This week's parashah talks about the mitzvah of Birchas Kohanim (6:23-26), that the kohanim should bless the Jewish nation. What is the purpose of this mitzvah? Hashem can bless the nation Himself. He doesn’t need kohanim to bless them!
The Akeidah explains that the purpose of Birchas Kohanim is to remind the Jewish nation that all the good we enjoy comes from Hashem. The kohanim say, Yevarechecha, Ya’er, Yissa, and we remember that all the good we have comes from Hashem. This awareness grants us Hashem's brachos.
The Akeidah writes that this is the reason for all the brachos we say (such as brachos over food). When we remember Hashem's kindness, we receive more good from Above.
Chazal (Brachos 7) say, "A simple person's blessings shouldn't be a small matter in your eyes." The Akeidah explains, "We shouldn't consider our brachos trivial because there is great benefit to them. It brings us awareness of Hashem's kingdom, and with this awareness, we will merit to receive bounty from Above."
A chasid once said to Rebbe Dovid Moshe of Tchortkov zt'l, "The poritz in the area where I live is old, and he is selling all his properties for half price. There is a large forest on his property, and I plan to buy it."
The Rebbe told him, "I advise you not to buy the forest."
The chasid didn't listen to the rebbe's counsel. He didn't want to lose out on this deal of a lifetime and bought the forest. The forest was sold for half price but was still very costly because it was enormous. The chasid had to sell his properties and borrow money to pay for the forest.
His hired workers began chopping down the trees, but they quickly discovered a problem. The first tree they chopped down was infested with worms. So the workers chopped down another tree and then a third, but they were all rotting, wormy trees.
He was embarrassed to return to the Tchortkover Rebbe because the rebbe had warned him not to buy the forest, and he didn't heed his advice. But after two years had passed, the chasid told himself, "It is enough that I lost my money. Should I lose my rebbe as well?" So he went to Rebbe Dovid Moshe of Tchortkov and said, "I know. It is my fault. The Rebbe knew better than me. I should have relied on the Rebbe's ruach hakodesh."
The Tchortkover zt'l replied, "It wasn't ruach hakodesh. It is just that I saw you were certain that you would make money on this business venture, and it seemed that you didn't remember that you needed Hashem to succeed. So I advised you not to enter this business because one can't succeed without Hashem. One must always remember this."
Even Just One Letter
They carry (the articles of the Mishkan) on their shoulder (7:9)
The Mishna (Avos 6:3) says that one who learns even just one letter from his friend has to act towards him with respect, as one would act towards his rebbe. This is derived from Dovid Hamelech, who learned only two things from Achitofel and regarded him with a great level of respect on account of these two things
The Yerushalmi says that one of the things that Achitofel taught Dovid Hamelech was that the kohanim always had to carry the Aron on their shoulders. The Zera Shimshon writes in the name of the Kli Yakar (from Rav Laniado on Nevi'im) that this is the halacha that the Mishna refers to as 'one letter.' Obviously, it was not merely a letter that Dovid Hamelech was taught by Achitofel. Rather, it was a halacha that was derived from one extra letter in the Torah, and it was this that Achitofel taught Dovid Hamelech.
When the Aron was brought back to Yerushalayim (Shmuel II 2), Dovid Hamelech made a new chariot for it to be carried on. Although the Torah writes that it should be carried on the shoulders of the Levi'im, he thought that this was simply the Torah writing the natural way that things are carried, and the Torah was just recording how the Levi'im carried it, but not that it was a halacha that it must be carried specifically on their shoulders. Dovid Hamelech thought that the fact that the Levi'im had until now carried it only on their shoulders was merely a stringency that they had adopted. This is why, when returning the Aron to Yerushalayim, he had it brought back on a chariot.
Achitofel taught Dovid Hamelech that the word ישאו, it should be carried, is in fact an obligatory commandant, that this is the way it must be carried, and no other way. This is stressed by the extra י at the beginning of the word. As opposed to writing בכתף שאו, which would imply that the Torah was simply telling us how the Levi'im carried the Aron, the Torah added a yud: בכתף שאוי. This implies that this is a commandment as to how the Aron must be carried - only on the shoulders, and in no other way.
Since this halacha is derived from the addition of one letter, and Dovid Hamelech did not know this halacha, the Mishna refers to it as though Achitofel only taught him one letter. However, the precise understanding is that Achitofel taught Dovid Hamelech a halacha that is derived from the fact that there is one additional letter in the Torah.
RABBI ELIMELECH BIDERMAN
ZERA SHIMSHON
ZERA SHIMSHON SHIUR BY RABBI SIMCHA BUNIM BURGER
