D'Var Torah - Parshas Shelach - 5762
"So that you may remember and perform all My commandments and
be holy to your G-d." (Num 14:40) We are proud that G-d entrusted us with
His precious Mitzvos (commandments). They are part of our blood. We view them
not as a burden, but as a privilege, as the following true story
illustrates:
Like most new immigrants, Sefi
(Yosef) Moses' parents had a hard time finding a decent job. Things got worst
when Sefi's father became sick, and he wasn't able to keep a steady job. He
had to spend much time in bed because the concentration camps had taken all
of his strength.
Several of the stores in the
Jewish neighborhood where the Moses family lived rented their window space to
esrog dealers who displayed the yellow fruits. Many of the boys bragged about
how their fathers had first pick of the esrogim which they would use for the
Mitzvah of Sukkos. [An esrog is a yellow citrus fruit used in the ritual
observance of the holiday of Sukkos - Ed.]
Sefi was not jealous because he was
grateful his parents had escaped the camps. Still, it hurt Sefi to think his
pious father would not have an esrog. He secretly hoped he would get hold of
ten dollars to buy a particular esrog which he had been eyeing.
One day he walked into the
store. The kind owner noticed Sefi, who every evening walked by his window
eyeing his special fruits. He asked Sefi what he needed. He told the owner
that he had no money to purchase an esrog, but he wanted to hold it and feel
it in his hands. He let him hold it but warned him to be careful because it
was expensive. Sefi finally gave the esrog back.
Every morning and evening, Sefi
walked past the store window to see if someone had purchased the esrog. He
even told his father, hoping he would raise enough money to buy it. Sefi's
father told him he should have faith in Hashem and be thankful for what he
had.
The holiday fast approached and
the esrogim in the store windows kept disappearing. Twice on the day before
Sukkos, he asked to leave in the middle of class to run to the store to see
if the esrog was still there. He was relieved to see that it was.
By the night of Erev Sukkot,
Sefi had lost much of his hope. While Sefi was thinking about what to do, he
heard his neighbor Reb Yitzi the watchmaker come to visit his father, asking
that he make him a basket holder for his lulav and he would pay for it. [An
lulav is a palm branch used in the ritual observance of the holiday of Sukkos
- Ed.]
Sefi watched his father weave a
beautiful basket and receive a dollar for it. Sefi approached his father with
an idea to raise enough money for the esrog. He wanted his father to use the
old lulav strips to make more baskets and sell them. Mr. Moses was skeptical
but went along with the plan for Sefi's sake. Ecstatic, Sefi went back to
bed.
Sefi woke up and took the lulav
holders to shul (synagogue), yet despite his great expectations, only two men
offered a quarter for his beautiful holders. Sefi was about to leave when the
store owner came out of the shul and saw the holders and asked Sefi if he was
selling them. He gave Sefi more scraps to make more holders to sell in his
store.
Sefi ran home to tell his
father the good news. Mr. Moses was sure that the owner's kindness was a gift
from Hashem. This was the busiest day of Sefi's life. He went all around
selling his holders. He returned at half day with only six dollars. Sefi
gathered the last of his father's holders, and waited in front of the store
to make sure no one would buy his esrog and to sell holders.
When Sefi had finally made
$8.75, he saw a man buying his esrog. He ran into the store and told the
owner that he only had $8.75, but would get the rest of the money. The
stranger, though, said he would pay fifteen dollars for the esrog.
The store owner was faced with
a dilemma. He could really use the extra money, but he couldn't let Sefi
down. He convinced the stranger to buy a different esrog. The stranger was so
impressed with Sefi that he bought two holders for a dollar.
That Sukkot no one was prouder
than Sefi when he walked to shul with that esrog in his hand. Sefi's clothes
were far from new, and his house was bare of luxuries. Still, to Sefi this
was the most beautiful Sukkot he had ever celebrated. He felt like a king
when his father let him take part in the lulav parade.
D'Var Torah - Parshas Shelach - 5761
Kindness Has No Limits - by Zalman Aryeh
Hilsenrad
(Reprinted from "MY SOUL
THIRSTS... STILL" with permission of Feldheim
Publishers)
At a table stacked high with texts on
Jewish Law, sat the rabbi of Kovner, Yitzchok Elchonon Spector, flanked by two
other great rabbis.
As the leading rabbi of his generation, a
most complicated matter involving a large sum of money had been sent to him for
adjudication. This is the method Jewish Law provides for settling differences --
they are submitted to a Rabbinical Court (Beit Din) whose decision is final and
binding. Although both parties had decided to abide by the decision of Rabbi
Spector alone, he had decided not to assume the full responsibility and had
invited two other sages to act with him as a Rabbinical Court.
Both litigants had already appeared to
present their arguments personally. And now, on this final day, the rabbis were
engaged in exploring the vast field of responsa to determine wherein and to what
extent the matter before them followed a pattern of a case which had been
decided by the sages of a previous era. All morning had been devoted to
research, and now after a short pause for lunch, they had resumed their research
and deliberations.
Their minds, full to overflowing with the
Torah in all its aspects, delved ever more deeply into the divinely-inspired
treasure-troves of the "Code of Jewish Law" and its numerous commentaries. They
compared, contrasted and balanced; they proposed, debated, accepted, rejected.
These saintly faces turned red in profound concentration as they sought with all
their power to find the just verdict under Jewish law. As befits such sages,
they discussed their viewpoints calmly, with due deference to each other.
And suddenly, at this climatic point, there
was a most unwelcome interruption in the form of a knock on the door. Rabbi
Spector opened the door to find a member of the Kovner Jewish community who
greeted his rabbi respectfully.
"Come in," said the rabbi cordially.
"I do not want to interrupt," said the
visitor respectfully, taking a few steps into the room and eying the other
rabbis. "I came only to tell you that Shmuel has been freed from military duty."
"Really!" shouted the rabbi joyously. "Thank
God! A great blessing to you for bringing this great news to me. You have
performed a great mitzvah in coming to me. May you be blessed!"
Rabbi Spector, besides fulfilling
magnificently his duties as rabbi of the city, also served his flock as only a
devoted father can serve. He utilized every means, time and effort to save each
inhabitant from military duty. In this particular case, he had done all humanly
possible to spare Shmuel, an esteemed, highly-devout young Torah scholar.
Knowing the rabbi's valiant, unremitting, all-out work, this man had felt
obligated to run and tell the rabbi the good news as soon as it became known.
After the visitor left, Rabbi Spector
returned to his place and the three sages resumed their deliberations.
But no sooner had they begun to retrace their
steps, to pick up the thread of discussion, when another knock was heard. When
Rabbi Spector opened the door, another Kovner Jew appeared and shouted, "Rabbi!
Great news! Shmuel is free of military duty!"
"Thank God! That is wonderful!" exclaimed the
rabbi enthusiastically. "Come in and let us hear the full story."
"That's all there is. Isn't that enough?"
answered the second visitor. "I do not know any more than what I just told you.
As soon as I heard it, I ran to bring you the good tidings."
"Thank you very much," replied the rabbi,
smiling genially. "Good news comes through good people. May the Almighty bless
you with all good things!"
Rabbi Spector had no sooner closed the door
after the second visitor, when a third appeared. But when this one saw the rabbi
at the doorstep, he was a bit confused.
"Come in, come in. Tell me what's new,"
invited the rabbi.
"I only came to tell you the good news that
Shmuel is free of military duty," answered the latest visitor.
"Really?" exclaimed Rabbi Spector as
rapturously as if he had just heard the news for the first time. "Thank God! And
I also want to thank you for taking the trouble to bring me the wonderful news.
Come in and rest up a bit."
In the course of that afternoon, a steady
stream of Kovner Jews came to tell the good news. And Rabbi Spector received
each visitor cordially and thanked each one so profusely that no one could have
discerned any difference between the reception accorded to the first and to the
tenth.
One of the other rabbis was finally compelled
to ask, "Rabbi Spector! So far? After all, everything has a limit!"
Rabbi Spector answered quickly. "The Talmud
says that there are mitzvot which have no fixed limit. Acts of human kindness
are included in this category. And to receive every visitor cordially is a
kindness. Had any one of these visitors sensed a lack of welcome in my demeanor,
it would have been tantamount to a slap in the face. These great devoted Jews
are aflame with love and concern for their fellows. Many of them probably
wrenched themselves away from important matters on a busy workday to bring this
bit of good news to their rabbi personally. Blessed may they all be and may we
all hear only good tidings."
Story submitted by Rabbi Asher Brander of Congregation Kehilla, Los
Angeles. HAVE A GREAT STORY? Please send it to us.
Contact us to dedicate a Dvar Torah in memory/honor of a loved one/event.
5760
David & Sarah Fried were devastated when they learned that their new baby
woud be born with the dreaded disorder known as spina bifida. Children
born with spina bifida usually require an operation shortly after birth
which drains accumulated fluid near the brain. The surgery delayed the
bris of their son, but it also gave the young parents more time to
reflect on the choice of a name for this speical child (boys are always
given their Jewish names at the bris). The Steipler Gaon, Rabbi Y.Y.
Kanievsky (1899-1985) said that a boy with this condition should be given
a name such as Baruch meaning blessed, which is an expression of both
prayer and hope for his welfare. They were reluctant to give this name
since they already had a daughter named Bracha; but Rabbi Shmuel
Kamenetsky (Philadelphia) advised them that it was proper to do so
despite the similarity in names. The next week was the parsha of Shelach.
David saw a commentry of Rabbi Shamshon Refael Hirsch explaining that
when Moshe dispatched the men to spy out the land of Israel, he changed
the name of Hoshea to Yehoshua (Joshua), as a prayer that the spies be
safe and secure in their mission. Yehoshua would be a guiding light to
his companions "not to lose sight" of their mission. The idea of
Yehoshua setting an example struck David. Yes, he would name the child
Yehoshua and he and his wife would strive to make their child so happy
that he would be a positive influence on anyone beset by handicaps. Sarah
agreed immediately. The baby progressed to where the bris could finally
be scheduled. The night before the bris, David's father called and asked,
"Have you decided on a name?" David avoided giving a direct answer. His
father persisted, "If Sarah doesn't have a particular relative whom she
is obligated to name after, then I want you to name him after my brother
Bernie who passed away a few months ago. No one has been named for him."
His father was emphatic. David didn't know what to say. He had liked and
respected his uncle but the other name meant so much to them. Still, he
wanted to avoid a confrontation with his father.
"What was uncle Bernie's name?" David asked reluctantly.
"Yehoshua Baruch!" came the startling reply.
[The above story is true and appears in Along the Maggid's Journey.]
DVAR TORAH: Shelach
The spies became corrupt and deliberately
gave a negative report about Israel. We now present a positive
report:
Amazing Facts about Israel
The Middle East has been growing
date palms for centuries. The average tree is about 18-20 feet
tall and yields about 38 pounds of dates a year. Israeli trees
are now yielding 400 pounds/year and are short enough to be
harvested from the ground or a short ladder.
Israel, the 100th smallest country, with less
than 1/1000th of the world's
population, can lay claim to the following:
The cell phone was developed in Israel by
Israelis working in the Israeli
branch of Motorola, which has its largest development center in
Israel.
Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed
by Microsoft-Israel.
The Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed
in Israel at Intel. Both the
Pentium-4 microprocessor and the Centrino processor were
entirely designed, developed
and produced in Israel.
The Pentium microprocessor in your computer
was most likely made in Israel.
Voice mail technology was developed in
Israel.
Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D
facilities outside the US in
Israel.
The technology for the AOL Instant Messenger
ICQ was developed in 1996 by
four young Israelis.
Israel has the fourth largest air force in
the world (after the U.S.,
Russia and China). In addition to a large variety of other
aircraft,
Israel's air force has an aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16's.
This is the largest fleet of
F-16 aircraft outside of the US.
According to industry officials, Israel
designed the airline industry's
most impenetrable flight security. U. S.officials now look to
Israel for advice on how to
handle airborne security threats.
Israel's $100 billion economy is larger than
all of its immediate neighbors
combined.
Israel has the highest percentage in the
world of home computers per
capita.
Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the
population in the world.
Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other
nation by a large margin - 109
per 10,000 people -- as well as one of the highest per
capita rates of patents filed.
In proportion to its population, Israel has
the largest number of startup
companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the
largest number of startup
companies than any other country in the world, except the US
(3,500 companies mostly in
hi-tech). With more than 3,000 high-tech companies and startups,
Israel has the highest
concentration hi-tech companies in the world -- apart from the
Silicon Valley, US.
Israel is ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds right
behind the US.
Outside the United States and Canada, Israel
has the largest number of
NASDAQ listed companies.
Israel has the highest average living
standards in the Middle East.
The per capita income in 2000
was over $17,500, exceeding that of the UK.
On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest
number of biotech startups.
Twenty-four per cent of Israel's workforce
holds university degrees -- ranking third in the industrialized
world, after the United States and
Holland - and 12 per cent hold advanced degrees.
Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.
In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000 Ethiopian
Jews at risk in Ethiopia, to
safety in Israel.
When Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of
Israel in 1969, she became the
world's second elected female leader in modern times.
When the U. S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya was
bombed in 1998, Israeli rescue
teams were on the scene within a day -- and saved three victims
from the rubble.
Israel has the third highest rate of
entrepreneurship -- and the highest
rate among women and among people over 55 - in the world.
Relative to its population, Israel is the
largest immigrant-absorbing
nation on earth.
Israel was the first nation in the world to
adopt the Kimberly process, an
international standard that certifies diamonds as "conflict
free."
Israel has the world's second highest per
capita of new books.
Israel is the only country in the world that
entered the 21st century with a
net gain in its number of trees, made more remarkable because
this was achieved in an area
considered mainly desert.
Israel has more museums per capita than any other country.
Medicine... Israeli scientists developed the first fully
computerized, no-radiation,
diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.
An Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring
proper administration of
medications, thus removing human error from medical
treatment. Every year in U. S. hospitals 7,000 patients
die from treatment mistakes.
Israel's Givun imaging developed the first
ingestible video camera, so
small it fits inside a pill. Used to view the small intestine
from the inside, the camera
helps doctors diagnose cancer and digestive disorders.
Researchers in Israel developed a new device
that directly helps the heart
pump blood, an innovation with the potential to save lives among
those with heart failure. The
new device is synchronized with the heart's mechanical
operations through a sophisticated system of sensors.
Israel leads the world in the number of
scientists and technicians in the
workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the
U.S., over 70 in Japan, and
less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force
employed in technical
professions. Israel places first in this category as well.
A new acne treatment developed in Israel, the ClearLight device,
produces a high-intensity,
ultraviolet-light-free, narrow-band blue light that causes acne
bacteria to self-destruct -- all without damaging surroundings
skin or tissue.
An Israeli company was the first to develop and install a
large-scale solar-powered and
fully functional electricity generating plant, in southern
California's Mojave desert.
All the above while engaged in regular wars
with an implacable enemy that
seeks its destruction, and an economy continuously under strain
by having to spend more per capita on its own protection than
any other country on earth.
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