Insights into Parshat Devarim of Rav Moshe Ganz, ram emeritus of Yeshivat Sha’alvim, from the Pnai Shabbat volume, by Rav Re’uven Ungar of Sha’alvim.

In addition to words of reproach (tochechah) contained in the speech of Moshe Rabeinu in Parshat Devarim, the Torah details geo-political happenings of the nations that bordered on The Land of Israel. What message does the Torah mean to convey to us by relaying this historical facts?

Moshe conveys to the Jewish People concerning Hashem’s rule of the entire world. He directs the direction of the Jewish People- and of all nations. Hashem designates specific lands to specific nations, and enables them to conquer these lands. Edom and Moav succeeded in conquering giants, because Hashem intended for them to reside in those territories.

The fundamental concept that is being conveyed is that Hashem, the G-d of the Jewish People, is involved in the destiny of all nations. “The G-d of all world He is called”! (Sefer Yeshayahu 54:5).

Insights into Parshat Matot-Masei of Mr. Yakov Blustein of Yeshivat Sha’alvim, by Rav Re’uven Ungar of Sha’alvim.

In Parshas Matot, the beginning of the Parsha goes to great length in describing the Halachot of Nedarim- the laws regarding taking vows and how powerful and serious the Torah takes a person’s Neder.

What message can we take away from the Torah’s teaching of the Halachot of Nedarim, especially during the ‘9 days’ mourning period over the Bet HaMikdash (Holy Temple) that we now find ourselves in?

The answer is as follows: From the Torah’s emphasis on Neder, we can see the Torah’s emphasis on The Power of OUR Speech. When a person would take a Neder, he’d be able to take something that was completely Mutar (permissible) to him and he had the ability to make it Asur Deorayta– completely forbidden on a Biblical level- just though the power of his words. This teaches us the power and seriousness of each and every word a person says.

This message is especially appropriate for the ‘9 days’ mourning period that we now find ourselves in. We know that the 2nd Bet HaMikdash was destroyed because of Sinat Chinam- baseless hatred between fellow Jews. Many times Sinat Chinam can lead us to not be as careful as we should be about how we speak, which can cause us to hurt people through our words, through Lashon Hara and Rechilut. Therefore during this time period we should make an extra effort to make sure that our speech is ‘Kodesh Kodashim’– of the highest caliber.

May we each be Zoche to use the power of speech we have so generously been given to raise ourselves and everyone around us and be Zoche to rebuild the 3rd and Final Bet HaMikdash bemhara beyamaynu, so that this Tisha B’Av can be a day of Yom Tov instead.

(From Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz, DRS/Lev Shlomo)

Insights into Parshat Pinchas of Mr. Noam Sonnenschein of Yeshivat Sha’alvim, by Rav Re’uven Ungar of Sha’alvim.

וְהִנֵּה אִישׁ מִבְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בָּא וַיַּקְרֵב אֶל אֶחָיו אֶת הַמִּדְיָנִית לְעֵינֵי משֶׁה וּלְעֵינֵי כָּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל”
“וְשֵׁם אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל הַמֻּכֶּה אֲשֶׁר הֻכָּה אֶת הַמִּדְיָנִית זִמְרִי בֶּן סָלוּא נְשִׂיא בֵית אָב לַשִּׁמְעֹנִי…

“Then an Israelite man came and brought the Midianite woman to his brethren, before the eyes of Moses and before the eyes of the entire congregation of the children of Israel…The name of the Israelite man who was killed, who was slain with the Midianite woman was Zimri the son of Salu, the chieftain of the Simeonite paternal house.”(25:6,14).

Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld says in his sefer Chachmat Chaim that Zimri’s conduct seems to be very inappropriate, especially for someone who was a prince in bnei yisrael. As a nobleman of shimon he should have exemplified better midot than to indulge himself in these immoral behaviors. At least if he felt he couldn’t control his desires he should have at least committed this act in private. What was the point of Zimri passing the women right in front of Moshe’s face, and in public view of all of klal yisrael? Rav Sonnenfeld said to understand this we must first understand why it was so problematic for the Jewish man to stray after the midianite women. Rashi told us earlier that this wasn’t just a classic case of promiscuity but rather the midianite women were luring the jewish men into worshiping their gods. Zimri, as a leader in Israel, was worried about the avodah zarah that was taking root through the midianites. For the good of the people he knew something needed to be done to stop this problem. He then thought of the following idea: If we can’t stop the men from chasing after the midianite women, at least we should prevent further idolatry. So instead of the Jewish men going to the midiante homes to fulfill their desires, instead let us bring them here to our camps. Zimri thought that this might at least stop the avodah zarah. Even more so maybe we can convince these women to convert to Judaism.

It was this that Pinchas rose up against. He realized that such a compromise was even worse than the original situation, for in Zimri’s suggestion the holy “camp of G-d” would become desecrated. Pinchas thought, let those who can’t control themselves go and fulfill their desires in the midianite camp, but the camp of Israel needs to retain its purity and holiness.

The Gemara in Sanhedrin(82b) relates that bnei yisrael were not impressed with Pinchas’s show of zealousness in killing Zimri. They said, “This man’s grandfather (Yitro) used to fatten up calves to sacrifice to idols, and now he goes and kills a prince in Israel!” The Torah then immediately afterwards reminds the people of Pinchas lineage on his father’s side, as he was a grandson of Aharon.
What point were the people trying to make by recalling the idolatrous background of one of Pinchas’s ancestors? And what was the Torah’s message in immediately afterwards stressing his paternal lineage. Everyone knew well that Pinchas descended from both Aharon and Yitro? Rav Sonnenfeld explains that the people’s argument was this: “Since Pinchas has an idolatrous priest in his family, this explains why he was so opposed to Zimri’s plan to minimize idolatry in the camp. That’s why he killed him.” The Torah therefore refuted this by pointing to his paternal lineage. It’s as if the Torah is saying to the people that you were mistaken. In killing Zimri, Pinchas was guided by considerations of his service to Hashem, which he inherited from Aharon, and not from any negative spiritual flaw that he may have inherited from his idol-worshipping side.

Insights into Parshat Balak of Mr. Ariel Rosenzveig of Yeshivat Sha’alvim, by Rav Re’uven Ungar of Sha’alvim.

In פרק כג פסוק ד it says ״ויקר אלקים אל בלעם״ God happened upon Bilaam. Rashi there says that ויקר is an expression of impermanence and shame. It seems like Bilaam was the greatest guy. However, the Sifri on וזאת הברכה says on the פסוק of ״.ולא קם נביא עוד בישראל כמשה״ Amongst klal yisrael there hasn’t been another prophet like Moshe. But there has been one like Moshe amongst the other nations; this was Bilaam. However, there are differences between the prophecy of Moshe and that of Bilaam. Moshe didn’t know who was speaking to him but Bilaam did. Moshe didn’t know when he was speaking to Hashem until they were speaking but Bilaam did.

We see that Bilaam was a great man. So much so that regarding him we say that there has been a prophet like Moshe amongst the other nations. Yet, such a “great person” seemed to have had a lot of lackings. As it says in פרקי אבות פרק ה משנה יט that the talmidim of Bilaam have an evil eye, proud spirit, and haughty soul. These correspond to the characteristics of jealousy, desire, and honor which remove a person from the world?

The Rambam writes in הלכות יסודי התורה פרק ז הלכה א that prophecy can only be attained by one who is great in wisdom, strong in his מדות. He controls his יצר הרע as opposed to vice versa. If you look in the parsha of Bilaam, he had the opposite of all of the traits. So how did a רשע like him become a prophet?

Rav Eliyahu Lapiyan answers that there are two types of prophecy and they are very distant from each other. There’s the main prophecy, which one must work hard and put in a lot of effort to be successful in overpowering his יצר הרע constantly and to change his מדות for the better. Only then will he be able to reach the level of prophecy.

But there’s also the prophecy that a person is privileged to attain as a gift for a certain amount of time. This kind of prophecy doesn’t need preparation, rather, at the time the prophecy comes to him, it purifies his נפש and he gets to the prophecy from Hashem. When the prophecy leaves him, he’s the same person he was beforehand. For example, חז״ל say that at the ים סוף, even a maidservant saw more than יחזקאל בן בוזי הכהן. It’s not saying that they became greater than יחזקאל בן בוזי. Rather, by the ים סוף there were so many miracles that the skies opened and all of klal yisroel saw prophecy that was greater than that of יחזקאל בן בוזי. However, the maidservants were maidservants beforehand as well as after.

The same applies to the prophecy of Bilaam. His נפש wasn’t pure at all to be fit for the prophecy of klal yisrael. Rather, it was a prophecy that needed no preparation. The only reason a non-jew received a prophecy in the first place was so that the nations of the world don’t complain and say that if they had prophecy they’d also be good.

Now everything makes sense because when the prophecy comes because of effort and prevailing in the battle with the יצר הרע, it comes to build the world. However, the prophecy like that of Bilaams, who was a man of jealousy, desire and honor, comes to destroy the world. It has to be this way because the prophets of klal yisrael warn us on the Torah, mitzvot, and our midot. Whereas the prophets of the rest of the nations teach to destroy. Whether it be with any one of the three cardinal sins.

The idea here is that in order to be able to fulfill our potential as Jews, we need to have the ability to strive to work on ourselves and become better people and עובדי ה׳. If we just sit back and be happy with where we are, that means were willing to be the kind of prophet that Bilaam was. The kind of prophet that destroys the world rather than building it.

The Maharal in the beginning of דרוש על התורה says that animals are called בהמה because an animal is בה מה. Whatever it is right now, it will always be the same. Yet, man is called אדם from the word אדמה, meaning ground. The ground is the ultimate example of potential. It has the ability to grow grass, flowers, and trees. If it loses that ability, it is of no use. We need to be able to work on ourselves so that we can realize our potential and be on the highest מדרגה we can possibly be.

Insights into Parshat Chukat of Mr. Aaron B. Buechler of Yeshivat Sha’alvim, by Rav Re’uven Ungar of Sha’alvim.

Parshat Chukat is packed with many different stories and themes that have seemingly no correlation. There appears to be no ostensible association between: the parah adumah (red heifer,) Miriam’s death, the water crisis, Moshe and Aharon’s punishment, Aharon’s death, the attack of the fiery snakes, the healing effect of the bronze serpent, the travels and battles of the Jewish people, and the song of B’nai Yisrael. Yet there is an undertone of an inherent relationship – the theme of remedying a wrong.

The concept of righting the wrongs of yesterday and improving our lives runs deep throughout the chronicles of Chukat. The parah adumah, though lacking logical understanding, is an antidote to cleanse ourselves of tameh met (ritual impurity due to contact with a corpse.) After Miriam passed away in the wilderness, Bnai Yisrael complained they had no water, so Moshe struck the rock after HaShem commanded him to converse with it. Consequentially, Moshe and his brother Aharon were prominently punished for their failure to follow HaShem’s command, notwithstanding the fact that they fixed the grave situation at hand vis-à-vis the lack of water.

Due to incessant nagging regarding food and drink, HaShem sent fiery snakes to bite the complainers. This led B’nai Yisrael to protest once more. As a result, HaShem instructed Moshe to construct a bronze snake and hoist it high upon a pole. All those who raised their eyes towards the sculpture and heaven were instantaneously and miraculously healed. Many ask how the bronze serpent saved the ill. One answer is that the statue was raised upon a rod, thus, when the stricken gazed upon the serpent they found themselves staring skyward with hope and prayer for a rapid recovery. They believed while looking upwards that they would be healed; whether intentional or not they trusted in HaShem to help hasten their healing. They looked towards the heavens in search of a remedy; it was this search and their request to Moshe that led them to find their answers.

Parshat Chukat is about having faith and fixing that which went wrong, making difficult scenarios better, and believing that things will turn out for the best. Whether it was in a dire situation of drought, waging war, aching from the pangs of plague, mourning the loss of a leader, or exhausted from the expedition known as the exodus from Egypt, B’nai Yisrael knew that HaShem was there to protect them all along the way. While no one understands how the parah adumah has the power to be mi’taher those who were tameh met we know that those who were sprinkled with the ashes of the parah adumah would be pure again. When B’nai Yisrael was thirsty due to lack of water they beseeched Moshe to be their liaison and approach HaShem on behalf of the nation and request a renewal of their water source. We continue to see this theme via the incident regarding those who fell ill from the snake bites. Regardless of how grave the situation became B’nai Yisrael knew that ultimately they could turn to HaShem and trust that all would turn out for the best.

Parshat Chukat teaches us to have faith, believe in HaShem, and know that as a result of His perpetual involvement in our lives things will turn out ameliorated. This tenet is a major factor throughout not only Parshat Chukat but our lives in a much broader sense; be it in our turning to HaShem in times of trouble, consulting with others in circumstances of uncertainty, and believing that at the end of the day HaShem runs this world in a sensible manner whether or not we see it. This basic precept of existence often gets lost in the hustle and bustle of daily life. The routine, rote, and mundane often blind us of the truth that covertly rests veiled beneath the surface. We, like B’nai Yisrael, often start off with a complaint; we fail to pause and recognize that greater picture, and the hand of HaShem hidden within. Yet all things considered it is our duty to step back, take in the panorama of the present, ponder the past, and proceed into the future with a plethora of perspectives. With this arsenal of assessment we will recognize how blatant the involvement of HaShem is in our lives. Our level of faith in Him will swell and fill our every movement, word, and action; and through this recognition we will come to the greater realization that faith is the remedy for the confusions known as life.