Today's Learning
Makkot 1:6-7
O.C. 328:2-4
Menachot 14
Yerushalmi--
  Kiddushin 45


                            Bemidbar
        Vol. X, No. 30 (467), 29 Iyar 5756, May 18, 1996

   Siddur Avodat Yisrael writes that there is a chapter of Tehilim
which corresponds to each parashah -- this week Psalm 122.  The
gemara (Kiddushin 70b) derives the importance of marrying a worthy
spouse from verse 4 in this psalm.  From this same verse, the Zohar
(II:4a) derives that the Jews did not mix with the Egyptians [except
for the one case mentioned in the Torah]; thus the genealogies
mentioned in our parashah are pure.

   Parashat Bemidbar virtually always is read on the Shabbat
preceding Shavuot.  This fact, too, connects this psalm to this
Shabbat.  Specifically, Rambam (Hil. Bikkurim 4:16) writes that this
psalm was recited as the pilgrims made their way to Yerushalayim
carrying bikkurim, the "first fruits" which were given as gifts to
the kohanim beginning on Shavuot.  As they approached Yerushalayim
they would call out (verse 1), "I rejoiced when they said to me, 'Let
us go to the House of Hashem'."  When they entered the gates of
Yerushalayim they said (verse 2), "Immobile stood our feet within
your gates Yerushalayim."

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   "Hashem spoke to Moshe in the Sinai Desert."  (1:1)

   Rabbenu Bachya comments, "'In the Sinai Desert'--where Mount Sinai
is."  He continues:

   The Torah was given through three creations: fire, water, and
desert.  Fire--as is written (Sh'mot 19:18): "And Har Sinai was
covered with smoke because Hashem came down upon it in fire."

   Water--as is written (Shoftim 5:4): "Hashem, when You left Se'ir,
when You strode from the Field of Edom, the land quaked, also the
skies dripped, also the clouds dripped water." [This is a reference
to when Hashem offered the Torah to the sons of Esav.]

   Desert--as is written: "Hashem spoke to Moshe in the Sinai
Desert."

   Why was the Torah given through these three?  To teach us that
just as these three are available for "free," i.e., they exist in
the world in unlimited quantities, so too the Torah is available for
free to anyone who wants it.  Also, the Torah was given in the desert
to teach us that the Torah only stays with those who humble
themselves like the desert.

                                
   The verses and commentaries on this page relate to the chapter
of Tehilim associated with our parashah (see page 1).

   "I rejoiced when they said to me, 'Let us go to the House of
Hashem.'  Immobile stood our feet within your gates Yerushalayim." 
(122:1-2)

   The gemara (Berachot 8a) records that the sage Abaye said, "I used
to study Torah at home and pray in shul, but once I heard that,
'Since the Temple was destroyed, Hashem is interested in nothing but
the study of halachah,' I began praying and studying at the same
place."

   Rav Shmuel Felkinfeld z"l explains this as follows:  The Magen
Avraham (O.C. 151:1) states that a shul where people act in a
lighthearted manner is like a temple of idolatry.  The Magen Avraham
further cites the Arizal who did not study in shul lest he be drawn
to speak mundane matters there.  Rather, the shul was for praying
and nothing else.

   Abaye, too, says Rav Felkinfeld, had the same concern that the
Arizal later would have, and he therefore did not study at shul. 
However, once he learned that Hashem is interested in nothing but
the study of halachah, he gained the willpower to resist interrupting
his learning by talking.

   In any case, we see from this how easy it is to turn a shul into
a temple of idolatry.  The gemara (also Berachot 8a) teaches that
synagogues in the diaspora will one day be transplanted to Eretz
Yisrael, but surely, says Rav Felkinfeld, this applies only to shuls
that are kept "pure."  This is the meaning of the above verse, "I
rejoiced when they said to me, 'Let us go to [a true] House of
Hashem'."  Such a shul will one day be transplanted to Eretz Yisrael
and then we can say: "Immobile stood our feet within your gates
Yerushalayim."

                             (Bet Shmuel Acharon: Parashat Balak)

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                           Pirkei Avot

   "Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said:  'Every day a bat kol (heavenly
voice) proclaims from Har Chorev (Mount Sinai), "Woe is to them, to
My creations, for the disgrace which they cause to the Torah".'" 
(Ch. 6)

   Rav Shlomo Kluger zatz'l presents several questions on this
mishnah.  First, why the repetitive language, "Woe is to them, to
My creations."?  Second, why does this bat kol originate from Har
Chorev of all places?  Rav Kluger offers several explanations, among
them the following:

   The disgrace to the Torah of which the mishnah speaks is the
insult which is caused when one abuses or speaks evil of a talmid
chacham (Torah scholar).  Rabbis often appear to be "weaklings" and
their congregants think nothing of abusing them.  This is
particularly true when the talmid chacham in question has a humble
and unassuming nature.  Do not make this mistake--the honor of those
who study Torah is the honor of the Torah itself.

   Chazal teach that when Hashem prepared to give the Torah, many
mountains vied for the privilege of having the Torah given on their
peaks.  Some of these were tall, some were beautiful, some were
covered with trees or other greenery.  But Hashem chose Har Sinai
(also known as Har Chorev) precisely because it was a plain,
unassuming mountain.  Why?  In order to warn us that the honor of
the humble Torah scholar, like the humble mountain, is the honor of
the Torah itself.

   Yet this mishnah contains a warning for the talmid chacham as
well: Do not think that because your honor is the honor of the Torah
that you may never forgive one who insults you.  The double language
of the mishnah is meant to inform the talmid chacham that any
punishment befitting one who insults him will come on its own.  "Woe
is to them, to My creations" from their self-inflicted wounds.
                                                     (Magen Avot)

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                             Shavuot

   Shavuot is the most "soft-spoken" and "subtle" of all of our
holidays, writes Rav Avraham Eliyahu Kaplan zatz'l (1890-1924; dean
of Berlin's Hildesheimer Seminary from 1920).  Pesach and Sukkot both
have names that vividly portray the nature of the holiday:

   "Chag HaPesach" - "The holiday when G-d skipped over the homes
of the Jews."

   "Chag HaMatzot" - "The holiday when the Jews left Egypt so quickly
that they had no time to bake bread."

   "Chag HaSukkot" - "The holiday commemorating the 'Clouds of Glory'
which protected Bnei Yisrael in the desert."

   Not so Shavuot!  Its name - "The Feast of Weeks" - tells us only
that it follows a period during which we eagerly counted-off the days
until this occasion.

   Another example of Shavuot's low key nature:  Pesach coincides
with the beginning of the harvest, when the Jewish farmer joyfully
goes out to the field, full of thanks to the Creator of all.  Sukkot
falls at the end of the harvest, when the same Jew celebrates the
success of his harvest season.  Shavuot?  It falls early in the
summer when the harvest is in full swing and the farmer is about to
turn his attention towards cutting his wheat - the most basic and
"unromantic" of all crops.  

   Shavuot is a holiday with no mitzvot of its own; it does not need
any.  Shavuot celebrates the most basic of all of man's needs: 
Torah, for the soul; bread, for the body.  Shavuot does not advertise
itself through great miracles (as does Pesach) or a plethora of
mitzvot (as do all of the other holidays).  Shavuot expects us to
understand on our own, and those who are close to the ideals that
Shavuot represents do.

                                        (B'ikvot Hayir'ah, p.234)
                                                                 
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