B"H

Wednesday, Sivan 23, 5782 / June 22, 2022

We just came back from New York where we attended the Bris of our great grandson – the newest addition to our family. We thank and bless G-d for all His blessings and kindness. May G-d bless you too with simchas and happy occasions. May you derive much Nachas from your loved ones.

As mentioned yesterday, this week’s Parsha, Shlach, ends with the mitzvah of Tzitzit. We perform this mitzvah by wearing the Tallit (prayer shawl), a four cornered garment, during prayer.  Many also wear a Tallit Katan (small Tallit) all day so they can have the mitzvah all day long.

The Torah states the purpose of this mitzvah, “so that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments...”  The numerical value of the Hebrew word Tzitzit (90+10+90+10+400) is 600.  Each Tzitzah has 8 strings and 5 knots. These numbers add up to 613, which is the total amount of the mitzvot (commandments).  Thus, by looking at the Tzitzit, we remember to perform all the 613 mitzvot. 

Q.   Why is the Tallit  worn only during the day.

A.  The Torah says, “So that you may look upon it.” This tells us that the mitzvah applies during the day when we can see the Tzitzit.

Q.  The only time we wear the Tallit at night is Yom Kippur night for the Kol Nidrei prayer.  Why?

A.  On Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement when our sins are forgiven, we are like angels. We wrap ourselves in the Tallit, which is white, as a symbol of cleanliness and purity.

Q.  Why do many who wear a Tallit Katan (small Tallit) place their Tzitzit on the outside?

A.  The Torah says, So you may look upon it.”  Thus, we place the Tzitzit on the outside, so they will be visible at all times.

Q.  On weekdays, together with the Tallit we also wear the Tefillin. The Tefillin have a greater level of holiness than the Tallit. Why then, do we put on the Tallit before the Tefillin?

A.  When we have to perform two mitzvot, it is the mitzvah which we perform more often that comes first.  Being that the Tallit is worn every day of the year, while the Tefillin we put on only on weekdays (not on Shabbat and holidays), for this reason we put on the Tallit first.

On the lighter side: Mr. Goldberg gave his Tallit once a year to the same dry cleaners for twenty years.  He was a bit surprised when he was greeted by a new owner, who bought the cleaners from its Jewish owner. The new owner assured Mr. Goldberg that he will do as good a job as the previous owner.  Two days later, when he came to pick up the Tallit, he was shocked to get a bill for $50. "Why so expensive?" gasped Mr. Goldberg.  "I gave this Tallit to clean for many years and I was charged only $10?" "What do you mean expensive?” replied the new owner. "I spent so much time untying every knot…"

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY 

B"H

Thursday, Sivan 24, 5782 / June 23, 2022

This week’s Parsha, Shlach begins with the story of the twelve spies whom Moshe sent to scout the land of Canaan. Choosing one representative from each tribe, Moshe sent them to scout the Promised Land and bring back a report.  From the tribe of Ephraim, he chose his faithful student, Joshua. The Torah tells us that Moshe then changed Joshua’s name from “Hosheia” to “Yehoshua.” 

Unfortunately, the spies brought back a negative report. They claimed that the inhabitants of the land were too mighty and no match for them to conquer. As a result, the people cried and refused to go ahead. They claimed that they preferred to have stayed in Egypt or to die in the desert. G-d then decreed that no one over twenty years old will go into the Promised Land. Jews ended up staying in the desert for the next forty years. Moshe, Aaron, Miriam and that entire generation died in the desert.

Q.  Why did Moshe change Joshua’s name from “Hosheia” to “Yehoshua”?

A.  The word “Yehoshua” is comprised from two words, “Yeho – Shua” – which means “G-d should help you.” Moshe prayed for his student that G-d should save him from the negative ideas of the ten spies.”  Moshe had a feeling that the spies may come back with a negative report. He prayed for his student not to be influenced negatively by the rest of them.

Q.  For the spies to scout the land and return in only forty days was a miracle.  Why did G-d perform such a miracle, when He knew that they were coming back with a negative report?

A.  Our sages say that when G-d realized that their intentions were bad and that in the end He would punish the people to stay in the desert one year for every day the spies scouted the land, G-d made a miracle that they should cover their mission in only forty days, so that the Jewish people wouldn’t have to be in the desert for more than forty years. The ten spies died in a plague soon after their report.

Q.   G-d promised the land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. G-d told them that it was a land which flows milk and honey, so why did G-d give Moshe permission to send the spies to check out the land?

A.   When Moshe told G-d that the Jewish people want to send scouts, G-d didn’t object.  He wanted them to be excited and look forward to entering the land not only out of faith in Him but because of their own realization of how good the land was.  Had the spies brought back a good report, the Jewish people would have been anxious to get there as quickly as possible.  This is what G–d wanted.  However, with the negative report the spies gave, everything went wrong. 

The lesson from this story for us, thousands of years later, is that faith in G-d’s words goes a long way. We must realize that when G-d wants us to perform a mitzvah, he also gives us the means and ability to do it. G-d doesn’t expect us to perform the impossible. Even when it seems to us that we encounter obstacles, we must know that if He commanded us to do a mitzvah, He gives us the means to perform it.  

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY

B"H

Friday, Sivan 25, 5782 / June 24, 2022

This Shabbat we read Parshat Shlach which tells the story of the spies which Moshe and the Jewish people sent to scout the Holy Land. Instead of a good report, they brought back a negative one. The people then refused to go to the Promised Land and as a result, that generation didn’t go into Israel.

Q.  One of the things the spies said, "And we were in our own eyes as grasshoppers and so we were in their eyes." What lesson can we derive from this?

A.  Our rabbis explain that how a person thinks of themselves in their own eyes, so they are perceived by others.  Had the spies been positive and confident in their mission, remembering that they were sent by Moshe, they would have been proud of their mission.  But with their negative attitude ("we were in our own eyes as grasshoppers") they projected the same image about themselves to the inhabitants of the land and, they too, viewed them as grasshoppers - small and meaningless creatures.

When we do a mitzvah, performing our G-dly mission in this world, it is important to feel proud and positive about it. This feeling will then be projected and transmitted to others and they too will be affected and influenced to do the same.

The third chapter of Pirkei Avot, which will be recited this Shabbat, begins, 'Reflect upon three things and you will not come to sin: Know from where you came and to where you are going and before Whom you are destined to give an accounting... before the King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He.'"

Our sages give the following parable which illustrates the point. A fox once passed by a beautiful garden, filled with row after row of delicious fruits and vegetables.  The food looked so tempting, the fox wanted to eat it all.  But there was a problem.  A fence surrounded the garden.  The fox went around the entire fence many times.  Finally, he found a hole but it was too small to fit through.  The fox was not about to give up so easily.  "Where there's a will, there's a way!" he thought. 

He decided to fast until he would be skinny enough to fit through the small opening. For three straight days, the wily fox fasted.  Finally, he was able to fit through the hole. 

Once inside the garden, he ate to his heart's content.  When he finally could eat no more, it was time to leave.  But try as he might, he couldn't. He was too fat to go back through the hole!  So he had to fast another three days until he could squeeze through again. 

When he finally made it outside the fence, he looked back and exclaimed. "Garden, Garden, how beautiful you are. But what good is your beauty when the way I went in, is the way I went out!”

We come into this world with no material assets and leave this world without any of the physical and material things we amassed during our lifetime. The only assets we take with us in the end are the mitzvot, good deeds and spiritual accomplishments we accumulated in this world.    

SHABBAT  SHALOM

Montreal candle lighting time: 8:29 / Shabbat ends: 9:46