Normally, the Thursday night parsha post on this blog slot contains a thought said over by R' Frand in his satellite shiur. Since the shiur is now on hiatus through Elul, I will be substituting with divrei torah found in other sources. As always, if the p'shat appears to be incorrect, it is a result of my efforts to convey the thought that I found in the sefer.
In Devarim 2:9, Moshe tells the Jewish people that Hashem has told him that the Jews should not go to war against Moab because the Jews will not inherit Moab's land.
The gemara in Bava Kamma 38a, relates a conversation between Ulla and R' Shmuel bar Yehuda that took place when Ulla went to console R' Shmuel over the loss of his daughter. Ulla mentioned the above pasuk from Devarim before asking R' Shmuel the following rhetorical question - Why did Hashem have to specifically warn Moshe not to got to war against Moab? Why would Moshe even consider waging war against Moab without Hashem's permission. Ulla answers that Moshe made an internal kal v'chomer (a fortiori) argument - if the Jews were commanded to go to war with Midyan (in Parshas Pinchas) because Midyan only meddled in a fight between the Jews and Moab, then certainly we should fight Moab. Hashem then tells Moshe - your idea is not acceptable to me as I do not wish that the Jews should fight Moab (or Ammon). There are two fine pigeons that will come from them - Ruth (King David's Great Grandmother) and Na'amah (King Solomon's wife) so do not attempt to fight them.
As brought down in the Yalkut Lekcah Tov, R' Dessler writes in the Michtav M'Eliyahu that Hashem's answer to Moshe is indicative of the power of the most inferior form of z'chus avos. An example is given of a gold watch - a person may love or treasure their gold watch and will put it on a chain which will be connected to them. The chain itself has little to no value, however it is significant to the person because it insures that he will not lose his watch. In comparison to the minor value of the chain, the value of an individual link in the chain is infinitesimal. However, should that link break, the person will lose their valuable watch.
The Jews have a great power of z'chus avos whereby we receive things that we don't necessarily deserve simply because of the merit of our forefathers. Because Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya'acov were such incredibly righteous men, we have been blessed by Hashem.
The power of z'chus avos also includes the promise of Hashem that there will be a Moshiach and that the Jews will be redeemed by Moshiach. In order to fulfill this promise, the Jews will need to continue as a people until the Moshiach comes. In continuing the perpetuation of the Jewish people until that time, Hashem allows some undeserved people to be blessed and to continue to live (despite their evil deeds) because He promised Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya'acov that there will be a redemption. As such, the minimally valued links in the chain are permitted to stay attached so that the chain will never be broken. This is the level of zchus avos that Moab had, whereby Hashem said to Moshe, don't go to war against them, because they are links in the chain that will ultimately lead to Ruth and Na'amah.
The power of z'chus avos is malleable, however. I recently visited New Square with my daughter Penina, seeking a brocha from the Rebbe. I was approached by one of his chassidim who told me over a vort in the name of the Rebbe on the concept of z'chus avos. He said to me that z'chus avos is a zero. The number that a person puts in front of the zero is entirely up to them. It could be a one or a two or a fifty. The z'chus avos is just a starting point for us to build upon.
We find ourselves at this time before Tisha B'av as zeros, mere links in the chain connecting our fathers and the promised rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash. If we choose to better ourselves, we can be responsible for putting a big number in front of that zero and strengthening the chain that binds our past to our future.
If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!
No comments:
Post a Comment