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 Devarim 20, the Torah discusses several laws relating to going out to battle. Among these laws are the exemptions which allow certain potential soldiers to avoid going to battle. One of the exemptions is found in Devarim 20:8, which states that the solders are told מִי־הָאִ֤ישׁ הַיָּרֵא֙ וְרַ֣ךְ הַלֵּבָ֔ב יֵלֵ֖ךְ וְיָשֹׁ֣ב לְבֵית֑וֹ וְלֹ֥א יִמַּ֛ס אֶת־לְבַ֥ב אֶחָ֖יו כִּלְבָבֽוֹ - who is the man who is fearful and faint hearted, let him go and return to his house so that he will not melt the hearts of his brothers like his heart.
The Gemara in Sotah seeks to define why the man is fearful. R' Akiva states that he is simply afraid of war. But R' Yossi HaGlili states that the man is afraid because he has sinned. The Gemara adds that even if the man's fear is only related to violations of Mitzvos D'Rabbanan, even speaking between putting on his Tefillin Shel Yad and Shel Rosh is enough of a reason to allow him to avoid a Milchemes Reshus.
R' Frand quoted the Tolner Rebbi in the Sefer Hemah Yinachamuni who asks -why is the example of a D'Rabbanan commandment speaking between putting on Tefillin. R' Frand mused that a Bar Mitzvah boy is told when he is learning to put on Tefillin that he should not speak between placing the hand and head Tefillin, and R' Frand guesses that from the time he is 13 until he is 83, he probably does not violate this rule.
The Tolner Rebbi explains that the reference is to the disconnect between Man and Hashem. A person can think that it is due to his own actions that he succeeds - כֹּחִי֙ וְעֹ֣צֶם יָדִ֔י עָ֥שָׂה לִ֖י אֶת־הַחַ֥יִל הַזֶּֽה. This person may not use his head to realize that the strength and success of his arm is only due to the assistance of Hashem. If he disconnects the two aspects and relies entirely on his own strength and does not recognize Hashem's involvement, he does not belong on the battlefield and may cause others to be hurt as well.
[R' Frand said parenthetically that no greater example are the events of 10/7/23. Israel had a billion dollar defense system in place to monitor Gaza and the system simply failed because Hashem wanted it to].
R' Frand also said a vort about Elul and why it is an apt time for Teshuva and not merely the Teshuva season. He noted that Moshe went up on Har Sinai three times. The first time was to receive the Luchos when he went up on Shavuous and came down on the 17th of Tammuz. Moshe then went back up a second time on the 18th of Tammuz and came down on the 29th of Av at which time the Jews were told that they had been forgiven. Rashi states that on that date, Hashem told Moshe to create the second set of Luchos and all had been forgiven. Moshe then went back up on the 1st of Elul and came down with the second Luchos on Yom Kippur.
But why did Moshe need to go up a third time if Hashem had already told him when he came down the second time that the Jews had been forgiven? Rashi explains that the forgiveness received after the second trip on the mountain was akin to someone saying - "I forgive you" but the prior relationship has not been restored. On the other hand, when Moshe came down the third time, it was a forgiveness with an element of love as Hashem was happy with the Jews and wanted to renew the connection.
R' Frand quoted R' Emmanuel Bernstein who states that the Avodah of Elul is to get back to the close connection that we had with Hashem last Tishrei, but had dissipated throughout the year.
R' Frand closed the vort by asking why we recite לְדָוִ֨ד ׀ יְהֹוָ֤ה ׀ אוֹרִ֣י during Elul and through the end of Sukkos. He recognized the limud that אוֹרִ֣י is Rosh Hashanah and יִשְׁעִי is Yom Kippur and that there is a reference to Sukkos. But R' Frand said that there is more to it. If you examine the Mizmor, there are many aspects of wanting to reconnect with Hashem, such as אַחַ֤ת ׀ שָׁאַ֣לְתִּי מֵאֵת־יְהֹוָה֮ אוֹתָ֢הּ אֲבַ֫קֵּ֥שׁ שִׁבְתִּ֣י בְּבֵית־יְ֭הֹוָה כׇּל־יְמֵ֣י חַיַּ֑י לַחֲז֥וֹת בְּנֹעַם־יְ֝הֹוָ֗ה וּלְבַקֵּ֥ר בְּהֵֽיכָלֽוֹ. Similarly, we state וְאֶזְבְּחָ֣ה בְ֭אׇהֳלוֹ זִבְחֵ֣י תְרוּעָ֑ה אָשִׁ֥ירָה וַ֝אֲזַמְּרָ֗ה לַֽיהֹוָֽה. These are expressions of wanting to reconnect with Hashem which is the Avodah of Elul.
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