Wednesday, Menachem Av 26, 5781 / August 4, 2021

This week's Parsha, Re'ay, begins with Moshe, before his passing, telling the Jewish people, "See, I set before you this day a blessing and the opposite of blessing. The blessing, if you will listen to the commandments of G-d, your G-d, which I command you this day; and the opposite of blessing, if you shall not hearken to the commandments.”

Moshe reminds the Jewish people that G-d gave us freedom of choice. He gave us the ability to choose the path which leads to blessings or, G-d forbid, the opposite.

“See, I set before you this day a blessing.” To determine whether our days are blessed or, G-d forbid, not, is set before you.  Each day G-d gives us the choice if we are going to view the day as a blessing or the opposite. It is up to us to set our priorities in life right and then we will realize that most of our days, if not all, are indeed blessed.   

Q. In Pirkei Avot we learn that one should not serve G-d for the sake of reward.  Why would G-d tell us in the Torah about the blessings and the good which will come as a result of adhering to G-d's commandments?

A. The Magid of Dubna explains this with the following parable:  A merchant hired a coachman to drive him and his merchandise to the fair, which was held in a distant city, to sell his wares and to buy new merchandise. He told the driver that he would pay for the trip only upon their return from the fair. 

After a few days of traveling, the coachman asked the merchant for his pay.

"My condition was that I will pay you upon our return. It is not the first time I'm traveling with you. You know that you can trust me.  When we return home I will pay you in full!"

"In that case, can you at least give me a partial payment so that I can buy hay to feed the horses?"

"Sure," replied the merchant. "This I will gladly give you. If you cannot feed the horses, then how will we get to our destination and back?"

The same, says the Magid, is with the reward mentioned in the Torah.  “What we get in this world is not the reward for the mitzvot.  The true reward for mitzvot is in the World-to-Come.” 

“Just like the merchant will help the coachman feed the horses to get to their destination, for without it they cannot proceed, so too, G-d promises that if we adhere to his commandments, He will give us His blessings. He will supply us with what we need to perform His commandments and continue in the destination He set out for us in this world.  But the true reward is in the World-to-Come.

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY

Thursday, Menachem Av 27, 5781 / August 5, 2021

In Parshat Re'ay, which we read this Shabbat, Moshe tells the Jewish nation to adhere to the mitzvot, "And you shall observe all the statutes and the ordinances which I set before you this day."  The Parsha emphasizes the importance of the mitzvah of Tzedakah (charity) - helping the poor and needy.

One can be charitable by contributing money or time.  Our sages teach us that if one lacks financial means, he or she can still help by volunteering to collect funds and be involved in charitable causes.  The Talmud states that in many ways, "The one who influences others to give is even greater than the one who gives."

According to the sages, one should not wait until the person is in dire need and lost all self respect and dignity.   We should help them while they are still on their own two feet. 

A horse and donkey were carrying a load for their master. The donkey's load was extremely heavy and exhausting while the horse's load was light. 

Said the donkey to the horse, "Please help me with my load as I feel that I cannot carry too much longer.  If you don't help, I will soon fall under my heavy burden." The horse refused.  A while later the donkey fell to the ground and died.  The owner now transferred the donkey's entire load onto the horse!  Now the horse had a double load to carry.

The same, say our sages, is when one needs help. If we refuse to help, and the other person falls, then G-d transfers their load over to the one who refused to help.

The Roman general, Turnisrufus the wicked, once asked Rabbi Akiva, "If your G-d loves poor people, as you claim, why doesn't he feed them Himself?  Why does he leave their care in the hands of others?"

Rabbi Akiva replied, " G-d wants to give us the opportunity to perform the mitzvah of Tzedakah (charity) which will save us from punishment in the World-to-Come."

"Just the opposite! Helping the poor will bring you punishment in the World-to-Come!," exclaimed Turnisrufus.  "I will explain this with the following parable.  When the king is angry at his servants, he throws them in jail.  Surely anyone who feeds and clothes them will be punished by the king.  The same with people who have been punished by G-d to be poor. One who shows them kindness will be punished, not rewarded."

"Your analogy is wrong," replied Rabbi Akiva. "I will give you a different example. The King's son sinned against his father.  As a punishment, the father threw him in jail.  Then a person had pity and fed the king's son. Do you think that the king will be angry?  In fact, the king is happy that someone pitied his son. “

“The same is with helping the poor,” said Rabbi Akiva.  “When we help them, we are helping G-d's children and this invokes G-d's love and mercy upon us.”

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY      

B"H

Friday, Menachem Av 28, 5781 / August 6, 2021

This week's Parsha, Re'ay, begins with Moshe, before his passing, telling the Jewish people, "See, I set before you this day a blessing and the opposite of blessing. The blessing, if you will listen to the commandments of G-d, your G-d, which I command you this day; and the opposite of blessing, if you shall not hearken to the commandments.”

Q.  If the reward for observing G-d’s commandments is blessing, why do we see many good people who have difficulty in this world, while many who are not good live the good life in this world?

A.  Our sages give the following parable to explain this.  There was a junction in the road from which two roads lead to the big city. One road looked exceedingly difficult to travel on, while the other one was paved and looked very tempting.  People would come to the crossroad and naturally wanted to take the paved and seemingly better road. 

But there was a man sitting at the crossroad warning everyone, “Don’t take the road which is tempting, It may look inviting now, but further down the road there are thorns, rocks and the road becomes extremely difficult to travel. Access to your destination will be very complicated and may even be impossible. The other road, however, may seem difficult in the beginning, but as you continue it becomes easier and getting to your destination will be a sure thing.”

Only foolish people took the seemingly easy road. Smart people took the road which looked difficult now, but eventually found themselves at their destination faster and less tired. 

Moshe, like the person sitting at the crossroad, tells the Jewish people to be careful about the two roads in life; the road which seems to be a blessing - where things seem to be easy going and enjoyable; and the road which seems difficult and takes effort.  

Moshe reminds them not to judge good and bad; blessing and difficulty by what they see today.  Today may be only a test. The real measurement of right and wrong, blessing and curse is not what looks easy and enjoyable today, but living our life the way G-d commanded us. True blessing is, “if you will listen to the commandments of the L-rd your G-d, which I command you.“

The good things in life do not necessarily come easy; Moshe tells the Jewish people that one must know what’s temporary and what is everlasting.  One must see the long-term effect of their actions today and then they will see what is really good and what is truly blessed.

Our sages in Pirkei Avot say, “Who is a wise person? One who sees the future.”  A wise person is not one who is blinded by the pleasures of today, but one who sees the long-term effect of their actions.

Shabbat we bless the new month, Elul. Rosh Chodesh will be Sunday (beginning Saturday night) and Monday. Elul is the last month of the year, in which we prepare for the New Year, 5782.

SHABBAT SHALOM

Montreal candle lighting time: 7:57 / Shabbat ends: 9:04