Today's Learning Shevuot 4:5-6 O.C. 333:3-334:2 Menachot 42 Yerushalmi-- Bava Kamma 25 Hamaayan/The Torah Spring edited by Shlomo Katz Shelach Vol. X, No. 33 (470), 28 Sivan 5756, June 15, 1996 Siddur Avodat Yisrael writes that there is a chapter of Tehilim which corresponds to each parashah -- this week Psalm 64. This psalm describes the rasha who speaks lashon hara. Verses 3-5 state: "Hide me from the counsel of the wicked, from the assembly of evildoers; Who have sharpened their tongue like the sword and aimed their arrow -- a bitter word; To shoot in secrecy at the innocent, suddenly they shot, and they are unafraid." This describes the ten spies who brought back a bad report about Eretz Yisrael, as we read in our parashah. The Torah says that the spies began their report (13:27), "We arrived at the Land to which you sent us, and indeed it flows with milk and honey..." However, like the slanderer described above by King David, they shot their arrows suddenly, saying (13:28), "However, the people that dwells in the Land is powerful..." In the midrash, this entire psalm is interpreted in relation to the life of the prophet Daniel. The commentator Rav Ovadiah Sforno interprets the psalm as referring to the Purim story. ************************************ The verses and commentaries on this page relate to the chapter of Tehilim associated with our parashah (see page 1). "Hide me from the counsel of the wicked, from the assembly of evildoers. Who have sharpened their tongue like the sword, and aimed their arrow -- a bitter word. To shoot in secrecy at the innocent..." (64:4-5) Rav Azaryah Figo z"l explains: There are two kinds of people who speak lashon hara -- those who speak in veiled terms and those who come right out and speak their evil. Thus, the first type of lashon hara is the "counsel of the wicked." (The Hebrew word for "counsel" is "sod" -- literally, "secret.") The second type is the "assembly of evildoers," that is, those who are blatant as if they are actually doing evil. The two types of lashon hara are represented by two weapons. The sword does its work as it is held in the hand, just like those who speak lashon hara openly do their damage as they speak. The arrow's damage is removed in time from when it is released, just as those who disguise their evil tongues cause harm only after a delay. In either case, says Rav Figo, lashon hara is the "mother of all sins" (literally, "avi avot kol ha'avonot"). (Binah La'ittim: Et Lachashot, drush rishon) Rav Yitzchak Hutner z"l also divides lashon hara into two types, but along different lines. One type involves revealing another person's secret. The second type involves failing to judge another person favorably. There are halachic differences between these two types, Rav Hutner says (although a full discussion is beyond the scope of this space). (Pachad Yitzchak: Shavuot III) ************************************ "Who have sharpened their tongue like the sword, and aimed their arrow -- a bitter word. To shoot in secrecy at the innocent..." (64:4-5) Rav Yosef Chaim of Baghdad z"l writes that this refers to those who speak lashon hara indirectly. For example, such people stand before the king's cook and say, "Give us cheese," thus reminding the cook that the milkman did not g cheese that day. (Hachaim Vehashalom) ************************************ [The divrei Torah on this page are from two descendants of Rav Baruch Frankel-Teomim, the subject of this week's biography. The yahrzeits of both of these chassidic rebbes fall in the next two weeks.] "The Land that we passed through to spy it out -- the Land is very, very good. If Hashem desires us, He will bring us to this Land and give it to us, a Land that flows with milk and honey. But do not rebel against Hashem!" (14:7-9) This was Yehoshua and Kalev's retort to the other ten spies' bad report about Eretz Yisrael. Rav Yekutiel Yehuda Halberstam (the "Klausenberger Rebbe") z"l explains: "If Hashem will desire us, i.e., if we will be worthy, then even we will see that the Land is very, very good." Also, says Rav Halberstam, why is the Land "very, very good"? Usually, when Hashem blesses man with "milk and honey" (i.e., material wealth), man becomes haughty and rebels against Him. However, Eretz Yisrael has a special characteristic that G-d can give its residents milk and honey, and they will not rebel. In part, this comes from the holiness of the Land, and it also comes about when we recognize that we must be a "nation that lives apart" (cf. Bamidbar 23:9). (Shefa Chaim V:417) ************************************ "Like the number of days that you spied out the Land, forty days, a day for a year, a day for a year, shall you bear your iniquities forty years..." (14:34) Rav Simcha Bunim Alter (the "Gerrer Rebbe") z"l asks: Shouldn't the verse say, "a year for a day," rather than, "a day for a year"? Also, is it really in Hashem's nature to punish so stringently? Although the spies committed a terrible sin, for it was Hashem's will that Bnei Yisrael enter the Land at that time, the spies' intention was for good. Specifically, the spies saw the Jewish people surrounded by the clouds of glory, eating a wholly spiritual food (mahn) and learning Torah from Moshe, and they (the spies) did not want this state to end. Thus Hashem said, "I will reward you that each day of your effort will bear fruit 'for a year'." And, it turns out that the punishment was not so stringent. To the contrary, the long period of wandering in the desert was a reward for them. (Lev Simchah p.175) ************************************ Rav Baruch Frankel-Teomim z"l ("Bruch Ta'am") died 7 Tamuz 5588 (1828) When the chassidic movement was founded, most leading Torah scholars could be counted among its opponents ("mitnagdim"). Rav Baruch's generation saw much of that opposition give way to peaceful coexistence and even acceptance; Rav Baruch, for example, was a leading posek and rabbi in Moravia. While Rav Baruch himself was not a chassid, he accepted a chassid as his son-in-law, namely the young man who became Rav Chaim Halberstam of Sanz. Through him, Rav Baruch became the progenitor of the current Klausenberger rebbes. (There are two, one in Netanya, Israel, and one in Union City, N.J.) Also, one of Rav Baruch's great-granddaughters was the wife of the Sefat Emet, great-grandfather of the current Gerrer Rebbe. Rav Baruch had several teachers of whom the best known was Rav Meshulam Igra. Rav Baruch's first rabbinic position was in Vishnitza (not the same as Vizhnitz). This city is known in Jewish lore as a place that had stormy relations with its rabbis, and Rav Baruch's experience was no different. Later, he moved to Leipnick, in Moravia, where he opened a yeshiva. His best known work is B'ruch Taam. A scholar no less than the Chatam Sofer wrote a glowing approbation for this work of halachic responsa. At least seven other works of his are known as well. Also, Rav Baruch's Talmud notes and commentaries are published in the back of the standard Vilna edition of the Talmud, while his notes on other works (for example on Turei Even of Rav Aryeh Leib of Metz), are published in the standard editions of those books. Indeed, it is rare to find scholars of Rav Baruch's generation commenting on the works of their contemporaries, but Rav Baruch did so. ************************************ http://acoast.com/~sehc/hamaayan/ send mail to: ajb@acm.org Donations to Hamaayan are tax-deductible