Shalom Friends;
This year’s Parshiyot Vayakhel vort is being sponsored by Steven and Debra Glanz and family of Ramat Beit Shemesh dedicated to their children for Hotslocha this year in all of their endeavors and dedicated for the safety of the Chayalim and the liberation of all remaining hostages and their return home whole physically, mentally and spiritually.. To the Glanz family, many thanks for your sponsorship 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
Subscribe to the Israel and the Sin of Expulsion blog, to ask questions or to sponsor a Parsha Vort at: olehchadash@yahoo.com
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At the beginning of our Parshat Vayakhel, Torah records:
“Take from yourself a portion for Hashem, everyone whose heart motivates him shall bring it, as a gift for Hashem…” (Sefer Sh’mos, Perek 35, posuk 5 as rendered to English in the Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash)
The Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash comments on this posuk (page 517) :
“Shall bring it.” The verse’s stress on the motivation of the donor indicates that the primary requirement is not the monetary value of the gift — Hashem is in no need of our contributions — but the giver’s sincere inner desire to elevate and unite himself with Him. (The Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash citing Or HaChaim)
Further along in the Perek, Torah records a posuk which relates profoundly to our times — 500 plus days since 7 October, the War of Simchat Torah:
“Every man whose heart inspired him came…” (Sefer Sh’mos, Perek 35, posuk 21 as rendered to English in the Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash)
The Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash comments on Sefer Sh’mos, Perek 35, posuk 21 (page 519) :
The were two types of givers: those whose spirit motivated them to give what they could afford, voluntarily and wholeheartedly. There was even a nobler category of people, whose heart inspired them to do more than they could afford, soo great was their desire to share in the building of the Mishkan. (The Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash citing Or HaChaim)
Rabbi Zelig Pliskin, in his Sefer “Growth Through Torah” notes regarding Sefer Sh’mos, Perek 35, posuk 21 (pages 227 – 229) :
Rabbi Yeruchem Levovitz commented that if we look at the really wealthy people of the world, we will see that they are people with great initiative. There are major differences between people who reach the top by having much initiative and those who stay behind because of lack of initiative. The Torah notes that the people who are successful in the sacred work of building the Mishkan were successful because of their inner courage to come forth and volunteer to do what is needed. (Rabbi Pliskin citing Daas Torah: Sh’mos, page 348)
Be aware of the moments in your life when you felt a strong desire to accomplish spiritual greatness. Let those memories motivate you in the future to have even more initiative for true accomplishments. Have the courage to accept upon yourself to do what is needed. A person who has a strong drive to accomplish something will find that he has many talents and abilities that would have remained dormant had he lacked that drive.
Whenever a negative character trait could be an underlying factor in your behavior, be careful to clarify what your true motivation is. This applies especially to the trait of laziness. It is easy to give many good-sounding reasons for not doing things. But when laziness could be the real reason for your lack of action, be suspicious that your reasons are actually rationalizations by which you are trying to excuse yourself.
So we learn that one’s heart and spirit motivate him to show initiative and accomplish great deeds. In this author’s lifetime, which spans from the establishment of Israel’s modern-day nationhood in 1948 — 5708, there was the era of “Follow me” when the generals led and inspired their troops into battle in the Sinai Campaign, the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War. There was former Prime Minister Levi Eshkol whose governmental leadership guided Israel, in the days leading up to, and during, the Six Day War. Wikipedia provides this account of Prime Minister Eshkol:
The special relationship he developed with [then President Lyndon] Johnson would prove pivotal in securing US political and military support for Israel during the “Waiting period” before the Six-Day War of June 1967.
According to Michael Oren, Eshkol’s intransigence in the face of military pressure to launch an Israeli attack is considered to have been instrumental in increasing Israel’s strategic advantage and obtaining international legitimacy, but at the time, he was perceived as hesitant, an image cemented after a stuttered radio speech on 28 May. Egyptian President Nasser’s ever-increasing provocations created diplomatic support for Israel. Eshkol eventually established a National Unity Government, together with Menachem Begin’s Herut party, and conceded the Defense portfolio to Moshe Dayan.
But, unlike Moshe Dayan, Yitzchak Rabin, Ariel Sharon, David Elazar, Albert Mendler, Rehavim Ze’evi and others who led their troops into battle, “Follow Me!” in their respective battles of war and fighting against terror attacks, such as Sharon and the battles of “kilometer 101” in the 1950s, today, it seems that the generals of the IDF High Command no longer lead their respective troops into battle. Today, the Chief of Staff and other top generals of the high command sit comfortably, away from the front lines of battle, safe behind their computers in HaKirya in Tel Aviv hatching their political and ideological agendas, machinations, seemingly wrong-headed tactical strategies and misconceptions of enemy intentions such that we observed on 7 October — the War of Simchat Torah.
And the Chayalim on the front lines are speaking out: Soldiers to their commander: We will not be cannon fodder for deals of surrender:
Soldiers in the Carmeli Brigade have recently sent a sharply worded letter to their brigade commander, expressing frustration with the situation on the ground and the impact of the cessation of combat in the Gaza Strip on their sense of mission.
The letter, exposed by Kan 11 News, criticizes the deal with Hamas and describes the soldiers’ feeling that their efforts on the battlefield are not leading to a decisive outcome.
“We do not want to be cannon fodder for deals of surrender,” the soldiers wrote, adding, “How can we have the motivation to return, fight, and risk our lives in operational activities on land that will be handed back to our enemy in a few days? Our home is not ready to receive us, either disabled or in coffins, when all our efforts will only serve as leverage for deals to release terrorists.”
The soldiers further stressed that they are willing to continue fighting and sacrificing, but only if the goal is a clear defeat of Hamas. “We are ready to stand and risk our lives again and again if we know for certain that the purpose of our stand is to fight, defeat, and vanquish the enemy.”
In conclusion, they wrote, “There is no moral justification for sending us to risk our lives on land that will later be handed over to the enemy.”
Hopefully, the voices of the Chayalim become known to, and have impact upon both the high command and political, governmental echelons.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has made his share of political and diplomatic blunders, as well as Israel’s continued dependence upon American military aid, during his two periods of Prime Ministership, as well as voting in favor of Sharon’s expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif in 2005 as a Member of Knesset. But, with President Trump’s whole-hearted support for Israel, B’Ezrat Hashem that our Prime Minister takes advantage of this support in making the right decisions regarding eradicating Hamas and all terror groups in Gaza, as well as in Yehudah and the Shomron, Hezbollah in Lebanon, eradicating Iran’s nuclear capacity, reacting to Egyptian Sinai preparations for war, logistics for relocating Gazan “civilians” to nations not reachable to Israel, bringing to the IDF high command a restoration of a “Follow Me!” Victory attitude, making Israel militarily self-sufficient in weaponry and munitions, and more.
To repeat the words of Rabbi Pliskin:
Be aware of the moments in your life when you felt a strong desire to accomplish spiritual greatness. Let those memories motivate you in the future to have even more initiative for true accomplishments. Have the courage to accept upon yourself to do what is needed.
Not withstanding the current horrendous “ceasefire” and drips and drabs of hostages in exchange for thousands of bloody-handed terrorists, may it be that our Chayalim, regardless of the machinations of their high command, emerge totally victorious — eradicating from the face of the earth Hamas, their terrorist buddies and the so-called “innocent civilians” of Gaza who joined with Hamas in their murderous deeds, that the Chayalim return home whole — physically, mentally and spiritually and that the Chayalim Liberate and bring home all remaining hostages. May we see a Final and Decisive victory by our Chayalim, mandated by a government secure in it’s foremost service of and emunah in HaKadosh Borchu, B’Ezrat Hashem! And may we see the restoration of true unity within Am Yisrael.
May we, the B’nei Yisrael be zocha that our brethren — the refugee families from Gush Katif be permanently re-settled in Gush Katif, once the IDF, by the Yad Hashem, destructs and eradicates the wild beasts of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, all other terror entities, and if necessary Iran, and that our brethren be made totally whole — be totally restituted for all that was stolen from them, that the thrice expelled families of Amona be restored to their rebuilt homes and the oft-destroyed Yeshiva buildings in Homesh be rebuilt, as well as the buildings of Yishuv Elchanan, all at total government expense. May our Chayalim return from battle unharmed — physically, mentally and spiritually and may all of the remaining hostages brutally taken by the wild beasts of Hamas be liberated and brought home to their families. Baruch Hashem that our dear brother Jonathan Pollard is now in his fifth year at home in Eretz Yisrael and continues in a new chapter in his life. May Esther Yocheved bat Yechiel Avraham have an aliyah in Shemayim and may her spirit and memory continue to lift Jonathan to at least 120 years. 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 ten 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. May we see, in 5785, the REAL Jews from the Ukraine and Russia as well as the US and Canada, the real Jews via matrilineal descent, make Aliyah enmass — via thorough review by Misrad HaPanim. And may we soon and finally see the total end to the Communist Chinese Wuhan Lab corona virus pandemic and all like viruses and variants. 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!!!
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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.
Moshe is available for editing of English language documents, articles, manuscripts and more. Please be in contact with him at olehchadash@yahoo.com for your English language needs.
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