Hamaayan / The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Ha'azinu Trees and Fruits Volume 23, No. 46 8 Tishrei 5770 September 26, 2009 Sponsored by Aaron and Rona Lerner in memory of mother Faiga Reva bat Yoel Aharon a"h (Fay Lerner) Today's Learning: Negaim 8:6-7 O.C. 336:4-6 Daf Yomi (Bavli): Bava Batra 36 Daf Yomi (Yerushalmi): Sanhedrin 19 New * Nach: Divrei Hayamim II ch. 11-12 ("Nach" stands for "Nevi'im & Ketuvim." At the rate of two chapters daily, one completes Nach in approximately one year. The next cycle begins on Simchat Torah with Yehoshua ch. 1 & 2.) King Shlomo writes in Mishlei (10:31), "The mouth of a righteous one speaks wisdom, but a duplicitous tongue will be cut off." Rabbeinu Bachya ben Asher z"l (Spain; 14th century) explains: King Shlomo is teaching us in this verse that a tzaddik and a rasha are opposites; whereas a tzaddik speaks words of wisdom, a rasha does not. R' Bachya elaborates: A tzaddik is compared to a tree, as in the verse (Tehilim 1:3), "He shall be like a tree deeply rooted alongside brooks of water." Just as a tree produces fruit, and it also has leaves, which, among other things, shade the fruits from the sun and heat, so a tzaddik produces "fruits" and has "leaves." The "fruits" of a tzaddik are the words of Torah and wisdom that he "produces." The "leaves" of a tzaddik are his sichat chullin / everyday conversation. Our Sages teach that one should pay close attention to, and learn from, even the everyday conversation of a Torah scholar. In contrast, not only can one not learn from the everyday conversation of a rasha, even his supposed wisdom should be "cut off," in the words of our verse. R' Bachya continues: One would expect a tzaddik and a rasha to be polar opposites because a tzaddik occupies himself with matters of the soul, which comes from the Heaven, while a rasha occupies himself with matters of the body, which comes from the earth. Every person is made up of, and lives with, these competing entities--Heaven and earth. That is why, in our parashah, when Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to designate witnesses to testify against Bnei Yisrael if they fail to keep the Torah, he chose Heaven and earth. ******** "Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; and may the earth hear the words of my mouth." (32:1) One year on Shabbat Shuvah, R' Elchonon Wasserman z"l (rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Ohel Torah in Baranovitch, Poland; killed in the Holocaust) went to shul to hear the derashah that was scheduled to be delivered by the town's rabbi. However, a messenger arrived saying that the rabbi was ill and would not be speaking. Immediately, the assembled congregants turned to R' Wasserman and asked him to speak. He refused repeatedly, but the congregation would not take "no" for an answer. So R' Wasserman ascended the pulpit and began his remarks as follows: The Torah reports that Moshe Rabbeinu was the humblest of all men. How then did he call upon the awesome heavens and earth (in the above verse) to bear witness to his words? R' Wasserman answered his own question: The key is found two verses later, where we read, "When I call out the Name of Hashem, ascribe greatness to our G-d." I am not speaking for my own honor, nor are these my own thoughts, Moshe Rabbeinu was proclaiming. The words of rebuke that I (Moshe) will speak are the words of the Torah, and they are spoken for G-d's honor. You, too, may wonder - R' Wasserman concluded his introduction - who I am to rebuke you. Know, therefore, that everything that I will say will be the words of the Torah and will be spoken for G-d's honor alone. (Otzrotaihem Shel Tzaddikim p.621) ******** "Shichait lo (lamed-vav) lo (lamed-aleph) banav mumam" / "Corruption is not His--the blemish is His children's, a perverse and twisted generation." (32:5) There is a disagreement among commentaries how to punctuate and translate this verse. The translation offered here, based on Targum Onkelos and Rashi, punctuates the verse "Shichait lo (lamed-vav) lo (lamed-aleph), banav mumam," meaning: "If corruption exists, it is not G- d's fault, but the fault of His children, i.e., mankind." R' Shlomo Ephraim of Lunschitz z"l (17th century; author of the Torah commentary Kli Yakar) offers another interpretation based on punctuating the verse, "Shichait lo (lamed-vav) lo (lamed-aleph) banav mumam." This means: "Corruption is his--they are not his children." In other words, when man sins, he selfishly enjoys the benefits of his sin while ignoring the fact that he brings destruction upon his progeny. In effect, he disowns his children and does not care for their welfare. Alternatively, writes R' Shlomo Ephraim, this verse may be explaining why people do not readily repent for their sins. When man acts corruptly, he denies that the consequences of his deeds are his "children." Therefore, he does not see a need to repent. (Orach L'Chaim: Ma'amar 35) ******** "For they are a generation of reversals . . ." (32:20) R' Yisrael Alter z"l (the Gerrer Rebbe; died 1977) would not permit the shteibels / small prayer and study houses of his followers to expel any member, even if he seemed to behave in a manner unbecoming of a chassid and member of the community. The rebbe explained that so long as the individual continued coming to the shteibel, that alone was reason to hope that he would someday mend his ways. As support for his position, R' Alter quoted the interpretation of our verse offered by R' Zusia z"l of Annipol (late 18th century chassidic rebbe): "They are a generation of reversals" - the Jewish People of our time are wont to change their nature suddenly and unpredictably. Thus, someone who was, one day, headed in the wrong spiritual direction may unpredictably change course at any time. (Otzrotaihem Shel Tzaddikim p.622) ******** "And He will atone for `admato' / His Land and His people. "Moshe came and he spoke all the words of this Song . . . He said to them, `Apply your hearts to the words that I testify against you today, with which you are to instruct your children, to be careful to perform all the words of this Torah'." (32:43- 46) Why, immediately after completing the Song of Ha'azinu, did Moshe warn Bnei Yisrael once again to be careful to perform all of the words of the Torah? R' Eliyahu Hakohen Ha'itamari z"l (Izmir, Turkey; died 1729) explains: The word "admato" / "His Land" has the same letters as "d[alet] amot" / four cubits. Thus, the verse, "He will atone for admato / His Land and His people," alludes to the gemara's statement (Ketubot 111a) that when one walks four cubits in Eretz Yisrael, all of his sins are forgiven. The gemara there likewise states that if one is buried in Eretz Yisrael, it is as if he is buried under the altar (apparently a good thing). These statements can lead a person to become complacent. "Why observe the mitzvot? I will live as I see fit, and the mitzvah of living in Eretz Yisrael will guarantee my atonement." No! says Moshe Rabbeinu. True, "He will atone for His Land and His people." Nevertheless, "Apply your hearts to the words that I testify against you today," instruct your children regarding them, and "Be careful to perform all the words of this Torah." Why? Because, says the next verse, "Through this matter shall you prolong your days on the Land to which you cross the Jordan to possess it." If you sin, you will be expelled from the Land and will not attain the atonement you took for granted. (Semuchin L'ad) ******** Letters from Our Sages The following letter was written by R' Yisrael Salanter z"l (died 1883) and is printed in Ohr Yisrael, No. 15. The letter was written in 5637/1876. The foundation of the days of repentance is to accept upon oneself to abandon sin. This is the most difficult of all the tasks that we have on Yom Kippur. And, the weightiest sin of all [which is most difficult to abandon] is theft, as Chazal said, "Of a box full of sins, which one accuses first? Theft." Man must seek [ways] to repent on Yom Kippur, especially from the most serious sins. What is "serious" depends upon the circumstances; the easier a particular sin is to avoid, the more serious the sin is considered to be and the greater is the punishment. This is what our Sages meant when they said, "The punishment for not wearing the white strings of the tzitzit is greater than the punishment for not wearing the techelet / blue string." The severity of a sin also depends on the identity of the victim; for example, stealing from a poor person is worse than stealing from a wealthy person . . . The same is true with regard to other sins, including bittul Torah / neglecting Torah study. The easier it is for a person to study, for example, on Shabbat, when one is free, the greater is the sin of not doing so. Likewise, the sin of not studying that which one needs to know in practice is greater than the sin of not studying other parts of the Torah . . . One needs to search his ways and make a strong commitment - in almost every area of his life - to guard at least from those things that are easy to avoid. In this way, one's teshuvah will cover the majority of his deeds. Rambam teaches that sins are not weighed by their quantity, but rather by their quality; one sin that was easy to avoid counts more than several sins that were difficult to avoid. Also, within each sin, there are aspects that are easier to avoid than others . . . One should study mussar works that speak of the severity of bittul Torah . . .