Parashas Teruma - Did I try my hardest?

This weeks Dvar Torah has been sponsored for:
Aliyah Neshama: Devora bas Yisroel Melech and Aliza bas Moshe HaLevi
(If you would like to sponsor a Dvar Torah, feel free to email me: SharingTorah@gmail.com)
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Tonight (2 Adar) is my son's one year old birthday and already he's running around the house (bli ayin hara.) When he started crawling and then walking over a month ago, it was amazing to see how hard he tried and never gave up. Whenever he fell, he picked himself up, and tried again (and again). Chazal say when you try really hard to accomplish something then Hashem takes care of the rest.

In Parashas Teruma, Hashem commanded Moshe to build several things: A mishkan (a dwelling place for Hashem's presence), an altar, a menorah (candelabrum,) etc... The mishkan was made in a way which could be dismantled and transferred from place to place. The Jews were given defined instructions of how to construct it. Anyone was allowed to donate material for this project; however, it needed to be given with good intentions - for the sake of Hashem.

Everything was hand-made except for the menorah, which was made by Hashem (there's an opinion it was made by Bezalel, which isn't the opinion I'm going with for now.) Moshe had a hard time designing and constructing the menorah. He tried many times, but couldn't figure it out. After trying, Hashem showed him a vision of the menorah made of fire. Still, he wasn't able to duplicate the image he saw. Hashem told him to just throw a block of gold into the fire, and a menorah will form itself. [1]

Throughout the whole parasha from beginning to end, the Torah continues to give detailed information about how things should be built, with which specific material, specific measurements, and specific colors. People ask me, "Oh boy, how are you going to write a dvar Torah with this type of parasha? There's nothing to talk about." Well, the truth is, there are lots of things to write about in this weeks parasha. People get bored and tired by it because it's an "architectural" parasha. From seeing how detailed the parasha is in different aspects alone, shows us how defined and calculated out the Torah is. We see it all over: By Sukkos there are measurements to how high or low the sukkah should be; by the Chanukah menorah, putting it in a place too high isn't good; or even eating a certain measurement gives you the opportunity to make a bracha achrona (after blessings).

Measurements aren't the focus of my Dvar Torah, though. We see that Moshe tried really hard to construct the menorah several times, but couldn't. Hashem then told him, "Simply throw into the fire a block of gold and I will take care of the rest." Moshe did, and out came a beautiful menorah, perfectly engraved and shaped. There's a lesson which should be held on to forever, which can give us the encouragement to fulfill our goals whether they are easy or hard. As long a person does all the hishtadlus (effort) they can, they may rely on Hashem to do the rest. People seem to give up after trying, but they need to ask themselves, "Did I try my hardest?" If they did, they would experience the heavenly help of Hashem.

May we have the siyata dishmaya (heavenly help) to fulfill Hashem's Will and to always have in mind that He is with us at all times.

Have a wonderful Shabbos,
Nisso

[1] Rashi 25: 31&40

Parashas Mishpatim - The power of words

This months Dvar Torah has been sponsored for:
Refua Shelema: Rachamim ben Adina
(If you would like to sponsor a Dvar Torah, feel free to email me: SharingTorah@gmail.com)
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Parashas Mishpatim is basically a section of laws teaching us how to behave with one another. These were instructions given to us, while encamped in Mara. I was reading through the parasha, when something got me thinking: The posuk says "Whoever hits his father or his mother shall be put to death (via choking him)[1]... Whoever curses his father or his mother shall be put to death (via stoning him.)"[2]

I didn't understand the punishments given for these two sins. It makes more sense to say you would kill a person by means of stoning if he laid his hands on his parents, or choke a person (to death) if he cursed his parents, blocking off his windpipe, restraining him from speaking. To add to my question, Hashem usually punishes a person midda knegged midda (measure for measure). If so, then certainly the punishments should have been reversed.

I've seen several Rebbeim touch upon the question: The sin of cursing one's parent is more severe than the sin of hitting one's parent, because being stoned to death is a worse punishment than being strangled. Explained below:

Ramban : Cursing is worse because you are mentioning Hashem's Name in the curse.
Gra : When a person hits his parents, it is done to the body, where the wound heals quickly, but verbal abuse hurts the soul, which can take years to heal, or never heal at all.
Rav Yehonasan Eibshitz : By hitting his parents, he thinks he runs the world and not Hashem (G-d forbid), thereby not believing in His existence. By cursing his parents, however, he mentions Hashem's name, acknowledging His existence and asks Hashem to help him do something bad (curse his parents.)[3]

We see how powerful words can be, because the punishment of stoning is much harsher than strangulation. Verbal abuse is forbidden not only to one's parents, but to other people as well. The Chofetz Chaim[4] says, "Joking with someone can constitute loshon hara, because maybe the joke said was funny to himself and maybe to others, but who said the victim also took it as a joke? It's always funny until you are the one being laughed at."

A lesson I learned from Parashas Mishpatim is the influence of a person's speech. People don't realize the pain they cause via speech. Masechta Baba Matiza says that hurting a person through words is worse than stealing from him, because you can always pay back the money which was stolen, but it's not so simple to repair emotional damage. This applies even more so by one's parents.

B'ezras Hashem, we should have the sensitivity towards others, and never stumble on the deadly sin of onas devarim (hurting one through words).

Have a wonderful Shabbos,
Nisso


[1] Rashi 21:15
[2] Rashi 21:17
[3] Sefer Tallelei Oros, p.22-23
[4] Sefer Chofetz Chaim 3:3

Parashas Yisro - Recognizing the miracles before our eyes

This weeks Dvar Torah has been sponsored for:
Refua Shelema: Rachamim ben Adina
(If you would like to sponsor next weeks Dvar Torah, feel free to email me: SharingTorah@gmail.com)

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Parashas Yisro was named in honor of Moshe's father-in-law. He was the spiritual leader of Midyan, who was very successful, and highly respected. He practiced every type of idol-worship in the world, closely examining them, hoping to find the true G-d.

Yisro wished to convert to Judaism after hearing all the miracles Hashem had done. While the Jews were traveling in the desert, Yisro sent a message to Moshe saying he was on his way to see him. The Talmud [1] says there were three specific things which inspired Yisro to join Moshe and the Jewish people.

1) The Splitting of the sea

2) The War against Amalek

3) The Giving of the Torah at Har Sinai

After Yisro's arrival, Moshe welcomed Yisro lovingly and told him everything Hashem did (and still does) for the Jews. Yisro recognized Hashem's might and offered Him sacrifices. Yisro advised Moshe to select judges with specific qualities to deal with the Jew's halachic (law) questions or problems. Yisro thought it was too much of a burden to Moshe, Aaron and the Seventy Elders to take upon everyone's daily questions. He advised that the Jews should only direct the major questions to Moshe, Aaron or the Seventy Elders.

Yisro camped with the Jews for almost a year. As the Jews prepared to travel to Israel, Yisro told Moshe he wanted to go back to his country to spread Hashem's Name. After many years of trying out new religions, it was crystal clear to him that Judaism was the one and only true religion. He was not blinded to the messages Hashem was sending Egypt and other nations via miracles.

There's a story of a guy (lets call him Yaakov), who took a cab one day. The driver told him how his best friend was religious and learned Torah the whole day. Yaakov was surprised and asked, "Really, how did that happen?" The cab driver replied back, "We were on a hike in India and a huge snake somehow wrapped itself around my friend's neck. We tried whatever possible to get the snake off, but it wouldn't loosen. My friend was literally being choked to death! There was a third person with us who told him, 'Quick, say Shema Yisrael!' After having said the whole posuk of Shema Yisael, the snake miraculously unraveled and slithered away. Ever since then, he started learning Torah and keeping it's laws." So Yaakov asks, "Wow, what a story! What happened to you? Why aren't you religious too?" The cab driver's response was, "It didn't happen to me, it happened to him! When it happens to me, I will change. Until then, I'm going to continue driving this cab." The cab driver was blinded to this amazing event, and didn't think for a second that maybe -- Hashem was trying to show him something. The driver thought differently than Yisro. Yisro wasn't even there to witness the miracles, he just "heard" of these miraculous events that happened. [2]

A lesson I got from this week's Parasha: Hashem performs many miracles everyday. If we only open our eyes to recognize them, it would bring us closer. People take for granted simply waking up in the morning. Yisro heard of the miracles Hashem did for the Jews and realized the Might of our Creator. He looked at it as a message Hashem was telling the world, and did something about it.

Have a wonderful Shabbos,

Nisso

[1] Zevachim 116a

[2] Shemos 18:1

Parashas Beshalach - It's not worth fighting over money matters

This weeks Dvar Torah has been sponsored for:
Refua Shelema: Daveeda Leah bat Bassie Chaiya
(If you would like to sponsor next weeks Dvar Torah, feel free to email me: SharingTorah@gmail.com)
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In Parasha Beshalach, while leaving Egypt, there was a shortcut from the Land of Philistines to Israel, but Hashem led the Jews in a round-about way. He avoided that path, because the Philistines might wage war against the Jews, leading the Jews to have second thoughts and return back to Egypt. Hashem led them by a pillar of cloud during the day, and by a pillar of fire at night in order to travel.

After Egypt was hit with ten plagues (in last week's parasha), Pharoh finally decides to let the Jews go, and worship Hashem. With every plague, Pharoh agreed to send them off, but hardened his heart before the Jews were able to escape. Three days into their journey, Pharoh and his servants had a sudden 'change of heart'. The Egyptians couldn't believe that they had freed the Jews, who have been doing continuous work for them, for free. Pharoh and his people quickly harnessed their chariots, and chased after them. Several days into traveling, the Jews saw the Egyptian army approaching from behind, with the sea in front of them, and on either sides, wild beasts. [1] They were surrounded! Immediately the Jews repented and prayed to Hashem, pleading for help. Moshe reassured them that Hashem will fight in their place, and not to worry.

[Usually when someone is in a position of high authority, he is expected to be smart and make the right decisions. What happened with Pharoh? Didn't he and his people suffer enough? When a child touches fire, and gets burned, he knows not to mess with it again.] Why did Pharoh see it proper to retrieve the Jews?

Rashi [2] gives the reason: Pharoh pursued the Jews because of the money/property the Egyptians gave them on their way out of Egypt. Pharoh wanted to get it back. Since Hashem hardened Pharoh's heart, Pharoh needed to convince the Egyptians to battle with him against the Jews. He told them, "I will not claim the stolen goods all for my self, rather I will split it equally among you all!" [3]

The first thing I asked myself was, "Wow, people fought over money back then as well?" If you think about it, a lot of fights are caused because of money. A classical case is husband and wife, fighting over money matters. Example: The husband might complain about how his wife doesn't turn off the lights after leaving a room, or a wife complains to her husband because he just came home with something he bought in a garage sale that costs five dollars. She asks, "Why did you buy this? What are we going to do with it? That's such a waste of $5.00!" Sometimes one needs to ask themselves, is it really worth arguing over five dollars? Suppose he had just spent $200, arguing isn't the answer. Spouses need to sit down and communicate together, setting limits and goals to improve their budgets. They should be fighting for each other, not against one another.

Things in my house break and spill all the time. The first thing I say to myself is, "Baruch Hashem the money wasted is going to what broke/spilled and not going to doctor bills/medication! Hashem has a list of who makes how much money per year. If Hashem wanted me to lose thirty dollars, I would rather it be over a broken bottle of wine, than me or my family getting sick, having to pay for doctor bills."

A lesson learned from this weeks Parasha: It's not worth fighting over money. We see that Pharoh's reason for pursuing the Jews was due to monetary matters, which caused his whole army to drown in the sea. He didn't even go back for that which was his. The Egyptians stole these possessions from the Jews and during the plague of Darkness the Jews retrieved that which belonged to them. Not to mention the hard labor the Jews did for the Egyptians for no wage. It was their money, their payment! Let's not be a Pharoh who makes the wrong decisions. Sometimes, things aren't worth arguing for.

I give us all a bracha, we should never get into any arguments with our neighbors, family, friends, or our spouses.

Have a wonderful Shabbos,
Nisso


[1] Shemos Rabba 21:5
[2] Rashi 14:5
[3] Mechilta