In this week’s parshah,we encounter a tremendous episode where Hakadosh Baruch Hu has a discussion with Avraham Avinu. Avraham Avinu says, הן לי לא נתת זרע, I don’t have children, והנה בן ביתי יורש אותי, behold my steward [Eliezer] will be my heir (Bereishis 15:3). True, a stranger won’t be the one to inherit me, but it’s not going to be my son.
Today, I want to share with you something that I heard from my Rebbi (HaRav Meir Halevi Soloveichik, zt”l) many years ago. It’s what you would refer to as a Brisker chiddush. One of the uniquenesses of the Briskers, is that they took nothing for granted. All assumed understandings were always re-analyzed and re-studied in order to find the emes. I remember hearing this chiddush from my Rebbi and thinking, “Wow! That’s an interesting devar Torah!” And then I realized it wasn’t a devar Torah. They generally don’t say divrei Torah. What they try to find is the emese pshat in the pesukim. Let me share with you this wonderful chiddush.
Sukkos is called zman simchaseinu. The simchah of Sukkos is a dual simchah because Sukkos has a dual role. Number one, Sukkos is the end of the Yamim Hanora’im, the end of the Days of Awe that began with Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Sukkos is the conclusion of those days, culminating with Hoshanah Rabbah which is called the גמר חתימת הדין. Number two…
Sponsored May We Be Zoche To See Moshiach B’Karov – The Rechanik Family Consider sponsoring a shiurVisit YTATorah.org Shiur presented in 5779 Credit Card Forgiveness Program Last time, we spoke about how easy it is to do teshuva. We explained that all you have to do is say, “Hashem, I became distanced from You, and…
In this week’s parshah Moshe Rabeinu is on the last day of his life and he calls Klal Yisrael together and says אתם נצבים היום – you stand this day (Devarim 29:9). Rashi says מלמד, this teaches us, שכנסם משה לפני הקב”ה ביום מותו להכניסם בברית – that Moshe assembled them in the presence of Hashem on the day of his death in order to initiate them into a covenant with Him.
In this week’s parshah, the Torah teaches us about the mitzvah of bikurim. The Torah tells us that when you plant fruit trees in Eretz Yisrael, you’re supposed to bring the first of the growth to the Beis Hamikdash, to be given to the kohanim. These first fruits are unique because they’re brought to the kohen in the Beis Hamikdash, but they’re not offered on the mizbeach. They’re given to the kohen. The Torah tells us the very great procedure that we have to do. There’s a whole meseches Bikurim that talks about the process of how you have to tie a string around the first fruit that emerge, and when they ripen you have to put them in a basket and then you have to march to Yerushalayim with pomp. A most tremendous mitzvah!
The month of Elul is a month for introspection and becoming aware of what one’s challenges are in this world. Do you know what our biggest challenge is? The biggest challenge that everybody has in this world is the same one. I share the same challenge as all of you. We both share a common enemy, and that enemy’s name is yeitzer hara or as the chassidim say yaitzer hurah or as the Sefardim say yeitzer ha-rah. But whatever the name is, however you pronounce it, it’s all the same thing, it’s the same enemy.
Tonight’s subject be’eizer Hashem,is to figure out the purpose of our lives in this world, for each one of us. One of the most fundamental principles of Judaism is that there is no creature that exists, that was created for no reason, or by chance. Every single one of the creatures in the universe has a specific purpose. That’s a mind-boggling concept. Every blade of grass, every ant, and every fly has a purpose in Hashem’s creation. That’s principle number one.
In this week’s parshah, we encounter the mitzvah of tzedakah. Tzedakah is something that everybody is familiar with. In all the shuls, people are collecting tzedakah. It is collected everywhere; on the streets, in newspapers, by phone, and through many other mediums and venues.
Today we will begin with our first shiur for this tekufah on the subject of bitachon. We spoke numerous times about emunah, but bitachon is where the power begins. Emunah is the seed or the tree, while bitachon is the fruit.[i] Emunah is the study of the halachah, whereas bitachon, in the words of the Chazon Ish zichrono levrachah, is the halachah lema’aseh.[ii]People don’t realize that the Torah teaches us how to behave in every situation.
