Shelach

When I was last at the US Consulate in Tel Aviv, I was in line talking to an American Israeli.  He and I were COMPLETE opposites in every way in life.  Nice guy though, and despite our beliefs being polar opposites, we were able to have a nice conversation about the political/religious situation in Israel.  He said something that stuck with me, which was very insightful about Israeli society.  Israelis HATE actually solving problems.  They push it off as much as possible, hoping whatever it will be will somehow blow over.

And he's right.  It doesn't matter if you're right or left, religious or secular, things keep getting pushed off.  It could be things like the army draft, internal social issues, or minor things like a multi-front war which everybody knew was going to happen eventually.  There was no pre-made plan for "what if we need to invade Gaza."  There are several former commanders complaining that we're not ready for Lebanon.  Now, officials are saying, "if there is a war in the north, expect to be without electricity for at least 72 hours, since we're not prepared, so, if you can, you know... spend 100,000 NIS each on buying a solar panel farm for your house, so you're not dependent on us... that would be really peachy..." … umm … what have you guys been doing all this time?

Truly mind-blowing.  Yet the State of Israel proves once again that Hashem is watching over us, since our leaders clearly cannot.

Sigh.

"Nevertheless, as I (Hashem) live and as My Presence fills the whole world" (Bamidbar 14: 21).

One of my neighbors told me a nice little piece the other night.  Every morning we start off with saying "Modeh Ani": "I give thanks to You living and everlasting King for You have restored my soul with mercy. Great is Your faithfulness."

Commonly, we translate:

"Modeh Ani" - I give thanks

"Lefanecha," to you

"Melech Chi V'Kayam," "Living and Everlasting King."

He said that it could be read and translated, slightly differently:

"Modeh" – I acknowledge

"Ani Lefanecha" – I am before you

"Melech Chai V'Kayam" – "Living and Everlasting King."

In the second translation, we are acknowledging that we are always walking before Hashem, the living King.  Wherever He goes, wherever He wants us, we go with Him, for He is life itself.  And when we are not walking before Him, we are not really alive.

I don't know.  It just hit me that this corresponds to what we say in Tehillim (23:4) "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no harm, for You are with me."

There's a profound difference between one who does mitzvos in order "to make Hashem happy" and one whose life is always with Hashem.  The first is much easier to do, obviously.  He thanks Hashem for what he has been given and davens that it should continue, but his life is still not WITH Hashem.  It's an employer/employee relationship. However, when one changes his outlook in life and wishes a life WITH Hashem, then the entire relationship changes.  He is constantly (as much as he could be) walking with Hashem, KNOWING that He is there with him.

It's not a level which is easy to reach, granted.  But at least we should know that the two ways of reading "Modeh Ani" could refer to the two types of relationships we can have with Hashem in life.  And hopefully, we could someday (soon) reach the second, higher one.

With that, I wish you all an enjoyable and quiet Shabbos!

I'm so sad.  My eldest is going away with her best friend (who worked really hard on her English) to an undisclosed location outside the country for a month.  It's not that I will miss her or anything, it's just that she's the only child I have that is useful to me.  She cleans, she cooks, she helps with the youngest.  Yet, on the other hand, she stays up the latest, giving us little time to ourselves.  She speaks the best English, which negates my wife and my speaking in higher-level English so they don't understand. And she's my biggest competitor for leftovers in the fridge.

Mmmm ... toughie.

In this week's parsha, we have the famous story of the spies returning from Eretz Yisroel, reporting the dangers and hazards that the nation will face if and when they enter.  The nation believes them, and falls into a deep depression. With this complete lack of faith, despite everything that they've seen with their eyes, Hashem punishes them and announces that only their children will enter Eretz Yisroel, while they will die in the desert.

The next morning, a group got up and said, "Okay! We did tshuva!  We're sorry!  We're ready to go!" and Moshe warns them not to go, since Hashem will no longer support them.  If they will go, they will be destroyed.  So, they went anyway, and were destroyed.

We see that in this case, their teshuva was not to be considered complete, until they died.  At that point, their sin would be cleansed from their souls, but until then, they would remain blemished.

From here, we see a very disturbing fact.

Hashem could set a person up for a wonderful life.  However, a person's actions have an affect on his reality.  If he sins, and he continues without complete teshuvah, his entire life situation could be changed.  At first, he might have been worthy to receive A, B, and C.  However, he is now a different person.  He has something foreign dug into his soul.  So he's no longer worthy of A, B, and C.  Perhaps, now he's worthy of B, C, and D.  But if he continues to sin?  Perhaps, he won't even be worthy of that!

Before the episodes with the spies, the nation was worthy of entering Eretz Yisroel.  However, this particular sin hit their souls in a very sensitive spot, and now, they are no longer the same nation, spiritually speaking.  They are no longer worthy of having Divine help in conquering the land.

Who knows how many brachos we have actively pushed away, without knowing it, because of a lack of teshuva in life?

Something to ponder as we enter the month of Tamuz.

I received a call from a good friend of mine on erev Shabbos.  Just a friendly call to catch up on things.  He told me an interesting story which relates to this week's parsha.

My friend learns in the morning and works as a sofer writing parshios for tefillin in the afternoon (in fact, he even wrote my son's, and I was told by somebody who saw them that they are excellent). However, due to several things that happened to him at once, he ended up falling behind on his work.  So, for a certain amount of time, he had to skip his daily morning learning schedule to write all day in order to catch up with his orders.

One morning, when he went to daven, somebody who usually sits and learns near him asked him where he's been.  My friend explained the situation and why he hasn't been around too much.  This person, a very learned person, responded, "Why should you give up on your learning? Perhaps you should give a little extra tzedakah and daven that Hashem gives you extra 'power' to be able to accomplish twice as much in the same amount of time."

When I heard this, my first "question" was: Does this person support himself or does somebody else?  Obviously, the question does not need to be asked.

When my friend spoke to his rav about this, his rav responded, "Make sure you get to write the parshios for his son's tefillin when he becomes bar mitzvah, and when he complains that you're late and the bar mitzvah is coming up soon, you can reply, 'I'm giving tzedakah as fast as I can!'"

Not surprisingly, his rav said that my friend was right.  He took upon himself an obligation to write tefillin by a certain date and he must fulfil that obligation.

In this week's parsha, we see two forms of emunah (faith).  One is real emunah and one is fake emunah.  When the spies returned from their travels in Eretz Yisroel, they and the entire nation, despite all the dangers which they think they will encounter when they enter the land, needed to have emunah that Hashem will fulfill His promise that He will take care of any dangers.  Why?  Because Hashem said he would.  In this, they failed.

As a punishment, none of that generation would enter Eretz Yisroel (with few exceptions).

The next day, a group woke up, said, "We did tshuvah!  We understand that we made a mistake!  We'll go now and conquer the land!"  To which Moshe replied, "Don't do it, Hashem is not with you!  You'll only end up getting yourselves killed!"

To which they got up, made an attack, and got themselves killed.

For a person to have real emunah, the emunah has to be based on SOMETHING.  If Hashem makes a promise, we can, and should, have emunah that He will fulfill it.  When Hashem doesn't make a promise, then there is no real emunah.

We see this with all the "Moshiach talk" that goes on.  Hashem made a promise that He will send Moshiach at the right time.  Therefore, we must have emunah that Hashem will send Moshiach at the right time.  He did NOT promise that He will send Moshiach at a certain time or before or after a certain event that we clearly know of.  Hence, any "emunah" that Moshiach is coming because of this or that event, is simply … not emunah.

Similarly, there is a lot of "Emunah talk," which encourages people to sit back and "have emunah."  Sometimes, a person has no choice but to sit back.  But often, he must do his full amount of hishtadlus to make something he needs happen.  A person who decides to put all his money in some random stock and have emunah that Hashem will take care of him is not called a person with emunah.  He is called an idiot.  A person who has trouble with a child and refuses to seek advice or seek help for the child and instead simply davens, is not called a person with emunah … perhaps "murderer" is a more proper title.

A person who researches or even pays a competent person to research for him, where to place his money, can afterwards have emunah that Hashem will take care of him.  And if he loses money, he's still not called an idiot, because he did whatever he could do.  Hashem will still take care of him, perhaps though, not through the stock market.

With my friend, the situation is no different.  According to the Torah, he took an obligation to accomplish a certain task by a certain time, and get paid for it.  There is no promise from Hashem that if he davens for it and gives tzedakah and not do his best to fulfill his obligation, that Hashem will give him magical powers.  Therefore, this individual is wrong: there is no basis for emunah.

Emunah is a very touchy subject.  And there is no "one size fits all" formula for everybody.  For one person, something might be called emunah, while for another, it might not be.  But one should be very careful to know at least if there is a basis to have emunah.  After deciding that there is or is not, one can move in the appropriate manner.

Have a wonderful Shabbos!

My six-year-old son has a … close relationship with one of my friends.  They’re always starting up with each other when they are together, to the point that I honestly don’t know who’s starting what.

Yesterday, after picking him up from his pre-school, my wife was walking down the street and my friend called over my son to give him something.  My son ran up to him and started to kick him.  My wife yelled at him to stop, for obvious reasons.  He turned to his mother with a shocked look and said, “But Mommy… he’s my FRIEND!”  That’s what six-year-old boys do to show their friendship.  Why my wife couldn’t see that… I have no idea…. Women….

After a miraculous escape from Egypt and after witnessing the utter destruction of Egypt's army at the Red Sea, the Jewish nation received the Torah and spent a year or so in the desert, cut off from the world and being supported by miraculous deeds.  While there were some troubling times, in the end, the Nation was poised ready to enter Eretz Yisroel.  With it's entrance, the Jewish people would have, under Moshe's leadership, conquered the land, and elevated the entire nation to levels which it never experienced.

Shortly before entering, the people wished to send out spies to tour the land and to seek it's strengths and weaknesses.  This idea was supported by Hashem, since it is a proper course of action for any military conquest to gather intelligence before planning the attack.  After all, while we rely on Hashem, we are still obligated to do our part.

In the end, the spies returned worried about what they saw.  It was clear to them that this could very well be a military blunder that could destroy the nation.  The nation in turn, begin to believe their reports, and it went downhill from there.

It's interesting to note what was going to be and what happened in the end.  Hashem was about to fulfill His centuries-old promise to Avraham to bring his children "home".  This, from my understanding, would be the Messianic era.  Everything would have been complete.  The centuries of exiles, pogroms, holocausts, etc… would not have occurred.  The Beis HaMikdash would have been built, and our mission would have been accomplished.

The nation itself was ready to fulfill that.  They wanted to fulfill that.  However, "reality" got in the way.  They began to have their doubts, despite all that they personally have witnessed.  And because of that, look at the opportunity that was lost.

There is a big lesson we must always remember.  Hashem is looking out for our best.  He wants us to succeed, both as a nation and as individuals.  He wants each and every person to grow, and when they grow, they 'enable' Hashem to give more.  However, when we forget this, we begin to believe that the world around us controls us, Hashem falls to the wayside, and we believe that we are on our own.

Many of us have had times where our Emunah was high.  We had periods of life where we were constantly seeing Hashem's hand in things.  We thought to ourselves, "I can continue like this, this is not so bad…", but then something occurs, or even if something didn't yet occur, we know that there might be "troublesome" times ahead.  And what do we do?  We begin to worry, then we begin to panic.  Then, in the end, where is Hashem?

It's similar to a person who has experienced years of steady work.  They have enough money, plus a little more, and are relatively comfortable.  They thank Hashem everyday for their income and truly believe it comes from Him.  Then one day, they receive word that they have only a month left until the company is closing down.  The person is shocked.  They don't know what to do.  They begin to search frantically for other jobs, speaking to whomever they can.  The begin to worry all day and night.  And it gets worse and worse as the thirty day limit approaches.

And this is a normal reaction.

However, as hard as it is, it's not supposed to be our reaction.   Yes, we are supposed to go out and look for work.  That's what Hashem wants.  However, what is our attitude?  Is it the same as we had when things were good?  Are we able to maintain the same learning schedule that we did when things were good?  Did we maintain the same level of peace in the home as we did when things were good?  Did we speak to people with the same calmness as we did when things were good?

This is what the Jewish people experienced and where they failed.

It's a lifetime of work, but it's something that everybody is obligated to work on.  Hashem has a plan and wishes to give us what is best for us.  But truly embracing that notion even through difficult times, we will in the end receive what is best for us.  However, if we fail, and lose sight of Who's running the world, we can lose it all.

Have a wonderful Shabbos!

When I lived in America, I was well aware of the systemic racism that has flowered in American culture.  It’s something that people would simply try to hide under the carpet or simply yell you down if you dared admit to such a thing.  More than 150 years after slavery and many decades of hard-fought battles by the civil rights movement, I knew and saw firsthand how racism was alive and well.

For example, when I was in the University of Illinois (Chicago) from 1996-2000, shortly before the beginning of the semester, each student needed to sign up for the courses and time slot that they wished to make.  Naturally, those who were in sports, got to pick first, so they can schedule their classes around practice and games.  Then the “minorities” (who might have been the majority on campus) were allowed, and finally the white students were allowed to pick.  A state-funded school practicing racism.

Also, the school was located on the west side of Chicago.  And I knew that if I went into the wrong neighborhood, I would be practically inviting some criminal, simply because I was white.  I knew, if I were to be walking down the streets, the police would be watching me a little more carefully, wondering what a “white boy” was doing there.  Same thing a few years later, when I was working further in on the west side.

Now, fast forward 20 years or so, and I receive an email from a company that does the billing for the company I work for.  In it, the author claims that whites are racist, even if we don’t know it.  And not only that, all black-owned businesses will receive a discount for the next year, simply because they are black.  So, if a black man who went to the same school as I, and had all the same opportunities, owns a business, he will get a discount, because of their skin color.

And what caused all this (besides decades of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton)?  One crooked cop who killed one crooked man.  The crooked man, with a history of violence, is now a saint, because he is black.  The crooked cop (who is/was married to an Asian woman) is called a racist, simply because he’s white.

So now, you are automatically a racist for having the wrong skin color.

I really thought America would move on from racism, but I see that I was wrong.

Okay, on to more important things.

“They arose early in the morning and ascended to the mountain top, saying, ‘We are ready to go up to the place of which the Lord spoke, for we have sinned.’ Moses said, ‘Why do you transgress the word of the Lord? It will not succeed. Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, [so that] you will not be beaten by your enemies.  For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you will fall by the sword. For you have turned away from the Lord, and the Lord will not be with you’” (Bamidbar 14:40-43).

Rav Shimshon Pinkus was once speaking of depression and the dangers to which it could lead a person.  He begged that a person who was suffering from some temporary depression (being a normal depression, not a long-term medical issue)should not do anything.  Being, that if you can’t learn gemara, learn mishnayos.  If you can’t learn mishnayos, learn chumash.  If you can’t learn chumash, say Tehillim.  And if you can’t say Tehillim, don’t do anything!  Go to sleep!  Count the holes in the ceiling!  But don’t go out and do something that will temporarily ease your pain and hurt your soul at the same time.  Just sleep it off, but don’t hurt yourself spiritually.

This rule is true regarding depression or anger or any other strong emotion that a person feels.  Don’t act on anything yet.  Sleep on it, think about it.  Let the emotions wear off before you do anything.

When the nation believed the negative report they received regarding Eretz Yisroel, they fell into a depression.  They did not believe in Hashem, and they were punished for it.  The next day, some had their "emotional high" and decided that they were, afterall, ready to enter, with or without Hashem’s approval.  And for that, they were all killed.

Perhaps, had they taken a bit more time before acting off of their emotional ups and downs, they would not have made the same mistakes that they did.

How many times could we have used that lesson over our lives?  For me?  Countless.

Have a great Shabbos!

I was talking to my rav on the phone the other day.  One of my questions triggered a memory he had of forty years ago, when he was a teenager in yeshivah.  He was amazed that this is the first time that he remembered it.  

He told me that in the yeshiva he had a friend from out of town, we’ll call him Shlomo,  who would always have to find himself places for Shabbos.  Shlomo had one particular friend who he enjoyed going to.  It turns out that this friend had a sister who was slightly younger than Shlomo, who would often be there.  Well, needless to say, a small relationship just happened to develop between them, nothing bad, just letter-writing.  Of course, the yeshivah did not know about this, and he most certainly did not WANT the yeshivah to know about this.  However, Shlomo had one small problem: my rav.  Because my rav was the only one in the yeshivah who knew about this clandestine relationship, he wanted "hush money" to keep quiet.  So, every two months, this girl would bake and send a cake to my rav, who in turn, kept his mouth shut.  And, thank G-d, in the end, (they both) got married and lived happily ever after.

The only question I forgot to ask my rav was: Did he REALLY threaten him, or was he really just joking, and enjoyed the free cake?

This week’s parsha begins with the story of the spies who were sent to spy out Eretz Yisroel, shortly before its conquest.  As we know, they came back, and ten out of twelve members of the scouting party gave a negative report.  Yehoshua and Calev both wrote the “dissenting opinion,” and actively encouraged the nation to continue to have faith in Hashem’s promise.  They were not listened to, and plague occurred as a punishment, along with 40 years in the desert for each of the 40 days of the expedition.  The next day, a group stood up and said, “We’re ready to conquer Eretz Yisroel!  We DO believe in Hashem!” Moshe warns them off, they attack nonetheless, and in the end, are all killed.

To me, this seems to be an interesting way of learning some of the rules of having emunah (faith) in Hashem.  A person is obligated to have faith in Hashem’s promises, that they will be fulfilled, whether soon or later.  Of course, we do not take the “blind-faith” method, which other religions believe in.  We do believe in asking questions and searching for truth.  We do have a solid tradition that ultimately rests on around 2 million people having experienced the exact same experience over 3300 years ago (something, I do not believe anybody else can claim).  And we do encourage people to continue to work on their emunah in different ways.

However, emunah can be a tricky thing.  On one hand, if one does not act in accordance to the level of emunah they are on, they can lose everything.  The result of the spies’ report is such an example.  Obviously, they were on a level where they could have entered Eretz Yisroel and easily conquered it.  In this regard, their actions did not meet the standards of their potential, and they forever lost their opportunity.

On the other hand, we see that when people act in a way which is greater than their level of emunah, like in the case of the Jews who suddenly “believed” the next day and wish to attack, then they can lose everything as well.

When I went to my Rosh Yeshiva about my beginning to work, we spoke about different ideas, and he made mention of what the Rambam wrote in regard to Hashem’s promise to take care of those who dedicate their lives fully to learning.  I told him straight-out, “I’m not holding there," and without skipping a beat, he threw that option out the window, and said, “Good!  Then you’ll work at nights and continue to learn during the day!”  That was thirteen years ago, and I’m grateful for that advice.

In the end, people should always try their best to be honest with themselves and know where they are holding.  People must know what level of emunah they are truly holding at in many different areas in life, and then act accordingly. 

I feel very sorry for the Chief Rabbinate.  They take the brunt of abuse for problems they never created.

Take conversions for an example.  The Israeli government had a choice when making the Law of Return, on whom to follow regarding the question, “Who is a Jew?”  They could have followed the more lenient opinion of Adolf Hitler, where anybody who has anything to do with a Jew is considered a Jew, or follow that of the Torah, if a person’s mother is Jewish or they have a legitimate conversion, they are considered a Jew.  Naturally, they decided to follow the more “lenient” opinion.

So, as a result, a whole slew of non-Jews came, mainly from Russia, to Israel.  Of course, these people integrated into society (at least their children did), and they want to get married, etc.  Now, since the Chief Rabbinate follows the Torah’s view, they are coming under attack from the left, for not “dealing with this problem that they created,” because they are taking the more “stringent” approach.  If they would only, and “simply,” be more innovative in their approach to halachah, all will be well!  This is just one example of many.  In fact, thinking about it, it’s somewhat applicable to all frum Jews.  People decide to change norms and halachah that go against the Torah, and then, when it’s not accepted by the religious world, it’s the fault of the religious for being so close-minded. 

It’s amazing how these things work . . .

“Calev tried to quiet the people for Moshe, ‘We must go forth and occupy the land,’ he said. ‘We can do it!’ . . . They began to speak badly about the land that they had explored . . . . ‘All the men we saw there were huge!  While we were there, we saw the titans . . . we felt like tiny grasshoppers!’” (Bamidbar 13:30-33).

It’s known that a Jew’s potential can be fulfilled more in Eretz Yisroel than when he is in Chutz L’Aretz  (outside of Israel).  The same person, who pushes himself 100% in Chutz L’Aretz, will reach higher levels when he does the same in Eretz Yisroel.

Not only is this true whether he is physically in Israel or not, but it is also true in his mentality.  If a person, no matter where he is living, is a person who believes in himself and pushes himself, can be likened as an “Eretz Yisroel Jew,” while a person who does what he needs to and no more, can be likened as a “Chutz L’Aretz Jew.” 

Rav Asher Rubenstein was very big in pointing out that this parsha is not just speaking about one’s physical location, but also his mentality.

The Yetzer Horah loves to tell a person that he’s a nothing and cannot accomplish much. “Who are you, after all?  What do you think you can accomplish with yourself?  You’re a nothing!”

When the twelve spies toured the land, they all agreed on the physical situation in Eretz Yisroel.  However, they disagreed on one issue, “we felt like tiny grasshoppers!”  Yehoshua and Calev both understood that their enemies are well fortified, but they had received Hashem’s promise that all will go well, and that was that.  The other ten, however, felt that we were not up to such a monumental task.  And what was the result of such an attitude?  Forty additional years in the desert and the establishment of Tisha B’Av.

A person’s attitude can determine if he will be an “Eretz Yisroel Jew,” who pushes himself to the limit, or to be a “Chutz L’Aretz Jew,” where he does what can, and no more.  If a person listens to the “spies” within him, he will shirk from all opportunities to grow, but if he doesn’t listen, he can “enter Eretz Yisroel” and continue to grow to new heights.

Have a great Shabbos!

Michael Winner

All the parents received a letter from the boys’ school this week asking us to put pressure on the city council. Right next to the school is another school that is attended by, literally, no more than 30 teenagers, many of whom are bused in from outside of the city. It’s not a regular school, but a school for “misfits” (tattoos, strange haircuts, etc., etc.). They are in possession of several buildings, including one that has been lying completely empty. This particular building is practically on the grounds of the boys’ school.

Currently, the boys’ school is set up to hold 95 students. However, more than 200 are attending, and the numbers will continue to grow. There are four bathroom stalls, and a trailer for the second grade (that's where my son learns), with an air-conditioner that barely works.. For years, the school has been trying to get hold of this unused building so they can expand. Instead of doing so, the city has decided to use it for dance lessons in the afternoons. I remember something exactly like this happening in our neighborhood in Yerushaliyim several years ago. The Chareidi schools are busting out of the seams, and the secular ones are lying dormant. Yet, the government does what it can to keep it out of the hands of the chareidim.

A few years ago, when they were opening up a new yeshivah, a small group came out and took it to court to try to stop it from opening. Their legal grounds? It will change the makeup of the entire city (we’re a very small minority here), and everything will go down the drain from there. The court threw that argument out. The irony was, the head of the group was selling his apartment to move to another. Whom did he sell it to? An Arab.

Thankfully, for the most part, there is very little tension between the religious and non-religious here. Everybody behaves and minds their own business, since neither side wants any trouble. But sometimes it’s the people in power who can cause the biggest troubles and open the biggest rifts.

My Rosh Yeshivah once praised the government’s decision to cut funds to yeshivos: “Now, the learning we do will be considered more lishmah (for the sake of Heaven)!” So, I guess that’s what we have to pass on to our children when they see the very apparent differences in educational facilities that they have compared to their secular counterparts.

Okay, on to Torah!
“For he has reviled the word of Hashem” (Bamidbar 13:31)

The Gemara (Sanhedrin 99a) lists a number of people whom this verse applies to. One of them is the individual who has the opportunity to engage in Torah study but neglects to do so.

I just learned a Gemara yesterday (Shabbos 15a) which was going over a few of the more famous arguments between Hillel and Shammai. One of them dealt with an issue of purity/impurities. The Gemara stated, Hillel says this opinion, Shammai says this opinion, and the Rabbis say it was neither opinion, rather than a third opinion. Then the Gemara continues that the Rabbis held this position until “two weavers from the Dung Gates came and testified that (the Rabbis) Shmiya and Avitalyon ruled in this way, and the Rabbis immediately accepted their testimony and changed their opinion.”

Rashi brings in a Tosefta (Ediyos 1) which asks, why were the jobs and where they lived specifically mentioned? It then answers that being a weaver was considered to be a very lowly job and there was no lower place in Yerushaliyim to live than that of the Dung Gate. However, this did not give any them any "excuse" to stop learning in the beis medresh. THAT is why their livelihood and residency were mentioned. Despite those two things, they were still considered learned, and not only learned, but learned enough that their testimony was accepted by those who were greater than them in learning!

No excuses!

Have a great Shabbos!

Michael Winner

“The land that we crossed to explore is a land that consumes its inhabitants. All the men we saw there were huge!” (Bamidbar 13:32)

In this week’s parsha we have one of the most terrible episodes to have occurred to the Jewish nation. After their return from Eretz Yisroel, the spies spoke poorly of Eretz Yisroel and scared the nation into not wanting to enter. They explained that it “is a land that consumes its inhabitants.” The Hebrew word is “yoshveha” or literally, “those who sit on it.”

Eretz Yisroel has a powerful force. It can work to one's detriment, or it can slingshot people to unbelievable heights. When a person is in Eretz Yisroel and he is merely “sitting” on the ladder of growth, then the result is the land “consumes” him. He either does poorly or he is “spit out” and is forced to return to wherever he came from. However, if somebody is constantly “on the move” upwards, then the land could be turned into a giant, thus fulfilling the verse, “All the men we saw there were huge!”

Please note, I am NOT advocating aliyah. In fact, I’m strongly against people with children moving here, due to the terribly high rate of spiritual/emotional trauma that has plagued new olim and has caused tremendous amounts of pain. However, I’m simply pointing out the unbelievable power of Eretz Yisroel.

We all know that an embassy has the status of that particular country that owns the embassy. The United States Embassy in Tel Aviv has the legal status of the United States and not the State of Israel. The same is true in a person’s home. When a person comes from America and brings his “Americanisms” to his home in Eretz Yisroel, whether it be his television, his internet, his mentality, or any of his . . . sorry, but non-Torah things and attitudes, he is not living in Eretz Yisroel. Rather, he is living in his American Embassy located in Eretz Yisroel!

However, if a person is willing to forgo all of these things and work on himself as a Ben Torah, Eretz Yisroel will provide a proper springboard for him to soar to heights that he could never have done outside of Eretz Yisroel.

I should note for those who are not able to live here, Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, who lived up until the beginning of World War II, said that in his time the study halls of Torah had the status of a “branch” of Eretz Yisroel (similar to the embassy comparison mentioned above). So, if a person is outside of the physical borders of Eretz Yisroel, it is still possible to get a “taste” of Eretz Yisroel when he resides in his local beis medresh, yeshiva, or kollel.

With that, I wish you all a wonderful Shabbos!

Michael Winner

I bought a bicycle this week.

I’ve honestly been thinking about it for a couple of months now. I sit all day in kollel and I sit all night at work. While I’m not really overweight anymore, I’m certainly not getting in the exercise I used to get in Jerusalem, since I have only a five-minute walk to the kollel.

So, I found a used one for sale for a good price and decided, “Why not?”

Now, at 12 a.m., I close down work and go for a 15-20 minute ride. Being that everything is uphill and downhill here, I get a nice work out for that amount of time, AND the streets are nice and empty.

I was discussing the purchase with my wife and I mentioned that now that I have a bike, I’ve joined the small, elite world of air-force and naval pilots, a statement only men could truly understand. Being so, I need to give a good name for the jet, I mean, bike. She suggested, “What about ‘Thunderbolt?’” I counter-suggested that she return to the kitchen and stick to doing the girly stuff that she’s so good at doing, since this is way above her intellectual level.

After some thought, I suggested, “The Widow Maker.”

She overruled it.

Oh well….

Okay, on to Torah!
“…because he scorned the word of Hashem and broke His commandment; that soul will surely be cut off, its sin is within it” (Bamidbar 15:31)

“’… he scorned the word of Hashem’, this is referring to somebody who had the ability to learn Torah and did not” (Sanhedrin 39a)

“There are three things that Hashem cries over every day: Somebody who is able to be osek (involve himself in Torah learning, compared to learning ‘here’ and ‘there’), and is not osek; somebody who it’s impossible for him to be osek in Torah and IS osek; and a community leader who abuses his powers” (Chagigah 5b)

Rav Shimshon Pincus relates that the Marshah on the above Gemara, asks the following question: I understand the first thing. If a person, who CAN be osek in Torah and is not, then Hashem cries over him. By why would Hashem cry over the person who cannot be osek in Torah and nonetheless does so?!? If anything, it should be the opposite! He answers, that if you look carefully at the words, the Gemara says that a person who cannot be osek in Torah and is osek (not mentioning Torah at all)… what does that mean? It means he’s osek in other things, like his business or hobbies. So, according to the Marshah, a person who cannot be osek in Torah because he is osek in other things in its place, THAT is who Hashem is crying over.

However, Rav Pincus continues, that is not the traditional way of learning this Gemara, which is read how it is written. But we’re still left with the same question: Why does Hashem cry over somebody who cannot be osek in Torah and yet is osek in Torah?

He answers that this is referring to somebody that finds making time to learn Torah difficult, but nonetheless does so.

So… again, why does Hashem cry over such a person? He should be happy, instead!

Rav Pincus answers and says that it is similar to a father who asks his son to get him a glass of water. The son responds, “For you, I’ll be happy to make the effort to get you the water.” He then goes and gives his father a glass of water.

This is similar to a person who sets up his life in a way where doing things for Hashem is something that was secondary on his mind, so when he had to find time for it, he had to put in extra effort. A husband who wants a good marriage, doesn’t set up everything in his life first and then try to "fit in some time" for his wife.

My rav related to me that his grandmother remembers one thing about her grandfather. While he worked during the days as craftsman, she never remembered seeing him without a sefer in his hand to learn from.

My Rosh Yeshiva once yelled at us, “This is no such thing in Judaism that a person is allowed to work for the sake of earning money and living a comfortable life!!! There is no such heter (permission) for a person to go out and work for the sake of working!!! A person is allowed to work to support himself and his family IN ORDER that he and his family can live and grow as Bnei Torah!”

As Jews, becoming Bnei Torah is our goal and drive in life. Hobbies, fun and friends…they are tools to help us become Bnei Torah, but they are certainly not the main focus in life. So, when a person has to fit in some time for Hashem, since his goals are not in line with that of the Torah, THEN Hashem cries. But when a person is osek in Torah because he MAKES HIMSELF AVAILABLE to be osek in Torah… Hashem is then happy.

Have a great Shabbos!

Michael Winner

As you probably know, the Women of The Wall have been making more noise about their rights to daven at the Kotel in tallasim, tefillin, Torah reading, etc… In response (I believe to a recent court decision; I haven’t kept up with the news, just heard about it), the religious community, from across the spectrum, responded with a protest at the Kotel. Thousands of religious women showed up to show their disdain for this breach of Halacha and the ‘slap in the face’ of the Torah world.

I received a copy of a letter coming from the former head of the reform movement, concerning his take on events. One line stuck out. He praised the religious community for having the women come to the event, saying, “First, the 6,000 Haredi girls sent to participate in the demonstration have received an education that is sure to open their eyes to new Jewish possibilities”. Being, by seeing other women do these things, their minds will be broadened and perhaps they too will be affected.

It is ironic that I should see this essay on this particular week.

Last Shabbos, my wife was walking with the children and they passed a reform ‘temple’ (we have a few in Israel), as the temple was letting out. Rochel Leah and Chaim started to snicker to themselves and whispered to my wife, “Look Mommy… she’s wearing a kippah… isn’t that funny?”

Now, we don’t discuss reform, conservative, etc, with our children, since there is no need to. We’ve discussed religious and non-religious, but that’s really it. They can understand that a person keeps Shabbos or doesn’t keep Shabbos, but it’s completely foreign to them that something so straight forward, should be corrupted so much. They snickered, not because they have some hatred or disdain for Reform, but rather because it’s simply inconceivable to them that a woman would wear men’s clothing. It’s as simple as that. Being so, I highly doubt the religious women at the Kotel received much of an enlightening education. And I continue to daven that there should be some things in life that remain black and white to my children.

Okay, on to Torah!
“Why was the passage of the spies placed next to the passage of Miriam? For she was stricken over the matters of speech which she spoke against her brother, and these wicked ones (the spies), saw what happened to her, and yet did not learn from that lesson” (Rashi, Bamidbar 13:1)

Every Tuesday, one of the two heads of the kollel and the chief rabbi of the city, take turns in speaking to the kollel about different areas of personal improvement. This past week, the chief rabbi of the city/rav of the shul spoke. He started off with the above Rashi, and followed up with the following piece of Shaarei Tshuva (Gates of Repentance) (I:6):

“Hear this with understanding, for it is a great principle: It is true that some of the righteous sometimes fall into sin, as it is said, ‘For there is not a righteous man upon earth that does good and not sin’ (Koheles 7:20). However, they subdue the evil inclination a hundred times, and if they have succumbed to a sin once, they do not repeat it, for they became loathsome in their own eyes and repent. But, if one does not take care to avoid a known sin and does not take it upon himself to protect himself against it, then, though it may be one of the lesser transgressions, and although he may take care to avoid all the other transgressions of the Torah, the Sages refer to him as an ‘apostate in respect to one thing’. He is numbered with the offenders and his transgression I too great to forgive.”

Simply put, if a person would be super-duper religious in all aspects in life, and there is one thing where he is not, and somebody shows him where he is wrong, and that individual refuses to even attempt to change his ways, then he is considered to have a “transgression too great to forgive”.

Pretty scary, no?

Because the spies, who were undoubtedly on a high spiritual level, yet did not learn the lesson from Miriam, the entire nation was punished for forty additional years in desert.

They failed to learn from ONE LESSON, and look at what happened!

The rav continued and said that today, the religious world in Israel is being threatened with ‘economic sanctions’ if we do not hand over our education system to the government. We can start saying Tehillim after davening, we can start doing this and that, as a group, but in the end, the only thing that will turn this decree around is that every individual takes it upon himself to constantly and actively improve himself. It’s only through REAL change that a person makes in life, whether it be to show up to davening on time, using one’s learning time properly, helping one’s spouse, improving the spiritual quality of the Shabbos table, etc… With taking ALL aspects in our life seriously, we can overcome the harshest of decrees.

Have a great Shabbos!

It’s cute when your children say funny things. However, it’s much better when they get old enough to think of jokes off the tops of their tiny, little heads.

When you say a person’s age in Hebrew, it’s “ben-“ or “bat-“ (depending on the gender), followed by the number. So, a four year old boy is “ben arbah”, a three year old girl is “bat shalosh”, and a four and a half year old boy is “ben arbah v’chetzi (and a half)”.

My family is close with this girl who is getting married on Sunday. Close enough for my wife to take Rochel Leah and Chaim to Jerusalem for the wedding itself and to stay overnight. The kids decided to make cards for the bride, who is named Batsheva. Rochel Leah wanted to be cute and wrote in her card: “M’Bat Sheish v’chetzi l’Bat Sheva” (literally: from the six and a half year old to the seven year old).

Not bad!

Winner genes hard at work.

Okay, on to Torah!
In this week’s parsha we see the famous “Sin of the Spies”. After their forty day tour of Eretz Yisroel, the spies returned and gave a rather scary report. “The land is filled with giants”, “Death was everywhere”, “The land eats its inhabitants”, etc…

Unfortunately, the nation buys it, and turns away from the idea of conquering Eretz Yisroel; and they are consequently punished for forty years.

Many commentators explain that the main sin was not as straight-forward as it would seem. It wasn’t that the nation did not have faith in Hashem to deal with these issues, but rather it was the lack of faith within themselves. They believed that they were not on the level to receive such miracles to be performed on their behalf. Because of this attitude of “I’m not worthy”, they actually became not worthy.

We see a similar idea at the splitting of the Red Sea. When did the sea split? When Nachshon ben Aminadav jumped in. Only when that person who had faith in himself jumped in, did the miracle occur.

A Jew is supposed to have a healthy relationship with Hashem. He has to know in his heart that Hashem can do and will do anything whether or not he ‘feels worthy’. A person should learn Torah and do mitzvos, and through that, ALWAYS feel worthy; and try his best never to succumb to depressive thoughts that are the opposite. And if he is in a low time in life and not fulfilling the Torah, he should still never give up and pray for help and the ability to do teshuvah.

My Rosh Yeshiva said this week that one of the greatest crimes a parent can do to their child is to make them feel unworthy. Once the child starts to have such feelings of low self-esteem, he will find it extremely difficult to reverse that feeling later as an adult. Therefore, it behooves us to not only remind ourselves of our great potential, but also to infuse it into our children. No matter where we go in life and no matter the ups and downs we take, Hashem can and will deliver when we need him.

Have a great Shabbos!

It’s cute when your children say funny things. However, it’s much better when they get old enough to think of jokes off the tops of their tiny, little heads.

When you say a person’s age in Hebrew, it’s “ben-“ or “bat-“ (depending on the gender), followed by the number. So, a four year old boy is “ben arbah”, a three year old girl is “bat shalosh”, and a four and a half year old boy is “ben arbah v’chetzi (and a half)”.

My family is close with this girl who is getting married on Sunday. Close enough for my wife to take Rochel Leah and Chaim to Jerusalem for the wedding itself and to stay overnight. The kids decided to make cards for the bride, who is named Batsheva. Rochel Leah wanted to be cute and wrote in her card: “M’Bat Sheish v’chetzi l’Bat Sheva” (literally: from the six and a half year old to the seven year old).

Not bad!

Winner genes hard at work.

Okay, on to Torah!
In this week’s parsha we see the famous “Sin of the Spies”. After their forty day tour of Eretz Yisroel, the spies returned and gave a rather scary report. “The land is filled with giants”, “Death was everywhere”, “The land eats its inhabitants”, etc…

Unfortunately, the nation buys it, and turns away from the idea of conquering Eretz Yisroel; and they are consequently punished for forty years.

Many commentators explain that the main sin was not as straight-forward as it would seem. It wasn’t that the nation did not have faith in Hashem to deal with these issues, but rather it was the lack of faith within themselves. They believed that they were not on the level to receive such miracles to be performed on their behalf. Because of this attitude of “I’m not worthy”, they actually became not worthy.

We see a similar idea at the splitting of the Red Sea. When did the sea split? When Nachshon ben Aminadav jumped in. Only when that person who had faith in himself jumped in, did the miracle occur.

A Jew is supposed to have a healthy relationship with Hashem. He has to know in his heart that Hashem can do and will do anything whether or not he ‘feels worthy’. A person should learn Torah and do mitzvos, and through that, ALWAYS feel worthy; and try his best never to succumb to depressive thoughts that are the opposite. And if he is in a low time in life and not fulfilling the Torah, he should still never give up and pray for help and the ability to do teshuvah.

My Rosh Yeshiva said this week that one of the greatest crimes a parent can do to their child is to make them feel unworthy. Once the child starts to have such feelings of low self-esteem, he will find it extremely difficult to reverse that feeling later as an adult. Therefore, it behooves us to not only remind ourselves of our great potential, but also to infuse it into our children. No matter where we go in life and no matter the ups and downs we take, Hashem can and will deliver when we need him.

Have a great Shabbos!