PRAYING AGAINST THE YETSER HARA - SHELACH

SHELACH - PRAYING AGAINST THE YETSER HARA The incident of the spies is one of the most well-known stories in the Torah and there is much discussion as to how such great men could commit such a terrible sin. Another very important aspect of this maaseh is the actions of the righteous men in their attempts to withstand joining in the sin. The Torah tells us that after sending the spies to Eretz Yisroel, Moshe renamed his closest student . Up till this point he was known as ‘Hoshea‘, but now Moshe added a ’yud’ to make the name ‘Yehoshua’. Rashi explains that Moshe davenned that Yehoshua would be saved from the nisayon posed by being with the meraglim - this tefilla manifested itself in adding a yud to his name. A few passukim later the Torah alludes to the fact that whilst in Eretz Yisroel, another of the spies, Kalev, separated from the group and went to Chevron to daven to be protected from the plan of the meraglim . The Ben Ish Chai and Maskil leDavid both ask that these tefillas seem to contradict a well-known axiom, that ‘everything is in the hands of heaven except for fear of heaven.’ This means that the one thing that is completely in the control of man is the ability to choose between right and wrong. Davenning for things beyond our control, such as health and parnasa, can be highly beneficial because those things are totally dependent on Divine Providence. However, davenning to not sin would seem to have no benefit because Hashem does not determine whether we sin - that is completely in our hands. Consequently, it is very hard to understand why Moshe davenned for Yehoshua and why Kalev davenned for himself.to avoid sinning - whether they would sin or not was not dependent on Hashem, it was dependent on their own free will! The Ben Ish Chai explains that there are two different ways by which a person can come to commit a sin. One is where he has total clarity that a certain act is forbidden but he nonetheless decides to do it with a clear recognition that he is sinning. The second is where his yetser hara clouds his judgment and persuades him that this act is permissible, enabling him to rationalize that he is not sinning at all. The principle that fear of heaven is completely our own hands only applies to the first form of sinning, where a person is absolutely clear that acting in such a way constitutes a sin. In this area there is no benefit for a person to pray for Hashem to stop him committing this sin, it is purely in his own hands and Hashem cannot, so-to-speak, change his free will decision. However, this is not the case with regard to the second form of nisayon where a person may genuinely believe that he is not sinning. The main factor that causes him to sin in such a case is lack of clarity as to the correct course of action. This it not completely within one‘s free will. When a person wants to do the right thing but is at risk of being seduced by his yetser hara he can turn to Hashem to help him not be clouded by its rationalizations. Therefore, in this situation it is beneficial to pray to Hashem. The Ben Ish Chai continues by explaining Yehoshua and Kalev faced the second form of nisayon where tefilla can help. The meraglim were great people and did not deliberately speak badly about the land without justifying their behavior. The Ben Ish Chai offers a novel explanation of their motivations; they felt that if they would tell the Jewish people about the great prosperity of Eretz Yisroel then they would enter with impure motives of physical gain rather than purely as a result of following Hashem’s command. Consequently, they decided to speak badly about the land with the hope that the Jewish people would nevertheless want to enter the land, leshem shamayim and would thus gain far greater reward. However, in truth, this reasoning was really the work of the yetser hara’s attempts to prevent the people from entering the land at all, as indeed occurred. Moshe davenned for Yehoshua that he would be protected from such types of rationalizations that would make him believe that it was a mitzva to speak badly about the land ! Similarly, Kalev prayed that he should maintain the clarity that would prevent him from falling into the clutches of the yetser hara. We have seen that there are two ways in which a person can come to sin; either by knowingly sinning or by begin duped by the yetser hara that he is not sinning at all. It seems that by far the more prevalent challenge is posed by the threat of being tricked into thinking that one is not sinning at all. The Nefesh HaChaim writes that a lack of clarity as to whether we are doing a mitzva or aveiro originates with the chet of Adam Harishon. Before the sin, Adam had total clarity as to what was good and evil, in his eyes, committing an aveira was as clearly damaging as putting one’s hand in fire. When he ate from the tree of knowledge of tov ve’ra he brought into himself a mix of good and evil. The consequence of this was that he lost that great clarity about the nature of evil, to the point that now, his yetser hara could now confuse him as to what is right and wrong. This is also the meaning behind that Gemara that states that when a person commits the same sin twice it becomes permissible in his eyes. Rav Yisroel Salanter was said to have commented that when he commits the sin a third time it becomes a mitzva in his eyes! We have noted in the past the observation of the Baal HaTania that pertains to this point. He writes that if one were to offer a Torah observant Jew money to blatantly commit a sin, he will not do so because he intellectually understands that the spiritual damage done by the sin will outweigh any material gain. And yet a person sins without any monetary gain because he convinces himself that he is not actually sinning. We learn from the explanation of the Ben Ish Chai that whilst we cannot request of Hashem to stop us sinning, with regard to the challenge of being tricked by the yetser hara, tefilla is a highly beneficial and necessary weapon. The yetser hara is constantly striving to deceive us into sinning and we must maintain a constant vigilance of being caught in the trap of rationalizations. As well as a consistent method of cheshbon hanefesh, the key tool to gaining clarity is to daven that Hashem help us open our eyes and enable us to follow the true path of Avodas Hashem.

SPYING AFTER OUR HEARTS - SHELACH

“And they will be tzitzis for you, and you shall see it and you shall remember all the commandments of HaShem, and perform them; and you shall not spy (loh sasuroo) after your heart and after your eyes after which you stray.” Parshas Shelach ends with the third paragraph of the Shema. That paragraph discusses the Mitzvo of Tzitzit and continues with another fundamental Mitzvo – not to follow our hearts and eyes. The Sifri elaborates on the meaning of these words. It explains that following one’s heart refers to meenus (herecy), whereas following one’s eyes refers to immorality. The simple understanding of the Sifri with regards to following one’s heart, is that this is the source for the prohibition against espousing beliefs that are antithetical to Torah. My Rebbe, Rav Yitzchak Berkovits Shlita, points out that there is a great difficulty with this understanding. Without the Mitzvo of ‘loh sassuroo’, there are a number of Mitzvos in the Torah that prohibit heretical beliefs: In the first of the Ten Commandments, The Torah commands us to believe that HaShem is the only G-d, who is all-powerful, created and sustains the whole universe, and has no beginning or end. The next Mitzvo exhorts us not to follow any other gods, which means that we cannot attribute any independent power to any force in the world. In the Mitzvo of ‘Shema’, the Torah further commands us to believe in the oneness of HaShem. The attitudes that the Torah forbids in these Mitzvos are the main beliefs that represent herecy. Accordingly, it would seem that the Torah has already sufficiently instructed us to avoid heretical beliefs. What is the Mitzvo of loh sassuroo coming to add? Rav Berkovits answers that the other Mitzvos are instructing us to have basic philosophical ideas on an intellectual level; for example, a person must believe intellectually that there is one G-d who created the world. However, an intellectual realization is not always sufficient to ensure that a person will adhere to the fundamental tenets of Jewish thought. A person may intellectually recognize these truths, however, his emotions or his physical desires (taivas) may cause him to act in conflict with his beliefs. In this vein, Chazal tell us that a person only sins when a ruach shtus (spirit of irrationality) enters into him. This means that his actions contradict what he rationally knows to be true. The Mitzvo of ‘loh sasuroo’ commands us to avoid this pitfall. By telling us not to go after our hearts, the Torah is instructing us not to allow our emotions to cause us to act against what we intellectually know to be true. This is not to say that the Torah views emotions in a negative light. This is certainly not the case and there is great room for expression of emotions in Torah. However, when emotions are not channeled through intellect, the consequences can be disastrous. The Torah is the vessel through which we are supposed to mold our intellect and filter our emotions through a prism of the Torah outlook. The incident of the spies provides us with examples of the correct and incorrect approaches with regard to following one’s heart. Here too, the root word, ‘lasur’, (to spy) is utilized by the Torah. HaShem instructed Moshe to send people to spy out the land. Moshe instructed the spies about which features to look for in the land. Included amongst his instructions he told them to observe the produce of the land, in order to see whether it was fruitful or not. He further instructed them to take note if there was a righteous man in the land, whose merit could protect the people there. With these directives, Moshe was alluding to the spies that they should observe the land with a certain disposition, one that was based on Torah hashkafa. He was telling them to view everything that they saw with spiritual eyes, so that large fruit would be viewed in a positive light, and that the significance of tzaddikim there was an important factor. Sadly, the majority of the spies did not heed Moshe’s instructions. They did indeed see large fruit, however they chose to interpret it in a negative fashion, and conveyed the message that this demonstrated that the land was strange in that it produced oversized fruits. They were guilty of a further misinterpretation when they saw a large number of funerals taking place in the land. They used this to show that the land destroyed its inhabitants, when, in truth HaShem caused large numbers of deaths so that the people would be busy with funerals and not notice the spies. What was the cause of their skewed attitude? They fell prey to the pitfall of following their emotions. They lacked trust in HaShem, and therefore felt fear at the prospect of having to enter Eretz Yisroel. Because of this flawed attitude they viewed everything they saw through a distorted vision. The only spies who overcame this test were Kalev and Yehoshua. They viewed everything they saw in a positive fashion because they were strong in their trust in HaShem – this prevented them from allowing any fear they may have had, to overcome what they knew to be true. We have seen how the Torah connects the lesson of the spies to the Mitzvo of ‘loh sasuroo’. The ten spies who sinned provide us with the example of how going after one’s heart leads to sin and ultimately herecy. The Torah imparts a further lesson as to how to avoid the pitfall of interpreting what we see in a detrimental fashion. In the very same verse in which the Torah tells us, ‘loh sasuroo’, it discusses the Mitzvo of tzitzis. “And they will be for you tzitzis, and you shall see it and you shall remember all the commandments of HaShem and perform them; and you shall not spy after your heart and after your eyes after which you stray.” The verse tells us that tzitzis will somehow remind us of the Mitzvos and this in turn will enable us to avoid following our heart and eyes. What is the connection between tzitzis and ‘loh sasuroo’? Rashi points out that Tzitzis remind us of the 613 Mitzvos because the gematria of ‘tzitzis’ is 600; in addition, there are eight strings and five knots – the total of these three figures is 613. In this way, by looking at tzitzis a person is supposed to go through this sequence of thought that will bring him to connect the tzitzis with the 613 Mitzvos. The obvious problem with this is that most people will see tzitzis and fail to make the connection that the Torah seems to expect they should make. It would have seemed to be more effective to command that tzitzis say a big ‘613’ on them, so that everyone will automatically be reminded of the 613 Mitzvos when they see it! The answer is that the Torah is teaching us that one must strive to be the kind of person who sees the world in such a way that a mundane item of clothing such as tzitzis will lead him to a sequence of thought that will remind him of the 613 Mitzvos. When a person brings himself to this level, then, as a consequence he will be able to observe the Mitzvo of ‘loh sasuroo’ because he will not see the world in a skewed manner based on his emotions, rather he will see it with spiritual eyes. We have seen that a constant theme of the Parsha is that the way a person thinks, will play a decisive role in how he interprets what he sees. It is no easy task to become the kind of person who sees everything with spiritual eyes, however the first stage is to strive to make one’s intellect and emotions in line with the Torah’s directives. The more saturated a person is with the Torah’s teachings, the more he will be able to emulate Kalev and Yehoshua. May we all merit to guide our emotions to bring us closer to Torah.

BEHAALOSECHA - HUMILITY - THE KEY TO GREATNESS

BEHAALOSECHA - HUMILITY - THE KEY TO GREATNESS In the end of the Parsha, Hashem describes Moshe Rabbeinu as the most humble man upon the face of the Earth. According to the Torah’s definition of greatness, Moshe represents the ultimate level a person can reach; he attained the greatest closeness to Hashem humanly possible, learnt the most Torah and was the teacher of all of Klal Yisroel. It is clear that his outstanding humility is directly connected to his greatness. This begs the question; there are numerous good midos such as kindness and honesty so why is it the mida of humility in particular that is the one that enabled him to become so great? In order to answer this it is instructive to analyse the mida which is the opposite of humility - arrogance. The Gemara in Sota describes Hashem’s hatred for the arrogant person - Hashem says that there is no room for Himself and the arrogant person (baal geiva) to ‘reside together. What does this mean? The baal geiva believes that he does not need Hashem to succeed in life. He feels that his own talents are sufficient and therefore he does not need Hashem’s ‘help’. Accordingly, Hashem responds mida ceneged mida and complies with this attitude - He provides the baal geiva with no siata dishmaya in his endeavors. That is the meaning of the idea that Hashem won’t reside with him. Therefore, he is greatly limited to what he can achieve by his own talents - because he is a mere human being he is limited. He may be intelligent, but his intelligence will only take him to a certain point. After that he is helpless. The anav has the opposite attitude. He realises that he has talents but that they are G-d given. Accordingly, he acknowledges that anything he strives to do can only be accomplished with Heavenly help (siata dishmaya). This realisation is not limiting, in fact it is incredibly empowering. For once a person recognizes that Hashem provides him with whatever ability is necessary, it becomes obvious that his potential is unlimited because the source for his success is Himself unlimited! If a person is willing to exert the necessary hishtadlus in doing Ratson Hashem then he can achieve success that even transcends the regular laws of nature (derech hateva). This explains why Moshe Rabbeinu’s mida of humility enabled him to reach such incredible heights. He realised that anything he tried to do was only through the power given to him by Hashem. This recognition removed any limitations on what he could do, and as we see many times in the Torah he attained supernatural achievements. In Parshas Vayakhel The Ramban describes an example of how humility - the recognition that Hashem is the source of all our strengths - can enable ordinary people to achieve great things. The Torah, in discussing the building of the Mishkan, tells us that “every man whose heart inspired him came.” The Ramban explains that this refers to the people who came to do the skilled work such as sewing, weaving and building. But there is a difficulty with this explanation - the Jews in Mitzrayim had no opportunity to learn skilled activities such as these so how did these people suddenly possess the ability to do them?! He answers that “their hearts were raised in the ways of Hashem” to the degree that they found in their nature the ability to do things that they had never learnt how to do. They realised that Hashem is the source of all our ability and consequently they were able to achieve the impossible. Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz zt”l develops this theme even further. He quotes the passuk in Mishlei, “Go to the ant, you lazy one, see its ways and become wise.” The Medrash explains what we are supposed to learn from the ant: “This ant only lives six months and all it needs to eat [it’s whole life] is one and a half kernels of wheat, and it goes and gathers all the wheat and barley that it can find… and why does it do this? Because it says to itself, ‘perhaps Hashem will decree for me life and this food will be ready for me to eat’. Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai said that he once saw an ant’s hole in which there was 300 Cor of grain, therefore Shlomo Hamelech said ‘go to the ant, lazy one’, you too should prepare for yourself mitzvos from Olam Hazeh for Olam Haba.” Rav Shmuelevitz notes that the ant gathers 300 Cor based on the distant possibility that he may live long enough to eat it - this, he writes, “would be a miracle without comparison, because in six months he eats one and a half kernels, if so to eat 300 Cor he would need to live hundreds of thousands of years! Such a miracle has never occurred in the history of the world… nevertheless the ant works hard to do this. In the same way, man is obligated to work and prepare himself in Olam Hazeh for Olam Haba, and if he does not do so - does not work according to the remotest possibility of a miracle, then he is considered lazy!” He then explains that this is the explanation of the Tana d’bey Eliyahu that everyone is obligated to ask himself when he will reach the level of the Avos. “All one’s behavior and actions must be directed at reaching the level of the actions of the Holy Avos. Even though the distance is extremely far, much farther than the 300 Cor for the ant, and b’derech hateva it is impossible to reach it, nevertheless man is obligated to strive to do whatever he can to attain it.” He continues that such ambitious goals can indeed be attained but only through siata dishmaya. Indeed he points out that our ability to ever conquer the yetser hara is only possible due to Hashem’s help, as stated in the Gemara that “if not for Hashem’s help we cannot defeat the yetser hara.” Thus we have seen that humility, the recognition that we can only achieve anything in life with Hashem’s help, is the key to greatness. Once we tap into this unlimited source then we can reach incredible heights. Of course, the level which Moshe Rabbeinu achieved seems very distant, however we could all find instances in our lives where it was clear that the siata dishmaya was the cause of our success. If we can access the feeling that we experience on those occasions then we can quite easily recognize that Hashem is the source of all our abilities. Thus we have seen how humility should be the catalyst to inspire us to strive to achieve great things. However, it is important to be aware that there is a negative side to humility. Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l addresses a common tendency of people to underestimate themselves by claiming that they are greatly limited in their talents and that they can never achieve greatness. He writes that this kind of humility is the atsas yetser hara. Indeed, according to what we have seen thus far, this attitude is exactly the opposite of genuine humility; Genuine humility empowers a person, whilst this false humility only serves to inhibit him. It seems that this attitude actually derives from a different negative trait - laziness, which is really a manifestation of the desire for comfort. It is not easy to achieve greatness; it requires great effort and the willingness to face setbacks and even failure. This is difficult, therefore it is very tempting for a person to ‘write himself off’ and thereby exempt himself from even trying - this is certainly the more 'comfortable' option. However, we must be very weary that Hashem has far higher expectations of us and that we will be judged according to that measure. Moreover, if we do overcome this initial reluctance to try then we can experience the great feeling of actually making an effort to do something that can help many people - this is a far deeper pleasure than that of comfort. How much can a person achieve when he plugs into Hashem’s unlimited power? When one visits the home of a Rabbi in Aish Hatorah it is very likely that he will see a photo of Rav Shach zt”l with a statement underneath it: About 30 years ago, he visited Aish HaTorah and spoke there. He was struck by the remarkable number of baalei teshuva that were standing in front of him. He suddenly decided to speak in the Beis Medrash - he discussed the concept that however powerful the forces for evil can be, the forces for Good must be greater. Based on this he made a remarkable statement: “if one man can kill six million Jews, then it must be that one man can save six million Jews.” This is the statement that accompanies the picture of Rav Shach - this is a lesson that we should never forget. Hashem is infinitely more powerful than the most powerful reshaim. If we only tap into His power then we can genuinely strive to reach Rav Shach’s vision.

בהעלותך – הבנת חטאי דור המדבר יהונתן גפן

בס"ד בהעלותך – הבנת חטאי דור המדבר יהונתן גפן בתחילת פרשת בהעלותך עומדים בני ישראל סמוך לכניסתם לארץ ישראל, אולם בסופה מתוארים מספר חטאים שחטאו בני ישראל במדבר, כאשר החמור שבהם הוא חטא המרגלים עליו נענשו ונשארו עוד ארבעים שנה במדבר לפני כניסתם לארץ. בתוך חטאי ישראל בפרשה נמנים עזיבתם ביתר שמחה והתלהבות את הר סיני בו למדו תורה כמעט שנה שלמה , וחטא "בשר התאווה", בו התלוננו על המן וביקשו לאכל דווקא בשר במקום המן. במבט שטחי, חטאים אלה מציירים תמונת מצב די עגומה ביחס למעשיהם של ישראל במדבר. אפשר להבין מתוכם כאילו היו הם אנשים שטופי תאוות, מלאים בתשוקות להנאות גשמיות וארציות, וחסרי הערכה להנאה וסיפוק עמוקים יותר המופקים מלימוד התורה בהר סיני, והתועלת הרוחנית שזכו בה באכילת המן מן השמים. האמת היא, שלא ייתכן שאלו היו פני הדברים, הרי ברור שבני ישראל בתקופה זו היו בדרגה רוחנית גבוהה ביותר. הם ראו במו עיניהם ניסים אינספור ביציאת מצרים וזה לא מכבר שמעו במו אוזניהם את דברי ה' המדבר אליהם. אם כך, בלתי אפשרי להבין את המאורעות המתוארים בפרשתנו כפשוטם. כמו בכל החטאים שנמנו בתורה, ברור שחייבת להיות סיבה מובנת, שגרמה והביאה את העם להתנהגותו זו, מה שעשו בפועל היה תוצאה ממחשבה. בעל התורת אברהם זצ"ל משיב על שאלות אלה. הוא מסביר שחייהם של בני ישראל בתקופה זו התנהלו מעבר לחוקי הטבע. הם לא אכלו אוכל רגיל, הם לא היו צריכים להתעסק בעבודות הבית כמו ניקיון וכביסה, לא היה צורך בעיבוד האדמה, והם היו עדים באופן קבוע לניסים גלויים. זו אינה דרך החיים הרגילה שהועיד הקב"ה לבני האדם – אנו נולדנו לחיים בעולם של טבע, בעולם גשמי, כאשר מטרתנו היא לרומם ולהעלות את העולם הזה, בכך שנשתמש בו לצרכים רוחניים. הקב"ה לא רוצה לראות בנו מלאכים, שאינם מתנסים בניסיונות העוברים על בני האדם, אלא הוא רוצה שנשתמש בכח הבחירה החופשית שלנו, שנבחר בטוב וכך נעבור את הניסיונות. תוך כדי כך נזכה בקשר וקרבה אליו יתברך. עם זאת, הקב"ה בחכמתו 'החליט' שמה שנצרך לדור המדבר הוא דווקא אופן חיים הדומה יותר לזה של המלאכים. הם היו זקוקים לזמן כזה של חיי רוחניות טהורה על מנת להכין את עצמם לתקופות הבאות, לזמנים בהם יחיו בתוך חוקי הטבע. זמן זה יאפשר להם אחר כך לחיות בתוך העולם הגשמי, ועם זאת להישאר קשורים לתכליתם האמיתית – הקשר עם הקב"ה. ה'חסרון' כביכול של מצב זה הוא שמתוך שחייהם התנהלו מעל לגדרי הטבע, הם לא היו נתונים לניסיונות ולהזדמנויות העולות מתוכן להתקדם ולהתפתח בקשר עם הקב"ה, על ידי התגברות על היצר הרע. אלא הם זכו וקיבלו מן המוכן את הקשר עם הקב"ה ללא הצורך לעבוד לשם כך ולהתאמץ. זה היה הרקע שהוביל למאורעות המתוארים בפרשתנו. לאחר שעברה כמעט שנה בה היו שקועים אך ורק ברוחניות טהורה, הם הרגישו שכעת הם כבר מסוגלים לחזור לחיים רגילים של העולם הגשמי. רצונם זה היה ביסודו רצון טהור ולשם שמים; הם רצו לקיים בפועל את כל אשר למדו וקיבלו בהר סיני, הם רצו להביא לידי מעשה את עולם הרוח בו שקעו בשנה האחרונה, על מנת לרומם את העולם הזה, העולם הגשמי. זו הייתה הסיבה למרצם ושמחתם כשעזבו את הר סיני, לא היה זה מניע של רצון ילדותי 'לברוח', אלא הייתה זו השאיפה לחיות חיים המרוממים את עולם הטבע ומכניסים בו חיות רוחנית. ניתן כך גם להבין מדוע סירבו לאכל את המן ורצו דווקא בשר. המן ייצג את החיים שמעבר לגדרי הטבע והם חשו מוכנים ומסוגלים לסיים מצב זמני זה ולהתחיל מציאות חיים אחרת, לאכל אוכל רגיל ולחיות חיים הכרוכים בכללי הטבע. על ידי צורת חיים כזו, הם הרגישו שיוכלו להתקרב יותר אל הקדוש ברוך הוא כיוון שיצטרכו לעמוד מול הניסיונות הנלווים למציאות הגשמית. פיתחנו כעת הבנה חכמה ועמוקה הרבה יותר בדבר חטאי עם ישראל במדבר. ולמרות זאת הם נענשו בחומרה על מעשיהם, ניתן ללמוד מכך שבכל זאת חייב להיות איזה שהוא פגם במניע למעשיהם. בעל ה"תורת אברהם" מסביר שהזמן בו נכון היה לחזור למציאות נורמלית עדיין לא הגיע. הם היו זקוקים לעוד תקופה קצרה של חיים מעבר לגדרי הטבע כדי שיהיו מוכנים כראוי למשימות והניסיונות הממתינים להם בהמשך הדרך. שאיפתם לעזוב הייתה מעט קודם לזמנה, ולכן, אם ה' היה ממלא את שאיפתם בזמן זה, התוצאות היו הרסניות כיון שהם לא היו מסוגלים לעבור את הניסיונות מולם התמודדו. יתירה מזאת, נראה שענשם היה חמור במיוחד כיון שהם לא היו צריכים לעשות דין לעצמם ולהחליט מתי הם כבר מוכנים וראויים לעזוב את המציאות הגבוהה בה עמדו, אלא היה עליהם להאמין בהנהגת ה' אותם . ה"תורת אברהם" שואב שני לימודים חיוניים מהסברו זה על חטאי דור המדבר. ראשית, שאנו זקוקים לפסק זמן של הכנה רוחנית בו אנו נקיים מכל המשימות והאתגרים הרבים הממלאים את העולם הסובב אותנו. וחשוב מאד שלא נעזוב מצב זה בטרם עת כיון שמעשה כזה פירושו העמדת עצמנו בפני ניסיונות ואתגרים שהאדם עדיין אינו מוכן ואינו בדרגה מספקת כדי לעמוד בהם בכבוד. שנית, הוא כותב שעלינו גם ללמוד שיש זמן נכון בו אנו מחוייבים לעזוב את ה'בועה' הרוחנית הזו ולהיכנס לעולם המעשה. ה' אינו מעוניין שנחיה בקביעות באופן הדומה למלאכים, הוא רוצה שרומם את העולם הזה, ועל ידי כך נזכה לקרבה אמיתית אליו. שני לימודים אלה קשורים מאד לכל אחד ואחד, אמנם אין לנו את הזכות והאפשרות לחיות במציאות מעבר לגדרי הטבע כפי שהיה בדור המדבר, אולם, המקביל לכך בדור הזה הוא הקדשת זמן להתמקדות בערכי הנצח, בצמיחה ובעליה רוחנית. זמן בו האדם מתנקה מכל הטרדות הרבות של חיי היום יום. כזה מצב מתקיים בתקופה של לימוד בישיבה או בסמינר, בתקופה כזו מתמקדים בבניית האישיות הרוחנית ללא כל טרדה ודאגה גשמית. מומלץ וחשוב מאד לכל אדם שיש לו את הזדמנות להקדיש תקופה מסוימת (אין אורך זמן קבוע שהוא "נכון") בישיבה או בסמינר לתכלית זו. בכזו חממה רוחנית אדם יכול, תוך תקופה יחסית קצרה, לגדול ולהתרומם הרבה יותר מאשר שנים של ניסיונות ללמוד ולגדול כאשר בו זמנית הוא עסוק ושקוע במשימות החיים היומיומיות. ועבור אלה שאין להם את ההזדמנות הזו, או לאלה שעברו זה מכבר שלב זה בחייהם, עדיין המסר של ה"תורת אברהם" מתאים ורלוונטי. הזמן בו האדם נמצא בבית הכנסת מהווה כעין אותה תקופה של הכנה רוחנית. הרבנים מורים שבזמן זה אדם חייב לנתק את עצמו מחיי היום יום ולהקדיש את עצמו לחלוטין לעליה רוחנית והתקדמות מידי יום ביומו. דוגמא לכך היא ההוראה לנתק את הטלפון הנייד בזמן הלימוד והתפילות, וכך לא לתת לעולם החיצוני להטרידנו בעסקי היום יום. הלימוד השני שלמד ה"תורת אברהם" אף הוא שייך וקשר לחיינו. ישנו זמן בו כל אחד נדרש לעזוב את המצב בו הוא מצוי ברוחניות טהורה בלבד. אין הכוונה שעליו דווקא להפסיק בלימוד התורה או בלימודה לאחרים, אדם מקיים זאת גם כאשר הוא מתחתן ומגדל את ילדיו. שלבים אלה בחיים ללא ספק מחייבים את האדם שיתעסק גם בעניינים שנראים פחות רוחניים, כגון דאגה לפרנסת הבית, האכלת הילדים, והקראת סיפור לפני השינה. אולם, כיוון שזהו רצון ה', וכך אמורים להראות חיינו, ברור שגם עיסוקים אלה מהווים חלק בלתי נפרד מעבודת ה'. אנשים אחרים יידרשו בשלב זה להיכנס לעולם של עבודה, בו יתמודדו מול אתגרים חדשים, המלווים בהזדמנויות חדשות להתעלות, כאלה שלא היה משיגיםם בחיי הישיבה. דוגמא לניסיון בשדה זה היא ההקפדה על יושר והגינות במסחר, ושמירה על הרמה הראויה של צניעות. בכל אופן בו יבואו לידי ביטוי לימודים אלה, מסקנותיו של ה"תורת אברהם" ברורות. מי ייתן ונזכה כולנו ליישמן באופן הנכון בחיינו.

UNDERSTANDING THE SINS IN THE DESERT - BEHAALOSECHA

BEHAALOSECHA - UNDERSTANDING THE SINS IN THE DESERT By Yehonasan Gefen Parshas Behaalosecha begins with the Jewish people on the threshold of entering Eretz Yisrael but ends with a series of aveiros that culminates with the sin of the spies and the decree to spend forty years in the desert. Included in the sins that Klal Yisrael committed in this Parsha are their over-eagerness to leave Mount Sinai after learning Torah there for nearly one year and the sin of ’basar taiva’ ('meat of lust), where they complained about the manna and demanded to be given meat instead. Taken on a superficial level, these sins paint a very critical picture of the actions of the Jewish people. They are portrayed as lustful people, desirous of base physical pleasures who did not appreciate the deeper satisfaction offered by learning Torah at Har Sinai and the spiritual benefits of eating manna from heaven. This cannot in truth be the case, for it is clear that the Jewish people were clearly on a very high spiritual level. They had experienced numerous miracles throughout Yetsias Mitzrayim and had recently heard Hashem directly communicate with them. Based on this, it is impossible to understand the events in the parsha on a superficial level. As in all the aveiros enumerated in the Torah, it is clear that there must have been understandable reasons guiding the people’s behavior, and their actual sin was very subtle. The Toras Avraham zt”l answers these problems. He explains that the Jewish people had been living a lifestyle that was beyond the laws of nature. They did not eat regular food, they did not need to involve themselves in domestic chores such as washing clothes, there was no need for them to farm the land, and they were constantly witnessing open miracles. This is not generally the way of life Hashem confers on human beings - we are supposed to live in the world of nature and physicality and strive to elevate the physical world by using it for spiritual motives. Hashem does not want us to be like Malachim (angels) who are free of the tests that befall man, rather He wants us to use our free will to pass these tests and thereby earn our relationship with Him. However, Hashem, in His wisdom, ‘decided’ that it was necessary for the generation of the desert to live a life that was indeed similar to that of the Malachim. They needed that time of pure spirituality in order to prepare themselves for their future life of living within the laws of nature. This would enable them, at a later point in time, to be involved in the physical world and yet remain connected to the purpose of connecting to Hashem. The seeming ‘downside’ of this situation is that whilst they were living a supernatural lifestyle they were not subject to the tests and subsequent opportunities of developing a relationship to Hashem by overcoming the yetser hara. Rather they were spoon fed a relationship with Him without having earned it. This is the background leading up to the events of this week’s Parsha. After having spent nearly a year immersed in pure spirituality, they felt that they were now ready to reenter the physical world. Their motivation was essentially leshem shayamim (for altruistic reasons); they wanted to apply all the spirituality that they had absorbed at Har Sinai to enable them to elevate the physical world. This is the reason for their eagerness to leave Har Sinai, it was not motivated by a childish desire to ’escape’, rather a yearning to live a life where they could elevate the physical world. This also helps us understand why they rejected the manna and desired to eat meat. The manna epitomized a supernatural lifestyle and they felt ready to leave that temporary state and begin an existence where they ate normal food and live a life within the laws of nature. This, they felt, would enable them to get closer to Hashem because they would be faced with all the tests that accompany a physical existence. We have now developed a far more sophisticated understanding of the sins of the Jewish people in the desert. Nonetheless they were severely punished for their actions indicating that there must have been a subtle flaw in their reasoning. The Toras Avraham explains that the time for them to return to a normal existence had not yet arrived. They still needed a little more time of living in a supernatural fashion in order to sufficiently prepare them for the challenges that would await them. Their desire to leave was a little premature and consequently had Hashem fulfilled it at that time, then the consequences would have been grave because they would not have been able to pass the tests that they would face. Moreover, it seems that their punishment was particularly severe because they should not have made their own calculations as to when they were ready to leave the supernatural existence, rather they should have trusted Hashem’s judgement . The Toras Avraham derives two vital lessons from his explanation of the sins in the desert. Firstly, that we need a time of spiritual preparation where we are sheltered from the numerous challenges that characterize the ‘outside world’, and it is essential that we do not leave this situation prematurely because to do so means to place ourselves with challenges that we are not yet on the level to overcome. Secondly, he writes that we also learn that there is a point in time where we must, in some fashion, leave that spiritual ‘bubble’ and enter the physical world of challenges. Hashem does not want us to permanently live like Malachim, He wants us to elevate the physical world and thereby attain true closeness to him. These lessons vary greatly according to each person but the general principles seem to apply to everyone. We do not have the opportunity to live a supernatural life like the generation of the desert, however, the modern day equivalent is time spent focusing on spiritual growth where one is shielded from the numerous distractions of daily life. This is commonly represented by time spent in yeshiva or seminary where a person can focus on building himself spiritually without having to be overly burdened by physical concerns. It is highly recommended for anyone who has the opportunity to spend a certain amount of time (there is no ‘correct’ length of time) in yeshiva or seminary to do so. A person can grow more in a relatively short time in this spiritual haven than years of trying to learn and grow whilst simultaneously be in involved the in the daily challenges of life. For those that do not have this opportunity or whom have already passed that phase in life, the message of the Toras Avraham is still relevant. The time spent in the Beis Hamidrash or shul represents a microcosm of that time of spiritual preparation. It is stressed by Rabbanim that in this time it is essential that a person shut himself off from his outside life and devote himself totally to his spiritual pursuits in this time each day. For example, it is advised that one should turn off his mobile phone whilst learning and davenning so that we cannot be sidetracked by our daily business. The second lesson of the Toras Avraham is also relevant to our lifestyle. In some form there is a time when everyone is required to leave the hallowed existence of pure spirituality. This does not necessarily mean stopping learning or teaching Torah full-time, it can manifest itself in the form of getting married and having children. These stages in life invariably require a person to involve himself in less obvious spiritual pursuits such as running the finances of a family, feeding children and reading bedtime stories. However, since Hashem requires us to enter these phases in life it is clear that they represent a key part of our Avodas Hashem. For other people, this phase may require them to enter into the world of work where they face new challenges accompanied by new opportunities for growth that were not attainable in yeshiva. Examples of this include the test of being honest in business and maintaining appropriate levels of tznius. However these lessons manifest themselves, the lessons of the Toras Avraham are clear. May we be zocheh to apply them correctly to our lives.

UNDERSTANDING COMPLAINTS - BEHAALOSECHA

BEHAALOSECHA – UNDERSTANDING COMPLAINTS By Yehonasan Gefen “The people were like those who seek complaints in the ears of HaShem, and HaShem heard and His wrath flared…” As the Jewish people were on the verge of entering Eretz Yisroel, they began complaining to HaShem. It is not immediately apparent what exactly they were complaining about. Rashi, based on the Sifri, explains that, in truth, they had no specific complaint, rather they were seeking a pretext to justify distancing themselves from HaShem. In a similar vein, the Seforno writes that they had no valid reason to complain, but they made it appear as if they were complaining about the difficulty of the journey. These explanations help answer the question of why the Torah writes that they were “like” complainers, as opposed to being actual complainers. It is possible to answer that the Torah is alluding that they were not really complaining about anything. Therefore they were not genuine complainers who had a real grievance, rather they were like complainers in that they made out as if they had a gripe. We learn from the Sifri that there are occasions when a person can voice a complaint or make an argument, when in truth, he doesn’t really believe in what he is saying. Rather he is using it as an excuse to justify an undesirable form of behavior. In the case of the misonenim, this undesirable behavior manifested itself in the people’s desire to distance themselves from HaShem. We see a further striking example of how what a person says does not necessarily represent what he means, in the argument between Kayin and Hevel that culminated in the murder of Hevel. The Torah tells us that Kayin spoke with Hevel before he killed him. “And Kayin spoke to Hevel his brother, and whilst they were in the field, Kayin rose up against his brother, Hevel, and killed him.” The Torah does not tell us what Kayin spoke about with Hevel. Targum Yonasan tells us that Kayin spoke words of kefira (denial of G-d) to Hevel, arguing that there was no G-d, and no concept of reward and punishment. Hevel argued with Kayin and in the midst of their argument, Kayin rose up and killed Hevel. Rav Yissochor Frand Shlita, asks why the Torah refrained from presenting this seemingly fundamental philosophical debate, leaving it to Chazal to fill in the details. He answers that the Torah was teaching us that Kayin didn’t necessarily believe in what he was saying, rather he was looking for an excuse to initiate an argument with his brother. The Torah refrained from revealing Kayin’s words because their actual content was irrelevant. We see again from here that a person’s most passionate arguments may be a screen to hide his true intentions. In this vein, the story is told of a number of yeshiva bachurim in the Yeshiva of Volozhin, who left the yeshiva and ultimately left Torah observance. Years later, they approached their Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Chaim of Volozhin zt”l, and told him that they had kashas on fundamental aspects of Torah thought, that they wanted to pose to him. Before they could ask their questions, he rhetorically asked them what came first – did they have kashas that caused them to leave Yiddishkeit, or did they leave Yiddishkeit and then come up with the kashas. His point was that they didn’t leave observance because of deep philosophical questions. Rather, they left Torah and then came up with the kashas so as to give their abhorrent behavior a veil of validity. This phenomenon remains common nowadays. Rav Dovid Orlofsky Shlita tells of a Mashgiach of a Yeshiva who approached him with regard to a yeshiva bachur who claimed to have doubts in Emuna, and as a result, was beginning to get involved in objectionable activities. The Mashgiach told Rav Orlofsky that he had spent much time with the boy discussing Jewish thought, studying the philosophical works of great Jewish thinkers such as the Rambam and Rav Yehuda HaLevi . Yet nothing had helped, and he continued on his path away from Torah. Rav Orlofsky explained that it was clear that bachur had no genuine issues in Emuna, rather he enjoyed going to town more than learning in the Beis Medrash! All the Mashgiach’s philosophical arguments met deaf ears, because they meant nothing to the boy. It was more instructive to address the real issues that were causing his descent from Yiddishkeit. How can a person develop the skill of discerning when a person is saying one thing but doesn’t really mean what he is saying? The incident of the misonenim also helps answer this. After the people began complaining, ostensibly about the difficult journey, the Torah tells us that, “HaShem heard (vayishma) and His wrath flared…” What does the Torah come to teach us by telling us the seemingly obvious fact that HaShem ‘heard’? The verb, ‘lishmoa’ does not merely mean to hear, rather it also can mean, ‘to understand’. Therefore, the Torah is telling us that HaShem understood the true intents of the people – that they had no real complaint, rather they were looking to distance themselves from Him. He reacted accordingly. Or course, we are not able to understand a person’s thoughts. However we can strive to emulate HaShem by discerning what he really means when he says something, and consequently come to a more accurate understanding of what he really means. For example, a person may ask, why there is so much suffering in the world. There are numerous possible reasons as to why a person may ask such a question; he may have experienced a tragedy and be grappling with it; he may have a genuine desire to understand this difficult issue; or he may be simply using this issue as an excuse to attack Judaism. The only way to discern his true intent is to probe further as to what exactly he means – in this way, one can address his real issue. Similarly, a child may complain that he does not enjoy school. A parent could take this complaint at face value and try to help him enjoy learning more. However, if the parent probes further, he may discover that in truth the child has no problem with his studies, rather there is a different problem, for example, another boy may be bullying him and therefore he doesn’t want to go to school. With this understanding, the parent can now address the problem in a far more effective way. The lessons of the episode of the misonenim are as relevant today as they were in the desert. May we all merit to emulate HaShem and learn to understand the true meaning of people’s words.