Hamaayan / The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Devarim Volume 22, No. 43 8 Av 5768 August 9, 2008 Sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Steve Jaffe and family on the yahrzeit of his father Alexander Isaac ben Zev Wolf a"h Mr. and Mrs. Nat Lewin on the yahrzeit of Nat's mother Pessel bat Naftali a"h (Peppy Lewin) Today's Learning: Chullin 2:5-6 O.C. 172:1-3 Daf Yomi (Bavli): Gittin 29 Daf Yomi (Yerushalmi): Sotah 13 This week's parashah begins 36 days before Moshe's death, and in it Moshe begins his farewell address. He opens by rebuking Bnei Yisrael for their prior follies and warning them not to stray from the Torah once they enter Eretz Yisrael. R' Yishayah Halevi Horowitz z"l (1560-1630; the Shelah Hakadosh; Chief Rabbi of Prague and Yerushalayim) writes that these verses teach us how to rebuke. Moshe says (1:9-13), "I said to you at that time, saying, `I cannot carry you alone . . . How can I alone carry your contentiousness, your burdens, and your quarrels? Provide for yourselves distinguished men, who are wise, understanding, and well known to your tribes, and I shall appoint them as your heads'." [This is a rebuke hidden within a compliment. By implication, Moshe is telling them, "Despite your contentiousness, there are among you men who are distinguished, wise and understanding." Alternatively, he is telling them, "Despite your contentiousness, you are fit to be led by men who are distinguished, wise and understanding."] This teaches us that one who wants to rebuke another should not say, "You are no good." That will only make the other person hate the speaker, and he certainly will not listen. This is what Shlomo Ha'melech meant when he said (Mishlei 9:8), "Do not rebuke a fool, lest he hate you." Do not rebuke someone by telling him he is a fool. Rather, says King Shlomo, "Rebuke a wise man and he will love you." Rebuke someone by telling him how wise he is and that his deeds are unbecoming a person of his wisdom. Then he will listen to you and will love you. (Mussarei Ha'Shelah Al Ha'Torah) ******** "May Hashem, the G-d of your forefathers, add to you a thousand times yourselves, and bless you as He has spoken of you." (Devarim 1:11) Rashi z"l asks: After Moshe had already said, "May Hashem, the G-d of your forefathers, add to you a thousand times yourselves," what was the purpose of adding, "and bless you as He has spoken of you"? Rashi answers, citing a midrash: Bnei Yisrael said to Moshe, "You are setting a limit to our blessings (only a thousand times)! The Holy One, blessed be He, has already made a boundless promise to Avraham (Bereishit 13:16), `If one can count the dust of the earth, so will your seed be counted'." Moshe replied to them, "This (a thousand times) is from me (it is my blessing); but may He bless you as He has spoken of you!" R' Zusia of Anipol z"l (early chassidic figure; died 1801) explains Moshe's response as follows: We read in Tehilim (115:14), "May Hashem increase upon you, upon you and upon your children." Is this not redundant? If He increases our number, that increase will be reflected in our descendants! Why then does the verse mention increasing our children as well? The answer is that the verse should be interpreted as follows: "May Hashem increase your awareness of Him, your awareness and the awareness of your children" - in Hebrew, "Yosef **Hashem** aleichem." This is what Moshe meant as well. In his generation, he was the conduit for all of Bnei Yisrael's knowledge about and recognition of Hashem. When he blessed the people, "May Hashem, the G-d of your forefathers, add to you a thousand times yourselves," Bnei Yisrael wrongly thought that Moshe was referring to a numerical increase. However, he was not. He explained, "This (a thousand times) is from me (it is my blessing)" - it refers to your spiritual growth. But, as for your numerical growth, "may He bless you as He has spoken of you!" (Menorat Zahav) ******** "Enough of your circling this mountain; turn yourselves tzafonah / northward." (2:3) "Tzafon" / "North" also is the root of the verb, "to conceal." Thus the Midrash comments, "Conceal yourselves! Where can one conceal himself? If one sees that the enemy is attacking, one should conceal himself in the Torah." R' Yitzchak Eliyahu Landau z"l (Lithuania; 19th century) explains: Our Sages say that as long as the voice of Yaakov may be heard in the bet midrash, the hands of the idol worshippers (represented by Esav) cannot get the upper hand. Chazal have similarly said, "The sword and the book came down from Heaven together." Therefore, when the enemy attacks, run to Torah study. (Kiflaim Le'teshuah) ******** "The days that we traveled from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed Zered Brook were thirty eight years, until the end of the entire generation, the men of war, from the midst of the camp, as Hashem swore to them." (2:14) R' Aharon Lewin z"l hy"d (rabbi of Rzeszow, Poland; killed in the Holocaust) writes: The Torah tells us in Parashat Shelach (14:34) that Hashem decreed 40 years of wandering on Bnei Yisrael because they accepted the negative report of the Spies who had toured Eretz Yisrael for 40 days. In fact, however, as our verse indicates, Bnei Yisrael wandered for only 38 years after the sin of the Spies. Where are the missing years? The answer is as follows: Two years before the sin of the Spies, Bnei Yisrael had made the Golden Calf. And, although Hashem forgave them for that sin, it was not a complete forgiveness. Rather, Hashem told Moshe that the punishment for the sin of the Golden Calf would be distributed among the punishments for future sins. Thus, when Bnei Yisrael sinned by accepting the Spies' report, that was the last straw, and the sin of the Golden Calf was reawakened. Therefore, their 40-year long punishment was calculated retroactively from that earlier sin. Still, from the sin of the Golden Calf on the 16th of Tammuz in Year Two until Bnei Yisrael's entry into Eretz Yisrael in Nissan of Year 40 is only 39 years and nine months. Where are an additional three months accounted for? R' Lewin answers: Presumably Bnei Yisrael were punished only for the daylight hours that the Spies were away. After all, the Spies did not sin when they were sleeping. Thus, each twelve-hour day that the Spies were touring the Land parallels one twelve-month year in the desert. It follows that the three months that are missing from our calculation parallel three hours of one day. Our Sages say that when the Spies left the Sinai Desert to begin their journey to Eretz Yisrael, they were still righteous. If so, then they must have prayed Shacharit that day, and they did not depart until after the time for the morning prayers. When is the time for Shacharit according to halachah? Up until the end of the third hour! In those three hours of the first day, the Spies did not sin, and therefore the decree was actually for three months short of forty years. (Ha'drash V'ha'iyun) ******** Kamtza and Bar Kamtza: History As Seen by Our Sages The Gemara (Gittin 55b-56a) relates that the Second Temple was destroyed because of two people named Kamtza and Bar Kamtza. In short, a third person, who is not named, made a party and told his butler to invite Kamtza. Inadvertently, the butler invited Bar Kamtza. When the mistake was discovered, the host humiliated Bar Kamtza and threw him out. Desiring revenge, Bar Kamtza incited the Romans to destroy the Bet Hamikdash. The Gemara applies to this story the verse (Mishlei 28:14), "Praiseworthy is the man who always fears, but he who is stubborn will fall into misfortune." R' Moshe Rosenstein z"l (mashgiach ruchani of the Lomza Yeshiva in Poland; died 1941) asks: Surely our Sages were aware of the Jewish revolt against the Romans and of the political machinations and conspiracies that contributed to the destruction of the Bet Hamikdash. How are we to understand the Gemara's placing the blame on Bar Kamtza's grudge? Indeed, the history books do not even mention Kamtza and Bar Kamtza! Also, how is the verse, "Praiseworthy is the man who always fears" related to this episode? R' Rosenstein explains: By retelling the story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza, our Sages mean to teach us how carefully we must examine and reflect upon every one of our deeds, for even an event or a word that seems so insignificant can have earth-shattering consequences. The story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza was too minor to attract the attention of historians, but the authors of the Gemara had a tradition from the Sages of the time of the Destruction that the story was anything but minor. Every word and every deed counts. This, concludes R' Rosenstein, is why the Gemara cites the verse, "Praiseworthy is the man who always fears." One must never let down his guard lest an inappropriate word cause untold suffering. (Ahavat Meisharim)