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.
Rabbi Frand noted that the Torah tells us in Devarim 28:47 that the curses will come תַּ֗חַת אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹֽא־עָבַ֨דְתָּ֙ אֶת־יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ בְּשִׂמְחָ֖ה וּבְט֣וּב לֵבָ֑ב מֵרֹ֖ב כֹּֽל. But why is the lack of Simcha the reason that the curses come? After all, they did keep all the Mitzvos!
Rabbi Frand quoted the Sefer L'Romem which refers to the story of the Egel in Parshas Ki Sissa. The Seforno teaches that although Moshe had been advised by Hashem that the Jews had created and worshipped the Egel, he did not break the Luchos until Shemos 32:19 - וַיַּ֥רְא אֶת־הָעֵ֖גֶל וּמְחֹלֹ֑ת. The Seforno explains that Moshe only broke the Luchos because he saw that they were dancing and rejoicing. Because its one thing to sin and another to do one with gusto. The Seforno similar teaches on the words in Shemos 32:30 וַיֹּ֤אמֶר משֶׁה֙ אֶל־הָעָ֔ם אַתֶּ֥ם חֲטָאתֶ֖ם חֲטָאָ֣ה גְדֹלָ֑ה - the great sin was that they made this into a Yom Tov.
R' Frand said if you want to see how committed a person is to religion - look to see if he does the Mitzvos with simcha or if he is just going through the motions.
R' Frand quoted the Arizal who had remarked to his student R' Chaim Vital that the reason he was Zoche was because he did the Mitzvos with Hislahavos - with great enthusiasm.
R' Frand also quoted a story from the Sefer about R' Ya'akov Kaminetsky ZTL who was once at a wedding where he was seated next to a Russian Jew who was not wearing a Kippah. They began speaking and R' Ya'akov asked him about his background. The man said that his father was raised in Russia during the communist era and that he knew nothing about Judaism. The only thing he knew was the pasuk תַּ֗חַת אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹֽא־עָבַ֨דְתָּ֙ אֶת־יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ בְּשִׂמְחָ֖ה וּבְט֣וּב לֵבָ֑ב מֵרֹ֖ב כֹּֽל which he recited with a Yiddish accent. How did he know this? Because he was in Bergen Belsen and when he went to chop wood he went with a Jew who refused to shave his beard and who with every chop would repeat the pasuk.
The bearded Jew was no less than the Klausenberger Rebbi who said to himself with each chop that these events were occurring because he did not serve Hashem with simcha. This is the same Klausenberger Rebbi who lost his wife and 11 children in the Holocaust and who afterwards rebuilt his Chassidus and brought back countless Jews, besides rebuilding his own family.
If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!
No comments:
Post a Comment