The sun is already beginning to set in the western sky. As the
precious final minutes of the holiest day of the year slip away, we reach
one of its celebrated high points - the haftorah reading which relates the
story of Jonah and the whale.
This famous yet thoroughly baffling story opens with Hashem
sending Jonah as a divine messenger to the huge Assyrian metropolis
of Ninveh. The city had descended to a level of decadence that was
simply intolerable, and destruction was imminent. Only immediate
repentance would bring about a reprieve. Jonah, however, does not
want to undertake this mission, and he attempts to flee from Hashem.
He books passage on a ship which will carry him far away from Ninveh,
but a sudden storm threatens to tear the ship apart. The sailors cast
lots, and Jonah is tossed into the sea, where he is swallowed by a
whale.
From the belly of the whale, Jonah cries out to Hashem in anguish
and despair and pleads for deliverance. Hashem answers Jonah’s
prayer. The whale spits him out onto the shore, and he sets off at once
for Ninveh, where his message is greeted with consternation. The
people don sackcloth and repent, and the city is spared.
The obvious question leaps at us from the page: Jonah was
undoubtedly a very holy man if Hashem granted him the gift of
prophecy. How then did he have the effrontery to refuse to serve as the
messenger of Heaven?
Our Sages tell us that Jonah was concerned for the welfare of the
Jewish people who, at that time, were also guilty of grievous sins in
spite of the repeated warnings of the great prophets. They explain
Jonah feared the people of evil Ninveh, a nation of degenerate pagans,
would heed his prophetic warning and repent, causing the Jewish
people, the custodians of the Torah, to suffer by comparison. They
would stand indicted before the bar of Heavenly justice with nothing to
say in their own defense. Therefore, Jonah chose to flee rather than
bring down retribution on the heads of his people.
But the questions still remain: Did Jonah think he could frustrate the
divine plan by fleeing on a ship? Did he think Hashem would find no
other way to offer Ninveh the option of repentance? And even if he
thought his flight could somehow benefit the Jewish people, what right
did he have to suppress the prophecy entrusted to him?
Furthermore, what lesson are we meant to derive from this story in
the climactic moments of Yom Kippur? Is it only meant to present us
with another example of disaster avoided through timely repentance? Or
is there also a deeper significance in the central theme of the story,
which revolves around Jonah’s attempt to extricate himself from his
mission?
The commentators explain that Jonah certainly had no illusions
about thwarting the divine plan. If Hashem wanted to warn Ninveh that
only repentance could save them, He undoubtedly would. However,
Jonah had such an overpowering love for the Jewish people that he
could not bear to be the agent of their misfortune. In desperation, he
resolved to flee so that Hashem’s will would be fulfilled through some
other channel. He was fully aware of the magnitude of his act and the
dire consequences he would probably suffer for his disobedience, but
the alternative was unbearable.
Hashem, however, chose not to send a different messenger to
Ninveh. Instead, He sent storms and whales to force Jonah to return
and accept his mission. The message to Jonah was very clear, and it
resonates down through the ages to reach us every Yom Kippur. Jonah
had no right to weigh the pros and cons of obeying Hashem’s
command. He did not have the option of deciding whether or not to
obey. If Hashem commanded him to go to Ninveh, then that was what
he was obliged to do, and no amount of rationalization could change it.
A person has to subjugate himself completely to the divine will, to obey
without question, reservation or rationalization. Hashem undoubtedly
knew of Jonah’s love for his people, and if He nevertheless sent him on
his mission, Jonah had no choice but to obey.
In our own lives, we sometimes bend the rules to suit our
convenience. We fall into the trap of “situation ethics,” seeking a middle
ground between our desires and the dictates of our Creator. We
rationalize. We equivocate. We compromise. Like Jonah, we seek to
escape the strictures imposed on us by our innermost conscience. But
in actuality, as Jonah discovered so painfully, it is not for us to make
value judgments about the divine will. Total acceptance may indeed be
difficult from time to time, but overall, it is the only path to spiritual
tranquillity and fulfillment.

by Rabbi Naftali Reich Yeshiva Ohr Somayach

Kedoshim (Leviticus 19-20)
How To Be Holy

Parshat Kedoshim begins with the commandment to "Be holy." How do we achieve holiness? Nachmanides explains that holiness is the result of exercising restraint in areas that are permitted to you.

For example, let's say a person keeps kosher. It may be no great challenge for him to refrain from eating a ham sandwich. But the question is: When he sits down to eat kosher food, what is his frame of mind: Does he pronounce a blessing with concentration, appreciating God's gift of bounty? Does he eat slowly and with dignity? Does he focus on the fact that the ultimate purpose of food is to nourish the body - in order to have strength to do good deeds?

The story is told of the Baal Shem Tov, the great kabbalist, who looked out the window and saw his neighbor sitting at the dinner table. In the eyes of the Baal Shem Tov, the neighbor appeared not as a human, but as an ox. The neighbor was eating for purely physical reasons, just as would an ox (and the holy Baal Shem Tov was able to perceive this). Although the neighbor was acting in a permitted manner, it was not a holy one.

Sometimes a child will do something that demonstrates particular self-discipline, and the parent will say: "You're an angel!" But in actuality, the child is greater than an angel. An angel is a purely spiritual being, with no sense of "free will" to choose spirituality over the mundane. But we humans - every time we make such a choice - refine our soul, and achieve a level higher and holier than even that of angels.

 

Nitzavim-Vayeilech 5768

Commentary by

Yosef (Oscar) Juarez

Edited by Benny Powers

 

The month of Elul is a month of reflection and assessment.

This week’s Torah portion for the Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah is Nitzavim-Vayeilech (Deut 29:9- 31:30). As we learn, the month of Elul is a month of reflection and assessment of our behavior and our lives. This is one more year that (הי) Hashem allows us to live.

In this portion, Moses speaks to the people before they enter into the land. He stresses the fact that during this time we are all standing before the king, as the verse says: “29:10 your young children, your women, and your convert who is within your camp…” During this time (הי) Hashem evaluates the actions of everyone standing there, including women, children, and converts. Moses also speaks about another two groups of people who also stand before (הי) Hashem.

“29:14 but with those standing here with us today…”

It is up to us to allow Him to be our  G-d

Rashi tells us that this is referring to the souls of the future generations who where destined to be Jewish. “And [also] with those who are not here with us, this day.”

This refers to all the souls of the people who would later convert to Judaism throughout history. This shows that even though, none of the nations accepted the Torah when (הי) Hashem offered it (except for the Jews), (הי) Hashem nevertheless left the door open to his covenant so that whom ever wishes to enter his covenant may be able to do so. It is, however, up to us to allow Him to be our G-d, as it is written: “29:12 in order to establish you this day as His people, and that He will be your God.” [Emphasis added]

It is easy to go about our daily lives with out having a true consciousness that G-d is there with us behind everything that happens for good or bad. As our days, weeks, months and years go by; the question we have to ask ourselves is “are we making (הי) Hashem the G-d of our lives?” Have we truly allowed Him to establish us as His people? 

 (הי) Hashem warned us about the idols that separate us from Him when we lived in Egypt. Our rabbis teach us that Egypt is representative of the exile, everything that has to do with physicality and immediate pleasure. as the verse states: “29:15 For you know how we dwelled in the land of Egypt, and how we passed among the nations through which you passed. 16 And you saw their abominations and their repugnant idols…were with them.” Which are the idols that surround our lives?

 

“29:17 Perhaps there is among you a man, woman, family, or tribe, whose heart strays this day from the Lord, our God, to go and worship the deities of those nations…”

Many times we feel as if there was no peace in our lives, as if we are just jumping from one problem to the next; we see our selves working like mules and find it hard to see the accomplishments that we expected. In the verse that follows, (הי) Hashem explains the reason for this effect.

“29:18 And it will be, when he [such a person] hears the words of this oath, that he will bless himself in his heart, saying, "I will have peace, even if I follow my heart's desires…the Lord's fury and His zeal will fume against that man, and the entire curse written in this book will rest upon him, and the Lord will obliterate his name from beneath the heavens. (הי)”

He doesn’t want to see us suffer

Hashem is calling us to reflection and repentance so that our name can be written in the book of life. His kindness and mercy is so big that He doesn’t want to see us suffer with lives that are enslaved in Egypt. He is willing to shake our worlds a little in order to wake us up. So that we can see that He is always there, to give us a consciousness of Him in our daily lives. He wants to give us peace.

“29:28 The hidden things belong to the Lord, our God, but the revealed things apply to us and to our children forever: that we must fulfill all the words of this Torah.”

Wake up! The King is Coming!

With this verse (הי) Hashem is showing us that what we need to do to make Him #1 in our lives, to pay attention to the revealed things. This means acknowledging the signs that He constantly gives us that show us what we need to work on. It means that when something happens in our lives that we don’t really understand that may possibly seem bad or as if G-d is not there; we need to try to see the message hidden within. With these types of messages (הי) Hashem is trying to wake us up.

This is the importance of hearing the shofar; it’s a direct message to our soul that tells us, “Hey! Wake up! The king is coming! Are you ready? Are your vestments clean, your table set?” (הי) Hashem says to us “I’m going to help you. I will take care of the things you don’t see. You just have to worry about what you do see.” As David HaMelech (the king) use to say:

Psalms 27 “…in this I trust. One [thing] I ask of the Lord, that I seek-that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to see the pleasantness of the Lord and to visit His Temple every morning. That He will hide me in His tabernacle on the day of calamity; He will conceal me in the secrecy of His tent; He will lift me up on a rock. And now, my head will be raised over my enemies around me, and I will sacrifice in His tent sacrifices with joyous song; I will sing and chant praise to the Lord. Listen, O Lord, to my voice [which] I call out, and be gracious to me and answer me. On Your behalf, my heart says, "Seek My presence." Your presence, O Lord, I will seek. Do not hide your presence from me; do not turn your servant away with anger. You were my help; do not forsake me and do not abandon me, O God of my salvation.”

My heart says, "Seek My presence." Your presence, O Lord, I will seek.

(הי) Hashem wants us to have peace, however he advises us to watch out for our hearts since they constantly deceive us. Constantly they say to us “don’t worry, everything will be O.K. You don’t need (הי) Hashem”. Our hearts are inclined to the things that separate us from G-d. Peace doesn’t mean that everything stops moving, and all our problems go away. “I will give you peace” means I will give you the peace to get through whatever comes your way.

David HaMelech recognized that. It is why is he was the biggest (Baal Tshuva). He knew that after all (הי) Hashem was behind everything that happened to him no matter how bad it seemed.

In conclusion, one can say that (הי) Hashem is a G-d of mercy and kindness, but he is also a Righteous King. He created this world for us to derive pleasure, however only he knows what is good for us. In our daily lives of chaos and stress it is absolutely difficult to see him.

May our souls be awakened to a true repentance before (הי) Hashem, and may we be merited to have our names inscribed in the book of life this year.

 

From Jerusalem,

Happy New Year

 שנה טובה

 

Yosef Juarez