BS”D

Naso – Food for Thought for Body and Soul

Dr M Banks

H spoke to Moshe saying speak to Aaron and his sons saying, to them, so shall you bless the children of Aaron, saying …

This is the Birkas Cohanim. There are amazing ideas and insights into birkas cohanim and stemming from this, in the parsha as a whole.

We see at the beginning of the parsha that the responsibilities of the Leviim, the divisions of his sons, Merari and Gershon. The work of the Mishcan, how to purify the tent from Loshon Hora, from the Tuma of Nida, and also Tumas Mes. Then it goes on to how a Jew ‘tikuns’ theft. These seem a little bit disjointed, has vehalila, without a particular form. We go into something very serious after this called Sota. This corresponds to a maseches in Shas called Maseches Sota. There is also a maseches called maseches Nazir, the Nazirite, about vows that a person might take. In amongst all this is the Priestly Blessing. Then to cap it all off, there is the offering given by the tribal leaders which is an incredible insight. The head of each tribe seem to bring exactly the same offering. Every one of these offerings is individually spelt out. It seems that this is so precious to H’ that it is recorded for all time.

Another thing to contemplate is the power of Birchas Cohanim.

How precious is the secret that H gives over to Am Yisrael. The Gemora discuses this in Brochos 20b. H will raise his face to you, favour you so to speak, and grant you peace (Perek 6, posuk 26). The Angels asked, how could it say such a thing in the Torah when elsewhere, in parshas Ekev, the Torah explicitly says H’ doesn’t favour anyone, nor does he accept a bribe. So how can it be that all of a sudden H does favour someone, the Cohanim and Am Yisrael? To which H replies, shall I not favour Israel, who say Birchas Hamazon after eating a Kazayis (an olive’s bulk) or Kabeitza (the size of an egg) even though I wrote in my Torah you must be satisfied, ‘veachalta vesavata’. Even over this small amount, the Nation insists on blessing H’ in birchas hamazon. Even a Kazayis or Kabeitza is puzzling, asks the Gra, the Vilna Gaon, for a number of reasons. If they bless H over a Kazayis, why mention a kabeitza? Why mention both? Can it be that there is a safek in the eyes of H’? Rashi explains that this is a dispute between Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Yehuda, who agree that one says Birchas Hamazon even if one is not satisfied, but argue whether the shir is a kazayis or kabeitza. This refers to two different people following two opinions in which case both are answered. A young person who is small can be satiated over a kazayis. A big person might have a safek on a smaller amount, but if he has eaten a kabeitza, there is no safek even for him, even if he is still hungry. There were shocking shailas asked during the Holocaust, what brocho to make if people are starving and have less than a kabeitza for the whole day, and what brocho to make before dying for the sake of sanctifying H’s name. These terrifying questions were asked during the Shoah. The Gra explains further, even regarding one person, just as it is forbidden to eat without a brocho, it is forbidden to cause an unnecessary brocho. H is saying that Bnei Yisrael are very careful to eat a kazayis in onrder to be able to say birchas hamazon, even if that is all they have. If they have more, according to Rabbi Yehuda, they should eat a kabeitza so that they can avoid any possibility of a brocho levatala. A person who has a kabeitza has a hiyuv d’oraisa to say birchas hamazon.

I want to explore the concept of brocho d’oraisa.

The Torah has only two places where it commands we should say a brocho. Obviously form this introduction, it is clear from parshas Devarim 10, 10 that Brichas Hamazon is D’oraisa. The D’oraisa part says, veachalta, vesavata uverachta, which means we should be satisfied and bless H’. What is the natural response, to bless H for the good food. Thank you H’, I’ve just been afforded another day of life. It could be their only meal of the day, in a concentration camp or soup kitchen anywhere in the world. Even if a person has had a huge meal, H commands him to eat and to say a brocho for the food. What is that brocho – veachalta, vesavata uverachta al ha’aretz hatova asher nasan lach. A person could eat a standard burger in New York with a roll, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup and mustard, where everything including the bread is completely produced in America. Not one blade of lettuce, sheaf of wheat, or even a sesame seed came from Israel. A remez involved here is that we should not be satisfied as long as we are outside Israel, in exile. Even if we are in Israel, we should never forget where these brochus are from. By definition, a man has to eat almost every day. If he is not grateful to H’, the land will quickly vomit him out. One of the first mitvos a person keeps in the Torah is Bris Mila. Bris mila is one of the last mitzvos a person who experiences Kares from his Nation and from H. One of the highest mitzvos and the most involved a person keeps. This is remembered in Brichas Hamazon. When a person is really holding in Birchas Hamazon, he is on a very high level. If he wants to cut corners and says he is too busy, mayne he can have a mezonos, maybe when I don’t have time next time I’ll just forget about the brochos completely, that is a person on his way down and on his way out.

The other brocho that is D’oraisa is Brichas Hatora. The question goes out, which brocho on the Torah is d’oraisa? The first or second – the one before or after, when somebody is called up to the Torah. It turns out that it is the first one. This is a curiosity because I would imagine that once a person has finished learning for the day he would say to himself, wow this Torah that I have learnt is a new insight into the world. I am eternally grateful for this new joy that H has revealed to me. Surely a person should bless after he has learnt Torah. It turns out that D’oraisa he has to bless H before he starts learning. Imagine a professor at University. Imagine a professor in University tests his students. He asks how many Jews were there at Mount Sinai – 600,000. How long was Moshe Rabbeinu on Har Sinai, 40 days and 40 nights? Well, not quite if you go according to the account that he came down a day early it might be 39, so he would give the student an F. However, there is another opinion that they thought it was the 41^st day but really it was 40 days. So the professor would have got it wrong, according to this opinion. A person knows that the Torah says they should be kind to their brother, but they might say “well, he should be kind to me. Charity – well charity begins at home. I will give to me and so should everybody else” etc. He is judging Torah by his yardstick. He might read the Torah and say “What? the punishment for having relations with a young lady is being stoned to death. Just because she is married? He is a young single guy with everything to look forward to. He just had some natural instinct, and experience with another consenting adult. According to American standards that is perfectly OK. How is he guilty? What is he guilty of? Well, she must also be put to death. I have a problem with this. This doesn’t match my yardstick”. Such a person is an absolute Apikorus. He is not part of the Torah nation and will not have a place in Olam Haba. A person should not start with Torah and only decide at the end of it was worth making a brocho or not, whether it fits into his world view or not. The Torah is not for him. A person needs to start by saying the Torah is absolutely awesome. Every parsha, every sentence, every word, every letter is from You H’, it is absolutely unchanged since Har Sinai. We experienced Shavuos, Matan Torah for the coming year 2 days ago, we experienced the awe of knowing where this Torah comes from. It is absolutely from H’, and the Oral Torah is absolutely from H’. Then he is on track and his brocho rishona sets the pace. Asher bachar banu mikol haamim, venasan lanu es toraso, Boruch Ata H, Nosain Hatora. From You, H came the Torah. The brocho achrona is derabanan, thank you H for all I have learnt. The brocho rishona is D’oraisa, because before learning a person whould know where his torah came from.

If the birchos Hatora d’Oraisa is the first one, with food, with bread, which is D’oraisa? Before or after the meal? Surely you should know where the food comes from. If you want to teach a person a lesson in being thankful, you could invite him to your home. When he gets there, you hold up a gorgeous meal and say, the only way you can have this is if you wash your hands before and say the following blessing. He is half starving and hasn’t eaten in a week. Is it likely he is going to argue? Especially if you are the only home in 1000km. He will say whatever you want. But, once you are satisfied, once you have eaten, you might say, lets talk about this. He might say, now comes the real brocho, ‘see you later’ and he is out the door. That was the mida of Eisav. When Yaakov gave him the lentil soup, he stood up, turned his back and walked out. He didn’t bench. He turned his back on the birthright and left forever. That is the tragedy of somebody who doesn’t say birchas hamazon with kavana.

He should be grateful to H not just for the food but, d’Oraisa, for the good land. He is really satisfied and had his fill of that the world has to offer him. You should never forget that 2/3rds of Torah cannot be performed outside the Land. Outside Eretz Yisrael 80%, historically, have not survived. That is the great hospitality of Esav and Yishmael. In each generation 8 out of 10 are either murdered or shmaded. A person should never feel so cosy and say this is such a geschmack galus, I have 2 homes, 2 cars, an overflow of everything gashmius I could wish for, and the tragedy is that his children marry out. The epicenter of his existence in this world, the trial, upon which his neshama will stand judgment in shamayim, are his children, and they married out. It is like his neshama has gone. It has self destructed.

Now we have started to explore an insight into the power of a brocho. What happens when a person is not so gracious and grateful. The Torah talks about the meal offering given by the husband of the Sotah, a woman suspected of having an adulterous relationship with somebody that she was previously warned not to be in seclusion with. There are witnesses and the matter comes before Beis Din. She now has to go before the cohen in the Beis Hamikdash and a whole explanation is given. What happened? Rashi explains that the chapter of Sotah follows the priestly gifts. This teaches that if somebody is too mean spirited to give to the Cohen what is due to him, his Trumos and Trumos Maaseros, that person will be forced to come before the Cohen to perform the procedure of Sotah. In the end he has to come before the Cohen to perform the opposite of a peace offering. Just as the meal offering disintegrates, so he sees his world disintegrate.

The Sotah process is as follows. A man and a woman have been secluded in such a way for sufficient time so that they could have committed a sin. Early impropriety have touched the heart o the husband and he becomes suspicious of his wife and this other man. He has warned her not to seclude herself with that person but she ignored the warning. Two witnesses see them together and the opportunity for them to commit adultery was real. They didn’t see whether they did commit adultery, but they saw that she was secluded. If she had been overpowered against her will, of course she would be innocent and the man would be guilty. The aggrieved husband has to bring a meal offering on behalf of his wife. Whereas the ordinary offering is to bring mercy and forgiveness, this one is a reminder of the sin that she is accused of committing and at the very least for having secluded herself, arousing the suspicion of her husband, the witnesses and the community in general. For that reason the husband has to bring the offering, not the wife, because it would not be proper for her to bring an offering which would evoke H’s anger against her. This is according to the Ramban. The offering represented its purpose and symbolism. It was coarse barley flower. Coarse – because of the coarse behaviour. Barley – because this is food for animals and she behaved in a way that could possibly have been even worse than an animal. It is not beautified by oil or frankincense like all other meal offerings. The frankincense recalls the fragrance of our fore-mothers. The oil symbolizes the light given in the Menora, which lit up the world with the light of Torah. She did not follow in the way of the matriarchs and acted in the dark literally and figuratively, to try to hide her sin. This is an offering of jealousies, in the plural, because she has earned the resentment and derision of her husband and her Creator. This is according to Rashi. What happens to her now is quite frightening. Because of the gravity of the accusations and what the consequences are if she is found guilty, attempts are physically made to persuade her to confess. Although she would not be convicted due to the lack of evidence, pressure is put upon her to achieve her confession. If she refuses to confess, she undergoes the potentially lethal ordeal which releases her from judgment, if she is innocent. The sacred waters are drawn from the Temple laver, which by its very essence recalls the purity of the jewish woman. Such water is therefore a fitting vehicle with which to test her. If she is unfaithful, it will be bitter waters for her. The earthenware vessel represents the fine wine that she poured for her lover (Rashi). The earth placed inside causes her to think very deeply – if she was not faithful she will return to the earth from whence she came, if she is guilty (Rambam). Once they have done all they can to try to induce her to confess, the walk her vigorously to the Beis Hamikdash to shake her up, emotionally, emphasizing the devastation that occurs if they have to go through with the destruction of the Shem H’. At the moment the Shem H’ is placed in the bitter waters, she can no longer make a confession and is forced to drink the bitter water. The woman’s hair is uncovered and even her dress is torn, her dishevelment resulting from her behaviour of having voluntarily secluded herself with this man whom her husband forbade her to be in seclusion with. She is not totally innocent and must experience some shock and remorse, at least for that. They place the offering on her outstretched arms to humiliate and tire her, in the hope that she would confess before the Shem H’ was desecrated. From the fact that the woman’s hair was covered until the Cohen covered it, we know that it was disgraceful for a married woman’s hair to be uncovered. In Vichy France during the Holocaust, women who had relations with the occupying Nazi German soldiers, after the liberation of France, when justice returned, were taken out, their heads were shaved and their clothing torn by the other women in the city. In our generation, how many people are so spiritually numb that they don’t feel the embarrassment of the generation before. People would never dream of walking around their house the way that people today walk in the street or go to the beach in a state of undress. A person would never dream of walking in a synagogue like that. For kidush H and Bayin Neeman how many people have to spiritually anaesthatise so that they are suffering from spiritual anaesthetic, totally vulnerable to the torrents and floods of the generation. The trauma of having her head uncovered would never leave her to the point where she would never seclude herself again her entire life or go against her respect for her husband. There was a story in the Gemoro about twins who were both married. One sister was accused of being a Sota. When it came time to take her to the Beis Hamikdash, she was taken and her husband gave her the meal offering and the cohen took off her sheitel, tore the tope part of her dress. She drank from the waters and she was left perfectly normal. For a month nothing happened. When she met her sister for the first time after this happened, her sisters’ stomach swelled up and she died. What happened? They were absolutely identical in all ways. When it came time to go to the Sota in the Beis Hamikdash, the water stayed in the first sister who wasn’t guilty of that crime. When she met the sister who was guilty, and she smelt the water of accusation, on her sisters’ breath, her stomach exploded and she died. The water never left the first sister. They may have thought hey fooled H’.

You see something absolutely awesome. In the Mishna of Maseches Sota 20a, this is the only judicial process in the Torah that depends on an absolute supernatural intervention of H himself. It was a miracle that continued perpetually as long as the majority of Bnei Yisroel had Yiras H’ and H’s presence in their midst. This was discontinued by the Sanhedrin at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple because the nation was no longer worthy according to Maseches Sota 47a. The purpose was to punish idolatry, to help uproot immorality and to help foster trust between husband and wife. It was a psychological reality that once a husband had come to suspect his wife, he would not trust even the best court in the world. Legal decisions seldom change emotions. Only H’s direct intervention would suffice. If it was only an earthly Court, the marriage would just end in divorce because there was no evidence of her guilt. But H intervened and H’s name was destroyed to create Shalom Bayis. H would bless this marriage with a new child. That was the evidence that clearly H had intervened to prove not only to the husband, not only to the Beis Din, or to the Cohen Gadol, but to the whole nation that this woman was absolutely innocent of the accusation even though unfortunately she had fallen into a predicament, from which she couldn’t revert herself so that she somehow landed up walking into the room where there was this man by himself. There were witnesses that knew that he was there and they didn’t know why she walked into that room. Under those circumstances, H testifies that she was innocent and blesses her with a new neshama that would be a Kiddush H for her and for her husband.

In those conditions, if that is not the case, then her womb would explode in a most grotesque way, and her name would be an example to all others, that, lest they fool themselves, into thinking that there would be no Din Sota, for them, they wouldn’t dare to do such a crazy thing after seeing that this actually came to fruition. This would cure the infidelity that may lurk in a tiny percentage of the nation. This didn’t just befall the woman. Incredibly, the same punishment befell the man with whom she sinned.

H’s name is written in its entirety. Ordinarily it is forbidden to erase the sacred name of H’. one who does so is liable to lashes (Rambam, Hilchos Yesdoei HaTorah 6, 1-2). H commanded that his name be erased in order to bring peace between man and wife (Yerushalmi, Sotah 1.4). This demonstrates just how precious Shalom Bayis is to H’. He would be willing to have his name desecrated for Shalom Bayis to continue.

At this point the parsha goes on to the inyan of a person who takes a nazirite vow of abstinence for H’. From all manner of wine he shall abstain. He shall not drink vinegar or wine, nor dried grapes. Anything made from grapes, even the pips or the skins, he shall not eat. All the days of his nazirite vow a razor shall not pass over his head, until the completion of his days, he will be a nazirite for the sake of H’. Holy shall he be. The growth of hair on his head shall grow all the days of his abstinence, for the sake of H’. He shall not come near to a dead person. For his father, mother, brother, or sister he shall not contaminate himself upon their death for the crown of H is upon his head. All the days of his abstinence he is holy to H. Why does the Torah describe the Nazirite vow after the Sota vow. How is one related to the other? The answer, according to Maseches Sota 22a/b, is that the Sages derive that one who sees the Sota in a state of denigration and possibly seeing that her womb explodes afterwards, he is so shocked that he decides to prohibit wine from himself, and takes a nazirite vow. The Sota opted to follow her potential passions, and let these overwhelm her mind and her heart. The pursuit of pleasure overcame her responsibility and dedication to H’. Her experience was proof that people are easy prey to temptation. That way the evil inclination flares up within a person, even adultery can be seen as an acceptable option for a moment. Somebody who saw her denigration, even her horrible death after she drank from the bitter waters, could easily be overcome by the fear and the terror. One should abstain from wine and from the impulses that lead to the loose lifestyle that leads to the behaviour that the Sota pursued. What was it? That she gave her lover from wine. That loosened his morals, her morals, in a process that loosened their helek in Olam Haba. The Nazirite’s abstention from wine signals that the nazirite is so shocked that he adopts the spiritual lifestyle that can help close the door to any of these temptations that doomed the Sota and her lover. In a way he makes a tikun for that which started off the whole process, the wine that loosened up the morals that was taken as an act of the personal pursuit of pleasure. The pursuit of one’s own hedonistic happiness, pleasure without boundaries, ultimately removes a person from this world and the next. So we see that the nazirite in an attempt to be metaken the Sota, dedicates his life, or that portion of his life that he feels is necessary, so that he will never be tempted by the temptation which brought about the downfall of the Sota and her lover.

Returning to where we began, the Birchas Cohanim, reminds us to count our blessings. The ultimate priestly gift is Birchas Cohanim. Moses was commanded to tell the Cohanim that would be privileged to bless the people of Israel both in the Temple and for all time thereafter in synagogues. This is not because they have any power to confer these blessings. Only H can assure the people success, abundance and happiness. That part of their Temple service is to be a vessel, so to speak, like a Sinor, like a conduit that conveys that blessing of H to the nation, though which H’s blessing will be pronounced on his people. This is where the Cohanim had to come forward. There are shocking and fascinating laws about what requirements the Cohanim needed to bless Am Yisrael. In Eretz Yisrael every day the Cohanim bless Am Yirael. In Chutz La’Aretz, amongst Ashkenazim, three times a year. In Israel on Shabbos and Chagim, twice a day. Think of what happened on Shavuos at the Kosel. Thousands of Cohanim that came for the NEtz Minyan. All of a sudden Shemone Esre settled upon maybe 100,000 people on the concourse, you could hear a pin drop as the Cohanim reached birchas cohanim, that echoed through the corners of the Kosel and the corners of every neshama that was there. An experience that nobody, for the rest of their life, will ever forget. Coming, as if in a trance, drawn closer and closer to the ultimate kedusha. Coming for our Matan Tora, our Har Hamoria, experiencing the blessing of the Cohanim, at the Kosel, in a way that didn’t happen for 3000 years. We’re home again. We are very close to the time when we will be receiving the ultimate Torah from H at Har Namoria. So the Cohanim come forward but what is their requirement? If a Cohen for whatever reason was forced to take another life, to shed blood, if he had blood on his hands, he is forbidden from blessing Am Yisrael. This is a very frightening thing if a person does it in self defence or as a surgeon, who loses a patient on the operating table, it may be that he is not allowed to do birchas cohanim. We see the awesome responsibility of every cohen. It goes beyond this. A Cohen who has a machlokes, a verible, an argument, with somebody in the Shul, it is forbidden to stand before the community and bless, even if he is the only Cohen present. Even if the other person left the community, he went to another Shul, it is forbidden to bless the community. He needs to have a total shlemut with Am Yisroel. Otherwise he is not a true eved ne’eman transmitting the clear blessing of H to Am Yisrael. If this is the case, how much more so every one of us, Am Mamleches Cohanim, a nation of Cohanim, we would be nul and void if we bear a grudge against our fellow jew. The problem is not with the individual. It is a tragedy for the whole community. He must resolve it in his heart. If he is angry, it is a tragedy for Klak Yisrael. The Torah commands us, don’t bear a grudge and don’t take revenge, veahavta le’recha kamocha. There is an awesome insight from the Shla into ve’ahavta lerecha kamocha. It says “ve’ahavta lerecha kamocha”, and then it syas,” ki ani H”. The Shla explains, ‘Ve’ahavta lerecha, …’ you shall love your brother. ‘Kamocha ani H’ – like you love your brother, even if you are not worthy of love, but if you love him, I will love the same way. Even if you don’t know much Torah and don’t do all my mitzvos, because you love him, I love you just as much as you love him. He is my son and you are my son.

Pidyon shvua is securing the release of a prisoner, who is trapped against his will. The ultimate return of a lost object or pidyon shvua, release of person that is trapped, is to return a brother who has lost his way. Or, a brother who has been captured by the goyim physically or spiritually. After having found him and nurtured him through tshuva, back to life, returning him to shlemut, completeness, with the help of H’. What appreciation does a father have for one son who finds his brother trapped by enemies in a very dangerous cave, filled with snakes and scorpions. His brother every second was on the verge of death. The other brother troubles himself to save him from any possible situation to rescue him and bring him home to Torah, Eretz Yisroel and Olam Haba be Olam Haze. So we see, from the Birchas Cohanim, that the shlemut of the Cohen and the shlemut of the nation can be used to transmit and receive H’s blessing.

Why is Birchas cohanim every day in Israel but only 3 times a year for Ashkenazim in Chutz LaAretz? Pesach Shavuos and Sukkos. Surely in Chol they need Birchas Cohanim much more than the people in Israel? The answer is simcha. Vesamachta behagecha – you are obligated to be happy on the Chagim. As comfortable as a person might be in Galus, he is not experiencing shamayim al haaretz. He is not experiencing the full strength of blessing that a person experiences in the miracle of everyday life in Israel. Whatever he experiences in Chutz LaAretz, he is an eved to avadim. He is still in the furnace of the pharaohs. However great and high be builds the buildings, they remain pharaoh’s pyramids. He’ll be buried in it. When we come home to Torah, Eretz Yisroel, then he starts to build the Beis Hamikdash in this world and the next world and his children will inherit. He will feel the tremendous simcha when he comes to build the land. So we see from the Birkas Cohanim, an awesome insight over here. The question is asked; how is it in the birchas cohanim it says “Yevarechecha H veyishmerecha”, H will bless you and guard you/keep you. Surely if H blesses, his blessing is adequate. Does a person need to hire insurance? May H bless you – May H give you the blessings specified in the Torah, such as those mentioned in Dvarim. That Israel will be triumphant over its enemies, and will be alight unto the nations. That is that even our crops and business ventures succeed because we have the effort and the ability to bring Torah to life. That offspring are abundant and healthy and all the gashmius, physicality, is there to serve the ruchnius, spirituality. According to Rashi, may your possessions increase, as well as the days of your life (Ibn Ezra). Material benefits are secondary to the spiritual. Nevertheless, if there is no flour, there is no Torah, Im Ein Kemach Ein Torah (Pirke Avos 30, 15). The food is rotten and decaying without a brocho. H blesses Israel with prosperity to enable the people to devote themselves more intensely to a higher level of Torah and service to H. How much Torah was learnt in the Shoah? The physical is a step ladder to the supreme levels of Torah.Ho wcould they learn Torah in Auschwitz with our flesh burning in the ovens? We cry out H with a full heart. The Sota and Nazir teach us about the fear of impending destruction. The strength to continue can only come from H’, true siyata diShmaya, beyond imagination. We went on to an even greater level of Emunas Hashem, Yiras Shomayim, with the 6 million who died al Kiddush H, for the sake of H’s name. There were probably no more than 4000 jews learning in the height of European Jewry. Now in Lakewood, in Eretz Yisroel there are many times more. There are wealthy Jews in the world supporting them. Every one has a helek of Olam Haba infinitely more than they could ever hope for in this world. H will take revenge on all His enemies. The third blessing, raises the curiosity of a person with a lot of possessions, even a huge mansion, in a minute they can be gone. The synagogue, the Seder, limmud Torah, cannot be taken for granted even for one second. The world seemed well established well before the Nazis marched in and burned everyone to the ground and everyone in sight. Without the Yishmerecha, even the greatest brocho, is in vain. So we see from this trasmission by the Cohanim, the Yishmerecha is as intrinsic as the yevarechecha. Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch says, “the blessing to involve material matters since the blessing concludes with a prayer that H protects us, it is clear that it speaks of the benefits that require protection even after they have been granted. Spiritual blessings are protected only by personal worthiness, as the recipient rises up to the reason for the blessing. Material blessings are always subject to external dangers.”

For example a person wins the lotto. 40 million shekels. He goes there, his picture is in the papers as the person that won the lotto. Why do people always have a bag over their head when they win the lotto – so that nobody comes to rob them. Imagine the guy comes out of the lotto centre with his bag of 40 million shekels, walks round the corner and somebody is standing there with a machine gun. He says “hand over that suitcase that you have in your right hand. And by the way, have a good day”. How does that person feel when they see that 40 million shekels disappear into the dark? What would you say? What is his emotion? That was unlimited potential for the rest of his life. He never had to worry where his next meal, his next home, his next charitable project – where it would be funded. For the rest of his life he could never spend all this money. In one second somebody else disappears with his brocho. What does he feel? Devastation. Total devastation. Wait a second. 5 minutes before he didn’t have the money. Before he knew that he had one, it could be one digit different; he wouldn’t feel an ounce of remorse. Chaval, I missed it by a number, he wouldn’t feel any devastation. What’s happened here? What happened is that his brocho that he had for all of one minute was taken away from him. All of a sudden he feels the devastation that he never felt in his life before. All that infinite potential. It was with him for a second and is gone for eternity. How he would regret that for the rest of his life. Maybe he should have hired the top security company, to come and help him deposit it in the bank. Maybe he should have had an armed team of soldiers coming with – 15, 20, 100 guys with machine guns marching him all the way to the bank. Maybe he should have insisted on a crossed cheque that nobody else could deposit. Ein Sof Ledavar.

From this we see the incredible nature of a brocho levotolo, a blessing that you may heaven forbid say without kavana. And, midda keneged midda, a blessing that H may give us that we are not zoche to. We have to tremble that not only is our blessing a blessing, but that we should also be zoche to the yishmerecha, H’s protection.

In HaMek Dvar, the Netziv notes that H’s blessing is a general one. It does not clarify what sort of increase is meant. The exact form of blessing must depend on the needs of each individual. A real blessing is when H gives a person what he needs, not what he perceives he needs. Not what he greeds, but what he really needs. There is a famous saying that people who stay too long suffer from one of 2 conditions, when they clung to certain places in world history, because of their tremendous wealth – like the tragedy of what happened in Iran, certain people couldn’t get out in time before the Shah fell. They were kept there at the hands of the radical Yishmaelites. Some people went back. A true story is told of a guy that escaped with his wealth and went to California. He remembered that he had stashed away a few more Persian carpets in a hidden place under the ground. He secretly snuck into Iran and managed to get his carpets. Once he got them, the Iranian guard caught him, murdered him and took his carpet. His family, with all their billions, didn’t have a father. What were all his brochos worth? What a tragedy. The exact form of the brocho must depend on the needs of each individual. The student will be blessed with his learning. The merchant with his business. Just as a person’s gratitude must be commensurate with the degree of brocho afforded to him, each blessing is custom fitted for that individual. The tenth commandment says don’t envy your brother’s home, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor his eved nor any of his possessions. Why? Because H made every one of those things accurately for him. Is H’s arm short that it can’t deliver the same, if not better to you? Why are you jealous of his blessing, why are you looking at his plate, his bank account m his business? What is eating you up? A lack of faith. H can deliver exactly what you need. Exactly what is necessary for your neshama. H will deliver in perfect time. Veyishmerecha – May H protect you, and your newly gained blessing, be it your Kala, your new home, your new set of Chumashim, or Shas. That you will get maximum potential from these things. You will experience you olam haba in olam haze.

The blessing of prosperity is a blessing only H can guarantee you. A King, of flesh and blood, who gives a huge gift to his servants, cannot guard it against danger. Even if armed guards are there, there may be even bigger armed robbers who take it away after murdering the guards. What good would it be to the recipient to see all his guards murdered and to see the blessing taken out of his hand. By their very nature, physical beings are fragile. No business or tangible assets are permanent or unchangeable. Nor is the character and the ambition of the human being consistent. Therefore we plead for H’s blessing of protection so that once given, His blessing will not fade away, according to the Malbim. It will be eternal. May H bless you with wealth and protect you so that you use the money for mitzvos. For as the Sages teach in many places, the best way for a person to preserve his wealth is to use it for charity and good deeds. This assures him H’s continuous blessing according to the Yalkut Yehuda. All the blessings function like this.

The essence of our blessings is the trumos and ma’aser. These are the salt that preserve the blessing. There is an amazing story of a man, when post offices began over a hundred years ago. This man wanted to send a carton across the world so he took it to the Post Office. The clerk started licking some sticky pieces of paper and sticking them on his parcel. He started screaming at him – what do you think your doing? Your adding weight to my parcel. I didn’t allow that. So the postman took the stamps right off. What happened to that parcel? Nothing – it never left. What does that teach us? With that stamp, our parnassah and all our brochos fly; with chessed and tzedaka olam yibane. Our world was established, with the birchas cohanim as a vessel for brocho to flow into the world. H continues to bless us according to our needs and according to our deeds. Now all of a udden we have a choice to remain in Galus, building pyramids for the pharaohs or to come back to Israel to take truma and maaseh as the Torah says, to come home to Torah, A Bayis Neeman Be Yisrael, Geula Shleima and Shabbos – Olam Habba Al Haaraetz. May we soon see Mashiach Tzidkeinu, the Beis Hamikdash, Bimheria VeYameinu, The Geula Shleima, TEchias Hameisim, and a wonderful Shabbos for Col Am Yisrael.