How Do They Know

 

To Forgive Or Not To Forgive

Moshe Rabbenu is always ready to stand up to bat for Klal Yisroel and defend them no matter how egregious their sins may be be.  However, in Parshas Behaloscha, when they ask for meat at that point Moshe Rabbenu throws in the toil and tells Hashem he can't bear the burden of the people himself.  Why did Moshe find the request of meat to be too much to be forgiven?  Rav Dovid Cohen explains that Moshe Rabbenu was willing to stand up for Klal Yisroel if they were making an ideological error.  Whether, it be not wanting to go into Eretz Yisroel, the sin of the egel, etc. However, a mistake which is sparked by a physical desire he could find no recall for.  Klal Yisroel was expected to be above having such base desires and Moshe Rabbenu saw no redeeming merit for such a sin.  Similarly, says Rav Hirsch, that is why Korach and his entourage had to be wiped out.  The sin of Korach, although he claimed it to be due to righteous reasons, was really a sin due to Korach's desire to be appointed Kohan Gadol.  It was a sin caused by desire which Moshe Rabbenu could not overlook.  A sin of a mistaken thought can be forgiven but a mistake because one is strayed by their desires must be rooted out.  

Different Level

Why does Parshat Korach follow the episode of the meraglim?  Rashi says the meraglim should have learned from the episode of the tzarat of Miriam not to speak loshan harah about Eretz Yisroel?  How could such great people speak negatively against Moshe and Eretz Yisroel?  My wife's uncle explained that what Miriam and the meraglim did not understand what that there was a level of kedusha that was beyond their grasp.  Miriam thought that I'm a navi and Moshe is as well, maybe a greater navi, but we are in the same catagory and should have the same rules.  She couldn't understand that Moshe Rabbenu was in a category by himself and had his own rules.  Similarly, the meraglim thought we are living a holy existence here in the Midbar, there is nothing to be gained by entering Eretz Yisroel, so they were critical of it.  They failed to see the great kedusha present in the Land.  That may be the continuation to the parsha of Korach.  Korach recognized the kedusha in everyone and thought we are all holy, there is a hierarchy.  He did not understand there are levels to kedusha and just because one individual is kadosh does not put him in the same category as one whose kedusha brings them to a different plane. 

It Is Yours Already

 Why does the Torah use the term ארץ מושבתיכם regarding the commandment of nesachim?  The mistake of the meraglim was that Eretz Yisroel was something that they did not yet have and would need to work to get it, they would need to conquer it.  In their minds this was an impossible task, whether on a phycological, spiritual or physical level.  What Hashem was telling Klal Yisroel in the very next parsha, is that Eretz Yisroel is already in your hands, it is your מושב, you just have to remove the obstacles to be there in actuality.  When the object is already in hand, it is much easier to accomplish than to try to obtain something in the first place.  For a halachik derush based upon this difference see here. 

Night Time Offering

The Gemarah in Temurah (14) cites a beratah (במדבר כט, לט) ולנסכיכם ולשלמיכם מה שלמים ביום אף נסכים ביום- "just as peace offerings may be sacrificed only during the day, so too libations may be sacrificed only during the day."  The Gemarah qualifies that the rule that the minchat nesachim has to be offered in the day is only when it is sanctified at the time of the shechita of the korban but if it is not sanctified yet, then it can be brought at night.  The Gemarah in Menachot (104a) says that one can give as a nedavah a minchat nesachim by itself.  What is the din in that situation, can it be offered at night or only during the day?  This should depend on what the nature of this split between if the minchat nesachim come together with the korban or not.  Is the din of the mincha like any other mincha, and should be offered in the day but there is a special dispensation when the korban was already offered, since it is just finishing the job, it adapts the status of הקטר אימורים and can be offered at night or is this mincha distinct from all minachot and should be valid at night but when it is sanctified together with the korban, it adapts the status like the korban and can only be offered in the day?    The Shittah in Zevachim (8a #8) says it can only be offered during the day like other minachot.  However, the Meiri Yoma (29a) seems to hold in that scenario it can be offered at night.  See also Chazon Eish Orach Chayim (126:19.)  This question would seem to hinge on one's understanding of the Gemarah in Temurah.  

Charting A New Path

 Why is the parsha of ויהי בנסוע flanked by inverted נ's?  Why is the parsha of the travels of the camps put in this week's aprsha when it would seem to fit more in Massey?  The events after the parsha of ויהי בנסוע are parshiot which are not the shining moments of Klal Yisroel, the complaints at the end of our parsha, the lashan harah, the mereglim, Korach etc.  This derailed the joyous march of Klal Yisroel into Eretz Yisroel and they were stuck in the desert for 40 years.  

The Gemarah in Berachot (4b) says that there is no possuk that starts with נ in אשרי because that would start for the נפילה of Klal Yisrael.  The Maharal (Netzach Ch. 13) explains that when the מנצפ"ך letters are added to the aleph bet, the נ is the letter that is dead middle, meaning it has no support from either side, hence it falls down and that is why the ן is bent downward.  The next possuk in אשרי is סומך ה' לכל הנופלים  meaning that Klal Yisroel has only Hashem to pull them out from falling into the abyss.  Just as in kedusha, we don't count the 50th day of the Omer, we need Hashem's pull to bring us up to the 50th level, so too it is Hashem that stops one who is נופל.  The נ's on the the parsha of ויהי בנסוע represent that Hashem remains connected to us to pull us out of our mishaps.  The method of Klal Yisroel traveling is recorded as a message that throughout travels, through the long golut, with all the modern-day versions of the setbacks Klal Yisroel suffered, there is the aron brit Hashem traveling with us, ensuring we will reach the final destination.  Even though a new, longer path has to be taken, we will eventually reach the destination.  

That is why the parsha initiates with the parshiot of Aharon kindling the menorah and Pesach sheni.  Rashi at the beginning of the parsha says Aharon was upset that he didn't participate in the chanukat hamikdash and therefore Hashem gave him the mitzvah of menorah which is greater than the offerings of the nesieim.  How was it greater?  The Ramban explains that the menorah is greater for it is eternal because we still light candles on Chanukah.  Rav Shneur Kotler explains that Aharon merited to have a greater avodah because of the fact that he felt bad on missing out on the offerings of the nesieim.  By missing out, Aharon actually gained.  Those that were tamei and missed out on offering the Pesach merited to introduce a new mitzvah of Pesach sheni.  Here also, a perceived miss turned into a gain.  These parshiot serve as the intro. to the parshiot which tell us about Klal Yisroel's missed opportunity to enter Eretz Yisroel that even though a longer route must now be charted, there will be nothing lost due to the errors. 

Silent Song

The Midrash (6:10) says תָּנֵי (במדבר ז, ט): וְלִבְנֵי קְהָת לֹא נָתָן כִּי עֲבֹדַת הַקֹּדֶשׁ עֲלֵיהֶם בַּכָּתֵף יִשָֹּׂאוּ, מִמַּשְׁמַע שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר בַּכָּתֵף, אֵינִי יוֹדֵעַ שֶׁיִּשָֹּׂאוּ, מַה תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר יִשָֹּׂאוּ, אֵין יִשָֹּׂאוּ אֶלָּא לְשׁוֹן שִׁירָה, וְכֵן הוּא אוֹמֵר: שְׂאוּ זִמְרָה וּתְנוּ תֹף וגו', וְאוֹמֵר: יִשְׂאוּ קוֹלָם יָרֹנּוּ.  How can the Midrash interpret the word ישאו to mean song if it says בכתף ישאו, what does singing have to do with the shoulder?  And why does the tense in the possuk switch from plural, עליהם to singular, בכתף ישאו and not בכתפיים?  The Emrei Emes says the intent of the Midrash is not to say the לוים actually open their mouths to sing song but rather that the act of carrying itself was a song.  When the Leviem appreciated how their avodah was an act of service to Hashem, their limbs sang songs.  It is when one knows Hashem is with him in his actions that one's actions become praise for Hashem.  When that is joined with one cohesive group acting as a single individual, בכתף, then it becomes a symphony of various instruments combing to give praise.  It is the silent, united song that forms the greatest composition. 

All Depends On Desire

 The screen shot is from Emrei Chayim of Rav Chayim Kamil on Bamidbar.  A person's ability to succeed, to be able to acquire Torah depends on how muh desire there is to acquire it.  

From the Mir parsha sheet from Harav Hagaon Shmuel Wolman Shlita

"After Klal Yisrael began their eager counting toward Mattan Torah, we find that they experienced a yeridah, in Refidim, after which Amalek attacked them. Rashi explains that the name Refidim alludes to a weakening in Torah: רפו ידיהם מן התורה. This is baffling. How could they have weakened in Torah when they had not even received the Torah yet?

In the Mir yeshiva we are trained to notice every letter of Rashi. Rashi, in Yechezkel (20:13), adds an entire word that does not appear in Parashas Beshalach: נסו אותי בעגל וברפידים מלקבל את התורה והותירו מן המן. The weakening in Refidim, he is telling us, was not a weakening of Torah observance, or Torah learning, but rather in Kabbalas HaTorah.

What does that mean? How could there be a weakening in Kabbalas HaTorah before they even got the Torah?  I think we can answer based upon the essence of the sefiras ha’omer period. Klal Yisrael had to go through forty-nine days of avodah before receiving the Torah, and that avodah was to await and yearn and beg for Torah, as the Shibbolei Haleket describes. In Refidim, that longing abated.

The Yalkut Meam Loez cites an ancient source that explains the words רפו ידיהם מן התורה to mean that they weren’t begging for Torah the same way they begged for water and bread. That was the weakening in their appreciation and longing for Torah.

When that feeling is lost, when there’s an אֲשֶׁר קָרְךָ בַּדֶּרֶךְ, Amalek appears. Later on, at the time of Purim, when Amalek reappeared in the form of Haman, the remedy was הדר קבלוה מאהבה. Only by reclaiming the love and appreciation for Torah can Klal Yisrael triumph over Amalek. No wonder, then, that Haman was hanged on the sixteenth day of Nissan, as Rashi notes in Megillah – the very same day that Klal Yisrael first began to express their longing for Torah.

As I share these thoughts, I am reminded of my first Shavuos in Mir yeshiva. Everyone gathered together in the front of the beis midrash to hear the rosh yeshiva R’ Nosson Tzvi zt”l, who went up to the amud and began his special Shavuos shmuess. We all strained to hear what he was saying, but it was nearly impossible – it was Yom Tov, and he couldn’t use a microphone. We may not have heard what he said, but one thing we did get – we saw the happiest man in the world, who just wanted to share his simchas haTorah with his audience. It was reminiscent of Mattan Torah, when we were רואים את הקולות.

I noticed that in the back of the beis midrash, near the door, a Reb Ahrele chassid was standing with his children listening to the shmuess. I found the sight highly incongruous: he should have been with his rebbe in Toldos Aharon – what was he doing in a Litvishe beis midrash? Unable to contain my curiosity, I approached him after the shmuess and asked him why he had come.  “I wouldn’t miss this for anything!” he replied. “I come here every year to hear the rosh yeshiva’s shmuess.”  “Reb Yid,” I responded, “did you hear anything he said? You were in the back of the beis midrash!”  “I didn’t hear one word,” he said, “but my hachanah for Yom Tov, and the hachanah that I want my children to see, is a Yid like this. You don’t have to hear anything, all you have to do is see his simchah. It’s the simchah of someone who’s marrying off his only daughter. And the rosh yeshiva’s only daughter is the Torah.”  That longing and craving for Torah is what we saw in the Mir yeshiva.

We still have to understand, however, why this hachanah of longing and anticipation for Mattan Torah is so important. Why does Shavuos require this preparation? Why do we have to crave Torah – why can’t we just get it?

The Baal Ha’akeidah, in Parashas Emor, explains that the Torah doesn’t work that way – you can’t just “get” it. The Mishnah in Avos says: והוי שותה בצמא את דבריהם, indicating that thirst for Torah is not merely a nice additive or bonus – it’s a critical prerequisite. If we don’t long for Torah, says the Baal Ha’akeidah, we can’t acquire it. And the purpose of the sefiras ha’omer period is to create that yearning.

Torah is not like other bodies of knowledge – it’s the Eibishter’s chochmah, and al pi teva it’s truly beyond our ability, as humans, to grasp. We acquire Torah as a gift from the Eibishter – but He has a condition for giving this gift:אין הקדוש ברוך הוא נותן חכמה אלא למי שיש בו חכמה שנאמר יהב חכמתא לחכימין.

Rav Chaim Volozhiner wonders: If only the wise can acquire Torah wisdom, how can someone ever become wise? Where is the starting point of Torah wisdom?  The answer seems to lie in Rabbeinu Yonah’s statement, in Avos, that the title “chacham” refers not to someone who possesses chochmah, but to someone who appreciates chochmah. Accordingly, in order to be worthy of the title “chacham,” we need to develop an appreciation for Torah and internalize the value of chochmas haTorah. Only then can we can be zocheh to the gift of יהב חכמתא לחכימין. This is what we are trying to achieve during sefiras ha’omer."

Create Yourself

The Midrash Tanchuma Ke Savo (#1) says וְעוֹד אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן, כָּל הָעוֹשֶׂה תּוֹרָה לַאֲמִתָּה, מַעֲלֶה עָלָיו הַכָּתוּב כְּאִלּוּ עָשָׂה אֶת עַצְמוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וְאוֹתִי צִוָּה ה' בָּעֵת הַהִוא לְלַמֵּד וְגוֹ' (דברים ד, יד). לַעֲשׂוֹת אוֹתָם לֹא נֶאֱמַר, אֶלָּא לַעֲשֹׂתְכֶם אוֹתָם (שם), מִכָּאן שֶׁמַּעֲלִין עָלָיו כְּאִלּוּ הוּא עָשָׂה וּבָרָא אֶת עַצְמוֹ.  The midrash is teaching us that when one learns Torah, they are perfecting themselves.  A person becomes a greater being through learning Torah.  

The Gemarah in Pesachim (88b) Rav Yosef said to prepare for him a עגלא תלתא on Shavuot because אי לאו האי יומא דקא גרים כמה יוסף איכא בשוקא.  Why does he say האי יומא and not say if not for the Torah?  Why add the words קא גרים?  The Rebbe (Likutay Sichos Yisro volume 16 sicha 3) explains that it is Mattan Torah which gives the power to affect a change in the world through Torah and mitzvot.  Before Mattan Torah there was also Torah but the Torah didn't permeate the individual and the world.  It is האי יומא that gives one the ability, it is גורם that one can make a change.  Rashi says אי לאו האי יומא - שלמדתי תורה ונתרוממתי.  What the day of Shavuot causes is the נתרוממתי.  It is לַעֲשֹׂתְכֶם אוֹתָם, to make one into a more refined, majestic, elevated individual.