, that as a result of what happened at Mei Merivah (which literally means the waters of strife) Aharon died and death was decreed upon Moshe himself.  This is because the sin had been forgotten and they could have said there is no point to guard oneself from sin because they (Moshe and Aharon) died without sin, with all there greatness in stature.  For this reason as well, Moshe did not want to mention the incident with Korach, because of how great his stature was in their eyes; in order that they wouldn’t be able to have any room to dodge his rebuke. (Click here for Hebrew text.)

Moshe Rabbeinu was an admonisher par excellence. He specifically chose to admonish the Jewish people right before his death for four reasons, as explained in the Sifri at the beginning of the Book of Devarim: (1) So that he does not admonish them again and again. (2) So that they won’t be ashamed when they see him. (3) So that the sinners do not bear a grudge against him. (4) So that they won’t defend their innocence belligerently, leading to altercation. Yet Moshe spoke in a very twisted, roundabout manner, not mentioning the place of Mei Meriva when reminding them about Aharon’s death, and not being allowed to enter the land of Israel, which was ultimately the nation’s fault, for having had a lack of trust in Hashem and fighting over water. Moshe felt it was counterproductive to mention Mei Meriva because they seemed to have forgotten their part in not allowing Moshe and Aharon to enter the Land, and it would not help by mentioning it, for they would claim that there is no point  in avoiding sin because Moshe and Aharon passed away even though they were people of such tremendous stature who obviously did nothing wrong. Indeed, they would think that if they died anyways, what is the difference whether we are careful from sin or not?

Why couldn’t Moshe, with all his expertise, explain the problem in such a way that the Jewish People could learn the proper lesson? Also, weren’t  Aharon and Moshe punished for not instilling a high enough level of faith in Hashem by hitting the rock twice instead of also speaking to it (Bamidbar 20:12, 13)?

It would seem though, from the Ralbag, that the Children of Israel were held accountable for getting Aharon and Moshe into this position because they should not have started the fight to begin with. However, when rebuking them about the matter, Moshe felt it was not useful to mention it outright, because they had forgotten that they were the ultimate cause of Aharon and Moshe’s deaths, and there would be no point in reminding them of what happened, because in their minds nothing wrong was done either by them or by Moshe and Aharon. By explicitly reminding them about Mei Meriva, not only would they not learn their lesson but it would in fact be counterproductive, and they would find an excuse to sin because everyone dies, even great leaders like Moshe and Aharon who never sinned.

We see from here that Moshe and Aharon were so great that the generation wandering in the desert  viewed them as having done nothing wrong, which means the mistake Moshe and Aharon did by the hitting of the rock must have been so insignificant and so minute that it was not even a blip on the radar screen of the Jewish people. And for that reason, they would mistakenly think that people die for no reason and that there is no point in avoiding sin.

What is even worse, the Ralbag points out, is that Moshe did not even bother mentioning Korach’s revolt, which seemed to have been an outright attack on Moshe and Aharon’s leadership. But upon further reflection,  it would seem that in the eyes of the generation of the Jews in the desert Korach might not have been such a bad guy; albeit he and his family were swallowed alive by the earth and he was burnt up by a heavenly fire, but that must be taken into perspective. Korach was third in command behind Moshe and Aharon. He must have been a pretty righteous individual, at least in the eyes of the Jewish people, in order to gain such high stature. We know  Korach argued with Moshe in Jewish law about putting tzitzis on curtains, for example, and he might have had some leadership argument – but, in all, he still seemed like quite an amazing person. Imagine two great sages from the previous generation like Rav Moshe Feinstein and Rav Aharon Kotler arguing with each other. No one would suspects that they were evil people (and they  weren’t). But deep down inside, because Korach’s argument stemmed from jealousy, Hashem, who knows what is in the depths of a person’s heart, punished Korach as severely as he did, which he deserved. But it is possible that in the Jewish people’s view he might have done something wrong but have been  judged according to the high level he was on – but that does not mean that they, on their lower spiritual level, could possibly learn anything from this incident. Therefore, since he was on such a different playing field, Moshe did not bother mentioning Korach in his rebuke to the Jewish people.

When teaching the important lesson  of avoiding argumentation, which was the lesson of Mei Meriva and Korach, Moshe left them out because he felt mentioning them would only make things worse, because the Jewish people in the desert viewed Aharon and Moshe as perfect, and  had forgotten what they did wrong. Indeed, Korach, even if he had done something wrong, it was so infinitesimal in their eyes, as they knew that the more righteous you are the more strict Hashem judges you. Therefore, even from the rebellion of Korach there would not have been a significant lesson that could have been learnt by the Jewish people.

At the very least the lesson we should  take from here is to appreciate the greatness of the earlier generations. It is unfathomable!