YESHIVAT HARA'AYON HAYEHUDI
Jerusalem, Israel
HaRav Yehuda Kreuser SHLIT"A, Rosh Yeshiva
Parashat VAETCHANAN - NACHAMU
11 Av 5769/ 31 July-1 August 2009
THE MAIN THING IS TO DO
In this week's Parasha, Vaetchanan, Moshe Rabbenu relates how he brought down
G-d's word to the Jewish people at Sinai: "Face to Face did Hashem speak
with you on the mountain from amid the fire. I was standing between Hashem
and you at that time to relate the word of Hashem to you - for you were
afraid of the fire and you did not ascend the mountain."
The Ten Commandments brought down in our Parasha vary ever so slightly from
the book of Exodus, where they are originally stated. Why should there be a
difference between the two versions? Our Rabbis teach us that the first set
of Commandments were on a higher level than the second set, and that if
Israel would not have sinned at Sinai, they would have entered the Land of
Israel right away and could have conquered the land without having to
actually fight for it. But now, after they sinned, they were on a lower
level, not worthy of open miracles, so now they had to work though Nature.
Battles, conquests, wars, blood and trials were now the way that the system
would work - all within the realm of Nature. The days of marching in without
having to fight, waging miraculous wars, Temple buildings coming down from
heaven - were now officially over.
In this spirit, Moshe goes and separates the three cities of refuge on the
eastern side of the Jordan. Even though the need for the refuge cities would
not exist for the next 14 years, Moshe said: what I can do now I will do.
Our rabbis dispute about the time Moshe separated the cities. Some say it
was on the 7th of Adar, Moshe's last day of life in this world, and some say
it was 30 days before he died. In any case, we see that Moshe Rabbenu left
no stone unturned and took nothing for chance, even for something which
would take effect years later. The book of Yehoshua relates to us that
"these are the cities which Moshe separated". This was in spite of the fact
that Moshe was long dead at the time; still, this activity was attributed to
him.
We find also by King David, that after being told by the prophet that he
would not build the Temple, he continued to gather a lot of materials for
the task. He said: All that I can do now, in spite of the fact that I will
not build it, I will do by contributing to the Temple building. David, more
than anyone, could have sat back and relaxed and said that the prophet
himself told him that he would not build the Temple, so he didn't have to do
anything. Still he did not do nothing, but he did all he could in the realm
of Nature to fulfill the task at hand. The end result was that, in spite of
the fact that David did not build it, the Temple is called in his name.
Today, we, too, have many reasons not to do what we must. As a wise man once
said: "The gates of prayer are somethimes open and somethimes closed, but
the 'gate of excuses' is always open". Why do the Jewish people not return
home to Israel? We sit in the exile and say it's not the right time, this in
not the redemption period which Hashem meant, no jobs in the Holyland, no
good tuna fish, etc., etc., etc. We all have the right reasons, as the "gate
of excuses" is always open.
The same is true with rebuilding the Holy Temple. We stay down by the Kotel
and say we cannot go up there, the nation is not ready, it will fall from
heaven, let G-d do it, it's His House anyway, etc., etc., etc.
Moshe and David did not take this path, for this is not the path of truth.
Rather, all that they could do, they did - whether they would succeed in
their task or not. The main rule is to countiue working inside the realm of
Nature until victory, for sitting idle is not an option - just a poor excuse
to do nothing.
So what would Rav Kahane expect us to do today in practice, if anything, about the Temple Mount?!
Topic: What if the Temple Mount was stormed today? (Read 4300 times)