The Sages Say:
‘May Hashem bless you and
guard you…’ (Bamidbar 6:24)
And guard you: “So that robbers
should not come upon you to take your money. For one who gives a gift to
his servant, he is not able to guard it from all people. And since they (robbers)
come to close upon him (the servant, as is explained) and take it
from him, what benefit is there to him from the gift?
But HaKadosh Baruch Hu;
He is the Giver; He is the Guarder…” (Rashi HaKadosh from Midrash Tanchuma and Bamidbar
Rabbah).
*******
A “Lamdanishe” Insight:
‘Speak to the Children of
Israel and say to them; any man that his wife will go astray…’ (Bamidbar
5:12)
The Torah now has a new
discussion: That of a wife who, Chas V’Shalom, commits adultery -- or
doesn’t, as the case may be. In the language of HaRav Nosson Scherman שׁליט"א:
“This
passage deals with a woman who behaves in an unseemly manner, giving her
husband good reason to suspect her of adultery, but there is no proof of either
guilt or innocence. The Torah provides a miraculous process that will
either prove she sinned and caused both her death and that of her illicit
lover, or show conclusively that she was faithful and thereby restore trust and
love to the marriage.” (The Stone Edition Chumash; p. 753).
The miraculous process
of the waters was, as the Torah describes, the Kohen taking sacred waters in an
earthenware vessel, taking some dirt from the Mishkan floor, and putting it in.
There was also a scroll on which the Kohen had to write certain things,
and one of those things (see Mishnah Sotah) was Hashem’s Full Name.
He then had to erase the writing on the scroll into the bitter waters.
And after so, the suspected wife was to drink the waters. If she
was guilty, the waters killed her. But if she was innocent, they didn’t.
HaRav Yaakov Kamenetzky זצ"ל explains that,
psychologically, a husband who seriously suspected his wife of acting
inappropriately will still suspect her and not trust her, even if a
court ruled her innocent. Only Hashem’s Own Testimony will resolve
things.
Therefore, explains Rav Yaakov זצ"ל, Hashem, in this case, permits erasure of His Sacred Name in
the bitter waters and performs such a miracle -- to set a suspicious husband’s
mind at ease (Ibid. p. 754-755; from Iyunim BaMikra) and we might add,
return peace to this couple’s home.
*******
Mussar Message:
‘Holy
he shall be’ (Bamidbar 5:6)
The Gemara derives from this that regular Nezirus is 30 days,
because the word "יהיה" (‘he shall be’) is the numerical value of 30.
“From this
it is possible to see, until how is the greatness of the strength of the Torah,
for even upon one numerical value that is in the Written Torah, it is arranged
upon the hands of the Sages however many Pages in Maseches Nazir.” (The Chofetz
Chaim זצ"ל in “Chofetz
Chaim on the Torah").
*******
Chassidishe Vort:
Parshas Nasso:
Based on Sichas Shabbos Parshas Nasso 5747, (from the Lubavitcher
Rebbe -- Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson זצ"ל), Rebbe Chaim Miller שׁליט"א writes:
“Consequently, when
we study the Torah now, after the giving of the Torah, we do not merely become
educated and knowledgeable, but more importantly, our physical being becomes
infused, strengthened and uplifted by the spirituality of the Torah.
To stress this point,
the Parsha which we read around the time of Shavu’os is called Naso, which
literally means “lift,” indicating how Torah actually elevates our physical
existence to a higher plane.”
“From this,” he concludes, “we
can learn that the Torah was not intended to be limited to the realm of the
academic or even the spiritual. Torah should affect us deeply, to the
extent that even our ordinary, everyday activities become uplifted as a result
of our exposure to Torah, fulfilling the Divine intent that the “upper worlds”
and “lower worlds” should be in harmony with one another.” (The Gutnick
Edition Chumash).
*******
Chazak
V’ematz:
‘And Hashem said to Moshe; “One prince for a day; one prince for a
day, shall they bring their offering for the Dedication of the Altar.’ (Bamidbar 7:11)
After this introductory
phrase, the Torah goes on to list which Prince of the Jewish People brought his
offering on which day, and it goes into detail of what they each brought.
The Midrash famously notes that, if you look, all of the offerings
which the Princes brought were the same! In every detail! So then
the question is asked; what was the reason the Torah has to go into detail with
the offering for each Prince, when they were all the same?
But
there is a huge lesson in listing it this way: It is easy to think, for
example, during Minyan, when so many other people are Davening, does Hashem
really care about my individual prayer? Does it really matter? I’m
doing the same prayers as everyone else!
Comes along the Torah
and it teaches us that Hashem never gets “tired” of our Mitzvos:
The entire Jewish Nation could be doing the same Mitzvah at the same
time, and Hashem would love your Mitzvah just as much as if you
were the only person in the world doing it.
And this doesn’t just go
for our Mitzvos; it also goes for us in general. There are so many people
out there, but Hashem cares about each one of us. (Tal U’Matar).
(See Darkei
Mussar on this, quoting from the Alter of Kelm -- HaRav Simcha
Zissel Ziv זצ"ל -- for a very
similar comment).
*******
Maaseh B’Rabbi…:
A visitor to the Chazon Ish (HaRav Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz זצ"ל) once complained that
his Rav was not knowledgeable enough; he had no idea how much rain-water was
necessary to make a Mikvah Kosher.
The Chazon Ish calmed
the man down, saying: “Don’t worry, your Rav is a very learned person. Go
to him, ask him his opinion and explanation -- you can most definitely rely on
his Halachic decision.”
The Rav in question
received a telegram later that very day from the Chazon Ish. It
read: “PREFERABLE AMOUNT OF RAINWATER FOR MIKVEH 750 LITERS. NO LESS THAN
648 LITERS.”
The Rav was confused by
this unannounced telegram, but when his congregant challenged him later that
day, the Rav was able to nonchalantly answer: “The Chazon Ish maintains
that you need 750 liters for a Kosher Mikvah. Why do you ask?”
The man was flustered,
but he still did not trust his Rav’s expertise. He personally checked out
the Mikvah -- and found everything in order. The Rav’s honor and erudition
were thereby restored. (Visions of Greatness, Vol. VII; p. 144).
*******
A Gut Shabbos to all!
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