Audio Shiur at Hineni 5.21.2012
Shavuos and Smell
by Rabbi Elchanan Shoff
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Audio shiur: The most basic principle of leadership
Audio shiur from Hineni 2.27.12 (Parshas Tetzaveh)
The most basic principle of leadership.
https://www.yousendit.com/
The most basic principle of leadership.
https://www.yousendit.com/
Audio shiur : The things we say when we are drunk!
Audio shiur from Hineni 3.20.12
The Things We Say When We Are Drunk
https://www.yousendit.com/
The Things We Say When We Are Drunk
https://www.yousendit.com/
Audio shiur : Webbed Hands and Earplugs
Audio class from Hineni 2.13.12
Webbed Hands and Earplugs
https://www.yousendit.com/
Webbed Hands and Earplugs
https://www.yousendit.com/
Audio shiur link: Why to name your daughter Kayla
Audio class from Hineni 3.12.12
Why to name your daughter Kayla.
by Rabbi Elchanan Shoff
https://www.yousendit.com/
Why to name your daughter Kayla.
by Rabbi Elchanan Shoff
https://www.yousendit.com/
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
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If you would like to order more than one, or for any other questions, please free to contact me - elchananshoff@gmail.com
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
The Incredible Value of Incentives
Like it or not we are all human beings. We often like to see the world as a perfect place, and ourselves as perfect. But that is unfortunately not the reality. Our psyches are influenced by so many factors that it can be difficult for us to really know why we do things. Are we helping the poor man because we are sincerely generous, or because we feel better about ourselves when we help him? Is it for the honor of seeing our name on a hospital that we donate, or is it because we are principled people? The honest answer is that it is extremely rare for a human being to do something that is completely motivated by noble motivations. The Rambam (Commentary to Mishna Makkos Ch. 3) writes that if one does such a pure mitzvah, with no other "kavvanos" other than sincere desire to do the right thing, he is guaranteed a place in the world to come! He notes that the greatest Rabbis of the gemara were concerned that they might not have a place in the world to come, despite their many great deeds. One pure deed is not easy to come by.
We do not do the good things that we do only out of sincerity. That is certainly the main motivator for most of us who are trying to be good people, but it is the sad reality of human nature that we are motivated by other concerns as well. "Not to worry!" say our sages! We can serve Hashem with our Yetzer Hara as well! "A person should always [LiOlam] study Torah and perform Mitzvos even in an insincere way, because out of insincerity, sincerity comes." The gemara tells us that a person should always learn "shelo lishma" insincerely. But surely once a person is already studying "lishma" (sincerely) he no longer needs to continue studying shelo lishma! But the concept is a clear one. We are humans. There will always be a part of us that can use a little motivation! There is always a part of us that will be a little more careful. For example, a kind generous woman who devotes her time to raising her children, and caring for them, will make a delicious supper on time for her family in good spirits knowing that she is doing a great mitzvah. But should a man come over to that woman and offer her $50,000 to make a timely delicious supper [as she always does] for her family the following night, she will certainly be even more certain that her supper is ready a bit earlier than usual. As human beings, there is always a little more that we can be doing, and the Torah tells us that the way to get there is to start by doing it "Shelo lishma."
It is when we can honestly realize this is a part of ourselves that we can then relate to our children. Our children have so much good in them. But they do not naturally want to say please and thank you. When we applaud their good deeds, and tell them how proud we are when they are kind, they learn to be kind. This is primarily because they crave our approval. When a child receives something as an incentive, he is simply learning how to grow the human way. We all do things for incentives.
There are many parents who worry that if they offer their children money to learn and daven, [as Rambam (Commentary to Mishna Sanhedrin 10:1) suggests that one do] those children will begin to think that money is the greatest value that there is. In defense of the Rambam, I have found this not to be the case. A parent who give his child a small allowance each week and no more, and then approaches his child and tells him "if you learn Torah with me on Friday nights, I will give you extra money each week that you learn with me," has actually taught his child a powerful lesson. He is saying, "You know that you don't just get money from me for no reason. We work hard for our money, and don't throw it around for nothing. But if it would help you learn Torah, I would give all my money away. Tov li toras picha mealfei zahav vachesef."
Even that child who will do the good deed without an incentive will learn how much his parents value his good deed when they do give him the incentive. A friend of mine once told me of one of his proudest childhood memories. He was when he was in elementary school and had worked particularly hard to earn a good grade in a shiur that was challenging for him. When he came home with his mark, his father wordlessly took him into his study and unlocked his safe. He took out a watch from the safe, and presented it to his son. That boy felt great with his good grade, but he knew how his father's heart felt toward him whenever he looked at that watch. And to this day, his voice cracks when he tells the story.
It is certainly unwise to simply make everything dependant on incentives, for without room to grow, one will not do so. When we make everything an incentive, it also cheapens the experience. And of course, if the incentive is too expensive [giving a child a new biycycle every time she makes her bed,] then it grows absurd and impractical. [Whereas giving her a sticker on a chart, and taking her for ice cream every couple of weeks until she outgrows the need for that incentive would not be that impractical.] But when a child is challenged with something and given anything from candy to a sticker to a sports car, they are learning how to be great the Torah way. We are aware of who we are. We know that the Torah is the sweetest thing in the world. But we still put a little bit of honey on the letters when we first get there.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Integrity, Idols, and Animals
“He who changes his words, it is as if he worships idols,” Sanhedrin 92a
A boy who is not Bar Mitzvah is not obligated to keep the mitzvos according to biblical law. We are obligated to educate him, and according to some, he may have a Rabbinic responsibility to fulfill mitzvos himself, but according to the strict law of the Torah, he is not responsible. And yet, according to the Torah, once a young man truly knows what his words mean, he is obligated to fulfill the word of his commitments. Even before the responsibility to keep the rest of the Torah comes the responsibility to keep ones word.
Tosafos[i] is of the opinion that even a goy has the responsibility to keep his word. Now a gentile is not responsible to keep anything in the Torah beyond the seven Noachide laws and several other restrictions. But his is responsible to keep his word!
The Ramban[ii] tells us that when a community gets together to make a decision as a community, they have the ability to create obligations not only upon every member of that community, but even upon their descendants. He give three examples; the national acceptance of the Torah, of the megilla, and of fast days. We are all under and obligation to keep those commitments that our ancestor committed to en masse. It is interesting to note that even before the Torah was given we were bound to our word. After all, should one not have to keep what he promised, what binds us to the Torah? Even before the Torah was given, we had to keep our word.
“He who changes his words, it is as if he worships idols,” says the Gemara.[iii] R. Menachem Meiri[iv] explains that this refers to one who does not keep his word. Idolatry is the most egregious of sins[v]. After all, man was placed on this world in order to worship G-d, to do good, and accomplish as much as he can. It is only possible for one to do that when he knows what is true and what is false, and what is good and bad. Following a false system, with false values and false gods is understandable a cardinal sin. A fellow promising to make it to his Gandma’s birthday party who instead goes to the movies has indeed commited an offense. But can we compare that to idolatry? It is certainly not the kindest thing to do, not does it display integrity – but is it really even close to the worship of idols?
We must explore the nature of a mitzvah. The Rambam[vi] tells us, “Many things were forbidden by the sages as ‘Rabbinically Stealing’ such as gambling… What is gambling? Playing games with wood, stone, bones, or any such substance, and making a deal that whomever wins the game will take home a certain amount of money. Our Rabbis declared that this is theft. Despite the fact that this money is given completely willfully by its owner, because it was taken in a playful and silly manner, it is theft!” This Rambam is hard to understand on the surface – if one is not taking somebody else’s object, how can he be a thief? What on earth does his playful and silly manner have to do with stealing? He may be one who does not fear God, or a number of other sins, but how can we call him a thief? The Chacham Tzvi[vii], in addressing the prohibition of stealing even from a non-Jew explains that there are two purposes to every Mitzvah. On the one had we do not steal because the Torah must protect the fellow with money, and not allow any charlatan to make off with what is his. But another purpose, explains the Chacham Tzvi, is in order than man will not behave in a despicable way. We therefore cannot steal from anyone, because there is something bad that happens to us when we steal! In fact, the Rambam himself makes such a statement in his Pirush Hamishnayos[viii] when he says “Our sages have taught us that it is prohibited to deceive even the gentile… for this develops in man terrible characteristics.” Mitzvos are here to make sure that we do certain actions, but above all that, they are here to change us. Stealing is both about taking money from another person, and taking money for free in an ignoble manner. If one takes money in a silly or uncouth way it is akin to stealing. For stealing is not just about taking something from someone else, it can be about taking something even should that hurt nobody at all in any [legal] sense!
Now we can understand why it is idolatrous to default on ones word. The Torah is talking to a man. It tells that man to do mitzvos. Those mitzvos have their effect on both the man, and his relationship with Hashem. But there must be a man there to talk to. With no integrity, there is no man to talk to, and there I no one to hear the message of the Torah. There can be no worship of Hashem when there is no man. The travesty of idolatry is that man is acting against the entire purpose of creation. Man is here to worship God – one who denies God, or mis-defines Him is a disaster. But equally grave is the sin of one who mis-defines man. If there is no man, there can be no worship of God. The Torah presupposes the existence of a man before it commands anything – it can do no less. Even the gentile must keep his word, and even the underage boy must follow through. Derech Eretz must come before Torah, for Torah cannot change a man and bring him close to God if he is not a man, and without integrity man is not much more than an animal.
[i] Tosafos to Avoda Zara 5b s.v. ‘Minayin.’ Note the shock of R. Akiva Eger in Gilyon Hashas there.
[ii] Mishpat Hacherem (published after the Pirush Haramban to Gittin in Chiddushei Haramban. I am indebted to R. Efraim Kirshenbaum Shlita for making me aware of this source.
[iii] Sanhedrim 92a
[iv] Beis Habichira ad loc.
[v] Sanhedrin 50a “poshet yado biikar adif - denying the existence of God is most severe.”
[vi] Hil. Gezeila Vaveidah 6:7, and
[vii] Shaalos Uteshuvos Chacham Tzvi 26
[viii] Keilim 12:7, in the standard editions this is found, but it is brought out far more clearly in the newer, more accurate, translation of R. Y. Kapach.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Monkey See
“And you saw their abominations and their vulgarities – the wood, stone, silver, and gold (idols) that they keep with them.”
D’varim 29:16
The Jews had just seen the idolatrous practice of the nations that they had passed through. The torah calls these idols, “shikutzeihem,” and “gilluleihem.” Abominations. Rashi points out that literally the word “gilluleihem,” means feces. The Jews viewed those disgusting practices the way that they would have viewed human waste. And yet the Torah goes on to warn the Jews that if they are attracted to those forms of worship they dare not engage in them. The Torah in one breath emphasizes that Jews saw those practices as disgusting, and that nevertheless there were many who desired them. The Torah warns those people to stay away.[1] Man is incredibly affected by what he sees, and thus, even seeing something that seems as disgusting as feces, can nevertheless attract the person
One who witnesses a Sotah in her state of disgrace should steer clear of drinking wine. To teach us this, the Torah placed the laws of Nazir next to the laws of the Sotah. The adulterous act that the Sotah perpetrated, is something that comes of a frivolous mentality, and more often than not, it is brought on by drinking alcohol. Thus, one who witnesses the depths to which a Jewish soul can sink when it loses the level-headed approach to life that befits it, should himself commit not to lose sight of what is important in life. Any yet, it would seem surprising that the man who witnessed the downfall of the wicked person would be in danger of repeating that mistake. If anything, I would have thought that the fellow who has never seen a Sotah explode is more likely to be enticed into sin that the one who saw her stomach implode, and her guts on the floor! The Torah teaches us, that one who witnesses evil is affected. He has now seen that the sin is possible. Other people have done it. Once something is in the realm of possibility, it is no longer so foreign, and one is more likely to succumb to his desires.
When the Jews left
The opposite is true as well. When we see a good person, we can then see that righteousness is within our reach as well. On the day that Sara was remembered by Hashem and conceived Yitzchak, many barren women were remembered by Hashem and conceived too.”[3] The Taz[4] wonders how these women knew that their fertility was related to Sara, and not some other reason. He explains that it was only those who knew of Sara, and heard of her miracle gained the necessary bitachon (faith) to trust in Hashem and thus merit bearing children despite their barren natures! It was only when they saw Sara that they too could relate to that sort of faith.
The great R. Shlomo Ganzfried[5] brings this idea out in another fashion. He wonders why it is that Akeidas Yitzchak is considered by the Torah to be a test of Avraham rather than Yitzchak. “And Hashem tested Avraham.”[6] After all – wasn’t Yitzchak’s giving up of his life a great challenge as well? He quotes the Drashos Haran, who explains that after the very first time in world history that a challenge is overcome, that challenge becomes far easier for everyone else to overcome themselves. Avraham, he explains, had already offered his life up for Hashem when Nimrod attempted to kill him in the fiery furnace of Ur Kasdim. It was thus not as great a challenge for his son Yitzchak to give his life for Hashem. But to give one’s child had never been done. Thus, Avraham was the only one legitimately challenged to the ultimate degree, for he was told to do something that had never ever been done before. It is amazing to note how after world records that have stood for years are broken, they suddenly are broken many times over. The four minute mile, or Roger Maris’ long standing home run record are just two examples. Just after they were broken came a succession of people who broke those same records again, quickly! After one person does something, it is somehow much easier for the rest to follow suit. (This also offers us a deep insight into what our forefathers have done for us. For a Jew today to sacrifice for Hashem, for Shabbos, for kosher food – all these tests have been successfully passed before – and thus we can and must know that it is within our reach to pass these tests as well. We are privileged to come from such giants.)
On another level, the very fact that we see something wrong is an indication of our spiritual state. The Baal Shem Tov said that one who witnesses a sin, can only have witnessed that if he himself has some flaw in that area. When Noah wanted to know if the flood was over, he sent the raven out to check for him. But the raven did not do the bidding of Noah. Rather, he circled the ark and came right back, for he was concerned that Noah would mate with his raven-wife while he was gone.[7] How ludicrous! Aside for the problem of logistics, for Noah was a man and Mrs. Raven was a raven – why on earth would the righteous Noah, who had survived the flood by virtue of his never engaging in arayos, suddenly compromise his values for a female raven? On Noah’s ark the animals did not mate with one another.[8] For, the world was in a state of turmoil and even the animal kingdom somehow sensed that cohabitation was inappropriate. The exceptions were Ham, son of Noah, the dog, and the raven.[9] The raven was drawn to the physical more than other animals. He thus saw the world through his own eyes. Should someone else have left their mate alone, he would have attempted to mate with her. Thus, he projected that upon Noah. “Kol haposel bimumo posel - when one sees faults in others, that fault is [almost always] present in he himself,[10]” the Gemara tells us. Thus, the raven saw Noah as a threat.[11]
We must know that what we see affects us. It can drag us up and down. We can become like Avraham and Sara, or we can become, heaven forbid, like other nations who imitate Amalek to this day. We must take care to see good things, and when we see things that can hurt us, even the destruction of those who sin (like the Sotah,) we must know that there is a reason that Hashem had us see it, and that it can affect us badly if we do not respond as the Torah demands.
[1] See Daas Torah to Nitzavim
[2] D’varim 25:18
[3] Bereshis Rabbah 53:8
[4] R. Dovid b. Shmuel Halevi, in his Divrei David to Genesis 18:6
[5] Apiriyon to Bereshis 22:1
[6] Bereshis 22:1
[7] Sanhedrin 108b
[8] See Rashi Bereshis 8:1
[9] Sanhedrin 108b
[10] Kiddushin 70b, Rambam Issurei Biyah 19:17
[11]Gur Aryeh (Maharal) to Bereshis 8:7
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Shabbos All Week
“And Yitzchak brought her into the tent of Sara his mother.”
Bereshis 24:67
“In the tent of Sara, there was a candle that always burnt – from one erev Shabbos, until the next, when Rivka entered that tent, this blessing returned.”[1] When Yitzchak saw this, he was then prepared to marry Rivka.[2] What was this candle all about? Why did it remain lit, and why did it matter?
In a letter to R. Yissachar Tietchell[3], R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld wrote that this candle was the Shabbos candle, and it remained lit all week for in Sara’s tent, Shabbos was felt all week. It is customary for women to refrain from drinking the Havdalah wine at the conclusion of Shabbos. R. Sonnenfeld explains that this is due to the power that women have to extend that Shabbos into the weekday, and therefore, they ought to have a little less to do with the Havdalah, for Havdalah emphasizes the separation of Shabbos and weekday! We must discover - what is the nature of this power, and what does it mean that women posses it?
Shammai would live the entire week preparing for the Shabbos, for when he found a nice piece animal, he would purchase it and save it for the Shabbos. He inevitably found a nicer animal, and purchased that one too, and then took the first one and ate it during the week. He would eat the first one, so that the nicer one would be for Shabbos. Thus all of his food during the week was really part of his preparation for the Shabbos.[4] Because Shammai spent his money on the first animal in order to have it for Shabbos, the fact that in the end he would enjoy it during the week did not make it any less for the honor of Shabbos! Shabbos spilt over and colored his entire week.
When we make Kiddush on Friday night, we begin it with the words, “Yom Hashishi, the sixth day.” This is odd, for it is a fragment of a full sentence. In fact, we are meant to begin quietly with the words “Vayihi Erev, Vayihi boker,” “and it was evening and it was morning,” and the we recite “yom Hashishi aloud.” There is a Midrash[5] which tells us that “Yom Hashishi Vayehchulu Hashomayim,” is the source for “tosefes Shabbos.” Tosefes Shabbos is the obligation that we have to add a bit onto the Shabbos of the weekday, and to treat that time as thought it is Shabbos as well. The first letters of each word of “Yom Hashishi Vayehchulu Hashomayim,” are Yod – Hey – Vav - Hey, which spell out the name of Hashem. When we add on the last two words in the Torah about Friday to the first two words of Shabbos, we discover Hashem’s name. Therefore we recite those two words aloud, before reading about the Shabbos at Kiddush. Holiness truly comes when we can attach the secular to the holy, and bring the holy into our mundane lives. It is not enough to live spiritual lives in the synagogue. We must live those principles of Shabbos and spirituality in our ordinary worldly lives. We can learn out to add from the Shabbos to our week when we notice that the name of Hashem appears when we attach those parts of the Torah. So on Friday nights, we emphasize that message by loudly intoning only the fragment of the sentence that will spell out the name of Hashem.[6]
The woman has this special ability to infuse the divine into the worldly aspects of the family life. This world was created with the letter “Hey” while the next was created with the letter “Yod.” There are both letters of Hashem’s name. We are told that man has the letter “Yod” is his name “Ish,” and the woman has the letter “Hey,” in “Isha.” When man and woman come together properly in marriage, the letters join and the bring the divine presence into their home. The man is connected to the letter that created the world to come. His pursuits are related more directly to the spiritual while the woman’s are related to the more secular. But that is all somewhat superficial. It is the job of a woman to elevate the physical elements of life and to help turn them into spiritual things. Based upon the Drashos Haran[7], Rav Yonason David Shlita[8] compares the man/woman relationship to that of the Sanhedrin and King. The Sanhedrin was responsible making scholarly spiritual decisions. Man is charged with learning that Torah, and has more mitzvos to keep. The King carried a Torah around with him at all times.[9] It was his responsibility to build roads, and wage wars. There is no direct reference in to Torah about each road, or decision the King would have to make. It was his job to have imbibed the spirit of the Torah so completely that he would be capable of making those decisions. The Sanhedrin had a very black and white code to consult. The King dealt in all of the gray areas. Man is charged with being the Sanhedrin of his family, and giving the family the benefit of his spiritual achievement. The woman is charged with offering the family the benefit of her ability to engage in the more earthly pursuits, and elevate those to the highest of planes.
Shabbos is holy, but the weekdays are secular. A woman’s job is to take this world that was created with the letter “Hey,[10]” – her letter[11] - and connect it to the Shabbos, to the spiritual and eternal.[12] [This gives us some incredible insight into the power of the male/female relationship on the Shabbos!] It is thus not suggested for her to drink the wine from the Havdalah, after she never really needs to separate from the Shabbos. Sara’s tent was never missing the Shabbos, but when she died, Avraham and Yitzchak were left without that Shabbos light of Sara’s that managed to burn the entire week. It was only when Yitzchak saw that Rivka could bring that light back into the weekday, that he knew that this was the woman who was to be the mother to all Jews, and who would implant in her daughters and granddaughters that ability to extend the light of Shabbos, from one week to the next.
[1] Rashi Bereshis 24:67 quoting Bereshis Rabbah 60:15, mentions that the dough was blessed, and a cloud hovered above. The Zohar mentions only that the candle remained lit, and we will focus just on that.
[2] Chiddushei HaGriz 24:67
[3] Published in the preface to his work Mishneh Sachir
[4] Beitzah 16a
[5] Bereshis Rabbah 9:14 according to Biur Hagra O.C. 271:10
[6] Rema O.C. 271:10
[7] Beginning of Drush 11
[8] Devek Tov Bayis 6 (a pamphlet of the Torah of R. Yonason David Shlita distributed at the wedding of a daughter of R. Chaim Yitzchak Kaplan Shlita.) See also Pachad Yitzchak - Shavuos 36, and Reshimos Lev Chanukah p. 215.
[9]D’varim 17:19, Sanhedrin 21b
[10] Menachos 29b
[11] Sotah 17a, see Rashi ad loc.
[12] The Sfas Emes (to Vayechi, 5634 s.v MeAsher, and 5653 s.v. BiInyan) sees this idea (of connecting the weekdays to the Shabbos) as what is behind the two loaves of Challah on Shabbos, the Lechem Mishna – one corresponds to the weekdays and one to Shabbos. He bases this upon a cryptic passage in the Zohar. He then extends this to explain the relationship of Yissachar and Zevulun, Yissachar being Shabbos and Zevulun the weekdays.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Lions and Moshiach
“And the sons of Dan were Chushim.”
Bereshis 46:23
In the process of building the Mishkan, Moshe was told by Hashem to choose Bezalel of the tribe of Yehuda, and Oholiav of the tribe of Dan. Rashi[1] quotes the Midrash Tanchuma[2], who explains, “Oholiav was from the tribe of Dan, the lowliest of the tribes from among the maidservants children, [as opposed to Leah or Rachel] and the Torah considered him as great as Bezalel, a member of the greatest of the tribes, when it came to building the Mishkan.”
The tribe of Dan was not simply a lowly tribe as a result of birth to a maidservant of Yaakov. Rashi[3] tells us that they all worshiped idols, and thus the clouds of glory spit them out! The tribe of Yehuda was a lion, the source of a lineage of distinguished kings. Yehuda led the nation in their travels, and Dan took up the rear. And yet, the only two tribes compared to lions are Yehuda and Dan. Yaakov said[4] “a lion cub is Yehuda,” and Moshe said[5] “Dan is a lion cub.” R. Avraham Ibn Ezra[6] explains that it was necessary to have a lion taking up the rear just as it was needed to have a lion leading the Jewish nation in order to protect them from both sides. So Dan was a lion, while at the same time being the weakling struggling to keep up.
What is going on with Dan? Is he the weakest or one of the strongest? Is he in the back because he in inferior, or because he is a lion?
Yaakov had died, and it was time to bury him. The Gemara[7] tells us that, “When they arrived at the
So Chushim killed Esav. And yet, Tosafos[9] tells us, that the descendants of Esav have a tradition telling that that Yehuda killed Esav, and in fact this is the opinion of the Sifri. He explains that both are true. First, Chushim stepped in and gave Esav a serious blow causing his eyes to come out, but he was still alive. Then Yehuda stepped in and finished him off, killing him.
“The [Messiah] son of David will come only to a generation that is entirely righteous, or one that is entirely wicked,” teaches the Gemara[10].
Esav was either finished off by the handicapped son of the lowest tribe, or the king of the greatest tribe! In fact, R. Moshe Wolfson,[11] writes that in the times just before the Moshiach, those alive will be the reincarnations of the souls of the tribe of Dan. It is interesting that only now in history do we witness the mass phenomenon of people being brought back to Torah out of their lowliness. “A generation that is entirely wicked.” In any other time in history, there was always something in the world that was not available, that provided a lure to the righteous. “Maybe fulfilling that desire will be pleasurable,” people wondered. In our age, every single degenerate action is readily available to any 16 year old! There are so many people who are 21 years old, have already tried every single avierah in the world, and have seen how hollow life can be. Baalei Tshuva are made every day of people who are “entirely wicked,” by people who have tried everything, and have nowhere to go but up. [These people are not “evil” merely engaged in wicked deeds, usually by no fault of their own. It is not our place to judge them.]
We are handicapped, and are the lowest of the low in so many ways. There has never been a generation that at this low a level. But when we stand up, we go from snake to lion. When we will fight and struggle, and stand up for the truth, we will bring the redemption. We will turn ourselves from weak snakes, slithereing in the back of the camp in our filth, and idolatry, to great roaring lions. We will get up and declare, “must our Father sit here in this disgraceful state?” The Moshiach can only come to a generation that is entirely righteous or entirely wicked. Esav was only done away with by a combination, first of the weakest of the weak, and then by the greatest of the great. We are all Chushim ben Dan’s – and every Chushim ben Dan has the power of Moshiach in him.
[1] Shemos 35:34
[2] Shemos
[3] To Yechezkel 16:15, see also Targum Yonason to Devarim 25:18
[4] Bereshis 49:9
[5] Devarim 33:22
[6] Commentary to Bamidbar 1:19
[7] Sotah 13a
[8] This is Rashi’s opinion. See however Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer 39 where it is clear the Chushim oculd neither hear not speak at all. See also Radal ad loc.
[9] Gittin 55b s.v. BiYehuda BiHarugei Malchus.
[10] Sanhedrin 98a
[11] Emunas Ittecha Vayigash s.v B’Midrash, and there in Maamar Iggeres Hapurim
[12] See the Targum yonsason that in fact understands that Dan had many children, and Chushim is simply a description of them – meaning that they were strong and incredibly numerous. This seems to be why they were not mentioned by name – because there were so many eventual descendants! Ibn Ezra suggests that there were two children, and only one survived. The same is found in Chizkuni. The general consensus among the commentaries and the opinion of the Talmud is that there was one fellow named Chushim, for there were 70 souls who went down to
[13] Parshas Pinchas – Torah Ohr.
[14] Vezos Habracha - Derech Chaim Tochacos Mussar.
[15] Bereshis 49:17
[16] Likkutei Amarim 16. There he explains that this is how Yaakov mistook Shimshon for the Moshiach, for his father was from Dan and his mother was from Yehuda, the exact opposite.
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