D'Var Torah - Parshas Eikev
Moshe was commanded to carve a second set of Tablets with the Ten
Commandments, to replace the first set of Tablets, which was smashed during the
incident of the golden calf. The second set of Tablets were not as great as the
first set. The first set was written by the finger of Hashem (G-d) and posessed
many miraculous properties. One might say, "I can never duplicate the original
so I will give up and not bother." We see here instead the correct attitude,
that one must always do the best one can with whatever one has to work
with.
One day a farmer's donkey fell into a well. The animal
cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to
do. Finally, he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered
up anyway, it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his
neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to
shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and
cried horribly.
Then, to everyone's amazement, he quieted down. A few shovel loads
later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at what he
saw.
With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was
doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the
farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake
it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey
stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off!
Life is
going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the
well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping
stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving
up!
Shake it off and take a step up!
Story submitted by Beatrice Rotzow. HAVE A GREAT STORY?
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There once was a boy who inherited an exquisite pair of tefillin from
his father. (Tefillin are worn by Jewish men during the daily prayer
service. Tefillin are composed of black leather boxes attached to the
head and arm with black leather straps. Inside the boxes are parchments
with Biblical passages.) The boy cherished this inheritance and from the
time he turned Bar Mitzvah, he donned his father's tefillin every single
day. The boy grew up to be a man, proud that he had never missed a day
wearing the tefillin he had inherited from his father.
Once he was staying at an inn while conducting business in several
nearby towns. One night, there was an unexpected blizzard preventing him
from getting back to his inn. He slept over at the home of an old Jewish
man - the only Jew in that little town. The next morning he had no choice
but to borrow that man's tefillin, an old worn pair, with the intention
of putting on his own, later that day, when he would return to the inn.
After all, who knew if those old tefillin were still kosher or if they
were ever kosher. The day's affairs detained him longer than expected and
he didn't get back to the inn till late at night. He had missed the
chance to don his father's tefillin that day.
He carried remorse for this
lapse for the rest of his life, all the way to his grave.
When he went before Heavenly Court, the prosecuting angels said that
this man had never put on tefillin in his life and were about to hand out
a grim sentence. The man blurted out in self defense, "What are you
talking about? I put on tefillin every day of my life." Unfortunately,
it turned out that those prestigious tefillin were not kosher and no one
knew. A defending angel stepped forward and said, "Wait! He cannot be
categorized as one who never put on tefillin, because he did put on a
kosher pair once when he was in a small town on a business trip." With
that he was spared a horrible fate.
This week's parsha, Eikev, teaches us that one should perform a "light" mitzvah
with the same seriousness as one would perform a "weighty" mitzvah. The
businessman never knew how significant it was when he put on those old
worn tefillin on that snowy morning. We never know what will be the
results of our actions. It is not for us to judge which is small and
which is huge. Every mitzvah is a big mitzvah.
DVAR TORAH: Eikev
Rashi teaches us that not only do we
need to be careful about the 'big' mitzvos, we have to be diligent with
regards to performance of the 'small' mitzvos - the mitzvos that are
commonly ignored and 'trampled'. No one of us would ever think of
robbing a bank, commiting murder, or worshiping idols; but there are
'small' everyday transgressions such as gossip that we may commit every
day. When you are careful to guard your tongue, amazing things can
happens as the following open
letter written by Rebbetzin B. Kanievsky illustrates:
We need your tefilos (prayers)! The situation in Eretz Yisroel is very
difficult- In recent months, we have witnessed numerous, terrible
tragedies and illnesses, which have left many orphans and widows. H-shem
should save us.
One day, a group of people came to my husband, Harav Chaim Kanievsky
shlit"a to ask him why all these tragedies are occurring. The Rav opened
a Gemara and pointed out the answer: improper speech is the cause and we
can alleviate the situation ONLY by guarding our tongues.
Harav Segal of Manchester zt"l wrote in an article: "I have not seen in
my lifetime a person who has-learned, two halachos (laws) in Shmiras
Haloshon (guarding the tongue) everyday, who hasn't been helped with
having children, finding a marriage partner, recovering from illness,
earning a livelihood or properly raising children." Rav Segal promised
that if a person learned Sefer Chofetz Chaim (Sefer Chofetz Chaim is a
famous book detailing the laws of proper speech), he would personally
act as his Defender in Heaven. And indeed, we have seen open miracles
performed for people who have taken it upon themselves to learn two
halachos every day.
Shortly after I read the article by Rav Segal zt"1, a woman came to see
me, her words punctuated by heartbreaking weeping. She told me that she
had a long line of older daughters who had not yet gotten married. I
showed her the article and she immediately said that she would accept
upon herself a
commitment to learn two halachos every day. Within three days, her first
daughter was engaged. After two months, the second daughter followed
suit, and blie eyen hora the woman saw many yeshuos. Many hundreds of
girls in need of shidduchim (matches) have gotten married after taking
this commitment upon themselves.
Another story was told to me by a woman who came to visit with a
one-month-old baby in her arms. She told us that she had come to us a
year ago in great sorrow: she had been married twenty years and remained
childless. At that time, I had suggested that she learn two halachos a
day, and B"H (Thank G-d) she followed this advice and merited the birth
of a son.
Only a few months ago. a terribly distraught woman came to me, hoping I
could advise her on a way to help her mother, who was being hospitalized
for a malignant growth. I suggested to her that all the family members
should commit themselves to learn two halachos of Shmiras Haloshon.
After two days, she returned to me and asked me to publicize the miracle
that had occurred. She told us that the whole family gathered and each
member took upon himself or herself an obligation to learn two halachos
a day. After only two days, they received a phone call from the hospital
telling them to take their mother home; the growth had disappeared and
the mother was fully recovered!
Many, many miracles have occurred...
In view of the current situation, we should each commit ourselves blie
neder to learn two halachos every day, and to daven with increased
concentration, Davening that comes from a pure, holy mouth, the mouth of
one who guards his tongue, is accepted immediately by H-shem. Such
davening has the power to prevent tragedies and tzuras; and it brings
yeshuos to the world. In the future. each of us will be shown how many
miracles our davening created and how many lives it saved.
In the merit of your efforts, righteous women and girls, may we merit to
see the coming of the Moshiach speedily m our days. Inlay it be H-shem's
will to fulfill all your requests for the good.
B. Kanievsky
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