Kindness

From a yeshiva buddy and a great friend 

Why is there a commandment to not eat a stork (In Hebrew החסידה like the word חסד kindness) in a portion that talks about not eating wild animals specifically? Something named after kindness surely is not wild, right? 

Rashi answers it is because they only do kindness to their own kind. Lesson for today, be kind to all. 

Shabbat Shalom

Parsha Va’etchanan

This week’s Parsha contains perhaps the most famous and important idea in all of Torah. The Shema has many important ideas in it, but none more important than the imperative to teach our children the ways of our people. In this sentence we learns that although a person might think that the mitzvah of learning Torah takes precedence over that of teaching others, the opposite is in fact true. We learn from the emphasis on teaching children the proper approach we should have when we begin to learn Torah.

When Jews do mitzvah’s we create a change in the physical world, we elevate physical objects and seemingly mundane tasks and make them holy buy using those objects in the performance of mitzvoth and in our service to gd. The practical performance of the mitzvah is therefore more important than the intentions of the person doing the deed. The action itself brings spiritual illumination into the world.

In contrast to this Torah learning’s purpose is to refine and elevate the individual. When a person engages in the act of studying Torah their intellect becomes united with the gdly wisdom contained within and that wisdom affects the individual. Aiding and helping us to be more gdly people whose thoughts and actions are holy. Therefore learning Torah is in essence a process of humbling oneself and nullifying oneself with the goal of approaching gd with an open heart and mind.

Before we learn Torah we must subjugate our own ego and ask ourselves what does the Torah want from me? Our Sages say that without this prerequisite, Torah learning can be like a poisonous drug. Without asking this question we can actually damage ourselves.

I’d like to thank, Chabad.org and the Lubavitcher Rebbe zt”l for this insight, Shabbat Shalom.

Balak

From the Chief Rabbi:

In this weeks parsha, emissaries go from Moab to Midian. Balak king of Moab wants Bilaam to curse the Israelites. Bilaam's answer is a model of propriety: Stay the night, he says, while I consult with G-d. G-d's answer is unequivocal: "Do not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed."

Obediently, Bilaam refuses. Balak redoubles his efforts. He sends a second set of emissaries. Bilaam's reply is exemplary: "Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the LORD my G-d." However, he adds a fateful rider: "Now stay here tonight as the others did, and I will find out what else the LORD will tell me." The implication is clear. Bilaam is suggesting that G-d may change His mind. But this is impossible. That is not what G-d does. Yet to our surprise, that is what G-d seems to do: That night G-d came to Bilaam and said, "Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you." Why does Bilaam ask again? Why would G-d change his mind?

The true meaning of G-d's second reply, "Go with them," is, "If you insist, then I cannot stop you going - but I am angry that you should have asked a second time." G-d did not change His mind at any point in the proceedings. In scenes 1, 2 and 3, G-d did not want Bilaam to go. His "Yes" in scene 2 meant "No" - but it was a No Bilaam could not hear, was not prepared to hear. When G-d speaks and we do not listen, He does not intervene to save us from our choices. "Man is led down the path he chooses to tread."

The difference between a false prophet and a true prophet is: the false prophet speaks. The true prophet listens. The false prophet tells people what they want to hear. The true prophet tells them what they need to hear. The false prophet believes in his own powers. The true prophet knows that he has no power.

"No" is the hardest word to hear, but it is also often the most important - and the sign that someone cares. That is what Bilaam, humbled, eventually learned and what we too must discover if we are to be open to the voice of G-d.