5783 Listening to Common Sense The Pasuk in Parshas Shoftim (17:11) says על פי התורה אשר יורוך ועל המשפט אשר יאמרו לך תעשה לא תסור מן הדבר אשר יגידו לך ימין ושמאל. Rashi, quoting the Sifri, says אפילו אומר לך על ימין שהוא שמאל ועל שמאל שהוא ימין וכל שכן שאומר לך על ימין ימין ועל שמאל שמאל. The first part can be understood as necessary because it’s a chiddush that even if the Rabbi, the שופט, tells you על ימין שהוא שמאל ועל שמאל שהוא ימין, nevertheless you have to trust them....
5782 רְאֵ֗ה אָֽנֹכִ֛י נֹתֵ֥ן לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם בְּרָכָ֖ה וּקְלָלָֽה: (11:26) The kasha by which the mefarshim are bothered in this pasuk is the change between loshon yochid in the beginning of the pasuk “ראה” to loshon rabim “לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם” in the end of the pasuk. One interpretation we can offer is as follows: these brochos resulting from the kiyum mitzvos haTorah which Hashem has placed before Am Yisroel - the נֹתֵ֥ן לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם - are essentially שוה לכּל נפשׁ....
5779 Right Mindset The Rebbe Reb Bunim M’Pshichsa would learn Sefer Devarim every day of the year as a mussar sefer because what better mussar sefer could there be than to learn from the mussar of Moshe Rabbeinu. In the beginning of the Parshah, we find two references to יציאת מצרים. They are both two ways of living life and it’s the constant balance that must be kept throughout a person’s life....
5781 Consolation in the Galus The three Shabbasos before Tisha BaAv are called the תלתא דפורענותא because during these Shabosos, we read Haftorahs that talk about the Churban instead of reading a Haftorah which is מענין הפרשה. The seven weeks after Tisha BaAv, beginning with this Shabbos, are known as the שב דנחמתא since the Haftorah of each of these weeks discuss consolation. The תלתא דפורענותא are understandable as we are still in Galus and are still waiting for the building of the Beis Hamikdash....
5781 Blind Spot This Shabbos, ח אב, is the Yahrzeit of the Alter from Kelm. The Rav mentioned that in Kelm, on a Yahrzeit, a Yasom didn’t daven at the Amud. They would say the reason is because the Amud is not a Yasom. (This was prompted by someone in the Shul having Yahrzeit and not davening for the Amud.) In the Sefer חכמה ומוסר (Volume 2, Siman 71, titled מכל מלמדי השכלתי), the Alter from Kelm writes something that is connected to the beginning of Devarim (1:9-14)....