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Video Study for Parasha Shelach

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muman613:
I don't know if it is coincidence, or whether the producers of Arutz Sheva are reading my mind...

 ;D

It seems that several of my favorite Rabbis who I listen to for years end up having a 'gig' doing radio shows for Israel National News. I just noticed today that starting in July (July 2nd) Rabbi Pinchas Winston {whom I have watched and read for many years} is starting an 'Ask the Rabbi' show on Israel National Radio.

The following Rabbis also have done shows for A7:

Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi
Rabbi Lazer Brody
Rabbi BenZion Shafier

I have listened to and read their Torah for many years.... Obviously I am not the only one who find their presentation worthy of watching.

muman613:
http://www.shaarnun.org/ShaarNun_Productions/Perceptions.html


ShaarNun Productions Perceptions
By Rabbi Pinchas Winston


For some people who write commentaries on the weekly parshah, Parashas Shlach-Lecha comes around only once a year. For me, however, every week is Parashas Shlach, since I spend so much time writing and speaking about that which went wrong with the Generation of the Spies, and what we must do today to rectify the situation. What can I say that is new, even for me, after all these years?

Sometimes I avoid the issue altogether, and talk about another part of the parshah instead. However, that’s like going to visit a doctor about a potentially fatal disease and focusing instead on a sore finger. Such a waste of opportunity—such a dangerous waste of opportunity, especially today. What to do?

However, there is a time-honored rule of public speaking that goes like this: When in doubt, tell a story, so I will.

The Talmud speaks of certain Jews who, anticipating the redemption from Egypt, left 30 years earlier than did Moshe Rabbeinu and the one-fifth that survived elimination during the Plague of Darkness:

They were the Bnei Ephraim, who counted [the years] to the end [of the Egyptian exile] and erred . . . (Sanhedrin 92b)

Apparently, they had counted the 400 years of exile foretold by G-d to Avraham from that time, when in fact, as Rashi explains, the proper starting point of the prophecy had been from the birth of Yitzchak, 30 years later. As a result, they left Egypt 30 years before the rest of the Jewish people, and were slaughtered in the process. Clearly, it had been a tragic mistake.

However, Jewish history is rarely straightforward, and those who treat it like it is end up being consumed by it. Sometimes one has to wait to see the true results of his effort, and very often the ones that immediately result are only temporary, satisfying some historical need that usually has to do with the issue of free-will.

In fact, all of Jewish history has been like this. The claim of being G-d’s chosen people has not held up in the eyes of the world over the generations for one simple reason: Jewish suffering. “If you’re the chosen people,” they scoff, “why doesn’t G-d take better care of you?”

The answer reveals an unsophisticated understanding of G-d, how He runs His world, and the role of the Jewish people. But, enough Jews have also asked it without receiving any satisfying answers that we have lost many either to other religions, or to no religion at all. They didn’t feel so chosen, especially after the brutal pogroms of Europe, and the Holocaust in more recent times.

The end, of course, will justify the means. Once Moshiach finally comes and rids the world of evil, it will be clear to everyone that the Jewish people had been right all along. Vindication will be ours, regret, theirs. Jewish history will finally make sense to all those surviving until that time, as all the pieces of the puzzle fall into their rightful places.

In the meantime, you have to kind of be a zealot to be religious today. The pressure from the outside world to modernize, and even from the inside, is very great to the point that some are only observing those aspects of Judaism that don’t interfere with a Western lifestyle. Anyone who doesn’t agree with them is labelled “extreme,” or “Ultra-Orthodox,” terms that imply, for many who are not of this category, misplaced zealousness.

“Extreme” is also a term being used to refer to Jews who refuse to capitulate to international demands to make “peace” with an Arab world that clearly has no desire to make it. Those who stand up for their land, and for the protection of their people, and are prepared to trust in G-d to help them survive what may come their way, are called “Extremists,” when in fact those calling them this are the real extremists—extremely secular and extremely detached from Jewish history.

Perhaps, G-d works this way with individuals and the nation to test us, to make sure that we are acting altruistically. We know from the Talmud how important it is to serve G-d lishmah—for His sake, not our own. We know that even though we are the real benefactors of this attitude towards life, this is only true as if we act as if we’re not. As the Talmud says, honor runs after those who run from it (Eiruvin 13b).

The point is, that when it comes to Jewish history, you can’t always draw the correct conclusions from what occurs immediately after an event. How many times have good immediate results, down the road, soured and become a source of regret? How many times have negative immediate results eventually become a source of redemption? Far more times than we’ll ever know at this stage of history.

Take the B’nei Ephraim, for example. Were they over anxious to leave exile? Apparently, yes. Did they leave Egypt too early? It certainly seems so. Yet, because of a strange twist of history, it turns out that they fared better than the Jews who left Egypt 30 years later with Moshe Rabbeinu. Almost every male between the ages of 20 and 60 who left “on time” died in the desert, and some even lost their portions in the World-to-Come. Even Moshe Rabbeinu, Aharon HaKohen, and Miriam did not make it to the Promised Land in their lifetimes.

However, with respect to the Bnei Ephraim, it says:

Rebi Eliezer, son of Rebi Yosi HaGalilee said: “The dead whom Yechezkel revived went up to Eretz Yisroel, married wives and had sons and daughters. Rebi Yehudah ben Basira rose up and said: ‘I am one of their descendants, and these are the tefillin which my grandfather left me from them.’ ” (Sanhedrin 92b)

This is a remarkable example of just how convoluted Jewish history can be, not because G-d likes to play games with us; He doesn’t (Avodah Zarah 3a). Rather, history is interactive, and depending upon our free will choices and approach to opportunities of the generation, it will respond with whatever is necessary to further the goals of Creation, without interfering with our decisions, be they good ones or bad ones.

Of the 15,000,000 Jews who lived in Egypt at the time of the redemption, 12,000,000 chose to remain in Egypt rather than leave with Moshe Rabbeinu, and consequently, died in the Plague of Darkness. Of the remaining 3,000,000 that went out, together with an additional 3,000,000 Erev Rav, most of them complained in the desert, and seemed ready to run back to Egypt the moment the going got tough. Not a good score for the newly emerging Jewish nation.

However, apparently, the Bnei Ephraim seemed to have been set apart, very set apart. They seemed to have been the only ones willing to risk everything to leave exile and fulfill the prophecy made to Avraham Avinu of the fourth generation returning to the Land. In truth, they had been the ones that Moshe Rabbeinu should have led when the time for redemption came; their journey to Eretz Yisroel would have been different than the one the Torah actually relates to us .

However, to leave with the rest of the nation on time could have been disastrous for them. In this week’s parshah, Caleiv bee-lined it right to the burial place of Avraham Avinu to prostrate himself on his grave, and to beg for Heavenly help not to be pulled into the evil plan of the 10 Spies. He actually had to worry about being made to buy into their point of view, because there is power in numbers. Perhaps the Bnei Ephraim, being amongst the rest of the nation, would have had a much greater difficulty remaining so zealous when the rest of the nation was talking about staying in the desert.

Admirable as their zealousness was, they could not take the Land earlier than the intended time. However, they were not to be stopped, since their feelings about leaving were so strong. Therefore, their history was put on hold: They died along the way, and were brought back to life, and allowed to pick up their dream of reaching the land of their ancestors where it left off, long after those who left Moshe Rabbeinu either died in Egypt in the Plague of Darkness or, because of one punishment or another, in the desert.

Recently, I was directed to a web site, religious in nature, against the modern State of Israel. Obviously, all religious Jews can’t wait for the day when the country will be a Torah country, and the government will operate its affairs according to Torah law. No Torah observant Jews can accept the present-day situation as being ideal, when so much is done in the country that flies in the face of Torah.

However, whereas some reject the present reality of Eretz Yisroel completely, others see it as step along the way to the final redemption, and have learned to work with the situation, to make the best of it, and to help move the country more in the direction of the Jewish ideal. Some, knowing concepts such a mirmah u’tachboles, even understand how and why G-d often brings about redemption through backdoor means.

The site, which condemns those who choose to see a path of redemption that runs through the presently existing State of Israel, uses the story of the Bnei Ephraim to push their point about what happens to Jews who pre-empt the proper date of redemption. Instead, they’d rather hand back authority of the country to the Arab population, and sit tight until Moshiach comes.

However, it is a small-picture, superficial approach to Jewish history. To be zealous for redemption can be a frustrating and often dangerous path. However, as the Talmud states, it’s what a Jew supposed to be (Shabbos 31a). Many have already died, or been injured trying to make the Final Redemption a reality, but far more have died in the Diaspora, in the desert, ignoring the issue.

In another week or two, I will have published a new book called, “Drowning in Pshat: a deeper look at the final redemption.” I wrote it based upon many deeper sources that most do not see, but which are crucial for making sense of Jewish history, especially current Jewish history. After thousands of years of exile, and terrible suffering throughout, it is important that we understand what it is that we do, and why, to prolong our own agony.

It is also based upon historical facts that point to incredible moments of Hashgochah Pratis—Divine Providence—that clearly show the hand of G-d in the formation of the present State of Israel, and how it was a necessary step along the path to redemption since we weren’t taking enough of our own, all from a mainstream Torah perspective. It’s already for sale in advance in my Online Bookstore (www.thirtysix.org), in softcover format or as PDF.

Yes, that was a plug for my new book at the end of a Perceptions, as much as I hate doing that, I did it more because of what the book is meant to do, than to sell it. It is meant to show how Jewish history took a wrong turn in this week’s parshah, and how the rest of Jewish history has been about getting back on the main road once again. It has been about bringing an end to the tragic mistake of the Generation of Spies, which has continued now for millennia.

You can’t do that without the proper sources. You can’t do that with the relevant historical facts. It is one thing to be zealous for redemption, but it is something altogether different to understand where that zealousness is supposed to come from. And, as the book makes clear, we may have little time to right the wrong before it is righted through us, as opposed to because of us. So, yes, I have just plugged my new book, but the reader, and for Jewish history, and to try and mitigate what may be coming our way, G-d forbid, if we don’t get back on track soon.

muman613:
Rabbi Shlomo Katz provides some insight into the mitzvah of Tzit-Tzits...


http://www.torah.org/learning/hamaayan/5772/shlach.html

Parshas Shlach   
The Strategy
Volume 26, No. 33
26 Sivan 5772
June 16, 2012

Sponsored by the Edeson & Stern families on the 50th anniversary of their parents / Bubbie & Zaidie Esther & Jacob Edeson

Mr. Lewis Kest on the yarhzeit of his wife Sarah bat R’ Zvi a”h

The Sabrin family in memory of father Shlomo ben Chaim a”h (Sol Sabrin)

Today’s Learning:
Tanach: Tehilim 101-102
Mishnah: Yevamot 13:2-3
Daf Yomi (Bavli): Niddah 26
Daf Yomi (Yerushalmi): Yevamot 15
Halachah Yomit: Orach Chaim 65:3-66:2

In this week’s parashah, Moshe Rabbeinu sends twelve spies to Eretz Yisrael, with disastrous results that are well known. Many commentaries attempt to understand Moshe Rabbeinu’s motives in sending the spies, and where his plan went awry. Among the questions that many commentaries ask is why Moshe told the spies to investigate if the land is “good or bad”; surely he knew that Hashem was not leading them to a land that was bad!

R’ Yitzchak Karo z”l (1458-approx. 1520; uncle of R’ Yosef Karo z”l, who authored the Shulchan Aruch) explains as follows:

As any commander of an invading army would do, Moshe intended to send spies to discover the best approaches to the Land and its weak points. (This is the same explanation as Ramban z”l gives.) Naturally, R’ Karo continues, Moshe did not want the spies to deliver their report in public, for if they did, word might leak back to the Canaanites of what the spies had discovered, and then the Canaanites would strengthen their fortifications where necessary.

On the other hand, Moshe knew that Bnei Yisrael were a suspicious lot, and he feared that if the spies delivered their message in private, Bnei Yisrael would assume Moshe had something to hide. Therefore, Moshe instructed the spies publicly: “See the Land--how is it? And the people that dwells in it--is it strong or weak? Is it few or numerous? And how is the Land in which it dwells--is it good or is it bad? And how are the cities in which it dwells --are they open or are they fortified? And how is the land--is it fertile or is it lean? Are there trees in it or not?” Moshe was counting on the spies’ intelligence and wisdom to understand that some of those questions were meant to be answered in public, while others were meant to be answered only in private.

At first, the plan worked, i.e., they delivered two separate reports, as we read (13:26-27), “They went and came [1] to Moshe and to Aharon and [2] to the entire assembly of Bnei Yisrael . . . and brought back the report to [1] them and [2] the entire assembly . . . They reported to him . . .” But, Bnei Yisrael sensed this and demanded to know what the spies had told Moshe and Aharon. In response (13:30), “Calev silenced the people toward Moshe,” i.e., he pretended to tell them what the spies had told Moshe, “We shall surely ascend and conquer it, for we can surely do it!” However, the other spies had turned evil and contradicted him. (Toldot Yitzchak)

********


“They arrived at the Valley of Eshkol and cut from there a vine with one cluster of grapes, and bore it on a double pole, and of the pomegranates and of the figs.” (13:23)

Rashi z”l explains how the Spies carried these fruits and concludes his comment: “It is an accepted fact that a load which a person can by himself lift up on to his shoulder is only the third of the load he can carry if people assist him in lifting it up.”

R’ Zalman Zev z”l (1789-1866; “R’ Velvel Maggid”; the maggid / preacher of Vilna) observes: A similar principle applies to sin--i.e., the more people that are involved or the more public it is, the easier it is for the sinner to bear and, therefore, the more difficult repentance is. This is the meaning of the prophet Yirmiyah’s rebuke (Yirmiyah 6:15), “Were they ashamed that they had committed abominations? They will never feel shame; they will not know humiliation.” [Because there were many people committing the same sin, they were not ashamed.] (Teomei Tziviyah ch.10)

********


“But the men who had ascended with him said, ‘We cannot ascend to that people for it is too strong for us!’” (13:31)

“They awoke early in the morning and ascended toward the mountaintop saying, ‘We are ready, and we shall ascend to the place of which Hashem has spoken, for we have sinned!’” (14:40)

What changed between the time that Bnei Yisrael accepted the opinion of the spies that, “We cannot ascend,” and the time that Bnei Yisrael said, “We shall ascend”? R’ Shneur Zalman of Liadi z”l (1745-1813; the Ba’al Ha’Tanya) explains: In their hearts, all of the Jewish People are believers. Sometimes, the yetzer hara manages to overcome a person and causes him to act or speak contrary to his innate belief. That is what happened here. However, as soon as Bnei Yisrael heard how angry Hashem was at their saying, “We cannot ascend,” their evil inclinations immediately were subdued and their emunah was able to express itself if the statement, “We shall ascend!”

Unfortunately, in the case of the Generation of the Wilderness, it was too late to undo the damage that their words caused. Nevertheless, every person can learn from this not to despair when heretical or immoral thoughts cross his mind. The yetzer hara only has permission to confuse a person, but it is never able to uproot a Jew’s core beliefs. (Likkutei Amarim, end of ch.29)

********


“Speak to Bnei Yisrael and say to them that they shall make tzitzit for themselves . . .” (15:38)

R’ Yitzchak Meltzen z”l (1854-1916; Lithuania and Eretz Yisrael) writes: The word “tzitzit” can mean “hair,” as in Yechezkel (8:3), “He took me by the lock of my head.” Also, it can mean a place from which to watch, as in Shir Ha’shirim (2:9), “Observing through the windows, mei’tzitz / peering through the lattices.” Combining these two meanings, we can understand the mitzvah of tzitzit as saying to us: Pay attention! These strings are your lifeline; they can connect you to G-d. However, if you are not conscious of this fact, if you are not watching, they will accomplish nothing, just as tying a string around your finger will not help you remember anything unless, at the time you tie the string, you say to yourself, “This is a reminder of such-and-such.” Similarly, if you see the tzitzit all day long, but have never thought about what they are meant to remind you of, then they will remind you of nothing. (Siddur Ishei Yisrael: Siach Yitzchak)

********


“It shall be tzitzit for you, that you may see it and remember all the commandments of Hashem and perform them . . .” (15:39)

R’ Yehoshua Rokeach z”l (1825-1894; second Belzer Rebbe) asks: The Gemara (Nedarim 23a) teaches that the mitzvah of tzitzit is equal to all other mitzvot. Yet, the Midrash Mishlei teaches that any mitzvah performed properly is equal to all of the mitzvot. If so, what is special about tzitzit?

He explains: Rashi z”l writes (commentary to Devarim 11:18), “Even in exile, distinguish yourselves with mitzvot--wear tefilin and make mezuzot--so that they will not seem new to you when you return to the Land. In truth, the Belzer Rebbe continues, every Jew wants to walk in the way of G-d, and the key to success is not to try to imitate the nations among whom we live. Sometimes, Jews are embarrassed to stand out, which is why the mitzvot of tefilin, mezuzah and tzitzit are so important. Even a Jew who is embarrassed to dress differently than those around him will remember who he is if he practices those three mitzvot. It is this aspect of the mitzvah of tzitzit that makes it equal to all other mitzvot, since it has the potential to bring about the observance of other mitzvot that might otherwise fall by the wayside due to assimilation. (Quoted in Orchot Rabboteinu: Tzetil Kattan p.32)

R’ Chaim Yosef David Azulai z”l (1724-1806; Eretz Yisrael and Italy) writes: The gematria of the Hebrew words “Bnei Yisrael” equals 603. Add eight, the number of strings in one corner of the tzitzit, and you have 611, the gematria of the Hebrew word “Torah.” Thus, “Speak to Bnei Yisrael and say to them that they shall make tzitzit” equals the whole Torah. (Quoted in Siddur Ha’Chida)

********

Letters from our Sages


Below is an open letter from R’ Shlomo Shapiro z”l (1831-1893), rabbi and chassidic rebbe of Munkatch, Hungary (now Ukraine), to his community written in 1882, not long after he assumed his position in that city. The letter is printed in Igrot Shapirin, No. 27. (The writer’s yahrzeit, 21 Sivan, fell this week.)

Hear me, my brothers; listen to me, my nation! May my beseeching come before you; may my conversation be sweet to you! Listen to me, and may G-d listen to you! In every city where our brethren Bnei Yisrael dwell (may G-d lengthen their days and shower good upon them), if G-d forbid someone departs from them and leaves this life (may the days of all of Israel be lengthened, theirs and their children’s), they perform great honor for him; they will perform the ultimate kindness for him; they will carry him on their shoulders; his brethren will surround him; a huge crowd will accompany him; his relatives will walk among them in tears; they will lift their voices in wailing and eulogy in the streets . . .

Now, I have come to this city, Munkatch, may Elokim protect it, a metropolis of Jews, whose righteousness is like the mountains of G-d, who are filled with Torah and awe of G-d, and who yearn heart and soul for the living words of G-d--may our Master in Heaven assist them and increase their lives, and bless all of their activities. [Nevertheless,] I have found here a ravine that needs to be fenced . . . ; I saw, and my heart was anguished, my soul was distressed . . . When one of our brothers is called by the Loftiest One to return to the eternal home, they place him in a wagon, and two horses lead him. The driver sits above while the deceased lies below, with the backs of the driver and the two horses toward him. The few people who accompany him are far behind, avoiding the feet of the horses. There is no sound of sighs, no sound of crying, no sound of pain . . . The few people who accompany him past the city limits are engaged in their conversations and their business; the deceased is forgotten from the heart while he is still among them.

Listen, please, my brothers! The Mishnah (Berachot 2:1) teaches that those who are carrying the coffin, their replacements, and the replacements of the replacements are all exempt from Kriat Shema and Shemoneh Esrei. Is this referring to the horses in our city? If the Mishnah, and likewise the Shulchan Aruch, exempts those carrying the coffin, their replacements, and the replacements of the replacements from the Torah obligation of Kriat Shema, any person of intelligence can see how great a mitzvah it is! Here, unfortunately, that mitzvah is abandoned. . .

May Hashem repair our breaches with mercy, and may death be eliminated . . .   

Ephraim Ben Noach:
Anyone know if this is a movie? If so, what is it called?

muman613:

--- Quote from: Ephraim on June 16, 2012, 11:32:34 AM ---Anyone know if this is a movie? If so, what is it called?


--- End quote ---

What do ya know? I found it on youtube... It is a movie called 'Moses' which I have never seen before. I hope to be able to watch it later this afternoon... I don't know if it is 'Kosher' in my book, if not I will remove the link later...

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