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

Miller's Musings Parshas Chukas: When Right is Wrong and Wrong is Right

בס''ד

The unfathomable nature of the Red Heifer and its designation as a chok is not just in the seemingly arcane manner of how such a concoction functioned, but perhaps more crucially in the paradox contained within it.  For although it was able to purify those who had become impure through contact with a corpse, those who prepared it themselves became impure.  This being the epitome of those mitzvos that seem to transcend rationale reason, requires us to contemplate what it is specifically about this particular contradiction that the Torah chose to use and what message is alluded to in its illogicality.

If we were to try and encapsulate the purpose of chokim, those mitzvos of seemingly arbitrary composition, one could suggest it is so that we realise that the reason to fulfil the dictates of the Torah is simply to fulfil the will of Hashem.  The logic of this fulfilment is in effect irrelevant to the fact that G-d has instructed us that it should be so.  This in itself can be a challenging level for us to achieve, as instinctively we seek to understand all that we do.  Yet a task that is even more in opposition to our nature, is to perform acts that we have formerly considered wrong, or to abstain from that which we have always considered desirable.  To do something that the Torah says is right, even when it runs contrary to our own innate sense of morality, conceivably requires an even greater level of faith than something that is merely not in line with our sense of logic.  This perhaps is what is intimated by the notion that within this mitzvo what is pure becomes defiled, and that which is contaminated becomes cleansed.  To truly believe in the perfection of the Torah is if necessary to take that which we considered improper and view it as just and transform those elements we thought of as righteous into a sin.  

Despite claims to the contrary, society today, perhaps more than ever, commands us to think in a certain way, believe in specified notions of morality and only say those things that fit within these confines.  The laws of political correctness govern what we can and cannot say and the right to free speech is applied only as long as we are using it for what they deem acceptable. Respect, kindness and compassion must be shown to all who walk this earth, but it is not society that decides what is right and what is wrong, but the eternal Torah given to us by G-d.  It is indeed hard to put aside the ideals we have long held sacrosanct, yet at times it may be what is necessitated by the sublimity of our Law. 

*May the brilliance of Shabbos help us to see with absolute clarity*

                                                                                                                          

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם

לרפואה שלימה:  שרה יעל בת ברכה אסתר

Miller's Musings Parshas Korach: A Saving Grace

בס''ד

It seems everybody wants to see their name in lights and Korach was apparently no exception. The irony is that despite his ignominious end, being that there was a Parsha named after him, he ultimately achieved his goal. It is rather curious then that when Moshe in Sefer Devorim castigates the Jewish people for their various indiscretions during his era as leader, Korach's name is conspicuous by its absence. In fact the one Posuk that references the calamity that took place, mentions only Doson and Avirom’s descent into the pit.  There is no allusion to Korach at all!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Korach's brutal demise and the miraculous manner in which he met his end leaves us in no doubt as to the folly and sinful nature of his actions. Yet despite the tremendous mistake that he made there are perhaps glimpses that point to good intentions on his part.  When Moshe elects to construct a situation that will prove who is truly chosen by Hashem to be the Kohen Godol, Korach assembles all the congregation to witness it.  Incredible as it might seem, it appears that Korach was entirely confident in the rectitude of his actions.  Why else would he risk being proven wrong in front of the whole assembly!  Perhaps this is the semblance of good within the actions of Korach.  Despite in reality being led by his desire for honour and prestige, his one redeeming quality was that he truly believed he was doing that which was right.  This, in contrast to the wilful rebellions of Doson and Avirom, irrespective of the terrible damage he caused and the crime that he committed, was perhaps what spared him further infamy in the rebuke of Moshe.

The answer I have suggested could be used to convey the message of the value, not of one intentions, but of the essential correctness of what one does.  Ultimately Korach perished due to his sin, even if he did begin with noble motives.  But if it is true that his one saving grace was indeed the fact that he truly believed in his undertaking, then perhaps we should learn to at least try and see this in the actions of others.  If something is wrong, there is no evading that fact, and it can never be stated to be anything but that.  This does not however prevent us from trying to see the good in others and their aspirations.  If we only look with care, we will see that most of us are the same, trying to do what is right, but not always right in what we do.  This ability to look for that which is commendable, even within errant acts, may be that which helps us to look upon those that stumble with compassion and understanding; the only way we can ever hope to inspire change.

*May the radiance of Shabbos help us see the beauty in each other*

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם

לרפואה שלימה:  שרה יעל בת ברכה אסתר

Miller's Musings Parshas Shelach Lecho: Environmental Protection

כ

בס''ד

                         

Irrespective of the eventual report that was brought back by the spies, the very permission to go and perform a reconnaissance mission on a land given by G-d is rather perplexing. How could Moshe condone an act that fundamentally called into question the Jewish people’s faith in Hashem and the good that He would bestow upon us? By allowing this delegation to go forward to ascertain whether the land was indeed blessed, he was seemingly acknowledging the possibility of the Holy Land not being the tremendous gift Hashem had declared that it was!
When risks are high the only thing that can make taking them worthwhile are the great gains that would potentially be secured. Moshe knew that the Jewish people entering a land formerly inhabited by people steeped in paganism carried its own dangers. So as not to be effected steps had to be taken to protect them from this potent atmosphere of impurity. The Nesivos Sholom explains that the Jews in Egypt were not influenced by the pervasive depravity of the Egyptians because Soroh’s refusal to give herself to Pharaoh and Yosef’s persistent rejection of his master’s wife’s advances introduced elements of holiness and purity into this land devoid of morality. This protected the Jews despite the decadence of the natives. Moshe’s intention in allowing the spies to enter the land was similarly to imbue the land with some preliminary holiness so as to protect the Jews from the contamination of the idolatrous environment.
The concepts we have just spoken about are perhaps a tad esoteric, but in truth they contain a very practical application. All would acknowledge that creating the right atmosphere goes a long way to determining the success or failure of any occasion. This is something that must be planned prior to the event, with the particulars arranged beforehand to ensure the required effect is achieved. If this is true of relatively trivial matters, how much more so must we consider incredibly carefully the atmosphere we want to create within our homes and family and the steps that must be taken to ensure it is how we would want it to be. This will entail consciously incorporating what we believe will contribute to the required effect and precluding whatever will not be conducive to creating the environment we seek. But if we do nothing and just allow nature to run its course, we will be resigning ourselves and our loves ones to whatever winds may pass through at any give time.

*May the influence of Shabbos protect us from harm*

    לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם

 

לרפואה שלימה:  שרה יעל בת ברכה אסתר