Parashas Naso & Shavuos - Would you ever steal from Mashiach's grandmother?

This week's Dvar Torah has been sponsored for:
Hatzlacha: David ben Rachel u'Mishpachto
May you have health, happiness, and success!
(If you would like to sponsor a Dvar Torah, feel free to email me: SharingTorah@gmail.com)
__________________________________________

In a couple of days, we will be reading the Book of Ruth over Shavuos. I will give a little background information on the introduction to the Megilla.

It's about a Moabite woman named Ruth, who left her family of idol-worshipers to convert to Judaism, in Israel. There was a family, Elimelech and Naomi, who moved to the land of Moav with their two sons, due to a famine that took place in Beit Lechem. After Elimelech's death, the two sons married Moabite women named Orpah and Ruth. About ten years later, the two sons died, leaving Naomi with two daughter-in-laws. She told them, "Leave, go back to your mother's house." After some convincing, Orpah returned to her 'idol-worshiping' house, while Ruth refused to leave her mother-in-law. Noami told her, "Follow your sister-in-law, for she has returned to her original home." But Ruth replied back, "Don't urge me to leave you. Wherever you go, I will follow. Your people are my people, and your G-d is my G-d!" When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped arguing.

From that Posuk: " When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped arguing" (1:18) the Gemara teaches that when a non-Jew wants to convert to Judaism, you should persuade him not to, but when you see he is very sincere, you should not dissuade him. [1]

There's a discussion whether the conversion of Orpah and Ruth were legitimate. Converting to Judaism is a process. One needs to know about Judaism and its laws, needs to go in front of a court (Beis Din) for validation, immersion in a kosher mikvah, etc...

According to Rav Meir, they had not converted. [2] The Zohar Chadash says they converted when they married the brothers, but since the parents of the brides arranged the marriages, they couldn't refuse. It was only later in the marriage they were able to prove if the conversions had been sincere. Orpah, who went back to her parent's house, showed that her conversion was never valid; whereas Ruth proved that she was a Jewess to the highest degree.

In Parashas Naso, the Torah says, "When a man or woman sins (steals) against man, acting against Hashem, and that person is guilty... If the man has no redeemer (relatives) to whom the debt may be returned, it belongs to Hashem."[3] The Sforno wants to explain that this posuk is talking about someone who stole from a convert. Harming him is like harming Hashem, because this person thought it would be ideal to convert to Judaism and get closer to Hashem. If someone cheats him financially, he might come to the conclusion that he might have made a mistake converting and that Judaism isn't what he thought it was. Hashem wants us to treat him like one of us. (Not to mention the huge Chillul Hashem it is- making a convert think that way!)

The Torah demonstrates how great Hashem's love is for those who have come under the wings of the Shechina. [4] Mistreating converts would mean you're doing something wrong to Hashem, chas v'shalom.

We see how we should act with love and kindness towards converts. After all, you never know who will descend from them. Ruth was merited to have Dovid Hamelech, Shlomo Hamelech, and the future Mashiach descend from her.

May we merit to live in the days of Ruth's grandchild, Mashiach!

Have a wonderful Shabbos and learn well over Shavuos,
Nisso


[1] Yevamos 47B
[2] Ruth Rabba 1:4
[3] Bamidbar 5:6-9
[4] Vayikra Rabba 8:4

Parashas Bamidbar - Live up to the expectations!

This week's Dvar Torah has been sponsored for:
Hatzlacha: Yaacov ben Loura u'mishpachto
May you have health, happiness, and success!
(If you would like to sponsor a Dvar Torah, feel free to email me: SharingTorah@gmail.com)
__________________________________________

This week we start a new sefer (volume) called Bamidbar. It opens up with, "And Hashem spoke to Moshe in the desert of Sinai, in the Mishkan, on the first day of the second month (Iyar)"

We always see Hashem speaking to Moshe or Aharon without recording the date in the Torah. What was so special about this day?

People always joke around, "There are several rules when you get married: always remember your wife's birthday, and NEVER forget your anniversary." The truth is, that isn't a joke. If there's something important to us, we make sure to remember it. Some people remember a baseball player's first home-run, some remember the first time their child said 'mama or dada', and others remember the day they got married (hopefully!)

Hashem went to every nation and asked them if they wanted the Torah. Everyone refused because it was too hard to handle. There was at least one thing the Torah prohibited them to do that they couldn't accept. We were the one nation who responded, "We will do and we will listen." We were the only ones who accepted the Torah not knowing exactly what was in store for us.

Midrash Rabba (1:5) explains that Hashem viewed us as being His loyal followers (Patriarchs) children; He won't get disappointed by us. He therefore told Moshe, "Record the exact date," like a groom who writes the date on his marriage contract.

This Midrash is one of the reasons why the Torah mentioned the date. It was a special time, almost a year after we had received the Torah. Hashem was showing us how special and beloved we were in His eyes.

It says by Aharon, that if he saw someone who sinned, he would go and compliment him; making believe he didn't know anything about what he had done wrong. The person would think to himself, "I can't believe Aharon thinks this of me! I need to fulfill these expectations he has of me. I can not continue sinning, what if he finds out?!"

I think this can be applied to us as well. Hashem showed us how precious we are to Him. In this week's parasha, Hashem takes a census of Klal Yisroel, showing the love He has for us. It is up to us now to think to ourselves, "Hashem thinks highly of us. We must reach the expectations He has of us in performing His mitzvos and learning His Torah.

We should all be zocheh to continue making our Father proud. We should use the gift (the Torah) He has given to us, and to fulfill the mitzvos.

Have a wonderful Shabbos,
Nisso

Parashas Behar - Bechukosai *Shavous Incorporated* Learning Torah = Blessings !

This week's Dvar Torah has been sponsored for:
Refua Shelema: Rozet Bat Shafika
May you have a quick recovery!
(If you would like to sponsor a Dvar Torah, feel free to email me: SharingTorah@gmail.com)
__________________________________________

Shavuos is approaching very quickly and I'm not sure whether I'll be able to write a dvar Torah for then, so I will incorporate one for Shavuos here.

Parashas Bechukosai opens up with, "If you go in My statutes... You will be deserving of all My wonderful blessings." Upon reading this, I wondered why does it say, "go" in My statutes as opposed to, If you 'keep' My statutes, or If you 'learn' My statutes?

The word 'go' implies that you are traveling somewhere. You are doing anything other than being stationary. It seems a little out of context at first.

When I originally started learning Torah, I had a really difficult time. I didn't grow up religious and never really learned how to learn (or pray). I didn't enjoy learning, and felt it was a waste of my time (little did I know). When I came to Israel, I felt like everyone around me had gotten a head start because of their background in learning. I was getting frustrated because I wasn't able to keep up with my friends, which affected my motivation. There were days I would learn, and there were days I would take breaks.

There was a point where I told myself (of course with the help of my Rabbis) to forget about everyone else, and to work harder. I wasn't going to get anywhere if I was 'on and off'. I needed to stay on and so I did. I put in the extra time to work on learning. I didn't take any 'days off' like I use to. After MANY months, I started to see a change in the way I was learning. (It was frustrating during the periods I didn't see any improvement, but) I was improving and understanding more. It gave me a sense of accomplishment, which lead to motivation.

I once asked several people a question to see what their response would be. "If you were trying to get somewhere, and there were two roads: Road A which was shorter but had a lot of traffic or Road B which was longer but was smooth driving the whole way there; which road would you choose? They will both get you there at the same time." I don't remember anyone saying they wanted to drive on Road A. The reason is: because people feel happy and accomplished when they are constantly doing something.

When Hashem tells us to "Go in My statutes", He is saying, "Learn My Torah continuously. By going in My ways, you will merit My many blessings."

We see a similar concept by Shavuos. There's a minhag (custom) brought by the Zohar to stay up all night learning Torah. It's based on the Midrash which says that the Jews overslept the night before receiving the Torah and Hashem had to wake them up. So we stay up all night to make up for their oversight. The Ari'zal writes that one who does not sleep the night of Shavuos and toils in Torah should merit to live out the year and no harm will occur to him.

May we all merit to have a life full of blessings and Torah.

Have a wonderful shabbos and (I know it's a little early) a meaningful Shavous,
Nisso

Parashas Emor - Go 'Perfect' from 0 to 49 days!

This week's Dvar Torah has been sponsored for:
Refua Shelema: Rozet Bat Shafika
May you have a quick recovery!
(If you would like to sponsor a Dvar Torah, feel free to email me: SharingTorah@gmail.com)
__________________________________________

We are holding in the days of Sefiras Ha'omer; the forty-nine days between the Omer offering (a day after Pesach) and Shavuos. In this week's parasha it says, "You shall count for yourselves... from the day you bring the Omer Offering, seven complete weeks they shall be."[1] The 50th day is Shavuos, the day we received the Torah.

People generally look at the forty-nine days as two units: Days 1 - 33 as one unit, and 34 - 49 as the second.

The first thirty-three days is a period of mourning. We refrain from doing certain activities like listening to music, shaving or getting haircuts, etc... The reason for this is because 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva passed away within these days.

The Gemara explains that the students did not respect each other. The Chofetz Chaim and Ben Ish Chai say the reasons for their deaths were because they desecrated the Name of Hashem by the way they spoke and acted with each other. They gave people a negative impression of how a Ben Torah (one who learns Torah) should act. In this very same parasha, the Torah also tells us "They shall not desecrate My (Hashem's) Name." [2] We see already there could be a connection between the days of counting the omer and preventing oneself from desecrating Hashem's Name.

People try working on their character traits during these forty-nine days in order to perfect their ways. The Torah says, "Sheva Shabasos temimos" which means, "Seven complete weeks" (as mentioned above). The word 'temimos' can also be translated as 'perfect'. In other words, when counting the omer, count 'seven perfect weeks.' Perfecting another midda (trait) each day.

A lesson I learned in Parashas Emor is to use these 49 days to work on ourselves.. You can be doing two things at one time: repenting from the ways Rabbi Akiva's students acted with one another, and preparing ourselves for the holy day of receiving the Torah! There's no better way to receive and accept the Torah by working on ourselves to reach our goals of purity.

Have a good Shabbos,
Nisso

[1] 23:15
[2] 22:2