A Thought on Parshas Ra'eh

"...u'Bo tid'ba'kun..." "...and you shall cling to Him..." (13:5) Verses instructing us to cling to HaShem appear in a number of places in the Torah. The notion of "clinging" to HaShem, Who has no form, no limits, no substance, and no single location, is a challenging one in our theology. It seems to run contrary to some of our most essential principles, such as G-d having neither dimension nor matter. How can a person be commanded, then, to cling to Him? It is for this reason that Chazal provide us with a means of understanding the scope of the concept. They explain to us that since it is entirely impossible to actually cling to Him, we fulfill the verse by clinging to those who serve Him. We help support Torah scholars, we interact with them, and we associate with them and with their families. This is regarded as a way of clinging to "HaShem". ibn Shu'aib reviews a number of other interpretations. He cites the Ramban, who understood the verse to mean that we can actually cling to HaShem with our minds. If our thoughts are on His teachings, and on pondering His Presence in our lives "every moment, every hour, every occasion", then He will seem 'attached' to us. This can be manifest as our viewing every life experience as an intimate encounter with His Divine Presence, so that nothing seems to us like chance or happenstance. The Ramban emphasizes that this too is a way of clinging "to HaShem." ibn Shu'aib then cites the Rambam, who has written that the concept here is to apply oneself constantly to the quest of knowing and understanding HaShem's majesty and might throughout the entire universe. Knowledge of HaShem is a way of "clinging", too. He then notes the view of ibn Ezra who suggests that clinging is not a mental process nor a behavioral process. Rather, we cannot cling to HaShem at all, so the Torah is not commanding us to attempt any facsimile of doing so. Rather, the verse means that if in fact we spend our lives learning and fulfilling the Torah and its mitzvos, then as mundane life ends, our souls will ascend into the realm of pure spirit, and will live on after mortal death within the "Tzror HaChaim" - the supernal source of all life.The verse is not commanding us to do anything. It is forecasting the consequence of living by His word.The eternity of the spirit will be the means through which we shall, ultimately, cling "to" HaShem. ibn Shu'aib then cites Rabbeinu Chananel who views the clinging not as a commandment to act or to think in a particular way, but as a promise from HaShem that there is an afterlife. The process is that by our being focused on following the Word of HaShem, we draw Divine personal hashgacha - monitoring of our lives - which in turn leads to ultimate hashgacha - the reality of a world to come. When we will merit reward in the ultimate as a result of living our lives with ultimate devotion, we will then cling to HaShem forever. Good Shabbos. Rosh Chodesh Elul Sameach. D Fox

A Thought on Parshas Ekev

"...Hi'shamer lecha pen tishkach es HaShem..." (8:11) "...Be careful not to forget HaShem by not keeping His mitzvos..." Chazal have reminded us that "all things are in the 'hands of Heaven' except the fear of Heaven." This adage is well known in Torah circles yet has been given many varied interpretations and understandings. ibn Shu'aib quotes the Ra'A'Vad (Rabbeinu Avraham Ben Dovid, a very famous scholar of 12th century Provence, whom Ibn Shu'aib has already told us was purported to have had ruach ha'kodesh - see A Thought on Parshas Ekev). The Ra'A'Vad's take on the saying is that it means that all mitzvah fulfillment is determined by HaShem: if HaShem does not bless me with a house, then I cannot place a ma'akeh or a mezuzah on it. If HaShem has not blessed me with the means to acquire a garment, then I cannot place tzitzis on it. If He has not blessed me with wealth, then I cannot purchase a lulav, or a shofar, or give charity. What is the exception to this general principle? Fear of heaven, in contrast with all other commandments, can and must be attainable by a person whether or not he has material goods. The task is given over to each person, and it is thus not in the hands of heaven whether or not I will actualize myself by developing true fear of G-d. Aleinu l'sha'bae'ach - it is up to each of us to work on our reverence for G-d. Although ibn Shu'aib declares that he prefers a different interpretation than this approach of the Ra'A'Vad, he does develop the theme of how intimate our bond is with HaShem through our readiness to perform His mitzvos. He stresses that this is particularly important in galus - when we live in the diaspora - where our hope can fade and our consciousness of HaShem can diminish as our Jewish identity falters. He cites an allegorical tale of a a prince who was ordered by the king to leave the palace for travel. The son worried and asked his father what would happen to him, and to the king, when people saw him far away from home. They might say that the king had forgotten him, or that he had been sold into captivity, never to return, all of which would affect the king's own reputation and grandeur. The king consoled the son, saying that "wherever you might travel, my royal seal is with you." You will never forget who you are, I shall never forget you, and the people whom you encounter will always know that you are my son. ibn Shu'aib observes that we Jews still do stand out. We don tzitzis, we bind tefillin, we place a mezuzah, we reside in a sukkah, we blow shofar, wave lulav, we arise and we later return, day and night, to our houses of worship and our houses of Torah study. All of that allegiance to Torah and to Halacha constitutes our "wearing the royal uniform" of our King. This is our Divinely designated seal which indicates that we remain His children, and are not forsaken or forgotten. It also is visible and apparent to the nations around us that we are still different, and remain loyal to Avinu Malkeinu. This helps remind us not to forget or forsake Him, which is the key to reviving Divine compassion so that we will return, speedily, to the palace of our King. Good Shabbos. D Fox

A Thought on Parshas Vaeschanan

"V'ahavta es HaShem...b'kol levav'echa u'v'kol nafshecha u'v'kol me'odecha..." "and you will love HaShem will all your heart, soul and possessions..." (6:5) ibn Shu'aib writes that HaShem has commanded us to take five facets from the first parsha of Shema, and to implement them with five acts. One of them is to fulfill the words "as you lie down" and to read the Shema at night, during the time when we might prepare to lie down. That is, even if we have davened earlier, before nightfall, we repeat the Shema in the form of Krias Shema al ha'Mita. This is the "bedtime Shema", so that we remember the parsha as we prepare to sleep. Second, we recite the Shema as we rise, to fulfill the words " as you arise." This is why many people attempt to place the reading of Shema near the time of sunup, which is hinted at in the verse (Tehillim 72:5) "and they shall revereYou when the sun shines". Third, we place the parsha near our heart, which is why we bind tefillin on the left arm nearest the heart, to fulfill "love HaShem with all your heart". Fourth, we place the parsha near our nefesh - the head-tefillin are worn above "the space between our eyes", opposite "the segment of our brain where mental life and clarity is housed", the domain of the soul.This is a fulfillment of "love HaShem with all your soul". Fifth, we place the parsha upon the doorposts of our houses. This is a fulfillment of "write them on your doorposts and gates." But it also serves to commemorate the commandment to "love HaShem with all your possessions and wealth." We keep our money and our valuables at home, and our home is also one of our valuables. By posting the mezuzah on the doorposts of our houses, we remember to fulfill this love of HaShem within and around and regarding our material possessions. Thus, we remember to love HaShem with all of heart with the tefillin bound near the heart. We remember to love HaShem with all of our soul because tefillin rest over the seat of our highest human faculties, which are the tools of the soul. We remember to love HaShem with all of our possessions by placing His words around all of our material possessions. Remember? Good Shabbos. D Fox

A Thought on Parshas Devarim

"...v'hinchem ha'yom k'kochavei ha'shomayim la'rov..." "...and here you are today as many as the stars above..." (1:10) The Torah compares us here to stars. Not only are we somehow like the stars, but we are as vast or as many as the stars. That is a nice comparison, whatever it might mean. Why the subtle, almost cynical, tone, you might ask, as I write "whatever it might mean"? I write this because in many other places, we are instead compared to the sand, which is also numerous yet has a lower and less lofty connotation than "stars of the heavens." Moreover, we are at times reminded that we are not great or numerous at all, but rather, we are the tiniest of the nations (7:7). What then is the significance of this comparison to the many stars? We are actually a small nation among some very enormous countries and their teeming billions of people. ibn Shu'aib observes that the word "rov" is not a quantitative adjective but rather a statement of our quality. The word can mean "great" as in 'very big' but it can also mean "great" as in powerful and mighty. The Torah here means that we are greater and more powerful than the stars above, which is a way of telling us that we have "dominion" over the stars and planets (from the conjugation of the word rov as in rabbonim, leaders; a rav is a person in authority). ibn Shu'aib's understanding of the verse actually flows better with its structure: it reads, and means, you are, compared to the stars of the heavens, the greater ones. How are we the rabbanim of the stars? Our sages often speak about the "Sar" (general) of Esav or of other nations, which means the "star" or "mazal" associated with that particular nation's role and mission on this planet. The nations of the world - ovadei kochavim u'mazalos - deify the stars and planets yet the deeper issue is that each nation is viewed as being "under" a specific G-d-based cosmic force - a mazal - which shapes a nation's fate and process. In contrast, our verse states that the Jewish nation is not "beneath" any mazal, but rather, we are greater than, or "lord over" every mazal. ibn Shu'aib brings a midrashic opinion which develops this view. We are meant to illuminate the world as do the stars. Ideally, we are brighter than the stars which shine at night, as the prophetess Devorah declares (Shoftim 5:31) "those who love Him blaze forth like the rising sun." The sun by day, the stars by night. Yet, our verse says, "and here you are today (ha'yom)", which places our star-like shining by day, not by night! What is the meaning of this comparison (other than for those of us familiar with astronomy who know that the sun is also a star, and that stars are suns, so conceivably, if we are like the stars by day, this means we are as bright as the sun, which is what Devorah tells us). ibn Shu'aib clarifies that we are only greater than the stars today: at specific times in our national history, we had the opportunity to ascend in greatness beyond the stars. That happened as we prepared to leave the desert for Israel. That happened as we lived according to halacha. That happened as long as we served HaShem in our own land. As long as the Divine Presence was among us, we indeed shone with glory and illuminated the earth as the stars shine in heaven. However, when we forfeit that role, when we shun halacha, when we reject the Divine Presence r'l, we no long carry that greatness. We are no longer above the stars. In fact, we encounter the nations which are greater in size, and we meet up with their mazalos. That is exile. That is darkness. That is now. It is now time to prepare for Shabbos Chazon. Good Shabbos on this final Tisha B'Av. D Fox

A Thought on Parshios Matos - Maasei

"...va'yichtov Moshe es motza'eihem l'ma'asei'hem al pi HaShem..." "...and Moshe wrote their travels according to HaShem's words..." (33:2) Why the travelogue? Verse after verse enumerates the destinations and departures of our nation during their forty years in the desert. It is history. Its done. Why is it important that the Torah records for us those place-names in an ancient wilderness? Why does HaShem tell Moshe to write this, as our verse notes? ibn Shu'aib suggests that the clause "al pi HaShem" - according to HaShem's instruction - does not refer to the travels themselves. We already know that wherever we went, and wherever we go, we do so only according to the word and will of HaShem. ibn Shu'aib reminds us that many parshios ago (9:18) the Torah told us that our travels are al pi HaShem. In the above verse, however, the nuance is that Moshe's writing down the travelogue is al pi HaShem. Namely, HaShem expressly wanted the place-names recorded here. So back to our original question: why? First, ibn Shu'aib cites Rashi's explanation. We are to derive from the enumeration of the places (enumeration comes from the word "numeral", which thus means the counting or the accounting of the places) that in forty years, there were only 42 "trips", which displays the merciful kindness of HaShem, Who did not drag us exhaustively the entire time. In context, we were not really always on the go, so that the sojourn in the desert included some long intervals of tranquility to enhance our spiritual life. A second explanation is more mystical. ibn Shu'aib observes that there are 42 places, and in the opening verses of Genesis, from the beginning through the reference to the world being chaotic and void, there are 42 letters. From that point on, the formal creation began, with the appearance of order, structure, form, substance and content. So too, alludes ibn Shu'aib, the process in the desert was a developmental one for this newly-formed young nation. Each journey, each destination and each point of departure, 42 in all, implanted into the internal collective Jewish world the elements with which we could thrive and cope with all that the external world does to us. The years in the desert served as the genesis of Jewry. ibn Shu'aib next references the view of the Rambam who says that the travels in the desert were real for those who witnessed them, but upon being recorded, they could fall the way of all attempts to chronicle history. Inevitably, people come along centuries later who scoff at a traditional account of facts and, like the National Geographic and some of those irritating tour guides at the Kosel, they defame our national history by bringing back the chaos and void of nonsensical alternative realities. Such spiritual desecration will arise, writes the Rambam, with people contending that the sojourn in the desert could not have happened, and instead, we merely trekked across the habitable portions of the region where there were farms, wells, and hospitable Arabs to provide sustenance and shelter for us. To counter that fabrication, the Torah lists the names of places which clearly do not match up with any border towns, agricultural districts or safe-haven highways used by the Arabs or others. The same Torah asserts that we survived there by the word of HaShem, who sustained us with miracles, signs and wonders. We can derive such reassurance from the list of place-names which are now lost ruins in the desolate wildness of a barren, inhospitable land where only HaShem could protect and shelter us (and still does.) ibn Shu'aib states that this explanation is a noble one. Finally, he cites the explanations given by other midrashim and commentaries who opine that the named places will one day serve as way-stations as we make our way back from exile. As we stop over at each recovered and revealed location, we will bless HaShem who did miracles for our forefathers there, and we will sing praise as we ourselves feel reassured that all of the events in the Torah actually happened! I give praise and song this week to HaShem who has brought Rabbi Avrahom Rosenberg shlit'a of Philadelphia and Lakewood into the life of my favorite only daughter, Penina Baila Vita, who is a kallah! Mazal tov and good Shabbos. D Fox