the city of Kerestir. Rav Shayala went to see him and asked his advice. As soon as he entered the house, Rav Mordechele said, “My uncle, Rav Meir (of Premishlan) and his father, my grandfather Rav Uren Leib of Premishlan, had a discussion regarding whether a rebbe must take impure money. My uncle said that one should not take it, while my grandfather said that one may take it. And I say that one must take it.”
Rav Mordechele then said, “This is the meaning of the words ‘kol ha’over al hapekudim yitnu’. Even if one transgresses the laws of Hashem, he must give.”
Rav Shayala said, “I actually came to hear your opinion on this exact topic!”
Rav Mordchele responded, “Don’t think that I have ruach hakodesh. Rather, Hashem puts into my mouth the words that need to be heard at the moment.”
Rav Mordchele told him Rav Shayala that he should to accept pidyonos from whomever offered him one, and he should purify the money by using it for good purposes.
Ruach Hakodesh to Know How to Use the Money:
Although a tzadik must take money from every donor, he also must use the money wisely. It is related (Yalkut M’orei Ohr, page 68) that after the petirah of the Magid of Chernobyl zy”a, his son, the Magid of Trisk zy”a, began traveling far and wide, visiting many villages and small towns. When he passed through the city of Trisk, he saw an area on the outskirts of the city that covered in mud and soil, with a flow of water dribbling through it. He said, “This is where I will live.”
And so it was. He built his bais medrash and court on that spot. It goes without saying that it cost quite a bit more to build upon such rough ground than it would have to erect a building on smooth land. The chasidim couldn’t understand why the rebbe specifically wanted to build on that land, but no one dared to question him.
Some time later, the Magid came to the city of Kavla, where he met with his uncle, Rav Yitzchok of Neshchiz zy”a. Rav Yitzchok asked him why he spent so much money to build his bais medrash on rough land, and the Magid responded as follows:
He said that when Betzalel built the Mishkan, Hashem granted him a spirit of wisdom to know and understand. This means that he granted him ruach hakodesh, as is stated in Rashi (31:3). Why did he need ruach hakodesh to do this work? Why wasn’t it enough to be master craftsman and builder?
The answer is that there were three types of Jews who gave donations for the Mishkan. Some people donated wholeheartedly, with their sole desire being to serve Hashem. Others intended to fulfill Hashem’s commandment, but they also wanted to get credit for themselves. Yet others really didn’t want to give at all. They only gave because they felt forced to do so.
Betzalel needed ruach hakodesh to know each person’s intentions. He used the money donated by those with the purest intentions for the holiest parts of the Mishkan, and used the money given with less pure intentions for less holy items.
The Magid concluded, “So, I only wanted to build the holiest parts of my bais medrash from donations given with pure intentions. That money was used for the sefer Torah, Aron Hakodesh, bima, etc. The rest of the money was used for the muddy and dirty places...”
Keeping One Shabbos Leads to Keeping Two:
Chazal say (Shabbos 118B) that if Klal Yisroel would keep just two Shabbosim, we would immediately be redeemed.
The Kedushas Levi zy”a explains that if a person keeps Shabbos properly, he derives strength to serve Hashem all throughout the next week. And when a person serves Hashem all week, it is easier for him to properly observe the next Shabbos. And this goes on week after week.
This answers a seeming contradiction. It says in the Yerushalmi (Taanis 1:1) that if Klal Yisroel would keep one Shabbos, they would immediately be redeemed, which seems to contradict the Bavli that says we must keep two Shabbosim. The answer is that if we would keep one Shabbos properly, we would acquire the strength to serve Hashem all week and easily keep the next Shabbos. Thus, the main thing is to properly observe one Shabbos.
This is hinted to in the words of this pasuk: “And Yisroel shall observe Shabbos to make Shabbos.” We need to observe one Shabbos and then we will easily be able to make the next Shabbos.
Utilizing Every Moment With the Neshama Yeseira:
Chazal (Beitzah 16A) learn from this pasuk that a person receives a “neshama yeseira” (extra soul) on Shabbos, which leaves him on Motzoei Shabbos. The Gemara sees this from the words “Shabbos vayinafash”, which it understands to mean that since it was Shabbos and the day is now over “vai vayniafash” – woe for the nefesh (the neshama yeseira) that is leaving.
The Baal Shem Tov zy”a asks why we recite this verse right at the beginning of Shabbos. Why do we speak about the neshama yeseira leaving when Shabbos is just beginning?
He answers that we say these words at the beginning of Shabbos to remind us that the neshama yeseira will not be with us forever. We remind ourselves that it will leave right after Shabbos ends and it won’t be with us during the upcoming weekdays. This adds to our love of Shabbos and brings us to make sure to fully utilize every moment we have with our extra neshama to serve Hashem and not to waste a moment.
The Precious Gift of Shabbos:
One Shabbos, Rav Shmelke of Nickolsberg zy”a related a story (related in Sefer Birchas Aharon-Karlin, page 122) that occurred during the week.
He said that a poor man had come to his door and asked for a donation. He had nothing to give him, so he looked around the house until he found a nice ring that belonged to his Rebbitzen. He took the ring and gave it to the pauper.
When the Rebbitzen came home and was told what her husband had done, she began to scream, “You gave him a ring that is worth 24 gold coins?”
When Rav Shmelke heard this, he got up and ran after the poor man. The man saw Rav Shmelke pursuing him and thought he wanted to take the ring back, so he began to run away from him. The Rebbe, however, was faster. He caught up to the pauper and told him, “You should know that this ring is worth 24 gold coins. Don’t sell it for less!”
He used this story to explain the Gemara (Shabbos 10B) that says that Hashem told Moshe that He had a precious gift in His treasury that is called Shabbos and He wants him to give it to the Jewish people and to tell them that it is very valuable. Hashem wanted Moshe to tell them this so they should know that they shouldn’t trade it in for a glass of whiskey and a piece of kugel.
Aharon’s Intention Was to Save the Nation:
Sefer Chemda Genuzah, (Chelek 2) relates: I heard from Rav Tevli of Dukla zt”l that when he was 11-years-old, he was in the presence of Rav Yoel of Shotz zy”a, the son-in-law of Rav Meir of Permishlan zy”a.
Rav Yoel asked him, “How are you doing“? Rav Tevli answered that he had been up all night because he was so bothered by the story of the eigel hazahav. How could such a great tzadik like Aharon Hakohen make an eigel?
Rav Yoel answered him by saying that he would explain the story of the eigel with a moshol: A king once planted a very beautiful garden, which grew fine fruit. This king had an only son. One day, the king traveled away from home. While he was gone, his son went into the garden and destroyed all of the trees and fruits. When the king returned home and saw what his son had done, he became very angry. He told him, “I will forgive you this time. But if it happens again, I will punish you.”
The king then had his garden fixed.
A while later, the king left home again. Once again, his son went into the garden and destroyed the trees. When the king got home, he became irate, but he said, “I will forgive you this time as well, but I promise you that if you do this again, I will kill you!”
The next time the king left home, the son went into the garden once more, with intentions of destroying it. A friend of the king saw him, realized what he was about to do, and said, “Do you really want to break the trees so much that you can’t hold yourself back? Let me do it for you. You stay inside and don’t do anything.“
The friend’s intentions were to save the prince’s life. He knew that the king would fulfill his promise and kill his son, which would later cause him a lot of anguish. Therefore, he felt that it would be better for him to do than for the prince to do it.
This is also what Aharon did. He knew that Klal Yisroel had already sinned numerous times and, if they would sin again, Hashem would not forgive them. Therefore, he hurried to make the eigel himself in order to save them.
The Influence of Mitzrayim:
Why did Moshe mention that Hashem took Klal Yisroel out of Egypt with great power? If he was trying to defend Klal Yisroel, how was this a defense?
The Alshich Hakadosh explains that Moshe was saying that Hashem should not be surprised that the nation was drawn to idol worship because they had been in Egypt, the most idolatrous land in the word, for many years. As a result, they had fallen to the 49th level of impurity and, in order to leave, Hashem had to use His great power and strong hand. Therefore, it was unsurprising that they had sinned in this way and they should not be harshly punished for it.
Their Hearts Were Not Under Their Control:
Rav Itzikel of Vorka zy”a (quoted in Sefer Yeshishim Chochmah) asks: Moshe Rabenu was asking for mercy for the nation. Why did he mention that “the people committed a grave sin”? Wouldn’t bringing up their sin make matters worse?
He answers that Moshe was defending Klal Yisroel by saying that they certainly did not sin deliberately because the sin itself was so big that they couldn’t possibly have had the ability to do it. They had just stood by Har Sinai and heard Hashem’s voice directly, and definitely would not have committed such a grave sin. He said that Hashem must have caused the sin to occur and the people were not in control of their actions. Therefore, they should not be punished.
This is, in fact, stated in the Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 4B): “Rav Yehoshua ben Levi said that Yisroel only made the eigel in order to open the door for baalei teshuva...” Rav Yochanon further stated that Dovid was not holding by such a sin (with Bas-sheva) and Klal Yisroel was not holding by committing such a sin...He says that these sins were caused to occur so that people who sinned in the future would know that they could do teshuva.
Rashi explains that Klal Yisroel were in control of the yeitzer hara and it should not have been able to overpower them. Rather, it was Hashem’s decree that they should lose control of themselves in order to help sinners of the future and teach them that they can do teshuva.
No One Else to Rely On:
The Dubno Magid zt”l explains this pasuk with a moshol:
There once was a high-ranking minister who had a relative who was arrested numerous times for stealing from the king’s treasure house. Every time he was arrested, the minister would speak in his defense and use his connections to set him free without punishment. This thief once went too far and stole a very substantial amount of money from the king’s treasury, and the minister couldn’t come up with any way to save him from judgment.
He approached the king and said, “Your majesty, I request to be relived of my position.”
The king was surprised by this request and asked for an explanation. The minister said, “My relative always depends on me to save him when he steals. That’s why he keeps stealing. If I quit my job, there will be no one to speak on his behalf, and he will stop stealing.”
This is what Moshe Rabenu said to Hashem. “Erase my name from Your book.” Klal Yisroel depends on me to speak to You on their behalf. Therefore, I ask to be taken out of the picture so that they will have no one to rely on and, therefore, will stop sinning.
Depression Causes Sin:
Sefer Tiferes Yisroel (Perek 1, Ois 17) quotes Rav Shraga Feivel of Gritza zy”a (the father of Rav Yechiel of Alexander zy”a and grandfather of the Yismach Yisroel zy”a) as relating that the first time he went to see the Chozeh of Lublin zy”a, the Chozeh spoke about this pasuk. He said that we see from the verse that the people’s main sin was the fact that they mourned and became depressed after they sinned. He translated the words “v’lo shasu ish es adav alav” to mean that they didn’t take to heart the fact that they were still holy people, who are an adornment of finery to Hashem, and they should move forward, leaving the past in the past.
After hearing this explanation, Rav Shraga Feivel decided to connect himself with the Chozeh and he became very close to him.
