Dvar Torah for Shavuot/Parshat Naso  

Based on Likutey Halakhot Giluach 3:15–18

"If a man suspects his wife of infidelity..." (Numbers 5:14) and warns her, "Don't be alone with him" (Sotah 5b).

As he took hold of his beard, the *zakein* (elderly sage) answered Rebbe Nachman, "My beard (*zakan*) is the explanation." (Tzaddik #209)

Many times, more than we realize, thoughts un-conducive to Jewishness insinuate themselves in our minds. These thoughts may be so subtle that only God knows about them. The tzaddik, in his role as "husband" of the Jewish people, warns us: Beware! Don't let such thoughts "be alone" with you in the recesses of your heart.

Because even we are unaware of their presence, these un-Jewish thoughts infect us. They may cause us to be soft when we need to be tough, cruel when we need to be kind, excited when we ought to be blase.

Being alert and recognizing un-Jewish thoughts is not the same as disuniting from them. Reb Noson writes that separating yourself from such thoughts is not achieved by "being alone" with them, by how to refute them.
(You cannot get rid of a telemarketer by telling him why he shouldn't call you. You have to hang up!) Logic and rational thinking can just as easily seduce you as secure you.

"My beard is the explanation." The beard is faith.* When God gave us the mitzvot at Sinai, we died from the over-exposure to Divinity. This teaches that we are not always equipped to perceive the "how" Torah and mitzvot link us to God. As a result, the converse is also true: We do not always understand why something may sever the link, God forbid.

So we must have faith in our ancestors and the great tzaddikim who did succeed in equipping themselves for such revelations. This itself is the first step, a necessary step, to whatever understanding we will eventually achieve.

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Dvar Torah for Shavuot

Based on Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom #18

Be careful not to forget what you witnessed at Sinai (Deuteronomy 4:9–10).

Don't let the memory of Sinai disappear with the taste of the cheesecake and blintzes. Make Torah study an integral part of your day, *every* day.

The Rebbe said the Talmud teaches us that "The day will come when the Torah will be forgotten among Jews" (Shabbat 138b). Therefore, many books are printed and bought, with people building up their own libraries...As each book is published, people rush to buy it, building up respectable libraries. In this manner the Torah does not fall into oblivion.

What people do not realize is that these books are of no help unless people look into them and study their teachings. But today the Torah has fallen very much, and few people study it. For how can books prevent the Torah from being forgotten if nobody studies them?


afreilekhen yom tov!
chag sameach!

agutn Shabbos!
Shabbat Shalom!

*This is based on a teaching of the Arizal, that the beard and the side locks [peyot] are channels for the wisdom of the Torah. See Likutey Moharan I, Lesson #30.