Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell “

Judah approaches Joseph to plead for the release of Benjamin, offering himself as a slave to the Egyptian ruler instead of Benjamin. Upon witnessing his brothers’ loyalty and the love for one another, Joseph reveals his identity to them. “I am Joseph,” he declares. “Is my father still alive?”

The brothers are overcome by shame and remorse, but Joseph comforts them. “It was not you who sent me here,” he says to them, “but G-d. It has all been ordained from Above to save us, and the entire region, from famine.”

The brothers rush back to Canaan to tell their father the good news of Joseph being alive. Jacob comes to Egypt with his sons and their families — seventy souls in all — and is reunited with his beloved son after 22 years. On his way to Egypt he receives the Divine promise: “Fear not to go down to Egypt; for I will there make of you a great nation. I will go down with you into Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again.”

Joseph gathers the wealth of Egypt by selling food and seed during the famine. Pharaoh gives Jacob’s family the fertile county of Goshen to settle, and the children of Israel prosper in their Egyptian exile.

” Dvar Torah “

The most dramatic reunion in the Bible, and probably in the history of mankind, is recorded in this week’s parsha. Jacob reunites with his beloved son, Joseph! After twenty two years of living in misery and sorrow, thinking that his favorite son is dead, Jacob is suddenly informed, “Od Yosef Chai”, Joseph is still alive. Although, he was hesitant at the beginning to believe such an unimaginable news, but after seeing all the chariots and the entourage for his honor, he embraced the wonderful news and he said “my son Joseph is still alive. I shall go and see him before I die”. So he rushed down to Egypt to meet Joseph face to face. The scene of their meeting is probably the most dramatic scene you can ever imagine. Everyone would love to know in detail what was their reaction at that time. What was their inner feelings, their facial expressions, their emotional reactions and their exchange of words? How long did they embrace? How loud did they cry? Who said the first word? What did they say to each other after 22 years? Everyone is so anxious to see how does the Torah describe this dramatic scene!

Yet, strangely enough, the Torah doesn’t talk much about this dramatic scene. It just says that at the time of their meeting, Jacob apparently remained silent while Joseph wept on his shoulder. Rashi, explains that Jacob was reciting the “Shema” at the time. He explains that in all the years of their separation, Jacob was in a depressed mood and the Divine Spirit had departed from him and he was therefore unable to communicate with G-d. Now that he saw Joseph in front of his eyes, alive and well, the joy of the moment allowed the Holy Spirit to return to him once again and he used the opportunity to communicate and to thank Hashem.

But even if we accept Rashi’s commentary, it still doesn’t justify Jacob’s lack of emotions. Surely, he could have recited the Shema, and at the same time, he could have shown some signs of joy on his face, or even let a few drops of tears run down his cheeks. I’m having a hard time controlling my tears just writing about this! How could Jacob show no signs of affection?!

What is more mind boggling, is that Jacob never reveals any emotions later on either. He never asked any questions regarding Joseph’s disappearance from Joseph or his brothers?! So many unanswered questions! How did Joseph end up as ruler of all Egypt? Why didn’t Joseph come and visit his father when he was in power? And above all, how did Joseph disappear in the first place? Jacob’s lack of curiosity raises a bigger question. Was Jacob, G-d forbid, a heartless person who didn’t care about his children??

Well, once again, Rabbi Frand quoting Sforno, gives a beautiful explanation which really touched my heart.  He says that Jacob was well aware of the tensions that existed between Joseph and his brothers. He also realizes that his sons mislead him when they showed him Joseph’s bloody gown. And being a prophet, he probably knew what exactly had happened between Joseph and his brothers, since later on, on his deathbed he says to Joseph: ” I know, my son, I know.” But he chose to be silent, since he saw that his sons are all reunited again, and that was all that mattered to Jacob; to see his children living in peace and harmony together! He didn’t show any emotions to Joseph, because any sign of emotions would have revealed the painful years that Jacob had to go through, which Joseph would have blamed his brothers for. He knew very well that asking any questions will only rip open a scab on a wound that has to healed slowly and carefully. He realized that sometimes you have to let go of the past in order to build a better future. He knew that his children are going to be the heads of the Jewish nation, and the secret to Jewish survival is “UNITY”. So he didn’t ask any questions, since any question would have ended up blaming one party or the other, and would have created friction or separation between them again. He didn’t want to play the “blame game”, but rather, he wanted to play along with their “unity”!

Yes my friends, unity is so important that we have to do anything in our power to preserve it. Accordingly, for the sake of unity, sometimes you have to hide your emotions. For the sake of unity, sometimes you have to keep quiet. And for the sake of unity, not every family secret needs to be publicly revealed nor every family feud needs to be brought up, again and again.

Everyone makes mistakes in their lives, but if we are not willing to forgive and forget, then relationships can be very fragile. Family relationships are based on forgiveness. The Torah commands us not to hold a grudge, because holding a grudge will create separation and that’s not what Hashem wants from us. He wants us to get along with one another, even with those who have done us wrong. He wants us to forgive in order to be together. If Joseph could find it in his heart to forgive his brothers and if Jacob can let go of 22 years of misery and suffering for the sake of unity, then why can’t we??

Nothing gives more pleasure than to see your children live in peace and harmony together. David HaMelech with all his power, unfortunately, couldn’t get his children to get along, and longed for the day to see them being united. So, all he could do was to inspire the future generations by putting down his dream onto the paper:  “הִנֵּה מַה טוֹב וּמַה נָּעִים שֶׁבֶת אָחִים גַּם יַחַד”…….. “Behold, how pleasant and how charming it is, when the brothers live together (in peace)!”

Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin

Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell “

Joseph’s imprisonment finally ends when Pharaoh dreams of seven fat cows that are swallowed up by seven lean cows, and of seven fat ears of grain swallowed by seven lean ears. Joseph interprets the dreams to mean that seven years of plenty will be followed by seven years of hunger, and advises Pharaoh to store grain during the plentiful years. Pharaoh appoints Joseph governor of Egypt. Joseph marries Asenath, daughter of Potiphar, and they have two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

Famine spreads throughout the region, and food can be obtained only in Egypt. Ten of Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt to purchase grain; the youngest, Benjamin, stays home, for Jacob fears for his safety. Joseph recognizes his brothers, but they do not recognize him; he accuses them of being spies, insists that they bring Benjamin to prove that they are who they say they are, and imprisons Shimon as a hostage. Later, they discover that the money they paid for their provisions has been mysteriously returned to them.

Jacob agrees to send Benjamin only after Judah takes personal and eternal responsibility for him. This time Joseph receives them kindly, releases Shimon, and invites them to an eventful dinner at his home. But then he plants his silver goblet, pretending to have magical powers, in Benjamin’s sack. When the brothers set out for home the next morning they are pursued, searched, and arrested when the goblet is found in Benjamin’s sack. Joseph offers to set them free and to keep only Benjamin as his slave.

“ Dvar Torah “

The excitement continues! So, Pharaoh has a dream. In his dream he sees himself standing over the Nile River, and behold, there came up out of the River seven cows, handsome and fat of flesh, and they fed in the reed grass. And, behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the River, ugly and lean of flesh, and stood by the other cows upon the bank of the River. And the ugly and lean cows ate up the seven handsome and fat cows, and still, stayed thin and ugly.

Pharaoh wakes up in distress. Falls asleep again. He has a second dream. This time he sees seven thin, dried ears of grain swallow seven fat ears of grain.

In the morning, Pharaoh summons all his wise men and advisors, but none of them can offer Pharaoh a satisfactory interpretation of his dreams. Then, the “young Hebrew slave,” Joseph, is summoned from the dungeon to the palace. Joseph interprets the dreams to mean that seven years of plenty, symbolized by the fat cows and fat grain, will be followed by seven years of hunger, reflected by the lean cows and the shriveled ears. The seven years of famine will be so powerful that they will “swallow up” and wipe out any trace of the years of plenty.

Joseph then advises Pharaoh how to deal with the situation: “Now Pharaoh must seek out a man with insight and wisdom and place him in charge of Egypt.” A rationing system will have to be set up over Egypt during the seven years of surplus, Joseph explains, in which grain will be stored for the upcoming years of famine.

Pharaoh is blown away by Joseph’s vision. “Can there be another person who has G‑d’s spirit in him as this man does?” Pharaoh asks his advisors. “There is none as understanding and wise as you,” he says to Joseph. “You shall be over my house, and according to your word shall all my people be ruled; only by the throne will I outrank you.” Joseph is thus appointed viceroy of Egypt.

A few questions come to mind. First of all, following his interpretation of the dreams, Joseph proceeded to give Pharaoh advice on how to deal with the impending famine. How dare does a newly liberated prisoner offer the king of Egypt, the most powerful man on the face of the earth, unsolicited advice? Pharaoh summoned Joseph from the dungeon to interpret his dreams, but not to become an advisor to the king?! Second of all, why was Pharaoh so mesmerized by Joseph?! What was so genius about Joseph’s advice?! Joseph’s interpretation seems simple and obvious. When are cows fat? When there is lots of food. When are they lean? When there’s no food. When is grain fat? When there is a plentiful harvest. When is grain lean? During a time of famine. And you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to suggest that if you have seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine, you should store food during the time of plenty for the time of hunger. So why couldn’t the advisors of Pharaoh come up with the same interpretation?! Keep in mind that the King’s advisors at that time, they all knew Astrology and had the power to see the future.

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Late Lubavitcher Rebbe, has given a beautiful explanation to our questions. He said that the Pharaoh’s advisers did indeed come up with the same interpretation as Joseph, but they rejected it instantly because they could not make sense of one part of the dream. The Torah says: “ And, behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the River, ugly and lean of flesh, and stood side by side of the other cows upon the bank of the River…….”. In other words, there was a moment during which both sets of cows coexisted simultaneously! It was this detail of the dream that caused the wise men of Egypt to reject the interpretation that Joseph would later offer to Pharaoh, for how is it possible that plenty and famine should coexist? You can either have abundance of food or you can have no food, but you cannot have them both together!

This is where Joseph’s brilliance was revealed. When Joseph proceeded to tell Pharaoh how to prepare for the upcoming famine, he wasn’t offering an unwelcoming advice to the King on how to run his country; but rather, the advice was part of the dream’s interpretation!

Joseph understood that the coexistence of the two sets of cows contained the solution to the approaching famine: During the years of plenty, Egypt must “live” with the years of famine as well, as though they were already present. Even while enjoying the abundance of the years of plenty, Egypt must experience in its imagination the reality of the upcoming famine, and each and every day store away food for it. The seven lean cows ought to be very much present and alive in people’s minds and in their behavior during the era of the seven fat cows. And this is what impressed Pharaoh so deeply about Joseph —— one little detail of the dream that no other wise man could see!

Yes my friends, in the times of plenty, we should always think and prepare ourselves for the times of need. B”H, when the times are good, extremely good, we all live life to the fullest. We all buy the best houses, we get the best cars, we wear the best clothes and we go on the best vacations. But what if, G-d forbid, the things turn around one day and it becomes hard to make a living. How many of us have saved from the time when Hashem gave us plenty? And this is the essence of Joseph’s wisdom: You must never detach the years of plenty from the years of famine; they should coexist together. At the time of plenty we should save up for the time of need. Unlike the western mentality which believes in “live each day to the fullest”, us Jews, believe in securing our future. For us, living in the future is as important as living today!

So my friends, the next time you do a great business transaction, you shouldn’t ask yourself “what should I buy with the money I’ve made”, but rather, “how much of it should I save on the side”?!……….

Shabbat Shalom, Happy Hanukkah, Rosh Chodesh Tov and Regards;

Martin

Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell “

Jacob settles in Hebron with his twelve sons. His favorite is seventeen-year-old Joseph, whose brothers are jealous of the preferential treatment he receives from his father, such as a precious colorful coat that Jacob makes for him. Joseph relates to his brothers two dreams he has which foretell that he is destined to rule over them, increasing their envy and hatred towards him.

Jacob sends Joseph to check up on his brothers who are tending the flock away from home, and upon seeing him approaching they plot to kill him. Reuben convinces the brothers not to kill Joseph, but is unable to totally save him as the brothers sell Joseph into slavery in Egypt. The brothers dip Joseph’s special coat in the blood of a goat and show it to their father, leading him to believe that his most beloved son was devoured by a wild beast.

The Torah deviates from Joseph’s story to relate the story of Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar.

The narrative then returns to Joseph in Egypt, where he becomes an extremely successful slave and is placed in charge of his master Potiphar’s household. Potiphar’s wife repeatedly tries to seduce Joseph, and when he refuses her advances, she screams and claims that he tried to rape her. Joseph is thrown into prison where he is once again placed in a position of leadership, this time being put in charge of the prisoners. Ten years later, Pharaoh’s chief butler and baker are thrown into the same prison. One night they each have a perplexing dream which Joseph accurately interprets, and the portion concludes as the butler is returned to his former post and the baker is executed, just as Joseph had predicted. But the butler forgets all about Joseph and does nothing for him.

” Dvar Torah “

In this week’s Parsha, we are introduced to Joseph! Joseph is by far the most beloved biblical character in the entire Torah. He is adored by all ages, from children to elderly. The story of Joseph brings tears to our eyes, year after year after year. The Torah dedicates more Parashiot to Joseph than to our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Four Parashiot to be exact is dedicated to our beloved Joseph. Although he was famous for his charm and beauty, but our sages give him the title of “Yosef HaSadik”, Joseph the righteous. Joseph earned his title of righteousness (HaSadik) because he had control over his desires, and because he was trustworthy and honest. His honesty, gained him the full trust of his master, his prison warden and the King Pharaoh himself. But the name “Yosef HaSadik” wouldn’t have been sealed, if he wouldn’t have forgiven his brothers for the cruel act of selling him into slavery and separating him from his father for so many years. The Chachamim say, in order to be a Tzadik, you have to be able to forgive! And because of this unexpected act of forgiveness, not only Joseph is adored by everyone, but he became the symbol of righteousness!

But it seems that even the best of us are not flawless. The Torah reveals to us that Joseph didn’t go through life mistake free either. At the beginning of the parsha the Torah says: “Joseph at the age of seventeen, was a shepherd with his brothers, but he was a “Na-ar” among the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah,…..”

The word “Na-ar” means a young lad, a teenager, but Rashi explains that when the word Na-ar is used in the Torah, it’s a sign of immaturity. Rashi says that Joseph used to fix his hair and touch up his eyes so that he would look handsome, and that was the immature act that labeled him as a Na-ar. But sometimes, even Rashi’s commentaries needs explanation. Just because Joseph was fixing his hair, does not justify to call a Tzadik immature! Yosef was 17 years old at the time, and fixation of hair is not unusual behavior for a 17 year old to do. For some of us, it’s a dream to run that comb through our hair or use a hairdryer once in awhile! I would even do it at this age, if I had the opportunity!!

Rabbi Shimon Schwab gives a beautiful explanation to why Joseph was called immature. He says that Joseph’s immature act  wasn’t about looking handsome at all, but rather, it was something else. The Torah uses the term “Naar”, once before, in last week’s parashat VaYishlach in reference to Shechem, son of Chamor. “And the ‘naar’ did not delay to carry out the matter (of circumcision) because he desired Yaakov’s daughter.” At this point in time Shechem son of Chamor was not a teenager. He was in fact one of the most prestigious people in the city. So why does the Torah refer to him as a ‘naar’? Rav Schwab explains that Shechem may have been an adult, he may have been a respected individual, but he still acted immaturely because he rushed into the agreement proposed by Shimon and Levi without thinking it through. And that is the definition of a ‘naar’ or immaturity; someone who rushes into making a decision without thinking it over!

Rav Schwab says, Yosef knew that he would be a leader over his brothers. Yosef foresaw this, prophetically, in his dreams. He, rightfully, envisioned that they would bow down to him and that he would be a King one day. One of the laws of monarchy is that the King has to be physically prominent. The Talmud states that a King must groom his hair daily. He represents the people and he must have the type of handsome appearance that people can respect. So, when the Torah says that Yosef acted as a ‘naar,’ he explains that Yosef’s mistake was that he already saw himself as the King at the age 17– it was not an adolescent fixation of the hair! He saw himself as the ruler over his brothers before the proper time for that relationship has developed. He wanted to be a king so badly that he forgot that he is still a “na-ar’, a young lad who is not mature enough to be the King yet!!  

Yes my friends, rushing into making quick decisions is considered to be an immature behavior, while patience and thoughtfulness is a sign of wisdom and maturity. Unfortunately, many of us still act like a “Na-ar”! We all want everything to be done for us, ‘yesterday’. We all want to get rich quickly. We all want to find our soul-mate in no time. When we are faced with problems or misfortunes in our lives, we quickly become impatient and we wonder why are these things happening to us. Remember that Joseph went through a lot of hardship in his life, until finally, he became the ruler of Egypt. We should not rush into making decisions. We should think things over and weigh things out before making a decision. Marriage relationships have been lost over a simple disagreement. Lifetime friendships have been lost over a feud.  And all because they made a quick irrational decisions!

So my friends, for those of you who have a full set of hair, go ahead and run that comb through them. Use your hairdryer and hairspray. We might be jealous of you, but we would certainly not think of you as being childish……

Shabbat Shalom, Happy Chanukah & Regards;

Martin

Dear friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah.

” Parsha in a Nutshell “

Jacob returns to the Holy Land after more than 20 years stay in Charan, and sends messengers to Esau in hope of a reconciliation, but his messengers report that his brother is on his way with 400 armed men. Jacob prepares for war, prays, but decides to go in peace and sends Esau a large gift (consisting of hundreds of sheep and cattle) to appease him.

That night, Jacob ferries his family and possessions them across the Yabbok River; he, however, remains behind and encounters the angel, with whom he wrestles until daybreak. Jacob suffers a dislocated hip but triumphs the supernatural creature, who bestows on him the name “Yisrael”, which means “He who prevails over the Divine.”

Jacob and Esau meet, embrace and kiss, but part ways. Jacob purchases a plot of land near Shechem, whose crown prince — also called Shechem — abducts and rapes Jacob’s daughter Dinah. Dinah’s brothers Simon and Levi avenge the deed by killing all male inhabitants of the city after rendering them vulnerable by convincing them to circumcise themselves.

Jacob journeys on. Rachel dies while giving birth to her second son, Benjamin, and is buried in a roadside grave near Bethlehem. Reuben loses the birthright because he interferes with his father’s marital life. Jacob arrives in Chevron, to his father Isaac, who later dies at age 180.

Our parshah concludes with a detailed account of Esau’s wives, children and grandchildren, and the family histories of the people of Se’ir among whom Esau settled.

” Dvar Torah “

In this week’s Parsha, we learn about a very tragic story. Dina, Jacob’s one and only daughter, leaves the safety of home to go out to “look at the daughters of the land.” She is raped and abducted by a local prince called Shechem, son of the king of the town also known as Shechem. The Torah then tells us that Shechem loved Dina and asked his father, Chamor, to take Dina for him as a wife.

Jacob learns of this fact but does nothing until his sons return. Shimon and Levi, Dina’s brothers, immediately realise that they must act to rescue her. It is an almost impossible mission. The hostage-taker is no ordinary individual. As the son of the king, he cannot be confronted directly. The king is unlikely to order his son to release her. The other townspeople, if challenged, will come to the prince’s defence. It is Shimon and Levi against the town: two against many. Even if all of Jacob’s sons came to the rescue, they would still be outnumbered.

Shimon and Levi therefore came up with a plot. They agree to let Dina marry the prince but under one condition. The members of the town must all be circumcised. The Shechemites, seeing long term advantages to an alliance with Jacob’s tribe, agree. The men of the town are weakened by the obligatory surgery, and the pain is most painful on the third day. That day, Shimon and Levi enter the town and kill the entire male population. They rescue Dina and bring her home.

Jacob is horrified. “You have made me look shameful in the eyes of the people of the land,” he says. “What then were we supposed to do”, ask the two brothers? “Should we have left our sister to be treated like a prostitute?” The episode ends and the narrative moves elsewhere. But Jacob’s rage does not end there. Even on his deathbed, he criticises them and curses them: “ Simeon and Levi are brothers— their swords are weapons of violence. Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger. Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel! “

This is an extraordinary story. It seems to lack any kind of moral message. No one comes out of it well. Shechem, the prince, would seem to be the chief villain. It was he who abducted and raped Dina in the first place. Chamor, his father, fails to condemn his action or order Dina’s release. Shimon and Levi are guilty of a horrendous act of violence. The other brothers engage in looting the town. Jacob fails to take charge. He neither acts nor instructs his sons on how to act. Even Dina herself seems at best to have been guilty of carelessness in going out into the town in the first place.

The overall effect is a story with no indisputable villains and no obvious heroes. Why then is the story told after all? Stories are not told in the Torah just to fill up the pages. If a story appears in the Torah, it’s because it has a significant. Torah means “teaching, instruction, guidance.” So, what teaching does the Torah want us to draw from this narrative out of which no one emerges well?

Well, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks finds an interesting lesson to be learned from this story. He says that in situations where there are power and violence involved, unfortunately, all the parties involved are the losers. Because, sadly, power and violence can only be stopped by power and violence! In the case of Dina, if the brothers wouldn’t have reacted, the Shechemites would have exercise their power and would have probably raped more Israelite girls and would have became their masters. And what Shimon and Levi did ended up killing many innocent people who were not involved in the plot in the first place. What the episode of Dina tells us is not that Jacob, or Shimon and Levi, were right, but rather in situations where power and violence are involved, there is no right course of action. In these situations, whatever you do is wrong; where every option involves abandoning some moral principle!

Yes my friends, unfortunately most of the time, violence can only be stopped by violence!  A successful defence mechanism against a violent aggressor, is to become violent like them. This is so apparent in the fight against terrorism across the globe. There is no way you can sit down and negotiate with the terrorist and make peace. They will continue terrorising you until you give up and bend down to their demands. The only way to stop them is to attack back! But that will involve killing innocent people. But what else can we do?! Either kill or be killed….. a lose, lose situation!  In a situation where one side seeks peace and the other power and violence, sadly, violence will eventually prevail.

May Hashem, protect us from the hands of terrorists in the Land of Israel and across the world. May Hashem help us to get rid of them all, with the least amount of casualties. We long for the day that the world will be free of violence and bloodshed, and everyone will live in peace and harmony next to one another.

Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin

Dear friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary, followed by a Dvar Torah;

“ Parsha in a Nutshell “

Jacob leaves his hometown of Bersheva and journeys to Charan. On the way, he stops at a place and sleeps there, dreaming of a ladder connecting heaven and earth, with angels climbing and descending on it; G‑d appears and promises that the land upon which he lies will be given to his descendants. In the morning, Jacob raises the stone on which he laid his head as an altar and pledging that it will be made the house of G‑d.

In Charan, Jacob stays with and works for his uncle Laban, tending Laban’s sheep. Laban agrees to give him his younger daughter, Rachel—whom Jacob loves—in marriage, in return for seven years’ of labor. But on the wedding night, Laban gives him his elder daughter, Leah, instead—a deception Jacob discovers only in the morning. Jacob marries Rachel, too, a week later, after agreeing to work another seven years for Laban.

Leah gives birth to six sons—Reuben, Simeon,Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun—and a daughter, Dinah, while Rachel remains barren. Rachel gives Jacob her handmaid, Bilhah, as a wife to bear children in her stead, and two more sons, Dan and Naphtali, are born. Leah does the same with her handmaid, Zilpah, who gives birth to Gad and Asher. Finally, Rachel’s prayers are answered and she gives birth to Joseph.

Jacob has now been in Charan for fourteen years. After six more years, Jacob leaves Charan in stealth, fearing that Laban would prevent him from leaving with the family and property for which he labored. Laban pursues Jacob, but is warned by G‑d in a dream not to harm him. Laban and Jacob make a treaty on Mount Gal-Ed, and Jacob proceeds to the Holy Land, where he is met by an angel.

” Dvar Torah “

What is it that made Jacob–not Abraham or Isaac–the true father of the Jewish people? We are the “congregation of Jacob”, “the children of Israel”. Jacob/Israel is the man whose name we bear. Yet Jacob did not begin the Jewish journey; Abraham did. Jacob faced no trials like Abraham, nor was he binded on the altar like Isaac, to sacrifice his life. Abraham introduced monotheism to the world and was a symbol of kindness. Isaac too was a man of G-d and followed in his father’s footsteps. Jacob was not what Noah was: righteous, perfect in his generations, one who walked with G-d. It was Jacob who deceived his father in order to steal his brother’s blessing. Yet, it was Jacob who fathered the twelve tribes of Israel, and not Abraham or Isaac. And it was Jacob that all his children stayed within the faith, unlike Abraham or Isaac. So why did he succeed when Abraham and Isaac failed? What special characteristics did Jacob have that Hashem chose him to be the father of “Benei Israel”?

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, has an interesting answer to this question. He says that the answer lies in this week’s Parsha and the next. He says that Jacob’s greatest visions of G-d came to him, when he was fleeing from one danger to the next. First, in this week’s Parsha when he was escaping from Esau, he stopped and rested for the night with only stones to lie on, and had a dream. In his dream, Hashem appeared to him and said, “Behold, I’m with you; I will guard you wherever you go, and I will return you to the land”. In next week’s Parsha, fleeing from Laban and terrified of the likelihood of meeting Esau again, he wrestles alone at night with a stranger who was an angel of G-d. Then the man said your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with G-d and have overcome”.

Rabbi Sacks explains that this is precisely the great strength of Jacob. Jacob is the man who has his deepest spiritual experiences alone, at night, in the face of danger and far from home. He is the man who meets G-d when he least expects to, when his mind is on other things, when he is in a state of fear and possibly on the brink of despair. Jacob is the man who in the middle of the journey, discovers that “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!” And this is precisely the reason why he became the father of the Jewish nation — he is the man who finds G-d in desperate times, when others have failed!

Abraham gave Jews the courage to challenge idol-worshiping. Isaac gave them the capacity for self-sacrifice. Moses taught them to be passionate fighters for justice. But Jacob gave them the knowledge that precisely when they feel most alone, God is still with them, giving them the courage to hope and the strength to dream. We learn from Jacob that the Shechina, the Divine presence, is always with us even in a strange land. G-d never abandons us!

Yes my friends, we can find G-d not only in holy places but also in the midst of a journey, in a foreign land, alone at night. The most profound lesson that we can learn from Jacob is the knowledge that we are not alone. God is holding us by the hand, sheltering us, lifting us when we fall, forgiving us when we fail, healing the wounds in our soul through the power of His love. G-d never loses faith in us and never lets go of us.

There are times that Israel is at war, when the whole world seems to be against Israel, when realistically, Israel has no chance to survive. It’s precisely then, when we see the hand of G-d and how miraculously He fights our wars. In 1991, in Operation Desert Storm, Iraq’s government decided to throw 1000s of missiles on Israel, and miraculously not even one missile hit the civilians. It was exactly at the time of danger when we found G-d…….

What the rest of the world do at the time of war is to rely on their military capabilities…… we the Children of Israel, on the other hand, rely on G-d……..

Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin

Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parasha in a Nutshell “

Isaac marries Rebecca. After twenty childless years their prayers are answered and Rebecca conceives. She experiences a difficult pregnancy; G-d tells her that “there are two nations in your womb,” and that the younger will prevail over the elder. Eisav emerges first; Jacob is born clutching Eisav’s heel. Eisav grows up to be “a hunter, a man of the field”; Jacob is “a wholesome man,” a dweller in the tents. Isaac favors Eisav; Rebecca loves Jacob.

Returning exhausted and hungry from the hunt one day, Eisav sells his birthright to Jacob for a pot of red lentil stew.

Eisav marries two Hittite women. Isaac grows old and blind, and expresses his desire to bless Eisav before he dies. While Eisav goes off to hunt for his father’s favorite food, Rebecca dresses Jacob in Eisav’s clothes, prepares a similar dish, and sends Jacob to his father. Jacob receives his fathers’ blessings for “the dew of the heaven and the fat of the land” and mastery over his brother. When Eisav returns and the deception is revealed, all Isaac can bless his weeping son with is to predict that he will live by his sword, and that only when Jacob falters, his supremacy over the him will vanish.

Jacob leaves home to flee Eisav’s wrath and to find a wife in the family of his mother’s brother, Laban. Eisav marries a third wife — Machlat, the daughter of Ishmael.

“ Dvar Torah “

In this week’s Parsha, we read the story of Isaac wanting to bless Esau, as he had become old and his eyes dimmed from seeing. So he tells Esau: “hunt me a game, make me a meal such as I love and bring it to me and I will eat, so that my soul can bless you before I die.” Rivka was listening to their conversation and immediately tells Jacob to bring her two young goats and she will prepare a meal for Isaac the way he likes it. And he should take it to him and take the blessing instead. Hesitant at the beginning, but with his Mom’s persuasion, he disguised himself as Esau and took the meal to him. Suspicious at the beginning, but eventually Isaac ate the meal and blessed Jacob believing that it was Esau.

Was Jacob right to take Esau’s blessing in disguise? Was he right to deceive his father and to take from his brother the blessing Isaac sought to give him? Was Rivka right in conceiving the plan in the first place and encouraging her Jacob to carry it out? These are the fundamental questions that me and I’m sure many of you want to know the answers.

Well, one explanation that the majority of commentators go with, is as follows. Rivka was right to propose what she did and Jacob was right to do it. Rivka knew that it would be Jacob, not Esau, who would continue the covenant and carry the mission of Abraham into the future. She knew that because she heard it from G-d himself. Before the birth of the twins, G-d tells Rivka: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the elder will serve the younger.” Esau was the elder, Jacob the younger. Therefore it was Jacob who would emerge with greater strength, Jacob who was chosen by G-d.

Also, she had watched the twins grow up. She knew that Esau was a hunter, a man of violence. She had seen that he was impetuous, temperamental, a man of impulse and not calm reflection. She had seen him sell his birthright for a bowl of soup. No one who despises his birthright can be the trusted guardian of a covenant intended for eternity.

The blessing had to go to Jacob. If Isaac did not understand the true nature of his sons, if he was “blind” not only physically but also spiritually, might it not be necessary to deceive him? He was by now old, and if Rivka had failed in the early years to get him to see the true nature of their children, then it was too late to make him understand now. So, Rivka was right to deceive Isaac and Jacob was right to follow her instructions.

But there is also another side to the story.  Rabbi Jonathan Sacks gives a different interpretation. He says that Isaac fully understood the nature of his two sons. He loved Esau but this did not blind him to the fact that Jacob would be the heir of the covenant. Therefore Isaac prepared two sets of blessings, one for Esau, the other for Jacob. He blessed Esau with the gifts he felt he would appreciate: wealth and power: “May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness – an abundance of grain and new wine” – that is, wealth. “May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you” – that is, power. These are NOT the covenantal blessings.

The covenantal blessings that God had given Abraham and Isaac were completely different. They were about having children and the land of Israel. It is this blessing that Isaac later gave Jacob before he left home: “May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. May He give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land that God gave to Abraham”. This was the blessing Isaac had intended for Jacob all along.There was no need for deceit and disguise. The blessing Isaac was about to give Esau was not the blessing of Abraham. He intended to give Esau a blessing appropriate to him.

Accordingly, Rivka and Jacob did make a mistake, but it was a forgivable and understandable one. Jacob came to realize his mistake later on in his life. He was deceived himself by his father in law, Laban, measure for measure. After 22 years of separation, Jacob finally meets with Esau. He gives Esau massive amount of gifts including sheep, cattle and other livestock. He then bows down seven times to Esau. But this was exactly the blessing that Isaac intended for Esau in the first place: “May you be blessed with heaven’s dew and earth’s richness and May the sons of your mother bow down to you…..”  Jacob finally realized that the blessing doesn’t belong to him and gave it back to it’s right owner!

Well, you can see two different interpretations of the same story in the Torah. There is no right or wrong answer to our story. Rivka had a justified reason to think that the blessing belonged to Jacob. And Isaac had a good enough reason to give a blessing to Esau too. But one thing we can derive from the story that deception is not a solution to make things right. Jacob had to separate from his parents for 22 years because he deceived his father, and he created hatred between brothers. Honesty is the best way to deal with problems. If Rivka would have told Isaac that Jacob deserves the blessing, maybe he would have given it him anyway?!

So my friends, let us be honest with each other, because deception can end up in tragedy!

Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin

Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” The Parsha in a Nutshell “



Sarah dies at age 127 and is buried in the Machpeilah Cave in Chevron, which Avraham purchases from Ephron the Hittite for 400 shekels of silver.

Avraham’s servant, Eliezer, is sent with gifts to Charan, Avraham’s hometown, to find a wife for Isaac. At the village well, Eliezer asks G-d for a sign: when the maidens come to the well, he will ask for some water to drink; the woman who will offer to give his camels to drink as well, shall be the one destined for his master’s son.

Rebecca, the daughter of Avraham’s nephew, appears at the well and passes the “test”. Rebecca returns with Eliezer to the land of Canaan, where they encounter Isaac. Isaac marries Rebecca, loves her, and is comforted over the loss of his mother.

Avraham takes a new wife, Keturah (Hagar) and fathers six additional sons, but Isaac is designated as his only heir. Avraham dies at age 175 and is buried beside Sarah by his two eldest sons, Isaac and Ishmael.

” Dvar Torah “

This week’s Parsha, Chayei Sarah, starts off by saying that the years of Sarah’s life was one hundred twenty seven. And Sarah dies in Chevron. Then it talks about Avraham buying a burial spot for Sarah and buries her. And the rest of the Parsha is about Isaac. Avraham sends his servant Eliezer to find him a wife from his birthplace. He finds Rebecca and brings her back to Isaac and she gets married to him.

The Chachamim ask an interesting question. Why does Parashat Chayei Sarah, which means “The Life of Sarah”, talks about Sarah’s death?! Shouldn’t it about Sarah’s “life”?! Usually the name of the Parsha reflects the topic discussed in the Parsha. For example, Parashat Bereshit, “in the beginning”, is about the beginning of creation. Parashat Noah is about Noah. Parashat Balak is about a King called Balak, and so on…… So why isn’t Parashat Chayei Sarah about the life of Sarah?!

But this is not the only time that the Torah connects life to death. A few Parashiot later, Parashat Vayechi, which means “and (Jacob) lived”, also talks about Jacob’s death. It talks about Jacob blessing his children on his deathbed and then he dies. Again the Torah discusses someone’s life by telling us about his death. But why?! What’s the connection between life and death?!

Rabbi Wizman from Orthodox Union organization gives the following interesting explanation. He says that a person’s life can be seen through his or her achievements. And Sarah’s greatest achievement in life was to bear Isaac. Sarah, raised a son who would continue going in the path of G-d, and would willfully sacrifice his life for the sake of G-d. Sarah did not just raise a child, she raised a future Patriarch for the Jewish nation. The story of Isaac’s life is, in essence, the story of Sarah’s life. And that’s why Parashat Chayei Sarah talks about Sarah’s death rather than her life, because Sarah’s death reflects the accomplishments of her life! Now we can understand why the main topic of discussion in the parsha is about Isaac, and not about Sarah. Because Sarah’s legacy lives through Isaac. The same can be said about Jacob. Jacob’s greatest accomplishment in life was his children. He raised 12 children who followed in his footsteps and formed the 12 tribes of Israel. And that’s why the Torah connects Sarah and Jacob’s lives to their death. Because Sadikim never die! Their legacy lives on through their children.  The Talmud says “The righteous, even in death, are regarded as though they are still alive” because the righteous leave a living trace in those who come after them.

Yes my friends, our greatest accomplishments in life are not the trophies that we’ve won, nor the college degrees we’ve obtained or all the fortune that we have accumulated over the years, but rather, our greatest accomplishment in life is our children. We all live a relatively short period of time in this world and then, sooner or later, we all have to die and kiss the world goodbye. Our legacy, however, lives on through our children. How we raise them and present them to the society is the reflection of our own beliefs and behaviors. Avraham’s name never died, since he taught his children to follow in his footstep by believing in G-d and doing act of kindness to others. And if we continue on his journey, then until the day we stop, he’s not dead…… his name is still alive!

So my friends, the Torah is teaching us an important lesson here. It’s teaching us the secret to immortality! All we need to do is to follow G-d’s commandments and then teach them to our children. If they can follow in our footsteps and teach their children to follow in their footsteps, then you’ll never know………. our legacy may live forever!!

Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin

Dear Friends;

I hope you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell “

G-d reveals Himself to Avraham three days after his circumcision at age 99; but Avraham rushes off to prepare a meal for three guests who appear in the desert heat. One of the three guests — who are angels disguised as men — announces that, in exactly one year, the barren Sarah will give birth to a son. Sarah laughs.

Avraham pleads with G-d to spare the wicked city of Sodom, but did not succeed. Two of the angels arrive in the doomed city to overturn the place, and to save Lot and his family. Lot’s wife turns into a pillar of salt when she disobeyed the command not to look back at the burning city as they flee.

While taking shelter in a cave, Lot’s two daughters get their father drunk, lie with him, and become pregnant. The two sons born from this incident father the nations of Moab and Amon.

Avraham moves to Gerar, where the Philistine king Avimelech takes Sarah — who is, once again, presented as Avraham’s sister — to his palace. In a dream, G-d warns Avimelech that he will die unless he returns the woman to her husband.

G-d remembers His promise to Sarah and gives her and Avraham a son, who is named Isaac (meaning “will laugh”). Isaac is circumcised at the age of eight days; Abraham is 100 years old, and Sarah 90, at their son’s birth.

Hagar and Ishmael are banished from Avraham’s home and wander in the desert; G-d hears the cry of the dying lad and saves his life by showing his mother a well.

G-d tests Avraham’s devotion by commanding him to sacrifice Isaac on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

The Parsha concludes with Avraham receiving the news of the birth of a daughter, Rebecca, to his nephew Bethuel.

“ Dvar Torah “

In this week’s parsha, we read about the famous story of “Akeidat Yitzchak”, the binding of Isaac. We all know the story by now: Hashem wanted to test Avraham’s faith, for the tenth and the final time. So one day, G-d tells Avraham to take his only son, the one he loves, Isaac and bring him to the top of a mountain and sacrifice him to G-d Almighty. Immediately, without any hesitation, the next morning, Avraham takes Isaac on a three days, one-way journey. On the third day, he takes him up the mountain, binds him down, lifts the knife up and was ready to slaughter his son. At that point, an angel of G-d tells him to stop and not to harm his son, for now Hashem knows that he truly believes in him.

Wow, what a story! Every time I read the story of Akeida , it gives me the chills. What an act of courage and obedience did Avraham show! Who can kill his own son, specially the one that he longed for more than 100 years?! How can someone do something against his own principles? Avraham was preaching others throughout his entire life about how wrong it is to bring human sacrifice for idols and gods, and now he had to do it himself! Not even once he questioned G-d for this commandment! He only did it because he believed in G-d wholeheartedly. The act of Akeida was so great that we still benefit from it to this very day. Every year in our prayers, on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, when we ask Hashem for forgiveness, we ask Him to remember the Akeida and Avraham’s devotion to him, and we use his zechut (merit) as a defense mechanism for our sins. Because what our forefather Avraham did, I don’t think anyone else would have had the courage and the strength to do it!

Justifiably, when we read about the Akeida, we all think of Avraham’s greatness. But what about Isaac? Nearly all of the commentators praise Avraham for his act of bravery, but we can hardly find any praises for Isaac. According to the majority of our Chachamim, Isaac was 37 years old at the time. He wasn’t a child anymore and he was fully aware of what was going on. He layed down on the altar and allowed his father to bind him down and raise the knife to kill him. He also went through a test at the time of Akeida and passed it by accepting G-d’s decision! Yes, killing your son can be extremely difficult, but killing yourself at a young age when you still have your whole life ahead of you is not a simple act either! So, whose test was harder? Who did a greater act of courage and sacrifice? Avraham or Isaac?!

Once again,  Rabbi Yissachar Frand gives a beautiful explanation to this question. He says, the test that Isaac had to go through was even greater than his father’s test! You see, Avraham heard it directly from G-d Himself, to sacrifice Isaac. But who told Isaac that he was to be sacrificed? Isaac heard it from his father, Avraham! Isaac must have considered it awfully strange that G-d, who values life, wants a human sacrifice. Such ritual was against all the values and believes that his father had taught him in the past. At this point, Isaac had all the rights to question his father. Keep in mind that Avraham was quite old at the time, 137 to be exact, and could have easily made a mistake in his judgement. Unlike Moshe, G-d did not appear to Avraham in a clear vision. He appeared to him in a dream or a trance, which is not 100% clear. Just before the Akeida, Isaac could have rightfully asked his father:  ” Are you sure father that you heard G-d telling you to sacrifice me? Maybe you just had a bad dream? Don’t you want to ask him one more time just to make sure?”  But he never questioned his father. He had full trust in his father Avraham. The respect that he had for his father didn’t allow him to doubt his decision! And this was the greatness of Isaac that stands out and makes him one of our forefathers. Avraham obeyed the word of G-d; but Isaac obeyed his father’s! Giving the same respect to your father as you give to the G-d Almighty deserves all the praises in the world! Akeidat Yitzchak, was by far the hardest test that Avraham had to go through in his lifetime. But Isaac had to go through an even harder test!

Yes my friends, from the episode of Akeida, we learn that respecting parents and listening to them is as important as respecting G-d himself. You cannot respect one and not the other! When you respect your parents, you are in turn respecting Hashem too.That’s why, on the two tablets of Ten Commandments, honoring parents is placed on the same side as believing in G-d. Remember that Isaac was ready to give up his life in order to not be disrespect to his father. If Isaac was willing to do such a sacrifice, then the least we can do is to just listen to them.

As the parents get older, they tend to be more demanding and test our patience. Although this test is not as difficult as the Akeida, but nevertheless, it’s still a test. Could there be a point that we are allowed to lose our patience with our parents? The answer is obviously not! Whatever they do or whatever they say, we can never be disrespectful towards them.

Remember that your parents and Hashem went into partnership in order to bring you in this world. So when you respect them, you are respecting their partner, the G-d Almighty too!

Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin

Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell “

G-d speaks to Avram, commanding him to “Go from your land, from your birthplace and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you.” There, G-d says, he will make him into a great nation. Avram and his wife Sarai, accompanied by his nephew Lot, journey to the Land of Canaan, where Avram continues to spread the message of a One G-d.

A famine forces Avram to depart for Egypt, where beautiful Sarai is taken to Pharaoh’s palace; Avram escapes death because they present themselves as brother and sister. A disease prevents the Egyptian king from touching her and convinces him to return her to Avram.

Back in the Land of Canaan, Lot separates from Avram and settles in the evil city of Sodom, where he falls captive when a war breaks out in that region. Avram sets out with a small army to rescue his nephew, defeats the four kings, brings back his nephew and all his belongings, plus all the belongings of the defeated kings.

Still childless ten years after their arrival in the Land, Sarai tells Avram to marry her maidservant Hagar. Hagar conceives, becomes disrespectful toward her mistress, and then flees when Sarai treats her harshly. An angel convinces her to return and tells her that her son will father a populous nation. Ishmael is born in Abram’s 86th year.

Thirteen years later, G-d changes Avram’s name to Avraham and Sarai’s to Sarah, and promises that a son will be born to them; whom they should call Isaac (“will laugh”). Avraham is commanded to circumcise himself and his descendents as a “sign of the covenant between Me and you.”

“ Dvar Torah “

The relationship between parents and children is so fascinating. At the beginning, a baby is fully dependent on his parents and can not live a moment without them. The first and deepest terror that we all have as a very young child is separation anxiety: the absence of parents, especially the mother. Young children will play happily so long as the mother is within sight. Absent that, and they will panic and cry. We are too young to venture into the world on our own.

But then it comes a time when we become teenagers and start to enter our adulthood life. It is when we have to learn to make our own decisions in life. At this time, we want to show that  we can stand on our own feet and hence we become rebellious. We think that we know better than our parents and we try to distance ourselves from them.

However, as the years go by, we begin to realise that having spent what seems like a lifetime of running away from our parents, we find that we have become very much like them – and the further away we run, the closer we become. Sometimes, it needs time and distance to see how much we owe our parents and how much of them in our lives. Towards the end, we want to be with them maybe more than they want to be with us. And after 120 years when they leave us, once again, we panic and we cry.

In this week’s Parashat Lech Lecha, the Torah introduces us to Avraham Avinu. It begins with the words, “God said to Abraham, Go from your land, your birthplace and your father’s house to a land I will show you”. This is one of the most strange beginning of any account of a life I’ve ever heard! Why does the Torah start off the life of Abraham from this point in his life?! Unlike Moses, the Torah gives us no portrait of Abraham’s childhood, his youth, his relationship with the other members of his family, how he came to marry Sarah, or the qualities of character that made G-d single him out to become the founder of monotheism.

But above all, I’m more curious to know what was the relationship between Abraham and his father? Well, up till now, because of the biblical silence, I used to follow the Midrash which said that Abraham broke the idols in his father’s house. I thought that he was the rebellious child. He was the man of new beginnings who overturned everything his father stood for. He was known to us as “Abraham the Revolutionary”. He was against his father’s beliefs and started a new life on his own.

But Rabbi Jonathan Sacks says that was not the case. Abraham and his father got along quite well. And the proof is given at the end of last week’s parsha. It says this: “Terach took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, and together they set out from Ur Kasdim to go to Canaan. But when they came to Charan, they settled there”. It turns out, in other words, that Abraham and his father left his land and his birthplace (Ur) together, and it was long after that, when he left his father’s house and separated from him in Charan. Terach, Abraham’s father, accompanied him for the first half of his journey. He went with his son at least part of the way. The Torah says that it was Terach who took Abraham, not Abraham who took Terach, from Ur to go to the land of Canaan, which means that Abraham was actually completing a journey his father began. There was no immediate or radical tension between father and son.

Indeed it is hard to imagine how it could have been otherwise. Abraham himself was chosen “so that he will instruct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord” – that is, he was chosen to be a model parent. How could a child who rejected the way of his father become a model father? Why wouldn’t his children reject his ways in turn? It makes more sense to say that Terach already had doubts about idolatry and it was he who inspired Abraham to go further, spiritually and physically. Although Terach did not complete the journey with Abraham, perhaps because of the age, but surely he was happy for him that he was following the words of G-d and wished him farewell.

Yes my friends, quite often we may think we are different from our parents, but sooner or later, we come to realize that we are just the same. Sometimes it takes time and distance for us to appreciate how much they helped us to become the people we are. Even when we thought we were running away, we were in fact continuing their journey. We often see that a charitable parents have charitable children too. People who like to do communal work, probably have parents who did communal work too.

In Judaism, there is no such a thing as a rebellious child. Parents and children can never distance themselves from each other. We may sometimes have different views in regards to religion, business and lifestyle, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t need each other. We need our parents in our lives as much as they need us in theirs. Cherish every moment with them, because when they are gone, you’ll regret the days you did not spend with them…….

Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin

Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parasha in a Nutshell “

Parshat Noah begins by describing Noah’s righteousness, compared with the wickedness of his generation. As a result of Mankind’s evil, Hashem brings a flood to destroy every living creature, sparing only Noah, his family, and at least one pair of every animal species, who live in an ark during the lengthy flood. When the waters declined, almost a year after the rains first began, Noah sends out a raven and a dove so as to determine whether the land has dried sufficiently so that they can leave the ark to resettle the earth once again. Hashem promises that He will never again destroy all of Mankind by means of a flood, and He designates the rainbow as a sign for that eternal covenant.

Noah plants a vineyard, drinks from its produce, and becomes drunk. In his intoxicated state, he shamefully uncovers himself in his tent. While his son Cham dealt with his father inappropriately, Noah’s other two sons, Shem and Yefet, cover their father in a respectful manner. Once sober, Noah responds by blessing Shem and Yefet, and by cursing Cham and his son Canaan.

Generations pass and the world is repopulated. The people attempt to wage war against Hashem by building the Tower of Babel, and Hashem responds by mixing up their languages and dispersing them across the planet.

The Torah portion concludes on an encouraging note with Abraham’s birth and his marriage to Sarah.

” Dvar Torah “

At the beginning of the Parsha, the Torah says: ” Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generation…..”. So, the obvious question that comes to mind is why does the Torah mention “in his generation”, when it talks about Noah’s righteousness? Well, our sages have two different views regarding this matter. Some Chachamim praise Noah for his righteousness in his generation, since it is very hard to stay righteous when you are surrounded with corrupt and evil people all around you. They say, He would have been even more righteous, if he would have lived in some other times. While others criticize him, for his righteousness is only apparent when is compared to wickedness of his own generation. If he would have lived in the times of Abraham, for example, he would have never reached his level of righteousness. With all being said, still Noah is the only person in the entire Torah to be given the title of “righteous” by Hashem himself. So, there is no question about Noah’s righteousness; the only doubt is about the level of his righteousness.

But our sages say that despite Noah’s righteousness, he still didn’t have the zechut (merit) of becoming the forefather of the Jewish nation. Our family tree starts from Abraham and not from Noah. The Torah could have easily traced back Abraham to Noah and added him to the list of our forefathers, but decided not to. But why? Why didn’t our family tree start from the righteous Noah? What was he lacking, that stopped him from joining the Jewish nation?

I read a very interesting explanation given by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. He says that after the flood, Hashem tells Noah to get out of the Ark and fill up the earth once again — to grow and multiply. But once Noah got out of the Ark, he looked back at all the destructions. Overwhelmed by grief, he found refuge in wine. Instead of starting to build his future, he built himself a vineyard! He became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent.The man of God has become a man of the soil. The righteous man has become a drunkard. The man clothed in virtue now lies naked and unashamed. The most righteous man who walked with God now lies alone in disgrace! And all because he looked back instead of looking forward. G-d tells him to go and build your future, but instead, he concentrated on the destructions in the past! And this is what disqualified him from becoming a Jew: ‘Not having a vision for the future’. Because in Judaism, we build our future first, and then we mend the past!

Yes my friends, Judaism is a religion of the future! We are always thinking about building our future and that’s the secret to our success. The land of Israel prospers continuously, because the Jews in Israel are always thinking about building their future. Why do you think that the Palestinians never prosper and most of them live in poverty and under pressure?! Because they keep looking at the past instead of concentrating on their future. They don’t care about building their future; their only thoughts are about who did this land used to belong to in the past!

B”H, the Mashadi community has always been a great believer of the future too. When our fathers left Iran, they did not sit back and grieve for what they’ve left behind, but rather, they immediately started to build the future for their family and their children, and today we are enjoying the fruits of their labor. Even our leaders today, they all have a vision for the future. They see the needs of the community in many more years to come, and they act on it accordingly. May G-d bless them all.

So remember my friends, the secret to success is to have a vision for the future. Something that unfortunately was missing in Noah, who started his life as a righteous and ended up as a carious!

Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin

Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following parsha summary followed by a dvar torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell “

G-d creates the world in six days. On the first day He makes darkness and light. On the 2nd day He forms the heavens, dividing the “upper waters” from the “lower waters.” On the 3rd day He sets the boundaries of land and sea and calls forth trees and greenery from the earth. On the 4th day He fixes the position of the sun, moon and stars as timekeepers and illuminators of the earth. Fish, birds and reptiles are created on the fifth day; land-animals, and then the human being, on the sixth. G-d ceases work on the seventh day, and sanctifies it as a day of rest.

G-d forms the human body from the dust of the earth and blows into his nostrils a “living soul.” Originally Man is a single person, but deciding that “it is not good that man be alone,” G-d takes a “side” from the man, forms it into a woman, and marries them to each other.

Adam and Eve are placed in the Garden of Eden and commanded not to eat from the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.” The serpent persuades Eve to violate the command, and she shares the forbidden fruit with her husband. Because of their sin, it is decreed that man will experience death, returning to the soil from which he was formed, and that all his livelihood will come only through struggle and hardship. Man is banished from the Garden.

Eve gives birth to two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain quarrels with Abel and murders him, and becomes a rootless wanderer. A third son is born to Adam, Seth, whose tenth-generation descendant, Noah, is the only righteous man in a corrupt world!

” Dvar Torah “

When I was a teenager, I attended a Yeshiva middle/high school in London called “Hasmonean”. It was the second or the third year since we had moved to London, and every friday we had a class on the weekly parsha with a great teacher called Mr. Bedil. Although he wasn’t a Rabbi, but his Torah knowledge and his speech power was better than any Rabbis that I’ve ever known. His classes were always interesting since he used to interact with the students and get everyone involved by asking them questions. And his loud voice confirmed his position of authority that everyone kept quiet and listened.

One week, it happened to be Parashat Bereshit and he started his class as follows: ” In this week’s parsha after G-d created “Adam”, He realized that the man is alone and he needs a partner. So, He decided to create a partner for him. But the exact wording that Hashem uses for a partner is a little strange. Hashem said: ” It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him “Ezer Kenegdo”, which means “a helper, against or opposite him”. And a few pasuks later the Torah says: ” And every man should leave his father and his mother and cling to his wife and they shall become one flesh.” From this pasuk, clearly, the Torah is commanding us that every man should get married. It’s not an optional mitzvah — it’s an obligation for every man! But now, let me ask you a question. Why does Hashem want us to get married? What if we are just happy to be left alone? For sure, there will be much more peace and quiet and much less responsibilities! So why does Hashem want us to go through the burden of marriage?! “

Well, since I was new in the field of Torah studies, I usually didn’t know the answers to Mr. Bedil’s questions, but this time I finally thought that I had the perfect answer. So, immediately I raised my hand and with Mr. Bedil’s permission, I began to talk: ” To do the mitzvah of “Pru Ve Orvu”, to increase and multiply – to have children!!” I felt the satisfaction already, since I was almost sure that I had the right answer. But to my surprise, Mr. Bedil wasn’t so excited about my answer. So he said: ” Well, that is one of the mitzvahs you can perform only if you get married, but that’s not the reason that G-d wants you to get married!” So, immediately, the next person raised his hand and said: ” to become complete, since only when you are married you’ll become complete and you can fulfill all the mitzvot of the Torah!” Although he liked the answer, but again, he wasn’t thrilled by it. A few more hands went up, each one giving a valid answer, but none of them were the answer Mr. Bedil was looking for. So, finally he said: “let me tell you the answer! The answer is given in the Parsha itself. When G-d wanted to create the woman, He didn’t say “let me make him a partner LIKE him?!” He said “let me make him a partner/helper against or opposite him”, which means that men and women are created differently. The woman is created in a way that might have opposing or different views than the man! The whole point of marriage is to see if you can live and get along with someone who might have different opinions than yours. G-d wants to see if you are willing to compromise and work out your differences with your spouse. And this is what marriage is all about: to respect each others opinion even if they are different! Why do you think that Hashem demands from every man to leave his parents and cling to his wife? Because it’s very easy to get along with someone like your parents, who have loved you and taken care of you since the day you were born. The whole challenge of marriage is to see if you are willing to get along with someone new in your life, who hasn’t done anything for you in the past and who may have different views than yours! If you are able to get along with your new wife and are willing to spend the rest of your life with her, only then, you have truly fulfilled the mitzvah of marriage. So when you grow up and finally find someone who you think is the right person to marry, the question that you should ask yourself should not be, “Do I love her?”, but rather, it should be, “Am I willing to get along with this woman for the rest of my life?” And if the answer is yes, then you’ve found your partner in life!

Yes my friends, marriage is all about getting along with your spouse. It’s all about loving, respecting and understanding your spouse. It’s all about compromising and forgiving. In Judaism, marriage is the union of two people from the opposite sex, with opposing ideas, who are willing to live together and work out their differences. Why do you think that Judaism is so much against same sex marriage? Not only because the sexual act is forbidden and so repulsive, but also, two people from the same gender with same ideas living together haven’t achieved anything. For example, two men living together, drinking beer and watching a football game is not what marriage about. The whole point of marriage is when you only own one set of television, and you want to watch a football game and your wife wants to watch a soap opera! Are you willing to compromise?!

In every marriage there is always arguments and disagreements, but if you can worked them out and stay united, then you’ll become “one flesh”, which is what the Torah is talking about! Remember that G-d created for a man “Ezer Kenegdo”, a helper against him. But you may ask yourself, how can a helper be against you?! They contradict each other?! What it means is, only when you can respect and get along with someone who has different opinions than yours, only then, she will become a helper to you and the best partner in life!

Unfortunately, the divorce rate in the United States is around 50%, which means one out of two marriages fail. And the main reason is, they disagree with each other’s opinions. But I’m afraid that they’ve got it all wrong. Marriage is not about finding common ground, but rather, it’s about accepting and respecting different opinions than yours!!

Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin

Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell “

Parshat Ha’azinu is comprised primarily of Moshe’s “poem” about the horrible tragedies and supreme joy which will make up the Jewish people’s future history. Not your classic piece of rhyme and music, Moses’ “song” is nevertheless comparable to a great work of art in that it blends together otherwise disparate ideas into a beautiful symphony of thought. It expresses the recognition that every aspect of Creation and everything that Hashem does – past, present, and future – somehow fits together into a perfect harmony, although with our limited human understanding we do not always recognize it to be so. Moshe calls heaven and earth to bear witness that if the Jewish people sin and display ingratitude to Hashem for the many wonderful favors He bestowed upon us, we will be punished, while if we remain loyal to the Torah and Hashem we will receive the greatest blessings. Even though the Jewish people will stray, Hashem guarantees our survival and ultimate redemption. The parsha concludes with Hashem’s command to Moshe to ascend Mount Nebo, where he will view the land of Israel and then pass away.

” Dvar Torah “

Poetry! What a beautiful concept! It is the art of rhythmical composition, written by beautiful and imaginative thoughts. It is used in every culture, religion and society. What words cannot describe, poetry can! It’s a language for the heart and not for the mind. It is used to describe feelings of love, hatred, glory, triumph, defeat, happiness and sorrow. The beauty of poetry lies in its multiple interpretation. What the actual words say, might be totally different to what the poet meant to say. Although it’s difficult to understand poetry, but once you get it, the satisfaction is beyond belief.

This week’s Parashat Ha’azinu, also consists of a long poem, a very special one. As Moshe is about to die, he offers a poetic presentation of the history of the rocky relationship between Israel and its Creator, the present, and the future of the Benei Yisrael. The poem is very difficult to understand because even if you speak fluent Hebrew, it is not easy to get at the exact sense of the words and verses. However, Moshe does not finish the parsha with the poem. He warns them to take his words seriously and apply them to their hearts. Then he recaps the most popular theme of all his teachings by saying: ” be careful to perform all the words of this Torah, for it is not an empty thing for you, for it is your life!”

Rashi explains the verse by saying that Moshe is trying to say that every single word in the Torah is meaningful and is very relevant to our lives. Moshe tells them about this point right after the poem so that the people will know that no parts of the Torah is empty including this poem.

But you may ask yourself, how can every single word in the Torah be relevant to my life? There are many things in the Torah which seems to be outdated or irrelevant. For example, why do we need to know the male descendants of Esau and if so, why on earth do we need to know that one of the descendants with the name “Lotan” had a sister called “Timna”?! It’s very difficult to adapt to Rashi’s reasoning. How can the “entire” Torah be meaningful and relevant to us?

Well, as I was reading the commentaries on this topic, I came across a story told by Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetsky which goes at follows:

There was a tour organized for the American tourists to see the Louvre Museum in Paris. On the tour was an elderly woman, whose appreciation for art must have begun and ended with her grandchildren’s works which hung proudly on her refrigerator. As the group reached the Mona Lisa, the “wows”, the “oohs” and the “ahs” of the crowd were suddenly drowned out by the cynicism of the old woman.

“Is she smiling or not? Couldn’t DiVinci make up his mind?” she moaned in a loud voice.

The Tour Guide ignored her comment and began to explain the distinction of painting style, the differences of oils and brushstrokes and a host of other amazing facts and analysis. But the women still could not hold herself. So she let out a sigh of impatience and said: “I really don’t see what is so special about this painting! My granddaughters’ drawings.…” But this time, the guide cut her short. Then, in perfect English with a French accent, he began to talk.

“My dear madam, when you come to visit the Louvre you must realize the paintings are no longer on trial. They have already been scrutinized and analyzed by those who have spent their entire lifetime studying art. Every stroke of the brushes have been praised and criticized. What hangs here are the best of the art that has been gathered over the centuries by the greatest of artists.

“Now, my dear Madam”, he continued, “let me reveal to you a secret. At the Louvre, the paintings are not on trial. It is you who are on trial! The paintings have passed the test. But, unfortunately, it’s you who have failed.”

Rabbi Kamenetzky explains that in order to appreciate every detail of the Torah and to understand that every fact, figure, and seemingly trivial detail contain endless depth and countless meanings, one must first make the Torah his life. If one makes a serious career of Torah study, if he analyzes and commits himself to Torah knowledge, only then, he will be amazed at the never-ending lessons. But for most of us who are just taking a glance from the outside, we have no rights to criticize the Torah. The Talmud explains that the Torah is not an empty thing, and if we find it empty, the emptiness is within us and not in the Torah. It’s our lack of understanding which makes us not to appreciate all the beautiful things that the Torah has to offer!

Yes my friends, when we study the Torah, we should know that the Torah is no longer on trial, but we are. If we don’t understand a part, or if we think that a part is irrelevant, it’s our failure to understand. When I was in high school, I once asked my English teacher, how would we know if a book is good or not?! Should we just look at the reviews?! She said no! “First you should see who is the author. If the author has excellent record for writing good books, then the book must be good!” Well, the author of our Torah is the G-d Almighty himself who is perfect in every aspect. So His Torah must be perfect too. We should try to learn as much as we can from the Torah. As Moshe puts it so well, ” the Torah is not an empty thing for you, for it is your life! “

Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin

Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell “

The Parsha recounts the events on Moshe’s last day of earthly life. “I am one hundred and twenty years old today,” he says to the people, “and I can no longer go forth and come in.” He transfers the leadership to Joshua, and writes the Torah in a scroll which he entrusts to the Levites for safekeeping in the Ark of the Covenant.

The mitzvah of Hak’hel (“Gather”) is given: every seven years, during the festival of Sukkot of the first year of the shemittah cycle, the entire people of Israel — men, women and children — should gather at the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, where the king should read to them from the Torah.

The Parsha concludes with the prediction that the people of Israel will turn away from their covenant with G-d causing Him to hide His face from them, but also with the promise that the words of the Torah “shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their descendants.

” Dvar Torah “

What would you do if you knew for a fact that today is the last day of your life and your body is still fully functional?

Would you go skydiving?

Would you finally try out some illegal substances, or do some immoral act which you never permitted yourself to do earlier in life?

Would you sit and count the minutes until the end?

Would you spend some quality time with your wife and children?

Would you hire a professional photographer to take pictures of you and your family in order to leave behind good memories?

Would you cry your eyes out in repentance in order to prepare yourself to embrace G-d?

So, what would you do?

Well, this is exactly what happened to Moshe in this week’s Parsha. Hashem tells him that the time has come for him to be gathered to his people on this day. Later on, the Torah says that his eyes did not dim and his body did not become weak till the end.

So, what did Moshe do on the last day of his life? Well, the Torah starts by telling us that  Vayelech Moshe – And Moshe went, and spoke these words to all Israel. And he said to them: “I am a hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no longer go out and come in, for Hashem has said to me, you shall not cross this Jordan.”

The commentators are puzzled by the use of the phrase “and Moshe went”?! The Torah could have easily said that Moshe gathered the people and spoke these words to them. Why the use of the extra phrase “and Moshe went”?! In fact, his “moving” action was so powerful that the parsha is named after it; “Vayelech– And he went”! And this was the only action recorded in the Parsha that Moshe did on the last day of his life —– and he went! So, where did Moshe go? And if he did go somewhere, why does the Torah keep us in suspense of his destination?!

As usual, I read a beautiful commentary given by Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky. He says that Moshe did not physically go anywhere. What the Torah is trying to emphasize is the fact that Moshe did not sit idle. Even on the last day of his life, he went, he moved, he inspired, he taught, he blessed and he accomplished. Although, on the last day of his life, he rightfully deserved to sit back and let others come to him in order to pay their final respect, but instead, he moved and he took the initial step. The same enthusiasm that Moshe had in leading his people through the desert for forty years; the same vigor He had when he stood in front of Pharaoh and demanded to “let my people go”; was still in him until the last moments of his life — until the very end. Moshe, just like our fathers, didn’t believe in retirement! While he could still move, he went forward and accomplished. There is no dying down when you are moving!!. And that’s why the Torah is so proud of his movement that it names the Parsha after it! Until the very end, Moshe never stopped — Moshe “went”!

Yes my friends, life is all about moving forward and improving ourselves because if we ever stop, we may fall back. Whether in business, relationship or spirituality, we need to have the enthusiasm to move forward and try to improve ourselves at all times. As we learn from the parsha, there is no limit or time frame for improvement. Moshe moved forward till the last second of his life. He utilized all of his time to fulfill the will of G-d and to improve his relationship with the Almighty. He never stopped! He never gave up! And this is the kind of “enthusiasm” that we need to learn from the greatest prophet of all times.

Rabbi Kamenetsky says that there is always room for improvements in all aspects of life, especially in relationships. For example, if you think that you’ve been married for more than 20 years and there is no way to improve your marital relationship, you are absolutely wrong. There is always room to love more, sacrifice more and to care more.

As we are approaching Yom Kippur, let us try to improve and accomplish more. Let us try to pray a little harder, let us have more courage to ask for forgiveness from everybody, and above all, let us find it in our hearts to forgive everyone else too! Let us move forward in our lives and don’t live in the past. Let us not hold any grudge against anyone and let us find a way to love everyone around us! Let us not sit idle! Let’s make a “move”!

Shabbat Shalom and Regards;

Martin

Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell “

Parashat Nitzavim start by saying: “You stand today, all of you, before the L-rd your G-d: your heads, your tribes, your elders, your officers, and every Israelite man; your young ones, your wives, the stranger in your gate; from your wood hewer to your water drawer.”

Moshe warns of the exile and desolation of the Land that will result if Israel abandons G-d’s laws, but he then prophecizes that, in the end, “You will return to the L-rd your G-d”.

Then Moshe says: “For the Mitzvah which I command you this day, it is not beyond you nor is it remote from you. It is not in heaven… It is not across the sea…. Rather, it is very close to you, in your mouth, in your heart, that you may do it.”

Moshe also talks about freedom of choice: “I have set before you life and goodness, and death and evil; in that I command you this day to love G-d, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments… Life and death I have set before you, blessing and curse. And you shall choose life.”

“ Dvar Torah “

Le Eluy Nishmat Reuven Ben Mashiach, my late father, Saeed Hakimian Z”L, Ruach Hashem Tenachenu Be Gan Eden;

Parashat Nitzavim records Moshe Rabeinu’s last day of life which was his 120th birthday too. Accordingly, Moshe gathers the entire congregation and gives them his farewell speech. He basically tells them that if they would follow G-d’s commandments, Hashem will bless them and they will prosper in the promised Land, but G-d forbid, if they do not follow, they will be accursed and they will perish from the Land. Towards the end of his speech, Moshe tells them the following: ” I call upon you today, the heaven and the earth as witnesses for you. I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. And you shall choose LIFE, so that you and your children may live.”

In short, what Moshe is telling the Benei Israel is that they have a choice to make. They have to choose between life and death. And the way it works is as follows. If they’ll keep Hashem’s commandments they will live, but if G-d forbid, they don’t listen to the voice of G-d, they will surely perish and die. But what’s so mind-boggling is that Moshe tells them which one is the right choice?! “and you shall choose LIFE…..” Surely anyone with a sane mind knows that life is better than death?! So why did Moshe have to tell them which one is the right answer?! Couldn’t they figure it out by themselves?!

Rabbi Kamenetzky says the reason why Moshe gives them the answer to this simple dilemma, is to emphasize the importance of life! Life is so precious that Moshe had to spell it out for them so that there won’t be any doubt in anyone’s mind to choose life over death! In Judaism life is so important that under no circumstances death has priority over life. Suicide is strictly forbidden! Even in the case of a very sick person, we have to fight for his life till the last second. To demonstrate the importance of life, the Torah tells us that the reward for honoring parents which is considered to be one of the hardest mitzvot of the Torah, is longevity. Even Moshe seems to be sad on the last day of his life, when Hashem tells him it’s time to leave this world. Moshe tells them to choose life because there is no greater blessing than to “live”!!

But you may ask yourself, what is so special about life? After all, in Talmud it says that the world that we live in is just a corridor to get us through to our ultimate destination, “Olam Haba”- the world to come! It is there that our souls are going to live forever! It is there that there won’t be anymore pain or suffering! It is there that every soul is going to be closer to the Almighty! So why can’t we speed up our journey to get to our final destination?

Rabbi Kamenetzky says that the only reason why this world has superiority over the world to come is because, only in this world we can do “Gemilut Chassadim”, act of kindness towards our fellow human beings. That’s why more than ½ the mitzvot of Torah are laws between man and man. To have compassion for our brothers is what life’s all about. For example, in the world to come, you won’t be able to give charity to the poor, because there won’t be any poor people over there. You won’t be able to visit the sick, because there will be no more sick people there. You won’t be able to care for the elderly, because there won’t be any old people there anymore. All these things can only be done in this world! The Torah is telling us to choose life, but it wants us to choose the right way of living. Hashem wants us to live a meaningful life, a life committed to higher values and a higher purpose. A life that is filled with love for each other; a life that we care for one another!

Yes my friends, life is the most precious thing anyone can possess, we should never take it for granted. Cherish every moment of it and be grateful to Hashem. Life is so valuable that the Torah has to spell it out for us. But life without a goal is meaningless. So what do you think is the purpose of life? Well, some of us may think that the purpose of life is to accumulate as much wealth as possible; some of us may think that the purpose of life is to have as much fun as possible; and some of us may think that the purpose of life is to devote our lives entirely to Hashem by praying and studying Torah, every day and night! Or, could it be that the purpose of life is to show compassion to our fellow human beings and to care for one another?! The Chachamim say that the only thing you can take with you to the next world is your “Ma-asim Tovim”, your good deeds and everything else is going to be left behind.

B’H, my late father, Reuven Ben Mashiach, knew very well the purpose of life. He dedicated most of his time to go to Kanissa and be a help to the community. Last week, I received many phone calls and texts from people that I didn’t know, mentioning how my Dad helped them to say Kadish and be a “Shaliach Sibur” in Kanissa. How he joked around with them and brought smile to their faces when they needed it the most. How he blessed them and gave them advice. Unfortunately his life was shortened due to his illness, but he lived a full life. The kind of life that the Torah expect from us! May he rest in peace.

As we are approaching Rosh Hashana, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy New year. Rosh Hashana is a day of Judgment where our destiny is going to be decided for the year to come. Accordingly, I wish that all of your prayers be accepted by the Almighty, and your names to be written in the book of good health, happiness, prosperity and above all, in the book of “LIFE”!!!

Shabbat Shalom, Shana Tova and Regards;

Martin

Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell “

Seventy-four of the Torah’s 613 commandments are in this week’s Parsha. These include the laws of the beautiful captive woman, the inheritance rights of the first-born, capital punishment for the wayward and rebellious son, burial and dignity of the dead, returning a lost object, sending away the mother bird before taking her young, and the duty to erect a safety fence around the roof of one’s home.

Also recounted are the judicial procedures and penalties for adultery, for the rape or seduction of an unmarried girl, and for a husband who falsely accuses his wife of adultery. The following cannot marry a person of Jewish lineage: a bastard; a male of Moabite or Ammonite descent.

Our Parshah also includes laws governing the purity of the military camp; the prohibition against turning in an escaped slave; the duty to pay a worker on time; the proper treatment of a debtor and the prohibition against charging interest on a loan; the laws of divorce (from which are also derived many of the laws of marriage); and the procedures for yibbum, marriage between the wife of a childless deceased to her brother-in-law.

Parsha concludes with the obligation to remember “what Amalek did to you on the road, on your way out of Egypt.”

” Dvar Torah “

One of the most difficult tasks for any parents is to raise their children. There are no set of rules to follow. Even if there is, there is no guarantee that it will work on every child, since each child is different. One of the biggest nightmare for parents is, G-d forbid, to be faced with a problematic and rebellious child. How can they avoid to have such a child?!

Well, in this week’s Parsha, the Torah talks about a wayward and rebellious son (Ben sorer u’moreh). The Torah says: ” If a man will have a wayward and rebellious son, who does not listen to the voice of his father and the voice of his mother, and they discipline him but he still does not listen to them, then the parents shall grasp him and take him out to the elders of the city and say to them, ” This son of ours is wayward and rebellious; he does not listen to our voice, he is a glutton and drunkard ….. All the men of the city shall pelt him with stones and he shall die;”

The Chachamim say that the reason the boy is put to death is because the parents notice a trend in their young son’s spiritual development that will almost inevitably lead to a lifestyle involving robbery and  even murder. One of the requirements for a child to be considered a “Ben Sorer U’moreh” is to be a glutton, indulging in meat and wine, excessively.  If a boy displays an uncontrolled lust for meat and wine, he will inevitably reach the point where he will rob and murder in order to obtain the money he needs to satisfy this lust. Therefore the Torah advises that he should be put to death “at the stage in life when he is still innocent,” rather than allowing him to mature to a point where he will actually be fully deserving of death.

But the Talmud says that an actual case of “ben sorer u’moreh”, stoning of a child, has never happened and will never happen. No parents would have the heart to take their son to be stoned to death! The Torah is merely mentioning this law just for educational purposes. So, if the whole purpose of this law is to educate us, let’s see what we can learn from it.

The Torah says: ” If a man will have a wayward and rebellious son, who does not listen to the voice of his father and the voice of his mother……..”. Accordingly, our commentators come up with the following question. Why does the Torah mention the voice of the father and the voice of the mother separately? Why doesn’t it just say, “a son who does not listen to the voice of his parents?! Our Torah which is so careful with the use of words, why suddenly became so generous with throwing extra words?!

Rabbi Yissachar Frand gives an interesting interpretation. In describing a rebellious child, the Torah is trying to stress that the parents were not of one voice and one opinion! The child did not listen to his father’s voice and independently he did not listen to his mother’s alternate voice either. When the child hears mixed messages, he does not listen to either parent and he goes after his own heart and hence, he becomes rebellious. When a child hears one thing from the father and another thing from the mother – that is a garden in which weeds can grow. Only subsequently, when the child has already left the right path, do the parents come and, sadly, tell the elders of the court: “Now we are together. Now we have a unified voice. Our son is not listening to OUR voice!” Unfortunately by then, it is too late. The son has already became a rebellious child, and it’s very hard to bring him back!

Yes my friends, There are no secret formulas for raising good children. Raising children is the most difficult job in the world. However, there are clearly certain things parents should try to avoid. Parents should always present a unified message of their expectations to their children. Parents may have disagreements among themselves as to what is the proper course in raising children. But those disagreements need to be decided among themselves; in private! When parents come before their children, they need to articulate a clear, decisive, and uniform message. For example, if a son comes and ask the mother for $20 and the mother says no, and then he goes and asks the father for $20 and he gives it to him, that’s considered talking in different voices. If the parents would have always talked in a unified voice, then the son would have never gone to the father and asked for $20! When the parents reach the status of “our voice” rather than “the father’s voice” and “the mother’s voice,” their chances of raising a proper child will be much greater.

So my friends, the lesson that we can learn from “Ben Sorer U’moreh” is not how to kill a rebellious child, but rather, how to raise a good child who is respectful to his parents.

Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin

Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell “

Moshe instructs the people of Israel to appoint judges and law-enforcement officers in every city.

A minimum of two credible witnesses is required for conviction and punishment.

A Jewish king may only have possessions and symbols of power adequate for the honor of his office, but not for self glorification.

Hashem promises the Jewish people that he will send them prophets to guide them, and Moshe explains how a genuine prophet may be distinguished from a false one.

The Parsha includes the prohibitions against idolatry and sorcery; guidelines for the creation of “cities of refuge” for the inadvertent murderer. Also set forth are many of the rules of war: the exemption from battle for one who has just built a home, planted a vineyard, married, or is “afraid and soft-hearted”; the requirement to offer terms of peace before attacking a city.

If a corpse is found between cities, the elders of the nearest city must take a heifer, slaughter it, and wash their hands over it, saying that they are not guilty of the death.

“ Dvar Torah “

The foundation of civilization is based on justice! No civilized society can survive without a judiciary system, and a set of law and order. And Judaism cannot agree more with this system. This week’s parsha starts off by telling us to appoint judges and lawmakers for ourselves. It continues by telling us the famous quote, “tzedek, tzedek, tirdof”….. “Justice, Justice, you shall pursue”……. But a better translation is: “Righteousness, Righteousness, you shall pursue”….. The Chachamim are puzzled by the repetition of word “righteousness”. Rabbi Frand explains the reason as follows: “The pursuit OF righteousness must be done WITH righteousness”. We are not merely being taught to run AFTER justice. We are told to run AFTER justice WITH justice, which means that a person can only be trialed in a righteous way. That’s why the torah continues to explain that in order to pursue justice, we have to appoint righteous judges. A judge cannot take a bribe. A judge cannot take the side of the weak or the powerful, nor can he take the side of a widow or an orphan. Indeed, a judge has to be totally unbiased and try his best to make a fair judgment.

In western societies’ court of law, where there is a dispute between two parties, the judge has to determine who is right and who is wrong; who has to be rewarded and who has to be punished. The judge’s main role is to find who is guilty and who is innocent. The judge has the full authority to make this decision. In a Jewish court of law however, the judge has a different role. His role is not to just find the guilty party and punish him, but rather, his main role is to give the accused a fair trial — a trial which is based on fairness and righteousness. Indeed the Torah sets down numerous rules and regulations which delimit the judge’s power to judge, and ensure that when he does judge, he does so with utmost caution and sensitivity.

To get a better understanding of what it means by a fair trial, we can look at a criminal law discussion in the Talmud known as the “indefensible criminal” laws. The Talmud says: In the time of Beit Hamikdash, under the Jewish law, capital crimes were tried by a tribunal of 23 judges called a “Minor Sanhedrin.” After hearing the testimony of the witnesses, the judges themselves would split into two groups: those inclined to argue for the defense of the accused would serve as his “defense team” and seek to convince their colleagues of his innocence; and those inclined to convict him would serve as prosecutors making the case for his guilt. Then the judges would vote. A majority of one was sufficient to set him free, while a majority of two was necessary to convict.

But  what happens if all the twenty-three judges join the prosecution team?! What if the evidence is so compelling and the crime so horrifying that not a single member of the tribunal chooses to argue in the accused’s favor? In such a case, says the Talmud, the accused cannot be convicted and this court is disqualified from making a judgement!

But you may ask yourself why? Why is the court disqualified? If the evidences are so strong against the accused, why can’t the court find him guilty?! Why does it matter if anyone is going to defend him or not? For example, if a serial killer is caught, and there are more than 10 witnesses who saw him kill someone each time, the guy is guilty and should be trialed and punished! So what that he doesn’t have a defence team?!

The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains the rationale behind this law as follows: No man is so utterly evil that there is nothing to be said in his defense. There is always some explanation, some justification, some perspective from which the underlying goodness of his soul can be glimpsed. This does not mean that he is going to be found innocent. But if not a single member of the court perceives the “innocent side” of the person standing accused before them, this court then obviously has very little understanding of who he is and what he has done. Such a court has disqualified itself from passing judgment on him. The Lubavitcher Rebbe therefore says that you cannot judge a person until you see something good in that person! Justice has to be done with righteousness, and righteousness is achieved when you can see the good in everybody!

Yes my friends, in order to judge a person, we need to hear something in his defence first! That’s why the Torah is so much against “Lashon Hara”, evil speech or slander.  Because when you hear something evil about someone, you immediately become judgmental. But you can not judge him, because you haven’t heard anything in his defense yet! Judging people is one of the most difficult tasks and that’s why the Torah has  asked us to appoint professional judges who are righteous and know how to judge fairly. Us, the ordinary people, are not here to judge people —– we are here to love them!

The Torah wants us to pursue justice, but it wants us to do it the right way! And the only right way to find justice is to see the good in everyone first!!

Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin

Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell “

Moshe says to the people of Israel, “I place before you today a blessing and a curse” —  the blessing that will come when they fulfill G-d’s commandments, and the curse if they abandon them.

A Temple should be established in “the place that G-d will choose to dwell His name there”, where the people should bring their sacrifices to Him; it is forbidden to make offerings to G-d in any other place.

A false prophet, or one who entices others to worship idols, should be put to death; an idolatrous city must be destroyed. The identifying signs for kosher animals and fishes, and the list of non-kosher birds are repeated.

A tenth of all produce is to be eaten in Jerusalem, or else exchanged for money with which food is purchased and eaten there. Firstborn cattle and sheep are to be offered in the Temple and their meat eaten by the Kohen.

The mitzvah of charity obligates a Jew to aid a needy fellow with a gift or loan. On the Sabbatical year (occurring every seventh year) all loans are to be forgiven.

Our Parshah concludes with the laws of the three pilgrimage festivals — Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot — when all should go to “see and be seen” before G-d in the Holy Temple.

” Dvar Torah “

In this week’s Parsha, once again, Moshe reviews the commandments of the Torah with Benei Yisrael. One of the commandments that he goes over is the mitzvah of giving charity. He tells them the following: ” If there will be among you a needy person, from one of your brothers in one of your cities, in your land that Hashem, your G-d, is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, and you shall not close your hand from your needy brother. Rather, you shall open your hand to him, and you shall lend him sufficient for his needs, which he is lacking.” Then a few pasuks later, Moshe continues to say: ” You shall surely give him, and let your heart not feel bad when you give him, for in return for this matter, Hashem will bless you in all your deeds…”.

Interestingly, there are two phrases that have caught our commentators’ eyes.  One is,”You shall not harden your heart”…… and the other, “Let your heart not feel bad”….. The Chachamim say that when the Torah repeats itself, it’s try to convey an important message. Accordingly, the Chachamim derive from these two phrases that helping the poor has to be accompanied with good feelings of heart; meaning that you have to give charity with happiness and joy! To feel happy is as important as the act of giving charity itself! Some Chachamim even say that the money given to charity without a joy and happiness of the heart, does not even count as part of your “Ma-aser”- 10% obligatory donation towards charity.

But you may ask yourself, why is Moshe so concern about feeling happy when we want to help the poor? If a wealthy guy, for example, wants to write a $500,000 check to a charity organization, why should it matter if he gives the check with a frown on his face? Shouldn’t the organization take the check anyway? Money is money; isn’t it??!! Also, when the needy comes and knocks on your door, he doesn’t want you to “open your heart”….. he wants you to open your wallet! So what is the big deal if we are not happy when we are giving charity or helping the poor?

Rabbi Frand gives a beautiful explanation to the above question. He quotes a story from the Talmud that best explains the reason for being happy when giving charity:  During the time of our Holy Temple in Jerusalem, a Jewish livestock owner was obligated to give 10% of his new flock to the Temple. How was this done? Every year, around Rosh Hashana, he would pen all his cattle, from a year old and younger, in an enclosure. He would then open up the gate and let them out, one at a time. As each animal exited the enclosure he would count: one, two, three,…… seven, eight and nine. When he counted the tenth he would mark the animal with a red dye. That animal would then be set aside to be brought to Jerusalem. The procedure was repeated until all the animals were counted.

A question is asked regarding this prescribed procedure. Why make the rancher go through the whole process of penning the animals and then driving them out the exit one at a time? Why not just take ten percent off the top, add a few extra to ensure that no less than required ten percent was given, and avoid this seemingly time consuming and senseless procedure?

The answer is that a very profound message is being conveyed to the rancher by virtue of this process. As each animal goes out the door, it is as if the Almighty is telling the person, ‘One is for you, two is for you, three is for you…’ After giving the owner nine, the Almighty then asks for only one. After getting to keep nine, the rancher is content and realizes how all of his wealth comes from the G-d Almighty and although he is giving, but he gets to keep much more for himself.

Rabbi Frand says that this is precisely the reason why we should be happy when we give to charity. When we are donating to charity, first we need to realize that everything we have comes from Hashem and we should be delighted that we are able to share a very small amount of it with others! The only reason we may feel unhappy about giving to charity is when we wrongfully think that we have made our money on our own. “I worked hard for this money”, we may say to ourselves. Only then, it will be difficult to give it away.

Yes my friends, when you are giving charity with joy, not only are you helping the poor, but you are also acknowledging that everything you have comes from Hashem. The word for charity in Hebrew is “tzedakah”. Tzedakah does not mean charity. It means “righteousness”. We don’t give charity because we have pity on the poor; we give charity because it’s the right thing to do. If Hashem has blessed us with wealth, then we should be delighted to share some of it with our needy brothers. If Hashem can be so giving, then why can’t we?!

So the next time a poor knocks on your door, make sure you open the door with a smile. Don’t think for a moment that you are doing him any favors by giving him money! On the contrary, he is doing you a favor! Because he is giving you the opportunity to participate in this great mitzvah. You’ve been given the privilege this time……… don’t let it go to waste!!

Shabbat Shalom, Rosh Chodesh Tov & Regards;

Martin

Dear Friends;

I hope you’ll enjoy the following Parashat summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell “

Moshe continues to encourage the Children of Israel to trust in Hashem and in the wonderful rewards which He will provide them if they keep the Torah. Moshe assures them that they will successfully defeat the nations of Canaan, at which point they must remove every trace of idol worship remaining in the Holy Land.

Moshe reminds them about the miraculous manna and the other wonders which Hashem provided for them throughout the past forty years, and he warns them to beware of their own future prosperity and military success which might cause them to forget Hashem. He further reminds them of their transgressions in the desert, retelling the story of the golden calf at length, and describing Hashem’s abundant mercy with them.

Moshe teaches the people the second paragraph of the Shema which stresses the fundamental doctrine of reward and punishment based upon our performance of the mitzvot. The Parsha concludes with Hashem’s promise that He will provide the Jewish people with protection if they observe the laws of the Torah.

“ Dvar Torah “

Although all parts of the Torah are equally important and should be all interesting, but in every Parsha there are always some sentences or paragraphs that catches your eyes. Well in this week’s Parsha, Moshe continues with his farewell speech to the Benei Israel. In middle of giving them advice on how to continue with their lives in the Promised Land without his leadership, he tells them the following sentence which really touched my heart:

“A Land that Hashem, your G-d, seeks out; the eyes of Hashem, your G-d, are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year “.

A beautiful statement about the land of Israel. G-d always watches over the Land of Israel. But why does Moshe need to tell them that? Why is it important for Benei Israel to know that G-d is always protecting Israel? What is the significance of this declaration?

Well, Rabbi Frand says that in order to understand this sentence, we need to evaluate the sin of the spies which occurred 40 years before. So, what exactly did the Spies do wrong? They honestly believed that it would be impossible to conquer the land. What they said was the truth. The people who lived in the land were giants. Even the greatest army could not defeat them. So why did they get punished?  

Well, The Baal HaAkeidah (a Torah scholar) suggests that the spies’ sin was to add editorial observations to the facts. They should just have described the situation, and left it to Moshe to interpret it for the people. They should not have proclaimed that there was no way for the Jews to conquer the land.

But Shelah, another commentator, rejects the approach of the Akeidah. After all, he says, Moshe did ask them to share information regarding the strength of people living in Canaan at that point, which requires subjective judgment. One cannot expect a messenger to deliver only the facts on a matter that is so subjective without adding a conclusion?! For example, when you want to buy a new home, you will probably get an inspector to inspect the house first. After doing an inspection, he will give you a report of all the problems that exists in the house. There is a plumbing problem in the bathroom; there is a leak in the roof; the kitchen faucet is not working; and so on….. But at the end, you want him to tell you if it’s a good house to buy or not. Same way, the report of the spies asks for a conclusion! Why should they be at fault?!

The Shelah suggests that Moshe was interested in hearing the Spies opinion, but not one based solely on military actions. Instead he wanted to hear their opinion based on spirituality and to show faith in G-d. Moshe knew that they would find fortified cities inhabited by powerful giants. But the appropriate response to such findings should have been, “Yes, they are strong, and yes, their cities are protected, and through natural means, we don’t stand a chance. But Hashem has told us that we should go into the land, so we will certainly defeat them.” They were supposed to remind the people that just as Hashem had saved them miraculously at the Yam Suf, the same way He will miraculously conquer the land for them too. The spies mistake was to not take into consideration the power of G-d!

But Rabbi Frand still has a problem with Shelah’s interpretation. He says that according to Jewish law, we cannot base our actions on miracles. For example, you cannot sit in the office do nothing and hope that miraculously a customer will walk in and buy something from you. You have to make the call, you have to travel out of town and try your best to sell. You should not rely on miracles only. Accordingly, you cannot expect from the spies to purely rely on a miracle to conquer the land! So why were they punished so severely?!

Rabbi Frand answers that although in all other areas of life, we should avoid depending on miracles as much as possible, when it comes to conquering Eretz Yisrael, we should ALWAYS rely on Hashem’s help. There is no way to live in Eretz Yisrael under natural circumstances. Without Hashem’s Presence, Eretz Yisrael is not inhabitable. And this is exactly the mistake of the spies. When it comes to conquering Israel, they should have relied on G-d’s miracles only.

And this is what Moshe is trying to teach them now that Israel is a special land, different than all other lands. Because it is “A Land that Hashem, your God, seeks out; the eyes of Hashem, your God, are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to year’s end”.

Yes my friends, Israel exists only because G-d is watching over it at all times! You don’t need to be a genius to realize how miraculously Israel continues to exist and prospers. Surrounded by millions or maybe billions of enemies, being continuously under attack, it still continues to thrive. Israel exists not because it has one of the best armies in the world, but rather, it exists because G-d is watching over it. Let’s not lose perspective. Israel’s existence is a supernatural phenomena!

A few years ago, Israel was under heavy attack by scud missiles. Israel used Iron Dome to intercept these rockets and B”H there were no fatalities. If you were in Israel at that time, you could have looked up in the sky and saw the Iron Domes intercepting the rockets. But if you would have looked beyond the interception, you would have probably seen the hand of G-d………

Shabbat shalom & Regards;

Martin

Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell “

Moshe tells the people of Israel how he implored G-d to allow him to enter the land of Israel, but G-d refused, instructing him instead to ascend a mountain and see the Promised Land.

Continuing his “review of the Torah,” Moshe reminds them of the glorious seen at the Mount Sinai: ” Did ever a people hear the voice of G-d speaking out of the midst of the fire… and live? … You were shown, to know, that the L-rd is G-d… there is none else beside Him.”

Moshe predicts that, in future generations, the people will turn away from G-d, worship idols, and be exiled from their land and scattered amongst the nations; but from there they will seek G-d, and return to obey His commandments.

Our Parshah also includes a repetition of the Ten Commandments, and the first paragraph of the Shema. The Torah then tells us to bind “these words” as tefillin on our arms and heads, and inscribe them in a mezuzah and put them on the doorposts of our homes.

” Dvar Torah “

The book of Devarim is all about Moshe’s final days of his life in this world. So, in this week’s Parsha too, Moshe continues to remind the Benei Yisrael the importance of keeping G-d’s commandments and prepares them for a life without his leadership. He tells them that the secret to their survival in the promised land is by keeping the commandments of the Torah. So not to our surprise, he relates to them the Ten Commandments once again, and reminds them how important it is to keep them. Although, the wording of the Ten Commandments said by Moshe now is almost identical to the one that they received at Mount Sinai about forty years before, but still, the commentators could find a few little changes.

One of the differences between Moshe’s version of the Ten Commandments and the original one is found in the fifth commandment which is to “Honor your parents”. The pasuk says: “Honor your father and mother, as Hashem your G-d has commanded you, so that you may live long….” The Chachamim immediately notice that Moshe has added a phrase to this commandment which is: “as Hashem your G-d has commanded you”. This phrase was not mentioned in the first version of Ten Commandments. So, why did Moshe add this phrase?!  What is the significance of this additional phrase?

Rabbi Frand explains that usually a mitzvah which sounds to be logical is much easier to keep. Honoring the parents should be common sense, since everyone knows that raising children is very costly, time consuming and needs a lot of patience, energy and dedication. Parents lose many nights of sleep and many days of work when raising a baby. Accordingly, every person also understands that he has a moral obligation to repay his debt of gratitude to his parents. Therefore, the least people can do is to honor their parents. It’s not so difficult to make a small payment on such a large debt.

But G-d forbid, what if you think that your parents didn’t do much for you when you were a child? Do you still have to honor them? I remember once, that my grandfather told me that when he was a kid back in Mashad, the majority of the Mashadies were poor. The parents could not afford to spend money on their kids and the boys had to work from the early age of ten in order to support themselves and their families. But still, the children of those days had much more respect for their parents than we see today. And this is exactly what Moshe is trying to teach the Benei Israel that honoring parents should not depend on how much they’ve done for you in the past, but rather, you should honor your parents only because “Hashem your G-d has commanded you!”

It was so appropriate for Moshe to relate this message to Benei Israel  now, after they had spent their last 40 years in the desert.  Since during those years, raising children was much easier than it was ever before or after. The parents didn’t have to do much for their kids at all. They didn’t need to buy them food since there was manna given from heaven. The children didn’t need new shoes or clothing since nothing ever wore out! They did not need to pay for Yeshivas or Talmud Torahs; since the Levites taught them for free! They did not need to take them on vacations or put them in summer camps, and I’m pretty sure that they didn’t need to go to orthodontist either! Life in the desert for the parents was like a paradise since they didn’t have to do anything for their kids. But still, Moshe reminds them that the Torah demands that parents should be honored. Clearly, the obligation is to obey Hashem’s commandment rather than to repay a debt of gratitude.

Yes my friends, respecting parents should not be done out of an obligation of repaying a debt, but rather, we should do it because Hashem our G-d has commanded us to. They are the ones who have given us our lives and that’s all the reason we need to love, respect and support them for the rest of their lives. The Torah is teaching us that the parents are not obligated to have done anything for us to earn their respect. We have to respect them no matter what! And to help us to do this great mitzvah, the Torah is even telling us the reward for it: “so that you may live longer”! Therefore, honoring parents is the best life insurance policy you can ever buy for yourselves!

But remember my friends that respecting parents it’s not only about showing them courtesy by kissing their hands and standing up in front of them when you see them. Honoring parents is also about supporting them physically, mentally and financially when they get older. Unfortunately, there may come some days that we have to miss work, sleep and leisure time in order to be with them and help them in every way we can. But in no way we should feel proud of our actions and feel special for what we do. This is the least that we could do for our parents, and I’m sure we would all do a lot more for them if we were able to. The Chachamim say that someone who respects his parents does not deserve a pat on the back, but someone who does not respect his parents deserves a slap on the wrist.

So my friends, love and respect your parents as much as you can. This is what Hashem expects from you and this is what your heart should desire. Cherish every moments with them, because they won’t be with you forever…

Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin

Dear Friends;
I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah on Tisha B’Av;

” Parsha in a Nutshell ”
Moshe begins his revision of the Torah to the assembled Children of Israel, reviewing the events that occurred in the course of their 40-year journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, rebuking the people for their failures and sins, and encouraging them to keep the Torah and observe its commandments in the land that G-d is giving them as an eternal heritage, into which they shall cross after his death.

Moshe recalls his appointing of judges and magistrates to ease his burden of judging people; the sending of the Spies and the people’s subsequent rejection of the Promised Land, so that G-d decreed that the entire generation of the Exodus shall die out in the desert. “Also against me,” says Moshe, “was G-d angry for your sakes, saying: You, too, shall not go in there.”

And at the end of the parsha, Moshe gives assurance to his successor, Joshua, who will take the people into the Land and lead them in the battles for its conquest: “Fear them not, for the L-rd your G-d, He shall fight for you.”

” Dvar Torah ”

“Mourning”, is a period of time that a person grieves for the death of a loved one. Mourning can be a very difficult and devastating period of time, since when a loved one passes away it creates a vacuum in the family members’ lives which is very hard to fill. So, how can a mourner cope with the pain? How can he find comfort and solace?!

Well, our sages tell us that in order to receive comfort and feel relief from the pain of mourning, G-d has blessed us with a sense of “forgetfulness”. As the time passes by, and as much as we try not to, we start to forget about the deceased. And as we tend to forget, slowly, slowly, the pain starts to go away and we begin to get a feeling of comfort. If G-d forbid, the human mind didn’t have the power to forget, then the mourning period will never come to an end and the people will continue to mourn for the death of a loved one till the end of their lives. Although, memory is one of the great functions of the mind, but on the other hand, the lack of memory, or forgetfulness, is a great blessing that Hashem has bestowed upon!

Tisha B’Av (9th of Av) is also a day of mourning. We are mourning for the destruction of our two Batei Hamikdash (Temples) which were destroyed almost 2000 years ago. We are not simply grieving over a magnificent building which was destroyed a long time ago, nor are we crying over the Temple’s physical structure which was burned, but rather, we are crying because the Shechina (G-d’s presence) has left us. It seems that our connection to G-d has been lost. Since the destruction of Beit Hamikdash, we can no longer witness open miracles; we can no longer bring sacrifices for Hashem on daily basis and we cannot perform the Yom Kippur services in the holy of the holies. And above all, we no longer had any true Prophets that could relate to us the words of G-d. To this day, many people still cry heavily and mourn on Tisha B’Av because we’ve lost our connection to G-d.

But the question that comes to mind is why can’t we find comfort after so many years? Why doesn’t the formula of forgetfulness work in the case of Tisha B’Av? Why do the tears still come out of our eyes and why doesn’t the pain go away? Surely 2000 years should be enough to forget!! Why should the Tisha B’Av mourning be any different to the mourning for a loved one?? After all, we tend to forget a loss of life after a few years, but it seems that we can not find comfort for the loss of our connection to G-d after 2000 years?!

Once again, Rabbi Frand comes to the rescue and gives this beautiful explanation. He says that the formula for forgetfulness only works when the person is actually dead. Only after you bury the deceased, you can start to forget and find comfort. But if the person is only missing and is still alive, then you can not forget about him! Yaakov Avinu continued to mourn for his son Yosef, for a full 22 years and couldn’t find comfort– because Yosef was not dead; he was still alive! Accordingly, if we still feel the pain, if we still express the sorrow over the loss of Shechina, then it surely means that our connection to G-d is not dead. It is still alive! We just don’t see it, but the connection is still there! Although, the Shechina is not among us anymore, but we are confident that Hashem is watching over us and protecting us from the far.

On the day of Tisha B’Av, “Tachanun” is not recited because the day has elements of joy to it. Although, Tisha B’Av is the saddest day marked on the jewish calendar, it’s the ultimate day of “hope”! Because we strongly believe that Mashiach is going to come and build the third Beit Hamikdash and the Shechina is going to come back and live among us once again. The question is not “if” Mashiach is going to come, but it’s only a matter of time, “when”?! Even though, we might not have the “zechut” to see the Beit Hamikdash rebuilt in our times, but we are confident that our children, our grandchildren or great grandchildren will have the merit to see the glorious Temple build once again. And because of these happy thoughts, we don’t say Tachanun on this day.

Keep in mind my friends that we have a G-d who is invisible. Although we can not see him, He can see us. We can not hear him, but He can hear us. We can not touch him, but he’s still in touch with us! He is still watching over us and He will never abandon us! And that’s the true message of Tisha B’Av…..

May we see the coming of Mashiach very time soon, and hope that next year we will be dancing and celebrating on Tisha B’Av, instead of mourning and crying!
Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin