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‫בס"ד‬

North West London’s Weekly Torah and Opinion Sheets

A Torah publication that enables local Rabbonim and Avreichim to share their insights and Divrei Torah on a variety of different levels, to provide something for everyone

‫ | כ”ג אב תשע”ו | פ’ עקב‬27th August 2016

‫מוצש’’ק‬

LONDON: 8:51 PM K I N D LY S P O N S O R E D

‫הדלקת נרות‬

LONDON: 7:44 PM

‫מברכין החודש‬

‫לעילוי נשמת הש"ץ שלמה בן אברהם משה ז"ל לעילוי נשמת חנה בת אלעזר ע"ה‬

Completely Missing The Point – Again!

For questions on Divrei Torah please contact the Editor in Chief, Rabbi Yonasan Roodyn rabbiroodyn@ jewishfuturestrust.com To receive this via email or for sponsorship opportunities please email mc@markittech.com

Chazan Michael Simon | Author of Mimini Michoel, weekly email on the Torah & Mo’adim The vicissitudes of my work have recently required my spending rather more time than usual away from home.

In order to dispel any possible misimpression, I would hasten to add that my destinations have been anything but glamorous or exotic. There is perhaps only one upside (although my family may readily be able to articulate others).

I have been frequenting the same hotel chain and have as a result moved up a grade within their loyalty scheme. Again, whilst not wishing to overstate the minimal, additional benefits, the satisfaction derived from knowing that there will be sparkling rather than still water awaiting me in the bedroom should not be underestimated.

It can be tempting to view our observance of mitzvos, in a not dissimilar way, as generating loyalty points as we travel through life that we will then redeem after 120 years (plus inflation and VAT) for the choicest celestial spot on the highest heavenly floor that our grand total will purchase. This inaccurate notion, of course lacks a vital element of mitzvah observance. The fulfilment of positive commandments in this world (and the avoidance of the negative ones) is designed to have a profound, beneficial impact on us, by encouraging us to perfect our characters and to make us sholeim – in the sense of ameliorating as far as possible the enduring tension between our spiritual neshomo and our physical guf.

On the theme of mitzvah observance, our parshah opens with vehoyo eikev tishme’un, upon which Rashi famously comments that this refers to the ‘light’ mitzvos that a person treads on without care. In similar vein, the Mishnah in Pirkei Ovos [2:1] states in the name of Rebbi, hevei zohir be’mitzvoh kalloh ke’vachamuroh – we must be just as scrupulous in the performance of mitzvos that we view lightly as with those that we take more seriously, she’ein ato yodei’a matan sechoron shel mitzvos – for we know not the extent of the heavenly reward that such mitzvos will attract. Rav Moshe Feinstein zt’’l observes that mortal man cannot comprehend a mitzvah’s roots in shomayim or the wider impact that its performance may generate, whether on the one performing it or indeed on others.

Set within these parameters, to which mitzvos is Rashi referring when he terms them mitzvos kallos, which we trample underfoot? Rav Moshe answers that Rashi is actually referring to a person’s ignorance, which all too often

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manifests itself through their failure to treat seriously the fundamental aspects of a mitzvah, because they are far too caught up in, what might be labelled, elements of at best secondary importance. These include, says Rav Moshe, segulos (practices considered efficacious in improving a situation or protecting from harm), chumros (stringencies) and hiddurim (embellishments). He goes as far as to suggest that sometimes what we denote as or discern to be a mitzvah does not in fact have such a status. It is all part of the ingenious ploy by the yetzer horo to lead us astray by creating a fug of ambiguity, guiding us away from fulfilment of Hashem’s commandments as He desires.

Rashi’s comment underscores the importance of studying the mitzvos and absorbing the truth of Divine Will.

We have to develop, at the very least, sufficient awareness to know when to ask a shailah of a competent halachic authority and to seek clarification of what is demanded of us.

Only then will we desist from our habit of side-lining the real mitzvos and from keeping our own version of the Torah. In this way, declares Rav Moshe, can we be reassured that the full measure of heavenly recompense will be allotted to us and we have no need to know the relative reward structure for mitzvos.

The Ba’al Shem Tov points out that the word zohir, meaning careful, has its root in the verb zohar – to shine.

Thus, the mishnah is encouraging us to let our neshomos radiate and shine from the fulfilment of what we may misguidedly consider a ‘minor’ mitzvah in exactly the same way as for one we think of as being ‘major’.

As we move towards Rosh Chodesh Elul, may the perspicacious words of the Ba’al Shem Tov and Rav Moshe act as a timely reminder that we must do all in our power to ensure that we are constantly focused on those things that really count in Hashem’s reckoning. It really is time to stop missing the point.

Riddle of the Week

BY BORUCH KAHAN

This week’s Parshah lists the Shivas Haminim, the seven fruits that Eretz Yisrael is praised for. However the Torah writes Devash so we automatically assume this is dates i.e. honey that comes from dates and not bees. In which Parshah in Sefer Devarim does Rashi confirm this, because he says nothing about it in our Parshah?

Any comments can be directed to bkahan47@yahoo.co.uk.

Answer on page 14

Yerushalayim, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Baltimore, Beit- Shemesh, Borehamwood, Edgware, Elstree, Gateshead, Gibraltar, Hale, Hong Kong, Ilford, Johannesburg, Lakewood, Larnaca, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Manchester, Melbourne, Miami, Milan, New York, Oslo, Petach Tikva, Philadelphia, Radlett, Santiago, Sao Paulo, Tallinn, Toronto, Vienna, Zurich

PARSHAH

To Fear G-d!

Rabbi Jonathan Tawil | Director, TAL

Bertrand Russell (the British philosopher and mathematician who was a leading proponent of atheism in the early 20th century) once was asked what he would respond if he were to meet G-d after he died, and He judges him for his lack of belief. Russell responded that he would ask G-d, “Why did You not provide sufficient evidence of Your existence?”

Hashem might respond, “Why didn’t you exercise your common sense and look beyond the surface of the world to see the overwhelming evidence of My existence and of My Holy Torah?”

Moshe, fear of G-d was a small thing.

Rabbi Chanina compared it to a person who is asked for a big article, and he has it. Since he has it, then it seems like a small article to him.”

How could it be possible for such an orderly world to come into existence?

So we know that for Moshe it was simple, but just because it was easy for Moshe, who says it is easy for us? Why then does Moshe imply to the people that fear of G-d is simple. Surely he is relating the Torah to us, and for him it might be a ‘walkover’, but for us it is not?

The oxygen levels in the air are exact, the beautifying scenery, the flowing sea, the lush fields, Man’s intellect. All these are gifts from our Creator.

Belief in Hashem is one step, but the next step is to ask, “What is it that Hashem desires from us?”

In this week’s parshah, Moshe asks this very question.

The problem is that Moshe presents the petition as if it were a simple feat. He says: “And now Israel, what does G-d want of you? Only that you fear G-d, your Lord,” (Deuteronomy 10:12). He makes it sound as though the fear of G-d is only a minor matter.

The Gemara Brachos asks: “Is the fear of G-d such a small thing?” The Gemara relates how Rabbi Chanina said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yocha’i: “The Holy One, blessed be He, has in His treasury nothing except a stockpile of the fear of heaven, as it says, ‘The fear of G-d is His treasure’ (Isaiah 33: 6). Obviously if fear of G-d is so cherished by the Almighty, it must be very difficult to attain.”

The Gemara answers: “True! For it was Moshe who said this verse and for

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Rav Yitzchak Zilber, founder of Toldot Yeshurun, an organization that re-educates estranged Russian Jews about the heritage that was snatched from them, is known as the Father of Contemporary Russian Jewry. A native of Kazan, Russia, Rav Zilber was born just before the Russian Revolution in 1917.

His revered father discreetly taught him Torah and he not only completed Shas several times during his years in Russia, but he also taught Torah to many others.

During World War II, he was imprisoned in Stalin’s gulag where he managed to remain Shomer Shabbos despite the inhumane conditions. He later had to flee from the KGB, who wanted to arrest him for his Torah activities in Russia. In 1972, he immigrated to Israel. As he walked off the airplane on his arrival in Israel, he embraced the custom agent.

“Chavivi! My dear one!” shouted Rabbi Zilber as he gave the man a bear-hug embrace. “It is so wonderful to be here and talk to a Jew like a Jew!”

1. livingwithmitzvos.com

The man offered a polite smile and a pleasant “Shalom. “ “Please tell me,” pleaded Rabbi Zilber with an intensity that seemed to announce a question whose answer would solve all the problems facing Jews for the millennia. “For years I am struggling with this problem. Please tell me, how did you understand the K’tzot HaChoshen on the sugya of areiv?”

“Ma zeh K’tzos HaChoshen?” (What is a K’tzot HaChoshen)? came the reply.

Rav Zilber was puzzled. He tried another query. “Maybe you can explain how you understood the mishnah in (tractate) Uktzin in the last chapter?”

“Mishnah? Uktzin? K’tzot? What are you talking about?”

Rav Zilber, recalling the difficulties he had trying to teach and study Torah in Russia was mortified. In honest shock, he asked the man. “How is this possible?

You mean to tell me that you live here in Israel and have the ability to learn Torah and you don’t know what the Ktzot is?

You never heard of Mishnah Uktzin?”

Rav Zilber began to cry.

They say that the customs agent was so moved by Rabbi Zilber’s simple sincerity that he began to study Torah.

Perhaps the Gemara is telling us the simple truth. It was important for an entire nation to see the man for whom fear of Heaven was considered the simplest and most rudimentary aspect of life. To Moshe, fear of Heaven was natural.

As a leader, he had the imperative to impress the nation with his sincerity. To us simple Jews, it is important to see someone whose Jewish observance is as simple and graceful as if it is second nature. To us it may be a struggle, but it is imperative that the benchmark of our goals is someone for whom this comes naturally.

The possuk (7:16) says that Hashem will remove from the Jews every “choili” and all the “madvei” Mitzrayim. What are these things?

Rabbi Dovid Roberts

| Rav, Kehillas Netzach Yisroel & Federation Director of Education

And now, Israel, what does Hashem your G-d ask of you? Only to fear Hashem… (10:12) This seminal posuk forms the basis of the Talmudic axiom that “all is in the hands of Heaven, save for the fear of Heaven”. The deepest form of self-expression in Jewish thought is actually the exercising of free will in the submission to Hashem’s authority, for therein exclusively lies the ability to self- actualise, as any action requires Siyata Dishamaya.

Inaction however, is entirely within my gift!!

The concept of fearing Hashem is based on the acknowledgment of the vast gulf between our finite existence and His infinite existence, whereas the concept of love of Hashem is based on the close personal relationship He forges with each of us.1 One accentuates connection, whilst the other emphasises distance. Accordingly, for the latter concept we use the term ‫ אהבת השם‬to signify our being on a ‘first name basis’ with Him, hence the familiarity of name is utilised, while for the former concept we use the term ‫ יראת שמים‬to signify the great distance between us and Him.

melech Mitzrayim’ – the midwives feared Hashem, and did not obey the command of the King of Egypt.

The Telzer Rosh Yeshivah, Rav Mordechayi Gifter zt”l has an astounding insight into this episode. A person might well have refused to obey Pharoah out of compassion and sympathy for the newborn children. Yet, as we have seen throughout history, emotional considerations are a wobbly foundation upon which to build a structure of ethics, as emotions can be swayed and twisted. They are often highly subjective, and the abrogation of even universal values, such as the paramount sanctity of human life can be potentially justified in extreme circumstances.

The midwives did not act (only) out of compassion, but rather because of Yiras Elokim -- not even the common-garden variety Yiras Shomayim, not Yiras Hashem, but specifically Yiras Elokim, signifying a fear of the awesome nature of the attribute of Divine Justice. The midwives did not desist from infanticide merely because it was unjust to do so, not because it pulled on their heartstrings, but because they realised that, in the final analysis, the accountability to a Supreme Being surpassed their fear of a mortal, temporal monarch.

The compelling necessity of Yiras Shomayim in Avodas Hashem is demonstrated in Parshas Shemos when the Jewish midwives refused to do the bidding of Pharoah. It is a remarkable episode, probably the first recorded instance of civil disobedience, a very personal rebellion against an immoral edict.

This is made all the more noble by virtue of the very real risks to their personal safety they were prepared to undergo by saving the lives of the infants.

The contrast of their commitment to the preservation of life to the moral turpitude of the Nazi beasts, invoking their duty to follow orders as moral justification in Nuremberg in 1946, and thus entitle them to ignore all moral imperatives could not be more striking.

The Chazon Ish reportedly asked the following question: Why are we not producing spiritual giants of the stature of R’ Akiva Eiger any more? We have so many more tools to

The posuk says ‘VaTirena hamiyaldos es haElokim v’lo asu ka’asher dibeir aleihem

FEDERATION

The Compelling Necessity of Yiras Shomayim

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facilitate our learning, we have computers to help us, we have Mossad HaRav Kook texts of the Rishonim, we have electric lights so we can stay up all night and learn in heated homes in the middle of winter, luxuries the Gedolim of old could never have envisaged.

So where are the R’ Akiva Eigers of our world? The Chazon Ish answers that we may potentially find Talmidei Chachmim just as intelligent as R’ Akiva Eiger. What we lack is the Yiras Shomayim of R’ Akiva Eiger. The wholehearted dedication to the quest for absolute Emess that is to be found in Torah, when motivated by Yiras Shomayim produces greatness.

When we have the opportunity to deceive others, the Torah exhorts us “you shall have fear of your G-d.” Hashem cannot be deceived, and we are accountable to Him. Yiras Shomayim holds in check the yetzer harah to deceive others. And, by extension - Yiras Shomayim can also hold in check the yetzer harah to deceive ourselves. Admittedly we have a capacity for self-deception, but, conversely, we also have a matching capacity for self-awareness. Yiras Shomayim can be instrumental in activating the latter and suppressing the former.

Yiras Shomayim not only counters the impulse to self-deception and fosters selfawareness. It also cultivates the capacity for altruistic l’sheim shomayim conduct. Simply put: one who has deep-seated Yiras Shomayim and is keenly aware of and preoccupied with Hakadosh Baruch Hu, is much more likely to act genuinely l’sheim shomayim.

This fact was ironically acknowledged by the ‘free’ thinking Voltaire with this wry observation ‘I want my lawyer, my tailor, and my wife to believe in G-d. So, I imagine that I shall be less robbed and less deceived’.

1 See R Tzadok Hakohen Takonas Hashovin 5:6

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4 Brent Green, London NW4 2HA QUIZ TIME

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Besides for the fighting of the seven nations, Hashem sent another thing against the enemy called the “Tzera”. What is this and why the need for it?

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Rabbi Zvi Gefen | Aish UK ‫ט‬-‫דברים פרק‬

‫ ְׁש ַמע יִ ְׂש ָר ֵאל ַא ָּתה ע ֵֹבר ַהּיֹום ֶאת ַהּיַ ְר ֵּדן לָ בֹא לָ ֶר ֶׁשת ּגֹויִ ם ּגְ דֹלִ ים וַ ֲע ֻצ ִמים‬ }‫{א‬ ‫ ַעם ּגָ דֹול וָ ָרם ְּבנֵ י ֲענָ ִקים ֲא ֶׁשר ַא ָּתה יָ ַד ְע ָּת‬ }‫ {ב‬:‫ִמ ֶּמּךָ ָע ִרים ּגְ דֹ​ֹלת ְּוב ֻצרֹת ַּב ָׁשּ ָמיִ ם‬ ‫ֹלקיָך הּוא ָהע ֵֹבר‬ ֶ ‫וְ יָ ַד ְע ָּת ַהּיֹום ּכִ י ה' ֱא‬ }‫ {ג‬:‫וְ ַא ָּתה ָׁש ַמ ְע ָּת ִמי יִ ְתיַ ֵּצב לִ ְפנֵ י ְּבנֵ י ֲענָ ק‬ ‫הֹור ְׁש ָּתם וְ ַה ַא ַב ְד ָּתם ַמ ֵהר‬ ַ ְ‫לְ ָפנֶ יָך ֵאׁש אֹכְ לָ ה הּוא יַ ְׁש ִמ ֵידם וְ הּוא יַ כְ נִ ֵיעם לְ ָפנֶ יָך ו‬ ‫ּכַ ֲא ֶׁשר ִּד ֶּבר יְ הוָ ה לָ ְך‬ :‫ והם עצומים ממך‬,‫ אתה עצום‬.‫{א} גדלים ועצמים ממך‬ ‫ רש"י‬says they are strong and they will be stronger then you.

The Maharal asks if the Torah is trying to stress the miracles that Hashem will do for us, then why does Hashem stress our strength? That would make it less of a miracle?

He answers, conquering Eretz Yisrael is completely the work of Hashem by way of a Nes (miracle). Our strength plays no role. The Torah mentions our strength and theirs to show how strong they are. The Torah doesn’t have to bother leaving out our strength because our strength doesn’t even make a difference. The miracle is that Hashem is saving us from such a mighty nation, we are strong but they are even stronger than that.

It comes out that we now understand these pesukim to be saying as; we are observers whilst our enemies will destroyed through miracles.

The question is, why isn’t Siyatta dishmaya good enough, why does it have to be through grandiose ‫?ניסים ונפלאות‬

[That really was the tayna of the spies, they were saying there are giants in Eretz Yisrael, it will have to take a great miracle to exist in Eretz Yisrael and we will never be zocheh to such a big miracle].

Later the Torah continues, ‫ֹאמר ִּבלְ ָב ְבָך ַּב ֲהדֹף‬ ַ ‫ ַאל ּת‬ }‫ד‬ ‫ֹלקיָך א ָֹתם ִמּלְ ָפנֶ יָך לֵ אמֹר ְּב ִצ ְד ָק ִתי ֱה ִב ַיאנִ י ה' לָ ֶר ֶׁשת ֶאת ָה ָא ֶרץ‬ ֶ ‫ה' ֱא‬ ‫יׁשם ִמ ָּפנֶ יָך‬ ָ ‫מֹור‬ ִ '‫ ַהּזֹאת ְּוב ִר ְׁש ַעת ַהּגֹויִם ָה ֵאּלֶ ה ה‬:. Don’t think that it’s because of your righteousness and they are so bad. Rather ‫ּובי ֶֹׁשר לְ ָב ְבָך ַא ָּתה ָבא לָ ֶר ֶׁשת‬ ְ ‫ֹלא ְב ִצ ְד ָק ְתָך‬ }‫ה‬ ‫ ֶאת ַא ְר ָצם ּכִ י ְּב ִר ְׁש ַעת ַהּגֹויִם ָה ֵאּלֶ ה‬the only zechus you need is that they are terrible. That is why Hashem will do it for us. The Torah is saying that conquering Eretz Yisrael was done through Nissim without any involvement of Klal Yisroel. We just have to not be like the nations but because of their wickedness and through our righteousness, Hashem would throw them out of Eretz Yisrael.

Often one finds oneself facing a crisis where there doesn’t seem to be a natural way out. And we say to ourselves we need a miracle! But then we think “who am I to merit a miracle”? Whether we are

trying to raise money for an important cause, start an organisation, and so many other important needs of Klal Yisrael, it all requires a miracle to succeed and people always think how we are going to do this?

They think “if we were tzaddikim, that’s one thing”, but how can we even daven for a Nes? We should all be tzaddikim, but even if we aren’t, what are we fighting against, and what are we trying to do? When we fight for the Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s honour in this world, this is something that Hashem wants as well, we are His side, and therefore miracles can happen.

The only condition is, that you have to come to observe in the same way the Yidden needed to do something small, for example when Klal Yisrael took over Yericho they did a procession. We need to be ready to accept the miracle.

The same in Avodas Hashem. At times we are asking for Siyatta Dishmaya in something that is a ‫נס‬ considering time restraints and limited intelligence, similarly working on ones Emunah and working on ones kedusha. This all requires a miracle considering what we are up against.

The Siyatta Dishmaya that we are looking for is miraculous, as small as we may be, but Hashem is on our side and we can count on Him. As long as we are prepared to put our life on the line because we know it will happen, understand that it’s possible to have miracles, if it means enough to you and you are ready to believe it can happen. If you don’t think you deserve it, then you’ve missed the point.

ANSWERS 1. The Ibn Ezra says that the first one is a natural illness, while the second one is an unnatural illness. Rabbeinu Bechai says that choili is an illness that comes from outside, while madvei is an internal illness. The Vilna Gaon says that the first is where the whole body is affected and results in being bedridden, while the second is an illness in one particular limb while the rest of the body is healthy. The Netziv says that the first one is an illness that a person brings on himself by not looking after himself, while the second are illnesses that come as punishments.

2. Rashi (7:20) brings that it is a type of flying bird that throws poison from a distant (see Rashi Mishpotim 23:28) that it did so from across the Yarden and it resulted in killing the enemies. The Chizkuni learns that it is an illness on their bodies, like the tzaraas. Although the Jews were able to kill the people of the seven nations whom they found, however there were lots of them who fled elsewhere and hid. To this end Hashem sent the Tzera to deal with and kill the hidden enemy so that none survived.

3. There are two problems when entering a foreign land. The first is the enemy nation and their negative influences that go against the Jewish religion.

This was dealt with by the battle and killing of the seven nations. The second danger lay in their form of foreign worship that could become an enticement to the Jews by offering an alternative source of worship. To this

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4. When it says in Parshas Eikev that their feet did not swell the reason for this is like it says later, that they had shoes on that did not wear away and therefore their feet were protected. (Bartenura) The possuk in Parshas Eikev that implies they went barefoot talks about the Leviyim who carried the Aron barefoot. However, when it talks about having shoes on refers to all the other Jews. (Rabbeinu Bechai) 5. The midda of ga’ava, haughtiness. The Rambam tells us that usually the middle pathway is correct for all middos. However, an exception is haughtiness from which we must be totally distanced.

6. He went up three times. The first time to receive the first Luchos after Shavuos. He came down on the 17th of Tammuz and smashed the Luchos when seeing the egel, the golden calf. The second time he went up was to attain forgiveness, and he came back down on the 29th of Av, and the third time he went up was on Rosh Chodesh Elul to receive the second Luchos that he came down with on Yom Kippur, the 10th of Tishrei.

The mitzvah is the reward!

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end came the command to totally destroy all idols with the addition of being forbidden to have any benefit from them.

Donating a kidney is a low-risk procedure with a high success rate, and the satisfaction for the donor is immeasurable!

Young man from London, aged 35, on dialysis, father of two children, seeks Kidney Donor, blood group O

PARSHAH

Being Open To Miracles

Riddle Answer In Parshas Ki Savo almost at the beginning 26:2 Rashi tells us clearly that devash in our pasuk here is date honey and therefore devash means dates as opposed to any other type of honey or fruit.

For more information, please contact Matnat Chaim UK: 0800-0488276 or matnatc@gmail.com website: www.kilya.org.il/en Matnat Chaim Operates under rabbinical guidance and transplants are carried out in top hospitals.

Matnat Chaim also needs kidney donors of all blood groups for our list of kidney patients.

After the victory, the pesukim (7:25-26) describe the need to destroy the avoda zora, idols of the captured nations, and forbids any benefit from them. What is the problem with them after the enemy that had worshipped them had been killed?

PARSHAH

The Departed Rabbi Mashiach Kelaty | Rabbi of Stanmore United Synagogue Sephardi Kehilla “Banim a’tem laHashem Elokaichem, lo tisgo’d’du... l’meis (You are sons of Hashem your G-d, do not gouge yourselves over a death) [14:1].”

What is the connection between our being the sons of Hashem and the prohibition of gouging ourselves over the death of the departed?

The Ohr Hachaim explains that death is a loss to those that remain alive, not to the one that died.

At the time of death, the person is simply returning to the Father. Therefore, to gouge yourselves over a death really contradicts our beliefs.

through a garden filled with beautiful flowers.

Suddenly, a white-bearded Jew wearing a long white garment appeared and gently asked her if she’d like to see her husband. With her heart pounding she followed him to a tree full of beautiful ripe fruit, overlooking a spacious clearing surrounded by a golden fence. There were colourfully dressed Jews sitting in rows learning Torah from a young man.

The Chizkuni explains that the basis for Banim a’tem laHashem is that we are mere children. Do we have an understanding of why we live and why we die? Can we fathom the Divine decisions which determine these occurrences? A child does not comprehend the decisions that a father makes.

The class finished and she saw the teacher approaching them. It was her husband.

R’ Yom Tov Ehrlich brings the following story, based on the writings of Rav Chaim Vital.

She nearly fainted and leaned against the tree.

When she regained her composure she cried out, “Why did you leave me at such a young age?”

Yosef, who had recently married, walked back from shul with his youngest brother, Dovid, to wish their mother a good Shabbos. The table was set and the candles glowed brightly. However, the empty seat at the head of the table upset the tranquillity. Their father had died two years earlier and their mother was inconsolable. Even at the Shabbos table she couldn’t hide her tears.

“Please understand that the world in which you live is a world of exile,” he explained serenely.

“People are sent there to complete specific tasks or to rectify earlier transgressions. This is the true world. Before you ever knew me I was a Torah scholar and perfectly righteous. My only fault was I was unwilling to marry and have children because it would have disturbed my learning.

“When I left the world I began to ascend to even higher levels but at a certain point I couldn’t ascend any higher because I had never married nor had children. I was sent back to the lower world, where I married you. When our seventh child was born, I was recalled to Gan Eden. Great is your merit that I was your husband. When the right time will come, we will be together again.”

“Mummy, it’s Shabbos, we’re not supposed to be sad,” Yosef said gently.

“But it was exactly two years ago today that your father died!” she replied.

“But Tatte is now in Gan Eden and your tears must be upsetting him. They also show Hashem that you’re not willing to accept His judgement.

Mommy, please forgive me for speaking this way,” Yosef apologised.

“Why doesn’t our Yosef prosper in his business affairs?” she continued to question.

“You are right, I know that everyone wants me to be happy again, I will try my best,” she promised.

“I’m sure you remember the litigation that Yosef had with another Jew,” her husband responded. “He was legally correct but was guilty of causing the other person great pain. He faced a harsh sentence but I prayed on his behalf that he be given only four hard years. In just one more year, that period will end and he will prosper.”

Yosef left to go to his house and Dovid made the Kiddush on the wine. A calm serenity seemed to envelope the seuda and the entire house. As she went to sleep, the mother felt an inner peace that she hadn’t felt since her husband’s death.

“And what about our Dovid? Not a single shidduch has been offered and I have no money to make a wedding.”

As she drifted off to sleep she dreamt that people were running. She began to run with them. They ran through a dark forest until, with a burst of light, the forest ended. The bright sun glimmered off a sparkling blue stream, running

He smiled and explained: “Dovid’s future wife is now only thirteen years old. In five years they

will move to your city, she’ll get engaged to Dovid and they will finance the entire wedding.”

In a pained voice she asked, “And why was our three year old son killed by a drunk?”

“Follow me,” her husband answered with a smile. They began to walk to a light-filled garden.

Brilliant beams of multi-coloured light shone from above while beautiful songbirds flew from tree to tree singing the praises of Hashem. Suddenly she saw leaping circles of fire positioning themselves near her in column-like formation followed by small angels who also settled near her. She felt her soul slipping away and her husband quickly placed a flower near her nose to revive her. A canopy made of sparkling stones appeared before her and under the canopy stood a small angelic form that she recognized as her son.

“Why did you leave me when you were so young?” she asked.

“Everything is done according to Hashem’s plan,” he answered. “I had been in the world once before and during one of the wild attacks against my town, gentiles had murdered my entire family.

I, at the age of six months was the only survivor.

A kindly gentile woman took me into her home and raised me until I was redeemed by Jews.

They taught me Torah until I became a great scholar. When I left that world I was received here with great joy. I reached a point where I couldn’t rise higher because I was nursed by a non-Jewish woman. It was decreed that I be born again to a Jewish mother and live those early years in purity.

After three years there was no reason for me to remain in that lowly world so I was returned here. You have a great merit that you helped me to reach this next level.” The child laughed softly and disappeared from view.

Her husband continued: “You now see that there is an answer to all of your questions.

Hashem does no evil.” He escorted her back to the tree where he had met her. “It is very good here but I can’t bear to see your suffering. You will do me a great favour by living happily. A shidduch has been proposed for you. Please accept it.”

With that he vanished and the old man led her back through the forest.

She awoke a different person, soon remarried and lived a life of contentment.

“Banim a’tem laHashem Elokaichem”--we are His children.

Watch my shiurim on Torah Anytime: http:// www.torahanytime.com/speakers-list/rabbimashiach-kelaty/

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4. livingwithmitzvos.com

The possuk (8:4) describes the special conditions for the Jews in the desert. One of them was that their feet did not get cracked or swell, implying that they walked barefoot. However, in Parshas Ki Sovo (29:4) it says that their shoes did not wear out on their feet implying that they did not go barefoot. How do we reconcile this apparent contradiction?

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Rabbi Eli Birnbaum | Rabbi Title

“And it will be, because you will have listened to these laws, and you will have safeguarded and fulfilled them; so too HaShem your G-d will guard for you the covenant and the kindness that He promised to your forefathers” (Devarim 7:12) The opening statement of our parsha is classically interpreted through one of Rashi’s most well-known and oft-quoted ideas.

Linking the word Eikev to its literal etymology ‘heel’ rather than the contextual ‘because’1, he says the following: “If you keep the seemingly unimportant mitzvos that one unthinkingly tends to tread underfoot...then HaShem will keep His promise to you etc.” (Rashi, ibid.).

Rashi’s comments, based on the Tanchuma2, are reflected in the equally wellknown adage of Rebbi Yehudah Hanassi; “Be as meticulous with minor mitzvos as with major ones, for you do not know the actual reward of the mitzvos” (Pirkei Avos 2:1)3.

This teaching seems straightforward: don’t take the risk of neglecting what in your eyes may be an insignificant mitzvah; perhaps its actual reward is worth your while to invest in. However, this implication is deeply troubling. To encourage the performance of ‘minor mitzvos’ through the context of receiving untold reward is a belief system that contradicts the principle repeated time and again in the same work: “Do not be like servants who serve the master in order to gain reward” (Pirkei Avos 1:3)!

1 See Bereishis 26:5 for this more common translation of the word, thus: “Because (eikev) Avraham hearkened to my voice, and safeguarded my charge, my commandments, my statutes and my laws.”

2 Tanchuma Devarim 1. Cf. Ramban to 7:12 who also bases his reading of ‘eikev’ around the idea of a ‘heel’, but prefers to explain that the reference is purely metaphorical: the reward you will receive for fulfilling all the mitzvos will come at the end of time, just as the heel is at the end of the body.

See also Kli Yakar to 7:12 who offers further insight into the thought-process behind Rashi’s interpretation, and alternative approaches that utilise the ‘heel’ translation without relying on the idea of ‘insignificant mitzvos’.

3 This statement is found in the same Tanchuma, and is ascribed there to David Hamelech who said (Psalms 19:11-12) ‘They are more desirable than gold and even abundant refined gold! They are sweeter than honey and the nectar of combs!

Indeed, your servant is scrupulous in them in safeguarding them (eikev) abundantly’.

Beyond this, elsewhere in Pirkei Avos, we recount another famous saying: “the reward is proportionate to the effort invested” (5:21).

Apparently, the reward is known to us! Either way we approach this conundrum, it is difficult to properly fathom the real point of the Tanchuma’s teaching: If there is a problem in performing mitzvos purely for the sake of receiving a reward, the promise of that reward should not be used as a motivation for ‘insignificant’ mitzvos. On the other hand: if there isn’t an issue with using reward as a motivator, we already have a rough idea how much reward to expect! It has nothing to do with how ‘small’ or ‘big’ the mitzvah is, and everything to do with how ‘easy’ or ‘difficult’ it was to perform!

A number of years ago, I heard a beautiful explanation from one of my teachers, who prefaced his answer with the following anecdote: In the early 1990’s, New York City was in the grips of a crime epidemic. At its peak in 1991, official police data estimated that close to 2300 people out of every 100,000 residents of the city were guilty of committing some of the worst crimes under the sun. The municipality was at a loss to halt or at least slow down the horrifically frequent murders, assaults and thefts.

In 1993, newly elected Mayor Rudi Giuliani appointed William Bratton to the post of Police Commissioner, and charged him with restoring law and order to the chaotic metropolis. Much to the Mayor’s surprise, Bratton diverted the majority of his budget away from chasing and apprehending hardened criminals, and instead instigated a city-wide initiative to clean up every letter of graffiti, fix every broken window and repair every wall. He planted trees, cleaned up parks, restored benches and repainted public buildings. Within 3 years, crimes rates in New York had plummeted by over 50%.

The methodology used by Bratton is referred to as ‘broken window theory’. It states that there is no point exhausting yourself trying to tackle serious crime, if the surrounding environment - all the little details that noone really notices or views as significant - remains the epitome of neglect, carelessness and failure. By paying attention to the minor details, the bigger picture starts to change – the mood of the entire city starts to improve, until one day the good folk of New York woke up, looked around them, saw a city that was clean, bright and presentable. And they started to take pride in their city. Suddenly, the thought of committing an unspeakable crime in such a respectable place seemed abhorrent to them.

One final quote from Pirkei Avos resolves our paradox: “Ben Azzai said; run to perform even an insignificant mitzvah, for one mitzvah brings about another mitzvah...”

(5:2). Once again, the emphasis is on small, insignificant mitzvos. And yet, we are urged to perform them. Why? Because paying attention to the seemingly minor, unimportant details, to the actions and behaviours that people ‘tread underfoot’, can actually create an avalanche of change that slowly but surely transforms the bigger picture, until a person is stuck in the most beautiful of chain reactions, with one mitzvah leading to another and many more beyond.

True, we have a pretty clear general idea behind the measure of reward: it is granted in accordance with the effort invested. True, at some stage in life we must become spiritually mature enough to no longer rely on the promise of reward to motivate us. But nonetheless...

‘Be as meticulous with minor mitzvos as with major ones, for you do not know the actual reward of the mitzvos’. By implementing those dozens if not hundreds of minor changes in our lives, we set into motion a change in outlook and attitude whose ultimate reward - a potentially endless chain of mitzvah observance – remains completely unknown to us. Like Broken Window Theory, Parshas Eikev begs us to take those small steps for man, which will become giant leaps for mankind.

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5. Which terrible midda, character trait, are we warned about in our parsha? livingwithmitzvos.com

PARSHAH

Eikev – One Small Step For Man...

Rabbi Daniel Fine | Community Rabbi, Stanmore and Canons Park US and the Hasmonean Beis Programme In many respects, humour or laughter is an outgrowth of incongruity. On that ingloriously rather un- presidential day of 1992 when President Bush vomited at his banquet with the Prime Minister of Japan, the absolute and utter incongruity was too much not to simply laugh.

And in truth, laughter as a concept will occur when something happens that is out of the ordinary or the angle of expectation is changed. Think of the old classic ‘man in smart suit striding to work slips on a banana peel’ or any given English-humour type joke where the audience is led down one path, only to then veer sharply in a different direction (“we need someone intelligent, capable and smart: you would be perfect...to assist that person” kind of thing). In short, incongruity breeds laughter. Indeed, I cannot fail to be reminded of the military experiences of a prominent Rabbi, who was a chaplain in the Israeli army. As an older oleh, he was put into basic training with an inordinately diverse group of people. The general who was training the group thus decided to give orders in both English and Hebrew - which was fine for most people, apart from a couple of Russian olim who understood neither language. Thus, they brought someone to add Russian to the roster too.

This was fine for most people, apart from the two Ethiopian immigrants who were members of the brigade - hence calling for some Amharic to be inserted. Yet there was still one stupefied member of the group - a new oleh from Germany, who understood none of the above languages, and, with no German translator available, our heroic Chaplain Rabbi (with a slightly Chassidish background) decided to use one of the great military languages to assist his German comrade - yiddish. The words nemen, the gun und fayer de zach can only get you so far! As you can imagine, with the entire drill looking more like the Eurovision song contest than a military exercise, by the time the general had barked his orders, the ensuing ten seconds of translations and confused faces meant that anything more than press-ups and star-jumps would be untenable. Only in Israel, as they say, only in Israel.

Used to tangential, irrelevant segways and leadins by now, you will not be surprised to find that whilst incongruity and humour go hand-in-hand, incongruity and Torah do not. For Torah is a Divine book, and instructions for life - there is no place for inaccuracy or apparent incongruity. Thus, any given phrase in the Torah which seems even repetitive or superfluous, let alone inconsistent, is immediately pounced on by the various commentaries and explained accordingly.

The question is therefore, what passuk 5 (underlined below) is doing ensconced among the following pessukim in perek 8 of our parasha: And you shall remember the entire way on which the L-rd, your G-d, led you these forty years in the desert, in order to afflict you to test you, to know what is in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. And He afflicted you and let you go hungry, and then fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your forefathers know, so that He would make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but rather by, whatever comes forth from the mouth of the L-rd does man live. Your clothing did not wear out upon you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. You shall know in your heart, that just as a man chastises his son, so does the L-rd, your G-d, chastise you.

Pessukim 1-4 (above) seem to be speaking of Hashem’s kindness to us in the desert, whilst passuk 5 seems to change tone somewhat in mentioning Hashem’s chastising us. To an onlooker, it seems a bit disjointed. What is the link and or unified message here?

The simple explanation seems to be that of the Ramban here: the passuk is telling us that just as our struggles are ultimately constructive (for Hashem is a loving father who tests us to bring out the best in us), so too the arduous and sometimes challenging journey into the desert (mentioned in passuk 2) was for the productive and constructive aim of entering Eretz Yisrael - the subject of the following few pessukim too. The Ibn Ezra expresses similar sentiments to the Ramban here, albeit not identical.

The Ba’al Haturim, however, offers a seemingly different explanation (or at least we can offer an explanation based on something the Ba’al Haturim points out), pointing out that the word chastise (me’yasrecha) has a crown on top of the Mem - the goal being to accentuate its numerical value of 40.

The Ba’al Haturim points out that the message being conveyed here is that ‘just as the Torah was given in 40 days (Moshe was on Har Sinai for 40 days) the neshama was created after 40 days of our lives: in order to preserve your neshama observe the Torah.’

Given that the Torah is thus accentuating the Mem (40), perhaps the Torah is linking this verse (5) with verse 2 of this paragraph your God, led you these forty years in the desert. Is there a link between these

PARSHAH

The Effect of 40

two mentions of the word/number 40? (Clearly the answer is yes, hence the question! A Rabbi of mine used to joke about shiur titles such as ‘Shabbos and Shmittah - any connection?’ - as if the Rabbi giving the shiur would stand up, say ‘no connection whatsoever’ and summarily sit down!).

What is the idea behind this magic number 40 which seems to feature so heavily in Torah? After all, the flood in Noach’s times saw the rain lash down for forty days, Moshe was up the mountain to receive the Torah and then gain forgiveness for the golden calf and again for the second tablets for forty days apiece, the spies were sent to look round Israel for forty days (and we then wandered round the desert for a total of forty years), a baby undergoes a special formative process after forty days, and the Gemara in Gittin reports that in the times of the second Temple, Rav Tzadok fasted for forty years to prevent the destruction of the Temple. Why forty?

The Maharal writes that the number forty symbolises a process of a new creation of holiness.

To recreate a corrupt world in the times of the flood, forty days was required. To bequeath the Torah to Bnei Yisrael and create the world anew via raising the world up several notches of holiness (and then the gaining for forgiveness to retain this level somewhat), forty days was required. To then prepare for entering the holy confines of Eretz Yisrael a further forty days of eyeing out the land was required, and to create his generation anew, Rav Tzadok fasted for forty. Perhaps the idea is that forty is made up of four multiplied by ten: four is the number of the natural world (four seasons, four directions on the compass) and ten is the number of kedusha (Ten Commandments, Yom Kippur on the tenth, the Yud is the smallest letter, symbolising a lack of physicality). Thus, four multiplied by ten (forty, for those mathematically uninitiated) denotes a new creation of holiness. Consequently, the entry into Eretz Yisrael was either to be a shorter process into kedusha (forty days), or once we sinned, it became a necessarily more prolonged process to regain that kedusha. Perhaps this is what the forty link in the above passuk is drawing our attention to: the process can either be longer or shorter, depending on how receptive we are - but a process of forty there will be.

Arguably the greatest vestige of the forty concept we have today is the forty days between the beginning of Elul and Yom Kippur: our forty days to recreate ourselves are keys to harness this opportunity. Though the process of forty is a much greater concept in our lives - to know that we have the opportunity to create our world anew and constantly refresh and refine our perceptions, notions and behaviour, may we exhibit such self-belief.

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6. How many times did Moshe go up the mountain for forty days and why? livingwithmitzvos.com

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Rabbi Benjy Morgan | Executive Director of JLE

‫קידוש‬ I

remember the question like it was yesterday. “Rabbi – why do you religious Jews deny yourselves from all the good the world has to offer”?

It came from a young man in the audience of an open Q and A I was running, for a Shabbaton of young Jews on a journey towards finding out more about Yiddishkeit.

The answer I believe lies in my favourite time of the whole week. Kiddush on Friday Night. Shining smiles around the Table – Yom Hashishi…

There’s something we all love about Kiddush. If we drill down, it’s not just our favourite kiddush wine or grape juice (although that is great too!) There’s something about the taste of Kiddush that we can’t replicate any other time of the week.

Its secret lies in the word itself, Kiddush, it embodies Judaism, Yiddishkeit itself. Let me explain.

The interesting thing is, the answer actually lies in Kiddush itself.

Many other religions do not allow the consumption of wine or any alcohol. “The drink of the devil” and many other names is what they call it.

However our relationship with alcohol and materialism is very different.

The marriage between a husband and wife is called Kiddushin, the sanctification. Others may say the ideal state of holiness is when we live celibate. Yiddishkeit says the opposite, the shechinah lies within a marriage, not outside of it. Kiddushin – to make holy.

But truthfully, the translation of Kedusha is holiness with an H rather than Wholiness with a W. The convergence of wholesomeness, physical, material, that is what Yiddishkeit is all about.

We don’t shun engaging with food, - we just make sure it’s kosher and say a bracha and eat with derech eretz, we are conscious of the blessings that lie within our lives and within the food itself.

Is that denial? Or the inverse? We don’t disengage from marriage, alcohol, clothing, money or anything else that the world engages

with. Anu Ratzim Veheim Ratzim, We are deeply entrenched in this world. We just have the tightrope task of keeping the balance.

I once heard from Rav Shimshon Pincus zt’’l, that in many ways being a yid is a lot harder, other religions are easy, he said, go and live on the top of a hill, don’t get married, don’t speak, don’t engage with the world. Easy. But Yiddishkeit demands something much greater from us, but equally much more rewarding, to walk the tightrope of engagement and elevation.

That, explains the Derech Hashem is why the ultimate of the human experience is Techiyas Hameisim, the body and soul in harmony, with the soul being in the driving seat.

So as we launch Shabbos, our most special day, Me’en Olam Habboh, we live out that reality in a microcosm of a reality to come. A time of drinking that which could destroy us and our consciousness, and elevate, in a merging of Wholiness – wholesomeness.

It’s what we all crave for. Wholesomeness. Elevation. Balance.

We all know how we feel when we perceive imbalance, too much indulgence in materialism, egocentricism, or the fundamentalist extreme of spiritual engagement at any cost. There’s something that irks us. Because deep inside our neshomoh we know, that what Hashem wants from us is Kedoshim Tuhyu to be wholesome and Wholly.

So as we raise our Kiddush cup, let us remember, Hashem created this world in 6 days, with purpose with Melachah laasos – to do - We all have a job to do. In one word the job is simple.

Elevation. But it’s harder to implement. As we welcome Shabbos every week we gently remind ourselves of the purpose of the world, and actually the purpose of why we are here. We’ve got a job to do, walk the tightrope of balance, engagement and elevation. If we can do this, we’ve succeeded, and we can look forward to a yom shekulo Shabbos.

Lchaim!

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