Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Re'eh

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=121442). 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.

The parsha begins with the statement רְאֵ֗ה אָֽנֹכִ֛י נֹתֵ֥ן לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם בְּרָכָ֖ה וּקְלָלָֽה. The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh asks, who is the one who is speaking? This seems like an odd question as the entire Sefer Devarim is said by Moshe. But as explained by the Ohr HaChaim, this is Moshe relating to and connecting with the Jewish people. 

When the Rabbi talks to you about real beracha and experiences, you can think, does he really know from worldly pleasures? And do you really know what Olam Haba will be?

But, when  Moshe is telling the Jews that certain things can be viewed as either a Beracha or a Klallah, he is telling them - I know about all of this because I lived in both worlds - you should know that these are not just things being said from the ivory tower. When I tell you that wealth and material pursuits are not important, I can say this first hand because I was one of the wealthiest people by virtue of having the leftover chips of the precious stone that the luchos were carved out of. 

Similarly, I can tell you that the world of Torah in Shamayim is real and more than any pleasure on Earth. After all I lived in Shamayim for 40 days and 40 nights in getting the first and second set of luchos.

And before you say that I did not experience worldly pleasures, remember that I grew up in the house of Pharaoh and I knew from the delicacies which were served at Pharaoh's banquets.

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Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Ekev

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=158400). 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.

Rabbi Kallus noted that a portion of the Shema is in this week's parsha which includes the pasuk וּלְעָבְד֔וֹ בְּכָל־לְבַבְכֶ֖ם וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁכֶֽם (Devarim 11:13). He asked what does it mean that we should serve Hashem with our whole heart? He told a story about Czar Nicholai who came to visit the Russian troops. They were given warning the morning of the visit that he was coming and that they needed to stand at roll call in full equipment and dress uniform.

There was a soldier who was a bit of drunk and he had sold much of his equipment to pay for vodka. When he realized that he was going to need to have a full pack, he panicked and stuffed his pack with grass and hay. As Czar Nicholai began to inspect the troops he stopped at the soldier and told him to empty his pack. The soldier began to take out the grass and was immediately court martialed.

Did the Czar have Ruach HaKodesh? No, he saw that all the soldiers had been standing somewhat stooped over from the weight of their pack, but he was standing straight.

R' Kallus said that a person needs to serve Hashem with his full heart. This means that a person will always have a little bit of weight on him. He quoted the Rama in the first siman in Shulchan Aruch - a person needs to realize that he is before Hashem wherever the person is and he needs to feel that he is carrying the King's items and appreciate that this is a full time obligation.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!