Rabbi Weiss – Be Strong as a Rock, Stay True to Hashem

 BS”D

This week’s Parsha is a powerful reminder of the infinite value of the gift that we were given by Hashem 3,335 years ago.

Bilam, the hugely evil scorcerer who wanted nothing more than to destroy us, knew the truth, and was forced to say “Ma tovu ohalecha Yaakov.” Ohalecha, our tents, refers to the Torah we have and live by – which guides our entire way of life, in every detail. As in, “Yaakov ish tam yosheiv ohalim,” which means that Yaakov sat and learned Torah.

As the world spins out of control, as people who are wicked beyond imagination plot how to, chas veshalom, lead us and our children astray, and tear down our communities, we MUST ALWAYS REMEMBER THE WORTH OF WHAT WE HAVE.

HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave us a TREASURE. EVERYTHING we need to have a fulfilling, blessed, peaceful, and enjoyable life is THERE, in the Torah, if we truly follow it completely.

The way to follow the Torah perfectly is simply to continue in the age-old Mesorah!

It is NOT like the Misyavnim, or the Reform, proclaimed. The reality is exactly the opposite.  Happiness and success are to be found only when in alignment with Hashem – by following PERFECTLY, to a T, the instructions He gave. These exquisite guidelines, the blueprint of the cosmos and of all creation, fit our bodies and souls like a glove, because we were created based on them. They never change one iota.

Truth, fulfillment, and everlasting generations will NOT to be achieved bythe likes of those who stray after today’s shades of “Open” or “Modern” Orthodox – or ANYONE who seeks to make the slightest compromise to our traditions passed down since Har Sinai.

In order to beat your enemy, you must know his strategies. One of the foremost strategies of the planners against Hashem and Klal Yisrael is to break the bonds between parents and children. They work to achieve this in many ways, and once your eyes are open, you will notice it very frequently.

To understand how critical to Yiddishkeit those bonds are, consider these words penned by Rav Shamshon Rafael Hirsch on Parshas Yisro, (20:12.)

“…The exodus from Egypt and the giving of the Law: these two basic facts in the history of the Jewish people that form the foundation for our allegiance to G-d as the Ruler of our destinies and the Guide for our lives are historic truths. However, our knowledge and acknowledgement of historic truths depend on our having a tradition. The maintenance of that tradition in turn requires parents who will faithfully transmit it to their children, and children who are willing to accept it from the hands of their parents. Thus, the survival of the great Divine institution that is Judaism rests entirely upon the obedience of children to their parents, both in theory and in practice, and the honor given to one’s father and mother is the basic condition for the eternity of the Jewish nation. Through the father and the mother G-d gives the child more than merely his physical existence. Parents in fact represent the tie that binds the child to the past of the Jewish people and that enables the child to be a Jewish man or woman. It is they who are to hand down to the child the traditions of Judaism through instruction, custom, and training. The child is to receive from their hands both Jewish history and Jewish law so that eventually he in turn will be able to pass them on to his own children. Just as he looks up to his parents, so shall his own children someday look up to him. Without this tie the chain of generations is broken, the past of the Jewish people is lost to the future, and the Jewish nation will cease to exist. It is this significant function that gives Jewish parents their prominent place in the Decalogue, so that the Law of G-d tells us: “Honor your father and mother so that your days may be long upon the soil which G-d, your G-d, gives to you.”

(The Pentateuch, The Judaica Press)

We must be as strong as a rock to stay true to Hashem in these times of great nisayon, when real truth can be found in so few places.