Shiur provided courtesy of Naaleh.com

Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein

Sefer Devorim differs from the other Four Books of the Torah in that it is Moshe Rabbenu's farewell address to Bnei Yisroel. The very first verses of Sefer Bamidbar repeat several of the encampments of Bnei Yisroel in their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. Since all these stops were mentioned as part of all the journeys of Bnei Yisroel in the previous Parshah at the end of Sefer Bamidbar, why did Moshe Rabbenu find it necessary to mention these stops again, and why did he choose these particular stops? How are they significant to the end of Moshe Rabbenu's life?

Rashi gives us the first and simplest of these explanations. Moshe Rabbenu was hinting at the various sins Bnei Yisroel had committed at these places. Without actually mentioning the sins explicitly, Moshe Rabbenu was trying to avoid embarrassing Bnei Yisroel. In fact, these were the sins of the previous generation who had died in the desert. But Moshe Rabbenu was warning this generation to be wary of these sins, for just as physical characteristics are transmitted from generation to generation, so too are tendencies leading to sin passed down from one generation to the next, teaches the Shvilei Pinchas. [Think, "He's just as stubborn as his xxx, just as artistic as yyy, etc." CKS] At the end of our lives, continues the Shvilei Pinchas, Hashem will give us din/judgment and cheshbon/reckoning on the lives we have led. The judgment will be on the sins we actually committed, but the reckoning will be on the negative thoughts and characteristics of our minds that we passed on to our children. Moshe Rabbenu is gently admonishing this generation to uproot the negative inherited from the previous generation that had caused them to sin.

Moshe Rabbenu is here teaching us how to offer rebuke, writes Rabbi Zeichick zt”l. Out of respect for the people, he merely alluded to this without openly rebuking them. We begin softly, with a gentle, loving voice that will set a positive tone for any harsher rebuke which may follow. As Rashi notes, each of the Five Books of the Torah begins with a voice of love. We must remember that every human being has dignity within him, for each was created in the image of God, reminds us Rabbi Scheinerman, and we must treat him with that respect.

To this end, Rabbi Bernstein offers a model for tendering rebuke. First, we should consider the timing of the rebuke. While in some cases, immediate rebuke is necessary, often rebuke can be delayed, as is Moshe Rabbenu's rebuke in our parshah. In those circumstances, One must consider timing the rebuke to when the recipient will be most receptive, not when we feel most righteous and indignant. Then, we must respect the person, conveying that we believe in them and in their ability to make things right. Conveying respect will make the listener more receptive to hearing and internalizing what we say. Third, we must show that real damage or loss [material, physical, emotional... CKS] was a result of their action.. Finally, we must make them feel that our rebuke is for their benefit, either material or character growth.

Rebbetzin Yemima Mizrachi offers additional suggestions, especially for parents raising their children, based on the particular stops Moshe Rabbenu mentions. First, like the word aravah, one must establish an airuv, an involvement in his child's daily life, his routines, successes, and challenges. Then, it is important to pick one appropriate time to reprimand, and then stop, to be mul suf, at the end. Do not keep repeating, like a broken record. Harping on the misdeed only generates tuning out, and creates resentment, not improvement. Finally, before you give rebuke, offer some positive statement. Moshe Rabbenu only offered this rebuke after vanquishing Sichon and Og. As Rav Shteinman [and many psychologists] recommend, offer your child five compliments a day before you give them one criticism.

Although tochachah is usually translated as rebuke or reprimand, Rav Aaron Soloveitchick zt”l prefers the alternate translation of offering proof. Using the language of the Talmud to support his thesis, Rav Soloveitchick proposes that each of us has both an inner essence, an ana, and an external persona that leads us to sin, hahu gavra, that person who seems to have invaded my essence. Effective tochachah is proving to the person who he really is, the greatness of his true self.

Rav Soloveitchick cites the Talmudic narrative of the encounter of Rabbi Meir with Elisha ben Avuyah. Elisha had been a great Talmudic sage. In fact, he had been Rabbi Meir's teacher. Yet, through some profound negative experiences, he had become a heretic. Once, when Rabbi Meir and Elisha met, Rabbi Meir urged Elisha to repent. Elisha replied that he had heard a heavenly voice proclaim, "Repent, repent, but Acher is lost." Since Elisha had rejected Torah, he had received the appellation of Acher/Stranger. Rabbi Soloveitchick suggests that Elisha had misinterpreted the heavenly voice; Acher, the stranger within him, was indeed lost, but Elisha was still capable of doing teshuvah. The way to give positive rebuke is to hold a mirror to our subject and show him his true, inner greatness.

One of the harshest rebukes in Tanach is in the Haftorah for Parshat Bamidbar, the chazon/vision of Yeshayahu. Yet, despite the harshness, Hashem still calls us His children, writes the Netivot Shalom. Even in our sin, He still loves us, and the relationship, although strained, is mutual. Hashem hates the ritual sacrifices of Rosh Chodesh and the holidays, but Hashem does not hate our Shabbatot. How can Hashem hate our Shabbatot when Shabbat is the symbol of our covenant with Hashem? Amidst all the pain and rebuke, we must not forget our special relationship with Hakodosh Boruch Hu. We always have the opportunity to do teshuvah.

The Shvilei Pinchas brings an additional dimension to our discussion of sin and "the sins of their forefathers." Citing Rav Menachem Mendel of Rimanov zt”l, Rabbi Pinchas Friedman notes that sometimes it is the children that sinned, not the parent. But since all future generations are contained within the brain [current terminology would probably say DNA] of the ancestors, the potential for sin was already in the parent, and only manifested itself fully in the offspring. Since the potential was already there, the future sin of the descendants could trigger the sin of the ancestor.

This is how the Arizal explains the sin of Adam and Chavah: Since all mankind, both the righteous and the evil already existed in potential within Adam and Chavah, they were moved to disobey Hashem and eat the forbidden fruit under the influence of their future descendants.

In Be'er Hachaim Rabbi Steinwerzel zt”l introduces another factor to the basis of sin. There are places that seem to contain within them a certain energy conducive to sin. One might therefore suggest that the sins of Bnei Yisroel in these places were the fault of the places they were in. But Hashem refutes this argument and says the reverse was true. What came first was the desire to sin, and then Hashem led Bnei Yisroel to this place. Every sin distances a person from Hashem, and teshuvah brings him back to the closer relationship. When Moshe Rabbenu was now reminding Bnei Yisroel of these places, he was arousing within Bnei Yisroel the desire for teshuvah and the repair of the relationship. By Bnei Yisroel doing teshuvah, culpability for the sin was uprooted from their hearts, and removed the negative influence from the place itself, allowing it to reveal its inner holy sparks of Torah within.

It is this longing for closeness to Hashem, true teshuvah, that explains why the cherubim on the aron kodesh were embracing at the time the Beit Hamikdosh was being destroyed. When Bnei Yisroel witnessed the destruction, they did teshuvah, their hearts longed for Hashem, and Hashem reciprocated and longed for Bnei Yisroel. That is why we can say that Moshiach will be born on Tisha B'Av.

With the Shabbos Chazon before Tisha B'Av we begin the process of teshuvah and the yearning for closeness with Hakodosh Boruch Hu. It is the first step, for it is not just the physical structure of the Beit Hamikdosh that was destroyed, writes Rabbi Wolbe zt”l, but the destruction of Hashem's sanctuary within each of our hearts. It is this sanctuary we yearn to repair. You must first realize how distant you are before you can begin moving closer.

How can we strive to be closer to Hashem? In Seeds of Redemption, Rabbi Lopiansky suggests we identify ourselves with Him, we do acts of chessed as Hashem did in the creation of the world and as He does on a daily basis. Rabbi Lopiansky differentiates between the terms tzedek/tzedakah/justice, charity and chesed/benevolence. While tzedek/tzedakah contain an element of social obligation, chesed is the goodness we extend to others through pure altruism, through rising above our physical selves and tapping into the Godly part within us, the desire to give pleasure to another.; he is creating a bereishit moment. We become Hashem's partner in creation, in perfecting the world.

Hashem's love for us is ahavas chinom, unearned, "just because," even if we have sinned. The Beit Hamikdosh was destroyed for sinat chinom, unwarranted animosity to others. if we can substitute the fires of ahavat chinom for the destructive fires of sinat chinom, we will show Hashem how we wish to be closer to Him and help bring about the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdosh, writes Rabbi Eisenberger in Mesillot Bilvovom.

In this, Moshe Rabbenu's last lesson to Bnei Yisroel, he is teaching not only the generation in front of him, but all the future generations of Bnei Yisroel. Moshe Rabbenu is citing these places as paradigmatic of the three cardinal sins, all with their basis in loshn horo, writes Vayovinu Bamikra. The stops are not in chronological order, for Moshe Rabbenu ends with Chatzros Di Zahav, an allusion to the golden calf. What keeps us in galus is our love of gold, our attachment to the material aspects of life which are distancing us from Hakodosh Boruch Hu.

As physical beings, we are not perfect. But Hashem has given us the ability to improve ourselves and to help others improve themselves. When we recognize our own shortcomings we must acknowledge them and try to improve. When we see the imperfections in others, if we train ourselves to offer positive criticism with love, noting the proper time and conditions, we will help in perfecting the world and hastening the arrival of Moshiach. By rebuilding our inner temples, we hasten the rebuilding the physical Temple in Eretz Yisroel.