(א', א') ונביאים מסרוה לאנשי כנסת הגדולה. הם אמרו שלשה דברים: הוי מתונים בדין...
The Prophets transmitted [the Torah] to the Men of the Great Assembly. They said three things: "Be deliberate in judgment..."
Regarding the necessity to proceed slowly in avodas Hashem, Rav Wolbe would quote Rav Dessler who compared the Yetzer Hara to a spring. If one pushes down slightly there will be no abrupt reaction when he lets go, but if he pushes down too hard, then when he lets go it will spring back in his face. In this regard, I once heard a story from a well known Rav.
There was a boy who spent his days in Yeshiva clowning around. One day he took his life into his hands and decided that he was going to get serious about his learning. The next morning he came into the Beis Medrash and learned for the entire seder (learning session). The same scene repeated itself during the afternoon and evening sedarim. At the end of the day, the Mashgiach of his Yeshiva called the boy into his office. When the boy entered, the venerable Mashgiach turned to him and said, "Grow up!"
Here is a boy who finally began to take his attendance in Yeshiva seriously and after the very first day of his turnaround his Mashgiach buries him! What was the Mashgiach thinking? The answer is that the Mashgiach understood human nature while the boy did not. Maturing does not mean seriously altering one's conduct in a split second. There is no way that someone who habitually wasted day after day could possibly turnaround 180 degrees in a single night. Thus, realistically, there was no way that the boy's well meaning decision could last.
Moreover, such behavior could backfire and leave the boy wounded to the point where he might possibly never want to open a sefer again for the rest of his life. A day or two later after the inspiration begins to wane he might think to himself, "Hey, I really tried and it simply did not go." Consequently, he would conclude that obviously learning is just not for him, and permanently leave the Beis Medrash in search of other pastures.
In this regard Rav Wolbe would cite the pasuk, "A man's foolishness corrupts his way, and his heart rages against Hashem" (Mishlei 19:3). The Gra explains that sometimes people try advancing in their avodas Hashem and when they are unsuccessful they blame Hashem for not aiding them in achieving their goals. "Doesn't Hashem see I'm trying so hard to do His will? Why doesn't He help me?" they grumble. However, the fault is no one's but their own. They proceeded too quickly, and thus as they tried bounding up the ladder of avodas Hashem two steps at a time they ended up falling through the rungs. The proper way to advance in avodas Hashem is slowly but surely.
Rav Wolbe gave classes in Torah hashkafa to nonreligious Jews on various occasions (which he subsequently compiled and published as a sefer called Bein Sheishes La'Asor). After delivering one such class to a group of generals in the Israeli Army, someone asked him how it went. "They are already all wearing tefillin" he responded wryly. Rav Wolbe was not a sarcastic type of person, but he felt the need to convey this most important message: Real change does not happen in a single day, and one should not expect to see a difference after a single class.
Although I have not been able to verify this story, the lesson is certainly apropos for Rav Wolbe who would often say that there are no crash courses in Yiddishkeit.
The truth is that this idea is stated quite succinctly by the Torah. The Leviim were required to train for five years before beginning the avodah in the Bais Hamikdosh. Chazal deduce from this directive that five years is ample time to master a vocation. Accordingly, they conclude that a disciple who studies Torah for the duration of five years and sees no success in his learning, should opt for a profession instead of learning Torah full time. Chazal felt that a few months, or even a few years, was not enough time to gauge a person's success. They didn't give up until five years of continuous effort failed. Yet, we often decide after a few weeks of unsuccessfully trying to master a middah to throw in the towel?!
Ask yourself and answer: Does failure in the realm of avodas Hashem cause me to give up? Do I really put in all my effort when trying to improve my middos? What was the longest amount of time that I spent attempting to advance in any single area of Yiddishkeit? Am I expecting too much of myself?
The Philistines that robbed the wells, what does that story tell us?
ANSWER:
It's a prophecy; our forefathers lived prophecy. They didn't speak prophecy, but they lived the prophecy.
The prophecy was that we would come to countries and we would invest our efforts to build up those countries, to build up their commerce, industry, and even sciences, but we should know that eventually it's not for us. The goyim will come and seize it from us. As we did in Germany, in France, and in Spain, and other countries, and finally they expel the Jews, and all their efforts that they expended for their country were lost to them.
And so the Philistines seized the wells that were dug by the Avos, to show us that portent.
Good Shabbos To All
This is transcribed from questions that were posed to Harav Miller by the audience at the Thursday night lectures.
To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210
ANSWER:
Now I am not a man of deep reasons, so I have to tell you shallow reasons.
The reason for burying the dead is to show respect for the body; that we shouldn't see how a body decays, and I'll explain that briefly. The yesod of all our emunah is Olam Habah - we're here to prepare for the next world. Olam hazeh domeh l'prosdor b'fnei Haolam Habah, this world is just a vestibule to prepare for the world to come.
Now, it's easy to say these words. With some effort it's not too difficult to have this belief in Olam Habah, but one of the things that explodes this belief is when you see a dead body. A dead body is like a punch in the eyes. It's difficult. If you see a dead body of somebody you knew, chalila lo aliechem you see him dead, it's a convulsion, it's like a collapse of your emunah of Olam Habah. He's dead! Like this you think he's alive, when the time comes he'll walk across the boundary, he may even skip and jump across the boundary into the Next World and he'll go on living a happy life there. But now you see it's not so, he's dead.
Death is the biggest contradiction to the emunah. Of course it's nothing, death is merely taking off the old overcoat and putting it down here, whereas the person who wore the overcoat now keeps on walking. When the spring comes you take off your old overcoat and you walk into the street without an overcoat. So what happened? You're certainly the same person, the overcoat remained behind; but that needs seichel.
But if you look at a dead body, it's hard for your seichel if it's weak, to overcome that, especially if the dead body decays. As long as the dead body is lying there and it looks nice, so you could still think that maybe he's asleep! But after a while you are reminded by the odor, by the decay, that it's nothing but garbage now. Oh, that's a tragedy to the emunah, the little bit of emunah that most people have crumbles away under the onslaught of death. That's why quickly, kovod hameis, the honor of the dead body means, the honor of the living people. As soon as possible put him underground, bury him. Get him out of sight, immediately, because a dead body is a lie! A dead body teaches the untruth.
You know there is mus and mush (מות או מוש), mus means to die and mush means to move away, lo yomushu mipicha. Mush means to move away, that's all it is, it's only moving. But when you see mus, you don't think about mush anymore, about moving out of the world, you think that's it. Therefore we hurry and bury him, get the lie out of sight, because it's false. When a man sees too much he stops seeing the truth, sometimes seeing too much makes you oblivious of the truth, and therefore as soon as possible get him out of sight. Always keep in mind the picture of the meis as he was when you saw him lying peacefully, as if he were asleep, he even had red cheeks maybe.
Get him out of sight quickly before he changes, and you'll always remember him as he was before he decayed. That's how you should remember him, because that's important for the emunah, and that's why kevurah is important.
Good Shabbos To All
This is transcribed from questions that were posed to Harav Miller by the audience at the Thursday night lectures. To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210
If a yeshiva man is sitting on a crowded bus and an elderly priest or nun is standing, should he get up and give them his seat?
ANSWER:
I say yes, and I'll tell you why. The mitzvah of kiddush Hashem is a priceless mitzvah, and you're going to get in return a lot of goodwill from the world. When you stand up for somebody who has a good excuse to get your seat, he's elderly, so forget about the fact that he represents avodah zara, he represents errors. Still you do it because you want to uphold the banner of kavod Shamayim. It's a smart thing always.
That's why I always say, if you're in a subway and a panhandler gets on with small glasses and a tin cup, and he's looking through the glasses to see who's a good customer, and nobody does anything, nobody even responds with a penny. You take out one penny, not more, make sure it's a penny, and drop it in the cup with the loudest possible clink, and lean back and bask in the glances of everybody in the car. Everybody is admiring you now, especially if you have a beard, a black hat, or a yarmulke, that penny has earned you a thousand dollars in kavod Shamayim. Don't drop in more than one penny however, unless one cannot make enough noise, then you should do it. Kavod Shamayim is too precious an opportunity to let go by.
I once saw on Church Avenue, there was a panhandler walking by and nobody stopped. A poor little Bais Yaakov girl fourteen years old stopped, she took out her little purse and she dropped something in his cup, it made a very big hit. In the big crowded street, nobody stopped except one little Bais Yaakov girl. Whether she should've done it or not, but it made a kiddush Hashem, and it was worth the money. You should always keep in mind to look for opportunities.
That's why frum Jews should always show that they are patriots. Frum Jews at every occasion should try to do things that will make the world approve of you.
Good Shabbos To All
This is transcribed from questions that were posed to Harav Miller by the audience at the Thursday night lectures. To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210
Was Lot a tzaddik? If he was, then wasn't he just as good when he left Avrohom?
ANSWER:
Lot was a great tzaddik even when he left of Avrohom, no question about it. You know that when Lot went to Sodom, and the malochim came to him and Lot welcomed them into his home, he was risking his life! He was a big tzaddik. Would you risk your life for hachnasas orchim? Lot did it! But you have to know even the greatest tzaddik, when he takes a step in the wrong direction, we don't care what he is, we look where he's headed too.
You know, there are a lot of people who are not frum, not religious, not observant, but they are on the way in. There are a lot of people that are observant but they are on the way out. And Hakadosh Baruch Hu is going to judge a man for the direction where his nose is pointing. Here is an Orthodox man with two long payos, with a kapoto. He looks like a real, genuine chossid, but his wife tells me that he's on the way out. Here is a young boy, doesn't know anything yet, he just put on a yarmulke, he walked in from the street, but his heart is turning towards Hashem; he's on the way in. Now if they would be matched together, he's a nobody, he doesn't know a thing! This man is knowledgeable, this man practices everything, this boy comes from a home where nothing is practiced, he barely keeps kashrus.
No. It depends in which direction you're headed, the man who's headed to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, that's the one who's going to be chosen. Everything depends on the direction where a man is headed.
Good Shabbos To All
This is transcribed from questions that were posed to Harav Miller by the audience at the Thursday night lectures. To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210
When we speak about the great blessings of rain, shouldn't a person be happy over the rain on those days when it rains only when everybody is at home late at night?
ANSWER:
Certainly. When it rains at a time when people must travel, we sympathize with them; however the phenomenon of rain is always an opportunity to utilize. When the rain comes pouring down, we shouldn't let that opportunity go, no matter when it happens. Of course we're happier when it happens at night. When the rain comes down everybody should realize that it's a miracle that's taking place, only because he is habituated to it, that he doesn't see the miracle. Rain is no less a miracle than mon falling from the sky.
Do you know what rain is? Rain is seawater. Seawater is bitter, it's full of chemicals, iodine and salt, and other chemicals. It's brackish, it's full of infusoria* of microscopic organisms, and now it has turned into pure clear water, and the system is distillation. A marvelous system. Hakadosh Baruch Hu doesn't raise water from the oceans in the form of a liquid, it's transformed into a gas. And when it becomes a gas, water vapor, it leaves behind all the impurities. That's one of the great manifestations of Hakadosh Baruch Hu's perfect plan. As the water rises to the clouds, it's already cleansed of all the impurities.
Actually when you drink water, it's a good chance it was already urinated by somebody else. You're drinking water that was part of somebody's body. He died and the liquids passed into the atmosphere and it became rain.
We are drinking the same water that was drunk before, a thousand years ago, over and over. There is no new water, no new water comes on this globe; all the water is reused constantly. And so certainly the water was once in a dead elephant, the water was once swamps, whatever it is, when the water rises to the sky it's purified and it starts its career all over again. That's one of the miracles of rain.
When it's in the clouds how does it come down? How do you get it from the clouds to come down here? It's such a simple matter, people think they understand it. But when it does come down, it comes down exactly in the right size drops. If it would come down in big globs, it would break the crops and injure people! A big glob of water falling from a big height is almost like a stone, but it falls in tiny raindrops.
It's remarkable how useful the rainfall is in this method. It's harmless, and it comes down and gives the benefit without doing any damage.
There is a lot to think about in this phenomenon of rain, and just to stare at the rain through the windows on a rainy day is a good deed. It makes you aware of the abundance, the bounty of the Creator.
Good Shabbos To All
*FYI: Infusoria is a collective term for minute aquatic creatures.
This is transcribed from questions that were posed to Harav Miller by the audience at the Thursday night lectures. To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210
ANSWER:
And this I'll answer as follows. At first you have to be a hypocrite. You have to do it superficially; you have to say the words. And that's what we do when we daven, we're talking to Hashem but actually, korov Ata b'fihem vrochok m'kilyoseihem,the Navi said, You are close in their mouths but You're far away from their kidneys. Which means You're far away from their insides. That's the truth. That's what davening is. It's only if a man sincerely embarks on a career of learning to speak to Hashem that his davening finally becomes meaningful. After a while when he says Ato, he feels he's talking to Somebody. When that great day comes, you have arrived.
And so, first you're superficial, you're a hypocrite. Of course it's a good hypocrisy; you're doing it to train yourself. You talk to Hashem, and you say "I thank you Hashem that You have made me healthy." When you see a man hopping in the street with one empty trouser's leg, with crutches, and you have two good legs, you have to stop and think: Baruch Ato Hashem that I have two legs. You see a man walking on the street and oneempty sleeve pinned to his pocket, you have to thank Hakadosh Baruch Hu that you have two.
And so little by little you get accustomed to saying the words, and after a while you're going to feel that there's Somebody actually listening, that the Mesillas Yeshorim says.
At first you say it, and after a while the realization enters your mind, because you have an instinct that all human beings have, that Hashem actually is there and is listening.
Gmar Chasima Tova To All
An extra moment with Rabbi Miller
I would tell you, if you're a frum Jew, walk into a fruit store and stand there for three minutes, and look around and let your eyes drink in the glories of Hashem's summer. While you're there, take out your hand and bang yourself on the breast, don't care that they're looking at you.
Ashamnu, bogadnu, gozalnu...aah ribono shel olam..look what You're doing for me, I repent...
I am going to keep my mouth closed and watch what I am saying
I won't waste my evening's anymore
I am going to go to shiurim, and on Shabbos I am going to come to learn in the afternoon instead of sleeping all day in bed
I am going to give more tzdoko
I am going to keep my mouth closed when I get home and not to bother my wife when she's in the kitchen
I won't talk loshon hora on my neighbors
I'm going to be mekayeim mitzvos with more zrizus
I'll daven with more kavana
All of those things you can say as a result of v'achalta v'savata, that's what it's intended for
This is transcribed from questions that were posed to Harav Miller by the audience at the Thursday night lectures. To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210
The summertime precedes the Yom Hadin; it precedes Rosh Hashana. Why wasn't Rosh Hashana at Pesach time, or at Chanuka time, or in middle of the winter, asara b'teives, the cold months? That's a wonderful time for teshuva! Nobody's interested in the streets, and traveling to the mountains. It's cold outside, everyone is indoors; they come hear droshos in a warm building. That's the most suitable time it seems for repentance!
ANSWER:
Hakadosh Baruch Hu is the architect who planned this universe according to the Torah, and therefore He made Rosh Hashana follow the summer. Just when you took in all of your crops, just at a time when everything is ripe, and you study the greatness of Hashem, and now is the very best time to do teshuva.
I'll repeat what I told you recently. You know Elul, up till recently, was considered the month of teshuva. Elul was the month which the Jewish nation utilized to prepare for Rosh Hashana. Today they prepare for Rosh Hashana, Rosh Hashana evening. A frum Jew is mehareir b'tshuva when he has to go to maariv on Rosh Hashana. If he has good sense, before he leaves the house he says to his wife, "Forgive me for everything…" and she says to him, "Forgive me too for everything..." By the way it's a good idea, only the wise people did it a little earlier.
The Alter of Slabodka in the middle of the month of Av, he forsook his beloved Yeshiva of Slabodka where he was the mentor, he was the teacher, and he went to his old 'alma mater' so to speak, in Kelm. Kelm was the source of the old balei mussar. And he sat there as a disciple. He was an old man, but he sat as a disciple for the half month of Av, preparing for Elul! Because Av is the glorious month of happiness which is suited forteshuva.
The highest teshuva is the teshuva when people can see the hand of Hashem, when it's most active, when it's most bounteous, when the cornucopia of Hashem's blessings is shedding all of the happiness upon mankind. People may not think so, because they are accustomed to griping all the time, and complaining "it's hot", and they talk to each other about their sufferings, and the heat wave and so on.
Each heat wave causes nature to make another spurt. The apples are baking on the trees; you don't have to bake the apples, they are baked already by the time you buy them. They are being baked by the summer heat. You don't complain when your wife is baking a cake, look how hot it is! You can't bake a cake in the refrigerator; you can't bake apples in the wintertime! You have to bake apples in the summertime. Hakadosh Baruch Hu isbaking the apples, He's baking everything else, enjoy it.
Landlords don't have to pay for oil in the summertime, and most dentists have less business, because there are no tooth aches in the summertime, people don't go to the dentist because of good sense, they go when there is a toothache, and in summertime toothaches are more rare. Arthritis sufferers enjoy the summer sun, it bakes their old bones and it makes them happy.
Therefore, summer is a time for gratitude, the summer also is a time where all nature is alive, and therefore that's the time to do teshuva. It's a new idea, but it's an old idea, it's Hakadosh Baruch Hu's idea, and that was His purpose at the beginning of the world.
Good Shabbos To All
This is transcribed from questions that were posed to Harav Miller by the audience at the Thursday night lectures.
To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210
Parshas Nitzavim - Vayeilech
Starting at the Finish Line
By Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
"Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times." - Mark Twain
Is it easy to change behavior? Is it easy to repent? In Parshas Nitzavim we see conflicting stances on this matter. In one verse (30:2), repentance is described in a similar way to martyrdom: "And you shall return (repent) to Hashem your God, and you shall hearken to his voice as all that I command you today, you and your sons, with all your hearts and with all your soul." Reb Chaim Volozhiner notes the overlapping word usage with the verse in Shema, "And you shall love Hashem your God... with all your soul", which Chazal explain to mean that we must even forfeit our lives for the love of our Creator. By utilizing the same verbiage for repentance, the verse is hinting that changing behavior and adopting a new way of life is akin to the ultimate self-sacrifice. Walking away from ingrained character and behavior demands similar courage, resolve and intestinal fortitude as allowing oneself to die for God. Apparently, repentance is pretty hard. That sentiment is likely shared by those who are intimidated by the myriad components and draconian conditions necessary for complete repentance of Rambam's "Laws of Repentance" and Rabbeinu Yonah's "Gates of Repentance."
Contrast that with a string of verses (30:11-14) later on in the chapter, describing an inordinately easy mitzvah: "This mitzvah that I command you today - it is not hidden from you, nor is it distant. It is not in the Heavens that you may say, 'who will ascend to Heaven, and take it for us, and teach it to us, so that we may do it'. Nor is it across the sea that we may say, 'who will cross the sea for us, and take it for us, and teach it to us, so that we may do it'. Rather, the matter is exceedingly close to you, in your mouth and in your heart to do it." While the verses themselves do not explicitly identify which mitzvah is being referenced, the great commentaries do. Rashi explains that it refers to the mitzvah of Torah. Ramban disagrees and interprets the verse to be referring to the mitzvah of repentance. How can we understand labeling repentance as being so easy - "In your mouth and in your heart"? Also, how can it simultaneously be exceedingly difficult?
Another point to ponder is the characterization (30:6) of repentance as "circumcision of the heart." What is intended by this odd classification?
What is the essence of repentance? There is a misconception that repentance is exclusively sin-centric: To repent you must act in opposition to the sin. My grandfather, Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe זצוקללה"ה, explained that this was precisely the miscalculation of the ma'apilim (Bamidbar 14:44), the Jews that defiantly attempted to ascend to Israel after the Almighty decreed that the nation will languish in the wilderness for 40 years due to the sin of the Spies, only to be slaughtered by Amalek. Their decision was not without reason. They assessed that the core of the sin of the Spies was resistance to enter the Land of Israel and even proposing to return to Egypt (14:4), and therefore attempting to enter Israel in disregard of the entailed dangers can be the only remedy. But they were mistaken. Repentance, Teshuva, means to return to the Almighty and to His Will. At that time His Will mandated that they remain in the wilderness for 40 years, and thus accepting that was the correct avenue to repentance. My grandfather would also invoke this notion with regard to the repentance of Rosh Hashana. The days of Rosh Hashana make up the first two of the "Ten Days of Repentance" yet unlike Yom Kippur, there is nary a mention of sin. At its root, repentance is returning to your Creator. On Rosh Hashana that is manifest by us coronating Him as King of the world, and on Yom Kippur the same objective is approached from a different angle by addressing sin.
Given that repentance is about man achieving closeness to his Creator, the process of repentance is bridging the gap between man and the Almighty, between the created and the Creator. Hence, the degree of difficulty in achieving it is contingent upon the distance between the two. In essence, the question of, "Is repentance easy or hard?" is precisely the same question as, "Is man close or distant from the Almighty?" The answer to the latter question hinges upon which of the disparate elements of man is being referenced. The "body" of man, the physicality, the ephemeral - has no commonality with the Almighty. However, our Neshama (Soul) is very similar to its Creator. In one teaching in the Talmud (Brachos 10a), five parallels between the Almighty and the Neshama of man are enumerated; another (Niddah 30b) plainly equates the purity of the two. As such, we indeed have an element of our being that is already extremely close to the Almighty and thus repentance for it is natural and seamless.
With this understanding, the conflicting messages about the difficulty of repentance can be reconciled. It is true that repentance is really difficult. By default we identify as an ephemeral body, and in that state repentance is unachievable. To repent we must shed ourselves clean of that attitude and identity. That is a painful process, akin to martyrdom. However, once we identify as our true and lasting element of self, our Neshama, we are already in close proximity to our Creator, and have achieved repentance. This process is illustrated by the circumcision of the heart. We already have everything that is needed to be close to the Almighty, it is just concealed. All we must do to reach our goal is to peel away the inhibiting factors, and reveal our true self that was all ready to go, lying dormant and awaiting liberation.
This is a helpful and heartening thought to take with us during the season of repentance. It is very difficult to repent. But it is comforting to know that all we are really doing is clearing out the path for our true self to shine. It may be back-breaking labor to dig out buried treasure, but it's made easier knowing that the treasure is there, and it is complete, and once it is unearthed it's yours.
Note: Bais HaMussar would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Rabbi Yitzchok Caplan for his many years of writing the weekly dvar Torah! We wish you much hatzlacha in all your endeavors! Henceforth, the dvar Torah will be written by Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe, Houston, TX.
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Those of us who were fortunate enough to spend time in a yeshiva invariably encountered a grave problem. The greatest mitzvah of all is the study of Torah and it is the sole occupant of a yeshiva curriculum. Students are expected to spend double-digit hours poring over Talmud, probing and pondering its depths. What happens when someone does not feel motivated or inspired to study? Worse, the study becomes cumbersome instead of novel, the Torah stale instead of enlightening. What can be done to ensure that Torah study is full of passion and zest?
Perhaps we can suggest a solution to this problem from our Parsha. Immediately prior to the outlining of the Blessings for those that uphold the Torah and Curses for those who reject it, we find a puzzling verse: "Moshe, the Kohanim the Levites spoke to all of Israel saying 'hearken and listen O Israel, on this day you became a nation for Hashem your God'." The Talmud (Brachos 63b), asks the obvious question. This statement was said forty years after the Exodus, and thus forty years after the formation of the nation. It would seem inaccurate to label that day as when the nation was founded. The Talmud answers that we should strive to maintain the same joy and vibrancy studying Torah every day as if it were the first day that we received it. There is some formula through which the inspiration and joy of Torah does not dissipate. When we approach Torah study today, it is possible to recapture what it would be like to study Torah at Sinai the very day Torah was given. Thus the verse's words "on this day you became a nation" can indeed be true 40 or even 3000 years after Sinai.
The Talmud reveals the secret formula with a surprising insight: For someone who studies Torah every day, the Torah is as fresh and beloved to him as the day it was given at Sinai. Daily, ongoing, committed action of engaging with Torah is the secret to assuring that the transcendental experience of Torah as it was given Sinai is perpetuated. The Talmud proceeds further by saying that if someone recites the Shema twice daily for years, but neglects to say it one day, it is as if he never said Shema in his life. This too follows the same principle that ironclad commitment makes what could be a daily ritual come to life. Someone who neglects the Shema for even a day displays a lack of commitment that reveals that even the preceding recitations were just that, recitations wholly devoid of meaning. The study of Torah when coupled with inflexible commitment will result in capturing the experience at Sinai with its unbridled joy. (This would also explain the verse's juxtaposition to the Blessings and Curses. The Blessings are a form of adding commitment to the relationship formed at Sinai. It is a deepening of the binds that connect us to Torah. It is thus apropos to teach us the insight of maintaining the newness of Torah immediately prior to showing how it is done.)
In a particularly dramatic and striking anecdotes found in Chazal, the Midrash describes a scene at the bris of Elisha Ben Avuya (later derogatorily dubbed "Acher", a great scholar who abandoned Torah). Present at the bris were the greatest men of Jerusalem, including Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua. Amid the festivities, Rabbi Eliezer said to Rabbi Yehoshua, "these are engaging in their craft, and these are engaging in theirs, let us engage in ours (let us study Torah)", and they proceeded to study Torah. The Midrash depicts the scene: The words of Torah were "as joyous as when they were given at Sinai, and a ring of fire enveloped them (as occurred at Sinai)." These great rabbis indeed succeeded in studying Torah as if they were present at Sinai, as the Talmud says is possible. And here too the secret formula for maintaining the degree of joy present at Sinai is outlined. The Torah was their craft. It was what they did. It was who they were. Each day that a heightened commitment to Torah is manifest, the experience mimics that of Sinai and thereby a fulfillment of "on this day you became a nation."
In the very first chapter of Alei Shur, my esteemed grandfather Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe זצוקללה"ה conveyed this insight. Torah study can and ought to be a pleasuresome, inspirational, and joyous experience. That is the way it was at Sinai, and we are exhorted to recapture it. But that demands commitment to study irrespective of desire or pleasure. With the investment of commitment, the pleasure and joy will invariably ensue.
If simchah is not a goal in this world, so why does it say in the Torah, in the tochocho, that whatever will happen is because you didn't serve Hashem with simcah?
ANSWER:
Now look at these words that you yourself quoted, tachas asher lo avadata es Hashem Elokecha b'simchah, you didn't serve Him with simchah. It's talking about serving with simchah. So simchah is not the goal, it's the serving Him, the simchah in the service. When you're happy when you're serving Hashem, that shows that your heart is in it. Tachas asher lo avadata es Hashem Elokecha b'simchah, now there's another meaning to that pasuk, if we have time I'll soon explain. But first the way you quoted, because you didn't serve Hashem with simchah. Serving with simchah demonstrates that your heart is in it.
Let's say you ask your boy to go to the grocery store for you, and he goes. He goes with a heavy heart, he drags his feet, it's like he has shoes made of lead; his heart is not in it. But if he skips down the stairs, it shows he's happy to do the mitzvah of kibud av v'eim. Therefore the simchah demonstrates how you love the mitzvah, how you love Hashem.
There's another meaning there, an entirely different meaning and both are true. Because you didn't serve Hashem when you were living in simchah; when you had everything. In the time of simchah, a man should be grateful, and demonstrate his gratitude by serving Hashem. When I gave you everything, I gave yousimchah, u'btuv leivov mierov kol, why don't you serve Me? That's the meaning of that pasuk in the second aspect. So we'll sum up the two meanings.
One meaning is why didn't you serve me with the simchah? To demonstrate how happy you were. Like when King David was going to the beis hakneses, he's going to the synagogue, he was happy. Somachti b'omrim li beis Hashem neileich, I was happy when he said let's go to the house of Hashem. When he heard these words, he was full of joy; that's where he wants to go!
When a man opens the Gemara in the Yeshivah and the first thing in the morning, he gives a big yawn, thatshows that he's not happy. Nobody yawns when he's happy, it's his duty to come and learn. But when a man comes in with fire, with enthusiasm, this is his place of success, then that's serving with simchah.
The other meaning is, when things are going well, when you're still healthy, when you're still young, or when there's still peace in the world, when you're still a citizen of your country and you're not persecuted and harried, when everything is going smoothly, then you have to serve Hashem in gratitude for that simchah.
And both meanings are true.
Good Shabbos To All
This is transcribed from questions that were posed to Harav Miller by the audience at the Thursday night lectures. To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210
If one prays, is it wrong to have trust that his prayer will be answered?
ANSWER:
If a man prays, he should have trust that his prayers are going to be answered, but it doesn't mean it'll be answered in the way he wants. I will give an example. Suppose you have a prescription, and so you go into a big drugstore and it happens that everybody's out, there's nobody there. So you want it, you can't wait, and you think you'll take it yourself and later you'll send in a check to pay for it. So you go to the shelves behind the counter and you choose whatever you think is for yourself. That's a dangerous business; you might never live to send that check.
The same is when we ask Hakadosh Baruch Hu for certain things; it could be it's the very worst thing for you, and frequently it's true. However we do ask Him because that's human nature. And there is a reason why we should ask Him, because otherwise we'll think we got it by ourselves, you have to ask Him to know that when it comes, you'll know He gave it to you.
But you have to have an understanding that what He gives is going to be for your benefit, not what you want is for your benefit. Now suppose you don't get what you asked for? Here is a man who asked, Ribono Shel Olam make me the owner of a chain store, I will be satisfied let's say with just 50 stores. And Hakadosh Baruch Hu doesn't give him one.
Now that man has to realize that it could be - to be an executive manager of one store is a very big headache, and many people succumb; high blood pressure, there are a lot of worries if you have to manage employees. Incoming merchandise, setting the prices, government regulations, all kinds of problems.
If a man is not built in a way that he could delegate responsibilities, he takes it all into his own head, if he's going to have more than one store it could kill him. If Hakadosh Baruch Hu doesn't give this man what he asks for, it could be it's the very greatest benefit.
So you ask whatever you want to ask for. What should you trust in Hashem? That He'll listen to your prayers, He'll do for you what's best for you; not what you think is best.
Good Shabbos To All
This is transcribed from questions that were posed to Harav Miller by the audience at the Thursday night lectures. To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210
If one prays, is it wrong to have trust that his prayer will be answered?
ANSWER:
If a man prays, he should have trust that his prayers are going to be answered, but it doesn't mean it'll be answered in the way he wants. I will give an example. Suppose you have a prescription, and so you go into a big drugstore and it happens that everybody's out, there's nobody there. So you want it, you can't wait, and you think you'll take it yourself and later you'll send in a check to pay for it. So you go to the shelves behind the counter and you choose whatever you think is for yourself. That's a dangerous business; you might never live to send that check.
The same is when we ask Hakadosh Baruch Hu for certain things; it could be it's the very worst thing for you, and frequently it's true. However we do ask Him because that's human nature. And there is a reason why we should ask Him, because otherwise we'll think we got it by ourselves, you have to ask Him to know that when it comes, you'll know He gave it to you.
But you have to have an understanding that what He gives is going to be for your benefit, not what you want is for your benefit. Now suppose you don't get what you asked for? Here is a man who asked, Ribono Shel Olam make me the owner of a chain store, I will be satisfied let's say with just 50 stores. And Hakadosh Baruch Hu doesn't give him one.
Now that man has to realize that it could be - to be an executive manager of one store is a very big headache, and many people succumb; high blood pressure, there are a lot of worries if you have to manage employees. Incoming merchandise, setting the prices, government regulations, all kinds of problems.
If a man is not built in a way that he could delegate responsibilities, he takes it all into his own head, if he's going to have more than one store it could kill him. If Hakadosh Baruch Hu doesn't give this man what he asks for, it could be it's the very greatest benefit.
So you ask whatever you want to ask for. What should you trust in Hashem? That He'll listen to your prayers, He'll do for you what's best for you; not what you think is best.
Why is the human face the most glorious object in the universe?
ANSWER:
Because Hakadosh Baruch Hu says so: ki b'tzelem Elokim asa es ha'adam, He made man in His image. Now we know that's a form speech, He's not talking about a man's hands, He's talking about his face. Now we understand to a certain extent that the face is like a screen, upon which a movie projector, the soul, projects an image.
Emotions, noble emotions are expressed on the face. The face expresses yearning - for greatness, for the unknown, a desire for exploration, to discover things that are not known to us. People are yearning for something; it's all on the human face. Even an ordinary human face has some reflections of this greatness. Hakadosh Baruch Hu said openly, a man's face is tzelem Elokim.
Therefore we have to train ourselves, instead of following the silly people who make jokes about human faces - especially cartoonists. They exaggerate certain features, a longer nose, longer chin, and make people's faces an object of jest and ridicule, we have to despise them.
A human face after all is the most glorious possession mankind has. Physically there is nothing more important than a human face, we have to honor the human face. The Gemara says in Sanhedrin (58:): hasoter luo shel Yisroel, somebody who slaps his fellow man's face, it's like slapping the face of Hashem! We have to teach ourselves that.
When you look at your neighbor's face, you should think you're looking at a mirror reflection of Hashem, that's to remind you of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. By looking at the faces of other people, you're reminded of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
Constantly we have to train ourselves in that concept until it becomes second nature to us.
Good Shabbos To All
This is transcribed from questions that were posed to Harav Miller by the audience at the Thursday night lectures.
To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210
Why is the bracha of Sheoso li kol tzorchi, He made all my needs, particularly on shoes?
ANSWER:
Hakadosh Baruch Hu didn't want to mention the word shoes openly because V'rachamuv al kol maasov, shoes are made out of hides of animals. It's a tzaar. The animal is being used just to tread on, so Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants us to say in a loshon n'kiyo, loshon shel kovod, He gave me all my needs, and we understand what a great benefit a shoe is. A shoe is a very complicated benefit, you have hard leather for the sole, softer leather for the top of the shoe, you have rubber heels too - to cushion the shock. You have holes in the shoe to put in the shoestrings, and therefore it's a very great achievement to make a shoe, we can't make a shoe ourselves. A shoe is a beautiful contraption.
Hakadosh Baruch Hu said, "When I give you a shoe, appreciate the benefit of the shoe." Now it's a pity many people don't even think of what they are saying. Take a look at your shoes when you make this bracha, and think how the shoes are complicated. Today a pair of shoes costs plenty money too, and it's worth it.
There are some countries where people don't have shoes; most of the people walk barefoot. When I was in Lithuania I saw the peasants coming to town, they wore their shoes hanging around their necks, they didn't want to wear out their shoes on the roads; they walked barefoot. When they had to go into the town they put on their shoes. Shoes are too expensive to use on the roads.
Baruch Hashem we wear our shoes at all times, it protects our feet. There's glass in the street, there are nails in the street, what would happen to us? So the shoes protect us. Also there's fungus in the street, all kinds of foot diseases, shoes are a benefit for us, and it's a kovod, it's a convenience, it's a comfort for us.
Therefore we have to praise Hakadosh Baruch Hu for it. Only you have to keep in mind, Hashem doesn't want us to mention the leather of the shoes, because leather is already a matter concerning the animals. Some animals are slaughtered for their leather. "Oh, that I don't want to talk about," Hashem says. "Only b'remez b'alma, only hint at it."
Good Shabbos To All
This is transcribed from questions that were posed to Harav Miller by the audience at the Thursday night lectures.
To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210
ANSWER:
In case all day long you're too lazy to lift your head up to look at the sun, when the sun begins to set, it comes down low and it's right in front of your eyes, and then it's big and red; more conspicuous.
So lazy people, at sunset that's the time to take a good look! That's why the Gemara says that's the best time to daven Minchah, yiraucho im shemesh, they will fear You together with the sun. When they see the sun they will fear You, only Abaya said it's no good, don't wait because you might miss Mincha, so daven early.
But the original proper time was, yiraucho im shemesh, they should fear You with the sun; because then the sun accommodates you. It comes down low on the horizon in front of your eyes, and it's bigger now, at least it looks bigger, and it's red, and it's glowing.
That orb of glory is a testimony to the one who created it.
(Note from Reb. Avrohom Tikotzky: When my son Yaakov told me about what he had heard on Tape 561, I thought it would be very apropos for this week's email, even though it was not in a question and answer format. I formulated the question because millions of people are going to be simply amazed by the two minute solar eclipse. This email can serve as a reminder that we should be amazed every day at Hashem's wonders.)
Good Shabbos To All
This is transcribed from questions that were posed to Harav Miller by the audience at the Thursday night lectures. To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210
How is it that people who become wealthy tend to forsake the principles of their fathers?
ANSWER:
Now this is something that's a well-known phenomenon; it's constantly reiterated in the Scriptures, in the Tanach. Vayishman Yeshurun vayivot, Yeshurun became fat, the righteous nation became fat and began kicking. It's like a cow, a cow if you don't feed it too much it's docile; once you give it too much food and you come to milk it, it'll give you a kick in the face. And that's how children are too by the way, they are overfed with too much candy and ice cream, and that's why they're so fresh. If they had to go to work in order to support themselves, then you would see it would be a much more decent population. Money is a great test.
Now for good people money is a glorious opportunity, they become more grateful to Hashem and they utilize their wealth for the support of the Torah causes, and they become like Rabbi Akiva, or like Rabbon Gamliel, or like Rabbi Tarfon, or like Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya, all the great people of our history who knew how to live with money.
But those who are not trained, those who are not prepared for wealth, are ruined by wealth. Like Shlomo Hamelech said, Reish v'osher al titein li, don't give me extreme wealth or extreme poverty, hatrifeini lechem chuki (Mishlei 30:8), give me enough.
Therefore, it's a great test, and very many people have stumbled and fallen because of this test.
Good Shabbos To All
This is transcribed from questions that were posed to Harav Miller by the audience at the Thursday night lectures. To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210
In this week's parasha Moshe Rabbeinu recounts the giving of the Torah at Har Sinai. Chazal ask (Tanchuma Ki Sisa:36) when Moshe was atop Har Sinai for forty days and nights, how did he know if it was day or night? They answer that when Hashem learned with him the Written Torah he knew that it was day and when they learned the Oral Torah together he knew that it was night.
For some reason, it was clear to Chazal that Moshe didn't use the sun and moon to determine the time of day. Rav Wolbe sights a pasuk in Yeshaya (60:19) to explain the above Chazal: "The sun will no longer be for you the light of day and brightness, and the moon will not illuminate for you. Hashem will be an eternal light for you."
In the future, the entire Bnei Yisrael will achieve the level that Moshe Rabbeinu achieved atop Har Sinai. The brightness generated by the spiritual revelations at that time will be so great that the sun will appear dark in comparison! Thus, when Moshe studied with Hashem, he was surrounded by a much greater light than the light provided by the sun and the moon, and the only way he could have known the time of day was by the material being studied.
We find a similar idea mentioned elsewhere in the parasha. "Lest you raise your eyes to the heavens and you see the sun, the moon, and the stars... and you will be drawn astray and bow to them and worship them, which Hashem your G-d has apportioned to all the nations under the heavens. But you, Hashem has taken... to be a nation of heritage for Him" (Devarim 4:19-20). The Maharal (Gur Aryeh) explains that in reality the light provided by the sun, moon and stars was created for the other nations. Hashem does not guide them, rather He linked their existence to the natural world. While Bnei Yisrael also enjoy the benefits of the sun's light, their path is meant to be illuminated by Hashem Who guides them through life.
The basic idea rings true in every generation. The other nations live within the realm of nature. In contrast, Bnei Yisrael live above the realm of nature. Chazal refer to Torah as something which is "above the sun" and thus those who study it and perform its precepts are "above the sun" and the laws of nature. Appreciate our unique standing and take advantage of the fact that there is no situation that Hashem cannot change for the better, regardless of what the natural course of events might indicate!
* * *
Rav Wolbe points out another lesson that can be gleaned from this pasuk. The celestial orbs were given to the other nations as a means of illuminating the world. This seems to imply that Bnei Yisrael were given the sun and moon for different reasons.
Moreover, the pesukim in parashas Bereishis (1:14-15) indicate this quite clearly. "Hashem said, 'Let there be luminaries in the firmament of the heaven to separate between day and night and they shall serve as signs and for festivals and for days and years. And they shall serve as luminaries.'" Rashi comments that in addition to their serving as signs for the festivals, they also will serve as luminaries.
The main reason that the luminaries were created was to aid Bnei Yisrael in performing the mitzvos. They help determine the proper time to say krias shema and when the Yomim Tovim will fall out. The spiritual facet is the fundamental aspect while the physical advantage is only secondary!
This Dvar Torah is dedicated as azechusfor Yocheved bas Chana Leah for azivug hagun b'karov!
ANSWER:
That's a very good and important question. Now, some of the things cannot be said in public, but whatever it is, it's important to keep that in mind; it is possible to do. It's certainly possible to do. And that's one of the functions of chochmas noshim bonsa beisa, a wise woman can build up her house. Included in her house is the attitude of romance, absolutely.
You know, some girls or many girls rather, are just like boys, they have no sense.Soon after marriage they're careless. Before they were tense, they were on their best behavior, and soon after marriage they relax and they begin behaving naturally to their choson. They show impatience, anger, they're careless of his honor, and some of them take a good husband, a potentially good husband and they quickly spoil him at the beginning of their marriage career. It happens again and again, a good husband is spoiled by a silly girl.
If she would be careful for the first… sixty years with him and watch her step, she could preserve him as a choson forever; it's possible to do. So you may say well, it's too much exertion. Look, anybody that wants to succeed cannot be natural. You can never be natural of your husband. There are certain things I will tell a woman in private what to do; don't be natural. He has to think always that you're supernatural, and you can keep him in that attitude.
When he married you he thought you were something special, he didn't think you were an ordinary person like his sister, his sister he knows is a nobody. But you have him in a dream world, he's in the clouds when he marries you. You can keep him in the clouds. But if suddenly you yank him down to reality and he sees you're somebody's sister, it's her fault.
I claim a girl should be taught the art of marriage. It's a great pity; there are a lot of nice young men who are spoiled as husbands. Even if they managed to live out the rest of their hundred and 20 years with their wives, but they have no longer continued the career that they envisioned in the beginning, and it's not necessary. It's possible to live a life of romance, but it needs the tactfulness and diplomacy of a wife.
Now you may say what about the diplomacy of a husband? It needs the husband's participation too, but you have to know that all this is mostly, it's 95%, a woman's business. Just like before a marriage the bachurdoesn't perfume himself, at least most of them don't, he doesn't spend hours making curls in his hair before marriage, it's a girl that's doing that, so you see that's her job.
So her job is that after marriage to do certain things to maintain the illusion; it's possible to be done.
Good Shabbos To All
This is transcribed from questions that were posed to Harav Miller by the audience at the Thursday night lectures. To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210
The Torah relates that when Bnei Yisrael made the golden calf, Aharon observed the proceedings and built an altar in front of the deity. How can we understand Aharon's seemingly iniquitous behavior? The Gemara (Sanhedrin 7a) explains the rationale behind his actions. Aharon witnessed that Bnei Yisrael murdered Chur when he disapproved of their plan, and he was afraid that should he show opposition Bnei Yisrael might kill him as well.
Chazal tell us that he was not afraid of his own death; he was afraid of what would happen to Bnei Yisrael as a result. If they would worship the golden calf, they would still have the ability to do teshuva. However, if they would "kill a Kohein and prophet in the house of Hashem" (Eicha 2:20) they would be left without the possibility to repent their ways. Rashi explains by pointing out that when the first Bais Hamikdosh stood, Bnei Yisrael killed Zecharya, who was a Kohein and Navi, in the house of Hashem, and it was this sin which precipitated the destruction of the Bais Hamikdosh.
Why is murdering a Kohein and Navi more catastrophic than idol worship - to the point that committing such a sin leaves one without an option for teshuva? The Maharsha (ibid.) explains that the Torah was given to Bnei Yisrael with the explicit intention that they listen to the Kohanim (i.e. Torah scholars) and prophets. The Torah even gives the death penalty to one who rules against the opinion of the generation's greatest Torah scholars (zakan mamrei) or disregards the words of a prophet. When the foundation of the entire Torah is undermined there is no possibility for teshuva.
Rav Wolbe elaborates on the above idea. The essence of Klal Yisrael is their willingness to listen to their leaders. The scholars and prophets explain Hashem's word and rebuke Bnei Yisrael when they fail to fulfill their obligations. If Klal Yisrael kills their mentor, they have, to a certain extent, renounced their status as "Klal Yisrael." Accordingly, there is no possibility for them to do teshuva, because teshuva was not given as a means of allowing "another" nation to attain the status of Klal Yisrael.
While disregarding the words of our leaders cannot be compared to actually killing a Torah scholar which caused the destruction of the Bais Hamikdosh, there is still a common denominator between them. They undermine the Torah's foundation. Thus, the mourning on Tisha B'Av should also include a reckoning of how we relate to the words of our Torah scholars. If extreme disregard for Torah scholars caused the destruction of the Bais Hamikdosh, it follows that rectifying this wrongdoing will be the impetus for its rebuilding.
May we be zoche to greet Moshiach Tzidkeinu and see the rebuilding of the Bais Hamikdosh speedily in our days!
This Dvar Torah is dedicated as azechusfor thehatzlachaof Avraham Moshe ben Baila in hisavodas hakodesh!
Important Numbers
