בס"ד
The Weekly Vort 3 Elul 5780 / August 23, 2020
PARSHAS KI SEITZEI ● ושבית שביו... – כי תצא למלחמה על איביךWhen you will go out to war… and you will capture its captive. (21:10) What is meant by its captive? The Baal Shem Tov explains that “it” refers to the enemy – we must adopt his tactics and use them against him. Thus, man must be as obstinate in defeating the enemy as the enemy is in trying to destroy him. One must be as diligent and dedicated in defense as the evil inclination is in offense. One must observe his constant efforts to entrap one’s soul. If he fails today, he returns tomorrow. One must learn from him. Even if one slips, he should pick himself up and begin his spiritual climb again. (The Torah Treasury)
● ... – ותפשו בו אביו ואמו והוציאו אל זקני עירוThen his father and mother shall grasp him [the rebellious son] and take him to the elders of the city… (21:19) “Bring him” seems to be a more appropriate expression than “grasp him.” Furthermore, the obligation to deal with the rebellious son would seem to fall more on the Beis Din than upon the parents. Why must the parents grasp him and bring him before the court? The Skulener Rebbe suggests that the rebellious son’s behavior and lifestyle is the result of poor parenting. The term “grasp him” indicates that the parents must bear the responsibility for his spiritual condition. Because the failure of the child is their fault, the Torah requires them to undergo the embarrassment of publicly bringing him to the elders of the city. (The Torah Treasury) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________
PIRKEI AVOS #1-2 – אוהב שלום ורודף שלום..loving peace and pursuing peace... (1:12) The Maharal comments that peace is achieved when the various segments of a society or group complement each other and form a harmonious whole. This type of harmony, however, is hard to achieve since our world is inherently one of disparity. Contentiousness is so natural in this world that at the very beginning of history, strife erupted between Kayin and Hevel. Therefore, one must actively pursue a rare commodity. (The Pirkei Avos Treasury) ____________________________________________________________________________________________________
JUDGING FAVORABLY #100 I used to work in an office in Yerushalayim right near the main depot of the inter-city taxi service to Bnei Brak. One morning, my husband was going to Bnei Brak at the same time that I had to go to work, so I accompanied him to the taxi stand. As he got into the taxi, he realized that he only had a big bill with which to pay the fare. He called to me and asked if I had small change. It was awkward to pour out my change in the middle of the street, so I got into the taxi and started to look through my bag. I handed some change to my husband, got out and continued on to work. Later that morning, as I was sitting in the office typing, my boss walked in. He took one look at me and said in a surprised tone, “Are you back from Bnei Brak already?” “Bnei Brak? No, I’ve been here all morning.” “I saw you going into a taxi with your
husband this morning.” “You must have seen somebody else,” I replied. Suddenly I remembered getting into the taxi to hand my husband the money. For my boss, the evidence was crystal clear. There I was on an ordinary morning when I should have been going to work, climbing into a taxi with my husband, obviously heading for Bnei Brak, a two-hour round-trip. I explained what had really happened and the incident was forgotten. But I learned a terrific lesson on the importance of judging favorably. (The Other Side of the Story) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________
The gates of prayer are sometimes open and sometimes locked, but the gates of repentance are always open. (Midrash Rabbah, Devarim 2:7) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________
RAV MOSHE ARYEH FREUND Part One Many people outside of his circle knew little about him, and even those inside his circle never knew the true extent of his greatness. But it was for good reason that the Chazon Ish called him a Gadol HaDor close to fifty years ago, when he was only in his fifties. Rav Moshe Aryeh Freund, Rav of the Eida Hachareidis of Yerushalayim was an outstanding Gaon and Tzaddik, whose accomplishments in Torah and Rabbanus astound the mind and warm the heart. He is a true symbol of pre-WWII Torah greatness R’ Moshe Aryeh was born in 1903 into a legacy of several generations of distinguished Hungarian Rabbonim. He traced his ancestry to such luminaries as the Ramah, the Maharshal, the Shach, and the Beis Yosef. His grandfather, Rav Avrohom Yehoshua, was the Rav of Nosiad, Hungary, and a distinguished chassid of Rav Chaim of Sanz. Once, when the Ksav Sofer was about to visit the Rebbe Yehoshua’le (as he was known), his father, the Chasam Sofer, warned him, “If you say over any Torah to him, do it as quickly as possible, since if you give him any time he will tear your arguments to pieces.” R’ Moshe Aryeh’s father, R’ Yisroel, was the Rav of Honiad and a student of the Rav of Sighet, author of Kedushas Yom Tov. R’ Moshe Aryeh was a worthy link in this golden chain of Torah greatness. By age eight, R’ Moshe Aryeh could quote long passages of Sefer Kedushas Yom Tov from memory. By age 21 he had on the tip of his tongue a good part of Shas with Rashi, Tosafos and Rishonim, as well as significant portions of Yoreh De’ah and Choshen Mishpat and their commentaries. When he was only 18, his grandfather had him participate in the most difficult cases that came before the city’s Beis Din. Prior to WWII, R’ Moshe Aryeh served as Rosh Yeshiva in the city of Satmar, and though he was not officially a dayan, no significant case was decided in the city without consulting him. During that time, he developed an exceptional expertise in the laws of agunos, which he utilized extensively after WWII to help many women. R’ Moshe Aryeh arrived in Auschwitz on 2 Sivan (1944), where he witnessed his wife and eight children being sent to the crematorium while he was sentenced to hard labor. Even under grueling conditions, and with pain of the loss of his family, his faith remained strong. With enormous dedication and self-
sacrifice, he was able to avoid violating Shabbos and eating treifus. R’ Moshe Aryeh never uttered a word about his suffering. Whenever anyone pressed him for information about what he endured during the Holocaust, he would answer quietly, “I don’t remember.” All information about his experiences comes from fellow survivors. When the Nazis y”s attempted to force him to work on Shabbos, he hid in a pit covered with leaves and branches, and from there sang his prayers of praise and thanks to Hashem for allowing him to observe the day of rest. Seeing his determination to keep Shabbos, his companions made a water carrier, which would not involve desecrating Shabbos. R’ Moshe Aryeh urged every Jew to whom he gave water to make a blessing before drinking. He stressed to them that whatever trials their faith was enduring, whatever pressure they were under, they should remain as steadfast as possible in their obligations to Hashem. He would say to them, “Do you think Hashem has changed in the slightest? No, He still rules the world just as much now as He did before this happened, and it’s still forbidden to enjoy anything in His world without first blessing Him.” R’ Moshe Aryeh was a source of comfort and encouragement for all his fellow inmates. He would tell them, “Things will get better; Hashem won’t let them destroy His people.” He himself continued his learning, and at every opportunity he would review portions of Torah from memory. For a time, he was with the Klausenberger Rebbe, and at every opportunity the two would pool their Torah knowledge, one saying a Gemara with Rashi, the other supplying the Tosafos. While incarcerated in the camps, R’ Moshe Aryeh held fast to as many of his Chassidic practices as humanly possible in those inhuman surroundings. He found a cup and bowl so he could wash negel vasser at his bedside when he awoke in the morning. One morning he was awakened by an infuriated kapo who beat him with a rifle butt and showered him with insults: “Look who’s trying to act like a Rebbe here in camp!” In spite of the blows, R’ Moshe Aryeh managed to wash his hands and begin to say Vidui, his final confession. If this was his time to die, he at least wanted to confess with clean hands before leaving the world. On Erev Yom Kippur R’ Moshe Aryeh risked his life to search the camp for a pit of water. He found a pit that reeked form animal skins that had been soaked in it. This was the closest thing he had to a mikveh, and he needed to purify himself for the holy day. After liberation, R’ Moshe Aryeh returned to Satmar and undertook to restore Jewish life. He convened a special Beis Din to deal with agunos, the stranded women whose husbands’ whereabouts were unknown. He thus had a seminal role in establishing many new families out of the ruins of the Holocaust. He was a source of strength and support to the survivors. He would listen to their misfortunes with total attention and sympathy. Yet he never made mention of the loss of his wife and eight children, and never so much as breathed a sigh over them, so as not to burden others with his own distress.
In spite of all his efforts to reestablish the Jewish community of Satmar, within a few years it became evident that there was no future for Torah under Romanian Communism. Nearly everyone left for either Eretz Yisroel or America. R’ Moshe Aryeh settled in Yerushalayim in 1951, where he was immediately accepted as Rav of the Satmar community and Rosh Yeshiva of the newly established Yeshiva, a position he retained for the remaining forty years of his life. Throughout that time, he was a beloved father to each and every student, making their problems and simchos as his own. The yahrzeit of R' Moshe Aryeh ben Yisroel Freund zt”l is on 20 Elul (1996). May his merit protect us.
(Torah Leaders)
PART TWO
NEXT ISSUE ____________________________________________________________________________________________________
THE ISLAND – Thoughts for Teshuvah A large group of passengers were enjoying a pleasant cruise, when suddenly a terrible storm veered the ship off course. They finally found an island at which to dock. The island was an ideal “paradise” on earth – perfect climate, lush vegetation and plentiful fruit to eat. It was agreed that the people would stay on the island for a few days, and when the time came for the ship to depart, a signal would be sounded. The people spent a few carefree days on the island. One morning, a deep, low sounding horn interrupted their activities. They soon realized that it was the ship’s horn signaling its departure. Many hurried to board the ship, but others laughingly reasoned, “Why spoil our fun? We have found the ideal, comfortable location. Why should we hurry away from here?” After the second signal, more passengers did hurry to the ship. And even more people ran to the ship at the third and final call. Yet there remained a small group who refused to heed any of the signals and preferred to remain on paradise island. The ship set sail, and the remaining passengers indulged in their pleasant surroundings. Soon summer passed and the fruit began to fall from the trees. They attempted to store it, but it began to rot. The huts they had built soon proved inadequate shelter against the winter snowfalls. They realized their grave mistake, exclaiming, “We should have left with the others, for this was only a temporary stop-over and not our true destination. But now it is too late.” On the first day of Elul, when the first call of the shofar sounds, the G-d-fearing people amongst us realize that they must return in repentance as quickly as possible. At the second warning, during the days of selichos, yet more people grasp at the chance to repent without further delay. On Rosh Hashana, at the third and final blowing of the shofar, there are those who realize their errors and finally respond to the call. But there are always a minority who remain deaf to the shofar’s calls. It is only when Yom Kippur arrives and they are completely unprepared that they realize that the spiritual opportunities they have squandered have slipped away from their grasp. (“As Heard From Rabbi Wagschal”) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________
לעילוי נשמת חיים יחיאל מיכל בן רפאל פיי ו ועל שניאור ז"ל נלב"ע בדמי ימיו .ה.ב.צ.נ.ת
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