THE WEEKLY PARSHA
The generation which crossed the Jordan from the desert into the Holy
Land is one of the roots and foundations of the Nation of Israel. They
were spiritual giants. They stood on the two mountains while the Levites
stood in-between to recite "the blessing and the curse."
However, when we hear the contents of the curses, we cannot help but
wonder what was the real spiritual stature of these people. "Cursed is
one who degrades his father and mother.... Cursed is one who removes the
landmark of his neighbor (in order to steal his property).... Cursed is
one who lies with an animal.... Cursed is one who lies with his mother
in-law." Does a nation with the highest qualities need to be warned
about such disgusting behavior? Even the lowliest nations are not
suspected of such vile deeds.
According to the way of the ba'alei mussar we can explain this matter in
a simple way. Avraham says, "I thought that only the fear of G-d is
missing in this place; they will kill me over the matter of my wife"
(Genesis 20:11). In other words, even a man with the most superlative
qualities, with excellent and perfected character, yet he does not fear
G-d -- even a person like that can descend to the lowest depths.
Therefore, see to what a person can come if he is not bound to the Torah
and mitzvot.
There is also another way to explain the question. When making an
agreement between two sides, the world is accustomed to write a contract
explicitly detailing every facet and particular of the agreement. At
this moment when Israel was entering into the Land, the nations of the
world were likely to claim -- and rightly so -- "You are robbers,
because you have conquered the territory of the seven nations." We know
that the answer to them is that G-d created all the Land, and He gave it
to whomever He saw fit to give it. However, He gave it with conditions.
As Israel was entering into the Land the terms of the contract came into
effect. That is why stones were erected on which were written all the
words of the Torah. That is why the nation stood upon the mountains to
hear the promised blessings and the curses, G-d forbid, if all the
conditions are not fulfilled. And that is why we need to read this long
parsha of warnings to this day. Not by military might or pioneering do
we merit to the Land, but by keeping the Torah and mitzvot.
When the contract is broken, G-d forbid, then the curses mentioned here
can come until the Land spits out its inhabitants. On the other hand,
when the terms of the covenant are fulfilled optimally, then the point
can be reached where wars will be unnecessary because "The L-rd will
give your enemies that rise against you to be smitten before you; they
will go out against you in one way, and they will flee before you in
seven ways" (Duet.28:7). In the same way, we will not need so much
trouble and toil to settle the Land because "G-d will open His
storehouse of good that is in heaven, to give rain upon your Land in its
time" (ibid.12). Then the Land will produce that which was promised of
it: "Houses that you did not full, filled with good things... orchards
and vineyards that you did not plant; and you will eat and be satisfied"
(Duet.6:11).
PASSAGES ON PRAYER
"You grant to man knowledge, and teach humans understanding...."
In all the blessings of Shmoneh Esrai where we ask for our needs we do
not find any introductions praising G-d before the actual supplication.
Usually, in these blessings, we make our request immediately: "Heal us,
G-d...," "Bless us...," "Blow upon the great shofar...." However, in
this blessing asking G-d to grant us knowledge, we first make an
introduction praising Him: "You grant to man knowledge...," and only
afterwards do we make our request.
It is written: "Into the hearts of all the wisehearted you have given
wisdom" (Exodus 31:6). Concerning this verse Chazal said that G-d grants
wisdom only to those who already possess wisdom (Berachot 55).
All the other blessings, therefore, do not require an introduction of
praise because they are not conditional upon any prerequisites. For
example, He does not heal only those who are healthy. Obviously it is
the same with forgiveness, the gathering of the of the exiles, and all
the other supplications.
However, wisdom G-d grants only to the wise. If he had not already
granted us intelligence, then we would not be worthy to additional
knowledge. Therefore, before we ask for more knowledge, we need to
praise G-d for the knowledge He has already granted us.
Sefer Avodat Levav
STORIES OF THE SAGES
"...Who smites his neighbor in secret" (Duet. 27:24). Rashi says: "This
is one who speaks lashon hara."?
In the book, The Chofetz Chaim - His Life and Deeds, the story is told
by Rabbi Yashar, one of his students, what happened when the Chafetz
Chaim went with his manuscript to the gaon, Rabbi Baruch Mordechai
Lipschitz to ask for a haskamah.
This gaon did not know the Chafetz Chaim, who was a young man at the
time, but when he read the manuscript he was very moved. He was amazed
that the young man who stood before him was such a scholar with unususal
humility and yirat shamayim, and that he had taken upon himself the
awesome task of authoring the manuscript he had just read.
However, before he agreed to the request of the Chafetz Chaim to give
his haskamah to the book, he wanted to check if the author was really
what he seemed. He instructed some of his students to draw the Chofetz
Chaim into conversation about Torah and also about "things of the
world." By "things of the world" he intended that they should begin
talking about yirat shamayim and slowly bring the conversation around to
the subject of some people who were generally recognized as harmful to
Judaism. In this way he would test if the Chafetz Chaim also fulfilled
the laws of lashon hara.
One of those who spoke with the Chafetz Chaim at the time was Rabbi
Nassan Nata Kimchi. The latter's son told how his father was greatly
amazed by the conversation with the Chafetz Chaim which lasted six
hours. The students of the gaon tried to get the Chafetz Chaim to speak
at least one word of lashon hara. But they were not successful. They had
to return to their rabbi to report that Rabbi Yisrael Meier was very
careful about guarding his tongue.
After this trial Rabbi Baruch Mordechai was very happy to give the
Chafetz Chaim his haskamah. Among the subjects of his letter he wrote:
"He learns very nicely, and he fulfills very nicely...."
EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN
I have heard from Rav Wolbe: "Playing is a very serious thing for a
child."
The gaon Rav Yisrael Salanter describes a child who takes a piece of
wood and puts it in the bathtub imagining it to be a boat. If the wood
is taken away from the child, it is exactly as if the boat of an adult
has been sunk. The wood is a boat for the child just like an actual boat
is a boat for an adult.
Rav Wolbe learned from this that one who disturbs a child during play is
stealing something from the child. It is necessary to relate to this
period when the child abounds in play with consideration. To push him
constantly to learn more and more at the expense of his playtime can
have the opposite effect by developing in the child a dislike for his
parent or for learning, G-d forbid.
Rav Wolf wrote in Torat Hanefesh (p.185) that a mother usually needs the
help of her daughter by the time the girl has reached the age of four.
It is good to accustom the girl to bear some of the responsibilities of
the household, and she should understand that life needs to be exploited
for its spiritual content. At any rate, the young girls still have a lot
of time for leisure.
However, Rav Wolf stipulated, leisure time must be left for the girl in
order that she can associate with her friends and play. It is impossible
to suppress the natural desire. Although a girl loves her brothers and
sisters at a very early age, and she is capable of happily giving
herself over to them, the natural desire to play and to associate with
her friends powerfully seeks its own satisfaction. This fact may not be
ignored.
*****
Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch wrote that it is not enough to teach a
child the proper ethical way to live, but he must also be trained to it
through the means of practical exercises.
Could it be imagined that just because the child sees the personal
example of his father walking, then there will come a day when he begins
to walk. Certainly not! Steady walking is acquired only through its
actual practice by the child himself. His father can lecture to him all
day long about the importance of knowing how to walk, but the child will
never know how to walk until he has practiced it many times for himself.
It is the same with the development of character traits. The parents'
personal example and the constant teaching of ethics do not have the
power to build the child into someone with good character. This can only
be done if joined to the study of ethics and personal example the child
repeatedly exercises himself to improve his character.
