Miller's Musings for Tisha B'Ov

בס''ד

                            

The one question that seems to allude us every Tisha B’Ov is what exactly we are mourning for and how to feel the loss of something that we have never experienced or felt?  A further difficulty may be in trying to understand why it is that the loss of the Beis Hamikdosh and Hashem’s presence is so directly related to the way in which we treat each other.  Why is it that a decline in the love the Jewish people had for one another led to the departure of Hashem from amongst us and why this continued failing is said to be that which keeps Him away from us?

Perhaps we can answer these questions with a short moshol.  There was once a man who needed to work on the roots of his peach tree in order to ensure its survival.  As he was knelt down, busy ensuring the tree would be able to absorb the nutrients it needed, an overly ripe peach came plummeting down from the tree, landed on his head and sprayed him with its juice and pulp.  A passerby, witnessing this all, was astonished to see the man wipe himself down, then continue undeterred with his work.  “Why would you carry on like that after what the tree did to you?”, the onlooker asked.  “My dear friend” the farmer replied “You make an error. I am not doing it for the tree, I am doing it for myself so that the tree will continue to give fruit”.  More often than not the source of our mistreatment of others is because we feel slighted ourselves or feel this person unworthy of our beneficence.  The grave error we are making is in focusing on ourselves or the recipient as the motive for our potential kindness, when in truth the motive should be simply the fact that Hashem wishes that we do so.  We should be doing it for Him.  Disharmony between us is a reflection of Hashem not being sufficiently in our lives, hence the cause of His departure and the void we still see.  

The absence of Hashem in the world is not just an absence as an external element of our Judaism.  It means that there is a lack of correct focus in the way that we live our lives.  Hashem’s absence as a tangible part of our existence means that He is missing as the focal point of what we do.  No matter what approach to Judaism you ascribe to you find those with their motivations far from what it should be.  Whether it be Judaism determined only by the expectations of those around them or Judaism limited exclusively to those practices that do not impede on their life, the one thing that is missing is Hashem.  We should be living our lives in a way that our sole inspiration for what we do is what Hashem would want from us in that moment.  How we treat each other would be different, our davenning would become genuine and meaningful and everything we do would become G-dly in its very nature.  This is an aspiration we can determine to work towards this year, a readjustment of our focus.  This is what we should lament in our exile; a deficiency of Judaism lived in its purest form that would bring perfection to the world around us, may it come speedily in our days. 

*May the mourning of Tisha B’Ov bring our immediate redemption*

                                                                                                                            

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם

לרפואה שלימה:  שרה יעל בת ברכה אסתר

Miller's Musings Parshas Devorim: Our Fears, Our Limits

בס''ד

         

For a Rebbe or teacher the golden rule of communicating with parents is to always begin with something positive.  Even if the rest of the conversation is going to entail discussing the various misdemeanours of this child, one should always at least find something encouraging as your opening gambit.  Moshe, however, seems to take the polar opposite tack when he begins Sefer Devorim with allusions to all the indiscretions of the Jewish people throughout their sojourn in the desert.  Yes, they were only hinted to so as to save face for the nation, but could he have not found something more constructive to open with?

If we are to look for some common denominator in the deeds of the Jewish people that angered Hashem, it is almost always linked to a certain element of lack of faith.  Whether it be their fear of survival in the desert, doubting of their leadership’s abilities or scepticism of being able to achieve the conquest of Canaan, it was all rooted in not truly believing that they would be able to make it to where they now stood; at the threshold of entering the Holy Land.  Perhaps Moshe’s rebuke was to let them know that despite all the hardships, despite all the moments when they thought it was impossible to go on, despite all their uncertainties, here they were, having achieved the seemingly unachievable. And now as they were once again about to embark upon the seemingly impossible he was reminding them that we can accomplish whatever it is that lies ahead of us, no matter how hopeless it seems, because like all the other times that have gone before, Hashem is on our side. 

When it comes to accomplishing our goals, we are more often hampered by a lack of self-belief than by a lacking in our abilities.   What is pivotal for us to remember is that if we are doing that which Hashem wants from us, nothing can prevent us, because He is on our side and there is nothing that He can not do.  We must make sure our faith is bigger than our fears if we are to not let our fears be our limits.  If Hashem desires that something be so, no matter how implausible or unlikely it seems, there is absolutely nothing that can stand against His will.  Moshe’s message to the people then, and his message to us now, is to never let fear hold you back, but believe in Hashem just as He believes in us.

*May Shabbos imbue in us the faith that we need*

                                                                            

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם

 

לרפואה שלימה:  שרה יעל בת ברכה אסתר

Miller's Musings Parshas Matos-Masei: The Beginning of the End

בס''ד

           

If there is something that there is only one instance of in the Torah, then you can be sure that there is a specific message being given over by that unique occurrence.  The fact therefore that the only time a date is recorded of someone’s death in the Torah is with Aharon, obligates us to try and fathom what the significance is of this break from the norm?  Why would only this date of a person’s passing, the first of the month of Ov, be documented in the Torah as the solitary case of this kind?

The death of a righteous individual is most keenly felt in the void that they leave, in particular in terms of the unique qualities that they personally exhibited.  With Aharon’s decease, the lack of his unparalleled pursuit of peace and goodwill left behind a tremendous vacuum, greater than any other.  The freedom from strife and conflict that Aharon created in the world was something that, when absent, led to bitterness, dissension and discord, where there had been none before.  This, suggests Reb Shimshon Pinkus zt’l, connects perfectly with the beginning of the month of Ov, a time of mourning for our Temple’s demise, when we must diminish rejoicing.  The first of Ov, the day the destruction of the Beis Hamikdosh truly began due to the lack of harmony amongst the Jewish people, is the day in which Aharon and all he stood for was removed from us.   The root cause of the loss we should so keenly feel at this time, is the loss of what epitomised Aharon, the love for every Jew.  And so the Torah emphasises that this is where all this pain and suffering originates, from the absence of peace that is inherent to this day.

Chazal tell us that we must be students of Aharon, lovers of peace and pursuers of peace.  But are we that?  Do we become excited by the fact that everyone is getting along well, or are we suddenly awakened when we hear about an argument or fight?  Are we people who remain inactive and silent when there is tranquillity, but are quick to become involved and vocal once a dispute begins?  If we were to see a child wanting to start a fire for the thrill of a fire engine’s arrival, would we not reprimand him for seeking pleasure in the most dangerous of ways!   Yet we delight when we hear of resentment and rifts between our brethren.  This is what Aharon tried to teach and how we must train ourselves; to love the ‘boredom’ of peace and detest the ‘exhilaration’ of an argument.  If we begin to see hatred and disharmony as something detestable and abhorrent and we can start to seek peace like it is the greatest treasure we could possess, then we will be moving one step closer to bringing the ultimate peace that will last for all eternity.

*May the peacefulness of Shabbos guide us towards everlasting peace*

                                                                                                                    

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם

 

לרפואה שלימה:  שרה יעל בת ברכה אסתר

Miller's Musings Parshas Pinchos: Futility and Utility

בס''ד

From the ensuing reward that Pinchos received, it was patently clear that his act, in which he ended the lives of two people, was both noble and appropriate.  However, when it first came to light what had occurred, there were many who tried to discredit Pinchos highlighting some of his more questionable ancestry, specifically the fact that some of his antecedents had engaged in idol worship.  Therefore the Torah itself underlines the fact that he was the son of Elozor who was in turn “the son of Aharon the Kohen”.  All that remains is to understand what it was exactly those who were vilifying him were insinuating by their disparaging remarks and in what way the Torah nullifies these defamers.

Like it or not, we are all made up of components of our parentage.  This is not to say that there is no uniqueness that is entirely us within our make up, but our personality traits are to a great extent defined by the family into which we were born.  Some have more of one parent than another, whilst others seem entirely composed of only one side, but in general some of our strongest attributes can be linked to where we come from.  In the case of Pinchos, those who maligned him tried to identify his pagan bloodline as the core contributing factor to his act.  That way of life that was so imbedded within a culture of cruelty and bloodlust, was what was really taking place within his behaviour.  The Torah therefore vindicates him by testifying to the fact that in truth the motivation behind Pinchos’s act stemmed from being a descendent of Aharon, the greatest lover of peace and the greatest proponent of unity.

When we look at ourselves and those around us, there are surely qualities that we admire but perhaps some that we are averse to.  The question is what to do about it, specifically where we do have sway, such as with our children and of course with us?  To try to quash those parts of the character that are so deeply ingrained may be an exercise in futility and indeed counterproductive.  Rather what we should be doing is trying to channel those attributes in positive ways in a context where it can be utilised for good.  Pinchos himself may have had a genetically inherited desire for bloodshed, but using his instinct for peace, he manipulated it towards this heroic action.  If a child is stubborn, don’t berate them for it or try to knock it out of them, rather value who they are and encourage them to use that strength for tenacity in doing that which is right, no matter how great an opposition to it.  If there is a fire that burns within someone that can overspill in a harmful manner, let them use that fire to ignite themselves and others towards the truth.  Hashem has blessed us all with tools that, like all tools, can be used to destroy or create.  Let’s try to ensure we use them in the way He intended.

*May we utilise the gift of Shabbos only for the good*

                                                                                                                            

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם

לרפואה שלימה:  שרה יעל בת ברכה אסתר

Miller's Musings Parshas Bolok: Nothing Comes From Nothing

The life of Bilom was one of absolute contradiction.  A man so in touch with the supernal realm that he was able to communicate with G-d, and yet so sunk in the mire of physicality that he was unable to extricate himself from the longings for honour and fortune even when the path led so clearly to ruin.  How are we to understand these two sides of the same person when one seems to be the antithesis of the other?  How could a person comparable to Moshe Rabbeinu in terms of his prophecy be considered the lowest of the low with regard to his actions and worldview?  How do we explain this paradoxical amalgamation of light and dark within one man?

The sights that were witnessed by those at the splitting of the Red Sea were of such a miraculous nature that even the maidservants present were said to have seen visions that even Yechezkel and all the other prophets never saw.  And yet they remained as they were, humble maidservants, never rising to the illustrious level of the prophets despite this momentary peek into the loftiest spheres of existence.  The reason, as explained by Reb Chaim Shmulevitz zt’l, is the same reason that Bilom never transcended beyond his mundane existence.  It is because that status they existed at was due not to their own endeavour or as a product of their striving, but was rather a gift from G-d, for whatever reasons He decided that it should be so.  True, long-lasting greatness of genuine value is never something attained through some short-cut, but must be the outcome of substantial toil and devotion to self-growth and character development.  Anything less will simply never do it.

The desire for instant gratification is becoming greater and greater with every passing day.  People are no longer willing to wait for anything or expend any ‘unnecessary’ energy if that which is desired can be reached more easily.  If the required exertion is deemed too much, it will be dismissed before the first step has been taken and we are constantly seeking new ways to minimise any labour that may be necessary.  The truth however is that nothing of genuine value is ever free or gained without effort.  It may appear at times to be of worth, but its benefit will always be short-lived and of no intrinsic importance or meaning.  The amount that must be put into something is directly proportionate to its innate potential goodness.  We were placed in this world to work step by step towards our perfection and it is only through work that we will ever achieve true purpose, fulfilment and ultimate happiness.

*May the energy of Shabbos provide the energy we need*              

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם

לרפואה שלימה שרה יעל בת ברכה אסתר