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Parshat Devarim Weekly Dvar Torah Living Torah Parshat Devarim Shabbat Chazon 6 Av 5777 /July 29, 2017 Daf Yomi: Sanhedrin 13; Nach Yomi: Iyov 30 Weekly Dvar Torah A project of the NATIONAL COUNCIL OF YOUNG ISRAEL SPONSORED BY THE HENRY, BERTHA AND EDWARD ROTHMAN FOUNDATION ROCHESTER, NY,CLEVELAND, OHIO, CIRCLEVILLE, OHIO Living Torah Rabbi Benjamin Geiger Associate Member, Young Israel Council of Rabbis The piece of chocolate cake is calling my name. It had been tempting me with increasing intensity throughout the day. My doctor told me to lower my intake of carbs and I know that the high-fat, high-sugar content is bad for my diet. I know all these things. I struggle. I am tempted. Then some new stress enters into the equation and all reason has disappeared… it isn’t just one small piece of cake but three large helpings, with milk. What went wrong? I read the medical pamphlets the doctor gave me. I realize I feel and function better when I eat sensibly. Yet the cake has been eaten! In Parshat Devarim, Moshe Rabbeinu describes the creation of a tiered leadership and judicial system for the Jewish people. This is the same story told in Parshat Yitro, with some significant differences. When Moshe describes the caliber of those he found to fill the positions of Judge, he describes them with three adjectives: righteous, wise, and knowing. Rashi immediately points out that an essential adjective is missing from the list Yitro gave to Moshe: Understanding. Moshe was not able to find anyone who possessed this character trait. That would be disappointing enough, if it were the end of the story. Rashi, however, continues to remind us that, actually, Yitro had described men possessed of seven qualities. Moshe found just three. If the men Moshe found were lacking four of the said qualities, why single out “understanding” – it’s almost as if the two parts of Rashi were written independently. There are four missing behavioral characters, not one! The answer can be found in the meaning of the word “understanding” (binah). The Malbim teaches that knowledge, (daat), is a surface awareness of facts. Wisdom, on the other hand, is a deeper view of those facts, allowing application and true discernment. The deepest level of connection to any set of information is binah. Those having this perspective are able to make the connection between seemingly disparate pieces of information from which they draw new vistas of truth beyond that which is explicitly studied. The only way to gain such perspective is to have internalized the information to such an extent that it becomes a person’s character trait. We all have lines in the sand over which we resist the impulse to cross. No amount of stress could convince us to waver on our commitment to that moral code. Those areas in life where we have achieved binah seem self-evident and obvious. The clarity we have in such areas is refreshing and projects outwards to others around us. Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz, zt”l (Daas Torah, vol. 5a) explains that Rashi separates binah from the other three missing prerequisite characteristics because it is the fundamental value that allows Man to bridge the gap between his mind and his heart. It is the trait of human experience that allows a person to move on to new features of their persona and personal growth. That which has been internalized can be relied upon as a foundation for life’s travails and unpredictable changes. Yitro had hoped that Moshe would find individuals who not only knew Torah, no matter how deeply, but lived Torah. This, of course, is the essence of life. Rav M. C. Luzatto, zt”l, teaches in “Derech Hashem” that all Creation has one purpose: to allow humanity, initially, and Klal Yisrael more specifically, as history unfolded, to internalize Truth and Perfection. This would lead to becoming God-like. In order to allow this perfection to be internalized, however, it must be earned through perseverance and struggle. “L’fum tzara agra, according to the effort (lit. pain) is the reward,” is the mantra of Jewish existence. After struggling to internalize Torah values, I have taken ownership over those aspects of internalized morals and, thus, become closer to HaShem. The mechanism of this closeness is clarified by R. Levovitz (Daas Torah, vol.1). While closeness in its physical term is measured by physical distance, closeness in the spiritual world is measured in spiritual similarity. As a result, as I bridge the gap between the cognitive and the actual, I am able to achieve the purpose of my existence and elevate the world along the way. Why do I eat the piece of the aforementioned cake, lehavdil? I have yet to fully internalize the “dangers” to my health. I understand and know what the doctors have told me. But, in my heart, the cake’s voice is more convincing (and pleasurable). Life’s goal is to internalize the Torah’s messages and directives; to make them a part of every fiber of my being. This is what is meant to be a “walking sefer Torah.” Shabbat Shalom. The Weekly Sidra "Shalom, The Source Of Unlimited B’rachos" Rabbi Moshe Greebel Associate Member, Young Israel Council of Rabbis In the text My’na Shel Torah (D’varim page #19) a very intriguing story is told, which goes like this: Concerning the inventor of the game of chess, a certain king said to him, “As a sign of gratitude for having invented such an engrossing amusement, I am prepared to grant you anything that you request of me.” The inventor replied, “Let me be given wheat grains that are double the amount of the sixty four squares of the chess board. That is, first give me one wheat grain, after which you will give me two. Then, two times two, after which you will give me four times four, then sixteen times sixteen up to the number sixty four.” At first, the king laughed at what he thought was an inordinately paltry reward. However, after calculating up what the correct sum would be, it was soon realized that there were not that many wheat grains in the entire kingdom. Such tales are reminiscent of the countless B’rachos (blessings) which HaKadosh Baruch Hu has bestowed upon His nation of Yisroel for countless years, as we see in this week’s Sidra from the B’racha of Moshe: “HaShem the G-d of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as you are, and blesses you, as He has promised you!” (D’varim 1:11) On this Passuk (verse), the commentary of the Binyan Ariel (Rav Shaul Lowenstein 1717- 1790 of blessed memory) asked at what time would this B’racha of Moshe Rabbeinu come true? He answered that this magnificent B’racha was reserved for the future time, when Yisroel would be redeemed from the other nations of the world, as the Navi (prophet) declared: “The least one shall become a thousand, and a smallest one a strong nation; I HaShem will hasten it in its time.” (Y’shaya 60:22) ‘The least one’ refers to Yisroel in its present worldly state, instructed the Binyan Ariel. Yet, their numbers are destined to exponentially grow a thousand times, may that time hastily arrive. The Binyan Ariel develops this theme accordingly from the words of Rashi on our above Passuk from this week’s Sidra: “HaShem the G-d of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as you are….. They (B’nai Yisroel) said to him, ‘Moshe! You set a finite amount to your B’racha (of one thousand times). Yet, HaKadosh Baruch Hu has already promised Avraham, “(And I will make your seed as the dust of the earth); so that if a man can count the dust of the earth, then shall your seed also be counted…..”’” (B’raishis 13:16) That is, ‘I will make your seed as the dust of the earth’ is a B’racha of an infinite amount. Let us return to the Rashi: “….. He (Moshe) said to them, ‘This (B’racha) is from me. But, He will bless you as He declared.’” Now, posed the Binyan Ariel, what kind of answer is this? If the B’nai Yisroel have an infinite B’racha from HaKadosh Baruch Hu, what need is there for a finite B’racha from Moshe? The answer is as follows. In the Mishna at the very end of the third chapter of Uk’tzin, we find the following: “Rabban Shimon Ben Chalafta stated, ‘HaKadosh Baruch Hu found no vessel that could contain a B’racha for Yisroel, save that of Shalom (peace)…..’” That is, when Yisroel lives together in perfect peace and harmony, they are deserving of a B’racha which has no limit, which is of an infinite amount. However, in times when such perfect peace and harmony is not maintained, the finite B’racha of a thousand fold of Moshe is given to them instead. And, from where do we see that in the times of Moshe, Shalom was not the shared experience of Yisroel? From his very words to the B’nai Yisroel in this week’s Sidra, when he stated: “How can I myself alone bear your trouble, and your burden, and your strife?” (D’varim 1:12) Concerning this Passuk, Rashi instructs the following: “Your trouble….. This teaches us that Yisroel was a troublesome (people). If one saw his opponent in a lawsuit about to win, he would say, ‘I have (other) witnesses to bring, (more) evidence to introduce, I (will exercise my right to) add judges to you (in your tribunal).” “And your burden….
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