Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshios Matos & Maasei

Since there are no Rabbi Frand shiurim on the Parsha until Elul, I would like to substitute a vort from other Rabbanim each week, rather than leaving the blog without a vort for shabbos. This week, I am attempting to repeat a vort heard from R' Shraga Kallus as recorded on torahanytime.com (https://www.torahanytime.com/#/lectures?a=198896). Same rules as usual apply - I have attempted to reproduce the 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 the maggid shiur.

There is a curious exchange between Moshe and the members of the tribes of Gad and Reuvein. Moshe tells them in Bamidbar 32:6 that if they want the land on the other side of the Jordan River, they must go to war to conquer the land of Israel, stating -  הַֽאַחֵיכֶ֗ם יָבֹ֨אוּ֙ לַמִּלְחָמָ֔ה וְאַתֶּ֖ם תֵּ֥שְׁבוּ פֹֽה. In response, the members of the tribes say we will go fight, stating in 32:17 - וַֽאֲנַ֜חְנוּ נֵֽחָלֵ֣ץ חֻשִׁ֗ים לִפְנֵי֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל עַ֛ד אֲשֶׁ֥ר אִם־הֲבִֽיאֹנֻ֖ם אֶל־מְקוֹמָ֑ם. And then in 32:18 - לֹ֥א נָשׁ֖וּב אֶל־בָּתֵּ֑ינוּ עַ֗ד הִתְנַחֵל֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אִ֖ישׁ נַֽחֲלָתֽוֹ.

But for some reason, Moshe is unwilling to accept this and he responds to them in 32:23, if you don't go  -  וְאִם־לֹ֤א תַֽעֲשׂוּן֙ כֵּ֔ן הִנֵּ֥ה חֲטָאתֶ֖ם לַֽיהֹוָ֑ה וּדְעוּ֙ חַטַּאתְכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר תִּמְצָ֖א אֶתְכֶֽם. Why does Moshe again tell them that they must go?

R' Kallus answered by quoting R' Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld who is doresh in the pesukim. When they  say in 32:17 וַֽאֲנַ֜חְנוּ נֵֽחָלֵ֣ץ חֻשִׁ֗ים, they don't mention Hashem, they don't say B'Ezras Hashem. To this Moshe responds numerous times with words that indicate that its Hashem who will go with you, saying in 32:20 אִם־תֵּחָֽלְצ֛וּ לִפְנֵ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה לַמִּלְחָמָֽה and in 32:21 - וְעָבַ֨ר לָכֶ֧ם כָּל־חָל֛וּץ אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּ֖ן לִפְנֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה and in 32:22 וְנִכְבְּשָׁ֨ה הָאָ֜רֶץ לִפְנֵ֤י יְהֹוָה֙. He then says in 32:23 - וְאִם־לֹ֤א תַֽעֲשׂוּן֙ כֵּ֔ן הִנֵּ֥ה חֲטָאתֶ֖ם לַֽיהֹוָ֑ה - if you don't do it this way with a cognizance that Hashem is involved וְאִם־לֹ֤א תַֽעֲשׂוּן֙ כֵּ֔ן הִנֵּ֥ה חֲטָאתֶ֖ם לַֽיהֹוָ֑ה.

We see that they did get the message, stating in 32:31 - וַיַּֽעֲנ֧וּ בְנֵי־גָ֛ד וּבְנֵ֥י רְאוּבֵ֖ן לֵאמֹ֑ר אֵת֩ אֲשֶׁ֨ר דִּבֶּ֧ר יְהֹוָ֛ה אֶל־עֲבָדֶ֖יךָ כֵּ֥ן נַֽעֲשֶֽׂה  - they recognize that they are doing what Hashem commanded Moshe.

R' Kallus quoted a Medrash which states that Eliyahu HaNavi met a man in the marketplace. He asked him where are you going? The man responded, I am going to buy oxen to plow in the field. Eliyahu says - say B'Ezras Hashem. The man responded, I have the money, I am going. But he did not get there as he was mugged and lost his money.

The man went home and got more money and again encountered Eliyahu. He was again asked where he was going and he said, to buy oxen. Again, Eliyahu said - say B'Ezras Hashem and again the man said - I already have my money and it was again taken away from him. 

This repeated itself three times, but on the fourth time when he encountered Eliyahu he said - I am going Im Yirtzeh Hashem. This time he was successful and even was able to recover all his lost money.

We sometimes hear people say that they are doing things with invoking Hashem or even when they do, without meaning what they are saying. We need to do more than just say Thank You Hashem, we need to feel that all that we do is because of Hashem.

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Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Pinchas

The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted 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' Frand.

R' Frand began the shiur by asking - what practical lesson can we learn from Pinchas? B'H we will not be faced with the spectacle that occurred. And in order to be a Kana'i like Pinchas, one's motives must be pure beyond question!

R' Frand quoted the Sefer Maor HaParsha by Rabbi Luban who opined that there is a practical lesson. A person can at some point find himself in a situation where something needs to be done. He could say to himself, who am I to be the one to step forward and do this? I am not a great person. But we learn from Pinchas that there are times when no one is stepping up and someone needs to do something. Pinchas looked and saw the Nasi of the tribe of Shimon who was doing something very wrong on a public stage. While Pinchas was not a great man at the time (he was even made fun of afterwards as a descendent on idol worshippers). But still, he stepped up and acted.

R' Frand underscored this point by noting the Medrash Rabbah which writes that 12 miracles were performed for Pinchas in order for him to be successful. On a basic level - consider that had Zimri turned around and killed Pinchas, Zimri would not have been punished. And consider the strength needed to pick up a spear which had impaled two people.

But Pinchas did not consider himself or his own stature and abilities. He acted and we should draw a lesson from him.

R' Frand connected with this with the story of the daughers of Tzelophad. They approached Moshe when they thought that the halacha was incorrect. R' Frand painted a picture - consider a Beis Ya'akov girl who approaches R' Moshe Feinstein ZTL and tells him that she thinks he is wrongly deciding a halacha.

Rashi comments that when they approached Moshe he had forgotten the halacha and Hashem said to him - they are correct, this halacha is written in my Torah in Heaven. They saw what Moshe did not see and knew that they were correct. 

Much like Pinchas, they did not say - who are we to step up?

R' Frand then tied this in to the Haftorah where Yirmiyahu receives a prophecy. He responds - who am I, I am a Na'ar. To this Hashem responds - don't say that you are a Na'ar, what I tell you, you will repeat. Like Moshe who said - who am I to go to Pharaoh, Hashem told Yirmiyahu he needed to act and not think about whether he was "great" enough to act.

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Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Balak

The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted 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' Frand.

In Bamidbar 22:21, the Torah states וַיָּ֤קָם בִּלְעָם֙ בַּבֹּ֔קֶר וַיַּֽחֲב֖שׁ אֶת־אֲתֹנ֑וֹ - Bilaam got up in the morning and saddled his donkey. Rashi writes that from this we see how much hatred overcomes a person. Bilaam was a wealthy man and had many servants who could have saddled the donkey for him. But due to his overwhelming hatred of the Jews, he did it himself. Hashem calls Bilaam a Rasha for this as Avraham had already demonstrated his enthusiasm for mitzvos by saddling his own donkey, many generations previously.

R' Frand quoted R' Moshe Feinstein who remarked that a Jew needs to be careful in showing his own enthusiasm for mitzvos in comparison with non-Jews. They will get up early in the morning to tailgate outside a stadium or arrive early for a rock concert because they are such fanatical enthusiasts. We must do the same for mitzvos and not complain about having to get up early for davening or Selichos.

R' Frand quoted a vort said over in the name of the Chofetz Chaim (I did not catch the name of the speaker, only that the Alter Zeide was unhappy with the vort) that when Ya'akov said to Esav in Bereishis 32:5 - עִם־לָבָ֣ן גַּ֔רְתִּ which Rashi famously teaches meant that Ya'akov said when he lived with Lavan he did not learn from Esav's evil ways - it was actually a lament. Yaa'kov was saying - I saw Lavan and his enthusiasm for making money, but I did not learn from him and do mitzvos with the same fervor.

R' Frand said a second vort on Bilaam's apology in Bamidbar 22:35 where he states that he sinned because he did not realize the angel was in the road. He quoted the Shelah who asked - why was there a reason to apologize? If he did not realize the angel was there what did he do wrong that required an apology? The Shelah answers that a person will have an event occur which is clearly from Hashem and a message to him. Hashem allowed the donkey to speak, but Bilaam did not contemplate the miraculous nature of the incident and instead engaged in a conversation with the donkey. The fact that he did not stop and realize that there was a message from Hashem being sent through this miracle was the reason that he needed to apologize.

R' Frand closed the vort by quoting the Chofetz Chaim who observed that there are no gaps (pesuchos or stumos) in the parsha. Chazal teach that these were present generally to give Moshe an opportunity to stop and contemplate what he was being taught. But not here - this was all a straight miracle that Hashem had saved the Jews from Bilaam's plot, so there was not a reason for him to stop in the middle and think about it.

Yet Bilaam himself did not draw a lesson from this as at the end of the parsha, Bilaam returns to his land and his evil ways...

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Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Chukas

The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted 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' Frand.

R' Frand began his first vort by noting that after Aharon's death, the Annanei HaKavod returned shortly thereafter in the zechus of Moshe. But after Miriam's death, the well did not return immediately. But why was this different?

R' Frand answered by quoting the Klei Yakar who notes that after Aharon died the Torah writes that all of the Jewish people cried for thirty days. Similarly after Moshe died in Parshas V'Zos HaBeracha, the Torah writes that the Jewish people cried (although not all of the Jewish people, like when Aharon died).

But after Miriam dies, the Torah does not disclose any crying or mourning. Because the Jews did not mourn the death of this righteous woman, the well needed to cease providing water. R' Frand said that we learn from this that if we don't appreciate someone when they are here, Hashem may give us a reason to feel after the person died that we did not properly appreciate that person in his lifetime. Since the Jews did not appreciate Miriam, Hashem gave then a reason to feel her loss.

The second vort related to the Jews complaints about the Manna. Specifically, why should they have complained about this miraculous food which tasted like whatever they desired and was so efficiently processed by their bodies that there was no waste to be exrcreted?

R' Frand answered by quoting the Gemara in Yoma which asks - why did the Manna not fall just once a year? The Gemara answers with a parable about a king who used to give his son a year's worth of food annually. The son would come visit his father only that one time per year and it distressed the king, so he required his son to come daily for food.

The Jewish people's complaint about the Manna was that it did not last beyond the day it fell (outside of Shabbos & Yom Tov) so they were dependent on gathering it every day. This required them to be reliant on Hashem and to be careful in their actions so that the Manna would continue to be there for them...and they were not happy about that. After all, the other nations of the world had food without this daily stress.

R' Frand said that the Meforshim say that the Jews were punished with the snakes. The snake in Bereishis was given a curse that it would eat dirt. Seemingly this was not a curse as it had all the food that it wanted. But it also meant that Hashem did not want to see the snake. The Jews similarly wanted to be independent from needing Hashem like the snake, so they were punished with snakes.

The final vort related to the pasuk in Bamidbar 21:27 - עַל־כֵּ֛ן יֹֽאמְר֥וּ הַמּֽשְׁלִ֖ים בֹּ֣אוּ חֶשְׁבּ֑וֹן. R' Frand remarked that Sichon was riding high, because he thought that he had been Moshel on Moav by capturing their lands. But he did not realize that his conquering of Moav was the precursor to the Jews acquiring this territory, which they were barred from taking from Moav. 

This is the message to the Moshlim - there is an accounting and what you think may be positive may not be in the end.

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