Tehillim 119:21

Friday, June 24, 2016 · Posted in , , , , ,




Tehillim 119:21
גערת זדים ארורים השגים ממצותיך
ga'arta zedim arurim hashogim mimitzvoteicha
You have rebuked the accursed insolent ones who stray (err) from Your commandments.

The fifth obstruction is the antagonism of the nations. They believe that they adhere to the commandments of the Torah, when actually they err and distort, and so are perpectually cursed. That is what it says here, "You have rebuked the accursed insolent ones who err from Your commandments."

Some explain the verse as referring to the future rather than the past. You will curse "the accursed insolent ones who err from Your commandments." They willfully distort what they study of the Torah, and so err at keeping the mitzvot.

The "insolent ones... err." Their insolence causes them to err.

Some say: They "err away from Your commandments." There are "accursed insolent ones" who expound the Torah superficially, contrary to Halachah. That is, they bring halachically-invalid proofs for their false doctrines. For this reason were the Tablets of the Law written front and back, to convey that if one comes to be purified (to be the same inside and out), he is helped. But if one comes to be defiled - he wants to "stray from Your commandments" - he is abandoned ot his choice.

- Me'am Lo'ez

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THE STONE

Thursday, May 19, 2016 · Posted in , ,


A king once told his son to take a huge stone up to the first floor of the palace. The stone was enormous; neither men, nor horses, nor machines could have moved it. The prince was very perplexed. After trying in vain, he became discouraged and gave up.

When the King came and asked for an explanation, the prince sheepishly admitted his failure.

"It was impossible!" he apologized.

"Do you really think that I would have asked you to do something impossible?" exclaimed the King. "You should have thought about it! Did I ask you to take the stone up in one piece? If you had taken a hammer and started hitting it, you could have lifted up the small pieces and accomplished your work little by little!"

This rock, this enormous stone, is our heart. Isn't it sometimes so hard and so cold? Our King has asked us to elevate it. We tried, the task seemed beyond our forces, how could we soften such a hard rock.

Let us take a hammer - a moment each day

Let us strike it - let us talk to G-d

The stone - our heart

Will break - little by little

Piece by piece we will be able to elevate it.

(Rebbe Nachman)

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Perek Shirah - CHAPTER THREE: Trees of the Field Say

Monday, April 18, 2016 · Posted in ,

Chapter Three

Song of Plant Life

 אִילָנוֹת שֶׁבַּשָׂרֶה אוֺמְרִים - Trees of the Field Say:

[Olive Trees in Yisrael]

Divrei HaYamim Alef 16:33
 אָז יְרַנְּנוּ, עֲצֵי הַיָּעַר: מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה כִּי-בָא, לִשְׁפּוֹט אֶת-הָאָרֶץ
Az yerannu atzei haya'ar milifnei HASHEM ki-va lishpot et-ha'aretz
Then all the trees of the forest will sing with joy, before Hashem - 
for He will have come to judge the earth.


All of nature – including the sea, the fields, and the trees of the forest – will rejoice in the messianic age, for Hashem will dispense justice to the earth which has been oppressed by human beings who imagined that they were the sovereigns of the earth. Through the universal recognition of the Divine sovereignty, the earth will no longer be exploited for the selfish gratification of human beings. Instead, all human beings will rededicate themselves to the original Divine mandate regarding the earth: “to serve it and to guard it” (Bereishit 2:15). In such an age, “the earth will rejoice, the sea and its fullness will roar; the field and everything in it will exult; then all the trees of the forest will sing with joy.” (Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen)


Rav Acha says: 'the forest and the trees of the forest' – the forest refers to the trees which bear fruits, while the trees of the forest refer to trees which do not bear fruit. Before whom will they sing with joy? Before Hashem. Why?  '… For He will have arrived' - on Rosh Hashana and Yom HaKippurim. What will He do?  '… He will have arrived to judge the earth, He will judge the world with righteousness and peoples with his truth'" 


Rabbi Nosson Scherman, in the ArtScroll edition of Perek Shirah, offers the following commentary on this song of the trees:

"Where there has been disarray, a judge must restore order and replace chaos with justice. When the world is in turmoil, and justice is perverted, even the trees of the wild suffer, for the earth’s resources are abused and depleted. When the rule of the Ultimate Judge is acknowledged and accepted, even the trees will express their joy by waving their branches ecstatically, because the health of nature will be restored."


An older fellow once explained to me that newspapers are probably here to stay. They are a wonderful medium to publicize news and certainly in the times of Mashiach there will be important information to disseminate. The main difference between today's newspapers and those in the days of Mashiach's is that in the days of Mashiach newspapers will be much thinner. Why? When you take out of the newspaper the Lashon Hara, the lies, and the Shtuyot (nonsense) there isn't much left to it. Since under Mashiach's watchful eye none of these things will make past the editor we will have very small newspapers.

Who will be the big winner from this drastic downsizing of the daily paper? The trees of course. 250 million trees are cut every year just to print newspapers in the United States. One leading newspaper uses an astounding 75,000 trees a week for its Sunday paper alone.

Ilanos ShebaSadeh Oimrim "Az Yerannu Kol Atzei Hayar Milifnei Hashem Ki Va Lishpot Ha'Aretz"; Then (in the time of Mashiach) the trees of the forest will sing before Hashem who will come to judge the land... and you thought that only you wanted Mashiach now! (Revach)



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