Hamaayan/The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Parashat Chukat Volume VII/Number 35 (322) 7 Tamuz 5753/June 26, 1993 This Parasha relates that the King of Arad heard that Yisrael was coming, and he fought Yisrael. Chazal ask, "What did he hear?" and answer that he heard that Aharon had died. R' Chaim David haLevi, shlita (Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv) writes: How can Chazal ask what the King of Arad heard? Doesn't the Torah state explicitly that he heard that Yisrael was coming? The answer, says R' haLevi, is that Chazal wondered where the King of Arad found the courage to attack Bnei Yisrael. All the other nations (we read in Sh'mot, chapter 15) were terrified of Bnei Yisrael! What gave the King of Arad that courage? He heard that Aharon had died. Aharon had devoted himself to making peace between Jews, whether two friends or a husband and wife. As long as Aharon lived, the Jewish people remained united; when Aharon died, the Jews became divided. Then the King of Arad knew that he could fight the Jews. (Aseh Lecha Rav IV p.31) ************************************ "This is the Torah -- a man who will die in the tent..." (19:14) Making a play on the words of this verse, Chazal say that the Torah will remain only with one who "kills himself" studying it. R' Avraham Yishayahu Karelitz, zatzal (1878-1953; the "Chazon Ish"), explains: This "death" means looking below the surface of life at life's innermost details. This means conquering one's character, because a person's traits are the superficial covering of his life. Killing one's impulses leads to life on the Torah path. There are many degenerate traits, writes the Chazon Ish, but breaking even one of them gives a person life and enables Torah to remain with him. Prominent among those traits is laziness. Laziness is so pervasive that it can affect both thoughts and deeds. Sometimes, laziness can even encourage a person to act, as when, for example, a person knows that what he plans to do is wrong, but he is too lazy to control himself and to declare war on his impulses. Laziness, the trait which brings a person to fall into trouble, is the root cause for abandonment of the Torah. (from Igrot Chazon Ish I, No.3) ************************************ "And the pure individual shall sprinkle [the ashes] on the defiled individual..." (19:19) The Talmud Yerushalmi (Demai ch.3) quotes R' Yehoshua ben Kabsoi who said: "I used to understand from this verse than any one pure individual can purify only one other person. Then I learned from the treasure-house of Yavneh that one individual can purify many people." R' Eliezer Shach, shlita, explains that the treasure-house of Yavneh refers to the Yeshiva which R' Yochanan ben Zakkai was able to save from the Roman sword. That Yeshiva guaranteed the future of Torah Judaism. Who would have thought that one person (in that case, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai) could make such a difference? The truth is, however, that one person can purify many people. (Michtavim u'Ma'amarim p.32) ************************************ "Take the stick and assemble the congregation..." (20:8) If Hashem did not intend for Moshe to hit the rock, why did He tell him to take his staff with him? The answer, says R' David Feinstein, shlita, is in the American expression, "Speak softly and carry a big stick." A parent or teacher should always be ready with a two-pronged approach: to teach, but to punish if necessary. (Kol Dodi p.233) ************************************ "Because you did not believe in Me to sanctify Me before the eyes of Bnei Yisrael...." (20:12) Whether Moshe's and Aharon's sin was in striking the rock to bring out water instead of speaking to it, or whether their sin was something else that the commentaries attribute to them [Ed. note, see Hamaayan Vol. I No.12], the sin was clearly minor, writes R' Avigdor Miller, shlita. Why then does Hashem say, "Because you did not believe in Me....," accusing Moshe and Aharon of one of the gravest of sins! The answer is that striking the rock unnecessarily did show a minuscule amount of disbelief. Any unnecessary exertion, no matter how small, means that the actor does not realize the power of Hashem. What we also see, however, is how strictly the righteous are judged: because of Moshe's minuscule exertion, the Torah recorded for eternity that he did not believe in Hashem. This same standard applies whenever the Torah or prophets speak of a righteous man's sins. (Rejoice O Youth! p.175) ************************************ "Therefore the rulers will say, 'Come to Cheshbon'." (21:27) Making a play on the words of this verse, Chazal say that one who rules over his impulses will make a "Cheshbon" - calculation, comparing the reward of each Mitzvah to the apparent loss from performing it. Once, after R' Shalom Schwadron, shlita, spoke about this topic, someone told him the following story: "During the brief period between the fall of the Czar and the rise of the Communists, the Jews felt quite comfortable in Russia. Personally, I went to my job on the diamond exchange, arriving every day at about 8 AM. "One morning, I set out a little early and, as I walked down the street, I heard a Jew calling from a doorway, 'A tenth man! A tenth man!' Being early, I went inside, only to see that I was not the tenth man for the Minyan, but the fifth. "I started to leave, but the man in the doorway begged me to wait a few minutes more as it was his father's Yahrzeit. I therefore sat down to recite Tehilim. "Ten minutes passed, and only one more person came, but the man in the doorway ignored my protests. Finally, at 8:30, a Minyan was obtained. I had assumed that the man in the doorway would now recite a Mishnah and say Kaddish, but he did not; he began at the beginning of the prayers. "By now, I was fuming, and I impatiently looked around repeatedly to see if an eleventh man had entered. But no one came, so I reconciled myself to losing a morning's work. "With the prayers over, I rushed out and made my way to work. Only then did I learn that the Bolsheviks had taken over that morning and killed many Jews working on the diamond exchange. At the very moment that I stood outside, they were still inside looting. "Who knows what would have happened had I arrived for work on time that morning?" the man asked R' Schwadron rhetorically. (told in several sources) ************************************ The learning schedule for this Shabbat is: Demai 4:2-3 O.C. 631:1-3 Nazir 41 Yerushalmi - Shev'it 23 Rambam Ch/Day: Hilchot Maachalot Asurot - Ch. 14 3 Ch/Day: Hilchot Malveh Vloveh - Chs. 1-3 Sefer Hamitzvot Sh 197; Su:P142; M:N239; Tu:P199,N240; W:N241,N242; Th:N235; F:N236 ************************************ The hard copy distribution of this weeks Hamaayan is sponsored by: Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Edeson in honor of grandson Ian Hillel Edeson Dr. and Mrs. Irving Katz and family on the Yahrzeit of mother and grandmother Sarah bat Yitzchak haKohen Katz ************************************ Donations to Hamaayan are tax deductible