From an email ....
Shaaloooommmmm Swweeetest friends!!!!!
A huuuuuuge mazeeellll tov R' and Mrs. Rafi Goodman on the birth of their firstborn son - Nathan Alexander!! May he a be light unto Israel and always in good health and happiness!!!
This Dvar Torah is dedicated in Nathan's zchus, sponsored by ... me!!!:-):-) Love you Nathan. You are a sweety pie! Next time I am on West End Avenue I can visit and we GOTTA do lunch. You like fast food? Maybe I'll bring over hot dogs from ...Nathans.
In this weeks parsha we read of the mitzva to love Hashem with all of your soul. ואהבת את ה' אלקיך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך . Chazal teach us that this means that one must be ready to give up his soul and die for Hashem if necessary. The psukim continue and say והיו הדברים האלה אשר אנכי מצוך היום על לבבך - These words should be on your heart. What are "these words"? Rashi says that it refers to Torah. The pasuk is telling us that if you want to express your love for Hashem, the way to do it is to learn Torah.
This is strange. The correct order is to first tell me HOW to do the mitzva and only then to tell me the PRICE of the mitzva. Here we go backwards - first we learn the price of the mitzva [even if it costs you your life] and only then do we learn how to do the mitzva [by studying Torah]?
Odd.
The answer is that loving Hashem is much different from loving your fellow man. One must love his fellow man but one must NOT die for him - חייך קודמין, your life comes first. However, love of Hashem is of a completely different nature. Loving Hashem means realizing that you don't really exist without Him and that He is EVERYTHING so of course one must give up one's life. Dying for Hashem is not the PRICE of the mitzva, that we even have to pay with our lives, but the ESSENCE of the mitzva. The nature of the mitzva is such that it automatically encompasses our life and existence. Without Hashem we are nothing. He is EVERYTHING and we are so filled with love for the source of all good, all pleasure, all sweetness, all love, all life. Die for Him? "Avade - what's the shyla" they say in Monsey.
So first we learn the essence of the mitzva - Hashem is everything and our lives are nothing. Our love is so deep that our own existence is meaningless when it contradicts Hashem's will [such as when forced to do the three cardinal sins]. Afterwards, we learn how to perform this mitzva - namely, by learning Torah. והיו הדברים האלה וכו
Today is Tu B'av. That is really awesome because I am looking for a shidduch for my daughter Gila and I don't have to look anymore. Au contraire - the gemara says that the boys look. The girls put on white dresses that they borrowed from each other, dance in the vineyards and call out to the boys שא נא עיניך וראה - please raise up your eyes and see [and choose us]. They have to say "please look" because good frum boys are used to not looking....
Anyway - I hope there is good news soon for her and all people looking for their match. I also bless all the parents that they can pay for it!
Chazal say that it was the happiest day of the year. I think that the day right after Tisha B'Av is the happiest day of the year because people are so happy that Tisha B'av is over. But Chazal, with their great Ruach Hakodesh saw otherwise.
What was so great about Tu B'av? Some say that we skip Tachanun. But that is not enough...
One reason given by the gemara for the specialness of the day is that it was יום תבר מגל - the day they finished cutting wood for the Beis Hamikdash. Why were they so happy about that?
Rabbeinu Gershom [Bava Basra 121a] explains that now they have more time to LEARN TORAH! That is a cause for great simcha.
This Torah must be learned as the Torah prescribes - אשר אנכי מצוך היום - that I command you TODAY, which means according to Chazal בכל יום יהיו בעיניך כחדשים - EVERY DAY WE MUST LEARN AS IF IT WAS THE FIRST DAY EVER!! With complete freshness and excitement. מיט פרישקייט! Only then will we feel the Ahavas Hashem that learning is supposed to create. All too often we learn with a heaviness and boredom which ultimately necessitate the ritual washing of three times on each hand [called "negelvasser"]. Our task is to feel tremendous chiyus and excitement every time we are fortunate enough to learn Hashem's sweet Torah.
Interesting that the place from where we derive that every time must be exciting is the "shema" which is something we say every day at least three times. Even something said so often must never get old.
[Based mostly on a sicha given by the Tolna Rebbe Shlita 5768]
May we feel the simcha of Tu B'av with a reawakened commitment to learning Torah with excitement and freshness, May we hear of many new shidduchim in Klal Yisrael. We have this Atomic Bomb crisis with Iran so we can't also handle a shidduch crisis. Every new couple means two happier people and 1 plus 1 ultimately equals 8 -12 imy"H!!
Love and blessings and a sweet Shabbos Nachamu to all!!
