Today's Learning: Tamid 7:3-4 O.C. 560:5-561:2 Nidah 16 Hamaayan / The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Matot-Masei Vol. XI, No. 42 (525) 28 Tamuz 5757, August 2, 1997 We read in this week's parashah that one who commits unintentional manslaughter is exiled to a city of refuge until the Kohen Gadol dies. The gemara says that the mother of the Kohen Gadol used to send gifts to these people so that they would not pray that the Kohen Gadol die. And so what if they do pray--will their prayers have any effect? The Talmud Bavli explains that the Kohen Gadol is in danger because he is culpable for each accidental killing. Had he prayed that no stumbling blocks come before the Jewish people, perhaps this crime would not have taken place. This answer demonstrates how great the power of prayer is., writes Rav Meir Bergman shlita. Although a person is responsible for his deeds, another person's prayer can rescue him from wrongdoing. Indeed, the Talmud Yerushalmi takes the power of prayer even further, saying that the murderer's prayer is a threat to the Kohen Gadol because even a wicked person's prayer is answered, even when he prays for something which is objectively wrong. How can this be? Rav Bergman explains (based on a comment of Maharsha to Kiddushin 29b) that it is one of the laws of nature that prayer is answered. No special Divine intervention is required each time a prayer is uttered; G-d has already built a rule into the laws of nature that prayers, whatever they may be, will be answered [in some form]. We learn another lesson from here, adds Rav Bergman, i.e., that a person who has an opportunity to pray for another and fails to do so is punished for it. (Sha'arei Orah Vol. II) ****************** Parashat Matot-Masei in Halachah * Two of the Torah's 613 mitzvot appear in Parashat Matot and six appear in Parashat Masei. (Sefer Hachinuch) * "If a man takes a vow to Hashem . . . he shall not desecrate his word; according to whatever comes from his mouth he shall do." (30:3) Rav Moshe Sternbuch shlita writes: It is customary that when one gets an aliyah to the Torah he pledges a donation "bli neder"/"with no vow intended." However, writes Rav Sternbuch, this does not absolve a person from his obligation to carry out his pledge. Even if saying "bli neder" protects a person from transgressing, "[H]e shall not desecrate his word," it does not help with regard to, "[A]ccording to whatever comes from his mouth he shall do." To avoid this problem, Rav Sternbuch suggests a modification to the standard "Mi shebairach." Instead of saying, "Ba'avur"/"Because he will give," the gabbai may say, "Im"/"If he will give." Rav Sternbuch concludes that it is his custom from time-to-time to make a donation to tzeddakah in the names of all people who made a pledge and did not fulfill it. [Ed. Note: Presumably this only helps for people who pledged an unspecified amount.] (She'eilot Uteshuvot Teshuvot Vehanhagot II:476) * According to Ramban, there is an additional mitzvah in Parashat Masei. He writes: "The fourth mitzvah [which Rambam omitted] is to possess the land which our Blessed and Exalted G-d gave to our fathers, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, and not to leave it desolate or in the hands of any other nation. This is the meaning of the verse (33:53), 'You shall possess the Land as an inheritance, for to you I have given the Land to possess it.' G-d further commanded that Bnei Yisrael possess all of the land within Eretz Yisrael's borders and not leave any of it unoccupied." (Sefer Hamitzvot) ****************** "He shall not desecrate his word; according to whatever comes from his mouth he shall do." (30:3) Rav Shaul Broch z"l writes: If a person wants the rebuke that he gives to be accepted, i.e., if he does not want others to desecrate his word, then he should do everything that he tells others to do. (Kehayom Timtza'enah) ****************** "Nekom nikmat Bnei Yisrael/Take vengeance for Bnei Yisrael from the Midianites, achar/then you will be gathered unto your people." (31:2) Rav Chaim Meir Hager (the "Vizhnitzer Rebbe") z"l observed: Shabbat is a time when one should be especially careful with his speech, as it is written: "If you proclaim the Shabbat 'a delight,' and you honor it by not discussing the forbidden" (Yishayah 58:13, paraphrased). Unfortunately, many people use their free time on Shabbat to cause dissension and speak lashon hara. Regarding this, Hashem commanded: "Nekom"/"Avenge" the honor of Shabbat, alluded to by the phrase "Nikmat Bnei Yisrael," whose gematria (1193) equals the gematria of "Shabbat malketah"/"The Sabbath Queen." From whom? "From the Midianites," i.e., those who bring din/G-d's judgment on the Jewish people through their lashon hara--"Din" and "Midian" share a common root--and from those who tell lies--the gematria of "Me'et hamidyanim"/"From the Midianites" (600) equals the gematria of "sheker"'/falsehood." What will be your reward for doing so? "Achar will be gathered unto your people." "Achar" has the same gematria (209) as "Bnei, chayei, umezonei"/ "Children, [long] life, and sustenance." (Imrei Chaim) ****************** "Behold! You have risen up in the place of your fathers, a society of sinful people." (32:14) Rambam (Shemoneh Perakim ch.4) writes that the sin which caused Moshe not to enter Eretz Yisrael was not striking the rock (as described in Parashat Chukat) but the anger which accompanied it. Why then was he not punished for the anger which he expressed in the above verse? Rav Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook z"l explained: Moshe thought that the tribes of Reuven and Gad did not wish to participate in conquering Eretz Yisrael. That was indeed worthy of Moshe's anger. (Quoted in Chiyuchah Shel Torah) ****************** From the Humor of Our Sages . . . "Vayimasru/So there were delivered from the thousands of [Bnei] Yisrael, a thousand from each tribe . . ." (31:5) Chazal say (Chullin 109b) that for every pleasure which the Torah has prohibited there is a corresponding permitted pleasure. Where, asked Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin z"l, is there a permitted pleasure that corresponds to the prohibition on mesirah/being an informer? He answered: Rashi says that the soldiers described in this parashah were all righteous men. How did Moshe find these men? Surely tzaddikim do not come forward and advertise their righteousness! Our verse answers that question -- "Vayimasru"/"They were informed on." ****************** Rav Shlomo of Chelm z"l born approx. 5477 (1717) - died 21 Tamuz 5541 (1781) Notwithstanding its reputation in Jewish folklore, Chelm, Poland, once was a city of great Torah scholars. Among these was our subject, best known as the author of Merkevet Hamishnah, a work which is considered by many to be among the most important commentaries on Rambam's Mishneh Torah. Rav Shlomo was born in Zamosc to a wealthy family which continued to support him throughout his rabbinical career. His father, Rav Moshe, was a Torah scholar as well. Zamosc was a city of both Torah and secular learning, and young Shlomo excelled in both. He would later write: G-d forbid, I do not criticize those holy people who spend all their days in Torah study--that is praiseworthy--but I am angry with those who mock [Jews who obtain a secular education]. Among Rav Shlomo's works is Kuntreis Breichot Bechesbon, a collection of Talmudic math problems and their solutions. For example, the gemara (Pesachim 89b) states that Rav Pappa ate four times more than Rav Huna while Ravina ate eight times more than Rav Huna, leading Rav Huna to state that he would prefer to dine with 100 people like Rav Pappa rather than with one like Ravina. While some explain that Rav Huna was exaggerating, Rav Shlomo explains that Rav Huna preferred to split the "tab" with 100 Rav Pappas over one Ravina. In the latter case, Rav Huna would have to pay 9/2 of the bill, i.e., for 4-1/2 portions. In the former case, he would have to pay only 401/101 of the bill, i.e., for 3.97 portions. After Chelm, Rav Shlomo served as rabbi of his birthplace, Zamosc, and later of Lvov (Lemberg). In 1877 he decided to settle in Eretz Yisrael. It is not known for certain whether he reached his destination--some place him in the Gallilean towns of Teveryah, Pekiin, Shefaram and Akko--but it is known that he eventually found himself in Salonika, Greece. There he and his wife died in a plague, and there they are buried. Other works of Rav Shlomo include compositions on the laws of Shabbat, Hebrew grammar, the borders of Eretz Yisrael, the trop for Torah readimg, and the haftarot.