The person who wants to stay connected with the Holy must learn to be a master of balance. When he experiences spiritual exaltation he knows to anchor himself with humbling thoughts about where he's come from and when he is cast into lowliness he remembers that Hashem's glory is everywhere, even the lowest places. This is the meaning of the pasuk, "And Hashem spoke to Moshe on Har Sinai" (VaYikra) Because Moshe RaBbeinu epitomizes daat, connectedness to Hashem, and a person has to know how to protect his daat, the part of him that is like Moshe. That when he feels exaltation like the expansiveness of a mountain he knows to remind himself of the lowly bush, the "sneh" (which shares the same letters as "Sinai"). And when he is low he remembers to reconnect with the loftiness of the mountain, "har," the greatness of the spiritual potential within his soul. And he needs to be familiar with both of these ways of going, because when a person feels great he can swell with pride, which puts a wall between himself and the Creator. And when he feels low he can be carried away till he feels that he is unsuited to Torah and mitzvot. And this is how Hashem warned Kain, telling him to beware, "If things are good I will lift you up and if things are not good then sin crouches at the opening" - because pride and depression alike can lead to self-destruction. And the good advice is to know how to balance yourself by keeping in mind both aspects: Har, when a fall necessitates that you remember the greatness of your g-dgiven soul; Sinai - when you need to begin again from the lowest so as not to fall into pridefulness. (Baal Shem Tov on the parashah).
Bhar Sinai
Reb Shlomo Minyan HarNof
(R. Raphael, email: [email protected])
OCCUPIED TERRITORY
When Chavah beheld the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden she desired to eat from it. The midrash tells us that this tree was none other than the etrog whose trunk today still has the same scent as the fruit. And this is a reminder that it was the only tree which fulfilled Hashem's command to the earth that it should bring forth "fruit trees bearing fruit," namely that the lowest part of the tree should be tasty like its sweetest fruit. But the earth disobeyed. It only brought forth trees bearing fruit - the body of the trees themselves were wooden, inedible.
And when Chavah beheld the etrog tree she desired to know its uniqueness and she ate from it so that she could have its secret for herself.
Now, the Rebbe of Ishbitz says that when the earth disobeyed Hashem's command it really did this for the sake of Heaven. The earth knew that man would be fashioned from the dust and feared that if he disobeyed Hashem's command Adam would be wiped out of existence. By being first to swerve from Hashem's will, the earth protected man from receiving the harshest judgement - there was already a "defect" in creation from the very source of man's nature, and thus, man deserved the chance to work through his existence towards forgiveness.
Since the earth did its sin for man's sake, its fate was bound up in man's struggle and the fixing of earth became dependent on man's fixing himself. Thus, after the sin, the ground was cursed. While before man's sin, the earth produced bountiful food without the need to plow or plant, after the sin the earth only brought forth weeds and thorns, making it necessary for man to toil in the earth. Still it was promised that in the future when man had fixed himself the earth would bring forth the finest finished food, glucosah, or bread "fruit," something from the ground that has "already been refined."
All of this depends on our teshuvah and trusting in Hashem. When we learn to do according to His will, then the world of physicality (gashmiut) will come into harmony with Hashem again and the rains (geshem) will come at the right time so that it will be easy for us to gain nourishment from the ground. So long as we don't achieve this the rains from above that open the storehouse of potential below will be sparse and our harvest will be poor.
And this is why the pasuk says: that Hashem spoke the command of shmittah at Mt. Sinai. That shmittah, the resting of the land in the seventh year rehearses the cleansing of earth through keeping the Torah. And once it has been fully purified through this power, it will bring forth an abundance in the seventh year of rest that will sustain us at all times without toil. (Meor VaShemesh on the parashah)
The Soil Is Dark But Rich
"At the beginning of creation it was intended that the tree have the same taste as the fruit." (Gen. Rabbah 5:9) Rav Kook writes on this midrash that creation was made in such a way that even the means of achieving our spiritual ideals can elevate and delight the soul. But our earthly nature, the wearisome condition of spirit when it is confined to the body, makes only the final realization seem pleasurable and splendorous. The trees, i.e. the means, have become coarse, they have lost their sweetness. This arises from the failing of our earth, the curse that accompanied the sin of Adam.
And every righteous person experiences great anguish because of this state of affairs. He feels a distance from Gd that creates a great thirst for closeness which he cannot satisfy. Because of his longing, his body is tense and he finds no real peace or pleasure in the world. This experience reflects the anguish of the Shechinah, Gd's presence throughout all the worlds, for life in every realm longs for its unrealized perfection in holiness.
But when the righteous reach the depths of teshuvah they reveal the holy light that is found in the dark and broken-down alleys of their own lives. They create strategies for themselves to rise out of depression and despair into the bright light of the holy. They find expressions of justice for themselves that become a great light that illumines the world. Through their thoughts of repentance the world itself is renewed with new light.
Every defect is destined to be mended and creation will return to its original state where the taste of the tree will once again be like the fruit. The earth will be cleansed of its sin and our way of leading our practical life will no longer obstruct the delight of the ideal. (Rav Kook, Lights of Repentance, Ch. 7)
Mitzvot
According to Sefer HaChinuch there are twenty-four commandments in parashat B'har. Some deal with resting the land on the seventh year, declaring and observing the restrictions of the Yovel year. How to treat a Hebrew slave, a Canaani slave, to redeem a Hebrew slave from his gentile master, not to bow down on a large stone slab.
At A Glance
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