A delicious Devar Torah by the Ben Ish Hai ZTK’L on our
Parasha, Parashat Beha’alotcha. There is a part of the Parasha where we find Moshe Rabbenu, the greatest Rabbi and Prophet and individual of all time, pleading to Yitro to stay with am
Yisrael and not return to Midyan! The Ben Ish Hai brings down that Hashem loves
gerim (converts) and the greatest
convert in the Torah is Yitro.
How much more can we say about the typical ba’al teshuva (an individual who changes
his/her entire life to get close to G-d and tries to observe the Torah)?! I
think today we can say that a person who goes to yeshiva, who begins putting on
tefillin every morning, who decides to start wearing more modest skirts, who
says I will wear a kippa today: these individuals are the most precious in the
eyes of G-d! B’H we should understand that TODAY is the time to make these life
changes and set spiritual goals and a new direction and not after we are
married or when we need to start parenting our children. Shabbat Shalom!
B’H through the holiday of Shavuot, the time when we
celebrate the wedding of Shavuot between
us and Hashem as a nation and the receiving of the Torah, we should all come to
realize that without learning Torah in my daily schedule my connection with
Hashem is not strong! Celebrate Shavuot with Torah learning!
When an individual performs the Mitzvah of Berit Milah
(circumcision) on his 8 day old baby there are two special Berachot (blessings) that they say during this day. The first isAl
HaMilah (the blessing stating the commandment of doing a Berit Milah) and
the second is Lehikanes Leberito Shel
Avraham Avinu (which is the blessing to continue the special covenant that
was created between our forefather, Avraham, and Hashem). This shows that
besides for the actual performance of the Mitzvah, there is also a connection
that is created between the Jews and Hashem.
Rav Pinkus in his sichot (discussions) on Shavuot explains
that on Shavuot, on the day of receiving the Torah, not only did we receive
Mitzvot (special commandments that make us close to Hashem and receive eternal
goodness), but also we received a special golden lock on our hearts that makes
us Asher Bakhar Banu. We are chosen.
Yes, you and me are chosen by Hashem went placed in front of ALL THE OTHER
NATIONS.
The Hida ZY’A says that each first name of the Middle Tribe
Leader in each section around the Mishkan ended with one of Hashem’s names: El
(which symbolizes strength). This is a hidden message in the Torah to state
that Hashem’s Divine Presence is present in ALL of Am Yisrael, there is no such
thing as one group having no spirituality or G-dly existence! The second hiddush (Torah teaching) that the Hida
ZY’A explains is that the order of these tribes’s sacrifice giving (each one on
a different day) makes up Hashem’s name. Yisachar gave on the 2nd day,
Shimon on the 5th, Menashe on the 8th and Asher on the 11th.
If you add 2+5+8+11, this equals 26 which is Hashem’s name in Gematriya.
Be’ezrat Hashem (with G-d’s help) Shavuot arrives in
FOUR NIGHTS. Are we ready? How can we be ready for such a holy night?! Shavuot
is The Night that changed the History of the World! It is the night the Torah was brought
down from The Heavens into Moshe Rabbenu’s hands to teach us until the end of
time.
In the famous book Michtav
Me’Eliyahu by Rav Dessler TZK’L, the Rav explains that there are two
different extremes of personalities in the world. People are broken down into a
Notel (a taker) or a Noten (a giver). There is no such
direction of identity building in the middle. Either you revolve your life to
giving or you don’t realize that you immerse yourself with taking. 
The Parshiyot this week are intense, Parashat Behar and
Behukotai have different studies that all relate to one thing: each study and action lead to a greater connection by livingwith Hashem. Parashat Behar breaks down the laws of the Sabbatical
Year (Shemitah) and the Fiftieth Year
(Jubilee/Yovel), which all have to do with parnassah (livelihood). Then Behukotai goes
into the depths of what happens to us if we, G-d forbid, violate and don’t
listen to the Torah’s laws. The results are scary, filled with curses of
diseases, plagues, wars, etc. that are in the Torah to wake us up to live a
Jewish life with happiness because there is so much reward in this world (obviously in Olam Haba as well) after following
Hashem’s ways.
Rashi on these two Pesukim teaches two different things, but
we may want to connect them to see how this relates to us TODAY. Sometimes we
complain about what Hashem gave us: I am too angry of a person, I love eating,
I always have back pain, I never succeed in academics/school, I continuously
fail at business, my mind is not fit for the technology world, etc. If an
individual sits for three minutes they can list five to ten issues they have
with themselves.
This comes to teach us that if an individual keeps the
Mitzvot, which as taught before means learns Torah and then lives Torah, they
will “produce fruit” even in places where they thought no fruit (result) can be
produced! This comes to teach us that whatever issue and problem we have in
this world (examples listed above) can be resolved from the greatness of Torah
learning! Our Hachamim (Sages) taught us that the days of Shabbat and Yamim
Tovim were brought to the world to inspire us to Learn Torah!
