Category Archives: Deuteronomy

5769, Deuteronomy, Parsha, Sforno, Vezot Habracha

Future Israeli Gold Rush

Leave a comment

Future Israeli Gold Rush

They came by boat. They came by wagon. They traversed oceans and jungles and deserts. They died by the hundreds before ever seeing their destination. By 1849 (hence “forty-niners”), tens of thousands of people from every single continent made their way to California in search of gold.

Before the advent of the American trans-continental railway, the journey from the East Coast of the U.S. to the West Coast took many months and was dangerous and uncertain. They sailed around the tip of South America; or they sailed to Panama, crossed the jungle and took another boat on the other side; or they took their chances with wagons across the entire continent.

Those who survived the journey dug the ground and sifted the streams. The fortunate early arrivals did indeed make handsome profits. The late-comers often spent more than they ever made.

In the poetic swansong of Moses, at the very end of his biblical narrative, he blesses the tribes:

“Of Zevulun he said: Rejoice, O Zevulun, in your excursions, and Yissachar in your tents. The tribes will assemble at the mount; there they will offer offerings of righteousness, for by the riches of the sea they will be nourished, and by the treasures concealed in the sand.”

Deuteronomy 33:18-19

Rabbi Ovadia Sforno predicts a future rush to the tribal territory of Zevulun and Yissachar.

Sforno claims that in the future, all the nations of the world will come to Israel for the unique and precious items that only the tribes of Zevulun and Yissachar will possess. Sforno explains that these will be items drawn from their waters and found in their sands.

While there may be many theories as to what these treasures may be, I suspect that we have yet to discover, create or successfully market that truly exclusive and highly prized commodity that the world will rush to us for.

In the meantime, may we all continue searching, exploring, creating and developing the unique treasures we can each bring forth to the world.

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach,

Bentzi

Dedication

To Rabbi Ovadia Sforno. He has guided me and inspired me in my studying of the Torah this year. His words have been as precious as hidden treasure. Goodbye Sforno. We shall return to you.

5769, Deuteronomy, Haazinu, Parsha, Sforno

Water for Growth

Leave a comment

Water for Growth

In the rare song from Moses – ‘Haazinu’, he uses the metaphor of water as Torah, coming down and being absorbed by various audiences:

“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; and may the earth hear the words of my mouth. May my teachings drop like the rain, may my utterance flow like the dew;

like storm winds upon vegetation and like raindrops upon blades of grass.”

Deuteronomy 32:1-2.

Rabbi Ovadia Sforno explains that the same Torah and the same instruction is valuable, though different, for a spectrum of people:

1. “Rain”: for those with ‘understanding’ who will absorb the ‘essence’ of Wisdom.

2. “Dew”: for the ‘simple’ person. Even a little bit (like dew for vegetation) is very good and provides Knowledge.

3. “Storm winds”: for the ‘insightful’ – they will perceive Wonders.

4. “Raindrops”: again for the ‘simple’ person (I guess extended exposure), will give them Understanding of their Creator (which I presume then brings one up to the level of ‘understanding’.)

The order of ascendancy according to Sforno seems to be (see table below also):

A. Dew (2)

B. Raindrops (4)

C. Rain (1)

D. Storm winds (3)

SfornoHaazinuTable

Though Moses presents it in an alternating structure; my theory is that it is a repetitive (like the rains) and constantly ascending formation. Meaning, once one has reached the highest rung (Insightful) of a certain level, he moves up to the lowest rung (Simple) of an even higher level (see figure below). This would result in continuous growth (hopefully) by extended exposure and involvement with Torah.

SfornoHaazinu

May we take and make the opportunities this year to grow in all areas: physical, educational, social, financial and spiritual.

Shabbat Shalom and G’mar Chatima Tovah,

Bentzi

Dedication

To both the physical and spiritual gardeners of Yeshivat Har Etzion. As I spend more time in the Yeshiva at this time of the year, I appreciate both the beautiful grounds keeping as well as the spiritual tending that occurs at the Yeshiva.

5769, Deuteronomy, Ki Tavo, Parsha, Sforno

“If I were a rich man…”

Leave a comment

“If I were a rich man…”

Yesterday, I had the privilege of visiting my father’s Rebbe, the Admor of the Shomer Emunim chasidim, together with my father and my brother Kalman. The Admor congratulated Kalman on the birth that morning of a new son (9th child!) and then continued with a two hour discussion of the latest world financial situation, geopolitics, Israeli history, war, peace and the end of days. He made reference to the Talmud, Zohar, Ramban, his own esteemed father (the founder and author of the “Shomer Emunim”) as well as many other Jewish sages.

One of the Admor’s more chilling statements was about the upcoming global financial calamity (and we thought we just passed one). One of his sources (I think it was the Zohar) explains that throughout history, most of the Jewish population made due with whatever material wealth came their way and were satisfied.

The Zohar predicts however, that in the beginning of Messianic times the Jewish population as a whole will reach historic levels of wealth and quality of life. Jews will then become accustomed to this opulence and luxury. Once the Jewish people have made such lifestyles a requirement, God will pull the metaphorical rug from under our feet and leave us materially destitute and financially impoverished.

Rabbi Ovadio Sforno gives an interesting perspective and strategy for viewing material wealth, or the lack thereof.

Deuteronomy 26:17 states:

“You have distinguished Hashem today to be a God for you, and to walk in His ways, and to observe His decrees, His commandments, and His statutes, and to hearken to His voice.”

Sforno explains that at the end of the 40 year sojourn in the desert, the Jewish people reaffirmed their commitment to God and His Torah. Part of the reaffirmation and the ensuing “deal” actually included two different aspects of materialism:

  1. Submission to financial punishment for transgression of God’s laws.
  2. Assertion that following God’s laws is greater than any material benefit.

The above may be small consolation to those addicted to their comforts. However, it may serve as good perspective if the proverbial Fiddler looses his footing from his mansion roof.

May we always have everything we truly need. And may we see it and appreciate it.

Shabbat Shalom,

Bentzi

Dedication

To the author, Sholem Aleichem, whose story Tevye and His Daughters inspired the popular musical “Fiddler on the Roof”. He vividly captured the humility and material poverty of our ancestors, the conditions of which to us, in our period of opulence, seem like fiction.

Culled from Wikipedia

Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters (or Tevye the Milkman) and other tales by Sholem Aleichem which he wrote in Yiddish and published in 1894.

Chagall's Fiddler on the Roof
Chagall's Fiddler on the Roof

The musical’s title stems from a painting by Marc Chagall, one of many surreal paintings he created of Eastern European Jewish life, often including a fiddler. The Fiddler is a metaphor for survival, through tradition and joyfulness, in a life of uncertainty and imbalance.

The original Broadway production of the show, which opened in 1964, was the first run of a musical in history to surpass the 3,000 performance mark. Fiddler held the record for the longest-running Broadway musical for almost 10 years until Grease surpassed its run. The production was extraordinarily profitable and highly acclaimed. It spawned four Broadway revivals, a successful 1971 film adaptation, and the show has enjoyed enduring international popularity. It is also a very popular choice for school and community productions.

The story centers on Tevye, the father of five daughters, and his attempts to maintain his family and religious traditions while outside influences encroach upon their lives. He must cope with both the strong-willed actions of his three older daughters—each one’s choice of husband moves farther away from the customs of her faith—and with the edict of the Tsar that evicts the Jews from their village.

5769, Deuteronomy, Ki Tetze, Parsha, Sforno

Death, Taxes and the Vow-breaker

Leave a comment

Death, Taxes and the Vow-breaker

“He who promises more than he is able to perform, is false to himself; and he who does not perform what he has promised, is a traitor to his friend.”

George Shelley

“False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.”

Plato (427 BC – 347 BC), Dialogues, Phaedo

“But in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

Benjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790), Letter to Jean Baptiste Le Roy (1789)

What’s the connection between a false person, death and taxes?

Besides the common desire to avoid all three, the false person, the dying man and the tax-payer all end up paying their bill, one way or another.

The Grim Reaper and the Taxman are notoriously implacable pursuers; however God is apparently also relentless with the vow-breaker.

“When you make a vow to Hashem, your God, you shall not be late in paying it, for Hashem, your God, will demand it of you, and there will be a sin in you.”

Deuteronomy 23:22

Rabbi Ovadia Sforno explains that if a man says that he will contribute something, and is then negligent in fulfilling his word, God will make sure that the item or money he promised will be taken away from him, and will somehow make it to the proper end user. The negligent man will not be credited, even though he is now objectively poorer and the charitable intention has been fulfilled by divine intervention. Furthermore, his negligence will be considered a sin by God.

I guess God doesn’t like having to go through the extra “effort” of getting the man’s word fulfilled, or appreciates the person’s attitude (“I didn’t mean it”, “I didn’t really promise”, “It’s not like it’s in writing”).

Remember the two rules of a good politician:

  1. Keep all your promises.
  2. Don’t promise anything.

If we give our word, we should always be able to keep it.

Shabbat Shalom,

Bentzi

Dedication

To my parents on their anniversary today. People of their word, while being highly charitable with their time, spirit and resources.

5769, Deuteronomy, Parsha, Sforno, Shoftim

Battle-ready

Leave a comment

Battle-ready

“All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.” Mark Twain

The army marches across the field. Boots stomp indiscriminately on newborn sheaves of wheat. The advancing troops see the walled city in the distance, with the torches and boiling pitch ready to be used on them. This promises to be a difficult siege.

The engineering unit armed with axes and saws, starts foraging for wood and trees, to build the siege engines. One of the soldiers from the unit finds a strong, unusually tall olive tree that he knows will make an excellent battering ram. He starts hacking away at the tree. The unit commander runs to the soldier and starts yelling:

“Hey Shmeril! Stop!! We can’t chop down fruit trees! Weren’t you listening to the orders!?”

Shmeril dutifully stops cutting down the tree, apologizes and goes on to look for other suitable non-fruit bearing trees.

As the Israelite campaign to conquer the land of Canaan commences, one of the unusual commands they have to deal with is:

“When you besiege a city for many days to wage war against it, do not destroy its trees by swinging an axe against them, for from it you will eat, and you shall not cut it down; is the tree of the field a man that it should enter the siege before you? Only a tree that you know is not a food tree, it you may destroy and cut down, and build a bulwark against the city that makes war with you, until it is conquered.”

[Deuteronomy 20:19-20]

Rabbi Ovadia Sforno, present in Italy during the period of the great wars between its city-states, draws military strategy from the verse.

Sforno contends that cutting down a fruit tree is a particularly destructive act. It is often done by an army that wants to starve a city under siege after it leaves the theater of combat.

In other words, it is an act of desperation done by an army that doesn’t really believe it will conquer the city. Cutting down fruit trees will actually signal to the defending city, that the attacking army doesn’t have the confidence to win. The battle is lost, before it has begun.

May we employ confidence in all our worthy battles — and thereby achieve success.

Shabbat Shalom and Chodesh Tov,

Bentzi

Dedication

To my son, Akiva Moshe, on the occasion of his Bar-Mitzvah. His confidence and fearlessness is inspiring — especially his bravery when climbing trees.

May he continue to be a source of ‘nachas’ for the family, especially now as he takes on “The Commandments”.

Speaking of commandments, and in Akiva’s honor, we’ve launched a new website (in construction mode now), that will reduce and categorize the commandments to more manageable numbers. Check out the work-in-progress and give us your feedback and suggestions at: www.mycommandments.com

5769, Deuteronomy, Re'eh, Sforno

Death by Mediocrity

Leave a comment

Death by Mediocrity

“Moderation? It’s mediocrity, fear, and confusion in disguise. It’s the devil’s dilemma. It’s neither doing nor not doing. It’s the wobbling compromise that makes no one happy. Moderation is for the bland, the apologetic, for the fence-sitters of the world afraid to take a stand. It’s for those afraid to laugh or cry, for those afraid to live or die. Moderation…is lukewarm tea, the devil’s own brew.“ Dan Millman, The Way of the Peaceful Warrior

In a world striving for ‘normalcy’ there is a certain comfort in moderation. To fit in, to be part of the crowd, to go with the flow is safe and uncomplicated. To dissent is to ask for trouble. To have a unique opinion or outlook puts you in danger of being ostracized.

However, mediocrity in thought or deed is really the equivalent of a living death.

Rabbi Ovadia Sforno makes a radical claim that people would say is both elitist and genetically untenable: Jews are by nature never mediocre.

The very first line of this week’s reading (Deuteronomy 11:26) boldly states:

“Behold! I place before you today a blessing and a curse.”

The Bible then continues here and elsewhere as to the various and bountiful blessings that occur as a result of following God’s commandments as well as the horrible curses that will befall those that ignore God’s commands.

Sforno comments that the Bible, by exclaiming “Behold!” is purposely bringing our attention to a new realization. Namely, that the conduct of the Jewish people is not like that of the other nations. The rest of the world is content with the middle road, with “sufficient”, “average” or even “mediocre” results. Sforno contends that Jews on the other hand tend to go to extremes – for better or worse.

He claims that when a Jew pursues success, he pursues it beyond the sufficient and strives for the utmost in excellence. Conversely, when a Jew is drawn to sin, rebellion or ungodly pursuits, he will aim for the deepest levels possible.

One doesn’t have to look far for some evidence to this thesis. Jews have a highly disproportional number of extremely successful scientists, philosophers, authors, sages and Noble Prize winners, as well as equally notorious gangsters, scam artists, criminals and revolutionaries. Individual members of the Jewish tribe manage to go to both positive and negative extremes of society. This extremism, this escape from mediocrity, has placed many of them in the limelight of history.

Mediocrity has never been a Jewish value. God asks for and demands extreme excellence from us (in blessed pursuits). May we live up to His expectations.

Shabbat Shalom,

Bentzi

Dedication

To my mother.  Not only does she not have a bad bone in her body – she doesn’t have a mediocre one either. Every action, every movement of hers, is in pursuit of excellence. This is perhaps most obvious in her brushstrokes and in the ensuing artistic masterpieces that emerge.

To get a first hand experience of her artwork, you are personally invited to a gala event: The opening night of her first solo exhibition, this coming Thursday night, August 20, at the Jerusalem Theatre. Please see details below. You can visit her website to see a sampling of her paintings at www.niraspitz.com

NiraArtExhibition

5769, Deuteronomy, Ekev, Sforno

Madoff’s Curse

Leave a comment

Madoff’s Curse

Bernie Madoff, the convicted perpetrator of what has been called the largest Ponzi scheme in history, is now sitting in jail for the rest of his life. The list of victims of his fraud is broad. The victims include universities, charitable trust funds, non-profit organizations, retirees, high-net-worth individuals — and now his wife.

In an effort to recoup just a fraction of their losses, the victims’ legal representatives are going after any and all assets his wife may have, including artwork and silverware, not to mention cash and bonds. Mrs. Madoff’s lawyers will try to prove that those funds and possessions were hers, inherited and/or independent of Bernie’s shenanigans.

Rabbi Ovadia Sforno would have predicted the fate of Mrs. Madoff’s wealth.

Deuteronomy 7:25-26 in an apparently disjointed passage about successful conquering of the Land of Canaan adds:

“The carved images of their gods you shall burn in the fire; you shall not covet and take for yourself the silver and gold that is on them, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination of Hashem, your God. And you shall not bring an abomination into your home and become banned like it; you shall surely loathe it and you shall surely abominate it, for it is banned.”

Sforno provides a novel interpretation of these verses. He states that anyone who coveted the illegal silver and gold will first of all not see any gain whatsoever from the ill-gotten funds – and secondly, he will also lose everything that he had rightfully and legally earned before. The dishonest funds will infect the honest funds and together all of the person’s possessions will become valueless.

In the business world, it is common for people to be ruled by greed and fear. It is often considered fair game to make a buck by less than above-board means. Sforno makes two important points. We should get our priorities straight in our commercial efforts; and that deceitful practices are completely counterproductive – not only in the spiritual realm, but in the very practical world of commerce.

May we always be able to walk the ‘golden’ path and reap the rewards, both financial and otherwise, in this world and the next.

Shabbat Shalom,

Bentzi

Dedication

To the many worthy and noble people and organizations whose activities have come to a halt or been curtailed because of Madoff’s scam. “Relief and salvation shall come from another source.” (Esther 4:14)

5769, Deuteronomy, Sforno, Vaetchanan

Atheists in the Foxhole

Leave a comment

Atheists in the Foxhole

The phrase “There are no atheists in a foxhole” was apparently popularized during World War Two, though some attribute its coinage to “The Great War” (World War I). It refers to a common phenomena exhibited most strongly during intense infantry trench warfare. Namely, that in conditions of extreme stress, people who otherwise did not consider themselves religious, or even believers in God, suddenly start praying fervently.

In Jewish historical memory, there is no day more painful or stressful than the 9th of Av (observed this year tonight and tomorrow). It is the day when God’s wrath descended on his chosen nation repeatedly throughout millennia. The most significant events for which we commemorate and fast on the 9th of Av are the destruction of both Temples, the massacre of the Jewish people and the exile of remaining survivors from the Land of Israel.

However, whether it was the punishment of 40 years of dying in the desert or the expulsion from Spain in 1492, the 9th of Av has repeatedly symbolized death, destruction, exile, and the unleashing of God’s general fury on a people that he generally is assumed to protect.

The various punishments that God will visit upon the Children of Israel are recounted in excruciating detail in various places in the Bible. A more general description is given early in this week’s reading:

“When you beget children and grandchildren and will have been long in the land, you will grow corrupt…and you will do evil in the eyes of Hashem, your God, to anger Him… you will surely perish quickly from the land… you shall not have lengthy days upon it, for you will be destroyed…Hashem will scatter you among the nations where Hashem will lead you… when you are in distress and all these things have befallen you… you will return unto Hashem, your God, and hearken to His voice.”

[excerpts Deuteronomy 4:25-30]

Rabbi Ovadia Sforno is intrigued by the juxtaposition of God’s wrath followed immediately in the next verse, by His forgiveness:

“For Hashem, your God, is a merciful God, He will not abandon you nor destroy you, and He will not forget the covenant of your forefathers that He swore to them.”

[ibid 4:31]

Sforno explains that God’s forgiveness is a function of our return to God, and that our return to God is actually a direct and natural reaction to the trouble he inflicts on us.

When cataclysm and tragedy hits us, either on a personal or a national level, it is hard to be philosophical. However, Sforno maintains, that even though we may not or can not understand at the time the reasons for our misfortunes, one aspect of it is actually a call from God to return to Him. And it’s directed towards the atheists in their foxholes as well.

May our sorrows be turned to joy and may we witness the healing of our people and the rebuilding of the Temple speedily in our days.

May you have an easy and meaningful fast and a Shabbat Shalom,

Bentzi

Dedication

To our modern-day exiles from Gush Katif, many of whom are still reeling and suffering from their communal 9th of Av. May they all find homes, jobs, respect, tranquility and stability quickly.