Some ideas about Snow

Just an interesting idea that I came across last year that comes to my mind whenever it snows (as it did today!). In the end of Shmuel Bet, the Navi goes through a list of various people in the "cabinet" of David Hamelech. One of them was his army general, Binayahu ben Yehoyada. In order to describe his tremendous strength in both spiritual and physical matters, the passuk tells us, "U' Benayahu Ben Yehoyada ben ish chayil she'hicah es ha'ari be'toch ha'bor be'yom ha'sheleg" "And Benayahu ben Yehoyada was the son of a man of valor who killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day." The Ramchal comments on this passuk that the fact that he accomplished this great feat on a snowy day is irrelevant. Ma HaKesher snowy day?!
The answer that the Ramchal gives us is best understood in the context of a Rashi in the beginning of Sefer Beraishis. Rashi tells us that originally Hashem created the world to run bemiddas hadin - with the trait of judgement. This means that people get only and exactly what they deserve, and nothing more- pure justice! Hashem saw that the world could not be run this way, and decided to change it to middas harachamim. This allows Hashem to do chessed for us and we get more than we deserve and are not punished immediately when we sin.
However, an individual on an extremely high level, (such as Yaakov Avinu - see Seforno passuk tes zayin beginning of parshas Veyetzei) can stand in front of Hashem bemiddas hadin - and survive, because even if he gets exactly what he deserves and Hashem judges him extremely carefully he still will not deserve to be punished.
The Ramchal explains that Binayahu Ben Yehoyada was on this level, and we know that because he was able to kill the lion on a snowy day.
How does a snowy day teach us this?
The Ramchal explains that a snowy day is a day of ultimate justice, a day run on middas hadin. Snow symbolizes middas hadin. Normally something white symbolizes rachamim, but snow is white that is frozen and stiff - din is unyeilding and stiff. The passuk is telling us that not only did Binayahu have the zechuyos to overcome a lion, but he did it on a snowy day! He completely and totally deserved to beat that lion, he had no chat'a'im that would make him undeserving, Hashem did not need to act towards him with chessed in order for him to overcome the lion.
(An interesting point is that in the Torah, snow is used as a metaphor for tzara'as - "Baheres azza ka'sheleg," a strong leprosy like snow." Tzara'as is the one punishment that people used to get immediately, for speaking lashon hara. Today this no longer happens, as on our level people would just be getting tzara'as all the time and we are not zocheh to get such direct hashgacha. But tzara'as is middas hadin in action, as its an immediate, harsh punishment, and it is interestingly compared to snow).
Snow is a nice reminder for us that we can all be striving towards a point where we can go before Hashem and not be in need of so much rachamim.

Marbim Ha'am Le'havi

In this weeks parsha, in Perek lamed vav, passuk hey, Moshe says "Marbim Ha'am Le'havi." Bnei Yisrael are bringing to many donations to the Mishkan. A message was then sent out to everyone to tell them to stop bringing Trumah.
At first glance this seems to be a strange little episode. Even if there was more donations than were actually needed, why make such a big deal about it and tell people to stop bringing. Why couldn't they just store the extras and appreciate the enthusiasism that Bnei Yisrael had for this mitzva.
Imagine if today a tzedakah organization put out an announcement that they have recieved enough money, and they are no longer accepting donations. Its hard to imagine, not only because the needs of these organizations are endless, but because making such a statement would be foolish. In the future people would be less likely to donate to them, as it seems like they don't want or need the help of their donors. If you want to help someone, and they say "stop, I don't need you I have enough help," it might discourage you from offering again.
On a superficial level, it seems that Moshe did exactly this.
I think that examining a Ramban at the begining of Sefer Beraishis will help us understand what was really going on in our parsha.
Many people are probably familiar with the first Rashi in the Torah, and Ramban's questions on this Rashi. Rashi quotes for us Rabbi Yitchak, who says that the Torah really should have started from Hachodesh Hazeh Lachem, the mitzvah of sanctifying the new moon, for this is the first Mitzva in the Torah. The reason that the Torah starts with the history of the world is so that we will have what to say to the nations when they claim Eretz Yisrael is not ours.
The Ramban finds Rashi's question to be somewhat lacking, as it makes perfect sense to start the Torah with the creation of the world and all that followed. The ideas and stories in Sefer Beraishis and the begining of Shemos are all fundamental parts of Judaism, how could it be that the only reason all of it was written is to give us proof that Eretz Yisrael belongs to us.
Rav Chaim Freidlander, in the Sifsei Chaim, explains that Rashi's question is not how we understood it to be at first glance. Rashi is asking why the Torah did not start with the first mitzva of Kiddush Hachodesh, and then backtrack and tell us the history of the world. Rashi does not think that all of Sefer Berashis is unecisary! The Torah does not need to be in chronological order, so why not start with the first mitzva?
In order to appreciate the strength of this question we must truely understand the significance of recieving the first mitzva. The whole world was created for no other reason than for Torah and Mitzvos. The Sifsei Chayim explains that the giving of the first mitzva to Bnei Yisrael changed the way the entire world was run. Beforehand, the world was run purely by Hashgachat Hashem, independent of the deeds of Bnei Yisrael. Hashem chose Avraham and the the Jewish people to be the Am Segulah, they did not have any zechuyot to merit this. Once they were given the first mitzva of HaChodesh Hazeh Lachem, the world began to run on a completly new path. Now the Hashgacha of Hashem is dependent on our actions. It's the deeds of Bnei Yisrael that determine how Hashem will run the world.
What Mitzva is more appropriate to change the world this way than Kiddush HaChodesh. This mitzva epitomizes how Hashem puts matters into the hands of man, and it is they who determine how everything will be. It is man, and not G-d who proclaims the new month, thus determining when all the holidays will be.
We can now understand Rashi's question on a greater level. Of course the Torah should start out by telling us the ideal way for Hashgacha to be in this world.
So why does the Torah start by telling us that Hashem created the world, and ran it independent of our deeds?
The Gemara in Shabbos tells us that when we are being mehader a mitzva we can not spend more than an extra third to make it beautiful.
The Maharal explains the reason for this limit. Mitzvos involve taking something physical, like an esrog and making it a spiritual object through using it for a mitzva. When we spend more than an extra third on making it beautiful, the pysical aspect of the mitzva starts to become the ikar, the main part of the mitzva, and the spiritual aspect becomes secondary. The mitzva becomes more about us than Hashem.
This is what began to happen in the Mishkan. Bnei Yisrael were so excited and so generous in their donations that they began to loose sight of why they were donating. Giving Trumah to the Mishkan must be done with the proper intentions and awareness of the significance of this Mitzva. Moshe did not want people donating without feeling an awe at the importance of this act.
Thats why he told them to stop coming. The Mishkan should not be built from materials donated without thinking or without pure intentions.
The reason that the Torah starts with the story of Berashis is to remind us that despite our ability to do mitzvos and influence the way the world is run, Hashem is the sole power behind everything, and we cannot loose sight of that! Doing mitzvos is about doing what Hashem wants, not for any other reason.
The two practical lessons that I think we can learn from that are
1. Our actions have a real effect on our own personal hashgacha's as well as hashgacha for the klall.
2. We must never loose sight of why we do mitzvos and why we are mehader in mitzvos.

Hi!

I don't really know how to introduce this blog, as the way I will do things is not yet so clear in my mind. I think I will mainly use it as a forum to share interesting and inspiring Torah insights I come across each week. I hope you enjoy!