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ויקרא משה להושע בן נון יהושע

Moshe called Hoshea bin Nun Yehoshua. (13:16)

Rashi explains that Moshe Rabbeinu added the letter yud to Hoshea’s name, thereby transforming it to Yehoshua, so that his name would begin with Yud-Kay, the letters of G-d’s Name. The Hebrew name, Yehoshua, means, “G-d will save.” Moshe was praying that Hashem would spare his primary student, Yehoshua, from falling under the mutinous influence of the spies. Chazal give a number of reasons that Moshe singled out Yehoshua over Calev. Surely, it was not favoritism. Moshe was concerned that Yehoshua’s extreme humility would get the better of him and not permit him to stand up to the meraglim. Alternatively,…

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ראה אנכי נתן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה

See, I present before you today, a blessing and a curse. (11:26)

Moshe Rabbeinu does not say a blessing or a curse; rather, he informs Klal Yisrael of the blessing and the curse that he presents before them. Apparently, everything in life – every gift – contains within it both blessing and curse. Let us take Torah for example. Clearly, it is the greatest blessing, without which we could not survive in the spiritually-hostile environment which surrounds us. If, however, a person does not approach the Torah properly, if he does not apply seichal, common sense, to understand what is being asked of him, the Torah becomes his poison. In the Talmud…

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והנה עלה זית טרף בפיה

And behold! An olive leaf it had plucked with its bill. (8:11)

The Midrash teaches that, in addition to representatives of every living creature which Noach brought with him into the Teivah, Ark, he also brought seeds and shoots from all types of vegetation. The purpose was simple: He and all the creatures would survive, but what would they eat? From what would they sustain themselves? There was one plant which he did not take: the olive. In their commentary to the Torah, the Baalei Tosfos explain that the olive cannot endure one full year out of the soil. Thus, it would not have survived on the Ark. Therefore, it is interesting…

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קץ כל בשר בא לפני

The end of all flesh has come before Me. (6:13)

Simply, this means that the immorality of this generation had exceeded all boundaries. A people that behave so immorally, who are filled with such corruption, have forfeited their right to existence. Their end must come. Hashem told Noach to build an Ark and take his time doing it, so that maybe the people would repent, thereby averting the decree issued against them. The Kli Yakar interprets this statement with a homiletic twist. “The end of all flesh has come before Me”: When is there an end to all flesh? This refers to the yom ha’missah, day of death, when the…

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הנסתרות לד' אלקינו והנגלות לנו ולבנינו עד עולם לעשות את כל דברי התורה הזאת

The hidden (sins) are for Hashem, our G-d, but the revealed (sins) are for us and our children forever, to carry out all the words of the Torah. (29:28)

An abundance of commentary is available to explain the application of the nekudos, dots, above u’l’vaneinu, “And for our children.” We will address the commentary of the Chafetz Chaim, zl, because of its depth – despite its apparent simplicity. When a person writes a note, pens a statement, and he wants to make a point, underscore a certain idea, he will underline, bold, or highlight it in some noticeable manner. Hashem sought to teach Moshe Rabbeinu an important lesson, one that he should impart to the Jewish People, one that He wanted them to underscore in building their future: it…

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ולבני קהת לא נתן כי עבודת הקודש עליהם בכתף ישאו

And to the sons of Kehas, he did not give; since the sacred service was upon them, they carried on the shoulder. (7:9)

The Chida, zl, offers a compelling interpretation of this pasuk. Shevet Kehas, the Tribe of Kehas, was part of Shevet Levi, the tribe which represents the lomdei Torah, those who devote themselves to the study of Torah. As such, says the Chida, the chiyuv, obligation, to study Torah is never-ending. It is a ceaseless commitment on the part of the devoted to learn Torah literally until his last ounce of strength, until his very last breath. One cannot retire from Torah. One whose vocation is teaching Torah will, upon retirement, move on to studying Torah full time. This idea is…

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ואיש את קדשיו לו יהיו

A man’s holies shall be his. (5:10)

The Chafetz Chaim, zl, was wont to say that the above pasuk teaches us that an object or endeavor which a person dedicates/consecrates for sacred use is what actually belongs to him, and this is what ultimately accompanies him to the eternal world of Olam Habba, the World to Come. This means that the only objects/endeavors that we may call “ours” are those which are linked to a spiritual goal. Otherwise, we cannot consider it to belong to us. Moreover, we should not rely on others to carry out our responsibilities. True, many wonderful and generous people are around who…

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וגר לא תלחץ ואתם ידעתם את נפש הגר... ושש שנים תזרע את ארצך... והשביעית תשמטנה

Do not oppress a stranger; you know the feelings of a stranger… six years shall you sow your land… and in the seventh, you shall leave it unattended and unharvested. (23:9,10,11)

The juxtaposition of the laws of Shemittah upon the admonishment not to treat the ger, convert, in a lesser manner than we would treat anyone else is enigmatic. What relationship exists between these two seemingly disparate mitzvos? Furthermore, how is the admonishment concerning the proper treatment of the ger linked to the fact that we were strangers in the Land of Egypt? Had we not once been Egyptian slaves would it in any way diminish the responsibility to act appropriately with the ger? Horav Avigdor HaLevi Nebentzhal, Shlita, quotes Rashi, who explains, “For you were strangers in the land of…

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אלה מסעי בני ישראל

These are the journeys of Bnei Yisrael. (33:1)

On a recent trip to Eretz Yisrael, I struck up a conversation with a fellow traveler. He told me that, since it was his first overseas trip, he was planning to savor every moment. He looked forward to the eleven-hour flight as another leg on what was supposed to be a momentous trip. He was so excited that he was keeping track of every moment – from the taxi that picked him up at home until his eventual return in ten days. I felt this was an interesting perspective on travel, which, for most people, is something they must endure…

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ונכבשה הארץ לפני ד' ואחר תשבו והייתם נקים מד' ומישראל

And the Land shall be conquered before Hashem, and then you shall return – then you shall be vindicated before Hashem and from Yisrael. (32:22)

“So what if people do not understand my lofty goals?”  “Since when must I explain myself to people?” “As long as I satisfy Hashem, is that not what is important?” It is statements such as these, with the attitude of arrogance that accompanies them, that get people into trouble. The end does not justify the means. One must act in a manner that does not incur public suspicion of impropriety. Everything we do must be above board, maintaining sufficient transparency to withstand the greatest scrutiny. There is a well-known Teshuvos Chasam Sofer (6: Likutim 59) in which the revered Rav…

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