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.

Parshas Bo

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R'Yisroel Menachem..... In perek yud beis, posuk chaf ches, regarding the karbon pesach it says, "Vayeilchu vaya'asu Bnei Yisroel ka'asher tziva Hashem es Moshe V'Aharon ken asu.  "Rashi says that the Torah is coming to give praise to Klal Yisroel that they did not leave out a single thing that Moshe and Aharon told them to do. The Rosh Yeshivah ztl asks, it's mashma from Rashi that the great thing that Klal Yisroel did was that they did exactly as they were told, what happened to the fact that they were risking their lives to take the god of their masters from right under their noses?  Wouldn't you think that that is a much greater feat, and should be a greater reason for praise?  The Rosh Yeshivah explains that we see that what Klal Yisroel did must have been a tremendous accomplishment.  The teva of a person is not to do things exactly as they are told, not to do
 it, with every single prat.  Klal Yisroel did not leave one single thing out, they pushed themselves to go against their natural genetic makeup, and that is an unbelievable accomplishment. Its brought down in seforim the tremendous difference in schar between doing mitzvos, and doing mitzvos b'shleimus.  By focusing a little more as we do mitzvos, we can fight our teva and bring our mitzvos to a level of shleimus.. Good Shabbos

Parshas Shemos

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R'Yisroel Menachem........ In perek alef posuk vav the posuk says "Vayamas Yosef vchal echav vchal hador hahu. The Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh says, as long as any of the brothers were alive, the mitzrim respected Bnei Yisrael, and even after they died, as long as there was one person from that generation still around, Bnei Yisrael were still chashuv in the eyes of the mitzrim, and the mitzrim couldn't bring themselves to enslave them. He also says, that when Yosef passed away, Bnei Yisrael were lowered from their stature. Originally, they were greater than the mitzrim, and when Yosef died, they became equal. When the brothers passed away, they became lower than the mitzrim, yet they still did not enslave them. Only after the entire generation was gone did they begin to enslave Bnei Yisrael. Reb Chaim Shmulevitz ztl says that even though the mitzrim were
 terrible risha'im, they were unable to enslave klal Yisrael, as long was Klal Yisrael was Chashuv in their eyes. Only after they began looking at them as lowly beings were they able to enslave them. Reb Chaim says, that there are two sides to this. One mitzad the mitzrim themselves. They just couldn't enslave someone who they believed was great. Two, mitzad Bnei Yisrael themselves. As long as they themselves felt that they were chashuv, as long as they felt confident that they were great, the mitzrim could not get to them. Only once they began to feel that they were not chashuv, were they capable of being enslaved.  This is the derech of the yetzer harah, at first he tries to make us believe things are muttar, when that fails he tries to convince us that we are not worth so much, we are not so great. If we keep in mind how great we are and how much each and every one of us is worth to
 Hkbh, how great all of our actions are to him, then we will all Iyh be zoche to guard ourselves from aveiros, and the traps of the yetzer harah..... Good Shabbos

Parshas Vayechi

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem.......... In this weeks haftorah the first two psukim say, "Vayikrivu yimei David Lamus Vayitzav es Shlomo bno laimor.  Anochi holeich lamus biderech kol ha'aretz v'chazakta v'hayisa l'ish."  Dovid tells Shlomo that he is going to die and Shlomo should be strong and become a man.  The Ralbag says that what Dovid meant by "V'chazakta v'hayisa l'ish," was that he should not act like a youth, rather he should act as an adult, as an "Ish Gadol," and be shaul eitzah from people.  The Rosh Yeshivah Ztl says, that we see from this Ralbag that what seperates an "Ish tzi'ir" from an "Ish gadol" is that a youth will rely on his own wisdom and will not ask people for advice ever, while a real man will seek advice and therfore be matzliach.  The youth believes he doesn't need any help, and by asking he is lowering himself down, and it's a pchisa in his kavod so its too hard for him to ask.  David Hamelech knew how great Shlomo was and how brilliant he was, but Dovid was afraid that in this nekuda, Shlomo would act like a youth and not ask for advice from others.  Therefore, in order to make sure that Shlomo's kingdom flourished David made sure to relay this message to him.  So many times we in our everyday life, whether it's in business or in learning, or in anything that we may need advice, we feel like we are too good to ask, as if asking belittles us.  We don't realize that that's far from the truth.  One who can bring themself to be shaul eitzah is far greater than one who can't.  It's the difference between an "ish Tz'ir" and an "ish gadol." It's what seperates the men from the boys...... Good Shabbos

Parshas Mikeitz

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R'Yisroel Menachem..... In perek mem alef psukim lamud tes and mem it says, "Vayomer Pharaoh el Yosef, acharei hodia Elokim oscha es kol zos ein navon v'chacham kamocha.  Atah tihiyeh al beisi, v'al picha yishak kol ami, rak hakisei egdal mimeka."  Reb Chaim Shmulevitz ztl asks, how does this make any sense? How did Pharaoh just give over so much of his kingdom to some random eved who was young, a stranger, and to top it off an ivri! Very nice he interpreted a dream for him, but should that be something that causes Pharaoh to just sign off his whole country to Yosef?  Reb Chaim answers, bsheim the Alter of Kelm, ztl, that what Pharaoh saw was the Yiras Shomayim that Yosef had.  He saw how Yosef responded when he said, "Elokim ya'aneh es shilom Pharaoh."  "I don't have any powers to interpret your dream, Hashem will.  That is why Pharaoh answered, "Acharei hodia Elokim."  He saw that the wisdom that Yosef had was straight from Hkbh and therefore knew that he deserved to be and would do wonders as a leader.  Everyone is mivatel themselves in front of a true Yiras Shomayim.... Good Shabbos and Afreilichin Chanuka

Parshas Vayeishev

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R'Yisroel Menachem.......In Perek Kuf Yud Dalid Kapital Gimmel in Tehillim it says "Ha'yam Ra'ah Va'yanas" Chazal discuss that what the sea saw that caused it to split was the aron of Yosef that was coming toward the sea. Hashem told the sea "Yanus Mipnei Hanas" as it says in Perek Lamud Tes Posuk Yud Beis "Va'yanas Va'yeitzei Hachutzah"..Yosef fled and ran outside (away from eishes Potiphar).Rav Chaim Shmulevitz ztl is troubled by why running out was singled out from all the other things that he did - For stopping himself from the etzem aveira he got tremendous schar. Not only that, Chazal go through each limb of his and the schar that he got for not doing an aveira with that limb.Obviously there is  something extra special and extra hard about his running outside above all the other restraints,that caused him to get the greatest reward of all, having the Yam Suf split to save all of Klal Yisroel,.Reb Chaim explains,that this teaches us a tremendous yesod in the avoda of man. We all think that we will work on ourselves for years and then we'll go out out and fight our yetzer harah! We think that after preparing for the fight, we have a chance against him! How foolish can we be?! From Yosef we see the way to win is to run, get out of the ring.He knew that sticking around for even one more second would just increase his chances of losing the battle. He understood the power of the yetzer harah and therefore ran for his life not even taking a second to grab his beged (which ended up costing him jail time).Its not easy,in fact its extremely difficult,and that is why Yosef got the most schar for that action. However,it is vital for us to take this to heart. It is almost impossible to beat the yetzer harah, no matter how great we think we are. Don't make it into a boxing match,its not worth it. Sometimes it's good to look like a chicken, sometimes that's the only way to win..Good Shabbos and A Freilichin Chanuka