Yosef613

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

BS”D
PARASHAS CHUKAS
Miriam’s Well
Without water, life cannot survive. Nonetheless, millions of Jewish
people survived in the parched and barren desert for forty years. How
was this possible? Only through a miracle. During their travels through
the desert, the Jewish people were accompanied by a rock from which
an abundant supply of water constantly flowed. It was called Miriam’s
Well, because it existed in the merit of Moses’ older sister Miriam, who
was a righteous woman and a prophetess in her own right.
In this week’s portion, we read about Miriam’s death only months
before the entry of the Jewish people into the Holy Land. The Torah
also tells us that Miriam’s Well ceased to function after she died, and
the people were faced with a critical water shortage. They besieged
Moses and demanded that he provide water for them, for otherwise they
would die. God told Moses to take his staff in hand and speak to the
rock. Instead of speaking, however, Moses struck the rock with his staff.
The waters gushed forth again, but Moses forfeited the opportunity of
entering the Holy Land. Because of his mistake, he passed away while
the Jewish encampment was massed on the east bank of the Jordan
River.
A number of questions come to mind. Why was the water given to
the Jewish people only in the merit of Miriam? Why couldn’t the water
continue after her death without Moses speaking to the rock? Why
didn’t God want to leave the faucet open for the Jewish people?
The commentators explain that one of the most striking features of
water is that its viscosity allows it to adapt perfectly to its surroundings;
water will naturally assume the shape of any container into which it
flows. Symbolically, Miriam represented this quality. She was able to
adapt her faith and her steadfast fealty to God’s will under any and all
circumstances. Come what may, Miriam shone as the paragon of
staunch faith.
Miriam was born during the darkest chapter of the Jewish bondage
in Egypt. Her name, recalling the word marah, bitter, evokes the
bitterness of the Jewish condition. When she was just a young girl,
Pharaoh decreed that all male babies be thrown into the river.
Husbands and wives separated in order to avoid producing children who
would be drowned, but Miriam persuaded her parents to have faith and
remain together. As a result, her brother Moses, redeemer of the Jewish
people, was born. Miriam was the famous midwife Puah, who crooned
to the infants when they were born.
Like water, Miriam adapted to the oppression and the suffering and
remained strong in her faith. Therefore, in her merit, God provided the
Jewish people with miraculous water in the desert. And when she died,
a new demonstration of supreme faith was required. God wanted Moses
to draw water from the rock by speaking alone.
A man hired a wagon driver to take him to a distant city. As they
traveled through dense forests and over craggy mountains, the
passenger sat relaxed in his seat, enjoying the scenery.
Suddenly, a thunderstorm arose. The passenger told the wagon
driver to pull over, but he insisted that they could not do so safely. They
had to push on through the storm.
The passenger began to tremble with fear.
“Don’t worry,” the wagon driver reassured him. “All will be well.”
“But how do I know that?”
“Because I am telling you so,” the wagon driver replied. “You were
not afraid when we were travelling through dangerous forests and over
steep mountain roads on the edge of sheer cliffs. You relied in my skills.
Well, do you think I’ve never driven through a thunderstorm? You can
trust me.”
In our own lives, we find it easier to have faith when things are
going reasonably well. When we seem to be on the road to success and
encounter trials and struggles, we have faith that we will ultimately
succeed. But what happens when things are falling apart, Heaven
forbid? What happens when they become stormy? Those are the times
that test our faith. Those are also the times when our faith can spell the
difference between hope and despair.

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.

There are times in our lives that we see G-d from afar. What do I mean by that? There are times that even though we realize and recognize that G-d runs the world and that everything happens from a reason, we lack the clarity of a certain situation or cycle  in our lives.

I learned this week from A shir from Rabbi Eli Mansour that the greatest in Tanach have asked them selves this same question. As a matter of a fact Moshe Rabbeinu our greatest leader asked himself the same thing. When he goes up to Sinai and receives the 10 commandments from G-d he asks to see his face. Hashem responded that He would show Moshe His back, for no living mortal would be able to see His face and live.The chachamim (wise men) are puzzled as to why at the peak of clarity Moshe would ask this question or better yet what was he really asking with the question?

We learn the same in Last weeks Parashat Shemot; the medrash tells us that Amram and yochebed Moshe's parents decided to get a divorce. Miriam tells them that they are worst then pharaoh for pharaoh's decree was against the boys but by divorcing, Moshe's parents where decreeing even against the girls. Miriam also tells them that through a prophecy she knew that to them would be born a boy that would be the leader of the children of Israel. So Amram and yochebed get back together and sure enough a boy is born whom they name Moshe.

However, at the peak of revelation of Miriam's prophecy she experiences a dark moment in chapter 2 verse 4 it says "The child's sister stood herself at a distance to see what would happen to him." Our rabbis learn form this verse that when it says she "stood at a distance" it means exactly this concept of seeing G-d from afar. She didn't understand how the baby could be saved and how contradictory her situation was to the clarity of her prophecy.

At this point we can begin to understand Moshe's question to Hashem; what he was asking is why do bad things happen to good people at times and good things to bad people. Why is such a painful process necessary before the redemption comes. We can even apply it today, why do we have to go through such a rough time so that moshiach can come? Or a bal teshuva can say on a personal level, why are things so hard for me now that I'm trying to live a Kosher lifestyle.

Hashem's answer can best be explained by a Mashal (parable) 

There once was a child who grew up on a farm one day, he got up  as he looked outside his window he began to admire the beautiful grass on the field. The next day, he woke up to the noise of a tractor that was plowing that field; he yelled no! stop! what are you doing? you are ruining the beautiful field. But then he noticed one day that wheat began to grow on it; he understood that in order for wheat to grow, the field had to be plowed. The next morning, he woke up to the sound of a tractor that was harvesting the wheat and he yelled out no! no! stop! stop! you will ruin the wheat. The next day he was horrified to see people putting the wheat shafts into a machine that would crushed them into little pieces and once again he could not understand why some one would want to ruin the wheat; so he proceeded down the line to see that grains where coming out of it and he understood what they where doing it. Until one day he saw them crushing and burning the grains once again he was frustrated, in despair why would some one want to ruin the beautiful grains? Until one day he noticed what was happening in ovens where the grain was being burnt; he smelled a sweet beautiful smell and to his surprise he saw that out of those ovens came out a gorgeous piece of bread. And only then he understood why one day he saw people plowing the field and harvesting the wheat and crushing and burning the grain. He realized that what he thought was cruelty was only kindness and he was able to see that in order to make sweet tasty bread there was a rough process, that by itself made no sense but at the end was all worth it.

We are all like this child, and our lives are like that field. Seeing G-d from afar means I don't understand what I'm going through this right now but I realize that if it comes form you Hashem it is for my best;  one day I will see the whole picture and understand that instead of cruelty it was all kindness. When Hashem tells Moshe's no one can see my face and live, he is telling him only when a person dies and sees everything in retrospect can a person understand G-d and why they had to go through what they had to go through. And like wise Miriam only until she saw that the boy was picked up by pharaoh's daughter and he would grow up in the palace did she understand what G-d was doing.

There is a saying amongst the Jewish people that says "Gam zot le Tova" "this is also for the good" we say it when things are tough. the Shulchan Aruch says that this concept of "Gam Zot Le Tova " is a higher level it means being able to see G-d in everything that happens to us; however it says that our obligation minimally is to have emuna ("faithfulness") that everything comes from G-d and and its for our good. Seeing Hashem in everything is the result and level obtained after having emuna("faithfulness") that it is all for the best.

May Hashem bless us with the strength to overcome our challenges, so that we can merit to see him in every step of our lives and recognize that after all is set and done it was all for the good.