Parshas Vaeira

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem, R' Baruch Moshe Aryeh ben R' Zev Yehuda, Zev Yehuda ben R' Shmuel Mordechai, Avraham ben R' Yitzchak Zev, R' Dovid Meer ben Harav Shmuel. . .

In perek zayin posuk chaf ches, Hashem told Moshe to tell Pharaoh that if he does not free Klal Yisroel, "V'sharatz hayior tzifardim, v'alu u'vau bi'veisecha u'bichadar mishkavcha v'al mitasecha ubi'veis avodecha uvi'amecha uvi'tanurecha uvi'misharosecha."  "The river shall swarm with frogs and they shall ascend and come into your palace and your bedroom and your bed, and into the house of your servants and of your people, and into your ovens and kneading bowls."

Rav Yaakov Aryeh Neiman Ztl explains that this is where Chananya Mishoel and Azariah figured out that the correct thing for them to do was jump into the fire to die "al kiddush Hashem." They said, "If the frogs gave up their lives and jumped into the ovens, then kal v'chomer we should."
However, Rav Neiman asks that this kal v'chomer seems a little puzzling since the frogs were commanded to go into the ovens but Chananya Mishoel and Azariah were not.  He explains that although the frogs were commanded to go into the ovens, each one could have stayed far away from the ovens and said, "I'm not going in there!  I'll go somewhere else and I'll let the other frogs go into the burning ovens."  They could have said this but they didn't and that is why Chananya Mishoel and Azariah were able to make the Kal V'chomer because the frogs did not look for a way out the jumped into the flames to do what Hashem commanded.

We can learn from here how important it is to take advantage of situations where we can do a mitzva or do a chessed.  Many times its so much simpler just to pass it on and say "Let someone else do it", but if we work on ourselves we can be michazek ourselves in this inyan and take advantage of opportunities that come our way.
Good Shabbos

Parshas Sh'mos

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem, R' Baruch Moshe Aryeh ben R' Zev Yehuda, Zev Yehuda ben R' Shmuel Mordechai, Avraham ben R' Yitzchak Zev, R' Dovid Meir ben Harav Shmuel.

   In Perek beis posuk alef the posuk says "Vayeilech ish mibeis levi vayikach es bas levi" "A man from Levi (Amram) went and married the daughter of Levi (Yocheved)."

   The Medrash Tanchuma in Parshas Bahaloscha says that Shevet Levi "nasnu nafsham", they gave their lives, to be mikadiesh the name of Hashem, and to make sure that Torah was not lost.  At the time when Klal Yisrael was in Mitzrayim, they turned away from Torah and Mila, and served idols.  Shevet Levi, however, were all Tzadikim and they kept the Torah.

   The Rosh Yeshiva ztl asks, from where do we see that the Leviim gave their lives for Torah?  All we see from here is that they were great tzadikim even in a time where most of Klal Yisroel were rishaim.  That is a great thing, but we don't see anything in the Medrash that shows that the Leviim were willing to give up their lives to be mikadesh shem shomayim.

   The Rosh Yeshiva explains that the Medrash must be saying that their ability to keep the Torah and to be Tzadikim when the rest of Klal Yisroel is not doing the right thing proves that they would be willing to give up their lives to be mikayem shem shomayim.  Our natural tendency is to follow what the people around us do.  To be able to go against the tide and do what is correct is extremely difficult.  People who have the power to go against the tide prove by their actions that they would give up their lives to be mikayem shem shomayim.  Shevet Levi was holding on that level and therefore they are credited with the tremendous mitzva of giving their lives al kiddush Hashem.

   We are all going against the tide, fighting to do what's right in a society where anything and everything goes.  It's not just "ok we are doing what we feel is right even though it's difficult", We are all credited with the unbelievable level of "nosen nefesh al kiddush Hashem".
 Good Shabbos

Parshas Vayichi

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem, Zev Yehuda ben R' shmuel Mordechai, R' Baruch Moshe Aryeh ben R' Zev Yehuda, R' Dovid Meir ben Harav Shmuel, Avrohom ben Yitzchok Zev.. 

 

   In Perek mem zayin posuk lamud alef the posuk speaks of the conversation between Yaakov and Yosef and says "Vayomer hishava li, vayishava lo, vayishtachavu Yisroel al rosh hamita." "And he said to him swear to me (that you will bury me in Eretz Yisroel) and he swore to him, and Yisroel bowed at the head of the bed."

   The Ramban explains that Yaakov was not afraid that Yosef would not want to fulfill his father's wishes, after all Yosef had already responded "anochi e'eseh kidvarecha," "I will do as you said." Yaakov made him swear in order to strengthen the matter in the eyes of Pharaoh, because he would agree that it is incorrect to go against a promise. (Especially since Yosef had promised Pharaoh that he would never tell that he knew more languages than Pharaoh.)  Furthermore, Yaakov knew that having Yosef swear would cause him to work harder to fulfill his father's wishes.

   According to the end of the Ramban, a big part of Yaakov making Yosef swear is to cause him to work harder to fulfill his fathers wishes, it would crank up his "hishtadlus".  It sounds like that without the "Shvua", Yosef wouldn't have worked so hard to bring his father's body to Eretz Yisroel.

   The Rosh Yeshiva ztl asks that without the "shvua" Yosef would have been lazy about his fathers wishes? He was the kid who put his life in danger to go find his brothers in order to fulfill his fathers desire, even going above and beyond what his father actually asked him.  In this situation he would surely do all he could even if that meant putting his life in danger in order to get his father to Eretz Yisroel.  This being the case, why did Yaakov need to make Yosef swear in order to make him try harder?

   The Rosh Yeshiva explains that it must be had Yosef not sworn to his father he could have possibly been an "ones" and even with all his "mesiras nefesh" would not have been able to fulfill his fathers wishes.  Therefore Yaakov made him swear, and that "shvua" gave him new powers that without the "shvua" he would not have had.  Without the "shvua" he would have truly been an "ones" having done everything in his power, but swearing that he would do it caused his level of power to grow to levels that he would never have reached.

   We see from here two tremendous "chidushim" in "Yesodei Hamussar".  Firstly, we see how even when it seems that we peaked in our "hisorirus" and "zrizus" for a certain action, there is always more to grow.  Secondly, "hisorirus" can bring us to new levels of strength that we didn't have in the first place, to allow us to achieve things we could never have achieved before.   Good shabbos. . .

Fwd:

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Date: Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 12:30 AM
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Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem, Zev Yehuda ben R' Shmuel Mordechai, R' Baruch Moshe Aryeh ben R' Zev Yehuda, Avraham ben R' Yitzchok Zev, R' Dovid Meer ben Harav Shmuel
 In perek mem hei posuk gimmel it says, "Vayomer Yosef el echav ani Yosef ha'od avi chai, vlo yachlu echav la'anos oso ki nivhalu mipanav." " And Yosef said to his brothers, I am Yosef is my father still alive, but his brothers could not answer him because they were left disconcerted before him." Rashi explains that they were left disconcerted because of the shame. Chazal say in the name of both Aba Kohen Bardala and Rav Shimon ben Alazar, "Oy lanu miyom hatochacha, Oy lanu miyom hadin" Woe is to us when we will have to face Hashem after one hundred and twenty years. Yosef was the second to youngest of the shvatim and when he rebuked them they were left speechless, how much more so when Hashem rebukes each and every person.
 Reb Chaim Shmulevitz ztl asks, where is the rebuke in Yosef's words? All he said was "I am Yosef is my father still alive" and immediately after it says the brothers were unable to respond.
 Reb Chaim explains that from here we see what the "mahus" of tochacha is, its not showering the recipient with fiery words and giving it to them, as many think. Rather it is pointing out the persons mistake, and as soon as they recognize and accept that they made a mistake that is kabala of the tochacha. When Yosef said to his brothers "I am Yosef" what that meant to them was " I'm that little brother that you shipped down to Mitzrayim, I'm the Viceroy of Egypt. You sold me as a slave to distance me from those foolish dreams of mine but in truth you set the stage for me. See and understand that my words were not foolishness but rather Nevua." The brothers heard this and were unable to respond because of the shame. From here Rav Shimon ben Elazar (He's the one Reb Chaim brings down)  says "Oy lanu miyom hadin Oy lanu miyom hatochacha" If the young brother of the shvatim caused them such
 shame by opening their eyes, al achas kama v'kama when Hashem opens our eyes.
 Although this is a frightening thought it is something that should sometimes be pulled out of the drawer to remind us that one day we will have to give a din v"cheshban, and hopefully it'll give us chizuk to come closer to Hashem. Good Shabbos

Parshas Mikeitz

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem, Zev Yehuda ben R' Shmuel Mordechai, R' Baruch Moshe Aryeh ben R' Zev Yehuda, Avraham ben R' Yitzchok Zev, R' Dovid Meir ben Harav Shmuel

 In perek mem beis posuk chaf dalid the posuk says, "Vayosov mei'aleihem vayeivch, vayashav aleihem vayidaber aleihem, vayikach mei'itam es Shimon vaye'esar oso l'eineihem."  "He (Yosef) turned away from them and wept,he returned to them and spoke to them; he took Shimon from them and imprisoned him before their eyes."  The Medrash Tanchuma gives two pirushim why Yosef imprisoned Shimon.  The first Pirush is because he was the one that pushed Yosef into the pit.  Another pshat is because he didnt wan't him to advise his brothers to kill him.  The Medrash continues that as soon as Yosef took Shimon to imprison him, Shimon said to his brothers, "This is what you did to Yosef and now you're trying to do it to me too!"  To which the brothers responded, "What do you want us to do? If we don't follow his orders our entire families will perish in this famine."  Shimon believed that just as the brothers wanted to kill Yosef, they wanted to get rid of him.  Even though he knew that Yosef was the one calling the shots, and they had no choice but to listen, he believed that somewhere in the hearts of his brothers they were happy to be rid of him.  The brothers response to him is to remind him of the seemingly obvious and already known fact that they have no control over the situation, and that if they don't listen their families will perish.  The Rosh Yeshiva ztl asks, how did the brothers response to Shimon remove his suspicions?  He knew that the brothers had no control and still had his suspisions so what changed?

   The Rosh Yeshiva explains, that when the brothers responded to Shimon, true it was something he already knew, but they said it whole heartedly, and truly meant it.  Shimon was able to sense that and realized that they weren't looking to get rid of him.  "Dvarim hayotzim min haleiv nichnasim el haleiv."  "Words that come from the heart, enter into the heart."  Shimon knew from the way their response struck him that they must have been telling the truth.

    This is an important thing for everyone to remember, Parents, Rabbeim and even friends, "Words from the heart reach the heart", and the recipient always knows where the words are truly coming from.. Good Shabbos and Afreillechin Chanuka!!

Parshas Vayeishev / Pre Chanuka

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem, Zev Yehuda ben R' Shmuel Mordechai, R' Baruch Moshe Aryeh ben R' Zev Yehuda, Avraham ben R' Yitzchak Zev, R' Dovid Meir ben Harav Shmuel

     In Meseches Shabbos the Gemora discusses what we are celebrating when we celebrate the Yom Tov of Chanuka, the Braisa says what we as children were always taught.  The Yivanim entered the heichal and were mitame all the oil, when the Chashmanaim defeated the Yivanim, they searched and were only able to find one pach shemen that was still sealed with the seal of the Kohen Gadol.  The oil that they found was just enough for one night, but a miracle happened and it lasted eight days.  The next year this time was set as a Yom Tov to give shevach v'hoda'ah to hashem Yisborach.  Reb Chaim Shmulevitz ztl points out, ( I've seen it in his sefer and also heard it from my Uncle Shmuel last Chanuka) that if we look at the broader picture of what happened in the times of the Chashmonaim this miracle of the oil seems to be rather small and insignificant.  Klal Yisroel was the recipient of tremendous persecution, as is written in "Al Hanisim", "Ki'sheamda malchus yavan harasha al amcha Yisroel l' hashgicham Torasecha u'lihaviram meichukei ritzonecha."  The Yivanim came together to get rid of Torah and Yidishkeit but Hashem created miracles and "masarta giborim b'yad chalashim vrabim b'yad mi"atim" the strong were placed into the hands of the weak, and the many into the hands of the few.  "u'liamcha Yisroel asisa teshuah gedola u"fourkan ki'hayom haze."  Hashem saved Klal Yisroel from what would have been a terrible fate.  If you would ask me the pach shemen miracle is very great but it seems sort of small going up against the miracle of saving Torah and allowing it to be continually passed down.  When Yosef was going down to Mitzrayim the Torah tells us that the Yismaeli merchants were carrying pleasant smelling spices as appose to the bad smelling things they normally carried.  Chazal say that we see from here what Hashem does for Tzadikim.  Normally the caravans smelled bad but Hashem made sure it smelled good for Yosef.  Reb Chaim asks, Yosef was forcefully thrown out of his home he had lived in his whole life, he is being brought down to be sold as a slave, he is being brought down from Yaakov's house to the lowest place in the world, putting it simply, right now his life stinks.  Oh but don't worry Yosef your caravan that is delivering you to your new life smells good!  What does it matter his whole life was being turned inside out.  Reb Chaim explains, Yosef's life was falling apart, he was in a situation where he most probably felt very much alone.  His brother's hated him and had sold him, his father thought he was dead, it could seem to him that possibly even Hashem had left him.  At a time when Yosef was so down Hashem came and used the change of a good smelling caravan to show Yosef that yes things may be tough, yes life is hard but I didn't forget you, I'm here holding your hand going down to Mitzrayim with you.  It wasn't just about the smell, it was about reminding Yosef how much Hashem loved him and that he was still there with him.  The same was true by the nes of Chanuka.  The miracle of the pach hashemen was Hashem's way of showing Klal Yisroel how much he loves us on a much more personal level.  True winning the war was tremendous but that is part of "hechreichiyus' in a persons mind.  Almost like that is what is supposed to happen because how could Torah be lost.  However, the oil burning was just something that opened their eyes and showed them, Hashem was there with them.  That is why the pach shemen was considered the reason why we celebrate Chanuka, and that is why Hashem made the caravan smell good.  Remembering that Hashem is with us holding our hands thoughout our lives and in every situation, can help us get through even the hardest times. Good Shabbos

Parshas Vayishlach

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem, Zev Yehuda ben R' Shmuel Mordechai, R' Baruch Moshe Aryeh ben R' Zev Yehuda, Avraham ben R' Yitzcha Zev, R' Dovid Meir ben Harav Shmuel....

     In perek lamud hei posuk chaf beis the posuk says "Vayihi bishkon Yisrael ba'aretz hahi vayeilech Reuven vayishkav es Bilha pilegesh aviv vayishma Yisrael."  "And it came to pass While Yisrael dwelt in the land, Reuven went and lay with Bilha his fathers concubine, and Yisrael heard."  Rachel passed away and Yaakov moved his bed into Bilha's tent.  Reuven feeling that Yaakov's bed should have been put in his mothers tent went and moved it.  The Torah considered the aveira so wrong that he is considered as if he lay with his father's concubine.  The Ramban says on this incident that it shows the "anava", humility, of yaakov avinu.  He heard about what Reuven did and did not command him to leave his house and kick him out of the family and the shvatim.  Rather he counted him as one of the shvatim, and counted him as the first one as the shvatim, his true spot. 

      The Torah is complimenting Yaakov on his great humility for not kicking Reuven out of his house.  Its obvious that the Torah is not praising Yaakov for not having a wrong amount of "gaivah" because it is no "chidush" that Yaakov did not attain a level of "gaivah" that would be totally incorrect.  Rather the Torah must be praising Yaakov for being totally void of "gaivah" and on a tremendous level of "anava", and is saying that without this he would have thrown Reuven out.

       The Rosh Yeshiva ztl asks, "mima nafshach", if the right thing was for Yaakov to throw Reuven out then why is he praised for not throwing him out, and if the right thing to do was not throw him out, then why such praise for doing what he was supposed to?  The Rosh yeshiva explains that the right thing to do was what Yaakov actually did do, however even a drop of "gaivah" would have changed his decision and caused him to believe that the right thing to do was to throw him out.  The fact that he was on that level deserves recognition.  The Rosh Yeshiva explains that there is still a question begging to be asked.  Lets say Yaakov wasn't a full fledged "anav", and maybe he had a little bit of a negia to want to throw Reuven out, but we know the draw that Yaakov had to the truth "Titein emes l"Yaakov", shouldn't his desire for the truth overcome everything else?  He explains that obviously from the Ramban we see that even with his tremendous draw toward "emes", just a drop of "gaivah" would have skewed his decision.  We see from here the extremely negative effect that even a tiny dose of gaiva has on a person.  We should be zoche to work on our gaiva and be able to make the right decisions in everything in our lives. Good Shabbos

Parshas Vayeitzei

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem, Zev Yehuda ben R' Shmuel Mordechai, R' Baruch Moshe Aryeh ben R' Zev Yehuda, Avraham ben R' Yitzchak Zev, R' Dovid Meir ben R' Shmuel

        In perek chaf tes posuk chaf hei the posuk says "Vayihi baboker vihinei hi Leah, vayomer el Lavan ma zos asisa li halo b'Rachel avaditi imach v'lamah rimisani" "And it was in the morning and behold it was Leah, so he said to Lavan, what is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that i worked for you? Why have you deceived me?"

 Rashi explains, that Yaakov only realized in the morning that he had married Leah when he believed he was marrying Rachel, because he had given Rachel "simanim" signs with which she was to identify herself. Rachel however realized the embarrassment Leah would have felt when her father sent her in the place of Rachel, and she would fail to give over the simanim correctly, and gave Leah the simanim.

 The Medrash Raba, on the posuk where Rachel names Naftali (lamud, ches) says, that originally when Rachel allowed Leah to marry Yaakov, Rachel said "If I am not deserving of having the world built from me, at least let it be built by my sister".

    The Rosh yeshiva ztl asks, what does Rachel mean she is not deserving?How did she know that she did not deserve to the the "Ima" of the world? She was the woman he had planned on marrying, she was the one he had worked so hard to acquire .She just felt she couldn't go along with his plans because she could not bare to cause such pain to her sister, as is explained in the gemora in Megilla. It would seem that she was the rightful zivug, she was not undeserving or the wrong one, she just felt that the right thing to do was to give it up.

 The Rosh Yeshiva explains that what Chazal are teaching us, and what rachel was saying was that this marriage was obviously not for her. Rachel was saying that if she was truly supposed to marry Yaakov, Hashem would not have put her in a position where the right thing to do was to give up the simanim. She understood, that it was not " I'm the rightful match just something came up", that something coming up wass a raayah, that that is not the way it is supposed to be. That is why she said "If i am undeserving i may as well let my sister be zoche". "She is not stealing this zechus away from me, because it is not rightfully mine" 

 I heard from my Rebbe, Rabbi Kaufman shlita what is a davar pashut but so true, and oftentimes forgotten. If a businessman was about to close the biggest deal of his life, when suddenly a a Navi hashem walked in and told him " Do not make that deal it will be a tremendous mistake" The businessman would probably feel indebted to the Navi forever for saving him from this terrible mistake. However, if this same businessman was about to make the biggest deal of his life, and the fellow offering him this deal says " Ill see you Saturday morning to close the deal, and I don't want to hear any excuses if you're not there you can kiss this deal goodbye". Although the businessman would not go, he would probably hate Shabbos for the rest of his life. We all are guilty of this on one level or another. Shouldn't the businessman realize that Shabbos is Hashem's way of telling him "Don't do the deal", it is the same as the Navi Hashem just in a little disguise. There are times in our lives when we may have grand plans of how things in our life will work out, but how we think they will end up and how they do, are many times completely different. So many times if we just take a moment to realize that the fact that things didn't work out the way we thought they would is because Hashem being the loving father that he is causes things to happen sometimes hold us back from what we think we want in order to do what is truly best for us. This is not to say that one should not feel any pain, as we said recently "when it hurts we cry" and I'm sure Rachel was deeply grieved to be unable to marry Yaakov, yet she understood that not marrying him was the right thing, it was what Hashem wanted. We should be zoche to see the not so obvious yad Hashem in all aspects of our life, but especially when things may seem to be the opposite of what we had hoped for. Good Shabbos            

     

Parshas Toldos

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem, Zev Yehuda ben R' Shmuel Mordechai, R' Baruch Moshe Aryeh ben R' Zev Yehuda...

 In perek chaf zayin posuk tes vav the posuk says, "Vatikach Rivka es bigdei Esav b'na hagadol hachamudos asher ita ba'bayis vatalbeish es Yaakov b'na hakatan."  "Rivka took her older son Esav's clean garments which were with her in the house and clothed Yaakov her young son."  The Medrash Raba brings down, Reb Shimon ben Gamliel said, "All my life I served and took care of my father, yet i was not "mishameish" him one one-hundredth of the amount that Esav served his father.  When i served my father, I would wear my dirty inexpensive clothing, and when I'd go out I would put on my clean fancy clothes.  Esav, however, would wear his "bigdei malchus" clothing fot for royalty when he was being "mishameish" Yitzchok.  He felt it would not be proper to wear anything less."  The Rosh Yeshiva Ztl asks a seemingly obvious question.  Reb shimon ben Gamliel was praising Esav for serving his father while wearing nice clothes, while he wore his dirty clothes. Why didn't he learn from Esav and just start wearing his nice clothes since he knew that would elevate the level of his Kibud Av?  The Rosh Yeshiva explains that Reb Shimon ben Gamliel realized that although it would raise the level of his Kibud av, he was not holding on the same madreiga as Esav in this inyan.  If Reb Shimon's father would have soiled his fancy clothes while he was serving him, it probably would have bothered him and gotten him a little upset, and he would have lost out on some of the mitzva.  Esav however would have been happy that he was zoche to have his clothes soiled while he was serving his father.  The Rosh Yeshiva explained that we can learn from here how important it is not to jump madreigas and do things that we are not holding by.  Yes, it would be great for Reb Shimon ben Gamliel to wear nicer clothes while serving his father, but he knew he wasn't holding there and trying to squeeze himself into that level would have just be detrimental in the end.  Many times people think "Ok i'm not holding there right now, but ill do it anyway and ill get there eventually" this is usually an incorrect idea.  "Tafasta M'ruba lo tafasta", if u try to grab too much you end up with nothing.  The key is to grow little by little and eventually when you look back at where you are in comparison to where you once were, you will see the tremendous growth you had, because you understood that true growth comes from taking one small step at a time. . . . Good Shabbos.

Parshas Chayei Sarah

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem, Zev Yehudah ben R' Shmuel Mordechai, R' Baruch Moshe Aryeh ben R' Zev Yehudah

 In perek chaf gimmel posuk beis it says "Vatamas Sarah b'Kiryas Arbah hiy Chevron b"Eretz Canaan, vayavo Avraham lispod osah v'livkosa" "Sarah died in Kiryas Arbah which is Chevron in the land of Canaan, and Avraham came to eulogize Sarah and to cry over her." Rashi explains that the reason why the incident of the Akeida is followed by the death of Sarah, is because when she heard her son was almost slaughtered her nishama flew out of her and she passed away.

 Reb Chaim Shmulevitz ztl brings to light the differences between Avraham and Sarah regarding the Akeida. Avraham was able to overcome his tremendous feelings of rachmanus and take a knife and slaughter his "only" beloved son. Sarah however who we know was on a higher level of Nevuah than Avraham couldn't handle it. She heard her son was almost slaughtered,or as the Targum Yonasan learns it the Satan told her Yitzchak really had been slaughtered, and she passed away.

 Reb Chaim asks, what was the difference between the two of them? Why was Sarah unable to handle it?

  One answer that Reb Chaim gives is that Avraham had the chance to adapt to the news slowly and therefore was not totally overcome by it. As we know Hashem broke the news to Avraham "kach na es bincha es yichidcha asher ahavta es Yitzchak". Sarah however heard it all at once and had no chance to adapt to it and therefore her nefesh flew out. The idea of needing to adapt to a situation, Histaglus, is a real force in a person.

 However Reb Chaim gives another answer. When a person is faced with a nisayon, Hashem does not only gives him the nisayon, but also the means to overcome it. The ramban says that no person is given a nisayon that they can not pass. Avraham Avinu was given the nisayon of the Akeida, and therefore with it the ability to overcome it. Sarah however was not given the nisayon, she just happened to hear about it, so she was not strong enough to overcome the shock and according to the Tragum Yonasan the pain that came with the news.

 We see the Koach that adaption has on people and we know that one can obviously adapt to a positive setting or a not so positive setting. Realizing how strong the midah of histaglus is we can possibly guide ourselves to adapt to what we feel are the correct things in our lives. From Reb Chaim's second answer and the Ramban we can just remind ourselves of an incredible fact. No one is faced with a nisayon they can't pass. It may feel like it's impossible but if it was we wouldn't be in the situation. Keeping that in mind can help give alot of chizuk in a time of hardship. Good Shabbos     

    

Parshas Vayeira

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem, Zev Yehuda ben R' Shmuel Mordechai, R' Baruch Moshe Aryeh ben R' Zev Yehudah

 In Perek chaf beis posuk vav it says, "Vayikach Avraham es atzei ha'olah vayasem al Yitzchakbno vayikach b'yado es ha'eish v'es hama'acheles vayeilchu shneihem yachdav."  "And Avraham took the wood for the offering, and placed it on Yitzchak his son. He took in his hand the fire and the knife and the two of them went together."

 The Medrash Rabah says that the Yetzer Harah met Avraham on the way and tried reasoning with him. "Avraham lets assume you do pass this test, do you think you will be able to stand up to the next one?"

 Rav Issac Sher ztl, in his Hakdamah to the sfefer Cheshbon Hanefesh, writes that it is crucial for man to understand the tactic's the Yetzer harah uses in order to guard oneself against him.  One of his tactic's is to tell us that we will never be a tzadik gamar so why bother going out of our way to fulfill the mitzvah at hand.  This was the Yetzer Harah's taayna to Avraham, you cant go on passing every test, eventually you have to fail one so why bother?  The Rosh Yeshivah ztl asks, what type of taayna is that?  If Avraham would fulfill the nisayon of the akeida, he would be considered a tremendous tzaddik, even if somewhere down the road he failed an even harder nisayon.  Why would not being able to pass everything cause Avraham to give up now?  He explains that each and every one of his has a desire to reach "shleimus".  We want to be complete, and being unable to reach a level of completion causes us alot of pain.  Realizing that we will never be able to reach total shleimus can lead to depression and "yiush" causing us to totally give up on everything.  Not being able to be the best is one of the biggest reasons why people give up before they even start.  "Why bother working on shiur ill never get it fully?  Why bother exercising ill never be super buff?  Why should I try making the nba ill never be Jordan."  But you'll get most of shiur!  You'll be in extremely good shape!  You could be an all-star!  We don't want to be good, we want to be the best.  The Yetzer Harah was reminding Avraham that no matter how long he goes passing nisyonos, he will eventually reach one that will be too difficult and he will not be able to pass it.  He was hoping to work with the psychology of each and every person to hold Avraham back.  You'll never reach shleimus give up!  The Yetzer Hara felt that even when Avraham was ready to sacrifice his beloved son, this idea of never reaching shleimus would stop him in his tracks.  We see the koach that the desire for shleimus has on us.  If we can come to terms with the fact that we are only human and can not reach total shleimus but can still be great and do great things we can be better prepared for the Yetzer Hara next time he comes knocking. Good Shabbos       

Parshas Nitzavim

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem...... In perek lamud posuk vav it says "U'mal Hashem Elokecha es livavcha v'es livav zarecha l'ahava es Hashem Elokecha bichal livavcha u'vichol nafshicha l'maan chayecha"  "Hashem your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring to love Hashem with all your heart and all your soul that you may live." The Ramban explains, " U'mal Hashem Elokecha es livavcha " means what the Gemorah says in Shabbos. "Habah litaher misayin oso"  If someone comes to make himself tahar Hashem will help him. The Gemorah continues that Hashem guarantees that if someone will try to do teshuvah with all their heart and soul, Hashem will help them. The Ramban is mashma that without Hashem's help a person would not be able to do teshuva with all their heart. The Rosh Yeshiva asks, the Ramban says that Hashem helps the people who are trying to
 do teshuvah with all their hearts and souls. If these people are returning with all their heart, why are they the ones who need Hashem's help? They are returning whole heartedly even without his help. The Rosh Yeshiva explains that  we see from here that even a person who wants to do a full teshuvah is not able to without the help of Hashem. The Yetzer Hara is just too strong to be misgaber over without the help of Hashem. There are many people who want to do teshuvah on different things, the only issue is they don't think they have what it takes. What they don't realize is that nobody has what it takes but that's the beauty of it. When we take the steps to do teshuvah and get close to Hashem, he lifts us up way past our true kochos. He takes us by the hand, kaf al kaf, and allows us to reach tremendous levels that were nowhere near our grasp. If we keep this idea in our minds and
 hearts as we approach Rosh Hashana we can hopefully use it to give us the spark we need to do the best Teshuvah we possibly can and be nichtav lishana tova u'misuka. Good Shabbos          

Parashas Ki Savo

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem. In perek chaf zayin posuk zayin it says, " V'zavachta shlamim v'achalta sham v'samchta lifnei Hashem Elokecha" You shall slaughter peace offerings and eat there, and you shall rejoice before Hashem your God". The Sapurnu explains that "v'samachta lifnei Hashem Elokecha" is referring to rejoicing over the fact that Hashem entered a covenant, a bris, with Klal Yisroel by Har Grizim and Har Eival. It seems from the Sapurnu that we are obligated to rejoice over the occurences of both Har Grizim and Har Eivel. The Rosh Yeshivah ztl asks a seemingly obvious question. Its understandable to be happy over the fact that we were given the brachos at Har Grizim, however what warrants happiness by Har Eivel? That is where we were given all the klalos for doing things wrong, is that someting to be misameach about? The Rosh Yeshivah explains that
 we still should be b'simcha over the reception of the klalos because they are an extra shmira for us to hold us back from doing aveiros. Even for people who b'etzem know what is right and what is wrong and want to do the right thing have a difficult time. Without the klalos that difficult time would be multiplied, the fight would be that much greater. Therefore the Torah is telling us to be thankful to Hkbh for giving us the extra shmira to help us go in the right derech. Good Shabbos    

Parshas Ki Seitzei

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem..... In perek chaf heh posuk alef it says " Ki Yihiyeh riv bein anashim v'nigshu el hamishpat ushifatum, V'hitzdiku es hatzadik vi'hirshiu es ha'rasha" " When there will be a grievance between two people, and they come to court,and they judge them, and they vindicate the righteous one and find the wicked person to be guilty.." Rashi explains that the posuk is telling us that when people argue (not just a difference of opinion but really argue)their end will be to go to court. No peace comes from arguing, after all that is what cause Lot to seperate from a Tzadik (Avraham). The Gur Aryeh explains the same thing as Rashi.The Torah was teaching us somehing by beinning "Ki yihiyeh riv" instead of "Ki Yigshu anashim lamishpat". Any time people will have an argument, they will be unable to take care of it themselves, rather they will end up bringing each other to
 court. It seems from the Gur Aryeh and Rashi that this posuk is telling us that no matter how great the participants in the argument are, and no matter how important they believe shalom is and how terrible machlokes is, they will not be able to settle their argument regardless of the size or amount of money involved without making a din Torah. The Rosh Yeshivah ztl explained that we see the great power of arguments, of a "riv" and how destructive they are. As long as people are having a difference of opinion in a matter, which happens and is a regular normal part of life, they can work on reaching an outcome together. However, once it turns into a "riv" a grievance, it can not be solved without beis din. The anger on each side will not allow them to reach an outcome, no matter how great they are, no matter how much they want peace. We see how destructive grievances are, and how far they can go to even tear apart families and businesses chas vishalom,
 and therefore how important it is to try to work on ourselves to try to stay away from them..Good Shabbos

Parshas Shoftim

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem.... In perek tes zayin posuk chaf it says, Tzedek tzedek tirdof lima'an tichyeh viyarashta es ha'aretz asher Hashem Elokecha nosein lach" "You shall pursue righteousness so that you will live and take possession of the land that Hashem your God gives you." Rashi explains that the Torah is telling us to go to a high quality court. The Sifri adds that people should go to the batei dinim of R' Yochanan ben Zakai and Rabbi Eliezer. Its mashma from the Sifri, that even if the dayanim of your town are big talmidei chachamim, it is still a mitzvah and important for the ballei dinim to travel to the beis din of the gedolei hador. The Gur Aryeh explains that the reason for this is because there are times when the judges can make a mistake and not recognize that they did, and it can come out the the wrong party will end up winning and stealing money from the other party.
 The Rosh Yeshivah ztl explained that we can learn a tremendous chidush from this. The Torah requires people to be careful and suspect that they and even the beis din of their town will make a mistake, and therefore they must go to the higher beis din. However, at the same time we see later on in the parsha that even if the judges in our time are not like the judges before, we must listen to them. Furthermore, even if the Chachamim tell you something that you believe is wrong " yamin shehu simol" you should still listen. We see from here how far one must go to make sure to end up doing the right. He must even suspect that the judges in his town will make a mistake, but at the same time how important it is to have emunas chachamim even if the chachamim in your day are not as capable as the ones from yesteryear.Good Shabbos

Parshas Re'eh

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem..... In perek yud dalid psukim alef and beis it says, "Banim atem La'Hashem Elokeichem, Lo sisgodidu v'lo sasimu karcha bein eineichem lameis. Ki am kadosh atah la'Hashem Elokecha....." "You are children to Hashem your God, you shall not cut yourselves and you shall not make a bald spot between your eyes for a dead person. For you are holy people to Hashem your God."  The Even Ezra explains that the Torah is giving two reasons why one should not cut themselves in mourning.  The first reason is because we are "banim", children, of Hashem.  He loves us even more than a human parent loves their child, and therefore we should realize that everything he does is for the good even though we may not understand it, just as a child may not understand something their parent does.  The second reason is that we are an "Am kadosh", a holy nation, and we are not like all the other nations; therefore, we should not act like them.  The Rosh Yeshivah ztl asks why the Torah feels the need to give the second reason of being a holy nation.  If the first reason clarifies why we should not cut ourselves, then the second reason is unnecessary.  If there was no first reason, what good is the second reason? Even if we are not like the other nations, maybe it would be allowed to make cuts due to the greatness of the pain and mourning.  Either way the second reason is not necessary.  He explains that really the first reason is enough to explain why it is incorrect to cut our skin.  Nevertheless, the second reason is still necessary, so that we are not negatively affected by the nations around us.  The Rambam explains, that a person will think and act like his friends around him and have the traditions of his community.  Without the second reason we would be affected by our surroundings, even when we know that we are different, that we are the children of Hashem and everything he does is for our good.  A person can know that they are different than their surroundings, yet they will automatically be affected by the people around them and begin acting like them.  If a rich man lives among poor people who are very frugal, even though the he does not need to be careful, he will automatically be frugal as well.  However, the Torah is telling us that the affect that the nations have on us is only when we feel that we are similar to them and are connected.  The Torah gives the second reason in order to break the connection that we may feel with the surrounding inhabitants in order to save us from being affected by them.  We live in a time where there is so much negative to learn from the surrounding nations.  If we remember that we are different , that
 we are the chosen nation, we may hopefully be able to pick up as little of the negative as possible. . . Good Shabbos

Parshas Eikev

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R'Yisroel Menachem.... In perek ches posuk yud alef it says, "Hishamer licha pen tishkach es Hashem Elokecha."  "Watch yourself lest you forget Hashem your God."  In the Sharei Tshuva, Rabeinu Yonah says that this is an "azhara" warning that is directed towards ones heart, do not forget Hashem.  It is said that any time the words "hishamer" "pen" and/or "al" is mentioned, it is a "lo sasei".  So there is an actual mitzvah not to forget Hashem.  The Torah is telling us that we must remember Hashem at all times, and try to work on acting in a manner befitting one who recognizes Hashem.  The Misilas Yisharim says that a person has to be constantly thinking about what the proper path in life is.  The Rosh Yeshivah ztl asks, Hashem is not amongst us in a way that we can see him, and many times we are caught up with different gashmiusdik things, and just can't always be focused on remembering Hashem and thinking of the proper ways to serve him.  When people are busy at work, for example, they obviously will have work on their mind and not be able to focus on this.  This being the case, how could the Torah command us to be focused on it "bichal eis" at all times?  He explains, that of course there are times that people are caught up with things, but they can always have it in their mind on a sub-conscious level.  Just as no matter how busy we are, we always ensure that harm does not befall us, and that we are not damaged, so too in our subconcious we can constantly remember Hashem and think of the proper ways to serve him.  Rav Isaac Scher ztl the Rosh Yeshivah of Slabodka, brought a ra'yah to the idea of being subconciously aware, even when people are sleeping.  A mother will awaken from a childs cry, even from an extremely deep sleep and even if the cry is soft. However, she most probably will not wake up from a train thundering by  her window.  To explain this phenomenon we must say that really we hear everything while we are sleeping, we just choose what to actually listen to and what to ignore.  A mother will instantly listen to the cry of her child and therefore wake up to care for it, but the train she will ignore.  We have this same power to at least sub-consciously remember Hashem and think of the derech we should follow, and therefore it is not an impossible mitzvah.  We should all be zoche to be on the level where we can think about Hashem "bichal eis" no matter where we are or what we are doing... Good Shabbos

Parshas Va'eschanan

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem.... In perek dalid posuk mem alef the posuk says, "Az Yavdil Moshe shalosh arim b'eiver hayardein" "Then Moshe seperated three cities on the other side of the Yardein"  The Sapurnu says, the "az yavdil Moshe" "then Moshe seperated", is referring to after Moshe had explained the Torah to Klal Yisroel. Moshe seperated the cities at this point to show Klal Yisroel how important doing mitzvos is, that he was going out of his way to do only a part of a mitzvas aseh (because until all the arei miklat were established, none of them worked, and the remaining ones were to be set up later in Eretz Yisroel). The Rosh Yeshivah asks, obviously Moshe was extremely busy, he was spending most of his time teaching Torah to the entire Klal Yisroel. Did he really need to put aside his Torah learning and teaching to teach Klal Yisroel how important
 mitzvos were? Why can't he continue what he is doing and just give powerful, fiery shmuessin on the greatness of mitzvos? He explains, that the Torah is coming to teach us the famous lesson that actions speak louder than words. You can talk about somethings importance from today until tomorrow and it will have an effect, but it does not come close to showing with actions. Moshe Rabeinu took the time to perform his part in setting up the arei miklat in order to show Klal Yisrael how chashuv mitzvos truly are. We should always keep in mind how powerful our actions are, and the affect they have on other people.. Good Shabbos

Parshas Devarim

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem.. In perek beis Psukim gimmel through Heh Hashem commands Klal Yisrael not to start up with the descendants of Esav, and the psukim says as follows. " Rav lachem sov es hahar hazeh pinu lachem tzafona, v'es ha'am tzav leimor atem ovrim bigvul acheichem bnei Esav....al tisgaru bam" "Enough of you circling this mountain, turn yourselves northward and command the people as follows, you arecrossing into the border of your brothers, the descendants of Eisav.....Do not incite them". The Medrash Rabah explains that Eisav's zchus to deserve to be left alone was his tremendous kibud av that he had for his father Yaakov avinu. The is another Medrash Rabah that brings down as follows. Rav Shimon ben Gamliel said that most children did not give honor to their fathers as well as he did, but he did not do it as well as Esav. Rab shimon ben Gamliel
 would wear his old and worn clothing when he served his father, and would change into his fancy ones when he went to the Shuk while Esav did the opposite. The Rosh Yeshivah ztl asks a seemingly obvious question. If Rav Shimon ben Gamliel understood that what seperated Esav's kibud av from his own was just the fact that Esav wore his fancy clothes to serve his father while he wore his rags, than why didn't he just take that step and also wear his fancy clothes when tending to his fathers needs? The Rosh Yeshivah explains that this is a rayah to the yesod of Slabodka mussar, of understanding where we are holding and try to grow normally without trying to change ourselves into something we are not holding by. " Tafasta m'ruba lo tafasta " if you try to grab too much, many times you will end up with nothing at all, however sometimes even if we do not end up with nothing, we may end up
 mistakingly thinking we have reached the top and will have issues with gaivah and may have no drive to grow more, which in the end will cause us to fall. This is why Rav Shimon be Gamliel did not try to go the extra mile. He knew that it was a good thing to do, but he also understood that he was not holding by it and doing it just to match Esav would not have been a healthy step. We know it is important to always be growing but at the same time to make sure to understand where we are holding and not try to overdue it... Good Shabbos

Parshas Matos-Masei

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem...... In perek lamud gimmel posuk alef the posuk says "Eileh maasei Bnei Yisroel asher yatzu mei'eretz mitzrayim li'tzivosam b'yad Moshe V'Aharon" "These are the journeys of Bnei Yisroel, who went out of Mitzrayim according to their legions by the hand of Moshe and Aharon" The Sapurnu says that Hashem wanted the travels to be mentioned to praise Klal Yisroel for following Hashem blindly in a strange land, "Lechteim acharay bamidbar bi'eretz lo zarua" They followed in a manner which caused them to be rauy/deserving of going into Eretz Yisroel.  Its mashma from the Sapurnu that following Hashem the way they did, was enough of a reason alone to bring Klal Yisroel into Eretz Yisroel. Rav Dovid Leibowitz ztl asks, why was it such an unbelievable thing deserving in such reward? True it was great that they followed Hashem blindly, but was
 it that great? They had seen tremendous nisim from Hashem, they had good reason to trust in Hkbh. Reb Dovid explains that this is one of the Chasdei Hashem. The etzem act itself of following Hashem "bi'eretz lo zarua" was tremendous, elah mai it wasn't so difficult based on the situation, but Hashem does us a favor and looks at the act seperate of the circumstance. Now the act is viewed as a mindblowing thing. To follow Hashem into a random place and just put total trust in him, of course that would be an act deserving of tremendous schar. We see from here that we can never be sure how much schar we are receiving for things that we may think are trivial. However, on another level we see the love that Hashem has for us, and how far he goes to assist us in getting as much schar as we possibly can. Good Shabbos

Parshas Pinchas

Liyluy nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem... In perek chaf ches posuk tes vav it says " U'si'ir izim echad lichatas La'Hashemal olas hatamid yei'ase vinisco" "And one he goat for a sin offering for Hashem beside the continual  burnt offering, it shall be offered. Rashi says a Midrashic interpretation of this posuk, that Hashem commanded this karbon be brought as an atonement for Hashem making the moon small. The Gemorah in Chulin daf samach amud beis, says, Rav Shimon ben Pazi asks a contradiction. The Torah says " Vayaas Elokim es shnei hami'oros hagidolim" "Hashem made the two great luminaries" this sounds like they were the same size. However immediately afterword it says "Es hami'or hagadol v'es hami'or hakatan". Rav Shimon ben Pazi explains, at first the sun and the moon were created the same size. The moon went to Hkbh and asked him " How can two kings share one crown?" Hashem responded " you're right so go diminish yourself" The moon was hurt and asked Hashem "Because I said something correct I have to diminish myself?" So Hashem to appease him told him he will rule by day and night, to whice he responded, "what good is a candle in daylight?" Hashem tried again to appease the moon with having Klal Yisroel count the days and years through him, but he said the sun also has that. Hashem responded that Tzadikim will be called by his name, such as Yaakov hakatan, Shmuel Hakatan and David hakatan. Finally when the moon was not appeased by that, Hashem said "Bring an atonement on my behalf fo having diminished the moon" Rabein Bachyay explains that the moon was diminished as a punishment for questioning Hashem's decisions, but once Hashem saw that he was embarrassed and was hurt Hashem tried to make him feel better. The Rosh Yeshivah ztl asks, why did Hashem go through so much to try to make the moon feel better, the moon sinned and therefore deserved what he got, after all Hashem is 'Keil emunah v'ein avel". The Rosh Yeshivah explains that of course the moon received the correct punishment, and got what he deserved, however Hashem did all he could to appease him so that he would not feel that Hashem didn't love him. Even thought Hashem created him and continues giving him the koach every day to shine, still without Hashem's appeasement he would have felt that hashem hated him. Therefore Hashem tried quite a few tactics in order to make sure that the moon knew the love Hashem had for him even though he punished him. We see how important it is even in times of giving tochacha and punishment to make sure the recipient remembers the love that we have for them. Good Shabbos

Parshas Balak

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem..... In perek chaf beis posuk lamud gimmel the Malach Hashem said to Bilam "Va'tirani ha'ason vateit lifanay zeh shalosh rigalim oolay natsa mipanay ki atah gam oscha haragti v'osah hecheyeisi" "And when the donkey saw me it turned aside these three times , had she not turned aside before me as she did, I would have surely killed you and she, I would let live" Rashi explains that the malach was saying, because the donkey admonished you, and you were unable to withstand her admonishment, I killed her. For had I not killed her people would see her  and say, "this was the donkey that drove away Bilam with her admonishment, and he was unable to reply". Rashi continues that Hashem is makpid on human dignity, and that is why when a woman lives with an animal we are required to kill the animal, as well as the woman. The Rosh Yeshivah ztl brought out a tremendous yesod from this incident. Bilam was a tremendous rasha, he was a bum, and most probably a woman who lives with an animal is too. Why would the Torah care about their feelings, about their dignity? Furthermore, they brought this upon themselves, Hashem didn't want him to go with Balak's officers, and no one told her to live with an animal. Yet the Torah is telling us, how much Hashem cares about every human, how he goes above and beyond to minimize the embarrasment of even Rishaim gemurim. We must respect this innate dignity in our interactions with others, and be extremely careful about slighting another, no matter how much he "deserves it." Good Shabbos.

Parshas Chukas

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem..... In perek chaf alef posuk lamud beis it says, "Vayishlach Moshe lirageil es Yazeir vayilcidu binoseha vayoresh es ha'Emori asher sham."  "Moshe sent people to spy out Yazeir and they conquered its suburbs, and he drove away the Amorite that was there."  The Medrash Rabah explains that Moshe sent out the Meraglim to spy out Yazeir and they were mizareiz and took it upon themselves to capture it.  They said, "We are confident in the Tefila of Moshe, and the last time miraglim were sent they caused tremendous destruction.  We will not do like them, rather we believe in Hashem and will wage war now."  They waged war and they conquered the land.  Its mashma from Chazal that the reason why the Miraglim waged war in this case, was because they were afraid that they may end up following in the footsteps of the previous miraglim and wreak havoc on Klal Yisroel.  The Rosh Yeshivah ztl asks, what were the Miraglim afraid of?  They knew where they were holding and that they were ma'aminim Ba'Hashem, so why were they afraid of following in the previous Miraglim's footsteps?  He explains, that the Miraglim were full believers in Hashem, however they were afraid that they would lose their level of emunah and in their weakened state follow in the footsteps of the Miraglim before them.  A persons battle with their yetzer harah is constant, and the yetzer harah is constantly strengthening itself to try to win.  Therefore, the Miraglim didn't trust themselves in the fight against the Yetzer Harah, rather they immediately waged war against the inhabitants.  This zrizus is what Chazal is praising them for.  They understood how tough the battle with the yetzer harah is, and therefore acted accordingly.  We see how important it is not to convince ourselves that we have reached a madreiga where certain nisyonos can not reach us anymore.  There is no such thing as being above and beyond, no such thing as being untouchable.  As long as we are alive the yetzer harah will be in top gear trying to bring us down, but as long as we keep that in mind and know that we have not overcome him completely, we can hopefully have the strength to continue winning and growing... Good Shabbos        

Parshas Korach

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem...... In perek tes zayin posuk lamud beis it says, "Va'tiftach ha'aretz es piha vativla osam v'es bateihem v'eis kal ha'adam asher l'Korach v'eis kal harichush."  "The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their houses, and all the people who were with Korach, and all the posessions,"  The Gemorah in Sanhedrin perek kuf yud amud alef says, "osher shamur l'ba'alav l'raaso."  "Wealth caused its owner to go bad."  Reish Lakish says that this is referring to the wealth of Korach.  The Gemorah goes on to say that Yosef had hidden three treasures in Mitzrayim.  One Korach got; one went to Antoninus; and one will be for the Tzadikim L'asid lavo.  The Maharshas says that the way that korachs money caused his downfall was that since he was so rich he believed he deserved to be of a greater stature that Moshe and Aharon.  The Rosh Yeshivah ztl asks a seemingly obvious question.  Korach was quite a smart person.  He obviously knew that Moshe and Aharons positions were not attained through greatness in worldly matters, rather they were chosen because of their loftiness in ruchniyus  So what exactly happened here?  How did his great financial backing cause him to make such a grave mistake, and cause so much destruction?  The Rosh Yeshivah explains that Korach responded in the way that is normal for most people to respond.  He was extremely rich and therefore was a highly respected individual, everyone treated him with tremedous dignity, as if he was royalty.  This tremendous kavod got to him and made him begin believing that he was great in ruchniyus too.  After all, look at how much respect he received.  Based on this mistake he believed that Moshe and Aharon were not as great as him and therefore he should have been chosen as the leader of Klal Yisroel.  It's unbelieveable how losing our perception of where we are holding can cause so much destruction.  We can't lose sight of where we are holding, and of course that being great in our world is not based on how much we are worth in dollar value, but how much we have achieved in ruchniyus and growth in avodas Hashem... Good Shabbos

Parshas Shelach

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem.... In perek yud dalid posuk tes, Kaleiv and Yehoshuah tell Klal Yisroel, "Ach ba'Hashem al timrodu v'atem al tirau es am ha'aretz ki lachmeinu heim..." -  "But do not rebel against Hashem, and do not fear the people of the land for they are our bread..."  The Ramban says that Yehoshuah and Kaleiv gave two reasons why Klal Yisroel should not fear the inhabitants of Eretz Yisroel.  Reason number one was that they had to believe in the capabilities of Hashem.  Just as Hashem did all the miracles in Mitzrayim, so too would he conquer the natives to fulfill his promise.  The second reason was that even biteva Klal Yisroel had the means to conquer them, they had the capabilities to "eat them like bread".  The Rosh Yeshivah ztl asks that the second reason should not have been given; it was superfluous.  Regardless of what should happen under
 normal circumstances, the entire fate of Klal Yisroel was based on whether or not Hashem wanted them to be victorious.  Kaleiv and Yehoshuah knew this fact.  Their actual strength meant zero.  It would not determine what the outcome would be.  So why would they mention it?  The Rosh yeshivah explains that what Yehoshuah and Kaleiv were doing was being "maktin the nisayon." - "making the challenge smaller."  To convince Klal Yisroel that Hashem will help them win when the enemy is weaker than them would be much simpler than convincing them that Hashem would be able to make them beat a tremendous super power.  By cutting down the nisayon in the eyes of Klal Yisroel, they made it that much easier for Klal Yisroel to have bitachon that Hashem is the only one who fights our wars, not us.  This yesod is true in all types of nisyonos.  People are faced with tremendous nisyonos that seem unbeatable.  Sometimes they could even be very close to that, but there's a trick on how to beat it.  We can play mind games with ourselves and talk into ourselves that its not so big, its not so hard, and guess what, it'll be easier to beat.  As long as we believe that something is impossible, it is.  It's only once we believe that we have the power to achieve, that we will be able to do to just that.  We will achieve!.... Good Shabbos  

Parshas Beha'aloscha

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem.... In perek ches posuk vav it says, "Kach es haleviim mitoch Bnei Yisroel vitiharta osem." "Take the Leviim from among Bnei Yisroel and and purify them." The Medrash Tanchuma says on "Kach es Haleviim", that this is what the Torah meant when it said "Hashem tzadik yivchan..." Hashem does not raise anyone to an important position, until he has tested and checked them first.  Once they are omed b'nisayon, they can be raised to their lofty position.  Hashem tested Avraham Avinu with ten nisyonos, and then was mivareich him "bakol". So too Shevet Levi.  They gave their lives al Kiddush Hashem so that the Torah should not be bateled.  When Klal Yisroel was in Mitzrayim they went astray from Torah and Milah, and were all oved avodah zarah.  Shevet Levi however were all Tzadikim and kept the Torah. The Rosh Yeshivah ztl asks, this Medrash says that Shevet Levi gave  their lives, "nasnu nafsham" for Torah in Mitzrayim.  How were they moser nefesh?  Why is it like they gave their lives?  There was no sakana in Mitzrayim to keep the Torah.  The Rosh Yeshivah explains, all of Bnei Yisroel was straying from Torah and Mitzvos and doing the wrong thing.  Shevet Levi was able to fight and remain Tzadikim and stay on the Derech Hashem.  Its obviously not an easy thing but its much more than just that.  Shevet Levi was showing a tremendous strength, a strength that Chazal consider them as giving their lives for Torah.  True, Klal Yisroel wasn't poking fun at them or harrassing them for doing what they did, and no one was forcing them away from Torah, but to have the strength to not be mushpah and swept up with the rest of Klal Yisroel requires tremendous strength.  This tremendous strength makes the Leviim into martyrs.  There was no Sakana, yet they are considered that they were moser nefesh, because beating this nisayon of getting swept in with the crowd is comparable to giving ones life for Torah.  As frum yidden we look around and see most of our brethren far away from the derech Hashem, and the truth is some of it looks extremely enticing.  There are jews who are professional athletes (not too many), and the film industry is swarming with jews.  We have big doctors and Lawyers and millionaires, and the world they've thrown themselves into seems so inviting.  How many times do we find ourselves on the edge where we feel we just can't do it anymore.  Whether "it" is reffering to Yeshivah, or a shiur or Yiddishkeit altogether.  Its not easy to fight this feeling.  If it was it wouldn't be like giving up ones life for Torah.  However, sometimes understanding the greatness of our actions can give us the strength to keep fighting, and hopefully that is enough to continue giving us the strength to keep fighting... Good Shabbos  

Parshas Nasso

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem..... In perek vav posuk beis it says "Daber el Bnei Yisroel v'amarta aleihem ish oh isha ki yafli lindor neder nazir l'hazir La'Hashem". Rashi explains the juxtaposition of Sotah and Nazir, that anyone who sees a Sotah should take upon themselves a Nazirus neder against wine, which leads to promiscuity. Even though before someone saw a "Sotah B'kilkula" they already knew this fact, seeing it strengthens it and therefore it would be a good time to guard themselves. In perek gimmel posuk lamud vav in Mishlei it says "Ki To'avas Hashem Naloz V'es Yisharim Sodo" The Yalkut Shimoni speaks on this posuk and says "Ki to'avas Hashem naluz" is talking about someone who is involved in arayos. "V'es Yisharim sodo" is talking about someone who saw arayos and therefore distanced himself from wine. "sodo" means that Hashem will teach him and help
 him to be able to stay away from arayos. The Rosh Yeshivah ztl asks, its mashma from this medrash, that keeping yourself from wine will grant you the rights for Hashem to give you the "sod" on how to save yourself from arayos. However, even without the wine, if Hashem wouldn't grant you this gift, ultimately you would fail because the tayva is too great. If that's the case, why would anyones reaction to seeing a Sotah be to stay away from wine? They know it doesn't do much anyway, they know their chances of being nichshal are still great. The Rosh Yeshivah explains, that this is the tevah of a person. True -- distancing oneself from wine is not a major guard against arayos, but when someone is in a makom sakana, they do everything they possibly can to guard themselves even if in retrospect that block may seem minute and almost pointless. When someone sees a Sotah they distance themselves
 from wine  because on a very small level it will lower the chances of them being nichshal. When Hashem sees that they are making an effort, he grants them "sodo" the daas and strength they need to complete their task. This is an important lesson for all of us. Many times when we are in a makom sakana of any sort, we want to make gidarim but gidarim won't solve the problem so we don't even do that. As small as the gedarim may be, they show Hashem what we want, they show him that we are making an effort and he will lift us up the rest of the way and help us with our challenge. I believe the same is true in stam ruchniyus and growth. We want to grow and be better, we want to learn, but everything seems so out of reach. If we make the effort and show Hashem what it is we really want, he will hopefully grant us the gift of "sodo" to be able to grow in Torah and Ruchniyus... Good Shabbos

Bamidbar

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem..... In perek alef posuk nun dalid it says, "Va'yaasu Bnei Yisroel kichol asher tziva Hashem es Moshe kein asu."  The Medrash Rabah says that the Torah is telling us, that even in regard to the machanos they listened and did not camp near the mishkan, as it says "Vchanu Bnei Yisroel ish el machaneihu....... Vi'haliviim yachanu saviv li'mishkan."  Klal Yisroel was not allowed to camp around the Mishkan because Hashem would get angry with them because they were not worthy, not "ra'uy".  The Leviim however, would guard the Mishkan and and act in the proper way and therefore were the chosen shevet to be encamped around the mishkan.  This was a difficult thing for Klal Yisroel to accept but "Vayaasu es kol asher tzivah Hashem es Moshe" and they distanced themselves from the Mishkan and allowed the Leviim to move in. The Eitz Yosef says on, that Klal Yisroel did this b'leiv shalom and that's why  the posuk says "K'chol asher tzivah Hashem es Moshe kein asu."  Its mashma from the posuk that at first Klal Yisroel encamped around the Mishkan and probably did so because they wanted to be as close to Hashem and be zoche to as much growth in ruchniyus as they could possibly get.  However, Hashem let them know that they were undeserving of being so close and would be killed if they did not move.  Bnei Yisroel listened to Hashem and vacated the area bleiv shalom, and that was the tremendous praise that was given to them by the Torah, that they did it bleiv shaleim.  The Rosh Yeshiva ztl asks, what was the great praise of retreating "bleiv shaleim"? They should have been broken hearted,"bleiv Shavur".  Here they were all excited to get as close as possible to Hashem in order to strive to the highest levels of ruchniyus they could possibly achieve, and were just told that they just didn't make the cut, they weren't good enough.  Shouldn't the thought of not making it due to lack of greatness and even due to aveiros cause them extreme distress?  The Rosh Yeshivah explains, that yes they were down for not being able to make it because of their avieros, but on a seperate note by moving away from the Mishkan they were fulfilling the Tzivuy of Hashem and that gave them tremendous simcha and allowed them to move "bleiv shaleim".  There are times when we may find ourselves in similar situations, many times where the easiest thing to do is just be broken hearted.  We do something wrong and it hinders us from continuing our growth as an eved Hashem.  Klal Yirsoel was down, they couldn't be as close as they wanted because of things they had done wrong, but they didn't break, they regrouped and went straight into continuing serving Hashem to the best of their ability, which in this case was to complete the move happily.  We get knocked down and we let ourselves just stay down.  We have to be able to be unhappy with ourselves for falling, but we have to keep our heart intact, pick ourselves up, and continue down the path that will bring us closer and closer to Hashem. . .Good Shabbos

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AVrohom Vegh
http://jewish-links.yolasite.com/

Behar bechukosai

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem..... In perek Chaf vav posuk mem beis near the conclusion of the Tochacha it says, "V'zacharti es brisi Yaakov v'af es brisi Yitzchak v'af es brisi Avraham ezkor, v'ha'aretz ezkor."  I will remember the bris of Yaakov Yitzchak and Avraham, and my land.  Rav Yaakov Aryeh Neiman ztl asks, what is this posuk doing here?  Hashem is in middle of letting us know of the terrible tzaros that will befall us if we don't follow his Torah and Mitzvos and then he throws in "Btw i'll remember the bris I made with your forefathers and i'll remember the land."  At first you may try to think of a way that this posuk means something negative and therefore fits right in with everything else, but its in Rosh Hashana shmone esrei by zichronos so that can't be true.  Rav Neiman explains that Hashem was sending us an important message.  Many times when people have tzaros whether it's an individual or an entire group, they begin to feel "yiush", hopelessness.  How could so many terrible things be happening to them if Hashem really cared about them?  Therefore Hashem is telling us, even in the worst of times and even when we deserve every little bit of your pain because we threw away the yoke of Torah, still Hashem is with us, and he will do small acts of good to remind us that he's next to us holding our hand.  This is the famous pshat in the Yalkut Shimoni in Parshas vayeishev from the Alter of Kelm and Rav Chaim Shmulevitz ztl, when Yosef was going down to Mitzrayim after his brothers sold him.  The Torah let's us know that normally the arab merchants had terrible smelling merchandise, this caravan however had bisamim and smelled good.  Who cares? Yosef at this moment probably felt that his whole life was falling apart, he was just sold as a slave, oh but it smells good! Now things are great! The Teretz is not that now everythings better, but Hashem made it smell good as a way of telling Yosef "I'm still with you every step of the way, and I will always be with you". Sometimes it may seem that Hashem is nowhere in sight, but he is always with us, taking care of us, and many times if we just look down we'll realize that he is right there carrying us on his shoulders protecting us from greater harm... Good Shabbos   

Parshas Emor

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem.... In perek chaf dalid posuk yud, when the Torah begins the famous story of the mikalel, it says, "Vayeitzei ben isha yisraeilis vhu ben ish mitzri bsoch bnei Yisroel, vayinatzu bamachane ben hayisraeilis v'ish hayisraeili."  Rashi brings down from the Toras Kohanim that we see from the fact that it says "mitoch bnei Yisroel" that the mikalel was migayer.  Whether or not the mikalel needed to be migayer since his mother was jewish is a whole discussion, because the halacha is that an oveid kochavim habah al bas yisroel havlad kasher (-if a non-jew has a child with a jewish woman, the child is pure).  In any event, everyone holds that he was a jew and based on that, the Turei Zahav (The Taz) has a question.  In Shemos, when Moshe killed the Mitzri it says that he checked to make sure that there was nobody from him that would be migayer and only then did he kill him.  What about the mikalel? He was the son of
 this Mitzri so why was he not included?  The Taz gives two answers.  The first is that Moshe was checking from then on and the Mikalel had already been born.  The second is that the mikalel was not included because he was a rasha and rishaim are not considered  a part of Klal Yisroel.  The Rosh Yeshiva ztl derived a tremendous yesod from the Turei Zahav's first teretz.  This lowly Mikalel was enough of a reason for Moshe to not kill the Mitzri.  Had he looked into this Mitzri's furture before the Mikalel was born, and seen his birth in the future, it would have been sufficient to shield the Mitzri from his death even though in the end he stooped low enough to lose both his olam hazeh and olam haba.   We see the tremendous kedusha of each and every one of us, and how special we are.  No matter where we are holding in life we have to remember how special we are and use that knowledge to assist
 us in continuing to grow.. Good Shabbos

Acharei Mos-Kedoshim

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem.... In perek yud ches pesukim beis and heh when Hashem comes to Moshe Rabbeinu to have him warn klal Yisroel for the toeivos he says, "Ani Hashem".  Rashi explains that Hashem was saying that "I am the same Hashem from Har Sinia and I am ne'eman to pay you back either good for withholding from arayos or bad for being nichshal.  At the end of the warning in posuk lamud "Ani Hashem" is repeated.  Rashi explains here that what Hashem is saying is, if you are mitameh yourself with these things  then you are "nifsal meiacharai".  Why do I need you? The Sifsei Chachamim explains that Rashi said this because he knew that the first time Hashem said it was for schar and therefore knew that this time Hashem was kaviyochal disowning people who didn't listen.  I heard from my Shaul Umeishav Harav Yehoshua Schloss shlita that we can see a tremendous thing from this.  The first warning to someone who wants to do unheard of things such as mishkav zachar is that if they do it they will be punished tremendously by Hakodosh Baruch Hu.  However it seems that that is not enough.  The Torah has to go on to say that Hashem will break his connection with someone who does these toeivos.  Here we have a person who is ready to do who knows what and the idea of being paid back tremendously is not enough to stop, this person seems beyond help!  Yet the Torah says Hashem will disown you, and its mashma that that will have an effect on them!  True it may be a mixture of the fear of bing punished mixed with the desire to not be disowned, but either way we see a tremendous concept.  Everyone, no matter where they are holding, has a desire, a tshuka, to have a connection with Hashem.  They could be down in the dumps and have desires they want to fulfill and not care what will happen to them physically or emotionally as a result of this action.  However, even in such a dire situation, they are not ready to give up their connection with Hashem Yisborach! Mi K'iamcha Yisroel...Good Shabbos

Parshas Tazria Mitzorah

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem.....  In perek yud dalid, posuk beis, it says, "Zos tihiyeh Toras hamitzorah biyom taharaso v'huva el hakohen."  The Medrash Rabbah brings down a famous story.  A peddler was once selling his wares and called out "who wants to buy the potion of life?"  People flocked around him to see what he had to sell and maybe buy some extra life for themselves.  Rav Yanai heard this and decided he wanted to buy some.  However, the peddler told him he didn't need it, but after much persistance the peddler gave in and opened a Tehillim and showed him, "Mi ha'ish hechafetz chayim oheiv yamim liros tov, nitzor lishoncha meira usifasecha midaber mirma."  Reb Yanai responded, "My whole life I've been reading this posuk and I never realized how simple it is."  What Rav Yanai gained that he didn't understand before is a discussion in itself however Rav Yaakov Aryeh Neiman zt"l (Darchei Mussar) asks, what was everyone thinking when they all came running?  Didn't they know that you can't buy the elixir of life?  Furthermore, once they heard what he meant they should have stoned him!  Here they were shutting down their businesses, putting their lives to a halt to acquire the greatest possession one can possibly acquire and it turns out that he reads them a posuk on how to better themselves!  Elah mai, says the Darchei Mussar, they must have known that the peddler was talking about gaining something in ruchniyus when they all came flocking.  They all closed their stores and put their lives to a halt so that they can hear a chidush in Avodas Hashem.  They understood that olam hazeh is nothing and a life of Torah and Olam Habah is the only life, and therefore knew that he must have been selling "life" as they knew it.  We find this idea in Chazal on the posuk of "V'nas el achas ha'arim vachai."  If someone has to go to golus, his rebbe must go with him because the posuk says "va'chai", and a life without a Torah and a Rebbe is not a life.  This is an unbelievable darher.  Forget about what we would be thinking when we heard the announcement in the market "wow I could live forever!" Picture what would happen to the peddler once we heard what he had to say.  We should work on ourselves to be on that madrega of our forefathers to understand what true "Chaim" is..... Good Shabbos..

Parshas Shmini

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R'Yisroel Menachem..... In perek yud posuk beis it says "Vateizei eish milifnei Hashem vatochal osam vayamusu lifnei Hashem." The Medrash says that R'Levi said that the problem with Nadav and Avihu was that they were extremely haughty and therefore they caused many women who wanted to marry them alot of tzaar. Many women wanted to marry them and therefore waited for them and never got married. Nadav and Avihu said "our fathers brother is the melech, our mothers brother is the nasi, our father is the kohen gadol and we are kohanim, what woman is worthy of us?" The Rosh Yeshivah ztl asks, what did Nadav and Avihu do wrong? They didn't force these women to wait for them, they didn't even want them to so what did they do wrong? Elah mai the Rosh Yeshivah said we can see from here how responsible we are for things that we cause, even indirectly (gramah) Eve
 though Nadav and Avihu didn't mean for this to happen, they had acted "shelo kihogen" and therefore had caused the pain to these women and were held accountable. Furthermore, the Rosh Yeshivah explained, from R' Levi we see that the reason why Nadav and Avihu were chayav Misa was not because of their Gaivah, and not even for not fulfilling the mitzvah of "pru u'rvu" which is considered like shvichas domim, as if you killed people. Their aveira was causing tzaar to these women. We see how terrible it is to even in a backhanded way cause tzaar to people and how careful we should be to make sure that we don't... Good Shabbos.

Shabbos Hagadol

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R'Yisroel Menachem....... The Lekach Tov brings down, that there's a Medrash that says, that the reason why this week is called "Shabbos Hagadol" is because anyone who did an aveira and is mischareit and does Teshuva, Hashem will be michaper on all his aveiros. The author of the "Kometz Hamincha" asks, What does teshuvah and kaparah have to do with Shabbos Hagadol? He explains as follows. The Medrash says that Klal Yisroel in Mitzrayim were serving avodah zarah. Hashem told Moshe, "as long as bnei Yisroel are serving avodah zarah, I will not take them out. Go tell them to remove themselves and do teshuvah" As it says in Parshas Bo "mishchu uki'chu lachem"  withdraw from avodah zarah and take the god of Mitzrayim and bring a karbon Pesach. The day that Klal Yisroel withdrew from avodah zarah was on Shabbos yud Nisan, right before they brought the Karbon,
 right before the left Mitzrayim. This day was a tremendous day for our ancestors, it was kimat a Yom Kippur and that is why its called Shabbos Hagadol, and that's why anyone who is mischareit on this holy Shabbos, Hashem is michaper all their averios. We should be Zoche to utilize this special Shabbos Hagadol and go into the chag of Pesach completely pure. Good Shabbos and Chag Kasher V'sameach....

Parshas Vayikra

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R'Yisroel Menachem..... In perek alef posuk gimmel it says "Im olah Karbano min habakar zachar tamim yakrivenu el pesach ohel moed yakriv oso li'ritzono lifnei Hahem."  Rashi says, yakriv oso teaches us that the guy doesn't want to bring the korban, we force him.  He continues that you might think we make him bring it against his will, so the posuk says "li'ritzono" to tell us that they force him until he says "rotzeh ani".  The Gemorah in Kidushin says the same idea when it comes to a person who Beis Din is trying to make divorce his wife.  The Rambam in Hilchos Geirushin brings down the Halacha and asks, how could this be a good get?  We know that if someone beats a guy until he sells him something it doesn't work, so what's the difference between being forced into a sale you don't want or being forced into doing the right thing against your will? The Rambam answers with an unbelieveable yesod.  This guy who doesn't want to divorce his wife, wants to be a part of Klal Yisroel.  Deep down he wants to do the mitzvos and stay away from aveiros and do the right things.  Elah mai, something is blocking that internal feeling, but that is what is truly inside of him.  Therefore, when Beis Din forces the guy until he says he wants it, its not a fake desire, the force had the koach to remove the yetzer harah that was blocking his true feelings and now his real pnimi'is can break through.  The Rosh Yeshivah Ztl explained that we have to understand how far this goes.  We're not only discussing the regular "frum" jews that we know.  That we learn with and sit next to in shul. The bums who are koifer b'ikar, the lowlives that don't keep a word of what the Torah says, are included in this.  These rishaim have a deep internal yearning to be a part of klal
 Yisroel.  To keep all the mitzvos, and stay away from aveiros.  They too want to listen to the Chachamim when they are told to divorce their wife, even though they probably love her and are close to her and on the other end have no "external" positive feelings towards Yiddishkeit.  This is a tremendous lesson for all of us.  When we realize how connected we truly are to Hakodosh Baruch Hu, and how lucky we are that we don't have to push so far to show our true colors, we can find the koach to make that push, however big it is and to truly serve Hashem "bi'ritzoneinu"... Good Shabbos

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AVrohom Vegh

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AVrohom Vegh

Parshas Vayakhel Pekudei

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem..... In perek lamud ches posuk chf beis it says "U'Betzalel ben Uri ben Chur l'matei Yehuda asah eis kal asher tziva Hashem es Moshe" Rashi explains, that it doesn't say "asher tziva oso Moshe" what Moshe commanded him, rather what Hashem commanded Moshe, because even things Moshe did not tell him he figured out. Moshe told him to make the keilim and then to build the Mishkan, but Bezalel asked "isnt it the norm to first build the house and then build furnishing for it? Moshe responded that Betzalel was correct and that Hashem had told him to make build the Mishkan before the keilim, and praised him saying "Btzeil keil Hayisa" you were in the shadow of Hashem when he told me. Therefore, Betzalel first built that Mishkan and then the Keilim. The Gur Aryeh and others discuss how it was possible that Moshe Rabeinu made such a mistake, and actually forgot a part of his nevuah. However even with that issue resolved, the Rosh Yeshiva Ztl was bothered by a seemingly obvious question. Why would Betzalel question  Moshe's command? Did he not believe that     Moshe was receiving his nevuah directly from Hakadosh Baruch Hu? The Rosh Yeshiva explained, that obviously Betzalel believed what Moshe was telling him was one hundred percent true, however he felt there was something he was lacking because he did not understand what Moshe was telling him. Building the keilim first didn't seem right to him, and therefore he asked Moshe so that he could fully understand his command. Many people make the mistake of thinking, that needing to believe what their Rabbeim tell them means just to take everything they say and listen without ever asking. This is a tremendous mistake! True one must listen to their Rebbe, and not react with the famous lines of "He just doesn't understand my situation, of course he'd agree with me if he did." or "he didn't understand what I was asking", however there is no crime in trying to understand what it is your Rebbe told you to do. The more you understand how your Rebbe thinks and acts the more you can grow. Betzalel's questioning allowed him to reach the madrega of "btzeil Kel" being in the shadow of Hashem. We should all strive to understand what our Rabbeim say, in Torah, Halacha and everyday Hashkafas Hachaim.... Good Shabbos

Ki Sisa

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R'Yisroel Menachem..... In perek lamud beis psukim alef and dalid it says "Vayar ha'am ki boshesh Moshe laredes min hahar...Va'yaseihu eigel maseicha vayomru eileh elokecha."  Rashi says that it doesn't say "eileh elokeinu," "this is our g-d", rather it says "this is your g-d".  From here we see that the instigators for the eigel were the eirev rav, and they were the ones that made it, and only after Klal Yisroel was nicshal and follwed along.  Rav Chaim Shmulevitz ztl asks, we see that Klal Yisroel would not have sinned if not for the eirev rav, but what about the eirav rav themselves?  They were part of the dor deah, part of a tremendous generation.  Chazal say, "Ra'asah shifcha al hayam ma shelo ra'ah haniviim." The eirav rav were there too.  They saw the shchina; They were included in "vayiru ha'am es Hashem va'ya'aminu ba'Hashem uvi'Moshe avdo."  How
 could they stoop so low?  Reb Chaim answers, "ra'asah shifcha", the shifcha saw the shchina!  She was a part of tremendous nisim.  Wouldn't you think that at the end of the day she would be greater than the neviim?  Yet she remained a shifcha.  The tremendous nisim that occurred did not change who she was.  We see from here a tremendous yesod.  It is not being a part of great events that makes you great.  No outside source can make you grow.  True growth comes from working on yourself, your midos, your learning, your mentshlichkeit, on the things that will help you become a bigger eved Hashem.  The eirev rav saw a lot, they were part of many nisim, but it was exterior, it was not a part of them, and so they remained on their madrega, and were able to be machti the rabim with an eigel.   But a Navi Hashem's spark comes from within, his growth is not exterior and therefore it helps him grow to greater heights.  We can see how important it is to truly work on ourselves to grow from within and reach our true potential... Good Shabbos

Purim/Titzaveh

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R'Yisroel Menachem and my grandfather Rav Baruch Moshe Aryeh ben R' Zev Yehudah (Yahrtzeit was Yud Adar)... (little different than usual) In Meseches Megila the Gemorah says that the reason why Klal Yisroel deserved to be punished was because they were nehene from the seuda of Achashveirosh, and because they bowed down to the Tzelem of Nevuchadnetzer. Reb Yonasan Aybeshetz ztl asks, why would Klal Yisroel be punished now in the times of Achasveirosh for bowing down to the tzelem of Nevuchadnetzer, wouldn't it make more sense to punish them right then, or at least the next dor during Baal Shaatzar's reign? Also, why would having hana'ah from Achashveirosh's party make them chayiv misa? Its a lav not a misa? To answer these questions, he brings down a Zohar that asks, when Yaakov met Esav how was he able to bow down to him? The Zohar answers, that the
 posuk says "vhu avar lifneihem" "vhu" is reffering to the Shechina. Yaakov saw the shechina passing by and bowed, and Esav made the mistake of thinking that Yaakov was bowing to him. It says in the Medrash that the tzelem of Nevuchadnetzer had the Tzitz from the Beis Hamikdash with the The name of Hkbh on it, therefore Klal Yisroel took a lesson from their father Yaakov and bowed down to Hashem causing Nevuchadnetzer to mistakingly believe that they were bowing to the Tzelem. However, in truth, once the Tzitz fell into the hands of the goyim, it lost its kedusha as it says in Avoda Zarah "u'bau pritzim v'chaliluhu" Once the pritzim got the keilim they were nischalel.  The party of Achashveirosh was filled with the keilim of the Mikdash, and the Halacha for m'ilah b'meizid is misa. However, the claim could have been, that once the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed there is no Din Hekdash
 anymore and therefore no isar of m'ilah so the jews there were only doing a lav. Using this as their excuse would cause them massive problems, because mimah nafshach, if there is no din hekdash after the beis Hamikdash is destroyed, then what were they doing bowing down to the Tzelem of Nevuchadnetzer, and they are chayiv misa, and if there still is a din of hekdash, then how could they use the keilim by Achashveirsoh's party, and that is why they were chayiv misa. That is why Hashem waited until Achashveirosh's dor, because until then Klal Yisroel had a good svara why they bowed to the tzelem, and that is why eating by the party would have a penalty of death.... Good Shabbos and Afreilichin Purim

Parshas Mishpatim

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem......In perek chaf alef posuk lamud zayin "ki Yigniv ish shor oh seh u'tvacho oh micharo chamisha bakar yishaleim tachas hashor v'arbah tzon tachas haseh" Reb Yaakov Aryeh Neiman ztl author of the Darchei Mussar brings down a very famous chazal. The Rivaz says, that the reason why a ganav pays less for the seh than the shor is because he has to carry the sheep on his shoulder. Reb Yeruchum Levovitz ztl adds an extra nekuda, doing an aveira and being happy and nehene from it is incomperable to doing an aveira and being bitzaar as you are doing it, feeling those pangs of guilt as you are giving in to the yetzer harah. The ganav who is carrying the sheep on his shoulders and is embarrassed  is not having the same hana'ah from his newly acquired possesion. He's not so happy that he stole and therefore has some charata in his heart, that
 is why he has a lighter punishment. The Darchei Mussar says that if this is how onshim work its forsure true by schar. Someone who does a mitzvah happily gets much more schar than one who does it in an unhappy state. In the Parsha of the Tochacha it says that the whole reason why the Tochacha was given was "Tachas asher lo avadita es Hashem Elokecha bLsimcha" There are people who ask, how could the whole tochacha have been given just for people not doing mitzvos with simcha? Isn't the main part still at the end of the day doing the mitzvah? They answer that its not saying that they did the mitzvos but didn't do them b'simcha, there's a comma after "Elokecha" they went against Hashem B'simcha. However, one Goan explained that both readings are correct. Originally, people begin serving Hashem, but without any happiness, without any good feelings, and therefore they are led to completely abandoning the mitzvos, and that is done with simcha. There's a tremendous lesson to be learned. Firstly, we see how important it is to do the mitzvos we do happily, and how in doing so it is a completely differet action. We also see that there's a domino effect, just as not doin mitzvos b'simcha causes u to totally cease to do them, by starting with doing small things that are easy B'simcha we could strengthen ourselves to be able to be oved Hashem completely in the highest way possible. Good Shabbos

Parshas Yisro

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem....... In perek yud tes posuk beis it says "Vayisu meirifidim Vayavou mitbar Sinai vayachanu bamidbar, Vayichan sham Yisroel neged hahar."  Rashi says that the Torah wrote "Vayichan" a singular lashon as appose to Ovayachanu" because they were K'ish echad bleiv echad, one man with one heart.  Reb Chaim Shmulevitz ztl brings down, that Chazal say, because they lived together in such harmony without any resentment toward one another, they were zoche to Kabalas Ha'Torah.  Hashem said "Hoil v'sanu Yisroel es hamachlokes v'ahavo es hashalom v'naaseh chaniyah achas, harei ha'shaah she'etein lahem es Torasi." Surely Klal Yisroel was on a tremendous level, however the thing that caused them to deserve Kabalas Hatorah was their oneness, their unbelieveable bond to one another.  The Gemorah in Sanhedrin says "'Sheker Hachein' zu Doro shel Moshe V'yehoshuah" because they were osek in Torah, "'hevel Hayofi' zu doro shel Chizkiyahu," because they were even more osek in Torah than the dor of Moshe, "isha yiraas Hashem hi tisalal" zu doro shel Reb Yehuda be Rebbi Ilaiy because they would have six talmidim under one taalis.  Pashut pshat is that even though they were extremely poor, they pushed themselves to learn in an extremely difficult situation." However, Reb Chaim says, that the gadlus was something else.  Most people worry about themselves, imagine being underneath one taalis/blanket with five other guys on a freezing winter night.  In the freezing cold you're trying to get as much of the blanket as you possibly coud, but the guy next to you is doing the exact same thing, at the end of the night all six guys are freezing cold.  Imagine if you cared about the guy next to you and instead of trying to keep yourself covered and warm you were pushing the blanket towards your friend, and he is pushing it toward you, at the end of the night, everyone is covered, everyone is warm.  This was the greatness of the dor of Reb Yehuda ben Illaiy, each person honestly cared so much for their freinds, for their neighbors. Chazal say that these three doros are mentioned because these are the second and third doros that could have accepted the Torah, had Moshe's dor not been mikabel it.  Rashi says that although the first two were tremendous, the third was even greater than the first two because "shisha b'talis achas" is the highest level of "K'ish echad bleiv echad" throughout all doros of Klal Yisroel, and therefore they deserved to be mikabel the Torah more than any other dor.  We see the koach of shalom, of v'ahavta lreiacha kamocha, how much it could bring.  We should work on ourselves to truly feel like we are one, "k'ish echad bleiv echad"... Good Shabbos

Parshas Beshalach

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem (today is the first Yahrtzeit of Elchonon)....
In perek yud dalid posuk chaf alef it says "Va'yeit Moshe es yado al hayam vayoled Hashem es Hayam b'ruach kadim azah kal halayla, vayasem es hayam lecharavah vayibaku hamayim" Moshe stretched out his hand over the sea, and Hashem made a wind come and split it. In Tehillim it says "hayam ra'ah va'yanas" The yam saw the aron of Yosef and split. Hashem told the sea "yanus mipnei ha'nas" as it says by the story of eishes Potiphar, "vayanas Hachutzah" The Darchei Mussar, Rav Yaakov Aryeh Neiman Ztl asks, If Hashem told the sea to split, why would the sea need to see the aron of Yosef to make it split? He answers that Hashem did not tell the Yam to split, rather he told Moshe to stretch his hand over it and split it. Moshe was the one commanding the yam to split, which he had the koach to
 because Hashem gave tzadikkim the power to be mitzaveh parts of the briah to listen to them.  However, the yam did not feel that it had to listen to Moshe because it too did the ratzon of Hashem so what made Moshe better than it? However, when it saw the aron of Yosef it understood the difference between itself and Moshe Rabbeinu, between man and angel. True both of them are doing the ratzon Hashem but its no kuntz for the Malach. Every step that we take is filled with tremendous nisyonos that can hold us back and destroy us. Yes the yam listened to all Hashem commanded, but after seeing the aron of Yosef it understood, man who fights on and continues doing the ratzon Hashem even through tough times, even through a maaseh eishes Potiphar,is far greater than it, and therefore it knew that it should listen to Moshe Rabbeinu..
Good Shabbos.