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