Shalom Friends;
Our Rosh Hashana vort is being sponsored by Avraham and Miriam Deutsch of Efrat who dedicate Special L’Shana Tova wishes for our brethren, the former residents of Gush Katif, as well as L’Shana Tova for Zahal and Kol Am Yisrael and prayers for the safety of the Chayalim. To the Deutsch family, many thanks for your sponsorship and 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 HaShavua.
Please forward to your relatives and friends and encourage them to sponsor a Parshat HaShavua. And please be in contact with me with any questions, or for further details.
Best Regards,
Moshe Burt
olehchadash@yahoo.com
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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This year, the first day of Rosh Hashana 5787 begins on Shabbos (Friday Evening) With Rosh Hashana, we re-coronate, Hashem as Our King, the Creator of All existence as the nation remains in an existential war — the nearly three years of the multi-front War which began on Simchat Torah.
On Rosh Hashana, we have dual feelings; of Simcha for our annual re-coronation of Hashem as our Melech, the King and Creator of the World in all of its aspects, as well as having reflected throughout the month of Elul on our short-comings, our aveirahs and taking corrective action — to do sincere Teshuvah so as to come closer to Hashem in the coming year and years to come.
We begin with an excerpt from a vort on Rosh Hashana by Rabbi Yehudah Zev Segal, z’’l, the Manchester Rosh Yeshiva in his sefer, “Inspiration and Insight, Volume 2, Discourses on the Holidays and Other Themes” (page 80):
On this day, we ponder our spiritual successes and failures of the past year. Hashem has tested each of us in a variety of ways. One can rest assured that every effort he expended in his struggles with his yetzer hara is an immeasurable source of merit. And what of our failures? This awesome Day of Judgement is a time when we can and must strive for improvement.
R’ Segal cites a Rambam (ibid, pages 80 – 81) :
There is an allusion to the Shofar blowing on Rosh Hashana: “Awake, O sleepers, from your sleep! Arouse yourselves, O slumberers, from your slumber! Scrutinize your deeds! Return with contrition! Remember your Creator! Those of you who forget the truth in the futility of the times and let your years elapse in futility and emptiness… peer into your souls, improve your ways and your deeds. Each one of you should abandon his evil way and his bad thoughts.”
Rabbi Hershel Reichman provides these poignant words for the Yom Norayim in our times in his Sefer, “Living the Chassidic Legacy: Lessons Based on Shem Mishmuel” (pages 770 – 773) :
Going into Rosh Hashana, and Yom Kippur, and during the Asseret Yomei Teshuvah [the Ten Days of Repentance], we beg Hashem to wake us up… so we can be sensitive to the dangers posed to our religious level.
The Rambam makes an interesting observation in Hilchos Teshuvah 3:4 stating that the Shofar is an arousal to do Teshuvah. He says [that] “there is a hidden message in the Shofar.” Wake up from your sleep and arouse yourself from your slumber.
Why does the Rambam repeat the same idea twice? Shem Mishmuel explains that “sheina” — sleep has to do with the heart — the lev is asleep. The person is not sensitive to Judaism, Torah and Mitzvot. He’s in a sense of self-delusion, like many people today who don’t realize that their actions have tremendous spiritual ramifications.
Slumber refers to the slumber of the mind. The mind does not make the correct calculation that it should. The slumberer thinks to himself, “I can do Mitzvot and I can do aveirot. My Mitzvot will outweigh my aveirot.” Hashem is the ONLY one who can make that kind of Cheshbon. Every Mitzvah stands alone and every aveira stands alone. No Mitzvah can every undo an aveirah.
The first posuk [of Vayeilech] says Moshe went and spoke to Am Yisrael, and the next posuk says, “Vayomer aleihem.” The Midrash says the walk refers to a rebuke. The Jews needed an arousal. Both the false ideologies and improper attitudes [sleep and slumber referred to in the previous paragraphs] that lead to sin were prevalent among the people. There were Jews at the time who were sleeping. They didn’t realize the harm of what they were doing, They needed to be awakened. Other Jews knew what they were doing wrong, but they thought that the good they were doing made it acceptable. One group had an insensitive heart. The other group intellectually justified what they were doing.
Moshe, himself, functioned more on the intellectual side. “Vayeilech Moshe” — Moshe went and said, “Look at this intellect that I am modeling and demonstrating to you, the intellect of Torah. This is on the level of sechel.” The posuk continues, “Vayedaber [Moshe]” — he also spoke to their hearts, and aroused in them feelings of guilt and inadequacy. This woke them up emotionally to their situation.
The first posuk was to make the people aware of the two-sided trap of the yeitzer hora, the sleep and slumber referred to by the Rambam. He referred to the mistakes of the yeitzer hora: the emotional insensitivity to evil, and the foolish, self-delusional thinking that good can justify evil. The Torah does not accept either. These are the two messages that Moshe wanted to impart to Am Yisrael.
Going into Rosh Hashana and Tom Kippur and during the Asseret Yomei Teshuvah, we beg Hashem to wake us up, …so that we can be sensitive to the dangers posed to our religious level [and observance]. We beg Hashem to give us the wisdom to know what’s right and what’s wrong, and not to think that anything good can outweigh anything bad. We are responsible for everything we do. We ask Hashem to give us spiritual and emotional inspiration and the wisdom to place things in the proper categories and not confuse good and evil. We will come back to Hashem. We will change and rededicate ourselves to Torah and Mitzvot with great attitudes and clear thoughts.
This Rosh Hashana, and over the Asseret Y’mei Tshuvah, Am Yisrael has a lot to work on collectively, as R’ Segal cited from Rambam; “Peer into your souls, improve your ways and your deeds. Each one of you should abandon his evil way and his bad thoughts.” [Cited from Sefer, “Inspiration and Insight, Volume 2, Discourses on the Holidays and Other Themes” (page 80)].
May our government and military bring about the total and complete, Final and Decisive victory over Hamas, their 7 October so-called “civilians(sic)” collaborators, Iran and the entire terror cabal, B’Yad Hashem, and become Totally self-sufficient as to manufacture of military equipment and aircraft, weaponry, munitions — heavy munitions, as well as showing independence of actions responding to any threat, regardless of so-called “super powers.”
May it be that our leadership — governing, judiciary and IDF high command echelons, as well as kol Am Yisrael be devoid of false, fraudulent ideologies and political agendas, and endeavor to achieve a faithfulness and consistency in our avodah — both V’Ahavtah L’Arecha Kamocha, as One, and in our Service of Hashem, B’Ezrat Hashem
May we see a government of Israel, military high echelons, judiciary, as well as Kol Am Yisrael 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 these words come to fruition B’Ezrat Hashem.
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 sixth 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. Baruch Hashem that another of the MIAs have been liberated 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, the recent recovery of the remains of Tzvi Feldman as well as the recoveries of the remains of Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin from the Gaza War of ten years ago, and now, Yehuda Katz. There is still one MIA to be recovered, Ron Arad. 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 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!!!
May You, All of My Brothers and Sisters, be Inscribed and Sealed for another Year of Life… Now and always! L’Shana Tova!
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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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