As I mentioned in a Pre-Pesach post, for as long Mrs KB and I have been married, I have been a chassid of Rabbi Zev Cohen of Congregation Adas Yeshurun in Chicago. He has such a powerful and positive way of speaking which I find inspiring and I try to make his replay of his derashas for Shabbos Shuva (given on Hoshana Rabbah night) and Shabbos HaGadol (given on the motzei Shabbos of Chol HaMoed) every year.
Last week, Rabbi Cohen spoke on Shavuous and Parshas Bamidbar in connection with the public health crisis. This shiur is available on line at www.adasyeshurun.com. Same rules as usual apply, although I have not attempted to summarize the entire shiur, I have tried to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Cohen.
Rabbi Cohen began by quoting Rashi 19:2 on the pasuk וַיִּסְע֣וּ מֵֽרְפִידִ֗ים וַיָּבֹ֨אוּ֙ מִדְבַּ֣ר סִינַ֔י וַיַּֽחֲנ֖וּ בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר וַיִּֽחַן־שָׁ֥ם יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל נֶ֥גֶד הָהָֽר - Rashi asks - why the transition from plural to singular and he answers quoting the Mechilta that they were K'Ish Echad B'Lev Echad - they were like one man with one heart.
R' Cohen said that although there is a concept of Achdus, there needs to be color to it as some people say - if you don't agree with me there is no Achdus. R' Cohen then gave three scenarios which explained the true concept of Achdus.
The first story had to do with making tea on Shabbos. When he was first was married, his wife wanted tea on Shabbos and he looked in the R' Shimon Eider book which said that you can put a tea bag in a Kli Shlishi to make tea. However when they moved from Lakewood to Chicago and he was learning in Kollel and someone pointed out to him that the Aruch HaShulchan says that this is Chayav Skilla. So how is this that if you put a tea bag in a cup of boiling water - so hot that you could burn your hand on it, that R' Moshe Feinstein says Mutar L'Chatchilla and the Aruch HaShulchan, the Rav of Novardok, says Chayav Skilla.
R' Cohen gave another example involving R' Schwalb. When he went to R' Chaim Ozer as a young man he asked - can you shake a woman's hand? The response he got - ask me an easier question like being mattir an Agunah.
R' Cohen explained that in Germany at that time it was permitted, but in Poland, the Steipler said - Yehareg V'Al Ya'avor. R' Cohen said that he knew of a good friend of his wife who when she got engaged the couple went to see R' Breur in Washington Heights, he stuck out his hand to shake her hand. The German Jews felt that there was no derech chibba and the Polish Jews said - Yehareg V'Al Ya'avor.
R' Cohen gave one more example as to voting in the Israeli elections. The Satmar Rebbi said - Yehareg V'Al Ya'avor. Meanwhile Rav Shach at the age of nearly 100, took an ambulance to the polls so that he could vote, as he felt that voting in the election was worth being Mesiras Nefesh. Again - Yehareg V'Al Ya'avor vs Mitzva!.
R' Cohen then asked - would the Satmar Rebbi have invited or allowed R' Shach to attend his daughter's wedding? Would R' Moshe have attended a simcha for the Aruch HaShulchan? Would R' Chaim Ozer have gone to a simcha that R' Schwalb was making? Of course they would.
R' Cohen mentioned the song - Hashem, the Jewish People and the Torah are all one and we sing about it. He quoted the Sefer Nefesh HaChayim - when the Jews are learning Torah, our souls are attached to the letters of the Torah and Hashem.
But what does it mean that we are one? Hashem and the Torah being one is understandable, but how about the Jews? He explained that in order to say Na'aseh V'Nishma there had to be achdus. If there is achdus, that allows us to be one together and to get to Har Sinai where we can say Na'aseh V'Nishma.
But included in this accepting the Torah as Na'aseh V'Nishma there has to be an acceptance of the Ratzon Hashem. R' Cohen quoted R' Akiva who famously said Kol Ma'an D'Aved Hashem L'Tav Hu. We need to be together and accept that Hashem does only for the good for us.
R' Cohen then linked this to the reopening of Shuls. He said that whether the shuls reopen this week or next week, the bottom line is that everyone agrees that the shuls will reopen and that they will reopen with social distancing and with masks and gloves. Whether this one opens a week earlier than the other is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Everyone agrees that children should not be playing ten together at a time without masks and distancing. We should not be focusing on when the particular shul reopens - they will all reopen with the same guidlines.
R' Cohen noted that Rabbanim had disagreements, but Achdus means that I can disagree with you, but still accept you. But a higher level is accepting Hashem is doing only for the good for us. Do I want to be in my house, do I want to ease my way back into shul?
R' Cohen asked - do you think that when the Jews left Egypt they were all united in thought? There is a Medrash that they each had their own path across the Yam Suf and he quoted R' Yerucham that even at Har Sinai, each of the 600,000 accepted the Torah in their own way. But they each accepted the Torah and they stood together in accepting the Ratzon of Hashem,
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