Parashas Ki Seitzei - We're Responsible for Our Actions!

It says in this week's parasha, “If a man is guilty of a capital offense and is executed, you shall hang him from a tree. Do not leave his corpse overnight on the tree, but you should surely bury him on that day, for hanging a corpse is an affront to Hashem...”

Rashi says it's an affront to the King, because man is fashioned in His image. Rashi gives an example of twin brothers who look exactly alike. One became a king while the other was apprehended as a thief and hanged. Everyone who saw him exclaimed, “The king has been hanged!” [And so the king issued a command for him to be brought down.]

I feel this is a very important topic because often we find ourselves making a chillul Hashem, even though at times, we truly feel we're right!

A specific incident comes to mind; a “Chareidi” guy in Beit Shemesh saw a young girl wearing something immodest (or not up to par according to his standards) and spat on her, and then gave her rebuke.

This incident traveled through the Jewish world pretty quickly. Everyone was shocked about this incident! I myself felt a bit of anger when hearing this story. I thought to myself that that is NOT the way a Jew should act nor respond. It doesn't matter how she was dressed, he made a stupid decision on how he's going to go about 'teaching her a lesson'. This guy certainly should not categorize himself as “Chareidi.” That's not what the Torah teaches us to do! There are ways to deal with things, and this definitely was not the right way. Unfortunately because of his impudent, obtuse action, the media-world reacted towards all Chareidim maliciously and claimed we're “fanatics” and behave inappropriately.

I agree this one guy's actions were inappropriate. But “All Chareidim?” This was the action of one man. The truth is, we all represent each other! It's unfortunate that people feel they can take actions into their own hands without speaking to a well learned Rabbi beforehand. And because of this, we were all judged as one.

We were all created in Hashem's image. We need to be aware of that at all times. Our actions can either have others praise what a wonderful nation the Jews are or criticize us.

It's no different than someone saying, “Wow, that child shares so nicely with other kids, I wonder who his parents are!” Or, “Wow, that child has bad characteristics, he probably got it from his parents. I'd never let my kids play at his house!”

We want people to praise Hashem and we need to give them a reason to do so!

Have a wonderful Shabbos,

Nisso

Parashas Shoftim - Right is Left or Left is Left?

The Parasha starts off with commanding us to appoint Judges and Police Officers. Then in the 9^th posuk it says, “You are to come before the Kohanim, the Levi'im, and the Judge officiating during those days... You are to act according to the word that they tell you... and you are to be careful to do exactly as they instruct you... Do not deviate from the word they tell you, neither right or left!”

Rashi comments, “Even if he tells you that right is left or left is right...”

The Ramban says, “Even if you know in your heart that they are wrong, and it's pashut what the answer is, you must still obey their words!”

A lesson I got from this week's parasha is that if we're going to ask a well learned Rav a question in law and not do as he says, then we're transgressing a Torah commandment! Furthermore, there are some people who think they know what the answer is going to be but when they ask, to their surprise, the answer is the opposite. Instead of taking the psak they got, they go in search of another well-learned Rabbi, in hope that he will give them the answer they want. Can you imagine what they'll do when the latter Rabbi tells them the same psak as the first Rabbi? You guessed it, they'll go to find another one!

The Gemara in Brachos (4b) says, “Whoever transgresses the words of the Sages is liable to death.” Conversely, the Gemara in Yevamos (20a) says, “Whoever fulfills the directives of the Sages is considered holy.”

In addition to the lesson above, some may take Rabbinic prohibitions lightly and are stringent with Torah prohibitions. Rabbeinu Yona in Shaarei Teshuvah (3:5) explains that one who transgresses a Torah law does so because he was overpowered by his yetzer hara. However, one who transgresses a Rabbinic law does so because he takes their words lightly and not because of his inability to withstand the yetzer hara.

If you think about it, when you transgress a Rabbinic law, you're also transgressing a Torah commandment since Hashem instructed us to listen to our Rabbanim. Either way, we can now see the importance of listening to our Rabbanim, even if we feel they might have been mistaken.

Have a wonderful Shabbos,

Nisso

Parashas Re'ay - Getting to Know Hashem

It says in this week's parasha, “Look, I place before you a blessing and a curse. The blessing for when you listen to the commandments of Hashem, your God... And the curse – if you do not listen to the commandments of Hashem, your God and you veer from the path which I command you today; to follow other gods, which you did not know.” [11:26-29]

Why do the last five words in the posuk say, “...which you did not know?”

Let's say someone worships an idol (which clearly has no source of power,) does the Torah say, “which you did not know,” because you can't see the idol's true worthlessness? As in, you're too ignorant to see you're worshiping something in a state of nonexistence, a.k.a. Nothingness?

Perhaps we can give an alternative answer with one question: Why would someone worship “other” gods? I know someone who has traveled the world to find “himself” and the “right” religion. Eventually, after many years of searching, he found the only religion he felt was worthy – Judaism.

He feels like he really “knows” Hashem. Knows? Yes, he knows Hashem as in connected to Him! The more you do something with a friend, the more you get to know him. In his case, it was Torah and Mitzvos which helped him feel closeness to Hashem. He now does Avodas Hashem instead of Avoda Zara.

One of the ways we can achieve closeness to Hashem is by taking the Mesilas Yesharim's advice.

Mesilas Yesharim says, “When man realizes the great worth of mitzvos and his obligation to them, surely his heart will awaken and not weaken to do the service. However, what can strengthen it, is the observation of the goodness which Hashem does for man, all the time.” [Chapter 8 – Zeal] Observing and appreciating the multiple kindnesses that Hashem does for all of mankind in addition to each individual will help us feel close to him.

There's a lesson this week's Parasha and Mesilas Yesharim teaches us: The importance of getting to “know” Hashem. The more you “know” Hashem, the more your faith and motivation to learn and do mitzvos strengthens.

Have a wonderful Shabbos,

Nisso

Parashas Eikev - Does Hashem "love" Us If We Don't Follow His Chukim/Mishpatim?

For this week, I need your help to answer a question which has been bothering me for a couple months and I can't (yet) find an answer to. I've looked in dozens of sefarim but to no avail, I was not successful in finding anything which answers my question.

In this week's parasha, it mamish starts off with (the first two pesukim,) "Follow the chukim and mishpatim and Hashem will love you, bless you, multiply you, etc... My question: Why does it say love? Wouldn't Hashem love us even if we didn't follow His chukim/mishpatim? It's inferred that if we didn't keep them then He won't love us.

The answer I came up with is: Chazal say that Hashem loves all people who are b'tzelem Elokim

[חביב אדם שנברא בצלם אלוקים - בני בנימין - על מסכת אבות-פרק א - משנה יב].

This includes even Goyim. Now there's no way Hashem loves Goyim the same way He loves us - so we automatically see that there are different levels of love. And perhaps it can even be said that within Jews, Hashem's love for those who do keep the chokim/mishpatim is a higher level of love than His love of those who don't keep it. He still loves them, but it's not as potent as His love for those who keep His chokim u'mishpatim.

Another issue though: Hashem does not love Resha'im (or maybe uses the loshon of "Soneh - hate." I don't have any sources but this is what I remember learning- Please correct me if I am wrong!!) And the Chofetz Chaim says we may speak Loshon Hara about Resha'im, nor do we have to give them the benefit of the doubt. On the contrary, we should judge them unfavorably.

[Please note, this does not mean anyone who doesn't keep shabbos, kashrus, etc then it's mutar to speak loshon hara about them. We live in a generation where a lot of Jews are called “Tinok Sh'nishba” since they grew up in non-religious homes and are not aware of Hashem's Torah and Mitzvos. They are NOT considered Resha'im!]

With the above said, it seems like Hashem loves Goyim more than the Jewish Resha'im. How's that possible? This leads me to conclude that Hashem loves all Jews, even the Resha'im but on a really low level. So when Hashem says He'll love us if we keep His Chukim/Mishpatim, that doesn't infer He won't love those who don't keep them. It's just that the love He has for those who don't keep them is diluted.

It's like equating concentrated syrup to love. When we pour water into the syrup, the syrup turns lighter and thinner. Same by Reshaim; they will still have “love” but it will be diluted as if with water.

Have a wonderful Shabbos,
Nisso

Parashas Va'eschanan - The Torah and Science

This shabbos is Shabbos Nachamu. As a bachur, every year I had the same plans for Shabbos Nachamu – I would go to the Catskills. I have a friend whose family adopted me every year for that Shabbos. Year after year, it was such a special Shabbos. (I even went with my wife and baby one year while visiting the States for the summer.) There was good food, a wonderful environment, lots of singing, and very sophisticated divrei Torah!

Why sophisticated?

I forgot to mention, every year I stayed by Mr. Joel Gallis. (I was very close with both his sons and quickly got close with the whole family.) Mr Gallis, zichrono l'vracha, wrote many books and articles about the Hidden Codes of the Torah and Gematrios. He also lectured, did radio shows, and worked hard to strengthen Klal Yisroel's emuna in Hashem. Mr. Gallis, together with Dr. Robert Wolf, have come out with remarkable information! Some can be read and heard on their site: http://www.redemption5768.com/html/articles.html

This week's dvar Torah is dedicated to Mr. Joel Gallis Z'L – Yosef ben Yaakov, may his neshama have an aliyah.

It says in this week's parasha, “See I have taught you chukim and mishpatim as I was commanded by Hashem... You will preserve and you will fulfill them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding before the nations, who will hear all these statues and will say: The only wise and understanding people is this great nation.”

I learn this posuk to mean; by learning Torah, we will reveal the secrets of the universe. Everything is written in the Torah! All information is found there, including world events and discoveries science has yet to prove. The nations will acknowledge that the Torah is Emes, the Jews are “The Chosen Ones,” and that Hashem is the One who runs this world. Some scientists have already admitted that it's not possible there's no God - there must be a higher power running this world.

It reminds me of a book I am reading, “The Coming Revolution – Science Discovers the Truths of the Bible.” It talks about phenomenons which scientists have recently discovered while the Jews have known the information over 2,000-3,000 years ago. The book mentions quotes from Chumash, Navi, Kesuvim, Mishna, Gemaras, and Rishonim regarding information which scientists only recently discovered with their high-tech equipment. For example: Ice on Mars, The Sheath Around the Sun's Orb, The Constellations, Water Reservoirs in Space, The Shape of the Earth, etc.

This is the message Mr. Joel Gallis was trying to help us be more aware of - appreciating Hashem and His all-encompassing, precious Torah.

Have a wonderful Shabbos,

Nisso