Shmuel beis perek vav

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I am going to discuss who Yiftach was - as understood by Chazal  -and why this provides us with a lesson in how to properly understand rabbinic leadership through history. In particular I would like to discuss how this helps us to understand how it is possible that R Shmuel Kaminetsky - despite being a gadol - has made some very serious mistakes in seeking to obtain an shmuel beis perek vav heter for a married woman to remarry without a Get. This has resulted in a couple presently committing adultery - and he is making no effort to correct this or the injustice he committed against Aharon Friedman her first husband.

It is typically understood shmuel beis perek vav the message of Yiftach b'doro k'Shmuel b'doro (Rosh Hashanna 25b) is that even though Yiftach was not as great as Shmuel he still was the leader of the generation, a great talmid chachom and tzadik and a member of the Sanhedrin. It is believed that the leaders of every generation have ruach hakodesh and their views are Daas Torah and needed to be followed (Divrei Chaim, Mishneh Halachos). In short, it is understood to mean that the shmuel beis perek vav in each generation are great men - even though they might not be as great as previous generations - but what they say and do reflects G-d's will and they are basically infallible. 

All of the above is founded on an mistaken understanding of who Yiftach was - and consequently the comparison to Shmuel is incorrect. He is presented in various seforim (Machzor Vitri) as a major talmid chachom, leader of the Sanhedrin, a tzadik and pious man. Unfortunately that view is contrary to the view of Chazal (Taanis 4a) and is found primarily in some of the Rishonim. In fact what  Chazal say the expression of Yiftach b'doro means is that one is to treat the major rabbinic figures with kavod (Rashi Devarim 19:17) - even they are not as great as previous generations - and even though they are not great scholars. 

As a starting point, I want shmuel beis perek vav present an important statement by Rav Dessler which explains why there are disparities between the explicit statement of Chazal and explanations of shmuel beis perek vav same issue by Rishonim.

Michtav M'Eliahyu (4:355). It is important however to distinguish between those explanations which are basically interpretations of the verses and those of Chazal which are the actual meaning of the verses. Given this clear distinction it is puzzling why many Rishonim strive to follow a different understanding than the true explanation given by our Sages? We find such tendencies in the commentary of the Rashbam, Ibn Ezra and other Rishonim. What is the purpose of offering explanations which differ from the definitive true ones? I think the answer is that they offer these alternative explanations for the sake of confused people (i.e., they are apologetics). In other words these Rishonim want to show that there are many different aspects even in the simple understanding of the verses and that it is permissible for a person to create new interpretations shmuel beis perek vav to what vava bloom sense to him. (Of course, any alternative explanations which contradict foundation principles of faith are prohibited). Such an approach is similar to that of the Rambam who wrote so much for the confused. We see this from the fact that many difficulties that exist in what he wrote could have been explained in a much clearer fashion. However, since he was addressing confused people he provided alternative explanations which they could accept - as long as it didn't contradict the Vanjari vav In sum, Chazal's statements are true. Contrary statements are not the full truth but are the best that some readers will be able to accept. The Rishonim felt it was better to give a partially true or relatively true statement that would be believed - than to make statements that would be rejected. A similar statement is found in the Rambam about saying less than the full truth in order to maximize the understanding of ignorant people.

Moreh Nevuchim (Introduction). The seventh reason why an author seems to contradict himself occurs when discussing very deep and profound issues. It is necessary to conceal some aspects of the information and to reveal some. In order to accomplish this concealment it might be necessary in one place to utilize one set of principles and in another context it might be necessary to utilize a different set of fundamental principles - though the review of vava robot vacuum 2018 contradict each other. Obviously, the author should write in such a way that the ignorant masses are totally unaware of the internal contradiction. . 

Our M vave monitor shmuel beis perek vav conveying an important message about our relationship with religious and community leaders in their discussions about the major events in the life of Yiftach - who is one of the Judges. Starting from the beginning, his mother was a prostitute. As a result he was vanjari vav driven away by his father's other sons to prevent him from having his rightful part of the systemes cvc vav from his father. He organized a gang of bums - which Chazal teach us mean that birds of a feather flock to together - and lived the life of one rejected by society. That continued until the Jewish nation was threatened by an outside enemy and it was realized that only the military prowess of the bum Yiftach would save them from being conquered. He was offered the position of leadership of the Nation as an enticement to defend the Nation and he was successful and ruled for 6 years. Amongst his other accomplishments he killed 42,000 of his fellow Jews and sacrificed his daughter as a korbon olah. It is the latter which is out shmuel beis perek vav Yiftach took an oath that if he was successful in battle he would offer as a sacrifice whatever came out first to greet him when he return home. His daughter was the first to greet him. It is absolutely clear with no dissent - that one can not offer a human being as a sacrifice and that his oath was totally worthless. There is a discussion in Bereishis Hebrew words with vav (60) as to whether he needed to give the monetary equivalent of the sacrifice. But no one holds that the oath obligated him or even gave him the right to kill his daughter.

So why did he do it? Our Sages say it was because he was ignorant (Medrash Tanchuma, Taanis 4a). In fact Rashi (Taanis 4a) mentions that he became dismembered and the parts buried in different cities -  as punishment for vav kpop st.van horrific and ignorant thing that he did.

More important is the question why no one stopped him. Our Sages mentioned that Yiftach should have gone to Pinchus vava suresh new video be told that there was no basis for the oath. But he didn't go because after all he was the leader of the Jewish people. For this prideful act he was punished. (In fact Seder Olam brings that this horrible error required that R Chanina ben Tradyon be burnt to death as atonement). More relevant is the question of why Pinchus (the great man who was a zealot concerned with stopping wrong - even killing wrong doers even though he was endangering his life). Some say that Pinchus is Eliyahu - and he is the foundation of the Mesora since he lived for many years. Given the character of Pinchus - why didn't he stop Yiftach? Again it seems pressure dependent vav system have been a the result of misplaced pride. He was after all the greatest talmid chachom and the baal mesorah - and therefore Yiftach needed to come to him for guidance. Our Sages say that Pinchus was punished by what does come mean in vava the Divine Spirit. G-d was severely displeased with him.

Thus the meaning of Yiftach in his generation is like Shmuel in his generation is that the leader of our community is not necessarily a great man - nonetheless he is to be respected because of his office. But we also see that not only can inferior leaders such as Yiftach make great errors -but also great leaders such as Pinchas also can err - for such mundane reasons as pride in being a leader.

In summary, We learn from Yiftach and his comparison to Shmuel that while a person who has an exalted position must be respected for that position - he is not infallible and that he can make serious mistakes. A leader such as Yiftach needs to be criticized when he does some wrong - such as sacrificing his daughter in the name of piety. As Daas Sofrim notes, he was an ignoramous who became pious - and we know from Avos that an ignoramous can not be truly pious. But we also see from Tanach that Pinchus also made an incredible error due to his pride of being a great leader. Pinchus also needed to be criticized by those inferior to him. Because no one spoke up Yiftach's daughter suffered a horrible death. 

We as as members of the holy Jewish people have to always remember that all Jews are bound into a collective entity. All Jews are responsible for what all other Jews do. We shmuel beis perek vav not use the excuse that the wrong doer is a great man - a gadol - and who are we to criticize him when he makes a serious mistake. If we don't speak up, we will all suffer - chas v'shalom - from the sins done by our leaders.

Rav Shmuel Kaminetsky is responsible for getting Rav Greenblatt to give Tamar Esptein a worthless heter to remarrry without a Get. Rav Kaminetsky refuses to accept responsibility for his actions and insists that it is entirely Rav Greenblatt's responsibility to undo this pervision of Torah and halacha. He refuses to tell the adulterous couple to separate. He refuses to apologize for insulting and shaming Aharon Friedman in his misguided efforts to help Tamar Epstein. 

Consequently it is our responsibility as members of the Jewish people to correct the damage. We can not use the excuse that this issue is only for gedolim. We can not use the inaction and silence of our leaders to allow injustice and corruption. We need to learn from what happened with Yiftach and Pinchus - that one who does not act to correct wrong - causes suffering to others and will he/she will suffer as punishment.

Nach Summary; Shmuel Beis 2-7 and dvar torah

Perek Summaries:

Perek 2 – David goes to Chevron upon HaShem’s instruction and is anointed as King of Yehudah. The people of Yavesh Gilad are rewarded for having buried Shaul. ‘Ish Boshes,’ son of Shaul, is anointed as King over the rest of Israel; with the help of Avner ben Ner, former head of Shaul’s army. Fight between the armies of David and Ish Boshes – Asahel, brother of Yoav shmuel beis perek vav of David’s army) is killed by Avner.

Perek 3 – List of David’s children born to him in Chevron. Avner defects from the camp of
Ish Boshes systemes cvc vav joins David’s camp, after he feels insulted shmuel beis perek vav Ish Boshes. Yoav kills Avner to avenge his brother’s death. David curses Yoav for this and attends mass funeral for Avner, as well as composing a systemes cvc vav 4 – Ish Boshes is killed and his head is brought to David. David orders that the
murderers of Ish Boshes be killed.

Perek 5 – David is crowned king over all Israel and goes down to Yerushalayim. More
children of David listed. David beats the Philistines in war.

Perek 6 – David attempts to bring the aron kodesh from Yehudah. Uzah is killed by HaShem
shmuel beis perek vav for trying to hold up the aron when it seems like it is about to fall. The aron is temporarily deposited with Oved Edom, and after his house is blessed, it is brought to Yerushalayim amongst joyousness and dancing. Michal tells off her husband for too much dancing/show of happiness, and is punished in that she is not to have any children from then on. shmuel beis perek vav 7 – HaShem tells Nassan the prophet freetress equal vava tell David that He wants a beis hamikdash
built. HaShem blesses David.

Dvar Torah:

We want the beis hamikdash back! That is the (battle) cry of Tisha B’Av, and everyone feels it in different ways. But unfortunately in this post-mikdash confused time, we do not really know what the Beis Hamikdash is, nor what it was really like to be in those times. For example, the Vilna Gaon said that he did not reach the level of the average Jew who lived in the time of the Beis Hamikdash. And anyone who has the slightest realisation of who the Vilna Gaon was and what he accomplished should be stunned by that statement.
We are, however, given a glimpse of what the beis hamikdash is in perek 7, when HaShem tells Nosson the prophet to relate the task of building the Beis Hamikdash to David HaMelech. HaShem says (7;6) ‘I have not dwelt/sat in a house from the day I took Bnei Yisrael out of Egypt until this day; I was walking in the Ohel [moed] and in the Mishkan.’ Now, we see that HaShem’s Presence in the Mishkan is described as merely ’walking’ as opposed to His ’sitting’ ie a more fixed Presence in the Beis Hamikdash. The point is that HaShem’s House so to speak is the Beis Hamikdash – it is the centre from which kedusha sprouts to the world and the home where Bnei Yisrael and HaShem can keveyachol meet – it is the direct connection between us and HaShem.
The problem is that we do not have a proper conception of that nowadays; what it would be like to do a sin and be cleansed from it by bringing a korban, or everyone going up to the Mikdash for aliyah leregel 3 times a year – imagine the streets to Yerushlayim packed with Jews coming from all over. And the communal Pesach offering….
And the gemarra (sukkah) says that anyone who does not mourn over Jerusalem vanjari vav not see its rebuilding. What can we do to feel this?
One way to perhaps try and start feeling this is to create a mini-Mikdash inside of oneself (“bilvavi mishkan evneh…”) – to bring HaShem into one’s world more; each one has their own thing to work on and thus their own ideas. But I would like to suggest one…
There is a theme (I have heard it by Rav Pinkus quoting Rav Avigdor Miller) that Shabbes is the point in time that the Beis HaMikdash is in space. Ie both are points of connection between us and HaShem. For example, one can ‘break Shabbes’ by doing the smallest of actions eg uprooting a plant, talking business things, even cutting nails. This reflects the Beis Hamikdash, when small things carried death penalties, eg a stain on a Kohen’s garment, a non-Kohen walking in where he should not be, etc. And the washing before doing the work in the Mikdash mirrors the washing for Shabbes that is a mitzvah to do on Friday. Thus, a way to strengthen our feeling for the Beis Hamikdash is to find an aspect to improve on Shabbes – whether that means learning more about Shabbes, increasing in kavod or oneg Shabbes, etc that’s up to you!
As the Kotzke Rebbe once remarked – where is HaShem? Everywhere you let him in.

Have a great shabbes

I."WHY THEN DO YOU HARDEN YOUR HEARTS?"

In the previous chapter I discussed the obstinacy of the Pelishtim, who, despite the plagues which they suffer, do not immediately concede that it is the God of Israel who stands behind what is happening.Following the blows suffered by the three Pelishti cities, the Ark seems to be transferred to an open area, as we find in the beginning of chapter 6:

(1) And the Ark of God was in the country [lit., field] of the Pelishtim seven months.

However, even when the Ark is in the Pelishti countryside, it continues to bring punishment upon the Pelishtim.An argument appears to arise among the lords of the Pelishtim about what to do with the Ark, and so they turn to their wise men for advice:

(2) And the Pelishtim called for the priests and the diviners, saying, "What shall we do with the Ark of God?Tell us: with what we shall send it to its place."

The wording here might possibly reflect two schools of thought among the Pelishtim.The first group is still struggling with the question, "What shall we do with the Ark of God?"The second group, to whom it is clear that the Ark must shmuel beis perek vav returned to Israel, deals more with the question, "With what we shall send it to its place?"At first, the priests and the diviners do not decide the first question, but they take a firm stand regarding the second question:

(3) And they said, "If you send away the Ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty-handed; but in any case return Him a guilt-offering; then you shall be healed, shmuel beis perek vav it shall be known to you why His hand is not removed from you."

The Pelishtim ask also: "What shall be the guilt-offering which we shall return to Him?" Their advisors first offer them a substantive answer: "Five golden swellings, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Pelishtim, for one plague was on you all and on your lords."At the same time, the priests and the diviners state their own opinion as to what should really be done:

(5) "You shall make images of your swellings, and images of your mice that devastate the land; and you shall give glory unto shmuel beis perek vav God of Israel; perhaps He will lighten His trane vav box revit family from you from your gods and vav kfz versicherung your land.(6) Why then do you harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts?When He shmuel beis perek vav wrought among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?

Here the diviners give additional meaning to the comparison between the plagues that strike the Pelishtim and the shmuel beis perek vav that struck Egypt, which was noted in the previous chapter.The stubbornness of the Pelishtim is reminiscent of the stubbornness of Pharaoh, which only caused more plagues to fall upon Egypt.Indeed, the comparison to the story of Israel in Egypt continues in this chapter as well:

1)The consultations with the priests and the diviners are reminiscent of the consultations with Pharaoh's magicians (Shemot 7:11, Shemot 7:22; Shemot 8:3, Shemot 14-15).

2)The words of the diviners, "for one plague (maggefa)was on you all and on your lords," parallel what Moshe says to Pharaoh in the name of God, "For I will at this time send all My plagues (maggefotai) upon your heart" (Shemot 9:14).

3)In both cases, the enemy does not send off that which had been demanded of them empty-handed.At the burning bush, God promises Moshe: "And it shall come to pass, that, when you go, you shall not be empty-handed" (Shemot 3:21); and the priests and diviners advise the Pelishtim: "Ifyou send away the Ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty-handed" (I Samuel 6:3).Here too we find the root sh-l-ch, which, as was noted in the previous lecture, appears more than twenty times in the story of the plagues in Egypt (Shemot 7-11).

4)In both cases, the release is accompanied by, among other things, gold: "But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her that sojourns in her house, vessels shmuel beis perek vav silver and vessels of gold" (Shemot 3:22); "Five golden swellings, and five golden mice… And take the Ark of God, and lay it upon the cart; and put the vessels of gold" (I Samuel 6:4-8).It might also be suggested that the combination of five golden swellings and five golden mice correspond to the ten plagues of Egypt.

5)There is also vav operations similarity between the two descriptions: "And in all the land of Egypt, the land was devastated (tishachet)" (Shemot 8:20); "You shall make images of your shmuel beis perek vav, and images of your mice that devastate (ha-mashchitim) the land" (I Samuel 6:4).

This perspective completes the picture: the plagues that strike the Pelishtim are meant to rehabilitate the name of God that has been desecrated by Israel's defeat, by way of a "reworking" of the plagues of Egypt upon the Pelishtim.Like the Shmuel beis perek vav in their day, the Pelishtim as well do not immediately reach shmuel beis perek vav correct conclusions.It is only the persistence of the plagues that brings them to recognize that they must return the Ark to Israel and admit the superiority of the God of Israel.

II.THE TEST

In order to persuade the rest of the people, the diviners propose the test of the cows:

(7) Now, therefore, take and prepare a new cart and two milk cows on which there has come no yoke, and tie the cows to the cart, and leave their calves behind them at home.(8) And take the Ark of God, and lay it upon the cart; and put shmuel beis perek vav vessels of gold, which you return Him for a guilt-offering, in a box by its side; and send it away, that it may go.(9) And see, if it goes up by the way of its own border to Beit Shemesh, then He has done us this great evil; however, if not, then vanjari vav shall know that it is not His hand that struck us, but it was a coincidence that happened to us.

Let us summarize the difficulties that the Pelishtim heap upon this sign:

1)A new cart, that has never been tested in the field.

2)Use of cows that are not riding animals.

3)The cows are called "alot," about which the Radak says:

Nursing, as shmuel beis perek vav is rendered by the Targum.They are called alot, because of their young which are called olim and olalim. Shmuel beis perek vav order that nursing cows be taken in order to show that they do not go back even for their young.

4)"On which there has come no yoke" - Radak writes: "They said this owing to the sanctity of the Ark, that no other work had been performed with them, just as they said 'a new cart.'"However, Rashi's understanding seems to be preferable, namely, that with cows of this sort, that had never been trained to pull wagons, the test would be even greater.

5)Sending the calves home, which should naturally have caused the cows to follow after them.

6)The ascent to Beit Shemesh – the least logical course.

7)The phenomenon must occur simultaneously with both cows.

It should be added that in actual practice, the cows shmuel beis perek vav as they went" (I Samuel 6:12), which demonstrates that they proceed shmuel beis perek vav if forced to go.Nevertheless, in an almost ironic manner, Scripture describes how the Pelishtim follow after the cows: "And the lords of the Pelishtim went after them up to the border shmuel beis perek vav Beit Shemesh."The doubts of the Pelishtim are not put to rest even when the cows go off, against all logic, in the direction of Beit Shemesh, and they continue to shmuel beis perek vav them until they see the people of Beit Shemesh lowering the Ark from the cart and offering sacrifices to God.Only then: "And when the five lords of the Pelishtim had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day" (I Samuel 6:16).

III."BECAUSE THEY HAD GAZED UPON THE ARK OF THE GOD"

When the Ark arrives in Israel, mention is made of the people's joy, everything appearing fine and good:

(13) And they of Beit Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted up vava 8 in 1 hub eyes, and saw the Ark and rejoiced to see it.(14) And the cart came into the field of Yehoshua of Beit Shemesh, and stood there, where there was a great stone; and they cleaved the wood of the cart, and offered up the cows for a burnt-offering unto God.(15) And the Levites took down the Ark of God, and the box that was with it, wherein the vessels of gold were, and put them on the great shmuel beis perek vav and the men of Beit Shemesh offered burnt-offerings and sacrificed sacrifices to God the same day.

Nothing in this description prepares us for the tragedy that is soon to follow.And it is good that this is so, for at this stage the Pelishtim are still observing the scene, and had they seen that even the people of Israel are struck, the whole effect of the plagues connected to the Ark would have been lost.Only after the Pelishtim leave (I Samuel 6:15: "And when the five lords of the Pelishtim had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day") does the tragedy occur:

(19) And He struck vava voom crop tops the men of Beit Shemesh, because they had gazed shmuel beis perek vav the Ark of God, even He struck of the people seventy men, fifty thousand men; and the people mourned, because God struck the people with a great slaughter.

How are we to understand this sin? It would appear that the people of Israel gazed upon the Ark (and according to the Radak, they looked into the Ark).Gazing upon the Ark of God is forbidden by Torah law:

Do not cut off the tribe of the families of the Kehati from among the Levites.Rather, thus do to them, that they may live and not die, when they approach the most holy things: Aharon and his sons shall go in, shmuel beis perek vav appoint them every one to his service and to his burden.And they shall shmuel beis perek vav go in to see when the holy things are covered up, lest they die.(Bamidbar 4:18-20)

What happened, all of a sudden, to cause this sin?It seems that like the Pelishtim, the Jewish people reach the opposite extreme in their attitude toward the Ark.If at the time of the defeat in Shilo the people of Israel saw the Ark of God as an instrument invested with independent power, they have now lost the awe that it requires.The joyous atmosphere intrudes upon the quality of fear and brings lightheadedness.Now, in hindsight, it is possible that this attitude already finds expression in shmuel beis perek vav words: "And they of Beit Shemesh shmuel beis perek vav reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the Ark, and rejoiced to see it."As Rashi says: "Owing to their joy, they acted lightheartedly, for they did not look upon it with dread and respect."

Just as the Pelishtim first express their fear of God with the words, "Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods?" (I Shmuel 4:8), so too the people of Israel reach the fear of God after suffering shmuel beis perek vav blow: systemes cvc vav is able to stand before God, this holy God?" (I Shmuel 6:20).To the credit shmuel beis perek vav the Jewish people, it should be said shmuel beis perek vav, in contrast to the Pelishtim who stubbornly clung to their beliefs, the Jews immediately come to the right conclusion and recognize their sin.

The lesson that Israel should have learned from the fall of Shilo is not a change in their fear of the Ark.The desired lesson is a shmuel beis perek vav in the conception that was discussed in previous lectures, according to which the Ark is invested with independent power, unconnected to doing the will of God.The two extremes reached by the people of Israel should in the end have brought them to the middle path: faith in God, rather than in external means, but with fear and respect for those means.

IV."SEVENTY MEN, FIFTY THOUSAND MEN"

We must still clarify the expression "seventy men, fifty thousand men."The commentators suggest a number of directions: Rashi cites the Targum Yonatan, according to whom seventy elders die, along with fifty thousand ordinary people.Rashi also cites the two variations found in the words of vav diffuser with heat Sages:

Our rabbis said: "Seventy men, each of whom was equivalent to fifty thousand people; or else fifty thousand people, each of whom was equivalent to the seventy members of the Sanhedrin."

The Radak writes: "Missing the copulative vav – 'and fifty thousand men.'" All these explanations seem, however, to be forced, and aside from this, they fail to answer a no less difficult question: Is it possible that in Beit Shemesh there are fifty thousand people?

It is possible that the verse should be read as follows:

According to this proposal, the verse is written in the form of A-B-A-B, and it means to say that of the men of Beit Shemesh seventy people died, and of the people of Israel as a whole, fifty thousand died.If we understand the verse in this manner, it might also be suggested that the high number of casualties does not relate to this specific incident, in which presumably far fewer people participated.It is much more reasonable to assume that this number includes the thirty-four thousand people who died in chapter 4, so that in this specific incident only sixteen thousand people died.

(Translated by David Strauss)

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We are not allowed to count Jews directly by assigning a number to each individual, but instead we have to use an alternative method, such as ‘hoshiya es amecha…’, or we count via objects - for example, the half-shekel donations given to the Mishkan by each male Jew between 20 and 60 years old. Indeed, it seems that in perek 24 Dovid fell foul of this prohibition. The Systemes cvc vav [1] tells us that the source for this prohibition on counting is a passuk in Hoshea,[2] which tells us “The [population] number of the Bnei Yisrael will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured nor counted.” How can the Gemara use this passuk as a source for the prohibition to count Jews - surely it is simply a forecast of the great numbers of Bnei Yisrael’s population, implying that it is impossible to count Jews, but not that it is forbidden to count Jews!

One could answer that the underlying concept behind the prohibition is that the Jewish People are a supernatural people and they are not limited in what they can achieve. Shmuel beis perek vav a number on someone or something is the ultimate form of limiting them; one is saying that this person or object is limited to a certain number or measurement, and cannot stretch to more than this figure. In contrast, the Jewish People are by nature supernatural and expand beyond any limits - so counting us (putting a number on us directly) would be defying our very existence as a supernatural people. Therefore, the Gemara is learning from the passuk in Hoshea that since we are a people without limitations, and this is reflected by the fact that our population numbers will increase supernaturally, it is forbidden to count us because doing so denies this supernatural character in attempting to bring us down to the finite expression of numbers and figures.

In fact, perhaps Haman was attempting to make the Jews a ‘natural commodity’ by offering a sum of money[3] to Achashveirosh in exchange for the ‘privilege’ of exterminating the Jewish People. Haman was trying to declare the Jewish People a ‘sellable item’ whose value could be expressed in finite monetary terms, thus denying their supernatural limitless (and valueless) nature. Thus, Haman’s wife tried to convince him that this plan would not work. When he returned home despondent at the fact that he had led Mordechai through the city on horseback, she told him that “if Mordechai is a Jew…you will not shmuel beis perek vav able to conquer him.”[4] Rashi reveals the full-length version of her warning: “This nation is compared to stars and dust. When they descend they become as low as the dust, but when they are on the ascendancy they rise up to the Heavens and to the stars.” She was telling her husband that it is impossible to fit the Jewish People into natural rules, because they are ‘naturally’ a supernatural people.

The Jews are the only nation in the history of the world to have returned to its homeland three times. Similarly, shmuel beis perek vav we occupy a mere 0.22% of the world’s population, there is no nation who has influenced world history to such an extent - monotheism, mass education, and even the basic premise of equal rights are some of the things which shmuel beis perek vav world owes to the Jewish People.[5] Further, we have survived miraculously as a nation despite widespread, irrational, obsessive, and almost constant persecution. The Sefas Emes puts this across beautifully, noting the irony in the fact that the night on which we recount the supernatural miracles that were performed for us during the Exodus vava volume preston called ‘seder night’ (meaning ‘night of order’). The ‘natural order’ of the Jewish People, he remarked, is the supernatural order.

May we live up to our ‘natural’ abilities to break out of our limitations in achieving what we to have the potential to achieve.

[1] Gemarra Yoma 22b [2] Hoshea 2:1 [3] Megillas Esther 3:9 [4] Megillas Esther 6:13 [5] Rabbi Ken Spiro of Aish Hatorah has a wonderful shiur, called ‘World Perfect’, about the central concepts Judaism has given to the world.

The Pasuk says “וירכיבו את ארון הʹ על עגלה חדשה,” that Dovid drove the ark of Hashem on a new wagon (6:3). Chazal teach us that since Dovid said in Tehillim “זמירות היו לי חוקיך” (Your laws (the Torah) were like songs to me)”, he was punished for forgetting the mitzvah that the Ark must be carried on one’s shoulders, and he transported it on a wagon which shmuel beis perek vav devastation.

The Avnei Ezel asks an obvious question on this: what is the connection between the mitzvah ofבכתף ישאו (that the Ark should shmuel beis perek vav carried on one’s shoulders) and what Dovid said in Tehillim? Furthermore how is this punishment equated as measure-for-measure?

He answers that the real way to experience and live Torah is through shmuel beis perek vav toil and effort; as Chazal say “the Torah only exists in shmuel beis perek vav who (metaphorically) kills himself for it”. He adds that Torah and Mitzvos which are performed with laxity and insufficient effort are not adequately fulfilled. Therefore, one must bear the weight of the Ark (the Torah) on johnson controls vav boxes revit shoulders and vanjari vav just carry it through less difficult means.

Dovid called the Torah "זמירות"; this represents his joy over it. However, this joy and elation could also denote effortlessness and ease. Consequently, Hashem caused Dovid to forget the mitzvah of בכתף ישאו of bearing the weight of the Torah on one’s shoulders due to treating the Torah with insufficient care shmuel beis perek vav his lofty spiritual level.

This teaches us a valuable lesson. We must always toil and invest effort into that which we do and not try to avoid effort: being motivated is an important quality in and of itself. As we learn in Pirkei Avos, ‘לפום צערא אגרא’ – “according to the pain (investment) is the gain”.