Shoftim/Elul - Staying Calm when Life isn't

The following has been adapted from the Sefer Ohr G’Deliyahu and Rav Kook in Ein Aya. Feel free to print this out and read it over Shabbos Kodesh just please not during Tefilos!

As we have been taught, there is a famous concept called ‘HaKriya Me’oreres Es HaZman’ – the concepts that flow from the weekly Parsha are always interfacing with and relating to the events on the Jewish calendar. ‘The Scripture is inspiring the Season.’ As Parshas Shoftim is the first Torah Portion read after Rosh Chodesh Elul (the first day of the month) we must keep our eyes open for the theme that connects them.

The beginning of this week’s Parsha deals with the concepts of Jewish law-enforcement. Shoftim V’Shotrim Titen L’cha B’chol She’arecha – Place for yourselves Judges and officers at all of your gates.

We know that the Torah is Divine and therefore it is exact. Each letter is filled with godliness, and because of this each one needs to be analyzed with intense scrutiny. There is no fluff, no need for repeats or padding. If this is true then what does the Torah HaKedosha specifying in its split of Shoftim and Shotrim – Judges and Officers? What differing roles do they play?

Rashi on the verse gives us the answer. Shoftim, the Judges, are there to make decisions. They discover the truth in Halachically-sticky situations. Hopefully those involved in the cases will adhere to their rulings. It’s when the constituents don’t listen that the need for Shotrim, Officers, arises. These Officers are really enforcers. When a Jew chooses not to listen to the Torah and its rules the Shotrim step in to forcibly persuade them back into doing the right thing.

That’s very nice. But the Torah was given to be relevant and applicable in every person in every culture in every generation. So what do I learn about my life when I learn about ancient law-enforcement?

The Sh’lah HaKadosh explains that the concepts in this verse could not be more relevant. Shoftim V’Shotrim Titen L’cha B’chol She’arecha – Judges and Enforcers shall you place in all of your gates. These gates are the human senses. How do I know this to be true? Well, what is a gate of a city? The city gates are the place where products, culture, information and everything else comes in and out of the city. The gate of the city is the place where the city interacts with the rest of the world. Based on this my eyes are gates. My nose, ears, mouth skin – they are all gates. Information comes in and out through there. Taste, sight, sound and the like are all tantamount to that which passes through the entry to a city.

Shoftim V’Shotrim Titen L’cha B’chol She’arecha is telling us that just as city gates need Judges and Officers, so too the ‘gates’ of the human experience, my relationship to the world around me need Judges and Officers just the same.

In my personal life, my intellectual faculties serve as my Judges. I use logic and reasoning to determine right from wrong; what to do and what to refrain from. Under ideal circumstances I can succeed in Avodas Hashem simply by making and intellectual decision to do so.

But sometimes the situations I find myself in deprive me of my normative logical properties. Sometimes I’m simply not ‘feeling it’. I’m burnt out. I’m having a bad day. My brain is already turned off. How am I supposed to accomplish in Avodas Hashem now? In these situations, how do I overcome the tests that HaKadosh Baruch Hu throws my way? The answer is Shotrim - Officers. We force ourselves. Hashem has commanded us not only to serve him with logic, but also to have a back up, a storehouse of energy that we can use to pull through when we are simply overwhelmed by exterior or internal circumstances.

But from where do the Jewish People derive this ‘auto-pilot’-like strength? If we can pinpoint the moment where Hashem gave us that inner wellspring of inspiration then when an immensely difficult situation attempts to overpower us we can draw vigor from there and emerge victorious even in the most difficult situations.

At Ma’amad Har Sinai, the Jews accepted the Torah with full hearts and open arms. They lovingly declared Na’aseh V’Nishma – We will do and we will listen! We are totally yours! We want this and we want You.

But Chazal reveal to us that the story didn’t end there. Right after the dramatic moments of Na’aseh V’Nishma, God lifted Mount Sinai off of the ground, held it over the heads – Har K’Gigis - of the Jewish people and laid down an ultimatum: ‘If you accept the Torah, great. If not, I’ll bury you right here.’ What’s going on here?

Rav Dessler taught us that free will doesn’t always extend to every option that I am offered. I only have free will when the options are reasonably close to one another. For example: ‘Chocolate or Vanilla’ is a choice. ‘Chocolate or Cyanide’ is not. If a father were to tell his son ‘Go to school or I’ll break your nose!’ it wouldn’t be much of a choice. In fact, by giving him these two options the son’s free will has actually been taken away! He’s being forced to go to school. Based on this, when HaKadosh Baruch Hu said ‘If you accept the Torah, great. If not, I’ll bury you right here’ He wasn’t giving us a choice, He was really removing our ability to choose. But why?

The answer begins with an important spiritual understanding of the human psyche. The fact that I am alive expresses itself in the universe on two levels: There is the exterior stage of my personality that is revealed by the choices that I make. My reactions, the clothing that I wear, my mannerisms are all reflections of my choices. This is me as I manifest in Choice. But then there is a level that is yet deeper: The very fact that I am alive. The fact that I exist takes on an expression of its own. I take up a space in the universe. My soul is unique. This is me as I manifest as a living being.

The fact that we accepted the Torah on the level of Na’aseh V’Nishma is very good. We made a choice. We decided that we wanted to be on the side of Avodas Hashem. While that’s nice, it’s still only the exterior level of my being. When God threatens my life over the Torah’s acceptance I receive the Torah not on the level of choice but rather on the level of being. The very fact that I exist was put on the line in the name of Kabalas HaTorah. And the fact that I accepted it under such circumstances means that it is no longer just tied to how I choose to live, rather it is a part of my life intrinsically.

This is Shoftim and Shotrim. The Shofeit – the Judge – he makes decisions and if all goes well he is listened to. This is the level of Na’aseh V’Nishma. It’s the beautiful feeling of lovingly serving God because I want to. But there is the even deeper level of the Shoteir – the Enforcer. This is the level of Har K’Gigis. The Torah is not just something that I choose to incorporate into my life – it is my life itself. It as intrinsic to my being as the fact that I am alive. And just like I can’t force myself to stop breathing, so too with the proper awareness I’ll always manage to pull myself back to the Torah.

We know that through the sin of the Golden Calf we lost that which we accomplished when we stood at Sinai the first time. But Chazal explain that it is on Rosh Chodesh Elul that Moshe Rabeinu ascended Mount Sinai for the second time to receive the second set of Tablets. The depth of this is that Rosh Chodesh Elul marks the beginning of our journey back to that original level.

As we begin the month of Elul, we say the chapter of Tehilim entitled L’David Hashem Ori V’Yishi – David HaMelech declares that God is his Light and Salvation. In this chapter is the famous verse: Shivti B’Veis Hashem Kol Yimei Chayai, LaChazos B’Noam Hashem U’L’Vaker B’Heichalo! – Let me sit in the House of Hashem all the days of my life, to perceive the Sweetness of Hashem and visit in His Chambers!

What is David HaMelech saying here? Let me sit in Hashem’s house all the days of my life. He wants to be there all the time. But then he says, ‘To perceive the Sweetness of Hashem and visit in His Chambers.’ Wait – does he want the equilibrium and continuity of being there all the time or does he want the exhilarating charm of the occasional visit? He seems to be implying both!

The answer is both. Of course David HaMelech wants to feel the rush that comes with embracing God. He years to have that feeling all the time. But he knows that he won’t. And even so he wants to cleave to God with all of his might even when it’s not so easy. Shivti B’Veis Hashem Kol Yimei Chayai – Let me be there no matter what. Let me realize that the my relationship to you is as constant as my heartbeat. Bless me with the level of Shoteir. LaChazos B’Noam Hashem U’L’Vaker B’eihalo – but on that platform indulge me in loving every second of it. Let it sweet. Let is be like Na’aseh V’Nishma. I don’t just want it to be right, I want it to feel right as well.

There are times when Avodas Hashem feels amazing. There are times where I truly love it. But there are times where I need to remember that I need to push through and carry on because this is who I am. My relationship with Hashem is more ‘Me’ then my choices of clothing or friends. It’s more true to who I am then the music I listen to or the books that I read. In the same way that blood pumps through my veins and air flows from my lungs I am connected to Hashem. The more we remember that the easier it becomes to live by.

As Parshas Shoftim and Chodesh Elul meet, may HaKadosh Baruch Hu bless us with both levels needed to fully relate to Him. He should infuse us with the inner strength to always pull through and he should bless us with the delight of enjoying every moment of Avodas Hashem. If we can bring ourselves to live with this consciousness there is no doubt that we live live lives full of Simcha and Shleimus moving closer to the Creator and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!

Terumah: Monkey See, Monkey Do

The Ari’Zal teaches us that the first six weeks of Sefer Shemos are specifically infused with energy and inspiration that bring a person to Teshuva. The Passuk says - Shuvu Banim Shovavim! - Repent you sons, you wild-ones! The Hebrew word for ‘wild-ones’ is Shovavim, which serves as the Rashei Teivos, an acrostic for titles of the first six Parshios of Sefer Shemos. Shemos Vaera Bo Beshalach Yisro Mishpatim.

But this year, things are a little bit different. This year is a Shana Me’uberes, a year with a double-Adar (This Shabbos Kodesh we enter into the first of them). Beis Din set up a system in which every few years an extra month is added into the calendar to ensure that solar, seasonal calendar matches up with the series of months, as the are enumerated by the lunar calendar.

In a year which is a Shana Me’uberes, and has in it an extra Adar, two more weeks are added into Shovivim, turning it into Shovivim-Tat. ‘Tat’ stands for Terumah-Tetzaveh which are the names of the two weeks which are added.

But why? Why do we need to add two weeks to Shovivim just because the year is a little longer? The answer is brought to us by the Heilige Reb Tzadok HaKohen Mi’Lublin.

Why do we need to insert the extra month in order to fix the calendar in the first place? Why didn’t Hashem just line them up from the start? The answer is that He did, but as the Midrash tells us, in the start of creation the moon was out of line and so it was decreased in size, thus decreasing what it could accomplish in the course of twelve months, making it lag behind its greater, more powerful counterpart – the sun. Every few years the moon falls so far behind that it risks throwing the whole cycle off. For this reason we add more strength to the moon – we add a month to its cycle – in order to match it up with the sun.

Says Reb Tzadok, a year where such a thing occurs contains within it a taste of the word to come, when the moon will be restored, and the two cycles – lunar and solar – will line up once again. This added strength is a symbol of the Teshuva that moon is doing over the course of history in order to overcome its original limitation. Thus a Shana-Me’uberes is a year which is naturally filled with a greater potential for Teshuva overall, and therefore it is very fitting that Shovivim be extended.

But why extend Shovivim specifically into Chodesh Adar? And why specifically into the Parshios that deal wit the building of the Mishkan? What about this month, and these Parshios makes it an extra special occasion to make tremendous leaps of growth in our Avodas Hashem?

Let’s explore.

We are taught that every month has a specific letter from which it is emanating from. The spiritual potential of any given month is being formed from the essence of the letter which is appointed over it. The letter of Chodesh Adar is Kuf.

The Zohar does not have positive things to say about Kuf. Says the Zohar, the letter Hei represents the Shechina, which is compared to an Eishes Chayil, a Woman of Valor. And what is Kuf? Kuf is a cheap counterfeit. A Harlot. She dresses pretty, she’s got the moves but she lacks class. If Hei represents the Shechina, which is all the good vibes and energies in one place, the Kuf is the Sitra Achra, the Yetzer HaRa, the center of all impure and negative energy in the universe.

Why does Kuf represent the cheap imitation? The Zohar goes on to tell us that Kuf comes from the language of the word Kof, which means monkey. You can take an elaborate dance routine and more or less teach it to monkey. But what are you going to get? Are you going to get a sharp, exacting run-through of the moves? No. It’s going to be a sloppy, dumbed down version of the original plan.

Says the Sfas Emes, this ‘monkey-see monkey-do’ trick is how the Yetzer HaRa gets me to mess up. My soul desires greatness. I’m destined for big things, to make waves. But my Yetzer HaRa takes that very desire for greatness in the realm of holiness and ruins it. So in the end I just have an ego. My soul desires a personal intimate relationship with HaKadosh Baruch Hu. This desire for closeness, this longing for relationship gets Kof’ed-out by the Yetzer HaRa and I end up with all of my lustful desires. In essence all of my bad traits are rooted in a good place, but the power of Kof takes them, twists them and serves them back to me as negative, temping urges.

But there is a Kof, the power of imitation, that is rooted in a very holy place as well. And in truth, it is the aimof all of Teshuva and the goal of all Avodas Hashem. It’s brought down that Every time I do a Mitzvah I’m really doing two Mitzvos. Why? Because every time a Mitzvah is done, I’m also doing the Mitzvah of ‘V’Halachta B’Drachav’ – to imitate God’s ways. Every Mitzvah is another piece of advice how to be more godly. We say this in many ways. Chazal tell us ‘Mah Hu Rachum, Af Atah Rachum.’ – Just as He is merciful, so too shall you be merciful. ‘Mah Hu Chanun, Af Atah Chanun’ – Just as He is gracious, so too shall you be gracious. We are playing copy-cat with God!

Just like the Passuk says in Parshas Kedoshim, “Kedoshim Tihiyu, Ki Kodesh Ani Hashem Elokeichem” - ‘You shall be holy, for I your God, am holy.’ What’s the motivation for being holier? Ki Kadosh Ani! Be holy because it makes you more like God!

And it’s all summed up by the Gemara in Bava Basra (58:a) which says that ‘Adam B’Fnei Shechina? K’Kof B’Fnei Adam. What does man look like in front of the Shechina? He looks like a monkey who stands before a man. We are trying to imitate all that which is holy, because that brings holiness into our very being.

The Ohr HaGanuz explains how the building of the Mishkan embodies this idea.

The Parsha opens up by Hashem listing off all the materials need to building the Mishkan. ‘I want your gold, silver, bronze. I need wood. Lots of wood. Cloth, dyes, and hides. We’re building something amazing here.’ Moshe looks at the list and God finishes off by saying, ‘Take a look at all this stuff, because with this - Va’Asu Li Mikdash V’Shachanti B’Socham - through the building of the Mishkan I will come to dwell in the very beings that make up the Jewish people.

But then, between the lines of the Psukim, Moshe Rabbeinu asks a question to Hashem: How is this stuff going to make you dwell in the Jewish people, in the essence of every single Jew?

So God answers back with another question, “I have a better question. Instead of asking how I’ll make Myself fit into the heart of every Jew, ask how I can fit My presence into the Mishkan! You can ask an ever better question. I’m infinite. Nothing else is infinite. How I do I fit in the heavens? How I do I cram myself into any of the levels of any of the spiritual universes! Nothing is big enough to contain Infinite! The answer is a constrict Myself, I hold back infinitude because I want to be with you. And if I can crunch Myself down through the supernal dimensions. I can also cram Myself into the heavens, and I can bring my presence into the world, and I can concentrate My Presence into a building.” And so the Passuk says, “K’Chol Asher Ani Ar’eh Oscha” – Just like I will show you – “Eis Tavnis HaMishkan, V’Eis Tavnis Kol Keilav - The structure of the dwelling place. Which one? Shochen Bamromim! – I’ll show you that if I can fit in there, in all of those worlds. - V’Chein Ta’asu - That’s how you’ll do it. That’s how you’ll fit my presence into the small physical space called the Mishkan. If I can do that, it’s no big leap to believe - V’Shachanti B’Socham, B’Chol Echad V’Echad.
that I can bring my presence into to bodies of the Jewish people as well.

And so building the Mishkan shows us that God can bring His presence, He can influence any space that invites Him in. This is how my Rebbe Rav Yoel Rackovsky Shlita understands the Passuk in Shir HaShirim. The Passuk says ‘Mashcheini Acharecha Narutzah’ – The Jewish people ask Hashem, Mashcheini - Pull us after You and we’ll come running! Says my Rebbe, Mashcheini can be interpreted to mean ‘Turn me into a Mishkan!’ Infuse me with Hashem’s presence!

This is what Chodesh Adar is all about! Adar’s whole essence is about bringing Hashem’s presence into our lives. To become influence by Him. To become more Godly ourselves. Adar is coming from the term Adir BaMarom Hashem - Hashem is awesome in the highest places. But He takes all that awe and brings it down. Adar spells out the phrase ‘Alef-Dar’ – The Alef dwells. Who is the Alef? Alufo Shel Olam! The Commander of the universe, Hashem! In Adar Hashem comes down, now more that ever, to come and infuse us, to enrich our lives with godliness.

We are striving to be more like Hashem. To be holy, to sanctified, to be actively bringing the world to a better place. This is what godliness is. This is what the Mishkan is all about. This is what Adar is all about. This is nothing less dramatic than what the goal of all Avodas Hashem is about. So in a year like a Shana Me’uberes, a year laden with such potential, is it not fitting to pull Shovivim into themes like this?!

Hashem should give us a Bracha that we should be able to take advantage of the tremendous opportunity that is upon us right now. We should be Zoche to truly maximize ourselves, to become Godly people - V’Shachanti B’Socham, B’Chol Echad V’Echad. Because if we can do that there is no doubt that we live lives of Simcha and Shleimus moving closer to the Creator and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!

Post Chanukah/Teves/VaYigash: Just Around the Riverbend

The following has been adapted based on concepts from Rav Sitorsky andHaLekach V’HaLibuv.

Chanukah is unique in that is the only holiday in the entirety of the Jewish calendar that crosses over into two months. It stars on the twenty-fifth of Kislev, but spends a little bit of time illuminating Teves as well.

In order to fully understand this, we need to analyze some other components. This week’s Parsha of VaYigash is the way we enter into the month, and therefore in coordination with whatever Teves represents as it comes in with Chanukah, it needs to be reconciled with the themes of VaYigash too.

In many ways Teves is a painful month. On the fifth, the Navi Yechezkel tells us that news reached Bavel regarding the destruction of the Temple. On the ninth, Ezra HaSofer dies and with his death the Jewish people end their relationship with prophecy. On the tenth there is a fast day because on that day Yerushalayim (may it be rebuilt speedily) was put under siege; an event which led to it’s eventual downfall.

This theme carries over into the Parsha as well. In this week’s Parsha, all the tribes, representative of all the Jewish people are all in Egpyt together, laying the roots of the exile. When Yosef HaTzadik reveals himself, he and Binyamin cry, leaning on each other’s necks. The Gemara in Megilah tells us that Binyamin was crying over the destruction of the Mishkan, located in the portion of Yosef. Yosef was crying over the destruction of the first and second Temples which were to be located in the portion on Binyamin. Just as the neck connects head and body, upper to lower, so too the Beis HaMikdash connects heaven and earth, the Jewish People to God. The destruction of the Temple is a spiritual slit throat.

The mystical sources teach us that each one of the tribes is appointed over a specific month. Lined up with this tribe is also a letter. This month, the month of Teves’ Shevet is Dan, and this month’s letter is Ayin.

These two factors provide us with more food for thought. The numerical value of Ayin is seventy. In VaYigash, Yaakov Avinu brings the totality of the Jewish people – all seventy souls – down to Egypt and into exile. We are told by Chazal that there are seventy root gentile nations, each one who poses its own unique challenge to one of these root souls of the Jewish people. Egypt contained all these powers at once – the root for all the exiles and oppressing nations. How do we know this? Each one of these nations has a unique language, and Chazal tell us that Paroh knew them all, thereby accessing all there negativity at once. The Chasam Sofer also tells us that the Agalos, the chariots that Yosef sent to Yaakov were really a metaphor for the seventy nations that will test us throughout history. How? The word Agalos spells Ayin-Galus, ‘The exile of seventy.’

Every word and letter finds its root in its first usage in the Torah, and Ayin does not come in with positive connotations. In the second verse of the Torah after stating that God created the heavens and earth. The Torah then lists four descriptions of how the world was desolate and abysmal. Chazal tell us that these four descriptions parallel the four major exiles of the Jewish people. The final one listed is Al Pnei T’hom - ‘Upon the surface of the deep.’ This is the Roman exile that has morphed and shifted through various forms and lasts until today. Al Pnei T’hom begins with an Ayin. And the three major forces at play in this final exile - Eisav, Amalek and Yishmael, all contain the letter Ayin in their names.

Shevet Dan, the-tribe-of-the-month is also a target of this negative energy. In the journey towards Mount Sinai, it is specifically the tribe of Dan that is attacked by Amalek.

Dan’s only son was Chushim. He was deaf and mute. Because in comparison to Kislev things dramatically quiet down this month.

The Yarden, the Jordan River, which has the letters of ‘Yered Dan’, Dan descends – is in the land-portion of Dan. The Jordan River serves as the ultimate obstacle, the body of water that must be crossed in order enter into the land of Israel, and like we see by Yehoshua, to the cross the river is a miraculous feat. The river that is rooted in Dan’s portion is the blockade that tries to keep us out of Eretz Yisrael.

To enter into Eretz Yisrael, Yaakov Avinu also had to cross the Jordan. How did he do so? The Passuk in VaYishlach tells us, “Ki V’Makli Avarti Es HaYarden HaZos. ‘With my staff I crossed this Jordan.’ The Shelah HaKadosh explains that words Ki V’Makli - ‘For with my staff’ hold the secret of how to cross the Yarden - the symbol of all of the challenges of Teves.

Ki V’Makli is spelled with the letters Kaf, Yud, Beis, Mem, Kuf, Lamed, and another Yud. Four of these letters spell Makabi (Mem, Kaf, Beis, Yud) the legion of Jewish warriors that overcame the Greeks in the war of Chanukah. The letters that make up Makabi can serve as an acrostic, as Rashei Teivos for Baruch Kavod Hashem M’Mkomo - ‘Blessed is the Honor of Hashem from His place.’ It also heads the words of the phrase Mi Kamocha B’Eilim Hashem?!, ‘Hashem! Who is like You among all the powers?’

The three remaining letters of Ki V’Makli are Kuf, Lamed and the second Yud. These three letters are the Rashei Teivos of LiShuascha Kivisi Hashem! ‘Hashem! I hope for Your salvation.’

The Shelah HaKadosh is teaching us that the way to cross the Yarden. The way to overcome the difficult hurdle that is Teves and all that comes with it is to tap back into the power of the Maccabees. Chazal tell us that Chanukah is all about thanking and praising Hashem. (Eight days of Hallel. Al HaNisim in the Bracha of Modim. The candles can’t be used, only looked at, K’dei L’Hodos U’L’Halel - to thank and praise. We eat commemorate the miracle, and we light where others can see it so that we can spread His greatness.) When I praise Hashem, I connect myself to that greatness – and through this thanks I become empowered.

And now we understand why Makabi serves as the acrostic for the two aforementioned phrases. A Makabi is a warrior or a hammer, because when we pay tribute to Hashem, it intensifies us – and with that might we can overcome the struggles that come with exile-motifs ofTeves.

This also answers why Chanukah extends into Teves. Hashem is telling us that the only way to overpower the negative energies of Teves is to extend into it the vigor of Chanukah.

And from this we understand why the three remaining letters of Ki V’Makli hinted towards LiShuascha Kivisi Hashem. Where did this phrase originate? In Yaakov Avinu’s blessing to Dan! Because through this phrase’s connection to Makabi we can channel tremendous force, even to Dan.

Yaakov told us that it was Ki V’Makli that he crossed Es HaYarden. This phrase of Es HaYarden has the same numerical value as the end of the familiar blessing that we just recited eight times V’Tzivanu L’Hadlik Ner Chanukah (many opinions drop the word Shel). Because with the power of Chanukah, by extending the power of V’Tzivanu L’Hadlik NEr Chanukah, we can cross Es HaYarden.

If Teves is the month that we begin to learn about exile, then we understand why Chanukah is chronologically the last holiday added to the calendar. Because it the power of thanking, praising and connecting to Hashem that we learn from Chanukah that will help us overcome the long and difficult month of Teves microcosmically and on the macrocosmic level, the Al Pnei T’hom that we mentioned before.

This isn’t just about Chanukah to Teves via VaYigash. This is about overcoming the exile as a whole. One of the main weapons that we have to overcome this long and dark process called Galus Edom is our investment in our relationship with Hashem. The more we praise Hashem, the more that we talk to Him, the more that we relate our excitement to others and inspire them to do the same – the more we are really empowering ourselves. When we connect upstairs, we are hooking ourselves up to literally endless spiritual resources. This is the message of Chanuka, this is how a bunch of old men beat the Greek army, and it this force that will push us through all the way to the Geulah Sheleimah!