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  • Strong When United...But Troubled When Divided

    The Parashat Shelach opens with interesting words, Shelach Lecha Anashim - Rashi and many commentators translate it as Send for yourself, meaning - Hashem has said that the Land is good, so just go in and take the land, but that generation wanted to see it for themselves, kind of like they wanted to make sure it is a good land.

    To me, it seems like there's some other meaning hiding behind this word. So, let's look at it closer.

    So, Shelach Lecha means - Send for yourself, but if you pay close attention, Lecha is in the singular tense, but it is directed to Moshe and affects 12 people, that are being sent out in this expedition. So, how is the singular tense being used for this group of people, why not just use the plural?

    In Parashat Bereshit, right after Chava and Adam ate from the Tree of Knowledge, and after Hashem has punished them, it says that Hashem banished them from Gan Eden, but it uses an interesting word for it, in Bereshit 3:23 it says: וַֽיְשַׁלְּחֵ֛הוּ  - And Hashem banished him or sent him out from Gan Eden... Sent him out? Why him? Aren't there two people that were sent out from the Garden of Eden - Adam and Chava, why does Hashem only refer to Adam - sent him out? I believe this is where Hashem is giving us an important message - that Adam and Chava are one, a union, a single entity - a Father and a Mother of all of humanity - The Parents.

    But let's go further into the Parashat Lech Lecha. When Hashem tells Avraham Avinu, Lech Lecha - Go for yourself from your land... Again, in this case, it uses the word Lecha, which again affects many people who came out with Avraham Avinu - his wife Sarah, his nephew Lot, all the souls that they have made in Haran, along with their shepherds. 

    So, we have 3 places where a singular tense was used, that has affected the group - the many. And this teaches us, that Hashem wants a group to achieve unity, and while in their journey to stay as a group - and get from point A to point B as one single entity, with no one left behind

    But it doesn't happen so.

    Later, in the Parashat Lech Lecha 13:5-12 we are told a story of how their shepherds argued, and Avraham Avinu offered to Lot to go left while he goes right or go right while he goes left, and Lot agreed. They both went different ways - but as you remember Hashem said Lech Lecha, which means that Hashem wanted him to go as one single unit without separation, thus the word Lecha is used. 

    Since at that point in time Avraham Avinu, Sarah Imenu, and Lot - were the Jewish nation, and Hashem wanted them to stick together and together get to Point B or the Promised Land, which unfortunately did not happen.

    The Parashat Toldot, tells us about Yitzchak Avinu and his two sons - Esav and Yaakov. Yaakov gets the birthright and the beracha, and Rivkah Imenu worried about the safety of Yaakov, tells him to leave for Charan since his brother Esav might kill him. Yakov leaves, and this is when the family breaks up - the unity is lost once again. 

    The Parashat Vayishlach tells us, that 22 years later Yaakov Avinu is coming back from the house of his father-in-law with his family, four wives, twelve sons, and a daughter Dina. Knowing fully well his brother Esav, Yaakov Avinu hides his daughter in the chest so Esav should not see her. When the brothers meet up, Esav never sees Dina, and the brothers go their own ways. The Chachamim tell us that Yaakov Avinu has made a mistake by hiding Dina. Since Dina should have married Esav - since only she could of bring him back to Teshuva. And then Yaakov with his kids and four wives, and Esav with Dina would have come back to Israel together as one unit - but it didn't happen. The family has broken up once again, Esav went totally off the derech, and billions of his descendants were forever lost to Judaism.

    In Parashat Vayeshev, the nation of Israel is now Yaakov Avinu and his twelve sons. Everything seems to be going well, but suddenly there's a conflict between the brothers and the younger one - Yosef. So, the brothers end up selling him to Egypt, which breaks the family once again. Later on, the whole family moves to Egypt to join Yosef due to the famine in the Land of Israel. 

    210 years later comes Moshe Rabbeinu in Parashat Shemot. He is sent by Hashem, who tells him to take His nation out. Three million people came out with Moshe Rabbeinu after all the punishments brought by G-d upon Egypt.

    And in Parashat Yitro, we finally got it - the nation stood as one body and one soul - we have achieved complete unity. The Jewish Nation received the Torah on Mount Sinai and officially was married to G-d.

    Then the nation traveled closer to the Land of Israel, and suddenly in Parashat Shelach, the people approached Moshe Rabbeinu. They wanted to scout out the land, but in actuality - they wanted to fix what Adam, Avraham Avinu, Yaakov Avinu, and the brothers could not - achieve unity. So, the twelve spies wanted to go to the Land of Israel and come back with one opinion on the strategy and goodness of the Land. But, as you know, for whatever reason they came back with two opinions - 10 people’s opinion versus 2 people’s opinion. Hashem did what He did - males of that generation 20-60 years old lost their lives in the desert.

    Thirty-nine years later, in the Parashat Matot and Masei, when the nation is standing on the banks of the Jordan River, tribes of Reuven, Gad, and part of the tribe of Menashe approached Moshe Rabbeinu and asked to remain in the east of the Jordan due to an abundance of green pastures for their livestock. Moshe agreed, and in return, they promised him to go out and help other tribes to conquer Eretz Yisrael.

    And this is where I believe a mistake was made.

    The word Lecha in the Shelach Lecha does not only mean send for yourself, but it means to go from point A which is Egypt to point B - Eretz Yisrael - as one unit, a single entity - all 3 million people, all 12 tribes with no one left behind or anyone left outside of The Land of Israel. This is where Hashem is telling Moshe Rabbeinu or obligates him to make sure that all 12 tribes make it to the Land of Israel, no matter how appealing it may look outside of it. Since, if only they would have done so, Moshe Rabbeinu would of pass away, but Yehoshua Bin Nun would have taken the nation into the Land of Israel and would have become a Mashiach, and the Geulah or Redemption would have started at that moment, followed by the Tehiyat Hametim - the Resurrection of the Dead, where Moshe Rabbeinu and everyone left behind in the desert would have come back to join the rest of the nation in the Land of Israel.

    But this did not happen. And because of this, we have had our First Bet Hamikdash and its destruction, Second Bet Hamikdash and its destruction, and today this.... current long exile with all its hardships - still going on for almost 2,000 years. But we are still hopeful and waiting for our own Lecha Moment - Mashiach, to unite us and ingather all 12 tribes together in Israel, and to kick off other prophecies, as it says in the Book of the Prophet Yeshayahu and in the books of other prophets.

    Since just like Adam and Chava were sent out from the Garden of Eden as one entity, so are we - all 12 tribes of Israel, have to re-enter our physical Gan Eden - The Land of Israel, as one, united, strong nation. May this happen speedily in our days, Amen.

    Shmuel Katanov

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  • The Bitter Waters of the Sotah

    In Parashat Nasso 5:11-31, Hashem tells about a woman that is suspected of adultery by her husband. I assume you know the details... So the husband takes her to the Bet Hamikdash, to Cohen for the test. A Cohen gives her a drink of bitter waters, if she is guilty, she dies there, but if she is not, she is blessed with a child.

    We have another incident of the bitter waters in a different parsha. In Parashat Beshalach 15:23-25, right after the Am Yisrael goes through the Yam Suf, the nation becomes thirsty, but couldn't drink the waters of the Marah, since they were bitter. So, they asked Moshe, who in turn asked Hashem. And Hashem showed him a piece of wood, that he threw into the water and it became sweet. And.. the nation drank. 

    I believe there's something about this piece of wood. So, let's look at it closer.

    Have you ever wondered, why Aron HaKodesh, looks this way? - click here

    In Parashat Terumah, we are told about the details of the Aron HaKodesh. A wooden box covered with gold from the inside out. On the cover of the box, there are two golden figures of angels - Keruvim facing each other with their wings stretched forward. Inside the box are two sets of Luchot - the 10 Commandments. And on the side of the box, two golden loops on each side, through which wooden poles covered with gold were inserted. The ends of each pole are wider than the opening of the loops, which makes it impossible to insert the poles through the loops, so the Zohar says - that miracle occurs, and the poles pass through the loops miraculously. 

    It is a very holy and mystical structure, where every part of it represents something.

    The tablets with 10 Commandments that are inside the box - represent a Ketuba - a marriage contract. When man and woman get married - they get a Ketuba, and the 10 Commandments is a Ketuba between the nation of Israel and Hashem, since on Shavuot when we receive the Torah, Hashem marries the nation of Israel. 

    Each wedding ceremony or chupa has 2 witnesses, and the two Keruvim - the golden angels on top of the Aron HaKodesh also serve as witnesses. Every time Cohen HaGadol goes into Kadosh Kedoshim on Yom Kippur, based on certain signs of the Keruvim, he determines whether Hashem is happy with the way the nation is leading the way of life or not.

    The wooden poles are covered in gold on the sides of the Aron HaKodesh, which represent man and woman or to be exact  - a husband and wife. Why are the poles covered in gold, you ask? Simple...what is Tzeniut or Modesty? When a couple follows the laws of modesty - in front of Hashem they are covered in gold, but by uncovering themselves, or dressing immodestly they are displaying their wooden-like human body, since wood and the human body are physical products grown by Earth, which makes them look lowly in the eyes of G-d.

    So, there you have it - two wooden poles, covered in gold, miraculously inserted into the rings, as the Zohar says. The Torah adds: And the poles shall never be removed... But if the wife removes her golden wrapping, abandons her position on Aron HaKodesh, and is suspected of having relations with someone else, other than her husband - Torah requires her to go through a test of bitter waters. If she is guilty she dies, if she is not guilty - she is blessed with a child, and Hashem wraps her back in gold and restores her to her former position.

    And this makes Aron HaKodesh a symbol of Loyalty between Husband and Wife, and a symbol of Loyalty between the Nation of Israel and Hashem

    The Midrash says Leviyim carried the Aron HaKodesh by holding the poles from each side. It adds, that it is not the Leviyim who carried the Aron HaKodesh, but it is the Aron HaKodesh that carried the Leviyim in the desert

    So it is, with the husband and the wife. When the couple gets married or later on in life - dedicates their life - their whole existence, to Kabbalat Ol Malchut ShamayimAccepting the Kingship of Heaven, by following the laws of G-d, and leading a family based on Torah values. It is not the couple who carries the burden of The Kingship of Heaven, but it is The Kingship of Heaven just like Aron HaKodesh that carries the couple through their journey of life - by overflowing them with holiness, abundance, and constant miracles.

    Shmuel Katanov

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  • The Loving G-d

    Did you ever hear this expression that G-d loves you, He is all love and it's all love? But is it? When you open Torah books and start flipping through the pages, all you see is the opposite. He seems to be vengeful, and very just, with lots of stories of people being punished for the things they have done wrong. And then we go to shul, we observe the following: people talking, laughing at jokes, sometimes even laughing at others, talking about others, you may even hear arguments and maybe even shouts, and of course, you will see people praying. But don't stop there, keep on observing, and you will see kids of all ages...some walking around, some seating, some reading books, and some praying.

    While there in shul you hear of some kid or a member that no longer comes to shul, or some grew up and moved to a different neighborhood where there is no shul nearby, and we say, Oy! He had such great potential...and, we even got a fancy label for these types of people - Off The Derech.

    But what is this thing called derech or a road? Is it the physical road we walk on daily, back and forth for years to and from the shul, or is it something bigger - like an accepted Way of Life or even a Way of Behavior?! So, these people get off this "accepted way of behavior" by society... but let me ask you a question, are we truly on that "accepted way of behavior"?

    Torah tells us a story of Amalek in Devarim 25:17-19, and it goes like this, the Jewish nation came out of Egypt and a people of Amalek came and attacked the Jewish nation while attacking those that were as Torah calls them כל הנחשלים אחריך - Hanecheshalim, Rashi explains those that were weak ones, in Midrash Tanchuma it says that those that were expelled from the protection of the Clouds of Glory due to their sins and were walking behind the camp... So Amalek attacked those that were walking outside of the camp, out of the protection of the Clouds of Glory, so by attacking them, they have instilled doubt into the hearts of the other nations - which means that all the miracles that Hashem has done when He took the Jewish nation out from Egypt which has made the Jewish nation look powerful in the eyes of other nations - after the war has made them look like nothing, and that the Jewish nation is not untouchable, and you can fight it as well. Amalek did it just to prove this point, even though they lost the war, they were able to achieve their agenda. So, G-d gave us a commandment to kill the nation of the Amalek, and G-d said He will not rest till the end of days until He brings vengeance on this nation. 

    For centuries rabbis tried to figure out who this nation of Amalek is, and in every generation, we see the few that try to annihilate the Jewish nation, and every time G-d saves us from their hands.

    But there's also another explanation given by our Sages. That there's an Amalek inside each one of us, and he overtakes us and influences our behavior. Let's go a bit deeper into this idea.

    It is no coincidence that Torah has used the word, chalashim - the weak - they have attacked the weak, maybe Torah is giving us a hint, since we also got the weak ones in our society, and these are the kids, people with little to no emunah, those that have come to Judaism recently, and the ones that are not firmly established in the Torah society. 

    For kids - with their undeveloped and naïve minds, besides playing and praying, they seat and observe, and watch us, our behavior, our interaction with others, and most importantly our service to G-d. 

    Those that have returned to Hashem, and have accepted the kingship of Heaven upon themselves, still struggling day to day with belief in G-d and details overall, come to shul, join the minyan, and also look around at those "established ones", and ones that have been "in it" for years… The same goes for the ones that are not established in the Torah society.

    And we that have been “in it” for years, through our inappropriate conduct in shul, without realizing, packing and stuffing the hearts of these children and people that have returned to Hashem - stuffing their hearts with doubts - doubt of Hashem's might and mercy, His Torah, and a way of Torah life. 

    Suddenly we hear of someone that moved to another neighborhood away from shul, someone who walked out of the shul never to return, and slowly they fall out one by one...

    Maybe and just maybe, the Amalek is not some other nation, but it is us - our inappropriate behavior, and our urge to crush others around us in the community - just to inflate our worth in public. Our way of mistreating and spreading rumors about others, and feeling great doing it before, and after the fact and all the time, openly or secretly - this behavior places doubt of G-d, His justice and His involvement in our daily lives. Doubt that goes straight into the hearts of these kids and people - daily for years - as being a normal behavior in shul and in life.

    Then the speech told by the rabbi from the podium is not taken seriously, since it feels like a story, cause these kids and people have already seen from their observation that you can do it all, and be ok with G-d and others...since look - everyone is doing it. And their fathers seeing their kids not wanting to pray, or come to shul, scratch their heads, thinking where did they go wrong? 

    So these baaley teshuvah and these kids grow up in life, and their doubts grow with them to the point where doubts become convictions, or even total disbelief in G-d, since their views were already altered from their childhood days, or the early days of praying with the minyan. Worst yet, when some of these kids grow up, finish yeshivot, have a beard and a hat, and pray daily in minyan while behaving with total disregard to G-d and hallacha.

    But there's more...

    A similar scenario we see played out in the Parashat Vayeshev, the incident with the brothers and Yosef of 17 years old. The Torah describes Yosef as vehu na'ar (he was young) - it is not a coincidence that Torah mentions that he was young, but to bring exactly the point I was making above - he was young, naïve, and the weakest among his brothers. His naivety was shown when he saw his brothers do something that he thought was not right, he went and told his father while interpreting it the way he understood it. Worst yet, fully knowing that his brothers hated him, he told them about the dreams that he had, which made them hate him even more.

    But, what happens next? They sell him to Egypt. Years later when the brothers are arguing with Yosef who was a viceroy of Egypt at that moment, Yosef told them - Ani Yosef - I am Yosef, and then he added something that kind of doesn't make sense - Haod Avi Chai - Is my father still alive? Yosef, of course, he is alive, you know it since you already heard it many times over the discussions you have had with your brothers, how can you forget it?

    But, there must be a reason why Yosef asked them this question....

    There are many explanations for this pasuk, but with your permission, I would like to give one as well.

    During all this time, the brothers have been trying to get their brother Benyamin out and leave Egypt. Yosef hinted to them many times when he thought they would recognize their "enemy" that is in front of them, who was their flesh and blood - brother Yosef, but the brothers didn't recognize him. So, when he said, Is my father still alive, he was trying to say the following:

    My dear brothers, you saw me a few times already, and we ate together, and we have been arguing, and talking, and during all this time, you did not recognize me - because I look different. But I am your brother. But do you know why I look different? Because of you. You have mistreated me in the house of my father, and then you have sold me to Egypt. I have been torn away from my father, from the security of my father's house, and thrown to a far and unknown land. Here I went through many troubles and tribulations. And look at me - you didn’t recognize me, I look different than you. You look like Hebrews, and I look like an Egyptian, and so do my sons. So, when I was with my father, my father knew me, but now since I look so different, like an Egyptian - will my father accept me, will he consider me as part of the family - as his son?

    When Yakov Avinu saw Yosef HaTzadik for the first time, our Sages say that he was praying the prayer of Shema Yisrael, because here Hashem has introduced him to the first Off The Derech individual or someone who looked totally different, as it was accustomed in the house of Yaakov Avinu. But this also meant, that since Yaakov Avinu and his whole family were coming down into exile – there will be many more of these types of individuals. And at that moment Yaakov Avinu was praying for all the people that will fall out from the accepted derech for all the generations starting from Yosef HaTzaddik until Mashiach times. Later Yaakov Avinu not only accepted Yosef HaTzadik as his son, but he also accepted his children and raised them to the level of the shevatim.

    But who paid for the sin of selling Yosef to Egypt? The Holy Books tell us that Turnusrufus, a Roman official summoned Rabbi Shimon Ben Gamliel and his colleagues and presented a question before them:

    What is the law with regards to he who kidnaps a man from the Jewish nation and sells him [into slavery]?” The rabbis replied that Torah mandates that such a man be put to death. “If so,” continued Turnusrufus, “where are your forbearers who sold their brother into slavery? Had they been here, I would have prosecuted them before your eyes. As for you, accept the decree of heaven, for since the times [of the 12 tribes] there have never been 10 sages of your stature [alive at one time]. Take upon yourself to die in accordance with your law; for Joseph, the son of Jacob was kidnapped and sold by his 10 brothers, and their punishment has never been exacted.”

    And so it was - ten of the biggest rabbis of that generation - of all times!, have been killed in order to atone for the sin of the 10 brothers, that have sold the young and weak lad Yosef into slavery, which turned his life upside down, tore him away from his father’s house, and made him the first Off The Derech individual in the family of Yaakov Avinu.

    Take out your phone or grab a newspaper, and open the News section - what do you see? Wars and unrest all over the world, problems in the national and local news with plenty of neighborhood problems. It is not - there, and is contained - no, it is coming closer to home. 

    Now listen.. what do you hear? Do you hear the voice of Hashem - His angry roar? The Gemara Masechet Berachot 3A says the following: “Rabbi Eliezer says: The night has three watches, and at each watch, HaKadosh Baruch Hu sits and roars like a lion. Hashem says: Woe to the Children because of whose sins I destroyed My Temple and burned My Sanctuary, and exiled them among the nations of the world.” 

    All this unrest around us, and in the news is for us to wake up and realize...Haven’t We Done Enough Evil??! 

    Hashem is coming and He is NO Loving G-d, He is angry, since the Amaleks amongst us have turned plenty of His children away from the Torah, and He is coming with vengeance to deal with us as He has promised. By the way - There’s no need to run for the hills, they won’t help us this time. Now...He..is coming for us.

    Shmuel Katanov

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  • Let us make man in our image

    And G-d said, Let us make man in our image... - וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים נַֽעֲשֶׂ֥ה אָדָ֛ם בְּצַלְמֵ֖נוּ - Bereshit 1:26

    There are many explanations for this verse, such as who did G-d speak with, and who did He consult with? The Sages say that G-d has consulted with the angels, before creating a man... But maybe, it can also have a different meaning.

    Perhaps, it was not the angels that Hashem consulted with, but He consulted with the souls of the future rabbis and teachers of the Torah. Like for example:  Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Moshe, Aharon, David, Shlomo, Rambam, Rashi, the sages of the Talmud, Mishna, and the rabbis of every generation until our times.

    Why? Because these are the people that dedicate their lives to learn Torah, and as they do this, something happens to them. They become holy and their Tzelem Elokim or Divine Image is revealed to the world.

    So, Hashem was speaking to these great souls, or shall we say - instructing them: Let us make man in OUR IMAGE. What does it mean - in Our Image or Divine Image - it is a study of how to emulate Hashem - to be holy as Him, to do as Him, to live life according to His Torah, and His laws.

    Since Hashem is Holy, and the above souls already have the Divine Image which is revealed later because of their learning, and self-work to emulate Hashem - their congregants, and their followers that come to shuls, and places of study all across the globe, haven't yet acquired their Divine Image. So, this will be the job of the rabbis and the teachers of the Torah in every generation - to teach, to guide, and to help individuals to reveal their Divine Image while leaving their own Torah knowledge in the pages of the Talmud, in their students, and in their books.

    Shmuel Katanov

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  • The Inner Battle

    The Gemarah says that the First Bet Hamikdash was destroyed due to three sins - idol worship, forbidden relations, and bloodshed. The Second is due to one - Sinat Chinam or Baseless Hatred. The Chachamim say, that the sin of baseless hatred is equivalent to the three severe transgressions of the First Bet Hamikdash and was enough to destroy the Second. Today, I would like to concentrate on the issue of the Second Bet Hamikdash, since I believe there's a message that may be waiting for us to be discovered.

    Let's take for example the times of the Second Temple. The Gemarah tells us of a story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza, but I would assume you know the story, and I will not go into details. But imagine this - a person that has been thrown out from a party, and went through humiliation while witnessing the total silence from the rabbis and other members of his community present at the party, has assumed that they were OK with what was done to him. But the worst thing of all, is his next step - to frame the Country and I don't mean the host of the party or some of the members of his community that were present at the party, but a country where the ones who suffered were all the residents of the ancient Jerusalem, his parents, I assume his wife and children, neighbors and many other people unknown to him - millions were killed and taken into captivity.

    Till today, the Jewish nation has not recovered from this, and the exile has been going on for 1,954 years. Our nation says that we have suffered enough and we deserve redemption - but do we? Have we learned from our mistakes? Have we learned from the mistakes of the generation of the Second Bet Hamikdash? Do we know what this sin is - a baseless hatred?

    What moves the person to hurt someone else - jealousy...ego? Not being happy with his lot, not being happy with what Hashem has given him, and looking into someone else's plate and saying - that plate should have been mine, why he and not me, and going miles, doing and saying much - to destroy the good others have, just to have that feeling - that the other person no longer has more than him.

    That feeling of anger that lurks inside the person at those moments and the bleeding ego springs him into action. That desire to rip the other person's life apart, or simply as he thinks, to level the battlefield, or to totally level the other person to the ground - is an animalistic desire that stems from the other side of the human body. 

    But what is this desire to cause damage, or these traits - anger, ego and jealousy? These are traits that have led to the downfall of many over human history... but they are also the traits that go against G-d, against his decision, and His authority.

    When Adam and Chavah were just created and resided in the Garden of Eden, they were given only one commandment - not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. But as you know they did not pass that test, and the end result wasn’t that they have acquired all the bad character traits, but this also means that those bad character traits can now compete with the other traits - the good traits

    The human body has two spiritual forces - The Neshama and The Nefesh. The Neshama is the G-dly Soul that pulls the person to do G-dly work, and the Nefesh is an animal soul or an earthly soul that pulls the person to act in the physical world. There's a constant battle between these two souls. Who wins you ask? It depends, on what you fill yourself with.

    If you fill yourself with Torah knowledge, and good deeds then your Neshama becomes stronger and is able to fight off your animalistic soul. But if you indulge in this world, don't learn and transgress the laws of the Torah, and don't keep commandments - the animalistic soul wins every time and the person slowly changes into a different being.

    So, what is baseless hatred? It is a combination of several traits - anger, ego and jealousy of another human being, enough to move the person into action to set some goals for himself - goals not of his growth, but of bringing the other person down - to affect every area of someone's life and to bring him to the point of total destruction of the other's character, income, and social standing. Whether it may take months, or years he will be doing it constantly and will involve many others in this endeavor. And all of this is done, while totally ignoring the laws of Torah and Hashem's authority over his and other person's life.

    In the times of the Second Temple, the nation didn't have a tribe of Yehuda ruling the Jewish nation. Because of this one fact - as was declared by Yaakov Avinu, all other parts of the society were not aligned correctly, which led to many problems in the future, as we'll see.

    The position of the Cohen HaGadol was going to the highest bidder - since the people that were not cohanim were able to become one, even though they knew fully well, that they will die upon entry into Kadosh Kedoshim. And since the office of the King and Cohen HaGadol had problems, there was no system of checks and enforcement of the laws - no one demanded the Kohanim and Leviim to go out and to teach the nation. And since nobody learned, and no one demanded, but the few, the general population was busy hating, ridiculing, spreading lies, and framing others. People were coming to bring sacrifices to Hashem, but on the other hand, continued to hate and malign others. 

    In the Haftorah of the Parashat Devarim, in Shabbat Chazon, it says: "Why do I need your numerous sacrifices? - says Hashem - I am satiated with elevation offerings of rams and the choicest of fattened animals; and the blood of the bulls and sheep and he-goats I do not desire. When you come to appear before Me - who sought this from your hand, to trample my courtyards? You shall not continue to bring a worthless meal-offering - incense of abomination it is unto Me; New Moon and Shabbat, calling of the assembly, I cannot accept untruthfulness from society. Your New Moons and your appointed festivals, My soul hates; they have become a burden upon Me that I am weary of bearing. And when you spread your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you were to increase prayer, I do not hear; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves, purify yourselves; remove the evil of your doings from before My eyes; desist from doing evil. Learn to do good, seek justice, strengthen the victim, do justice for the orphan, take up the cause of the widow."

    The nation was deep in its evil ways, the hate flowed in all directions, along with animalistic behavior. People were killing others with their rumors and words, destroying livelihoods and families, while totally neglecting the sanctity of the place they were in. To Hashem, and to many others it seemed like a WILD JUNGLE in HIS own House - The Bet Hamikdash. And this Hashem did not allow to continue - thus blood flowed - many were killed and many were taken captive when Hashem destroyed the Second Bet Hamikdash.

    In Yerushalmi, Masechet Yoma 1a, the Sages teach, "Any generation in which the Temple is not built, it is as if it had been destroyed in their times". 

    And here we are today. Are we ready for redemption and the building of Bet Hamikdash, or are we in the process of destroying the one we were going to build?

    Not by coincidence, our shuls are called Small Batey Mikdashim. 

    Do we think twice before we malign, spread rumors, and act in an animalistic and hateful way toward others? Are the tefillin, daily prayers, and tzedakah held in high importance, while spreading lies, rumors, and hate is allowed? Do our shuls look like a Jungle in the eyes of Hashem and others, that try to stay as far away as possible from the places of Torah? Or do they look like a place that draws others in, to learn how to serve Hashem better?

    And maybe this is another coincidence, but since the destruction of the Second Temple, we say in the evening prayer of Aravit, in the Hashkivenu part - ...Shevor Ve Haser HaSatan Milefanenu U Meacharenu - Break and remove the Satan from before us and from behind us - could mean that those people with animalistic traits have graduated from an Animal level to a Satan level, and got really good at ruining people's lives - and here we ask for Hashem's assistance to deal with them?! Deal with them while they are in our presence, and deal with them when we are not around them, and they are out there spreading rumors and lies. 

    So, what are we doing with our Bet Hamikdash - building it or destroying it daily? Will it be the next generation that will succeed and build it, or will it be us? 

    For as long as we avoid Torah learning, we’ll repeat the behavior and the mistakes of the previous generations, since we'll think that everything we do is right and we have no need to change. The animal in us will strive and grow, and will take over our lives while trampling over others. We won't notice the bad we do, since we will feel that we are prospering and growing in life, but in reality, we'll be walking over the bodies of other people "to reach our goals" as it happened in the story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza who achieved his goal of revenge, but had total disregard to the consequences of his actions.

    But then we realize, that we’ve ended up with nothing good, and have gained whole lot of bad - since we’ve been filling our souls with evil, lies and emptiness of this world while strengthening the traits of anger, ego and jealousy, and committing countless amounts of sins - by making the animal inside of us stronger and bolder every day.

    So, I ask you my reader - who do you give your strength to in your life - to your G-dly Soul or to your Animal Soul?

    Shmuel Katanov

     

    PS: Dedicated to B.S. & F.N.

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