Vayelech

5782

Like Grain and a Grapevine

In the Haftorah for Shabbos Shuva, the Pasuk says ישבו ישבי בצלו יחיו דגן ויפרחו כגפן-Tranquil will be those who sit in its shade, they will refresh themselves like grain and blossom like the grapevine. The Pasuk refers to someone doing Teshuva as refreshing themselves like grain and blossoming like the grapevine. What is the significance of these two fruits that they are used to describe someone who does Teshuva?

The Bnei Yisaschar explains as follows. The Gemara in Brachos 35b discussing why wine has a special Brachah suggests the reason is because אישתני לעלויא אשתני לברכה. Because wine changes for the better, so the improvement warrants a different Brachah. Rashi there writes that when there is a change, it becomes בריאת אדם and doesn’t remain בריאת שמים. What is unique about wine is that it allows for the human to take something from שמים and input his effort to improve it. The same idea is found by grain. Although a Machlokes, there is an opinion that one makes a שהכל on grain that gets crushed up and only gets a מזונות once it’s produced and made into its final product.

The idea behind these two fruits is that there is room for the human input to improve the fruit. Even more so by grain, first it gets crushed up and gets a lower level Brachah but then once worked on reaches an even higher level Brachah. This represents the idea that a person sometimes has a regression in order to have a progression. So when the Pasuk says the Baal Teshuva will be יחיו דגן ויפרחו כגפן, it’s expressing this point that through his input and effort a person will become improved.

ופשעים יכשלו בם

In the Haftorah, the Pasuk says כי ישרים דרכי ה' וצדיקים ילכו בם ופשעים יכשלו בם. Rashi explain this Pasuk that the ופשעים are יכשלו בם because they don’t go in the ways of the Torah. But that isn’t the implication of the Pasuk because it says יכשלו בם that they specifically stumble in them, and not that they stumble because they don’t do them.

Another explanation could be that The Rambam in הלכות דעות writes that the דרכי ה' is the דרך הממוצע, avoiding any extremes. However, a person who has gone to an extreme, in order to get back to the middle must go to the other extreme. So ופשעים יכשלו בם because they really need to go to the other extreme in order to end up in the middle but they aren’t. That’s why for פושעים, the דרכי ה' which is the דרך הממוצע is יכשלו בם because they shouldn’t be there rather they should be at an extreme in order to eventually get back to the middle.

Incorporating the hardships into the song

The Pasuk says ועתה כתבו לכם את השירה הזאת. Rashi says this Shira is referring to the Shira of Haazinu. If one looks through the Shira of Haazinu, it doesn’t seem much like a song. The majority of it discusses the תוכחה and the various bad things that will happen to Klal Yisrael. In what wat could Haazinu be referred to as a Shira?

In Tehillim 33, the Pasuk saysשירו לו שיר חדש that we should sing to Hashem a new song andהיטיבו נגן בתרועה that we should improve the נגן with a תרועה. The first question is how a person could possibly have a new Shira that wasn’t sung by someone else if there have been so many people singing Shira in history. Furthermore, the Rashi in Rosh Hashanah 33b says that a תרועה is the sound a person makes כאדם הגונח מלבו כדרך החולים and כאדם הבוכה ומקונן. How is a person supposed to improve the נגן with such a sound?

Regarding music, a tune that is flat is not music. Music is only created when it has twists and turns, ups and downs and constant change. Just like in a song, the back and forth of the notes together make up the beauty of the song, so also in life we should realize the regressions and progressions are all part of one complete wholeness. So if a person is able to incorporate the תרועות into his song, he will always be able to sing a שיר חדש. By transforming all the hardships into an opportunity for growth.

This is the meaning of the continuation of the Pasuk which says כי ישר דבר ה' וכל מעשהו באמונה. We have faith that everything Hashem does is for the good and if we have that attitude, then we could actually utilize every hardship and make it part of our song.

This idea can be seen in the following vort. The Gemara in Sanhedrin 92b says:

אמר רבי יצחק יוצק זהב רותח לתוך פיו של אותו רשע שאילמלא (לא) בא מלאך וסטרו על פיו ביקש לגנות כל שירות ותשבחות שאמר דוד בספר תהלים

The Kutzker asked that at the end of the day נבוכדנצר was able to deride all the שירות ותשבחות of דוד המלך so why was it that he was hit on his mouth? The answer is that the Malach was saying let’s see if he could still do it while getting a smack on his mouth. Dovid Hamelech endured tremendous צרות throughout his life and was nonetheless able to sing שירות ותשבחות through understanding that hardships are what enable personal growth.

The next Pasuk in the above mentioned פרק in Tehillim says אהב צדקה ומשפט חסד ה' מלאה הארץ. One could ask that if it’s משפט, then it’s not חסד and if it’s חסד, then it’s not משפט. So how could the Pasuk say אהב צדקה ומשפט חסד ה' מלאה הארץ?

The Pasuk in Tehillim 89 says עולם חסד יבנה. However, Rashi in the beginning of Breishis on the Pasuk בראשית ברא אלקים quotes Chazal saying בתחלה עלה במחשבה לבראתו במדת הדין, ראה שאין העולם מתקיים, הקדים מדת רחמים ושתפה למדת הדין. So was the world created with חסד or דין?

In a perfect world with the ultimate חסד, there would only be דין. The reason why דין is the ultimate חסד is because the true חסד is to allow a person to achieve on his own and not to hand things to him for free which is considered נהמא דכיסופא. A עני is חשוב כמת because he is just a receiver and not a giver and as it says שונא מתנת יחיה that only a person who hates מתנת has a reason to live because we live in order to accomplish as it says חי נושא את עצמו. Someone who is only on the receiving end has no reason to live.

However, it was clear to Hashem that the world couldn’t last with just דין so he added מדת רחמים ושתפה למדת הדין. Adding מדת רחמים with מדת הדין, is a compromise in the חסד because the ultimate חסד would be just דין, but because אין העולם מתקיים, so Hashem was משתף מידת הרחמים which was a compromise in the חסד. Therefore a person needs to look at all his challenges and see them as an opportunity for growth and achievement and then he will be היטיבו נגן בתרועה that his תרועות will become part of his song. That’s why the Pasuk continues אהב צדקה ומשפט חסד ה' מלאה הארץ that even though we experience משפט, nevertheless it’s חסד ה' מלאה הארץ because we realize that the משפט expresses the חסד.

Messages of וילך

The Parshah begins וילך משה וידבר את הדברים האלה אל כל ישראל. The meforshim are bothered that if last week’s Parshah was אתם נצבים היום where Moshe Rabbeinu was addressing the people, so he was already with the people by the beginning of Vayelech. If so, how could the Pasuk say וילך משה that Moshe went?

The Ramban answers this question and says כי משה הלך ממחנה לויה אל מחנה ישראל לכבדם that after he addressed all the people by אתם נצבים היום כלכם לפני ה' אלהיכם, he went to them individually.

However, the Targum Yonasan says ואזל משה למשכן בית אולפנא ומליל ית פתגמיא האלין עם כל ישראל that Moshe Rabbeinu went to the Bes Medrash. On the Pasuk לא אוכל עוד לצאת ולבוא, Rashi saysלצאת ולבא בדברי תורה, מלמד שנסתמו ממנו מסורות ומעינות החכמה.

If the Targum Yonasan is put together with what Rashi is saying, then an explanation could be that while he had the מעינות החכמה, he learned on his own. But now that they were נסתמו, so he went to the Beis Medrash to go hear something from others.

Another idea could be that the Torah is teaching us that Moshe Rabbeinu at the end of his life went to the Beis Medrash to tell the people that he can no longer teach. Instead of just staying home, he went to the Beis Medrash specifically to say that he can no longer say shiur. This is an important message that when the time comes, a person should be able to say such a thing.

Recognzing growth and not giving up

In the end Parshas Vayeilech, Moshe says the following:

כי אנכי ידעתי את מריך ואת ערפך הקשה הן בעודני חי עמכם היום ממרים היתם עם יקוק ואף כי אחרי מותי, כי ידעתי אחרי מותי כי השחת תשחתון וסרתם מן הדרך אשר צויתי אתכם וקראת אתכם הרעה באחרית הימים כי תעשו את הרע בעיני יקוק להכעיסו במעשה ידיכם. (לא, כז כט)

In these Psukim, it seems like Moshe Rabbeinu is summing up his tenure as a total failure. But we know that Moshe Rabbeinus impact was forever lasting so why is he saying this at the end of his career?

Really the message that Moshe is trying to convey is that although it was terrible, I never gave up and I continued. And not only did he continue, but he succeeded even though at times it appears to be complete failure.

This is an important reading to be read in the ימי התשובה because although not everyone is a leader of the Jewish people, but he is a leader of his own life. And people may expect immediate and complete change in their lives and if they don’t experience that, they give up because they feel that they aren’t accomplishing anything. However, they should understand that it requires multiple tries and with every time they make some improvement and that they shouldn’t be crushed when things go sour. Nothing gets lost and each effort adds up to something.

Retaining Optimism

In the above Pasuk, Moshe Rabbeinu says about Klal Yisrael כי אנכי ידעתי את מריך ואת ערפך הקשה הן בעודני חי עמכם היום ממרים היתם עם ה'. The question is why does Moshe say ממרים היתם which is past tense? It would’ve made more sense for Moshe to say ממרים אתם that they are rebellious?

The Ohr Hachaim asks this question and he writes the following: ואומרו הייתם לשון עבר כי אפשר שהרהרו תשובה באותה שעה, וכדין (קידושין מ"ט ב) המקדש אשה על מנת שהוא צדיק גמור אף על פי שנמצא שהיה רשע גמור אנו אומרים שהיא מקודשת שמא הרהר תשובה באותה שעה

This is a profound message that after all the frustration and feeling that he didn’t accomplish and that they are ממרים, nevertheless he didn’t lose his optimism. He considered the possibility that already at this moment that he is talking to the people that they are a changed people. He says ממרים היתם as if to say that at this point, he doesn’t know where they are holding and there is a possibility that they are already a changed people.

5780

Seudah with Friends

This week’s Kiddush was sponsored in honor of the Preidah for R’ Yackov Shwartzbaum. The Rav explained that it’s a סעודת מרעים, where friends get together. The Sefer HaChaim, written by Reb Chaim MVridburg (Brother of the Maharal) in the section titled ספר פרנסה וכלכלה, he writes that a סעודת מרעים, a seudah where people get together in friendship shouldn’t be a small thing in one’s eyes. Because it’s not for nothing that Chazal said that people shouldn’t break for Tefilah when they are involved in such a seudah because such a seudah is a big deal and is somewhat an expression of Tefilah, that which people nourish the אהבה between themselves.

This is really a הכנה for Yom Kippur which we say after the Seder HaAvodah יום שימת אהבה ורעות יום עזיבת קינאה ותכרית. Therefore, a סעודת מרעים is really a preparation for Yom Kippur. However, the above phrase is seemingly out of order because one should need to abandon קינאה ותחרות and only then could there be אהבה ורעות. But we see that it’s not so as the Chinuch writes האדם נפעל לפי פעולתיו ואחרי הפעולות נמשכות על הלבבות, that a person first needs to take care of the עשה טוב and helping a person and through that a person will be able to overcome the קינאה ותחרות. That’s why we say this phrase specifically in the order it’s in.

עד מאה ועשרים שנה

The Parshah begins with Moshe telling the Jews the following:

ויאמר אלהם בן מאה ועשרים שנה אנכי היום לא אוכל עוד לצאת ולבוא וה' אמר אלי לא תעבר את הירדן הזה (לא, ב)

Moshe says three things in this Pasuk. The first is that he is 120 years old. Then he says I can no longer go and lastly he says and Hashem told me not to pass over the Yarden. What is the explanation for all these three things?

Rashi takes care of the last two statements by explaining that one of them is an explanation of the other. When Moshe says וה' אמר אלי לא תעבר את הירדן הזה, it’s an explanations to לא אוכל עוד לצאת ולבוא. The reason why he is no longer able to go is not because he became weak, rather because Hashem has no given him permission to go in.

But other commentaries learn that the last two were really two separate statements and that besides for the fact that he was physically to weak לצאת ולבאת, Hashem also did not allow him to enter. Therefore, even if he was physically able to, Hashem still wouldn’t let him.

The Sforno explains all three statements. On the words בן מאה ועשרים שנה אנכי he explains that Moshe was telling them not to be sad about his death because it’s the time בטבע that a person dies. This implies that 120 is the natural maximum time for a person to live. Then on the words לא אוכל עוד לצאת ולבוא, Moshe is saying even had I continue to live, I would not be able to continue as your leader. Finally, on the words וה' אמר אלי לא תעבר, Moshe was saying even had I been able to go on, Hashem told me I can’t enter the land and therefore it’s better for you (the Jews) for me to die in order that you should be able to enter the land. It’s clear for the Sforno that the three statements in the Pasuk are all independent. But why was it necessary for Moshe to say that he was 120 years old today?

It became a thing to say to people עד מאה ועשרים שנה. Therefore, on a person’s 120th birthday, you say to him “have a good day.” Where did such a thing come from for people to say “until 120”? Based on how the Sforno explains the words בן מאה ועשרים שנה אנכי, it could be that we learn out this idea from here to wish people until 120. But it would that it might have another source from the end of פרשת בראשית, where there are the following mysterious Psukim:

ויהי כי החל האדם לרב על פני האדמה ובנות ילדו להם.

ויראו בני האלהים את בנות האדם כי טבת הנה ויקחו להם נשים מכל אשר בחרו.

ויאמר יקוק לא ידון רוחי באדם לעלם בשגם הוא בשר והיו ימיו מאה ועשרים שנה.

הנפלים היו בארץ בימים ההם וגם אחרי כן אשר יבאו בני האלהים אל בנות האדם וילדו להם המה הגברים אשר מעולם אנשי השם.

There are non-rabbinic sources that suggest that Hashem put a cap on human life that a person cannot live past 120 years. However, it is difficult to understand this because there are individuals later on in the Torah such as Avraham and Sarah who lived past 120 years. (Nosson Zellinger pointed out that the Ramban on that Pasuk והיו ימיו מאה ועשרים שנה does seem to learn it like these non-rabbinic sources that Hashem is saying that people won’t live past 120 years.) Rashi explains the Pasuk that the Mabul was going to come in 120 years. But according to this explanation that it’s referring to putting a cap on human life, how can we understand such a thing if we see others exceed 120 years?

The people being talked about in these Psukim were half human half angelic. They were larger than life people. Therefore, Hashem didn’t want people to get confused and think that they were deities and therefore it was on them that Hashem put a cap on human life.

We see that larger than life people who it can be mistakenly said about them that they are a god need to be capped in order to avoid confusion. But your average person who is nothing special could live a long life because nobody is going to get confused and think he is a god. Therefore, Moshe was telling the people that he was 120 years old today in order to avoid confusion for those who may have thought Moshe who was איש אלוקים and half human and half godly. Such a person specifically needs to be capped in order so people don’t think he is a deity. The Gemara in Chulin on דף קלט says that in the Pasuk בשגם הוא בשר והיו ימיו מאה ועשרים שנה, the word בשגם is numerical value of משה expressing this idea that even Moshe is flesh and blood and will only live until 120 years old.

Up until this point, it could’ve been that the Jews couldn’t relate to Moshe because of all the spectacular things he did for them and the extraordinary heights that he reached. Therefore, on the last day of his life, he showed them that he was just flesh and blood, no different than anyone else, and it was just Hashem acting through him.

Therefore, when people wish each other “until 120”, it’s a blessing that the person should become so great that he shouldn’t be able to live past 120 years.

The Meshech Chochma in Parshas Ki Savo on the Pasuk ולא נתן ה' לכם לב לדעת וכו' עד היום הזה, that day being the day Moshe died expresses this idea. That up until his death, people thought that Moshe was godly in the sense that he was the one making all the miracles and miraculous events happen. But it was only on the day of his death that the people saw that he was כחומר ביד היצר no different than anyone else and therefore realized it was all the doings of Hashem.

Similarly, in Parshas Vaeschanan on the Pasuk ונשמרתם מאד לנפשותיכם וכו' פן תשחיתון וכו' וה' התאנף בי על דרכיכם, he discusses one of the reasons why Moshe had to die in the desert. He writes that Moshe performed miraculous things such as drawing water from a rock, gave bread from the heavens, defeated מלכי אמורי, and split the sea. However, as long as there were people in the generation who knew Moshe from a young age and challenged his leadership by saying כולם קדושים ומדוע תתשנשאו, there wasn’t a concern that anyone would confuse Moshe with being a god. However, when it came time to enter the land and everyone from the previous generation was dead, the current generation from a young age only knew of Moshe as the superhuman individual who performed unnatural miracles and there was potential confusion. The people were only able to relate to Moshe as a god. Therefore, it was at this point a concern and therefore Moshe has to die at this time in order for the current generation to realize that Moshe was nothing more than flesh and blood as there selves and it was really Hashem operating through him.

Moshe’s Tenure

In the end of the Parshah, Moshe says the follow:

כי אנכי ידעתי את מריך ואת ערפך הקשה הן בעודני חי עמכם היום ממרים היתם עם יקוק ואף כי אחרי מותי, כי ידעתי אחרי מותי כי השחת תשחתון וסרתם מן הדרך אשר צויתי אתכם וקראת אתכם הרעה באחרית הימים כי תעשו את הרע בעיני יקוק להכעיסו במעשה ידיכם. (לא, כז כט)

In these Psukim, it seems like Moshe Rabbeinu is summing up his tenure as a total failure. He says that it was bad, it is bad, and that it’s going to get even worse. Therefore it sounds very pessimistic and angry. But why is he saying this now and why does he sound so angry?

Really the message that Moshe is trying to convey is that although it was terrible, I never gave up and I continued. Therefore, optimism is a tremendous thing, but it needs to be balanced with realism. A person has to hope for the best and expect the worst. Because if not, then a person will be crushed when he experiences setbacks. Moshe is expressing to the Jews that there have been many setbacks and times that they could have given up, but nevertheless they got until there and they are only going to continue and go further. Entering Eretz Yisrael is going to be a tremendous achievement but afterwards there will be setbacks. But, they must never give up because this is something that will take generations and generations until we perfect the model. It’s not something that happens overnight.

This is an important reading to be read in the ימי התשובה because people expect immediate and complete change in their lives and if they don’t experience that, they give up. However, if they would understand that it requires multiple tries and with every time they should make some improvement and that they shouldn’t be crushed when things go sour. Nothing gets lost and each effort adds up to something and in the end we will reach the עולם התיקון and be in a different place. Knowing and expecting the setbacks is very important not only for Moshe Rabbeinu but for every individual leading his own life, he must recognize the stubbornness within himself, as we are an עם קשי עורף. But if he doesn’t give up, then he will go very far for like how far Moshe Rabbeinu got the Jewish People.

Throughout all the generations, Jews have suffered tremendous persecution and degradation. With a slight switch, people’s lives could’ve been much better, but they nonetheless remain steadfast in there belief. During these days, we say סליחות. The סליחות, which were written about a thousand years ago during the crusades. They are written with such pain and embarrassment that came with being a Jew. Yet, we continued on. In the midbar, anything that went wrong, they were out. But if one looks now, the Jews have been through so much and we are still clinging to the דבר ה'. Therefore, one could see that it’s improving. It’s a tremendous chizuk that we shouldn’t give up when things are tuff.

Rebbe Never Jealous of his Talmid

The Medrash in this Parshah says that before Moshe died, Yehoshua received a prophecy from Hashem and Moshe asked him was Hashem said. To which Yehoshua responded “and did I ever ask you what Hashem said to you?” At that moment, Moshe let out a cry and the Medrash ends of that Moshe was מקנא Yehoshua. However, the Gemara in Sanhedrin 105b says the following:

בכל אדם מתקנא חוץ מבנו ותלמידו וכו' איבעית אימא ויסמך את ידיו עליו ויצוהו.

The source for the idea that a Rebbe is never jealous of is Talmid comes from the fact that when Hashem told Moshe to put his hand on Yehoshua, the Pasuk says ויסמך את ידיו, that he used both his hands. There seems to be a contradiction between the Medrash and the Gemara in Sanhedrin?

The reason why a father is never jealous of his son is that a son could have only gotten to where he is because of his father. The same could be said about a Rebbe and a Talmid that they Talmid could not have gotten to this point if not for his Rebbe. However, that only holds true in regarding חכמה, which is the area that the Rebbe is responsible and to take credit for his Talmud’s success. But in other areas, such as Nevuah, such success is not due to the Rebbe. Therefore, when it comes to the Chochma that Yehoshua achieved, Moshe was not jealous and that’s what the Gemara in Sanhedrin is saying. But in the Medrash, the jealousy is regarding Nevuah which the Rebbe is not to take credit for in which case jealousy between a Rebbe and Talmid has its place.

Never Give Up

In the end Parshas Vayeilech, Moshe says the following:

כי אנכי ידעתי את מריך ואת ערפך הקשה הן בעודני חי עמכם היום ממרים היתם עם יקוק ואף כי אחרי מותי, כי ידעתי אחרי מותי כי השחת תשחתון וסרתם מן הדרך אשר צויתי אתכם וקראת אתכם הרעה באחרית הימים כי תעשו את הרע בעיני יקוק להכעיסו במעשה ידיכם. (לא, כז כט)

Moshe Rabbeinu was very hesitant to take on the leadership of the Jewish people as he said הן לא יאמינו לי, to which Hashem had to convince him that גם בך יאמינו לעולם that they’ll trust you. But if you follow the history of what went on, Moshe was pretty right as there was Korach, then the Meraglim, and it was one thing after the next. Now in the above Psukim, it seems like Moshe Rabbeinu is summing up his tenure as a total failure. He says that it was bad, it is bad, and that it’s going to get even worse. Therefore it sounds very pessimistic and angry. But why is he saying this now and why does he sound so angry? What is he really trying to say now?

Really the message that Moshe is trying to convey is that although it was terrible, I never gave up and I continued. Once he committed to this mission with all the hardships, he never gave up. Therefore, optimism is a tremendous thing, but it needs to be balanced with realism. A person has to hope for the best and expect the worst. Because if not, then a person will be crushed when he experiences setbacks. Moshe is expressing to the Jews that there have been many setbacks and times that they could have given up, but nevertheless they got until there and they are only going to continue and go further. Entering Eretz Yisrael is going to be a tremendous achievement but afterwards there will be setbacks. But, they must never give up because this is something that will take generations and generations until we perfect the model. It’s not something that happens overnight.

This is an important reading to be read in the ימי התשובה because although not everyone is a leader of the Jewish people, but he is a leader of his own life. And people may expect immediate and complete change in their lives and if they don’t experience that, they give up. However, if they would understand that it requires multiple tries and with every time they should make some improvement and that they shouldn’t be crushed when things go sour. Nothing gets lost and each effort adds up to something and in the end we will reach the עולם התיקון and be in a different place. Knowing and expecting the setbacks is very important not only for Moshe Rabbeinu but for every individual leading his own life, he must recognize the stubbornness within himself, as we are an עם קשי עורף. But if he doesn’t give up, then he will go very far for like how far Moshe Rabbeinu got the Jewish People. (Similarly, as they say in the name of Winston Churchill, the definition of success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.)

If a person doesn’t give up, then he will go very far. As we see Moshe Rabbeinu didn’t give up and we see what he was able to accomplish with the Jewish people. Because in spite of all the setbacks, faults, and failures, still its מי כעמך ישראל גוי אחד בארץ. All the efforts added up in the end and created a people like no other.