ELUL AN IDEAL TIME TO ENHANCE OUR “INVESTMENTS”

               

            “When a man departs from this world, neither silver nor gold, nor precious stones nor pearls escort him, but only Torah study and good deeds…” . “…Mine is the silver and Mine is the gold, says Hashem, Master of Legions.”  Avos 6:9

                         

                 Like someone who counts and recounts their most valuable financial holdings, the Almighty counted and then recounted us again in the Torah, as Rashi reveals to us: that because of G-d’s love for our nation, He counted us frequently. The Ramban says: it was also a great honor for each person to give their name as an individual to Moshe and Aharon. The Sforno adds: that everyone’s name was Divinely inspired to indicate each person’s personal virtues. Let us attempt to derive from the census taken three times in the midbar of the shevatim, together with the names of their princes and the position of each shevet in relationship to each other, a paradigm of our Nation as the Creator’s most valued “asset”.

          Taking the liberty to use investment parlance in parallel to our Nation will make more visceral our comprehending the uniqueness of our role in this life. It is generally recognized that in order to maximize one’s investment returns, a preferred strategy is to diversify one’s assets. This is achieved by choosing a wide variety of stocks and bonds from various  economic and geographical  sectors. Many financial institutions have created  “fund families” that do this for the investor by buying  stocks, bonds and other assets that correspond to the various  goals  of  the investor to increase his holdings, maximize future potential and minimize risk. An individual portfolio is the sum total of his or her financial investments.

      Just as proper financial investing needs structure and diversity, so we clearly find with the Torah’s delineation of each the various Shevatim. Each Shevit can be seen as corresponding to  a specific “fund sector” with all of the Shevatim together making up the entire gamut of a potentially perfect supernal “investment portfolio” for the Creator. The princes of each Shevit/fund therefore can be seen as corresponding to the “fund managers”, while the members of each Shevit corresponding to the individual “shares of stock” allocated to each of the funds which, B’H, split many times over the ensuing centuries. The marching positions of each Sheivet could be seen as parallel to the various “economic sectors” in which each fund is invested and the resting position corresponding to the “geographical  market” in which the fund is located.  

            And now let us ask how is the  value of these “funds” measured? – It is through the “production” of  mitzvoth and ma’asim tovim that the value of  the  “stock”  increases and the overall Heavenly “portfolio” grows.   

   Unfortunately at various junctures in the historical road map for “investment strategy” parts of our nation’s performance was not always sterling causing our “assets” being downgraded. This has in turn caused a weakening in some of our investment “sectors” due to our inability to fulfill certain mitzvoth while in galus.  However, fortunately the “C.E.O” of the entire creation has never “sold us short” and even as we function with a less than ideal portfolio – ie. without our Beis Hamikdash with its many precious mitzvoth – causing our “financial statements” to be less than ideal, we have remained the Creator’s chosen possession and  with His help there is always the opportunity for us to make good our loses and thereby regain our previous spiritual  “market position and value”.  

           Armed with these “investment” strategies, we can use our distinctive capabilities to maximize our spiritual assets and thus enhance our “global position” with the goal of restoring the crown of Torah soon to its proper position.

               True, as the pesukim quoted above state: the silver nor gold and other treasures of this world do not accompany us to the next, but the Creator’s most precious treasure – our mitzvoth performed with ahavas Hashem, together with His  gold which we acquire through adhering to the mitzvoth of restraint demonstrating our yerias Hashem do in fact accompany us.      

   May we all merit to “invest” all our energy and capabilities profitably at each stage of our journey through life..  

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THE “EMBASSY” FOR THE SOUL

                                           

B.S.D.                                                    

             Since everything that exists in the world has its roots founded in the Torah, it is interesting to note that at the very same time when we are reading and learning about the Divine edict of one who flees under very specific circumstances to one of the (Arey Miklot) cities of refuge for asylum in this week’s Parsaha Shoftim (19:1-13), the nations of the world are seriously deliberating on what should be the International rules and regulations for one who flees into an Embassy for refuge and asylum?

              Needless to say that there are numerous differences between our Eternal laws of the Torah and manmade edicts but perhaps we can use the juxtaposition of these two events, especially at this time as we pass through the days of rachamin, to reflect on how fortunate we are for having the Torah which guides and directs us at all times, places and situations.

                May we soon merit that the holiness of the Torah become a miklot for the whole world thereby securing safety, peace and brotherhood for all.

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TOO MANY HORSES – PARSHAS SHOFTIM

                                                           

      

It is written in the Torah that “When you come into the Land… set a king over you; only he shall not have too many horses for himself, so he will not return the people to Egypt in order to increase horses, for Hashem has said to you, you shall no longer return on this road again. And he shall not have too many wives, so that his heart, not turn astray; and he shall not greatly increase silver and gold for himself. (Shoftim 16-17)

 

 

    A Jewish King is not permitted to indulge in too many horses or too many wives nor to greatly increase his stores of silver and gold.  We may well understand the warning given with respect to the accumulation of wealth because of the challenges this poses and the warning against too many wives because of the complexities it creates within royal household. But it is far more difficult to fathom why our holy Torah has chosen to create a separate and distinct warning about having too many horses.  Are they not merely another form of wealth?  Why horses more so than any other possession?


 Our Torah explains that it is specifically the accumulation of horses that would cause the people to return to Egypt (Mitzrayim). Why?  On a pragmatic level, Mitzrayim is the primary breeding ground for the Arabian horse, considered to be the most magnificent of all of the breeds. These horses have long commanded huge sums of money and are sought after and praised for their prowess and strength. Therefore, it would seem that if the king of the Jewish nation were to collect vast numbers of these horses, the Torah’s warning could well have practical consequences in that the king would set the direction for commerce and trade towards Mitzraim.

             While this approach to an understanding of these verses may have practical appeal, there are other explanations which we will now explore. To better understand  this section fo the Torah and how they relate to our personal lives, we should first consider the teaching of our Sages that each of us rules over the “small kingdom” – that is oneself.  It may be helpful to visualize this “small kingdom” as  a small “nation” whose resources flow from three major centers corresponding to three major organs – the brain, the heart and the liver whose roles are crucial to the development of the mind, emotion and physical energies.

            And who is the king of this microcosmic kingdom?  That is ideally the soul (neshoma) – the leader within us that governs and directs our inclinations – Thus the word  king (melech) is an acronym  for the three major organs: The (m)em corresponds to the (m)oach/mind; the (l)amed corresponds to the (l)ev/heart; while the (k)af corresponds to the (k)aved/liver.

   The mind (moach) is the throne of the intellect which governs the thought processes. Its two upper faculties are wisdom and understanding. When these faculties are properly balanced they coordinate synergistically to produce knowledge (da’as).  The lev/heart is the pump that circulates life sustaining blood throughout the entire body. To nourish our spiritual existence the heart, as the seat of the loftier emotions, propagates those motivating forces which consist of a range of  moods and dispositions, from inspiration and joy to fear and sorrow.   The third of these essential organs is the liver (kaved) that filters and purifies the blood on the physical level, while on the spiritual level it ideally refines and sanctifies the physical desires for use in the service of Hashem.

             With this introduction we can now infer that the Torah’s reference to the Jewish king is also a beneficial prescription for every individual for establishing the proper balance in life.


         Horses, particularly those connected with Mitzrayim, epitomize the symbol of strength and prowess on the physical level. These qualities parallel the attributes of the natural instincts of man (nefesh behamis). This potent nature if harnessed constructively can be a tremendous asset in the pursuit and fulfillment of one’s goals in life. However, such an energy must be used judiciously, avoiding “racing” too fast or recklessly. Thus the Torah has provided a “warning sign” not to acquire too much , so to speak, “horse-power” in order to stay safely within the spiritual “speed limit.”  

          Next, the Torah commands the king not to have too many wives. The husband-wife relationship belongs to the heart (lev), because it is motivated by the loftier emotions that emanate from the heart such as love, loyalty and devotion.  Too many wives symbolizes a lack of this unity.   

           Then the king is warned that he “shall not greatly increase silver and gold”. Besides its monetary value, silver corresponds to chesed which is rooted in wisdom whereas gold symbolizes gavurot whose roots are in understanding. Wisdom and understanding are crucial tools for positive growth, however, the single-minded accumulation of intellectual assets or material wealth without a corresponding accrual of humility and submissiveness in the acknowledgement of the Source of these blessings can lead to an unbalanced portfolio with insufficient resources allocated to spiritual values.

            Ironically, the Torah permits the establishment of a king and yet almost at the same time warns against the possible consequences. Now perhaps we can better understand the meaning of this seeming dichotomy by noticing the inverted order that is written in the Torah. Horses listed first, correspond to the liver (k)aved; then wives are listed paralleling the heart (l)ev; and finally silver and gold relating to the attributes of the mind (m)oach. The Torah is thereby teaching us that living a lifestyle that pursues “too many and too much”, chas vi-shalom, inverts/transforms the power of the kingship (m)e(l)e(k) to the state of  humiliation and disgrace k)e(l)e(m).                      

             To avoid this and dedicate his thoughts, words and actions purely to the service of  Hashem,  the king is commanded to write two Sefer Torah: “It shall be with him, and he shall read from it all the days of his life, so he will learn to fear Hashem his G-d, to observe all the words of the Torah and these decrees, to perform them, so that his heart does not become haughty over his brethren and  (so that he will) not turn from the commandment right or left, so that he will prolong his years over his kingdom, he and his sons amid Israel.” (Shoftim 17:18-20) 

                 Through following this prescription we coronate Hashem as the King of kings thereby bringing closer the geula and the rebuilding of the holy Temple (Beis HaMigdash), may it be soon in our days.

 

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ENHANCING RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH POTATOES

                

                 Have you ever regretted for saying something that possibly hurt someone else’s feelings and then wondered if there is any way to take the “sting” out of those “words” after they have already been said. Well, believe it not, we can learn how to “re-season” relationships from the potato.

                Just as excessive salt in ones diet can cause high blood pressure, so also over “salting” your feelings can “increase pressure” between others. Therefore it makes sense that just as a humble potato, which grows under the ground, will help to absorb the salt from an overly spiced soup, so can a humbled ego rebalance the flavor of a previously “overly spiced” strained relationship. Therefore just like a cook tastes the food before they serve it to make sure it is favorably spiced, how much more so should our thoughts, before they come out as words should be “favorably spiced”. 

 

              

 

 

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TO FLY OR NOT TO FLY – story of achdus

                                                   

                  There was recently an article that made the headlines that was on the one hand paradoxically alarming and yet somewhat heartwarming. As our Rabbis have told us that everything one see, hear or experience has a lesson in it, so let us try to find a possible deeper point imbedded within one aspect of the following story.

                 What happened was that a young boy wondered away from his family and ended up at the airport. Once there he went through passport control and various security checks even though he didn’t have a passport, ticket or boarding pass. He apparently just moved along with everybody else, like a family member. He then ended up boarding a plane that flew him to another country.

                Within the written article, it was pointed out the failings of the airport personnel and of course, we understand that the child, even if he acted with an innocence of heart, still acted improperly, that been said, underneath the surface is to be “mined” an inspiring thought about the actions of that adventurous child within lays within many of us.

                The good news, as the three weeks has passed and Elul approaches, is that even if we feel that our spiritual “passports” haven’t yet been renewed and we haven’t yet fully paid our “ticket fees”, by staying closely attached to those who have obtained their “tickets and boarding passes” through their mitzvos and ma’asim, hopefully we will all pass through the “security and check points” together, thereby allowing us to “take off” as one united family.

          P.S. – The child was safely returned to the care of his, no doubt relieved, family.     

All articles appearing on this blog are copyrighted by Rabbi Yehoshua Binyamin Falk. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to share/download/copy this information as long as it is accompanied by the copyright. Separately authored/copyrighted materia