In this weeks parsha we learn about the different holidays.  One of them is Succos.  There is a posuk describing one of the special mitzvos for Succos “take for yourselves, the fruit of a beautiful tree” this fruit is an Esrog.  The word for beautiful is “hadar” this word is also used when a person does any mitzva beautifully.  The Chofetz Chaim tells a parable to bring out an important point.  There was a villager who’s daughter married a talmid chacham (Torah scholar).  He wanted to get his new son-in-law the best esrog possible, unfortunately he did not know anything about the requirements.  He went to the big town and went and got the best esrog it was hadar.  He showed it to his neighbor who wanted to split it with him.  They cut the esrog in two.  He went to his son in law who was appalled.  The father in law said, the storekeeper told me this was the best esrog.  The son in law would have preferred a plain whole esrog than a beautiful half.  Sometimes we get very excited about our mitzvos and do them beautifully.  But there are two halves to the Torah, between man and man, and between man and G-d.  Better to do both halves simply, than one half extremely well.

When the Jews crossed the Sea of Reeds, they burst into songs of praise for HaShem.  One phrase was “Who is like You among the Mighty, oh HaShem”.  The word for “mighty” aiylim, can also be read as mutes “eeilim” one of the tremendous praises of HaShem’s might is His ability to restrain Himself.  For 210 years the Jews were brutally enslaved by the Egyptians and HaShem was able to hold Himself back from redeeming them for that was what was needed.  We should be heartened by this, if HaShem refrains from punishing such a wicked people (the Egyptians) who were harassing His beloved nation (Israel) then certainly us we are not as wicked and we are His chosen people.  Let us take advantage of this attribute of His, and become close to Him while we are still on the “extension”

The Gemarah discusses the tremendous benefit of suffering.  Any suffering in this world removes suffering in the next world.  This world is a temporary stopping place to prepare us for the eternity of the next world.  Additionally when we are faced with sufferings, if we handle it properly we will receive tremendous reward for all eternity.  We are told also that if 40 days pass and a person encounters no suffering he should be afraid that he will be receiving all reward in this world with nothing left for the next.  What constitutes suffering?  If a person puts a hand into his pocket intending to remove 3 coins and only gets 2 and has to put his hand back in, that is suffering that will deduct from his punishment in the next world.  The benefit of greater suffering will be comparable to the amount of suffering received.

In this week’s parsha there is a posuk that states “Do not defile your souls with animals, birds, and all things that creep on the ground, that I have separated for you to be impure and you will be for me holy, for I HaShem am Holy”       By refraining from forbidden foods a person makes themselves holy.  When we make ourselves holy we get that holiness increased from on high.  Anytime we do something, or refrain from doing something because HaShem told us to, we increase our level of holiness.  We also increase our spiritual strength, which is the truest strength.  Let us be the holy nation that HaShem has called upon us to be.

The Gemarah is the body of how Jewish law has been transmitted through the ages.  There are two Gemarahs the Babelonian and Jerusalem ones.  In the Babelonian Gemarah there are many references to the superiority of the Jerusalem scholars and their Torah.  Yet wondrously enough, if there is a disagreement between the two, we go with the Babelonian one, this is the one that is far more commonly learnt as well.  Why should this be?  The Sages in Babel were in exile, they were under a lot of persecution from the government as well as many other difficult situations that were not faced by their Jerusalem counterparts.  Due to this their Torah is what sustains us through our time in exile wherever we may be.  Let us be reassured by the knowledge that although we accomplish less due to pressures we may face, that which we do under difficulties is beloved by HaShem.

The posuk discussing when the Jewish Nation must go out to war says, “If you see an army that is much larger than yours, do not be afraid, for HaShem your G-d is with you”.  We must try to remember whenever we are faced with a situation that seems dire or insurmountable that HaShem is with us.  When someone wants to hurt us, we should bear in mind that his capacity for harm is only as much as HaShem would allow him.  Therefore if we remember that HaShem is with us we will not be afraid.

There is a law that when there is a war and a man sees a beautiful woman among the captives, he is allowed (with specific guidelines) to take her as a wife.  Rashi says the Torah is only going against the Yetzer Harah.  Why is this language used?  It should the Torah recognizes that we have a Yetzer Horah or similar language.  The Yetzer Harah tries to get us to do the opposite of what HaShem wants us to do.  If the Torah would forbid this woman than the inclination would be to desire her.  Now that she is permitted we would not desire her.  Let us be aware of the wiles of the Yetzer horah and try to what HaShem wants us to do.

There are two concepts in Judaism that seem to be contradictory.  HaShem repays for good deeds 250 times (or more) than He does for bad deeds.  On the other hand we know that He is fair in it’s most absolute use of the word.  How can we reconcile the two ideas?  Let us take stealing and giving charity.  When a person gives charity and hears of the wonderful things the person given to was able to do now that they have some money, he will be very happy and certainly would have hoped for all these things to happen with the gift.  On the other hand when he steals and then causes a family to suffer he would not have wanted to them to suffer he just wanted their money.  By repaying so much more for good than for bad it is ultimately fairer.

In this week’s Parsha we learn about the purification process for a “metzorah” (person with a spiritual disease that is physically manifested, is inflicted for various sins).  At the end a korban (sacrifice) was brought by the metzorah.  What the offering was depended upon the financial status of the individual (wealthier people brought more expensive ones, poorer brought less expensive).  The Chofetz Chaim applies this to all aspects of our lives, the more talents we have, the more knowledge we have and the more gifts that HaShem has given to us, the more is expected from us in our service of Him.  By the same token, if we see others that are not accomplishing as much as we are, we should remember that although the poor man’s offering is insufficient for the wealthy man, it is exactly what HaShem wants from him. Let us try to utilize what HaShem has given us for the good and worship Him to the best of our abilities.

When HaShem told Moshe that he was to be the leader of the Jews, he was concerned that his brother Aron might feel bad that he was not chosen.  HaShem told Moshe that Aron would rejoice with him.  Aron as Cohen Gadol (High Priest) wore special garments, one of which was the breastplate which came as a reward for his true joy at his brothers success.  We see that although Aron was so great jealousy was something that might still befall him.  We also see that when we overcome the natural tendencies and are truly happy for others, there is tremendous reward for it.