Parshas Devarim
אֵ֣לֶּה הַדְּבָרִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֨ר דִּבֶּ֤ר משֶׁה֙ אֶל־כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּעֵ֖בֶר הַיַּרְדֵּ֑ן בַּמִּדְבָּ֡ר בָּֽעֲרָבָה֩ מ֨וֹל ס֜וּף בֵּֽין־פָּארָ֧ן וּבֵֽין־תֹּ֛פֶל וְלָבָ֥ן וַֽחֲצֵרֹ֖ת וְדִ֥י זָהָֽב:
These are the words which Moshe spoke to all Israel on that side of the Jordan in the desert, in the plain opposite the Red Sea, between Paran and Tofel and Lavan and Hazeroth and Di Zahav…(Devarim 1:1)
Finding Satisfaction
Sefer Devarim begins with Moshe giving mussar and chizuk to the yidden. The Or Chaim Hakodesh and the Seforim HaKedoshim note the common phrase of בני ישראל – the Children of Israel - is replaced with “all Yisroel” because Moshe was not just speaking to Bnei Yisroel, the yidden in the desert. Rather, he provided guidance and chizuk for all of the yidden throughout the generations to come.
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It is widely known that the Yid HaKodesh would read a few pasukim from Sefer Devarim every day explaining that Mishnah Torah is the most precious mussar sefer. He would encourage his students to follow his example; inspiring their hearts and arousing a love for Avodas Hashem through Moshe Rabbeinu’s chizuk.
Every yid can study Sefer Devarim and find direction and advice on how to develop a deeper, more meaningful relationship with Hashem. This first pausk provides one of the most basic lessons.
Everyone wants to be happy. However, we know that there are many people who struggle to find their happiness. Instead, they worry and stress; they have anxiety. They are envious of other people’s successes, their families, their lifestyle and even their ruchniyos.
However, how can someone with emunah ever desire more than what they have? How can ever experience jealousy or envy? Emunah anchors our emotions and can drive us towards a life of happiness and satisfaction.
When a yid has emunah, true and sincere emunah, in Hashem and His Hashgacha, he can find contentment and peace of mind. There is serenity in accepting that Hashem has a Devine Design which requires you to fulfill a specific and uniquely individual role. And, Hashem wants us to succeed and, therefore, provides us with everything we need to achieve our purpose, our tafkid. Everything we need, every skill, every possession, even every struggle, has been tailor-made to help us forge a deeper relationship with Hashem and fulfill our singular mission in this world. Therefore, we don’t need anything more or anything less. At all times we have exactly what we need. With this emunah, we can obtain one of the most virtuous middos: histapkus, contentment and serenity.
The Or Chaim explains that Moshe is alluding to this idea in the opening sentence of his Divrei chizuk. The words “Di Zahav” can be translated as “enough gold”. Moshe, the Or Chaim taught, was instructing the yidden to learn to find contentment and satisfaction with what they have and warned them not to pursue the distractions of this world that only creates distance between themselves and Hashem.
The Teshuas Chein taught (Parshas Vayakhel ) that the middah of histapkus is the key that opens the gates of Avodas Hashem.
They relate a story that a man was once waiting in line to receive a bracha from the Rebbe of Ruzhin. He was not a chassid of the Rebbe, but since he was passing through, he figured he should get a bracha from the tzadik. When he got closer to the Rebbes room, he overhear the Rebbe bless someone saying,, “May you merit great wealth and minimize your Yiras Shemayim.”
This yid could not believe what he was hearing. He was overjoyed! A Rebbe that gives a bracha like that!? Fantastic! When it was his turn, he said, “Rebbe, I want the same bracha you gave that other man!”
With a slight smile, the Rebbe answered, “You don’t understand the meaning behind my bracha. When I told him that he should merit great wealth I was giving him a blessing that whatever wealth he has should be great in his eyes. He shouldn’t merely be content, but merit to be overwhelmed with joy with whatever he has. And, when I said his yiras shemyaim should be minimized I was blessing him that he should always feel like he needs to grow; that his current yiras shemyaim should feel inadequate.”
The Power of Will
As Moshe recounts the events of the 40 years in the desert, he comes to the incident with the spies and recounts, “ולא אביתם לעלת כו' - But you did not wish to ascend…(Devarim 1:26). Then, a few pasukim later in relating the actual words of the yidden, Moshe says, You murmured in your tents and said, "Because the Lord hates us, He took us out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand[s] of the Amorites to exterminate us." Where shall we go up? Our brothers have discouraged us, saying, "A people greater and taller than we; cities great and fortified up to the heavens, and we have even seen the sons of Anakim there." (Devarim 1:27-28)
Why did Moshe feel the need to first mention that they didn’t want to go up? By simply relaying that they said, “Where shall we go up” it was obvious that they didn’t want to enter Eretz Yisroel! It seems redundant.
If the rebuke of Moshe was meant to guide that generation and all that would follow, what lesson is he teaching here?
There is a famous story of R’ Zusha (the Imrei Emes quotes the story in this week’s Parsha). One time, while the Rebbe was walking, he passed a non-Jew whose wagon had tipped over. “Excuse me, can you please help me with my wagon,” asked the man. The Rebbe, already older, replied, “Unfortunately, I am unable to.”
“ You are able to. You just don’t want to,” answered the man.
Ability and will, ratzon, are two different things. Having the ability to complete a project, to achieve something, to accomplish an outcome, that is out of our control. Outcomes are up to Hashem and His hashgacha. Ratzon, our will, however, is up to us. Our priorities, values, aspirations, and wants are completely within our control.
The Chida famously said: nothing can stand in the way of a person’s will. How can that be true? There are many things in our lives that we want, that we desire to have or accomplish, and yet, no matter how strong that will may be, it never comes to fruition. Therefore, what did the Chida really mean? How could he have implied that we can accomplish whatever we want?
The Imrei Emes explains that obviously Chida did not mean that you can always have what you want. Your will alone cannot actualize an outcome. However, explained the Gerrer Rebbe, the Chida was teaching us an incredible lesson: nothing can stand in the way of you having a ratzon, a will. Nothing can prevent you from having a will, a desire, a yearning. That is completely within your control. You can set your own priorities and aspirations.
Chazal ( Rashi on Breishis 1:1) teach that when Hashem created the world, His initial intent (שבתחלה עלה במחשבה ) was “to create the world with the Middas HaDin. However, when He saw that the world could not endure in that condition, He introduced the Midda of Chesed and blended them together.”
Seemingly, Chazal is explaining that Hashem created the world with one modality and then, changed His mind, Chas V’Shalom. Obviously, Hashem knows everything and every outcome. What, then, is Chazal really teaching us here?
The Sefas Emes offers an insight that reinforces our idea. In the world of machshava, thought, rationality and intention, there can be din, judgement, and Divine accountability. In the realm of ratzon, we can be scrutinized with Divine exactness. But, in the world of deed, when it comes to our actions and outcomes, we need to rely on Hashem’s chesed, kindness. Hashgacha might determine that an action should not come to fruition. Since the results are in Hashem’s Hands, there needs to be chesed. We can control only our ratzon, and, therefore, can and will be judged on that.
The Torah says, ואף גם זאת בהיותם בארץ איביהם לא מאסתים ולא געלתים לכלתם- But despite all of this, while they will be in the land of their enemies, I will not have been revolted by them nor will I have rejected them to obliterate (לכלתם) them…(Vayikra 26:44). The Zera Kodesh (Parshas Veira) explains that the word לכלתם can also mean “desire” or “will”. Therefore, the Rebbe explained, the pasuk is teaching us that even when the yidden are in galus, exile, “in the land of their enemies” when they are surrounded by the challenges and temptations of their host nation, Hashem will not be “revolted” or reject their לכלתם, their will.
Every yid has his own personal galus, and his own “enemies” that are constantly trying to pull him away from Avodas Hashem. At times, our actions do not align with Torah and mitzvos. Or, we simply cannot accomplish what we hope to. However, that is not in our control. Our ratzon, our desire to learn Torah, perform mitzvos, to connect to Hashem in all that we do, that is within our control. That is in our hands. That is the key to our spiritual survival. A yid needs to have a ratzon to be ehrlich.
The Imrei Emes explains that is what Moshe is teaching the yidden here. When the yidden listen to the meraglim, they felt like the challenges were too overwhelming. They felt that they simply were unable to succeed in conquering the land. But, answers Moshe, it wasn’t that they were unable, they simply lacked the will. ולא אביתם לעלת כו' - But you did not wish to ascend - Moshe tells the yidden, you lacked the will, the desire, the ratzon. And, that is why you felt, Where shall we go up.
This story of the mergalim is intrinsically tied to Tisha B’Av. After the mergalim gave their assessment, the Torah tells us (Bamidbar 14:1), The entire community raised their voices and shouted, and the people wept on that night. This happened on Tisha B’Av and, as the Midrash explains (Bamidbar Rabba 16:20), since the yidden wept baselessly tears in that generation, all generations will weep on Tisha B’Av.
Perhaps you can say that this wasn’t a punishment. Rather, Hashem was teaching the yidden how to survive a galus, how to find the strength for Avodas Hashem even when the Beis Hamikdash is destroyed. Learn the lesson of the mergalim. See how powerful it is to have a ratzon. Remember for all generations that our Yiddishkeit will depend on our ratzon. We need to want to have a relationship with Hashem, we need to have the willpower to prioritize Torah and mitzvos. How that manifests itself is solely up to Hashem.
We Wept
לנו משיר ציון. איך נשיר את שיר ד' על אדמת נכר
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, we also wept when we remembered Zion. For, there our captors requested words of song from us, with our lyres [playing] joyous music, “Sing for us of the Zion’s song." "How can we sing the song of Hashem upon foreign soil?" (Tehilim 137:1:4)
The Midrash comments:
רע רע יאמר הקונה ואוזל לו אז יתהלל, It is bad, it is bad, " says the buyer, but when he goes away, then he praises (Mishlei 20:14). You find that until Israel was exiled, the Holy One blessed be He called them wicked… Once they were exiled, He began praising them, as it is stated: but when he goes away, then he praises. Once they sinned, they were exiled. When they were exiled, Yirmiyahu began lamenting over them, with Eichah.
This Midrash is puzzling. Why are the yidden described as “wicked” before the galus, and praiseworthy once the galus began?
While the yidden lived in Eretz Yisroel and ruled over their own land with their own leadership, the entire world recognized that they were unique amongst the nations. However, there is another quality that differentiates the yidden from every other nation that only surfaces and becomes apparent during galus. When the yidden are dispersed among the nations, living with the hardships and challenges of galus, struggling spiritually and physically, another potently powerful virtue emerges. In that suffering, at the subjugation of those who despise the yidden, a truth is revealed: נצח ישראל לא ישקר- the glory of Israel does not deceive…(Shmuel I 15:29). Their connection to Hashem remains intact.
The Midrash ( Shemos Rabba 2:5) teaches:
וירא והנה הסנה בער באש והסנה איננו אכל - An angel of the Lord appeared to him from within the thorn bush, and behold, the thorn bush was burning with fire, but it was not being consumed. (Shemos 3:2) And why did Hashem show Moshe the revelation in this manner? Because Moshe was thinking to himself and saying: Perhaps the Egyptians will destroy the Jewish people? Therefore, Hashem showed him a fire that was burning and [the burning item] was not consumed. Hashem thus said to Moshe, “Just as the bush is burning in the fire but is not consumed, so too, the Egyptians will not be able to destroy Israel.”
This burning bush was more than a detail of a story. It encapsulated Moshe’s mission and justified the pending redemption. Jews may have been enslaved. They might have suffered persecution and had their dignity stripped away with beatings. They may have been living in a land of complete immorality and impurity. Their world may have been burning around them, yet they were not consumed. In fact, on the contrary, this was when their strength, their virtue and their uniqueness was revealed.
This is the incredible lesson that the Midrash is teaching us in Eicha. Once the yidden were exiled and forced to live among the nations facing incredible challenges, they were praiseworthy. In that moment, Hashem sang their praise acknowledging their incredible ability to remain connected to Hashem despite these challenging circumstances. This quality was only revealed once the galus began.
Now we can understand the pasuk that says, על נהרות בבל שם ישבנו גם בכינו בזכרנו את ציון - By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, we also wept when we remembered Zion. Meaning, only “שם- there” – while “By the rivers of Babylon” – in galus - were they yidden able to weep and remember Zion. While the yidden remained in Eretz Yisroel, they forgot their priorities; they became numb to their own sins. They didn’t remember Zion and they were not inspired to return to Hashem. Despite the numerous prophesies by Yirmayhu HaNavi foretelling the pending destruction of the Beis HaMikdash and subsequent galus, the yidden did not heed the warnings and change their behaviors. Only after being exiled, once on the rivers of Babylon, For there our captors asked us for words of song. They mockingly asked the yidden to find happiness in that exile. And, we answer them, How can we sing the song of Hashem upon foreign soil? The yidden remembered what was lost, they felt the pain of the exile and realized the need for teshuva. That unique spiritual perseverance of the yidden and their holiness was revealed. Their unbreakable connection with Hashem was realized.
This strength is alluded to in the Piyutim, שמחת משנאיה בשחקם על שבריה - The joy of her haters play on her fragments (Tisha B’Av). They celebrate the destruction and the ruins. On the other hand, the yidden faithfully weep over the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash. And, we are not “consumed by” the fire around us. In fact, it is that very fire that empowers the yidden, that arouses the will not to be consumed. It drives us to strengthen ourselves and our emunah in the darkness of the galus, to yearn for the ultimate redemption, which we impatiently await.
