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Dear  Naaleh  Friend,
 
As we gear up for Shavuot, take the time to visit Naaleh.com and see the hundreds of Torah classes available plus be sure to check out all the Torah articles available! This week we have featured the first class from our Pirkei Avot series. This class, Legacy of Our Sages: Introduction to Pirkei Avot by Rabbi Michael Taubes begins the studying of Pirkei Avot, a unique section of the Mishna which contains essential lessons of ethics and behavior from the Sages. Rabbi Taubes explores the significance of Pirkei Avot and begins studying the first chapter.
 
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This week's Torat Imecha Newsletter on Parshat Bechukotai/Bamidbar available now below.  
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for the printer friendly version, to share at your Shabbat table.
Be sure to visit the homepage as well, for many more inspiring Torah classes!

From Mrs. Shoshie Nissenbaum: I will God willing be at the Kever of the Shla on Monday, Erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan. The Shl"a taught that this day is an auspicious day to daven for our children and recite the tefilas HaShl"a. I will be happy to daven for your children and grandchildren. Please send their names to shoshie@naaleh.com by Sunday.

Also, we will be recording a new Question and Answer session with Rebbetzin Heller soon, please send in questions to contact@naaleh.com
 
Shabbat Shalom!

-Ashley Klapper and the Naaleh Crew
 
Based on a Naaleh.com series by Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller 

In Netiv Hashalom the Maharal quotes a verse in Mishlei, "There is deceit in the heart of those who sow evil. To those who give counsel in peace there's joy."

We usually think controversy is a response to an event that occurred. People are distraught about a situation. They harbor a conflicting view of what should have happened as opposed to what is happening.

But the Maharal suggests a different idea. There are people who deliberately foster conflict. They plant madanim . The Gra explains that madanim comes from the root word din. Baalei machloket cause people to judge one another. They are called sowers of iniquity. A plow turns the earth so that seeds can be planted. Similarly, there are people who feel a need to dig deep and find negativity in order to instigate controversy. Conflict energizes them and gives them a feeling of superiority.

Part of the mindset of a person who loves conflict is deceit. Baalei machloket have to be devious in order to create a climate where it seems to the observer that the conflict is about ideology, when in fact it's personal. Machloket isn't the byproduct of this person's act, it's the goal.

Machloket comes from the root word l'chalek , to divide. The Hebrew word for sanctity is kodesh . It's opposite is chol which can also be translated as sand. Sand doesn't stick to itself. The individual grains remain apart. Impure things remain separate. Holy things express unity. That doesn't mean that all individuality is lost but rather that there's something that binds everything together. Achdut means commonality of goal and purpose, mutual respect, and cognizance of the significance of each individual.

The opposite of achdut is pirud, separation , where there are borders that don't relate to each other. The Maharal understood the singularity of Hashem and that His creation mirrors His unity. Everything in the world has purpose and its contribution is defined by its boundaries. The earthworm makes holes in the ground and thereby allows air to circulate in and out of the earth. If there were no worms, the earth would pack against itself and nothing could grow. But in order for the worm to contribute to the earth it cannot become the earth. It has to remain a worm. Borders are what make true achdut possible. Each part of creation has to be itself in order to contribute to the whole. Machloket happens when people lose vision of this.

The simple meaning of tov (good) is something that does its function. Therefore a good person according to the Rambam is one who actualizes his humanity and potential. Maharal takes it a step further and says it is one who mirrors Hashem's image. If we are fashioned in the divine likeness it means we have something of Hashem's achdut , of the ability to rule the world and see its interconnectedness. In that sense we are greater than anything else that was created. According to the Rambam, the opposite of a good person is someone who chooses to be inhuman. From the Maharal's perspective it would be someone who doesn't see the underlying unity in the world, and therefore has to devalue everything that's not him so that it won't threaten him.

The Midrash says that on the second day of creation Hashem made a separation between the higher waters- the spiritual source of things - and the lower waters - the physical manifestation of the spiritual source. A space remained between them. That space is the area of our free choice. One can choose to unify both sources or ignore the higher source. Hashem did not say ki tov on the second day because it was a day of separation. This teaches us that machloket by definition is evil. It distorts Hashem's plan and image.

The pasuk in Mishlei goes on, "To those who give counsel in peace, they will have joy." Peace by its nature equals wholeness. Wholeness, seeing everything in its place, brings on a feeling of completion and joy. I was in Meiron on Lag Baomer recently. There were close to a half a million Jews there of every stripe and color. Everyone was streaming towards Rashbi's tomb and and it was unbearably crowded. There are two ways I could've looked at this. One is to say, "Who are all these people to crowd me and why are they all pushing? Why am I uncomfortable?" The other is, "They all want what I want, those few minutes at Rashbi's kever . They're all like me." Thinking this way won't make you physically comfortable. But it could transform a potentially divisive experience into one of achdut and love.


Rebbetzin's Perspective IV 
Class 4 
Based on a Naaleh.com shiur by Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller
 
Question:
 
What exactly is a pilegesh and how does it jive with our idea of monogamy as the ideal state?
 
Answer:
 
A pilegesh is a woman who is involved in a relationship that is legal but with a lesser degree of financial commitment than marriage would have. Having a pilegesh was never the ideal, however it was permitted. Why was it ever sanctioned?
 
In order to understand this, let us examine the model of Avraham and Hagar. In Avraham's original marriage to Hagar he took her as a wife. Sarah specifically desired this. She wanted the mother of the child that Avraham would bear to have the dignity of being a wife and not a pilegesh.
 
After Sarah's death, Hagar, who had been expelled from the house and was separated from Avraham, still remained loyal to him. She had another name, Ketura. Rashi says this is related to keshura - she remained bound to Avraham. Yitzchak made the match between Avraham and Ketura. This time Avraham took her back as a pilegesh and not as a full wife. His relationship to Hagar was unlike the bond he had with Sarah, which was soul to soul. Hagar clearly wanted to go back to Avraham but their relationship didn't have the depth or the same level of dignity that a wife would have had. The result was that Avraham had children who were sent away to the East. They were spiritual people and they retained something of Avraham, but not like Yitzchak did. The Zoharsays that they traveled towards what today would be Arabia. We assume that from there they went on to the Far East and to India where they spread fundamental ideas of spirituality and belief in one Hashem to the natives.
 
Taking a pilegesh was justified in the case of a person who had a larger than life personality such as Avraham or Shlomo Hamelech. These great figures wanted something of their essence to affect the world. However it certainly wouldn't be relevant for the average person and definitely not in today's reality.
 
In All Your Ways
Based on a Naaleh.com shiur by Rabbi Yitzchak Cohen
 
Mesilat Yesharim discusses the attribute
of chassidut . By going beyond the requirements of the law one demonstrates one's love for Hashem. Rabbi Luzzato begins by saying that it is a melacha kasha . It's difficult work as the yetzer hara tries to stop the person from ascending to a higher level. He can deceive a person into thinking that the mitzvot he is doing are really aveirot and that his aveirot are mitzvot . Never before did the Mesilat Yesharim mention this idea of the difficulty of the power of the yetzer hara as he does now. Why? Until this point, the Mesilat Yesharim discussed the performance of mitzvot . In this case it would be easier for an individual not to fall in the hands of the yetzer hara because he knows what the halacha states. But chassidut is beyond the letter of the law. It's not found in the Shulchan Aruch and therefore a person can get easily confused. He might think he's acting piously when he in fact he's not.
 
The Mesilat Yesharim gives us three steps to reach chassidut : 1. One must continually have in mind that one wants to do the will of Hashem. One must ask oneself, "Is this what Hashem wants or what I want? Will this create nachas ruach (divine pleasure)?" 2. One should think about one's actions and not do them haphazardly. One should try to perform all the mitzvot in the best possible way. 3. One should cast one's burdens on Hashem and trust in Him.
 
Sefer Bereishit is called Sefer Hayashar . The kindness, strength, and truth of our forefathers imbued us with the ability to be yashar (straight). Chazal praise the brothers of Yosef for not being Echad b'peh v'echad b'lev, saying one thing and feeling differently. To attain chassidut , our mouths and heart must be aligned. Additionally, a person should be careful not to simply follow his initial instincts but to weigh the end results of what his decision might bring. Chazal cite the example of Gedalya ben Achikam. He thought that he was acting with chassidut by refusing to accept lashon hara, but in the end he caused his own death and that of many others.
 
The Mesilat Yesharim explains that one shouldn't be embarrassed to observe mitzvot above and beyond the letter of the law. However, in a situation where it will cause mockery and where he will be spoken about in a disgraceful manner, he should abstain as he causes people to sin. Rava summed up the Torah in one verse, " B'chol deracha deiyahu v'hu ye'yashar orchotecha . Know Hashem in all your ways and He will direct your path." Whatever one does, one should do it l'shem shamayim . Attaining the lofty level of chassidut means thinking about Hashem every moment of one's life and fulfilling one's obligation in this world with yashrut halev ( a straight
heart).
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