mattot masei 2013 english

WALKING INTO HOLINESS

The question that begs an answer is: If Yosef Mashita was such a Rasha, having less fear of G-d than even the Romans, how did he change his mind so fast?  How could he suddenly stand firm in refusing  to go in for the second round of booty, even in the face of terrifying threats? How did he change his life’s views in just a few minutes, so fearful of displeasing his Master that he was willing to die,  just in order to not anger Him?

The Rav of Ponevesh learnt from this something amazing about the Beit Hamikdash. Just entering the Holy Temple would have an effect on a person. Just walking in makes one  a completely different person. After going in the first time, Yosef Mashita could not go back in again and do such a disgraceful act.

This answer is most revealing. It teaches us a little about what we have lost. We have lost a place in this world where  you could,  just by entering it, become a different person. A holier person. A person with proper values. A person who is willing both to live and die for his values. This is what we mourn in these three weeks.

But the answer is not complete. A question still remains. If by walking into the Temple a person was so spiritually elevated, how, then, was Yosef Mashita able to take out the Menorah the first time? Once he went in, didn’t the Temple effect his Neshama, his soul?

The answer is, I believe, that the effect is not always felt right away. It might take a few minutes. It might take a couple of hours. Days. Weeks. Or even years. At some point in time, though, it will be translated into action.

Nowadays, we do not have a Temple. We dohave a מקדש מעט, a smaller version of it: a synagogue and a study hall. We wonder, in a world so full of immorality, where one can tap into holiness. If one is looking for something deeper than his everyday, materialistic life, where should he go? He does not have the Beit Hamikdash to go to. But he can go to the smaller versions of the Temple, the study hall and the synagogue. He may not get the same holiness that one was gifted with by entering the Beit Hamikdash, but he will get something. He may not feel the holiness right away. He may not be able to identify what, exactly, changed in his value system. But something, some time, will change.

A certain Torah scholar was getting frustrated with himself, seeing that he was not making it as “one of the top”. He went to his rabbi to pour out his heart, full of feelings and doubts. The rabbi told him something amazing. Our rabbis tell us, “ When one goes into the study hall to learn, he should say the following prayer: May it be the will before You, Hashem my G-d and the G-d of my Fathers, that I will not make mistakes in my learning, and I will not stumble in Halacha, and may my study partners be happy learning with me….” And when one leaves the study hall, he should say , “I thank you, my G-d, for Your having placed my lot amongst those who sit in the study hall and not amongst those who sit around and do nothing…”

From here, we see that a person comes to the study hall with aspirations of learning so well. Aspirations not to make any mistakes in his learning, and even to become a posek halacha, an authority in Jewish law. However, when one leaves , he is to thank Hashem for meriting just sitting in the study hall. Even if he was not successful in learning anything at all. One is lucky to just sit there. Because something deep down changes. Something deep down clicks. It might not be right away. It might be only a day later. A week later. A year later. But, it will happen.

THE MONTH OF “FATHER”

Two and a half years ago, newspaper headlines reported the tragic death of David Cohen  and his wife, of blessed memory, in a fatal accident, including several other members of the family. A year and a half later, his son-in-law, Michael Levy, came to Jerusalem for a Torah study break. He joined his brother, a Torah scholar, at the largest yeshivah in the world, Yeshivat Mir. After a week of intensive study together with Talmudic scholars of the highest caliber, Michael was asked to share his thoughts with the group on the national mourning period known as the “Three Weeks,” as well as sharing some impressions of his late father-in-law.

Among other things, he noted that the month of Av is the only month in the Jewish calendar with a meaning in the Hebrew language: Av means father. Why, he asked, is the month in which we mark the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple called father?

Before answering his own provocative question, Michael turned to his family tragedy, and how they are trying to deal with the enormous loss:

Not long ago, I found my orphaned 16 year-old sister-in-law crying about her difficulties in school and with friends, among other worries. Her tears were connected with everything a normal girl her age cries about. I could not hold back my own tears as I tried to put things in perspective for her: “You are probably expecting a different answer to each one of your questions, since they are essentially unrelated. But, in a sense, there is actually a single answer to all you questions. The difficulties that you are going through are experienced by many girls your age, and they usually deal with them successfully by turning to their mother or father for encouragement and advice. Without a father and mother, however, so many things are harder for a teenager.” Parents are the solution that my sister-in-law needs, but no-one can supply that solution.

Throughout Jewish history, our nation has suffered many losses during the period between the two fasts which mark the beginning and end of the “Three Weeks.” And we continue to cry for each loss. Like Michael Levy’s sister-in-law, we might be tempted to look for a separate answer or explanation for each tragedy, both personal and national. We look for someone to cry to – not knowing how to deal with the hardships. But the truth is that there is really a single answer to all our questions: אב /Father. We have a Father in Heaven, and He wants us to come to Him for support. He wants us to realize that we don’t have a series of individual problems, but rather one big problem – our distance from Him. This should be our focus during these days: to recognize how we have compromised our relationship with our Father in Heaven, and to do everything in our power to strengthen it.

WE ARE WHAT WE SAY

 Moshe Rabbenu made a rare display of anger when he was approached by the tribes that wished to settle on the east side of the Jordan River – Gad, Reuven and half of Menashe. He shot back with the rhetorical question: “Your brothers will go out to war while you settle here?”  The spokesmen for the tribes responded that they definitely were not thinking of dodging their military responsibilities to their brethren, and would join the war effort to conquer Canaan. They noted, though, that they first wanted to make arrangements for their families and possessions: “We will build enclosures for our flock here on this side of the river as well as towns for our children .” When Moshe acceded to their request, however, he made a significant reversal in the stages of the plan they had suggested: “…build towns for your children and enclosures for your flock.” This reversal was no accident!

What someone mentions first in a series is usually of greater value and importance to him or her. In making their request, the spokesmen for the tribes first mentioned how and where they would place their source of sustenance – their flocks – and only then did they indicate how they would ensure their children’s safety. Moshe reprimanded them about this indirectly by first mentioning the placement of the children and then the safeguarding of the flocks.

And what about us?  People can invest so much time, thought, and money in their investments. But for some reason, their children – their best investment in the future – often take second place. Children need their parents’ time, interest, and thought. Of course, they also need money. But money given to meet children’s needs can never be a substitute for their fundamental need for parental time and thought. Would anybody dispense with putting time and thought into an investment, and just throw money into it?!

It is the naive parent who convinces himself that the child does not know about his or her priorities. The subconscious of a child even picks up subtleties like the order used by the parent in mentioning life values.  And, of course, spouses can sniff these things out on each other as well.

Moshe helped the two and a half tribes prioritize by re-arranging their “list.” If we can learn from Moshe, and take care about organizing our priorities before mentioning them to others, we will be better parents, spouses, and – generally speaking – better people.

. DECISIONS OF A WOODCHOPPER

It seems that exile to the city of refuge serves to atone for unintentional sin. But, we might ask, why does the unintentional killer need atonement in the first place?  What was his crime?  He may not have been 100% careful about securing the blade of his axe; he may have failed to notice a bystander in an empty forest, and – accidentally – the bystander was killed.

But the Torah requires us to take full responsibility for our actions. What we do and where we are – even unintentionally – everything results from innumerable unconscious decisions we make every day.

Have you ever asked yourself how many decisions you make consciously and unconsciously in an hour? Just to drive home the point, here are some of the decisions that you are making right now: Whether to finish reading this article now or to push it off till later. Whether to skim, or read it slowly and intensely. Indeed, it is your decision to find this article interesting or not. You, alone, decide if you agree with the ideas presented here, and if you want to remember and apply them.

Every conscious decision we make can affect future decisions – especially subconscious ones. Decisions made in the present “program” us, in a sense, to make similar decisions automatically in the future. The less conscious we are of present decisions, the greater the likelihood that our “automatic pilot” will keep us on the same old course, without considering if there isn’t a better way of doing things. This applies to the indecisive as well. Many people feel that they procrastinate in decision-making, labeling themselves “indecisive.” Remaining indecisive is, to a large extent, their own decision.  They could learn to research faster and plan better.

Considering the woodchopper in this light, we can better appreciate that having an axe blade not securely attached is a “decision” to ignore caution. (Incidentally, the person chose, for his livelihood, a job where accidents are likely to happen.)  But since he did not kill with conscious intent, the Torah does not punish him with death. Rather, this man is confined to the city of refuge where it is illegal to own any potentially lethal tools or utensils. His freedom of decision to act carefully has, for this period, been revoked, guaranteeing that he will not commit another such mistake during his stay.