Matot
מטותThe Power of Vows
42 translated essays · 42 total
תרל"א(1870)
Heading For Matos· Essay 1
With the help of Heaven. Parashas Matos, in brief. This is the opening heading of the piece: the customary invocation of Heaven's help followed by a note that the comments on Parashas Matos here are presented in an abbreviated form. Summary…
Inner Yirah Sanctifying Action· Essay 2
The Midrash on the verse "and you shall swear" (Yirmiyahu 4:2) teaches: if you possess these traits, like those who are called yirei Hashem (those who fear Hashem), how is it possible to cleave to the Shechinah, etc. — see there. The Midras…
Recognizing Wealth From Hashem· Essay 3
The Midrash expounds on the verse "And the children of Reuven and the children of Gad had a very great abundance of cattle" (Bamidbar 32:1), teaching that there are three good gifts that Hashem gave to Klal Yisrael — and these are acquired …
Matos תרל"א
במדרש ונשבעת כו’ אם יש בך מדות הללו כאותן שנקראו יראי ה’ כו’ האיך אפשר להדבק בשכינה כו’ ע”ש. The Midrash (Bamidbar Rabbah 22:1) says that in order to take an oath using the name of HaShem one must have the trai…
תרל"ב(1871)
Illuminating Darkness Through Prophecy· Essay 1
במדרש נשבעתי ואקיימה כו’ ברש”י משה נתנבא בכה אמר ה’ מוסיף עליהם שנתנבא בזה הדבר כו’ א”כ למה נחשב לו נבואתו בכה אמר ה’. אך כי יש יתרון ג”כ בבחי’ כה שהוא להביא ההארה למקום החושך ג”כ במקום …
Matot תרל"ב
במדרש נשבעתי ואקיימה כו’ ברש”י משה נתנבא בכה אמר ה’ מוסיף עליהם שנתנבא בזה הדבר כו’ The Midrash quoted by Rashi explains that Moshe’s prophecy was different from other prophets. Whereas other prophets prophesie…
תרל"ג(1872)
Truth Justice And Righteousness· Essay 1
The Midrash teaches on the verse "And you shall swear, 'As Hashem lives,' in truth, in justice, and in righteousness" (Yirmiyahu 4:2): you are not permitted to swear unless you are like Avraham and Yosef, and so too "Hashem your God you sha…
Remembering Hashem Grants Endurance· Essay 2
In the Midrash: "they snatch up [the words of Torah] for themselves," etc. The Sfas Emes opens with the Midrash that pictures Bnei Yisrael eagerly snatching up the words of Torah for themselves, an image of grasping at what is precious. Eve…
תרל"ד(1873)
Oath of Total Surrender· Essay 1
The Midrash on the verse "and you shall swear, 'As Hashem lives,' in truth" (Yirmiyahu 4:2) — see there. The Sfas Emes opens by citing the Midrash on the verse in Yirmiyahu that one must swear by Hashem's Name truthfully. "And in His Name s…
Holiness of Jewish Speech· Essay 2
"He shall not profane his word; according to all that comes out of his mouth he shall do" (Bamidbar 30:3). The Sfas Emes opens with the verse about a person's obligation to fulfill whatever he utters, not treating his spoken word lightly. F…
תרל"ה(1874)
Cleaving Through Supporting Torah· Essay 1
The Midrash expounds the verse "And you shall swear, 'As Hashem lives,' in truth, in justice, and in righteousness" (Yirmiyahu 4:2), together with "Hashem your God you shall fear, and Him you shall serve" (Devarim 6:13) — there is no other …
Hating Evil Completely· Essay 2
In the Midrash it is taught regarding Yehoshua, "For many days he waged war," and so on. The Midrash asks why Yehoshua dragged out his wars over many days rather than finishing them quickly. To resolve the conduct of Yehoshua, it appears th…
תרל"ח(1877)
Matot — Opening· Essay 1
With the help of Heaven. The author’s traditional opening invocation at the start of Parshas Matot.
Oaths Empowering Mitzvah Fulfillment· Essay 2
"And Moshe spoke to the heads of the tribes" (Bamidbar 30:2), and so on. In the Midrash: "'And you shall swear, as Hashem lives, in truth' (Yirmiyahu 4:2)" — if these traits are found within you, and so on. The Sfas Emes opens with the pasu…
Receiving Gifts In Time· Essay 3
In the Midrash: "And they had abundant livestock" — there are three precious gifts, and so on, only when they come as a gift from Heaven, and so on, as it is written, "He has made everything beautiful in its time" (Koheles 3:11). The Midras…
תרל"ט(1878)
Elevating Speech Through Daily Acceptance· Essay 1
The Midrash expounds on the pasuk "And you shall swear, 'As Hashem lives,' in truth, in justice, and in righteousness" (Yirmiyahu 4:2). The Sfas Emes opens with a pasuk in Yirmiyahu in which the oath to Hashem must be made with three qualit…
Receiving Through The Torah· Essay 2
The Midrash teaches that there are three gifts, and continues: only when they are gifts of Heaven, etc. The Sfas Emes opens with a Midrash that lists three precious gifts, noting that their true value lies in their being gifts that come fro…
Matos תרל"ט #2 Essay
במדרש ג’ מתנות כו’ בזמן שהן מתנת שמים כו’. כבר כתבנו מזה כי בודאי מוכן הי’ חלק זה לבני גד ולבני ראובן. אבל הרצון שגם אותו החלק המוכן לאדם יחפוץ לקבלו ע”י התורה. וזהו עיקר עבודת האדם כי הבורא ית’ ברא העולם…
תר"מ(1879)
Matot — Opening· Essay 1
With the help of Heaven. The author’s traditional opening invocation at the start of Parshas Matot.
Inheriting Through Moshe Dveikus· Essay 2
Regarding Bnei Gad and Bnei Reuven I have written elsewhere in the name of the Rav of Pershischa, of blessed memory, who explained the words 'they had abundant livestock (mikneh rav)' to mean that they possessed an acquisition (kinyan) of d…
תרמ"ב(1881)
Oath of Daily Avodah· Essay 1
The Midrash expounds on the verse, "And you shall swear, 'As Hashem lives,' in truth (Yirmiyahu 4:2)." The Sfas Emes opens with a verse from Yirmiyahu about swearing truthfully in Hashem's Name, which he will now unpack. For behold, the ess…
Cleaving Through Our Possessions· Essay 2
And as the Midrash says on the verse "and to Him shall you cleave" (Devarim 11:22): Is it then possible to cleave to Hashem? Rather, one who marries off his daughter to a Torah scholar and lets him benefit from his possessions — of him it i…
תרמ"ג(1882)
Refining Middos Through Torah· Essay 1
In the Midrash on the verse "And you shall swear, 'As Hashem lives'" (Yirmiyahu 4:2), I have already written elsewhere on this matter. For it is written "and by His Name you shall swear" (Devarim 10:20) in the passive form, and likewise "an…
Rectifying Spoils Through Effort· Essay 2
Concerning the tax taken from the spoils of war. The piece opens by raising the topic of the levy taken from the booty captured in the war against Midyan. And also the matter of that which the officers of the thousands brought near, saying,…
Matos תרמ"ג #2 Essay
בענין המכס של המלקוח. וגם אשר הקריבו שרי האלפים עבדיך נשאו כו’ ונקרב כו’ קרבן כו’ לכפר על נפשותינו כו’ מה היו צריכים כפרה. אכן להיות שנק’ נקמה כמ”ש נקום נקמת בני ישראל ומשה רבינו ע”ה אמר נקמת ה̵…
תרמ"ה(1884)
תרמ"ו(1885)
Oral Torah Through Tefillin· Essay 1
Regarding the war against Midian, Chazal expounded on the verse 'Your teeth are like a flock of (the goats) [* the shorn ones]' (see Shir HaShirim 4:2) — that they are all paired evenly, for they did not put the tefillin of the head before …
Pride in Knowing Hashem· Essay 2
The Midrash, on the verse "and they had abundant livestock" (Bamidbar 32:1), brings the teaching of the three good gifts, along with the verse "Let not the wise man take pride in his wisdom... but rather in this let one who takes pride find…
תרמ"ז(1886)
תרמ"ט(1888)
תר"נ(1889)
תרנ"א(1890)
Shabbos Essence Of Speech· Essay 1
Chazal said that all the prophets prophesied with the words 'So says Hashem' (koh amar Hashem), but Moshe Rabbeinu was greater than them in that he prophesied with 'This is the thing' (zeh hadavar). Moshe Rabbeinu's prophecy was on a higher…
Binding Earthly Gifts Above· Essay 2
Regarding Bnei Reuven and Bnei Gad, the Midrash speaks of three gifts, etc., which come when one comes through the power of the Torah, etc.; as the pasuk says, "Let not the wise man boast" (Yirmiyahu 9:22), etc. See there regarding the vers…
תרנ"ד(1893)
תרנ"ו(1895)
תרנ"ח(1897)
Truth Empowers Binding Oaths· Essay 1
In the Midrash on the verse "And you shall swear, 'As Hashem lives,' in truth" (Yirmiyahu 4:2) — it is taught that you are not permitted to take an oath unless you possess these traits: "Hashem your God you shall fear" (Devarim 6:13), like …
Eretz Yisrael Through Torah· Essay 2
In the Midrash: "And the children of Reuven had abundant livestock" — there are three gifts in the world... when they come through the power of the Torah... The Midrash teaches that the world's gifts can be acquired in a lasting way when th…
תרנ"ט(1898)
תר"ס(1899)
Vows That Build Permanence· Essay 1
"And Moshe spoke to the heads of the tribes, etc., This is the matter, etc." (Bamidbar 30:2). And in the Midrash it is taught: even to swear truthfully you are not permitted, unless you possess these particular middos, etc. It is for this r…
Binding Deeds To Speech· Essay 2
The essence of a neder (vow) lies in the power of speech, for it is written, "And He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul" (Bereishis 2:7) — which Onkelos renders as "a speaking spirit"; therefore the …