Weekly Dvar (Dvar Torah)

Dvar Devarim

dvarman@weeklydvar.com (Dvarman) — Thu, 11 Aug 2005 15:26:21 -0600

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the concise, relevant Weekly Dvar (this week courtesy of Torah.org). Although there are roughly 19,000 people subscribed to this, very few write back with questions, comments and referrals (although I do appreciate those precious few). So feel free...

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In Parshat Devarim Moshe recounts placing "ministers over thousands, over hundreds, ministers over fifties, and ministers over tens.."(1:15). If there were leaders governing thousands and hundreds, isn't it obvious that they would govern fifties and tens? What does the Torah add by including those specifications?

The Sforno says that there is an implied rebuke in the appointment of judges over Israel, because they could not stop bickering and arguing to the point that every group of ten needed its own personal judge. While the Sforno implies that each person was overly concerned with his own property, in order for an argument to reach the courts, there also needs to be a lack of communication and an inability reconcile differences.

If needless hatred begins with a lack of communication, then increased communication can remove the hatred and divisions that remain between us. With proper communication, we can not only properly mourn the Temple's destruction, but we can also make our own best efforts to ensure that it is rebuilt!

Quotation of the Week: (thanks to Debbie):
"Worrying does not empty tomorrow of it's troubles, It empties today of it's strength.""

Dvar Maasei

dvarman@weeklydvar.com (Dvarman) — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 15:26:21 -0600

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the concise, relevant Weekly Dvar. Although there are roughly 19,000 people subscribed to this, there are hundreds of thousands of people that might enjoy getting it too! If we each find a few of them, we might just get them all! Until then, always enjoy...

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While introducing Parshat Maasei, which recounts the travels and trials of the Jews in the desert the Passuk informs us that Moshe "wrote their goings according to their journeys, and these were their journeys according to their goings"(33:2). Why does the introduction reverse its terminology, and why does it repeat itself? Rav Bachya explains that the first part refers to the past, while the second part refers to the future redemption. That helps, but maybe the first one refers to the future and the SECOND to the past? How do we know, and what does it teach us today?

The missing clue is that the Hebrew word that means "goings" (Motze'hem) comes from the root word that means, "find". What the Torah could be alluding to here is that when things are bad it seems like you find faults in everything you do and everywhere you go. But the Torah then urges us not to despair, for your journeys will one day bring you findings! In the world of psychology it is known that depression breeds more depression, and it's easy to feel despair when nothing goes your way. The solution for then, and anytime we feel down, is to live our "journeys" with an eye for the "findings" that will find us in the future! Rather than looking back with regret, look forward with hope!

Quotation of the Week: (thanks to Lance):
"Today is yesterday's tomorrow"

Dvar Matot

dvarman@weeklydvar.com (Dvarman) — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 15:26:21 -0600

Dear Reader,

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Talk about scary Deja vu�s! After Moshe lost an entire generation of Jews because they resisted entering the land of Israel, in Parshat Matot they seem to be doing the exact same thing! As they prepare to enter the land, the shevatim (tribes) of Reuven and Gad approach Moshe with a similar request. This time they claim to want to "build for their flocks and cities for the small children" (32:16). After warning them not to make the same mistake as the previous generation, Moshe agrees to let them live outside of the Promised Land, but appears to bargain with them by getting them to agree to help the others fight for the land first. Why did Moshe agree to let them live outside of the promised land, and what did he bargain from them?

A closer inspection of the dialogue helps us answer these questions, and can help us understand the importance of setting priorities. When Moshe responds to them (32:24), he tells them to "build for yourselves cities for your small children and pens for your flocks", exactly the opposite order of the way they asked him. What Moshe was really telling them was that if they�re really looking out for the well-being of their children, then look after them (i.e. their perspectives) first, BEFORE you build yourselves buildings and flocks. The can also be why he allowed them to settle outside the Land altogether: Moshe understood that it wasn�t that the tribes lacked faith in their destiny because they were willing to fight for it with everyone else, but rather that from their perspective living right outside the Land would be better for THEM. Being able to accept other perspectives, despite initial fears and uncertainties, is the true test of being a thoughtful Jew and an understanding person.

Quotation of the Week:
"What we do next will be obvious in retrospect."

Dvar Pinchas

dvarman@weeklydvar.com (Dvarman) — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 15:26:21 -0600

Dearest Reader,

Welcome to the concise, relevant Weekly Dvar. Although the following Dvar sounds like I'm pushing people to donate to Lelamed so they can get a free copy of my good, that's really not my intention (although I'll be more than happy to oblige). It applies to any book that you'll surely enjoy...

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Parshat Pinchas relates a story (27:1-12) about the daughters of Tzlafchad, descendants of Yosef (Joseph). These daughters wanted and loved the Land of Israel so much that they wanted a piece of it. As Rav Moshe Feinstein asks, why do they have to have a claim in the land, just because they love it? Wouldn't entering or living in the land be fulfilling enough?

Rav Moshe thus concludes that if a person truly loves something, they'd want it to be theirs, and no one else's. This is why the daughters wanted to actually own a piece of the land, rather than simply living in it. This logic applies to marriages, as well as the Torah's preference that every Jew writes their own Torah (or a portion of it). In our terms, it's not enough to borrow and read Jewish books. We need to love the Torah we read SO much that we feel the need to own it! As this week's Parsha urges, we should not only seek, read and enjoy words of Torah, but we should OWN those books, and live those words!

Quotation of the Week:
"For those with faith there are no questions. For those who lack faith there are no answers." - R' Yaakov of Radzimin "

Dvar Balak

dvarman@weeklydvar.com (Dvarman) — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 15:26:21 -0600

Dearest Reader,

Welcome to the concise, relevant Weekly Dvar. I work hard to keep things fresh, especially for those that have been subscribed for 10 years or longer. So it's important for me to get your feedback. If you like it, refer a friend. If you have comments or suggestions, write back. Don't be shy. Here's a new Dvar this week. I hope you enjoy...

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After a whole ordeal trying to curse the Jews, Bilam finally ends up blessing the Jews instead. So what does a person whose power lies in his word utter, after so much suspense? He says "How good are your tents, O Yaakov, your dwelling places, Israel" (24:5). Is it Yaakov or Israel? Is it the tents or the dwelling places (assuming they're different) that are good? It's a pretty ambiguous for someone presumably articulate.

To understand this, we need to analyze the context of the three blessings he imparted in the following Pessukim (verses): 1) You should stay near water (reference to Torah), 2) G-d will help you crush your oppressors, and 3) Those that bless you will be blessed, and those that curse you will be cursed. It seems that there is a natural progression throughout these blessings: If we 1) stay close to the Torah, 2) G-d will help us defeat our enemies, and 3)we will be blessed upon blessings. That's why the blessings start with the statement that it's all because of our homes (tents), that leads to our communities (dwellings), from Yaakov as an individual to Israel as a nation. If we introduce the Torah in our own controlled-environment homes, it will not only help ourselves and our communities, and lead to the many blessings that follow!

Quotation of the Week (thanks to Marjie):
"Worry is like a rocking chair - it gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere." - Dorothy Galyean"

Dvar Chukat

dvarman@weeklydvar.com (Dvarman) — Thu, 7 Jul 2005 15:26:21 -0600

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Nature dictates that children look somewhat like their parents, fruits look like other similar fruits, and animals act in predictable ways. But if that were always true, then how do the laws of the Red cow, brought in Parshat Chukat, make sense? How could the impure be purified, while the pure become impure? How do these things make sense, if there is to be order in nature and creation?

The Mofet Hador explains that we too were all given opposing forces. We were given the Torah, which tells us of these and other 'contradictions', and we were given the brain that wonders about all of it. The Parsha starts by helping us deal with these, and other issues. 'This is the law of the Torah" ...our laws make sense, even if we don't understand them! We're limited in our wisdom. In fact, King Solomon, who was given all the knowledge, couldn't understand the laws of the Red Cow, and said, "It is far from me". The logic is there, but none can discern it, and that too is part of nature. So when we come to a fork in our lives, and we're deciding whether to do what we know we should or what we think we could, we should remember this lesson: Our minds might be limited in understanding, but the Torah's wisdom is eternal!

Quotation of the Week:
"If you want to feel rich, just count all of the things you have that money can't buy."

Dvar Korach

dvarman@weeklydvar.com (Dvarman) — Thu, 30 Jun 2005 15:26:21 -0600

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the concise, relevant Weekly Dvar. Please read, enjoy, respond, and refer a friend...

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Parshat Korach relates the story of Korach, Datan, Aviram and 250 members of the shevet (tribe) or Reuven challenging Moshe's choice for Kohen Gadol (high priest). The end result was that the 250 members were burned by a heavenly fire, and the other 3 were miraculously swallowed by the earth. From a motive perspective, Korach makes the most sense, because he felt slighted for not having been chosen himself. But why would 250 people follow him to their certain death, with apparently little to gain?

The answer can be found in Rashi, the great medieval commentator, who writes that just as Korach's family camped on the southern side of the Mishkan (Tabernacle), so did the tribe of Reuven. Rashi quotes the words of Chapters of the Fathers, "woe to an evil person, and woe to his neighbor." The 250 people met their death, simply because they were influenced by their neighbors! This points to the awesome influence that friends, neighbors and associates have on us. So who do we surround ourselves with? Do we have positive friends and neighbors? Are WE positive friends and neighbors to others?

Quotation of the Week:
"Problems are what you make of them."

Dvar Shlach

dvarman@weeklydvar.com (Dvarman) — Thu, 22 Jun 2005 15:26:21 -0600

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the concise, relevant Weekly Dvar. Please read, enjoy, respond, and pass it on...

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Parshat Shlach contains the famous story of the spies that are sent in to check out Canaan, which would later become Israel. The decision to send the twelve spies, however, was made by the people, as G-d previously assured the Jews that He would take care of everything. But they insisted on seeing for themselves, and were instructed to send them of their own accord (13:2). The tribe leaders went in to spy, and came back with an awful report, scaring the Jews into wanting to go back to Egypt. What happened? What happened to the faith in G-d, and with all His open miracles? What happened to the spies that they didn't realize that everything they saw in Canaan was actually a blessing (1 - They saw huge fortresses, but that really meant that people in it were scared of something, 2 - They saw people dying, but G-d made it that someone died when the spies came, so that the people would be preoccupied with burying them and not notice the spies, etc.)?

The answer lies in their very first mistake.. they wanted to see the land through THEIR eyes, and that's what they got to see. Seeing things without the proper perspective can make even positive things look bad, even if you're a tribe leader that people depend on and look up to, even if you've witnessed countless miracles in your life, and even if G-d just told you that He's on your side! What seemed like a harmless request turned out to be a disaster that cost the Jews 39 more years in the desert! And to think that they could have done it right, had they done what Yehoshua (Joshua) did.. put G-d's name first (Yud, the letter representing G-d added to the beginning of his). We too can look at the world and at our lives, and see living without G-d and the Torah, and it may not seem so bad. But we'd end up wandering in circles, only to realize that it was our decision to be "free" that caused us to be slaves to nature and to our desires. OR, we can find our Torah goal, hang it where we can see it, and through the challenges and through it all, we're guaranteed to "see" it through!

Quotation of the Week:
"A single thread in a tapestry, though its color brightly shine, can never see its purpose in the pattern of the grand design."

Dvar Bechaalot'cha

dvarman@weeklydvar.com (Dvarman) — Thu, 16 Jun 2005 15:26:21 -0600

This Dvar is sponsored in loving memory of Chaya Miriam bat Chaim Yosef

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the concise, relevant Weekly Dvar. I've never done this, but this week's Dvar is taken word for word from Rabbi Avi Weiss of Hebrew Institute of Riverdale. It's a great message! Enjoy...

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In this week's Parsha, Beha'alotcha, Aharon is instructed on how to light the Menorah, and did as he was told, and "did not deviate". Why were we told that Aharon did not deviate? In order to understand this, we must first appreciate what's been happening in Aharon's life at the time: On the first day of Nissan of that year, the Mishkan was complete, Aharon gave the first public Birkat Kohanim (priestly blessings), and each tribe's leader brought their own personal offering in celebration. The Medrash Tanchuma says that Aharon was sad that his tribe was the only one that wasn't able to contribute with his own Korban offering. Still, Aharon accept everyone else's Korban, as he was instructed, as well as performing his role of lighting the Menorah also as he was instructed.

Rav Meir of Premishlan explains that it turned out that Aharon was given the only commandment that would endure forever (candle-lighting endures today as Friday night candles, as lighting the Menorah on Chanukah, etc)! This was especially fitting for Aharon who was described in the Midrash as a "man of the people", for he would regularly walk among the nation and mingle with them, looking to help anyone, be it with teaching them Torah, how to pray, or resolving arguments. Rav Meir explains that even after Aharon was given the most prestigious task of lighting the Menorah, he still "did not deviate", and continued to mingle with the Jews. It is this very Midda of guiding others that the lighting of the Menorah represented! Aharon's actions beg the question: Do we mingle and help others, or are we too busy with our jobs and lives to bother?

Quotation of the Week (thanks to Ruthie via Eilleen):
""This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Dvar Naso

dvarman@weeklydvar.com (Dvarman) — Thu, 6 Jun 2005 15:26:21 -0600

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Dear Reader,

Welcome to the concise, relevant Weekly Dvar. I've never done this, but this week's Dvar is taken word for word from Rabbi Avi Weiss of Hebrew Institute of Riverdale. It's a great message! Enjoy...

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Perhaps the most famous blessing is found in this week's Torah portion. The Birkat Cohanim, the priestly benediction is recited by the priest and by parents to their children every Friday night. (Numbers 6:24-26) The benediction is divided into three sentences each containing two important elements; God's blessing, and a prayer to avoid possible pitfalls of the blessing.

In the first part, the priest states: "May the Lord bless you and keep you." The Sifrei understands this to refer to monetary benefits. But money has the potential to corrupt. Therefore a blessing for money is not complete unless accompanied by an assurance of protection from its dangers. Hence the last word of the sentence, "May the Lord guard you."

In the second section, the priest states: "May the Lord cause His light to shine upon you." The light of the Lord is often associated with Torah knowledge (Proverbs 6:23). However, while one can know every word of Torah, one can still lack the ability to interact and engage others in an appropriate manner. Hence, this blessing concludes with the word, ve-hunekah, from the word hen, grace. This last statement is telling us to remain gracious to others because knowledge often makes one insular -- even arrogant.

In the final part, the priest states," May the Lord lift His face to be near you." This blessing expresses the hope that one should always feel the presence of God, for too often we sense that God's face is hidden from us. (The Hebrew word yeesah, to lift, is the opposite of God being lowered or hidden.) Although we hope to always be absorbed in God's presence, sometimes even that experience can distort one's perception of how to change the world. Too often, people have done dastardly things in the name of God. Therefore, the text concludes, with a blessing of a grounded belief in God, of shalom, coming from the word shalem, whole. This threefold blessing reminds us that there is no absolute good. Every step forward always contains the possibility of unforeseen problems. May we be blessed with this awareness.

Quotation of the Week (thanks to Marjie):
"Worry is like a rocking chair - it gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere." - Dorothy Galyean