Monday, Tammuz 11, 5785 / July 7, 2025

B"H

Monday, Tammuz 11, 5785 / July 7, 2025

This Shabbat we will read Parshat Balak, in the Book of Numbers (Bamidbar). 

Balak, King of Moab, solicited the services of Bilam to curse the Jewish people, hoping that if Bilam curses them he would be able to fight them and win.  But G-d warned Bilam not to curse the Jewish nation.  In the end, G-d placed words of blessing in Bilam's mouth and, instead, he blesses them three separate times. 

In one of the passages of Bilam's blessings he says, "He [G-d] has not beheld sin in Jacob, nor has He seen perverseness in Israel.  The L-rd his G-d is with him."

Rashi explains this to mean that even when the people of Israel sin, G-d is not extremely strict with them.  He does not abandon them even when they sin and is always with Israel.

We saw this prophecy fulfilled during the past two thousand years. The fact that we are here as a nation successful and thriving, when so many of the nations wanted to do away with us, is witness to this prophecy.  

Our sages tell us that the mitzvot which G-d gave us, He too, fulfils.  G-d commanded us to, “Love your fellow as yourself.”  This implies that just as we tend to overlook our own faults, so too, we have to overlook other people’s faults and focus on the good in them.

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Barditchev was one whose unconditional love for his brethren was legendary.  He always saw the good in everyone.  He was able to look beyond the person's external acts of the moment and see the essence of the Jew's Neshama-soul.  Rather than judging people for their shortcomings, he would focus on the good and positive.

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak was once walking in the marketplace and saw a Jewish coachman, enwrapped in Talit and Tefillin. In the middle of his prayers, he was greasing the wheels of his carriage in preparation for a trip.

Someone else would have scolded the coachman for his lack of respect for his prayers.  Not so Rabbi Levi Yitzchak.  He lifted his eyes upward and exclaimed, "G-d, see what a great people you have.  Look how devoted this poor coachman is to You.  Even when he's greasing the wheels of his couch he cannot refrain from praying to you!"

There are those who find fault with others even when the other person is performing a good deed and then there are those who see only good in others, even when they may be doing something deemed not so good.

As a small child, the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, of blessed memory, who was released from Russian prison, on the 12^th of Tammuz 98 years ago, for his unconditional commitment to Torah education, once asked his father, “Why did G-d create a person with two eyes? One eye is enough to see."

His father replied, “A person needs two eyes so that with the left eye, he should look at himself in order to find his own faults and correct them.  At another person, however, one should always look with the right eye - with compassion and kindness."

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY

OUR HEARTS ARE WITH OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CAPTIVITY - MAY THEY ALL BE RELEASED NOW

Friday, Tammuz 8, 5785 / July 4, 2025

B"H

Friday, Tammuz 8, 5785 / July 4, 2025

As mentioned yesterday, in this week’s Parsha, Chukat, the Torah tells about the passing of Moshe’s sister, Miriam and of his brother, Aaron. Miriam was 125 at the time of her passing and Aaron was 123.

After Miriam’s passing, the well, embedded in a rock, went dry. It accompanied the Jewish people throughout their 40-year journey in the desert and supplied them with fresh water for all those years.

Not having any water to drink, the people gathered against Moshe and Aaron, saying angrily  to Moshe; “Why did you bring us to this desert so that we should die here from thirst?”

G-d told Moshe, “Take the special staff and together with your brother Aaron, you should assemble the congregation and in their presence, SPEAK to the rock and it will produce water..”

Moshe was angry at the people, calling them rebels. As a result of his anger, instead of speaking to the rock as G-d commanded, Moshe HIT the rock. When the water didn’t come out, Moshe hit the rock a second time and water came flowing forward.

Our sages say that Moshe’s mistake of hitting the rock instead of speaking to it came as a result of his anger. This mistake cost Moshe and Aaron dearly. G-d punished them that they were barred from going into Israel. G-d said to Moshe and Aaron, “Because you didn’t believe in Me to sanctify Me in the presence of the Children of Israel (for you hit the rock instead of speaking to it), therefore you will not bring this congregation into The Land…”

Forty years earlier, right after the Exodus, when they didn’t have water, G-d told Moshe to HIT the rock. However, this time he was to speak to the rock. 

All of Moshe’s pleas to rescind the decree didn’t help. As a result, Moshe and Aaron died in the desert. In this Parsha we will read about Aaron’s passing. Moshe’s passing is recorded at the end of the Torah. Miriam, Aaron and Moshe all passed away in the span of one year.

Q.Why did G-d tell Moshe to hit the rock forty years earlier and now to speak to the rock?

A. All of this was to serve a lesson to the people. The staff represents fear of punishment. One may fulfill G-d’s commandments in one of two ways; As a result of fear or as a result of love for G-d. When Jews first came out of enslavement, they were not yet expected to observe G-d’s commandments out of love for G-d. It was enough if they did it out of fear of punishment, just as the rock gave water as a result of being hit by Moshe. But now, at the end of forty years, as they were ready to enter into Israel, G-d wanted to teach them that observing the commandments should be for the love of G-d, not as a result of fear of punishment. This is why G-d told Moshe this time to speak, not to hit the rock. 

SHABBAT  SHALOM

Montreal candle lighting time: 8:28 / Shabbat ends: 9:43

OUR HEARTS ARE WITH OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CAPTIVITY - MAY THEY ALL BE RELEASED NOW

Thursday, Tammuz 7, 5785 / July 3, 2025

B"H

Thursday, Tammuz 7, 5785 / July 3, 2025

In this week’s Parsha, Chukat, we read about the passing of two of the greatest leaders of the Jewish people: Moshe’s sister Miriam, and his brother Aaron, the High Priest. 

All three of them passed away within the period of one year - in the 40thyear after the Exodus. Miriam passed away first on the 10^th of Nissan; Aaron passed away four months later, on Rosh Chodesh Av.  Moshe passed away less than a year after Miriam, on the 7^th of Adar. Miriam and Aaron’s passing is recorded in this week’s Parsha, Chukat. Moshe’s passing is recorded at the very end of the Torah.

As leaders of the people of Israel, Miriam, Aaron and Moshe contributed not only to the spiritual welfare of the Jewish people, but also to their physical welfare. To a Jew, physical and spiritual are connected.   

Q.  What were their contributions to the physical welfare of the people during their 40 years in the desert?

A.   Throughout the 40 years which the Jewish people were in the desert, a wellwas imbedded in a rock, which traveled with them and supplied the Jewish camp withthe water they needed.  When Miriam died, the well became dry.  In Aaron’s merit, Jews were surrounded with “clouds of glory,” which protected them from the elements and from enemy danger.  With Aaron’s death the clouds were gone. In Moshe’s merit they had their daily manna from heaven for forty years.

Q.    From where did they get their water supply after Miriam passed away?

A.   The story is told in this week’s Parsha. After Miriam’s passing the Jewish people complained that they had no water. G-d told Moshe to take his staff and together with Aaron speakto the rock and it will give water.  However, instead of speaking to the stone, Moshe hitthe rock twice. Water began flowing from the rock again but because Moshe and Aaron didn’t obey G-d’s commandment to speakto the rock and hit it instead, Moshe and Aaron were punished and barred entry into the Promised Land.

Q.    Why was the water supply for the Jewish people given in the merit of Miriam?

A.    G-d rewards measure for measure.When Moshe’s mother placed him in a basket at the river’s edge, 120 years earlier, due to Pharaoh’s decree to drown all Jewish males, Miriam stood by the river to watch over her brother. Miriam made sure that Moshe was protected.  Because of her dedication to Moshe at the river, she was rewarded that the water supply to the Jewish people was in her merit.

Also, Miriam had a special feeling and sensitivity for the young.  While still in Egypt, under the threat of grave punishment, she devoted herself to taking care of and saving Jewish babies who were born under Pharaoh's death decree.  Although Miriam was a prophetess and attained a very high spiritual level, yet she "lowered" herself and was devoted to bringing happiness and life to the "small" children. Thus, in her merit, G-d gave "water", which has the quality of descending from on high to the lowest levels.

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY

OUR HEARTS ARE WITH OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CAPTIVITY - MAY THEY ALL BE RELEASED NOW