Nahar U’Pashtei Parshas Chukas 5781

Growing Weary

Throughout Klal Yisroel’s time in the Wilderness, we find different complaints brought by the nation against Hashem and against Moshe Rabbeinu. We must strive to know the true motivation behind these complaints in order to better understand how we can avoid similar pitfalls. The different responses of Hashem to the various complaints also plays a part in the lessons contained within these passages. When Klal Yisroel was instructed to travel around the territory of Edom, the Torah states, and the soul of the nation was weary. The next verse recounts that they began to protest; thus indicating that the reason for their complaint was their weariness, mentioned here. But what can this mean? That the nation was physically drained from the extra travel? This cannot be, for we know that through the forty years of traveling in the Wilderness, Klal Yisroel’s feet did not swell. What’s more, they were surrounded by the ananei hakavod, and were thus essentially carried! It must be then, that the issue mentioned here was a certain mentalweariness that the people felt. As Rashi tells us, the nation was aware that their parents had been ever so close to Eretz Yisroel, only to be instructed to turn around and wander for another thirty-eight years. When they were bade to go around Edom’s territory, they began to suspect that they had done something to make them unworthy, and they would share the same fate! This was not a possibility they were prepared to face, and their mental state became weary. This resulted in everything seeming burdensome to them, even the small amount of extra effort expended to circumvent Edom. With this in mind, let us proceed to the next verse, which states, And the nation spoke [against] Hashem and Moshe; “Why did you bring us up from Mitzrayim to die in the Wilderness; for there is no bread and no water, and our souls are disgusted by this detrimental bread. Here, Klal Yisroel dared to find fault with their daily sustenance, the mon. Rashi explains that they supported their claims about the mon with logic. If no man can survive with out ridding his body of the waste matter ingested with his food, they claimed that the waste produced from the mon must be building up inside their bodies to kill them! Now, this entire argument is clearly ridiculous! They had been eating this mon for forty years without a single report of even an upset stomach, and certainly no fatalities! Rather, as we discussed, it was the mental weariness that had set in that was behind their complaints. And how did Hashem respond to this fabricated complaint? With deadly poisonous snakes. They were expressing the complaint that the way Hashem chose to take care of them was really unhealthy for them. They chose to mask their real complaint of weariness, and used feeble logic to excuse their unhappiness. Hashem said, “This is the conniving way of the snake; and so they shall be punished with snakes!” Now, complaints are never easy, and any feelings such as these that a person may encounter should be worked through accordingly. But what we see from this episode is something far more dangerous. A person can feel weary because of one issue that he is grappling with, and this attitude can spread its venom to affect his entire outlook on life! Because he struggles in one specific area, his entire life can seem to him to be upside-down, and downright terrible! But if one isolates in his mind the issue at hand, he will see that Hashem is with him, and does good with him constantly. This in turn will make it easier for him to come to a place where he will be able to alleviate the stress of his plight regarding the one area with which he is having difficulty. We can see how the weariness Klal Yisroel suffered caused them to fabricate a complaint about one of the greatest of all gifts, the mon. One must not let such weariness play a part in his quest to be closer to Hashem. A Gut Shabbos! A Project of the YSI Alumni Association Written by R’ Moshe Weiss

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Nahar U'Pashtei Parshas Korach 5781

נהר ופשטיה Nahar U’Pashtei A Weekly Insight From מרן הרה״ג ר׳ שלו׳ ראובן פיינשטיין שליט״א לע״נ משה בן צבי אלטע שרה חנה בת אליהו מירל בת משה Issue #127 פרשת קרח

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Who Really Deserves Honor

 Korach’s rebellion against Moshe and Aharon teaches us many lessons about how the drive for honor and power can lead a person down a spiral of evil that he never dreamt he would be involved in. There is nothing good about a machlokes, and it is never the answer to one’s grievances. Korach had the audacity to demand that he serve as Kohen Gadol, and he spread his illegitimate desire to a large group of followers, who all sought the same honor. Moshe had no choice but to allow these evil men to publicly offer ketores along with Aharon, to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that it was not Moshe, but Hashem Himself, Who appointed Aharon as Kohen Gadol. Of course, Moshe tried to do what he was able to deter Korach and his men from actually carrying out this test. He informed the rebels that the ketores they would offer would be at the risk of their very lives! Only the Kohen Gadol chosen by Hashem would survive. All the other people would die for offering a foreign ketores offering. This itself should have actually stopped any rationally thinking person from following through with this test; for why would anyone risk their life on the chance that any of the others offering the ketores would have been Hashem’s chosen Kohen! Alas, these men were already imprisoned inside the fire of the machlokes and they could not pull themselves out; a harrowing lesson in-and-of itself, when one takes a birds-eye view of these events. But what I would like to focus on here is the rebuke that Moshe said to Korach with the words, rav lachem bnei Levi, it is enough for you, children of Levi. What did Moshe Rabbeinu mean to tell Korach with this added phrase? As we know, Korach’s main complaint stemmed from the fact that he was not satisfied with holding the exalted status of a Levi - he felt that he was truly righteous, and deserved a promotion to the status of a Kohen. He claimed that the Kohen Gadol had the ability to gain a closeness to Hashem not available to anyone else and he coveted that chance to experience this relationship with Hashem. Furthermore, Korach desired the great honor of the Kohen Gadol’s office, which received more honor than even that of a Levi. Moshe was attempting to explain to Korach that his view here was skewed. Hashem gives each person a unique mission to complete, and it is therefore untenable for a person to think that he has completed his mission to such a degree of perfection that he deserves a “promotion” to a different role. It is incomprehensible to think that Korach could replace Aharon, or for that matter, that any member of the nation could replace Korach! Rather, every person has their unique role. A person’s strengths and weaknesses are relative to his mission alone, and everyone receives equal reward should he fulfill his potential. “So”, said Moshe to Korach, “it is the honor that you seek? Honor too is simply a consequence of where Hashem puts you. No honor is due any one person more than any another, for we are all equal - soldiers, fighting our specific battles! Thus, it is enough for you the honor that Hashem has given.” Unfortunately, Korach was no longer hearing logic, and he lost his life and his olam haba’ah shortly thereafter. But we can still hear the great comfort and encouragement that comes from Moshe Rabbeinu’s argument to Korach. Never is there a place to be jealous of someone else’s position or abilities; his honors or his talents. A unique and special mission was carved out by Hashem for each one of us, and true honor is due only one who fulfills that mission. One can be content with what he has and has no need to feel pressured by his peers. Each person must work only to maximize his abilities and fight the unique battles that Hashem has in store for him. It is enough to be yourself, and the reward Hashem gives to one who fulfills his potential is the same for everyone. A Gut Shabbos! A Project of the YSI Alumni Association Written by R’ Moshe Weiss

Nahar U_Pashtei Parshas Korach 5781

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Nahar U'Pashtei Parshas Shlach

The Missing Ingredient

When Klal Yisrael believed the slanderous report of the Meraglim, they cried for no reason, and set into motion the eventuality that on the anniversary of that terrible day - Tisha Ba’av - Klal Yisroel would cry for generations to come. As a result of their sin, their lofty spiritual madreigah had dissipated, and they were now destined to die in the Wilderness. But how did the Meraglim convince the nation to sin while they were still on a high level? Why did the people pay attention to the evil report about the Land when Hashem, as well as their leader Moshe, said otherwise? Let us take a deeper look at the conversation that went on here, and perhaps we can understand what it was that went so wrong. When the Meraglim returned, they sought to convince the people with the true facts. There were giants! There were strong fortified cities, and the inhabitants of the Land were not even scared of Hashem! And after the spies presented the facts, they proceeded to add their own wicked opinion, that We will not be able to go up to the nation. In the manner of most who slander, they sought to move the nation toward their understanding of the facts. But Kaleiv was waiting. He pretended to join the slander, and when he had quieted the assembly, he exclaimed to the nation to remember all the miracles that Moshe had performed. Trust in Hashem, and all would be well! Indeed, had Klal Yisroel followed Kaleiv, they would have gone up and conquered the Land with no weapons at all! The test here was in Bitachon! But the Meraglim did not give up so easily. They had an agenda, and were prepared to not only misrepresent facts, but if necessary, they would even lie in order to accomplish it. They spread evil about the Land itself, saying that it was a land that consumes its inhabitants! And although to the rational mind, this contradicted the calm and fortified picture of the Land which they had already presented, they now contradicted themselves in desperation to push the nation past Kaleiv’s arguments! The nation was unfortunately swayed, and began to cry and complain. Kaleiv and Yehoshua tried once more, saying, do not fear the inhabitants of the Land, for they are our bread. Hashem has removed their shade from upon them. Rashi brings (second explanation) that they were merely stating that to Hashem, all of this meant nothing. If Hashem decided to give Klal Yisroel the Land, no measure of fortification or strength could possibly stand in His way! Nothing the spies had said should have made a difference to one who trusted in Hashem; there was no need for the conquest of the Land to be feasible by natural order! But to no avail. The nation simply did not possess the level of Bitachon needed to walk into the Land and receive it, and indeed, when they did merit the Land, it was through many years of wars and strife. Ultimately, the reason that the spies were able to influence the nation even on a high madreigah was because they lacked a concrete foundation of the level of Bitachon they needed to have. And we too must work toward this goal. Whatever situation a person is confronted with, no matter how impossible it seems, he must know that it is not - and it cannot be - beyond Hashem. Furthermore, no “solution” to the issue is necessary, just Bitachon. Hashem has a million ways that he can alleviate a person’s plight, and He should never be limited by the solutions we are and are not able to perceive. And, as we have mentioned many times, this should improve the way we daven as well. No doubts and no solutions - only trust. And perhaps, if we can embody this lofty level, we ourselves will merit to enter the Holy Land! A Gut Shabbos! A Project of the YSI Alumni Association Written by R’ Moshe Weiss

Nahar U_Pashtei Parshas Shlach 5781

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