Parshat Balak - Moshiach! (by R' Herschel Schachter)

I didn't have a chance to write up anything of my own on the Parsha (you can check out our thought from last year if you'd like), so I am just going to copy an article by R' Herschel Shachter shlit"a. The source of the article is here at toraweb.org.

I thought this article was worthwhile not only because Rav Shachter is a phenomenal talmid chacham, but also because he briefly discusses a fascinating Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh on the Parsha, and yesterday was his yahrtziet:




The Rambam (towards the end of his commentary to Mishnayot Sanhedrin) lists what he considers to be the thirteen principles of our faith, the twelfth of which is to believe in the coming of Moshiach. This point is not unique to Lubavitch groups; it is part of the beliefs of all Jews. We believe that G-d did not forsake the world after the six days of creation. He continuously sees to it that history should unfold in the way He wants. "In the end of days" His kingdom will be accepted by all mankind, and the Melech HaMoshiach will represent Him.

This point of faith appears throughout the books of the prophets from the Torah of Moshe Rabbeinu to the nevua (prophecy) of Malachi. One of the two places in the Chumash (Five Books of Moses) where the principle of Moshiach is spelled out is in Parshat Balak. The Torah records the prophecy of Bilam who speaks of King David as well as his descendent - the Melech HaMoshiach.

Towards the end of the Mishneh Torah, the Rambam dedicates two chapters to the topic of Moshiach. He writes that the exact details of the coming of Moshiach are very unclear, and are at present not that important. A tendency to dwell on these details will lead one to neither a greater love for G-d, nor a greater fear of G-d. The important point is that we believe in the principle of the coming of a human being, who will be a descendent of King David. In another essay the Rambam points out that the Moshiach will be highly intelligent, a tremendous prophet, and admired and respected by all. He will be an unknown figure until the time he is "revealed", and his debut will take place in Eretz Yisroel.

We all have an obligation to hope for the coming of Moshiach daily, and to do whatever we can to hasten his coming. But what can we possibly do? The matter is not under our control? The Rambam explains that what we can do is daven (pray) to Hashem who does have control. This is formally done in the weekday shmoneh esrei where there is a special bracho (es tsemach dovid etc.) through which we plead with G-d to hasten the coming of Moshiach.

In the days of the Talmud it was optional to recite the bracha of "es tsemach dovid" either as a separate bracho, or as part of the preceeding bracha - "Veliyerushalayim ircha". Today the accepted practice is that these two themes are separated into two separate brachos. The reason it was originally considered acceptable to combine these two themes into one was that a complete rebuilding of Yerushalayim consisted of both a. rebuilding the Beis HaMikdash, and b. reestablishing the office of the government of Malchus Beis David there. The Rambam writes in the beginning of Hilchos Melachim that no other king (other than those of Beis David) may have their official palaces or official government offices in Yerushalayim. Yerushalayim is the official capital of Medinat Yisroel, especially reserved for the official government of that country. In fact, the generally accepted view in Shulchan Aruch is that the special rabbinic requirement to tear kriah upon seeing the old city of Yerushalayim in a state of destruction relates not so much to the fact that the city was the site of the beis HaMikdosh, but rather because it was the political capital of the Jewish medinah and the kriah represents symbolically our mourning over the loss of that medinah. Therefore, most have the practice not to tear kriah today when visiting the Old City, because it has become again the capital of the Jewish medinah.

There are those who argue that one can not establish a Jewish medinah in Eretz Yisroel before the coming of the moshiach. However, the Ohr Hachayim Hakadosh on this week's sedra offers a novel interpretation of the pasuk, "Darach Kochav MeYaakov, vekam shevet meYisroel". He explains it to mean that if Klal Yisroel wil be worthy, we would witness the emergence of the Jewish government in Eretz Yisroel in miraculous and supernatural fashions, similar to a shooting star. But if we will not be zoche, then an inferior quality government will emerge in Eretz Yisroel, lacking the charm and the luster of the shooting star.

Even though we may be dissatisfied with the memshala (the individuals running the Israeli government), we are overjoyed and thankful to have a Jewish medinah in Eretz Yisroel.

"Food" for Thought on the 4th of July

Every July fourth for the last 97 years, a popular event is held in Coney Island, New York to mark the 4^th of July (U.S. Independence Day) – I refer to none other than the world famous Nathan’s hot dog eating contest. 

Contestants that have made it to the finals are given ten minutes to eat as many hot dogs (including the buns) as they can. 40,000 people cram the surrounding streets to cheer on their favorite speed-eaters and more than one million viewers are expected to tune in on TV (you can catch the live nationally televised  broadcast on…. you guessed it… ESPN). As I write this I see the breaking news that Joey Chestnut (yes, his real name) has defended his title for the sixth consecutive year by tying his own world record of a (disturbing) 68 hot dogs in ten minutes...

This whole event brought to mind the halacha in the Gemara about feeding one’s animals....In general, a person’s must feed his animals before he feeds himself at meal time (See Brachot 40a and Gittin 62a based on the passuk in Devarim 11:15. Also check out the Magen Avraham in O.C. 167:18 who holds that this only applies to food, not drink).

The Yad Efraim in his commentary to Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 167) suggests that the reason for this is that it is quite possible that our merit and worthiness of receiving the food from Hashem is no less than that of an animal and it could be that the animals are the source of our meriting food in the first place. It is therefore the animals who take precedence.

We also know that the Torah requires us to elevate our act of eating in various ways. We acknowledge and thank Hashem before and after each and every meal and snack with brachot. We are also obligated to go out of our way to provide food to those less fortunate (see Rambam hil. Yom Tov perek 6).

All of this together makes for an interesting contrast of perspective - on the one hand we need to show ourselves that our eating is no greater than that of an animal and we do this by feeding our animals before ourselves. At the same time, we have halachot in place to help us raise our act of eating to become a vehicle for thanking Hashem and doing kindness for others.

In reality though, these are really just two sides of the same coin. The act of eating is indeed a physical, animalistic need and our fulfillment of this need is comparable to that of an animal. The Torah’s mandate is to make our eating part of the bigger picture of serving Hashem in a dignified, proper way.

My intent is not to bash the hot dog eating contest. Who am I to denounce a long standing American tradition. Just consider this a reference to a couple of interesting halachot and maybe some "food" for thought...

The "Bottom Line" - Business vs. Torah

When one makes  a siyum, it is customary to recite the "hadran". One of the themes that runs through the hadran is the contrast between those who put their efforts into learning and those who invest all their time and energy into other, trivial things.

In the middle of the text we recite:
"We [those who learn Torah] work hard and they [those who spend their time on trivial things] work hard. We work hard and receive a reward for our efforts while they work hard and do not receive any reward..."

The Chofetz Chaim is reported to have explained this comparison as follows - in the physical world it's all about results. If you work and work but don't produce - you don't get paid. When it comes to learning however, it is specifically the effort and the investment of self that generates the reward - regardless of the bottom line of actual progress and accomplishment. If someone barely knows how to read Hebrew but he struggles to get through a few pesukim with Rashi, he will be rewarded like a more advanced student who pushes himself to finish a long masechta.

But that seemingly leaves us with a question - why would we emphasize this point specifically at a siyum which in and of itself is a celebration of objective accomplishment? Why do we announce that the Torah doesn't consider the juice-to-squeeze ratio at the very moment when we're enjoying this milestone that has been reached?

The passuk in Shemot (18:20 to be exact) refers to the Torah as a "Derech" - a "Path":

 וְהִזְהַרְתָּה אֶתְהֶם אֶת-הַחֻקִּים וְאֶת-הַתּוֹרֹת וְהוֹדַעְתָּ לָהֶם אֶת-הַדֶּרֶךְ יֵלְכוּ בָהּ וְאֶת-הַמַּעֲשֶׂה אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשׂוּן.

The very nature of a "path" is that it is a place where people move and progress. Stopping for a break on the side of the path is totally within reason, but this does not fulfill the ultimate purpose of the path which is to facilitate constant movement of its travelers. 


Perhaps at a siyum we stress that while we are taking a quick break on the side of the proverbial road to celebrate the completion of this leg of the journey, we must remember that this is not the final stop and our objective must be to continue as far as we can go. 


This is the difference between "us" and "them" as we say in the "Hadran". In the material world it is often all about meeting a deadline and completing a specific project or task. Meet the objective satisfactorily and you will be rewarded. Miss it and you will have to deal with the consequences. Often there is no "A for effort".

Torah however, is meant to be a "Derech" - an ongoing path for improvement and progress. You didn't daven so well this morning? Don't worry - you'll do better at Mincha. Didn't understand the answer of Tosafos? You'll give it another shot next time you review this perek. Do the best you possibly can and if you stumble don't stop to feel sorry for yourself because going forward you'll do even more and even better. One who lives with this outlook is truly worthy of his reward in the eyes of the Torah.

I pride myself on being a "balabus" who strives for effort and excellence at work, at home, in Shul and int he Beit Midrash. I don't see working and learning as "two worlds" that run in parallel but rather different aspects of a complete Avodat Hashem. Sometimes however, the "what-have-you-done-for-me-lately" attitude in the business world causes to me take a step back and try to keep things in some sort of perspective...

Perhaps this is all obvious to whoever takes the time to read it, but even the most obvious things are worth repeating once in a while

Talmud Yerushalmi vs. Talmud Bavli

I started a new chavrusa learning Gemara Brachot from the beginning. It's going great and it's amazing how sometimes a Gemara and a Rashi that you've learned many times before can suddenly start looking a lot more complex and interesting than you remember it...

While learning last night, my chavrusa asked an interesting question - why do we spend so much time learning the Talmud BAVLI??? Don't we also have a Talmud Yerushalmi? After all, we are in Israel and it would make sense to learn the local Torah. And don't Chaza"l say - "Ein Torah k'torat Eretz Yisrael"?? Why did the Bavli become the main focus of our Torah Sheba'al Peh?
precedence over the Yerushalmi.

After a bit of research, here are a few reasons suggested throughout the generations:


The Rif, at the end of Eruvin says that halachic preference is given to the Bavli because it came after the Yerushlami, and the Amoraim of the Bavli were fluent in the Yerushlami and nonetheless came to their conclusions which often differ from those Yerushlami.

Rav Yitchak Isaac Halevi Rabinowitz zt"l, in Dorot Rishonim (Chap. 20) offers an historical reason based on the opinions of some of the Geonim, that since there were persecutions on Eretz Yisrael at the time that the Yerushlami was compiled, the relevant halachic discussions were ended abruptly and were not fully developed. We therefore rely upon the Bavli which whose discussions were developed fully.

The Netziv in his commentary to the Torah, Ha'amek Davar (Shemot 34:1) compares the two Talmuds to the first and second luchot. On the one hand, the first set of luchot had a higher level of kedusha since they were formed by Hashem Himself, but the second luchot are still the ones which remained intact forever. Similarly, the Talmud Yerushalmi has a higher level of kedusha since it was written by earlier chachamim and it has the merit of being written in Eretz Yisrael, but the Bavli is the Torah that guided the Jewish people through the exile to Bavel and allowed us to maintain our traditions through a period of darkness.

It should also be noted that the chachamim and poskim throughout the generations still held the Yerushalmi in very high regard. Anyone who has learned the Aruch Hashulchan for example, knows that he makes reference to the Yerushalmi on almost every page. Also take a look at thw Bi'ur HaGr"a (Orach Chaim 235:13) who discusses the Rambam's view.

Parshat Vayetze - Ein Mearvin Simcha B'simcha and Sheva Brachot

A thought on Parshat Vayetze that I recently printed in a Kuntress names "Katal Imrati (כטל אמרתי) In honor of our daughter Talia Rachel:

Shabbat Shalom

A Fantastic P'shat from R' Nosson Gestetner zt"l

On the bus home from work yesterday, I was going through a teshuva from a sefer called "L'Horot Natan" from R' Nosson Gestetner zt"l (vol. 11 siman 9). The teshuva outlines exactly how bad it is to bring your cell phone to shul and use it to speak in the middle of tefilla (an unfortunately relevant topic these days).

Perhaps we'll get back to cell-phone-related halacha at some point soon (I have more to say on the topic), but for now I wanted to share an absolutely beautiful idea that R' Gestetner adds parenthetically in this piece.

The Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 83:3) rules that one should go to daven after having learned a clearly defined halacha. R' Gestetner uses this ruling to offer a novel explanation to the Gemara in Brachot (31a) that one should take leave of his friend "mitoch" (lit. "from within") a d'var halacha.

I am including the first page of the teshuva (it continues on the next page in the sefer) and highlighted the section to which I am referring.

I didn't have time to translate, but his language is pretty clear. Enjoy it - I certainly did.

Remembering Rav Shach zt"l

Today, the 16th of Cheshvan, marks the 10^th anniversary of the passing of Rav Elazar Menachem Mann Shach zt”l, the great gaon and Rosh Yeshiva of the Ponevezh yeshiva in B’nei Brak and author of the Avi Ezri on the Rambam.

I never had the privilege of meeting Rav Shach in person, but when he died I took the opportunity to pay a shiva call to his only son, Rabbi Dr. Efraim Azriel Shach z”l (who lived in Jerusalem until he passed away just before Sukkot of this year).

Dr. Shach had a very interesting story – much of which is well known by now. After learning in some of the finest Yeshivot in Israel at the time, he went on to join the Irgun and later went to University in North America. He ultimately returned and spent much of his professional career filling senior positions in the Israeli Ministry of Education. Suffice it to say that he didn’t exactly fit the assumed mold of the son of the Ponovezh Rosh Yeshiva.

I was at the beginning of my second year of learning in Yeshivat Hakotel at the time, and so one afternoon in the week of shiva during my lunch break, I hopped in a cab with a Rebbe from the Yeshiva and friend. Together the three of us made the short trip to the other side of the city to visit Dr. Shach.

We walked into a very welcoming but simple apartment. I was immediately struck by the large painting on the wall depicting Rav Shach davening with tallit and tefillin.

The apartment was busy with visitors, but not overly crowded. Dr. Shach patiently and warmly gave his full attention to each and every one of his visitors – weather he had met them previously or not (we didn’t even realize that R’ Zalman Nechemia Goldberg was sitting right next to us while we waited for our turn!).

When it was our turn to approach Dr. Shach he told us about his time spent in the United States as a faculty member and administrator in the Yeshiva of Flatbush. He joked with my friend who was a graduate of MTA – “we used to beat you guys in basketball all the time!”. 

He also shared some stories about his great father.  Dr. Shach related that once while he was in the New York, he wrote his father a letter marveling at the huge skyscrapers in Manhattan. His father responded that he was unimpressed by such physical, temporary things. “After all”, wrote Rav Shach to his son, “these buildings could fall to the ground in an instant” if Hashem willed it so. Being that the events of September 11, 2001 were not even two months behind us at that time, this particular vignette gave us goose bumps.

Dr. Shach also recalled how one morning he and his father were together in Rav Shach's apartment in B'nei Brak. His father was eating a piece of dry toast for breakfast and learning Rambam. Dr. Shach asked his father if he would like something with his toast - perhaps some butter or jam. Rav Shach looked at his son as if he was speaking Chinese. "I don't understand what you mean" replied Rav Shach, "I am having Rambam with my toast". Dr. Shach said that this response from his father was 100% serious.

A few months after my visit with Dr. Shach, he came to Yeshivat Hakotel at Rav Bina’s invitation to address the student body as a whole. In a moving display, Dr. Shach implored us to put all of our efforts into the study of Torah and keeping of the mitzvot. Dr. Shach explained that as his father taught him – everything in this world is rooted in and connected to the Torah. For a Jewish person there can be nothing that exists outside of this reality. Dr. Shach with all of his “other” pursuits and accomplishments in this world taught us that at the end of the day the Torah is the umbrella that encompasses everything in life.

This was the message of Rav Shach as told by his only son.

In this politicized and polarized world, many disagreed with Rav Shach on one issue or another. But perhaps on this, his tenth yahrtzeit, we can all agree on his bottom line - that for us Jews the Torah was, is and always will be the center of our lives.