1) “Am navel” – What’s the Insult?
We start off with perek 34, pasuk 6. “Hal’Hashem tigmilu zos. Am navel v’lo chacham.” And, the pasuk is talking about the Jewish people, and it’s berating them for being a foolish nation, and a not wise nation, and there’s something very odd that happens in the Targum Unkeles. Targum Unkeles says on the words, “Am navel”, “Ama d’kabila Oraisa v’lo chachimu.” It says: They are the nation that accepted the Torah, and they’re not smart. So, I understand that the words, “v’lo chacham,” means “v’lo chachimu.” That means not smart. But, how does “am navel”, the foolish nation or the perverted nation, how does that tie into them being the nation that accepted the Torah. So, obviously, the simple understanding of the Targum is saying is that it’s saying as a beratement. You know, hey, you guys should be smart because you accepted the Torah, and there’s so much there, but yet you’renot acting accordingly. But, the Gra has two other pshatim to try to explain this.
If we were on a higher level we would be able to learn the Torah by tapping into our bodies
So, the first one is based on the gemara in Eiruvin 100, and other places as well. The gemara tells us that if the Torah would not have been given, we would have learned the mitzvos from looking at the animals. We would have learned not to steal from the ant, etc., and Chazal tell us that, in fact, on the pasuk that’s in Bereishis 26, where it says, “Vayishmar mishmarti, mitzvosai, chukosai, v’sorasai,” it says that Avraham kept the Torah and the mitzvos. A mefurash pasuk. So, how did he do that? He looked at his body, and he learned how to keep the Torah. So, Avraham, our great-grandfather, he was able to look at his ramach eivarav. He perfected his two-hundred and forty-eight limbs so much that they spoke to him, and they told him, the two-hundred and forty-eight mitzvos asei. And, he perfected his shasa giddim, his three-hundred and sixty-five sinews, and they told him the three-hundred and fifty-five lo sa’aseis. So to speak.
We’re not on the level where we are able to tap into our bodies, and, therefore, it’s like an insult. “Am navel”. It’s a perversion of the way it should have been, and normally, the way we should have perfected ourselves, and the Torah should have been flowing through us like Avraham Aveinu, our great forefather. So, it’s an insult that we’re an “am navel”. It’s a disappointment that we’re not like him, and that we are the ones that still had to go to Har Sinai and accept the Torah that way. So, my understanding of this thought of the Gra is that it’s a disappointment because the entire purpose of the Torah is that it should permeate our body, and we should perfect ourselves, and so that is the insult in itself, and that is what “am navel” means. That it’s an embarrassment, it’s an abomination that they had to accept the Torah opposed to learn it from themselves.That’s one pshat.
2) “Am navel” is a nation that experiences a microcosm of G-dliness through kabbalas haTorah
There’s another more off the beaten track which is a fascinating pshat from the Gra which is brought down by his grandson, in Likutei Gra in his hakdama to Biur Hagra on Ohr HaChaim, and he says the following. Remember, we are trying to explain how Targum Unkeles translates “am navel”, a foolish nation as “the one that accepted the Torah”. So, he says like this. The Medrash Rabbah says that Rav Chanina bar Yitzchak says that there are three novlos, there are three microcosms. The microcosm of death is sleep because when a person sleeps he experiences partial death. The microcosm of prophecy is a dream that you have. And, a microcosm of Olam Habah is Shabbos. We know this “Mei’ein Olam Habah”. Rav Avin adds a couple more and he says that a microcosm of G-dly wisdom is Torah. So, says the Gra that that’s what it means here. The word navel means, “am navel” is a nation that experienced a microcosm of G-dliness which is through kabalas HaTorah. Kabalas HaTorah is a parable for G-d’s wisdom. And, so that’s what the medrash is saying. So, the Gra takes medrashei Chazal and ties them together in a way that we could better understand.
3) One of Hashem’s middos is that He is samei’ach b’chelko
Moving on to perek 32, pasuk 9. I’m not going to read the pasuk yet because it’s part of the punch line. But, the Vilna Gaon’s talmid, Rav Chaim Vuluzin, used to come to him with questions. Rav Chaim Vuluzin approached him one day, and said: Rebbe, I’m learning the Tana d’Bei Eliyahu Rabbah in perek Aleph and it says that one of Hashem’s middos is that He’s samei’ach b’chelko. What does that mean? How could you says that about G-d that G-d is happy with his lot? Does that mean that there’s something wrong with Him? What does that mean? How could you say that about G-d?
Hashem finds satisfaction with us even though we are imperfect
Gra says: No, the pshat is that the pasuk says “ki chelek Hashem amo. Yaakov chevel nachalaso.” We are the lot of G-d, and G-d finds satisfaction with us, even though we are imperfect, He still sees us as if we satisfy him, and that’s the pshat that Hashem is m’samei’ach b’chelko. And, we should recognize that the Rebono Shel Olam is our parent, and, so there’s a certain element that just like a parent looks towards their child, and will take anything they give as long as there’s effort there, and so too, G-d looks at us, and He is samei’ach b’chelko. “ki cheilek Hashem amo” that we are His portion, and Hashem is m’samei’ach in us. That’s the pshat, says the Gra, in the Tana D’Bai Eliyahu.
4) Can someone who rebels against Hashem could rely on Him?
There’s a famous line about the Vilna Gaon about bitachon, and there’s a number of pesukim that talk about “Tzur chusayu Bo”. Perek 32, pasuk 37. Hahsem is our rock that we rely upon. And, the Gra, it’s brought down in sefer Imrei Yaakov, and a number of other sefarim, that the Gra told Rav Chaim Vuluzin that he argues with the Chovos Halevavos. First let me tell you what he says, then I’ll tell you my take on it. The Chovos Halevavos says that you can’t rely on Hashem if you’re rebelling against Him because it’s a chutzpa. How could you rebel against Him. And, the pasuk says, “Podeh Hashem nefesh avadav. Lo yeshmu kol hachosim bo.” And, the Gra says that it doesn’t just say in that pasuk that Hashem will not forsake Eliyahu or Chaim, which are their two names, which is interesting that when a rebbe talks, he should make things practical. But, it says anyone. Anyone, “kol hachosim bo.” Anyone that relies on Hashem, Hashem will take care of, and so, therefore, you see that even if someone rebelled against Hashem, Hashem will still take care of Him.
A rasha who did teshuva could certainly rely on Hashem according to all
The truth is that this is not exactly, it’s not clear what the Chovos Halevavos actually meant because there’s pesukim that say that “Habotei’ach baHashem chesed yisovivenu”, and the medrash says, “Afilu rasha u’botei’ach ba’Hashem, chesed yisovivenu”. And, there’s a machlokes girsa’os exactly what that means. Does that mean that the rasha is still omeid b’risho, and he’s still acting like a rasha, and now he’s turning to Hashem, and Hashem will still take care of him? That’s what the Gra seems to be saying, and other mefarshim say that it’s “afilu rasha”, but he does teshuva and he’s botei’ach baHashem, then “chesed yisovivenu”. So, the truth is that it’s not so clear exactly what it means. Chovos Halevavos is not saying that if a person does teshuva, then a person is not going to listen to him. Of course he will. If a person didn’t believe in Hashem or didn’t rely on Hashem, but then repents, of course Hashem will listen to him.
One who is rebelling against Hashem cannot rely on Hashem
The Chovos Halevavos is saying that if a person is rebelling against Hashem and not following Him, then it’s a chutzpah for him to say: Okay, now I’m relying on you. Now, I need you. Like he says in the beginning of shaar habitachon. “Kol habotei’ach b’zulas Elokim” if you rely on something outside of Hashem, then “meisir Hashem hashgachaso mei’alav u’meini’ach oso b’yad me sh’batach alav.” Hashem says: Okay, you want to rely on that. Okay, rely on that. Good luck! Have a nice life! So, what needs to be explained is that according to everyone if you do teshuva, then you’re fine.
5) A baal teshuva can rely on Hashem according to both the Chovos Halevavos and the Gra
However, what the Gra seems to be saying, perhaps he didn’t like the fact that he read the Chovos Halevavos as saying that you can’t really do teshuva once you insult Hashem. Hashem says: I don’t want you back. Then, you can’t rely on me. That the Gra says is wrong. It’s not true. But, I don’t think that that’s what the Chovos Halevavos means. That’s not the way I read the Chovos Halevavos. The Chovos Halevavos means that if you’re omeid b’risho, then Hashem says I don’t want you. But, if you come back. Hashem says I’ll take you; no problem.
6) Moshe taught kol haTorah kula
At the end of this parsha of Ha’azenu. Perek 32, pasuk 45. “Vayichal Moshe l’dabeir es kol hadevarim ha’eileh l’kol Yisrarel.” Moshe completed to speak over all these things to the Jews. So, the Gra says in the Aderes Eliyahu. We spoke about this earlier that it refers to the entire kol haTOrah kula. And, the Ramchal, Daas Tevunos, perek 5 says the same thing. He has an entire seif on this explaining how we find the six-hundred and thirteen mitzvos in Shiras Ha’azenu’s six hundred and thirteen words.
7) Additional hunts to the six-thirteen mitzvos
Gra also says, “Charus al halachos”. Chiseled on the luchos. Charus is gematria six-hundred and thirteen with the kolleil. So, you add one just for the word itself. And, he says it’s the same gematria of chochma, bina and daas which is, again, six-hundred and thirteen. And, that’s what it’s all about, and the entire Torah is k’minyan keser, which, again, keser is also chochma, bina, daas. Remember we’ve spoken about this before. Keser, the Baal Haturim on the Chumash says is six-hundred and twenty because of the six-hundred and thirteen mitzvos d’Oraisa, and then the seven mitzvos d’rabbanan on top of that. So, we have a lot of concepts of repetition here.
Parshas Vzos Haberacha
1) Eisav and Yishmael are “naaseh v’nishma”
Perek 33, pasuk 2. The famous Gra that I think is very misunderstood and I want to shed a little bit of light on it. “Vayomar, Hashem m’Sinai bah v’zarach mei’Sei’ir lamo. Hofiya meihar Paran.” This is talking about how Hashem offered the Torah to all of the other nations before he came to the Jews, and the Gra writes that Eisav and Yishmael are “naaseh v’nishma”. What does that mean? That the word “Eisav” comes from the word asuy. He was complete. He was made which is the olam ha’asiya. Eisav is a big doer. One of his downfalls was that he was impulsive, so there was a lot of doing without a lot of listening, a lot of understanding. Yishmael, who was known as a philosopher, which is kind of funny when we think about Yishmael nowadays, but in the olden days they were brilliant philosophers and they were influenced by the Jews in their philosophy flourished through their development of the intellect. That’s all they had. There was nothing else except the study of wisdom, and they are Yishmael is from the word shmiya. To listen.
However, the Jews have both. They are naaseh v’nishma. They combine the two and that’s the power.
Hashem told the nations of the world the dibbros from left to right because that is how they write
One of the things the Gra says is that when Hashem gave the Torah to the Jewish people, so he offered it to the goyim first, and, for example, He came to the different nations, and He said to Eisav: Do you want the Torah? And, Eisav said, “Mah ksiv beih?” What does it say? So, Hashem started reading the Aseres Hadibros. Lo sinaf. Lo signov. Lo sigzol. So, they said forget it. “Al chabecha yischyeh.” We live on a sword. We live on zenus. Etc. They said: No. So, the question is: It’s not fair. Why did he read them that part? He should have started off with , “Anochi Hashem Elokecha.” He should have started off with that dibur. So, the Gra says it’s because the Jewish language we start from right to left. So, when Hashem read the dibros to the Jewish people, when He gave it to use, He read it in our order, starting from “Anochi”, but for the goyim, He started left to right. That’s how they read it.
Arabs write from right to left?!
Now, a lot of people say: Fine, so I understand that Hashem offered it to seventy nations, and seventy nations have seventy languages and many of them were written from left to right, like the English language. But, the Arabs do write from right to left, and many others do write from right to left. So, what does that mean?
The Gra is referring to the chesed of the right and the din of the left
So, obviously the Gra is talking about something much deeper. The Gra is talking about, al pi kabballah that when you go from the right to the left, so that means that you’re writing from a place of chesed. In fact, the mefarshim talk about this fascinating idea that a lot of the letters of the Hebrew Alphabet actually, when you start writing them in safras, you start on the left, and then you are nichlal it onto the right. You bring it into the middas hachesed. And, there’s different ways that you’re dragging things, you’re bringing chesed into din or din into chesed and being mamtik the din. Whereas, the goyim, everything comes from din because they didn’t accept the Torah, and, therefore, they didn’t justify their own existence. That is a very important thing.
2) There are six-hundred and thirteen root mitzvos
There’s a famous thing from the Gra, perek 33, pasuk 4. “Torah tzivah lanu Moshe, morasha kehillas Yaakov.” We know the gemara in makkos, 23b seems to say, based on this pasuk, that Hashem commanded us the Torah, Taryag mitzvos, but the brother of the Gra, Rav Avraham, writes in sefer Maalos HaTorah, very famous thing. “Rechava mitzvosecha,” the pasuk says that Hashem, Your mitzvos are unlimited. And, the Gra says that there are six-hundred and thirteen root mitzvos. However, there are many, many, unlimited amounts of mitzvos in the Torah itself. This is not to say that there are other commandments that are made up, but this is just to say that there are different aspects of the mitzvos like having middos, being compassionate and doing things that are ratzon Hashem which are also mitzvos which are unlimited in their scope.
3) There are four times that the Jews accepted the Torah
Perek 33, pasuk 5. “Vayihi bishurun Melech b’hisaseif roshei am yachad shiftei Yisrael.” Chazal tell us that there are four times that the Jews accepted the Torah. They accepted Hashem’s malchus. At the Yam Suf, “zeh Keili v’anveihu.” By Har Sinai before Matan Torah, parshas Yisro, “Vaya’anu ha’am vayomeir kol asheir dibeir Hashem naaseh.” And, after Matan Torah, parshas Mishpatim where again it says, “Kol asheir dibeir Hashem naaseh.” And, then, finally, the fourth time, “Vayashkeim babokeir”, and there it says, “Naaseh v’nishma”.
Each of the four acceptances of the Torah was a specific thing
Gra in Aderes Eliyahu says that it’s very specific that there are four things. I’m not going to go into it at length. But, the first one they accepted Hashem’s malchus. The second one they were mekabeil ol Torah. The third time they were mekabeil to do even the chukkim and the mishpatim. The laws that are logical, the civil laws, but also those that are choke, those thatare not understood. And, that’s why it says, “naaseh”, there. We will do it, even though there might be a lack of nishma. We might not understand it. Finally, the last time, when Moshe went up to Har Sinai to accept the rest of the Torah, so they accepted everything in Torah Shebaal Peh, “naaseh v’nishma”. We will be amal in the Torah, and we will come to a deeper understanding of it which is what it’s all about.
4) Gad would chop off their enemies head and forearm simultaneously
Perek 33, pasuk 20. “U’l’Gad amar, ‘Baruch marchiv Gad v’al piv shachein v’taraf zroah af kadkod.” One of the defining factors of Gad, when they kill their enemy, they would chop off their head, their skull, “kadkod,” along with the forearm as well. “v’taraf zroah af kadkod.” So, the Gra says that this is merameiz to the gemara, well Rashi brings down that Gad were very strong soldiers, and the people that they killed were recognizable because their head and their forearms were often missing in one shot which normally, you would just chop someone’s head off, but Gad was very strong. So, the Gra says, based on the gemara in Menachos that if someone speaks between putting on the tefilin shel yad and teffillin shel rosh, it’s an aveirah, and he goes back from the war, and that’s one of the aveiros listed. And, Shevet Dan, they were very, very makpid on this aveirah, and, therefore, they were zocheh that just like when they put on their tefillin shel yad and their tefillin shel rosh there was no interruption between head and arm, so too, they had the power to destroy and subjugate their enemy with head and arm together which represents tefillin.
Lack of interruption between tefillin shel yad and tefillin shel rosh represents the connection of the intellect to action
What does this mean? Why is this a zechus? The pshat is that when you have your, the tefillin shel yad represent our asiya, our action. Tefillin shel rosh represents our machshava, our connecting to Hashem, and our goal in life is to connect our brain, our machshavah, what we know is right, to our guf, to our body, which brings out actions. However, when we talk between, that means that our ego is interrupting, and so when we are makpid not to talk, that means that we are subjugating ourselves fully to Hashem, and so this lack of interruption between tefillin shel rosh and tefillin shel yad, meaning between intellect and behavior is the greatest zechus that we could possibly have. Amalek tries to destroy that exact thing. Melika, they try to cut off the head from the rest of the body so there is no communication. And, so that is the greatest thing that wecould try to accomplish, and, I believe, that that is what’s being merameiz here in this hint about the great warrior that Gad was. That’s exactly what he accomplished, that he was able to bind his knowledge with his action.
5) Moshe wrote about his death in the Torah “b’dima”
Perek 34, pasuk 5. Moshe dies, and it says, “vayamas sham Moshe eved Hashem.” The gemara asks: How could Moshe write this if he didn’t die yet? How could he not write it if it says the Torah was complete. The gemara says he wrote it b’dima. And, then Yehoshua fixed it up. So, people translate it simply as he wrote it in tears.
“b’dima” means that the words written were incoherent
Gra says that doesn’t answer the question: So, Moshe was crying. He wrote that he died because he was losing the opportunity to do more mitzvos, like we know the Gra himself cried before he died because he looked at his tzitzis, and he said: I can’t, I won’t be able to do this mitzvah, cheap mitzvah here, but in the future world it’s impossible. I don’t have bechira anymore. So, the Gra says that it’s based on a pasuk, “Milei’ascha b’dimacha lo si’acheir.” It means “meduma”. Your grain that’s mixed up because it has maaser and teruma and everything still inside it that hasn’t been separated. So, the pshat is that Moshe wrote the letters, but it was incoherent. He wrote it. This is what the Torah is going to say, but Yehoshua had to separate it and write that okay these letters, Vav, Mem, Yud, Saf, Shin, Mem, they are “Vayamas Sham Moshe.” So, that’s the pshat.
6) Moshe was the teruma of the world – as seen in the length of his life
Perek 34, pasuk 8. “Vayivchu Bnei Yisrael es Moshe b’Arvos Moav shloshim yom.” They cried, and the Gra explains in Aderes Eliyahu that Moshe was the teruma of the world. And, teruma beinonis is one in a fiftieth, and we know the world is around for six thousand years, so one fiftieth of this is a hundred and twenty. That was the years of Moshe. However, if not for the meih merivah, then he would have been given a more generous teruma and he would have been one of forty. One of forty means he would have lived to a hundred and fifty. That’s what the Gra says. And, that’s the pshat that it means that he died early.
7) A siyum brings sh’ifa also to one who participates who did not make the siyum
There’s a famous Gra that says that whenevery you make a siyum, the hidden letters of Samech, Yud, Vav, Mem the nigleh and nistar are the same gematria, and that’s because that even, and this is brought down in Teshuvas Harivah Hakatan, and some people say it’s b’sheim the Gra. But, anyway. IT’s also brought down in a few other places b’sheim the Gra. And, that is because even someone that is just mishtateif with the siyum, he’s equal to the person in the siyum. What does that mean? So, I believe that means that when a person learns something and he sees that his friend is making a siyum, his friend is completeing something, and he has a certain jealousy and a longing for it, so Hashem says: All right, so that is exactly what I’m looking for. I’m looking for that sh’ifa that you have, and in that zechus of that sh’ifa, you’ll be zocheh to accomplish things in yourself. So, in the siyum itself there’s a longing for the future. So, as we are mesayeim the Torah and we come to this beautiful parsha we’ve enjoyed so many things from the Gra, and we long to become talmidei chachamim on the highest level that we could become and to learn the secrets and the beauty of the Torah just like the Vilna Gaon to enhance our lives and avodas Hashem through it. That is our longing and that is our siyum as we start again.
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