Shalom Friends;
This week, our Parshiyot HaShevua for Naso is being co-sponsored by R’ Moshe and Rachelle Lichtenstein dedicated for the refuah shleima of Tova Riva Lea bat Malka Sarah and uber ben Tova Riva Lea and by R’ Naftali and Hindy Bryks dedicated lilui nishmas for Hindi’s Father, Moshe Zev ben Yosef, z”l. Both families are from Ramat Beit Shemesh. To the Lichtenstein and the Bryks families, many thanks for your co-sponsorships and for your continued kindnesses.
You can celebrate a Simcha — a birth, a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, a Chassuna or other Simcha event in your life, or commemorate a Yahrtzeit of a loved one, or for whatever other reason by sponsoring a Parshat HaShevua.
Please forward to your relatives and friends and encourage them to sponsor a Parshat HaShevua. And please be in contact with me with any questions, or for further details.
Best Regards,
Moshe Burt
olehchadash@yahoo.com
skype: mark.burt3
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This year, Parshat Naso does not immediately precede, nor immediately follow Shavuot. However, this year Shavu’ot is on yom sheini, the sixth of Sivan and Shabbos Parshat Naso is on the eleventh of Sivan. But the placement in Torah of Parshat Naso in close proximity to the Yom Tov of Shavuot is with good reason as this author sees a direct connection between the two.
Near the beginning of Parsha Naso,Torah states:
“Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying, ‘Speak to the B’nei Yisrael: A man or woman who commits any of man’s sins, by committing a trespass against Hashem, and that person shall become guilty –‘” (Sefer Bamidbar, Perek 5, posukim 5-6 as rendered to English in the Saperstein Edition “The Torah with Rashi’s Commentary”)
Rashi notes:
…The passage about one who robs and swears falsely with regard to his robbery, this is the subject which is spoken about in Parshat Vayikra: [“If a person will sin] and commit a trespass against Hashem — and be deceitful toward his friend, etc.” It is reiterated here because of two points, the second [of which] is regarding the convert [the Ger Tzeddik]. (Rashi on Sefer Bamidbar, Perek 5, posuk 6 as rendered to English in the Saperstein Edition “The Torah with Rashi’s Commentary,” pages 42-43).
In the next posuk, the Torah states:
“They shall confess the sin that they committed; he shall make restitution for his guilt in his principal amount and add a fifth to it.” (Sefer Bamidbar, Perek 5, posuk 7 as rendered to English in the Saperstein Edition “The Torah with Rashi’s Commentary,” pages 43).
Rabbi Artscroll says on the posuk that:
“This law regarding proselytes was especially relevant now that their status was accentuated by the organization of the Sh’vatim. Since proselytes, not belonging to any of the 12 tribes, encamped separately, the Torah now gives the law regarding the theft of their property. This… teaches that financial treachery toward a fellow Jew is tantamount to treachery against Hashem himself, for He defends the defenseless.” (Artscroll Stone Chumash on Sefer Bamidbar, Perek 5, posuk 7, page 752)
Torah states in the following posuk:
“And if the man has no redeemer to whom to return the debt, the returned debt is for Hashem, for the Kohen, aside from the ram of atonement with which he [the sinner] shall provide him[self] atonement. ” Sefer Bamidbar, Perek 5, posuk 8 as rendered to English in the Saperstein Edition “The Torah with Rashi’s Commentary,” pages 43-44).
Rav Zelig Pliskin, in his sefer “Growth Through Torah” (on Sefer Bamidbar, Perek 5, posukim 6, page 312), attributes to Sforno comments regarding the Hebrew phrase “V’Ashmah hanefesh hahi [pronounced hahe],” rendered to English as “…committing treachery toward Hashem” to the effect that:
…This refers to one who steals from a convert to Judaism. Harming him is considered a trespass against the Almighty because this person had the idealism to come to Almighty’s Torah. One desecrates the Almighty’s name in his [the Gers’] eyes by deceiving him.
A person who comes to Torah on his own volition does so because of the beautiful and uplifted ideas he hears about Torah principles. He made his decision on the assumption that those who follow Torah will act towards him in accordance with all of the Torah laws pertaining to interpersonal relations. If someone cheats him financially or in some other way wrongs him, he will not only suffer a monetary loss. Rather, he might also feel disillusioned with his decision to accept a Torah way of life…. The importance of not harming a convert can be seen from the fact that Torah warns us about this in numerous places.
The Ger Tzeddek has usually given up very much because of his ideals and will experience much pain from his disappointment that the people he is in contact with do not meet the Torah standards he expected of them. The importance of not harming a convert can be seen from the fact that Torah warns us about this in a number of places. From the negative we can learn the positive. The merit of acting with love and kindness toward a convert is great.
“The Midrash Says” (pages 53-54), comments regarding the punishment of the Jewish thief who steals from a Ger or from any other Jew, as follows;
“When the gentile nations heard about this mitzvah, they exclaimed, How great is this G’d who formulates laws that benefit those who observe them.”
“The Midrash Says” continues by saying;
“The Almighty …is more lenient, as it were, with sins against him personally than with a wrong committed by a man against his fellow.”
This applies not only to a sin committed against a native Jew but equally against a Ger Tzeddek, a non-Jew who converted Leshaim Shamayim.”
R’ Shimshon Rafael Hirsch, z’l in the new Hirsch Chumash (published by Feldheim in 2005 and translated to English by Daniel Haberman) illustrates and emphasizes this treachery by way of equation of man’s sins in his business dealings with committing a breach of trust against Hashem (Hirsch Chumash, Sefer BaMidbar, commentary on Perek 5, posuk 6, pages 68-69):
Every… sin against one’s fellow man is also a breach of trust against Hashem; for… Hashem is the Guarantor of honesty in business dealings between men. The breach of trust is especially serious if the person takes an oath and invokes the Name of Hashem in order to prove his honesty. In such a case, the appeal to Hashem is exploited in order to conceal an injustice. The debt owed to one’s fellow man becomes, as a result of the oath, a debt owed to Hashem. It is elevated to sacred status because the oath taker claims that he is “close to Hashem”; he as it were, wraps himself in the Me’il [the robe — Rashbam: garment of honor — Stone Chumash Parsha Tetzaveh, page 467] of the Kohen, and his treachery against his fellow thereby becomes Me’ilah [in modern day Israeli Iv’rit = embezzlement].
This author has developed and written on Shavu’ot over the years focusing on the middot of honesty and Ahavat Chinom for our fellow Jews and the impact that a lack of these middot makes on our collective mindset at various levels; from personal, to business, to learning, to the levels of governing and politics. It seems that a paradigm of these middot is how we are taught to treat the Ger Tzeddik. We are taught to go above and beyond the norm – to go, in the vernacular which evolved from American Pro-Football, beyond “the full nine yards” in extending kindnesses to a Ger Tzeddek.
The Sforno cited above by Rabbi Pliskin apparently equates cheating or wronging a Ger Tzeddik with “committing treachery toward Hashem.” And it would seem that this S’forno would/should extend beyond the Ger Tzeddik to the Ba’al Teshuva who seeks closeness to Hashem and to the Oleh from a foreign land who starts a new life in Eretz HaKodesh. For we see that Na’omi’s return to Eretz Yisrael with her daughter-in-law, the Ger’es, that Ruth was treated with respect, acceptance and kindness. The chessed shown by Bo’az and his community toward Ruth should serve as a paradigm, not only for treatment of the Ger Tzeddek, but for treatment of the Ba’al Teshuva or new Olim as well — on a systemic national level as well as on a local communal level.
There is an old axiom that was heard back in Philadelphia, in the “Old Country” amongst Religious Jews that he who was born, raised and has lived his entire life as a Religious Jew can’t fit into the shoes or know the road that the Ba’al Teshuvah has traveled. Chavel Chomer, that all Jews can’t know and internalize the road that the Ger Tzaddik, or the Ba’al Teshuvah has traveled in his evolution toward the Emmet of Judaism. But often, there seems to be a chauvinism shown amongst some of those who are frum-from-birth toward the Ba’al Teshuva, the Ger Tzeddek. The same might be said of attitudes of some native-born Israelis toward an Oleh Chadash (new resident).
It would therefore also seem that any treachery, not just monetary, done toward a fellow Jew, at whatever level of religiosity and under whatever guise; trickery, withholding information, speech, etc. would constitute a treachery against Hashem which will eventually have to be answered for by the perpetrators.
As with the Ger Tzeddek, an indigenous klal — whether local or national, can’t possibly know, relate to or understand the road travelled by a Ba’al Teshuva, or the Oleh Chadash who, heretofore, lived in a foreign land, or the roads traveled by those from whom the Ba’al Teshuva or oleh chadash are descended. It seems obvious, yet often disregarded — tread upon with the Eikev — with the heel, that the indigenous klal ought not to use the intricate nuances of their language, or so-called “local customs” to trick, to put “obstacles in the way of the blind” — the oleh chadash — the new resident who made aliyah from a foreign land. The indigenous klal — whether local or national, must also not walk before either the Ger Tzeddek, the Ba’al Teshuva or the Oleh Chadash with feelings of either superiority or priority entitlements because of “their hard lives,” because of their army service, because the oleh chadash may be unable to speak Iv’rit at the level of a native Israeli, or because of the native Israeli Jew’s pain as terrorist victims or loss of loved ones on the battlefield.
Who among this indigenous klal can know the pain and suffering of their fellow Jew; Ba’al Teshuva or oleh chadash, instilled as a result of the Sho’ah, or of generations of pogroms, abuse, persecution and more?? It seems obvious that every Jew, that every oleh chadash, by virtue of the sufferings of those from whom he descended, has at least the same merit as the indigenous Israeli Jew, that he merits the same rights to live, earn a living, receive justice in legal proceedings and appropriate, expert, transparent medical care, etc. in Eretz Yisrael as does the indigenous klal — the native-born, regardless of his level of Hebrew language sophistication.
And the Ba’alei Teshuva and the Ger Tzeddik have earned and deserve the merit, by virtue of the road that they’ve traveled to achieve closeness with Hashem, of being considered fairly for shidduchim based on who they are, what they’ve achieved and continue to achieve in growing in Yiddishkiet. In short, all upright, righteous Jews, be they Ba’alei Teshuva, the Ger Tzeddik, the Oleh Chadash are Holy and merit V’Ahavta L’Rei’echa Komocha from their fellow Jews, not trickery, theft or belittled as “friars” (aka suckers) to be taken advantage of by native-borns who know “all of the ropes.”.
In view of the current lessening of Chinese Wuhan coronavirus pandemic restrictions in Israel, this author feels personally comforted by the Ramat Beit Shemesh community’s care and kindnesses extended toward new olim, as well as its elderly members during the time of the lockdowns and heavy restrictions.
May it be that once this pandemic is permanently in the rear view mirror of history, that attentiveness and sensitivity, both on the communal, medical and governmental levels, toward the Ba’alei Teshuva, the Ger Tzeddik, as well as seniors’ medical/psychological needs increase ten-fold.
May we, the B’nei Yisrael be zocha that our brethren — the refugee families from Gush Katif be permanently settled and be made totally whole — be totally restituted for all that was stolen from them and that the thrice expelled families of Amona be restored to their rebuilt homes, at government expense; both due to alt-leftist-agendized, supreme court legalized Yassamnik gunpoint. Baruch Hashem that our dear brother Jonathan Pollard is now free of his parole and restrictions and that he and his ill wife Esther Yocheved bat Rayzl Bracha are finally home in Eretz Yisrael. May the MIAs be liberated alive and returned to us in ways befitting Al Kiddush Hashem — as with the return in April, 2019, via Russia, of the remains of Zachariah Baumel, as should the remains of the two chayalim from the Gaza War of five and a half years ago. May we have the courage and strength to stand up and physically prevent the possibility of Chas V’Challila any future eviction of Jews from their homes and prevent Chas V’Challila the handing of Jewish land over to anyone, let alone to enemies sworn to Israel’s and Judaism’s destruction and eradication. And may we soon and finally see the total end to the Communist Chinese corona virus pandemic and all like viruses. May we fulfill Hashem’s blueprint of B’nei Yisrael as a Unique people — an Am Segula, not to be reckoned with as with “the nations” and may we be zocha to see the Moshiach, the Ge’ula Shlaima, as Dov Shurin sings; “Ki Karov Yom Hashem Al’Kol HaGoyim”, the Ultimate Redemption, bimhayrah b’yamainu — speedily, in our time”, — Achshav, Chik Chuk, Miyad, Etmol!!!
Good Shabbos!
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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
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