בּ"ה
Parshas Devarim:
‘These are the words… -- …אלה הדברים’ (Devarim 1:1)
Teaches the Baal HaTurim zt”l: If you take the last letters of the first words of every Sefer in the Torah -- אלה ,וידבר ,ויקרא ,ואלה ,בראשית -- and put them together in Gematria (numerical value), they come out to the same numerical value as the word תורה!
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‘And Di-Zahav (די זהב)’ (Devarim 1:1)
Rashi HaKadosh from several sources explains that Di-Zahav [literally meaning, ‘enough gold’] alludes to the Golden Calf that they made because of their abundant gold, as it says (Hoshea 2:10), ‘And silver I multiplied for her [Israel], and gold; they made it for [the idol] Baal.’
We, in our own lives, must think about this: Hashem gives us so much; so many wonderful gifts -- including our very lives. But are we using and utilizing these gifts, or, Chas V’Shalom, squandering them -- or worse?...
(Tal U’Matar)
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‘These are the words that Moshe spoke…’ (Devarim 1:1)
As we read about in this Parsha (and more), Moshe Rabbeinu famously rebukes the Bnei Yisroel for the sins that were committed in the Wilderness. However, the people he was now rebuking were not the same ones who had actually done [at least most of] the sins he spoke of!
Explains HaRav Moshe Feinstein zt”l; every person needs to know that if they see someone sin, they should not say that with them, it is not possible that they will sin, because they know that it is a forbidden thing, and believe in Hashem and in His Torah. Rather, they need to fear that also they are liable to sin in this -- even if it a terrible sin -- if they have not yet uprooted from themselves the bad forces which desire even the most terrible things. And a person cannot rely upon their intellect that it would not let them sin, but rather; they need to increase their learning of Torah and Mussar, until their traits and their thoughts change and they know to be on watch against sin with fences and the like.
And therefore, all the time that they [the Bnei Yisroel} did not toil on this, to uproot the traits that cause one to sin, Moshe Rabbeinu rebuked them as if they were doing the sin itself…
(Darash Moshe)
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‘How can I alone carry your trouble, your burden and your strife?’ (Devarim 1:12)
Says HaRav Avraham Leib Scheinbaum shlit”a: In the annual cycle of Parshiyos, we always read Parshas Devarim on the Shabbos preceding Tisha B’Av, our national day of mourning.
An obvious connection to Tisha B’Av, is the word ‘Eicha’, ‘how’ (in the above quoted verse), which appears in Megillas Eicha, the Book of Lamentations, that is read on Tisha B’Av. The Vilna Gaon zt”l sees a deeper connection between this Parsha and Tisha B’Av in the third word of our verse ‘levadi’ (alone) -- ‘Eicha esa levadi’, ‘How can I alone carry?’ He noted that a form of this word appears in the beginning of Megillas Eicha, ‘Eicha yashvah badad’ -- ‘How the city sits alone.’ This gives us a clue to the essence of our national tragedy.
Alone, loneliness, isolated, forsaken, deserted: These synonyms may shed light on Moshe Rabbeinu’s critique, and, by extension, Klal Yisroel’s tragedy. Moshe was used to bearing the nation’s burden. His complaint was that he was alone. We may add that certainly Moshe did not need any assistance. He was quite capable of leadership -- even alone (with Hashem’s Help, of course).
Is anybody aware of the responsibility placed on the shoulders of our leadership, a responsibility which they shoulder all alone? Do we empathize? It would be so much easier to shoulder the responsibility, if he knew that he was not really alone.
This same problem occurred in Yerushalayim. In the first chapter of Eicha, a variation of the phrase ‘ein menachem lah’ -- ‘there is none to comfort her’ (Yeushalayim), occurs no less than four times. This is what we mourn. Yerushalayim is alone, without anyone to comfort her. We may suggest that the loneliness which Yerushalayim experienced was not only a product of Klal Yisroel’s seclusion from the other nations. It was the separation from within, their divisiveness and discord resulting from the Sinas Chinam, unwarranted hatred among them, which was the cause of the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash.
We cannot change what has happened. We can, however, focus on the source of our suffering, the reason for our misery, in order to attempt to correct our problem so that it happens no more. Perhaps, with a little more ahavah, love, for our fellow people, we can reverse the trend of isolation from one another which has caused so much of our suffering. Let us share the burden with our fellow, ease their plight, or just be available for moral support.
When we are present for our fellow, we can hope that Hashem will, likewise, be present for us.
(The Peninim Anthology)
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Maaseh B’Rabbi: We are rapidly approaching Tisha B’Av. Additionally, today, the 8th of Av, is the yahrtzeit of the Alter of Kelm, HaRav Simcha Zissel Ziv zt”l. With Hashem’s Help, I would like to share a story that connects to both:
Before the Alter’s passing, a fan was placed above his head in order to help with the air. His pains increased from moment to moment, and the agony of death began.
With the last bit of “life-movement” in his nostrils, he exerted himself, and very carefully removed with his hands the fan from above his head, so that it would not end up perhaps getting broken.
All those standing near were amazed at the sight of this incredible effort of the dying man, to not ruin even a little thing like this, which was borrowed from a neighbor. Such was the Alter’s great holiness and care to not commit even a trace of thievery, until it became his second nature -- even in the last moments of his Soul’s departure from him.
(HaMeoros HaGedolim)
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A Gut Shabbos and a very meaningful Tisha B’Av to all!
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