5 Sharp Divrei Torah on Parshas Shelach {Pninei Kedem}

Okay, good morning friends. Welcome, welcome. Here are some beautiful divrei Torah from the safer Pninei Kedem. A collection of ancient divrei Torah from Rabbi Chaim Michael Stern from Kishmei Kein Hu from old sefarim that are not always so available. This one uh is actually a classic. The Medrash and it's uh in the beginning of Parshas Shlach poses a very unusual question. You'll learn daynu Rabbeinu mah lifrosh layom hagadol kodem l'Shabbos shloshes yamim. Are you allowed to take a boat three days before Shabbos? Huh? Why is that a relevant question to Parshas Shlach? So the Medrash in the opening of Shlach says, "Please teach us. Can you take a boat three days before Shabbos?" The meforshim are matmiah. What is the relevance of this shaila to Parshas Shlach? Says Rav Pinchas Halevi Horowitz, the Baal Hafla'ah, the Gemara says in Taanis the meraglim were sent on Chof Sivan which by the way Rav Shimshon of Ostropoler says b'oisah sha'ah k'sheirim hayu. They weren't yet under the influence of Tammuz. They still were under the influence of Sivan. B'oisah sha'ah, that day, they were k'sheirim. Anyway, on the pasuk Vayehi b'yom kalos Moshe l'hakeim es haMishkan, it says that day was Shabbos. That year Rosh Chodesh Nisan fell out on Sunday. So, b'yom kalos haMishkan was Shabbos. And I'm sorry, that day was Sunday. Akha b'Shabbos haya. Rosh Chodesh Nisan came out on Yom Rishon. And if Rosh Chodesh Nisan comes out on a Sunday, the 29th day of Sivan is a Wednesday. Well, wait a second. If they left on a Wednesday, how are they getting from wherever they were uh to Eretz Yisrael? So, they had to cross the Yarden. They had to cross the Yarden. That means and they left on a Wednesday, 3 days before Shabbos. So, the Medrash wants to know, are you allowed to take a boat 3 days before Shabbos? You know, we're just questioning how did the Meraglim get there? Because based on the Cheshbon, the they left on the 29th day of Sivan, that day was a Wednesday. Okay. Now, very interesting, we all know that Moshe Rabbenu davened for Yehoshua. He even changed his name. Kol Yoshia Achmei Asasa Meraglim. Says Rav Dovid ben Rav Moshe, the Baal Machaber Sefer Metsudas Dovid, why did Hashem why did Moshe not daven for Kalev? Why only for Yehoshua? So, if you know, if you look in Mesilas Yesharim, it says he brings from the Zohar that the reason the Meraglim didn't want to go into Eretz Yisrael is they were the Nesi'im and they were afraid they would lose their job. Now, why would they lose their job? The answer is right? You ever wonder why were the Nesi'im worried they would lose their job? So, he says because there would be a Melech. That's why they would lose their job. Now, who would be the Melech? Melech has to come from Shevet Yehuda. So, that means the Melech would have been Kalev. Kalev would have been the Melech. So, Moshe didn't have to daven for Kalev. The only bias the Meraglim had was they were afraid they were going to lose their job. But there's one guy whose job was secure. Caleb's job was secure. Not only was his job secure, he had a bias to say it's a good place to go. We should really go there as soon as possible. So Caleb was safe. It was Yehoshua. Yehoshua's job was in danger. That's why Moshe had to daven for Yehoshua. Okay. Then we have a mercha kefulah. Haloi tov lanu shuv Mitzrayima. It would have been better to go back to Mitzrayim. Parshas Ki Savo, pasuk gimel. On the word tov, there's a mercha kefulah. Says Rav HaKohen of Vilna, mercha kefulah means that there are two meanings here. There are two reasons why they said it would have been good to go down to Mitzrayim. Go go back to Mitzrayim. First of all, they already said last week, "Zacharnu es hadagah." They remembered the fish. Number two, the maraglim reported that the people there were very big and strong. So there was a tovah kefulah to go down to Mitzrayim. That's why the trop on the word tov is a mercha kefulah. This is very interesting. Vehischazaktem ulkachitem mipri ha'aretz. Now, by the way, I'll tell you, just no extra charge. I'm not saying Shabbat I almost said this. I found in a sefer Pininei Otiyos HaTorah from the Baal Shem Tov. On the words "Vehischazaktem ulkachitem pri ha'aretz", he brought a word from the the Baal Shem Tov. The only thing was I I was not convinced that the Baal Shem Tov said this. I looked in the Baal Shem Tov Al HaTorah, which by the way, the Baal Shem Tov we don't have writings from the Baal Shem Tov. It's a collection. There they bring, you know anything that anybody ever said that he said I didn't see it there. But what they attribute to him on the positive is that I don't know if it's there but if you want to strengthen yourself or them if you are take a lesson from fruit. You put the seed in the ground it rots it decomposes it disintegrates but look what becomes of it. So too a person should always remember that even when the goings are tough and person feels like they're not accomplishing anything and they're down on their luck but at that point person could achieve greatness. Take look from fruits. But anyway I didn't say it because I didn't I wasn't you know I don't know the source of it. But on the positive the Targum Yonathan says This is done because make a Zaka. Make this is done because Zaka. So the safer Kevin brings normally to make a Zaka on Karka you need 3 years. But if you make use of three types of fruits you can make a Zaka even in 1 year immediately. So therefore this explains why they took grapes pomegranates and figs. Cuz by taking three types of fruits they can make an immediate Zaka. That's the meaning of the Targum based on the Gamara Baba Basra of Khes only stay love on needs 3 years a stay Elon you could do right away. >> [clears throat] >> And then [snorts] finally this one's very interesting. You ever think of this question? The mispar hayom asher tartem es ha'aretz asher tartem ba'im yom yom lashana yom lashana tis'u es avonaseichem yom lashana a day for a year. That sounds like the maraglim spied out Eretz Yisrael for 40 years. And the Jews would be punished to be in the midbar for 40 days. Yom lashana, you're going to have to pay a day for each year. It should say shana layam. Not Yom lashana. It should say a year should say a year for a day. Shana layam, not Yom lashana. They didn't Halavai it would have been Yom lashana. Then they would have been in the in the midbar for less than If it would If it would be a day for a year, they wouldn't you know, it would have We would have had just a couple days in the midbar. So he brings from Rav Chaim HaCohen Rappaport, the Av Beis Din of Lvov in the sefer Eitz Chaim. That the pasuk is asking a question. How can it be that from Hakadosh Baruchu, the Av Harachamim, malei rachamim, how could such a judgment come forth that they need to pay arba'im um yam lashana. That for each day that they spied, they have to pay a year. How could that be? Meaning there's an implicit question here. Why would Hashem decree such an edict that seems to be so harsh? Yom Let it be 40 days for 40 days. Why Yom lashana? Or why shana layam? And the answer is this judgment that a day should be considered like a year is actually an amazing tiva to Klal Yisrael. Why? Cuz we sin the whole year. And yet one day a year we do chuva and it's machaper on the whole year. How does that work? Every single day we sin. Though, we sin 365 days and we do chuva one day a year and it's like the whole year. Why? Cuz Hashem reckons one day to be like a whole year. So, the question that the pasuk is as bothered. According to the number of days that you spied out the land, Hashem punished you 40 years. And if you want to know why why would Hashem consider days like years? The pasuk is answering this judgment that a day is considered like a year is for your benefit. So that there'll always be a day in the year that tishu asavoinu asechem, that God will be able to bear your sin. So, Hashem gave the punishment of the miraglim in this fashion to so to speak establish the efficacy of Yom Kippur. So, the pasuk is saying Hashem made it yom lashana. One day it will be considered a year so that tishu asavoinu asechem. That's interesting, there are parallels between a number of the psukim in the parsha what we say on Yom Kippur, whether it's slachna lavoina am azeh kigoyim chasdecha which is why we saying that on Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is usually associated with the eigel. And vayomer Hashem salachti kidvarecha, you know, we make vayomer Hashem salachti kidvarecha. That's nothing to do with the eigel. Why we mentioning all this on Yom Kippur? Somehow, according to this we see that the the effe- efficacy of Yom Kippur was solidified through the kapara of the miraglim. There are other answers. Some of the other answers are the cheit hamiraglim was me'ur acheit ha'eigel. a Kapara a a Kapara for the Maraglim is partially related to the Kapara for the Egel, but this might explain why we reference the Kum of Kapara of the Maraglim on Yom Kippur because herein was established the uh the efficacy of the of Yom Kippur. So, those are five thoughts on Parshas Shelach. The connection between traveling three days by boat before Shabbos and why Moshe Rabbeinu specifically davened for Yehoshua and not Caleb. What is the Hazaka that they were going to do with his Hazak them. The double tov of Haloi tov Lanu and Yom Lashana Tisu Es Avoinaseichem. Have a great day. Everybody's invited to join us tonight at 8:30 for a fantastic Shiur whose topic has not been determined yet. Have a great day. Kol tuv. >> Recording stopped.