Divar Torah from Rabbi Guy Dvir - Shavuot 5769

Naaseh Ve’Nishma

There is a famous question regarding the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people. Traditionally we were taught that the manner in which Jews accepted the Torah on Mount Sinai was completely willful, as the Torah states, "We shall do then we shall hear" (Exodus 23, 8). The Jews declared their utmost commitment to do and obey whatever God would command, even before the commandments were issued. This declaration has remained for all time the anthem of Israel's faith in God, and devotion to His word. By virtue of this total devotion, Jews were likened to angels, for they too, are totally submissive to God. On the other hand, the Rabbi's have taught in the Gemera Shabbat 86a something quite different; "They stood at the foot of the mountain, Rav Avdimi bar Chama bar Chasa said: this teaches that the holy one, Blessed is He, covered them with the mountain as though it were an upturned dome, and said to them, "If you accept the Torah fine, but if not, your burial will be there!" Based on this teaching it seems that the Jews were coerced into accepting the Torah against their will. The Jews were given two options; either accept the Torah or this is your end. How does this reconcile with the famous act of "We shall do then we shall hear"? What happened to the selfless devotion which the Jews were highly praised for? At first glance it looks like these two teachings totally contradict one another, however the Midrash Tanhuma resolves the apparent contradiction by saying that both opinions are true. The Jews did in fact accept the Torah whole hearted when they declared "Naaseh Ve’Nishma" (we shall do then we shall hear). But when it came to accepting the oral Torah however, the Jews were not so eager to commit. Rather, God had to coerce them into accepting it by use of force. In fact, it was only on Purim that the Jews happily accepted the Oral Torah. The obvious question then is why were the Jews interested in accepting the written Torah but at the same time were unwilling to receive the oral Torah? What is the difference between the two Torot. The answer to this question lies in understanding the nature and essence of the oral Torah. Expressed in the Musar books is the idea that the foundation of the oral Torah is the toil and effort of Torah study. The oral Torah requires one's utmost devotion and dedication to the studying and remembering the vast amount of knowledge that is contained in it. Without the study of the oral Torah, the written Torah is meaningless, since the understanding of each and every law is essentially oral. Hence, the survival and growth of the written Torah depends solely on the hard toil and extreme self sacrifice in studying the oral Torah. It is precisely for this reason that God created oral Torah, since He wanted the Jews to earn the Torah by means of hard toil. God didn't just give us the Torah as a book of laws that we put on the bookshelf for display, He wanted to make the Torah something that could be acquired only through hard toil and extreme self sacrifice. It is this level of extreme self sacrifice which the Jews were reluctant to accept during Shavuot. The Jews were very comfortable with the idea of accepting the written Torah, since all it is essentially is a book of laws. However, the idea of being responsible to uphold the oral Torah was another story, since that would require a much stronger commitment. God therefore had to impose the Oral Torah on them in order for them to accept it.

Divar Torah from Rabbi Guy Dvir - Parashat Bamidbar

A Free Invesment

Dear Friends,In a bad economy such as the current one, it is good to know that there are still some great investments for the future. In fact, there is one investment that is guaranteed to yield a high profit even if the entire market fails. This stock costs absolutely nothing. We Jews like these types of investments, low risk and high return. This is why we Jews accepted the Torah, since it was absolutely free. This week we begin the fourth book called Sefer Bamidbar. The Midrash asks an interesting question. Why did God choose to give the Torah in a dessert of all places? There could have been many better alternatives than to give the Torah in such a desolate area. The Midrsah answers that by Giving the Torah in the dessert, God wanted to teach the Jews an eternal lesson about the nature of Torah. Just as the dessert is a completely public domain which is free for anyone who wishes to dwell in it, so too the Torah is available to anyone who wishes to acquire it. The Hazon Ish wrote that the more something is a necessary element for survival God makes it more available. For example, oxygen is something we can't live without for more than a few seconds. God therefore made oxygen so abundant that we have an unlimited supply of it for free. And don't forget water which is also an essential element for survival. It too is relatively easy to obtain due to its huge supply. In contrast, Gold and diamonds are rare commodities which humans don't need for basic survival. This makes their cost very high compared to other things. Following this line of reasoning, Torah is made available for anyone seeking it, since it is a vital element for spiritual life. A person may have a lot of money or other types of assets, but without Torah life is empty and void of any meaning. For this reason God chose the dessert as the ideal place for the giving of the Torah. The Jew should always remember that Torah belongs to him no less than it belongs to the Rabbis; however, it is incumbent on the Jew to pursue the Torah and not wait for it to come to him. Shabbat Shalom.

Divar Torah from Rabbi Guy Dvir - Parashat Behar - Bechukotai

An Important Lesson in Emunah

Dear Friends, In this week's parashat Behar, the Torah commands us to observe the mitsvah of Shemitta (Sabbatical year) in the land of Israel. The commandment of the Sabbatical Year is a requirement not to cultivate or work the land for an entire year every seventh year. The Shemitta to the land of Israel is likened to the Shabbat for the Jewish people. In both cases there is an element of testimony to God's creation of the universe in six days and His resting on the seventh. In observing the commandment of the Shemitta, the Jew displays his unrelenting belief that everything is in God's hands. The Torah however recognizes that people may wonder about where the food will come from. As stated in the Torah; "If you will say; what will we eat in the seventh year? - Behold we will not sow and not gather in our crops!" God's response is; "I will ordain my blessing for you in the sixth year and it will yield a crop sufficient for the three-year period" (Leviticus 25). The Torah promises a special blessing to those who observe this difficult mitsvah. Here is a real story, taken from a letter written by Rav Mendelson of Moshav-Komemiut, which illustrates the blessing of those who observe the Shemitta. "After the shemita year of 1953, we had no wheat to plant, since we were unwilling to plant those which grew during the seventh year. We were barely able to obtain wheat from the sixth year, but these ones were rotten and unfit to plant in the ground. We nevertheless used the wheat from the six year and trusted that God will help us. The neighboring settlements ridiculed us for using the spoiled wheat, and warned us that we would incur a huge loss. During that year no rain fell in the beginning of the winter. As a result, those who plowed the land at the end of the seventh year and planted immediately afterwards ended up damaging their seeds in the dry land. However, we didn't plow during the seventh year but only did so during the following winter after the seventh year. Amazingly just as we finished plowing the rain started to fall. We were miraculously successful in producing a big amount of crop that year with the rotten wheat, while our neighbors ended up not producing anything". The mitsvah of Shemitta is designed to teach us an important lesson in emunah. Sometimes doing what is contrary to one's own "success" is necessary in order to get close to God. Sometimes going beyond the natural order is what is required to show true belief in God. Only when a person is able abandon the natural path and put themselves in God's hand can they be considered true believers. This is what the Torah expects from every Jew, to show in action the belief that our lives and success is ultimately only in God's hands.

Shabbat Shalom

Meorei Hamizrach - Rabbi Ben Zion Abba Shaul

Our Great Sephardic Rabbis by: Ike Sultan

Rabbi Ben Zion Abba Shaul (1924 -1998) was one of the leading Sephardic Torah scholars, a halakhic authority of his day, and the rosh yeshiva of Porat Yosef Yeshiva in Jerusalem for the last 15 years of his life. Rabbi Ben Zion was born in Jerusalem and was the eldest boy in a family of sixteen children. Despite their poverty, his parents were committed to raising a family of Torah scholars. At the age of 11, Ben Zion entered Porat Yosef, the and his classmates included the future Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef. Rabbi Ben Zion was responsible for a religious revival among Sephardic Jews with his founding of "Maayan Hachinuch HaTorani", a network of Torah schools for Sephardic children in Israel, and was widely known for his ability to give blessings that were fulfilled.

Story 1: Rabbi Ben Zion gave advice on family matters and his approach was innovative and invigorating. A father whose son had left yeshiva told Rabbi Ben Zion, "My son's a good-for-nothing. He not only roams the streets, but he has even asked me to buy him a motorcycle." "Then buy him one!" replied Rabbi Ben Zion. Though surprised by Rabbi Ben Zion's advice, the father decided to follow through and bought his son a motorcycle. When the young man saw that his father was reaching out to him, he reacted in kind and eventually returned to yeshiva.

Story 2: A newcomer to Torah once feared that the mitzvos would be too
burdensome for him. Rabbi Ben Zion encouraged him, saying: "There's no reason to feel pressured. Every morning, volunteer to serve Hashem. Don't obligate yourself, but volunteer. Volunteer to put on tefillin. It's not so hard. Here, let me show you how. Volunteer to pray, adding on more and more prayers each day. It's a privilege to serve as a volunteer in Hashem's corps."

Meorei Hamizrach - Rav Yisrael Abuchatzeira

Our Great Sephardic Rabbis by: Ike Sultan

Rav Yisrael Abuchatzeira, the great Moroccan tzaddik, was commonly known as the Baba Sali, or "Praying Father," because of his ability to work miracles with his prayers. His potential for greatness was recognized by his father, who encouraged him in his studies and, realizing that his son would be given the ability to have his blessings fulfilled, instilled in him the characteristic of Shemirat HaLashon, guarding one’s speech to an exceptional degree, as well as Shemirat HaEynayim, ("guarding one’s eyes"), to avoid witnessing unholy behavior. Rabbi Israel was married at the age of sixteen to Precha Amsalem, who served as a worthy soul-mate throughout their long marriage. Rabbi Israel was one of the leaders of the Aliyah of Moroccan Jewry to Israel, which saw the transfer of nearly the entire population of that community to the Holy Land. Baba Sali settled in Netivot, adjacent to the Yeshivat HaNegev. Because of his great influence, the Negev began to blossom spiritually, and thousands of Jews returned to their religious roots in Torah Judaism. Although he regularly gave many lectures in Torah and kabbala, he did not permit his students to write them down because he wanted his scholarship to remain unknown.The influence of this great Tzadik ("righteous person") extended far beyond Netivot, the Moroccan Jewish community and Israel and he became a cherished leader of the Jewish community, worldwide.

The young man arrived at Rav Yisrael's home in Netivot in a wheelchair. He told Rav Yisrael his story: "I was injured by a bullet in my back during the Yom Kippur War. Although I underwent a series of operations, I am still a cripple and can't stand up. One of my legs is so bad that the doctors want to amputate it. A friend suggested that I visit the Rav, who is supposed to work wonders with his prayers. At first I refused. But in my despair, I decided to give it a try.""Do you put on tefillin every day?" Rav Yisrael asked."No.""Do you keep Shabbos?""No.""If such is the case, " Rav Yisrael replied, "you should be thankful that only one leg is in such a serious condition. We believe that Hashem gives us healthy limbs so that we may serve Him. Those who don't keep the mitzvos should regard their healthy limbs as gifts." At that, the young man burst into tears. Rav Yisrael looked him the eye and asked, "If I bless you that you will be able to stand, will you begin to observe the mitzvos?" "Yes," the young man eagerly replied. "Then give me your hand, and may you have a refua sheleima." After the young man kissed Rav Yisrael's hand, Rebbetzin Abuchatzeira toldhim to try and stand up. To his surprise, he was able to stand up immediately, and even take a number of steps without assistance.

Divar from Rabbi Guy Dvir - Lag BaOmer

Dear Friends, next week we celebrate the 33rd day of the Omer, which is know as Lag BaOmer. Why is this day significant ? This is the day in which the great Tanna (Mishnaic sage) Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai, who authored the kabalistic book of the Zohar, passed away. Rabbi Shimon was a great sage who lived during the Roman conquest of Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. He was one of Rabbi Akiva's five students who -- despite terrible persecutions -- ensured that the Torah would not be forgotten.
The Talmud (Shabbat 33b) describes a seminal event in the life of Rabbi Shimon:

When the Romans outlawed the study of Torah, Rabbi Shimon spoke out against them. The Romans thus pronounced a death sentence against Rabbi Shimon, whowas forced to go into hiding. Rabbi Shimon and his son Elazar fled to a cave in
the northern region of Israel. They had no means of subsistence, but a miracle occurred and a carob tree sprouted in the cave, along with a stream of water. Rabbi Shimon and his son had no change of clothes. In order to preserve their clothes from wearing out, they each dug a deep hole, removed their clothes and buried themselves neck-deep in the sand. (Out of modesty, they wanted to be covered.) They would spend the entire day immersed in Torah study. When the time for prayer arrived, they would put on their clothes, pray -- and then return to the sand. Rabbi Shimon and his son remained in the cave for 12 years, involved in nothing but the study of Torah. One day, Elijah the prophet came to the cave and announced that the Caesar had died, and the decree against Rabbi Shimon was lifted. Rabbi Shimon and his son ventured out of the cave. They saw some farmers working in the field. Rabbi Shimon was shocked that his fellow Jews were not continuously occupied in Torah study. "How could anyone forsake eternal life by indulging in mundane, worldly pursuits?" he said. Rabbi Shimon then cast his gaze upon the farmers -- and they were immediately vaporized, due to the power of Rabbi Shimon's spiritual stature.
At that point, a voice from heaven proclaimed: "My world is not to be destroyed! Return to your cave!"
Rabbi Shimon and his son returned to the cave, in order to learn better how to control their spiritual powers. At the end of one year, a voice from heaven announced: "Emerge from your cave!" Rabbi Shimon and his son emerged, and again encountered people involved in mundane, worldly pursuits. It was Friday afternoon, and they saw a man running with two bundles of myrtle blossoms. "Where are you going with these flowers?" they asked him. "They are in honor of Shabbat," said the man. "But why do you have two bundles?" they asked. "One is for 'zachor,' and one is for 'shamor,' " he said, referring to the two aspects of Shabbat observance mentioned in the Ten Commandments. At which point Rabbi Shimon turned to his son and said, "Now I see the power of a Jew and his mitzvot" -- Shabbat is a day within the physical world which bridges the gap to the transcendent dimension. On Shabbat, even the most physical pursuits -- whether a delicious meal or an afternoon nap -- carries with it a special degree of holiness.

The custom of Bondfires

One of the most widely practiced custom of Lag baOmer is to light bondfires. In the holy land you can see young children collecting fire wood for Lag BaOmer weeks in advance. By the time Lag BaOmer arrives there is an impressive amount of wood for each bondfire to fill an entire Manhattan apartment. Some would consider letting kids get involved in making a bondfire as irresponsible or dangerous. But in Isael it has become as natural as anything else. The reason for this customs is that it commemorates rabbi Shimon's great inner fire and desire for the Torah study. Just as rabbi Shimon sacrificed his life to keep the flame of the Torah burning, so too we continue his legacy to maintain our eternal connection to the Torah.

May we all continue to proudly carry the torch of the Torah and shine its
light to the entire world, Amen!

Divar Torah from Rabbi Guy Dvir - Parashat Achrei Mot - Kedoshim

Love Your Fellow Like Yourself

Dear friends, Imagine you and a good friend are stranded somewhere in the dessert. The sun is scorching hot and you both become very thirsty. However, there is a problem; you have only one bottle of water to drink and it isn't enough for the both of you. What is the right thing to do in this situation? Is it to give the drink to your friend and die, or should you take it for yourself and let your friend die? The answer to this question, in the words of the great Rabbi Akiva, is "Your life comes first". When it comes to choosing between loving yourself and loving others, you must love yourself before others. However, this seems to contradict one of the most widely known Jewish dictums which appear in this week's Parasha. The Torah states "Love your fellow like yourself, I am Ha'Shem" (Vayikra 19). At first glance it appears the torah expects us to love others just as we love ourselves. This would imply that we must think about others before ourselves. However, the Ramban, (Rabbi Moshe Ben Nachman), explains that the obligation to love your fellow like yourself does not extend to placing others before you. Rather, the Torah means that a Jew should be happy for his friend's success as if it were his own. We must not feel jealous of our fellow Jew's good fortune, since we are all one people. A person cannot realistically be expected to love others to the same degree as he loves himself, but he can want the best for them.

A Life Lesson

It is truly difficult to really wish the best for others. Perhaps that is the reason why the Torah states the words "I am Ha'Shem", following this commandment. Since only one whose actions are motivated by a desire to fulfill the Almighty's will, can overcome the natural jealousy that exists between people. It is as if the Torah is telling us to do it not only for the other person, but for God himself.

Shabbat Shalom