"Instead of stinging nettle, myrtle will rise" (Isaiah 55:13)
 "Instead of evil, good will rise." (The Malbim's Interpretation)
Myrtle Rising
  • Blog
  • Comments Disabled
    • Privacy Policy
  • Aliyah
    • Mini-Intro
    • General Cultural Insights
    • School Tips
  • Kli Yakar Index
  • Most Popular
  • Contact

Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Mattot-Masei: Making the Right Choices

8/7/2021

0 Comments

 
In Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah for Parshas Matos-Masei 4 - Life and Free Will, he talks about the difference between living like an animal in This World vs. living like a human being with a God-given soul.

Living like an animal does not necessarily mean savage behavior.

It means living how bees live: automatically and carrying out vital functions by instinct.

Bees can't decide, "Oh, I don't feel like pollinating today. I'd rather watch cat videos."

A bee cannot decide to live the life of a bird nor can a bee get so hungover, it cannot show up for pollination.

Hashem could have created human beings to live like this, and we could have a very successful Olam Hazeh.

We could all go about doing automatically whatever we should be doing, and the amount of sin would descend tremendously.

However, we would miss out on Olam Haba.

Bees don't merit Olam Haba.

​Olam Haba must be earned.

​And Hashem wants us to have a delightful eternity.

The Meaning of Life

On page 11, Rav Miller gets down to the nitty-gritty meaning of life:
Hashem didn’t make you a bird or a bee after all – He gave you that very rare gift of free will, and so you have to spend some time thinking about this question.

It’s not a small question at all – you shouldn’t think it is just some idle kind of philosophical discussion that doesn’t require your attention.

​Oh no, this is the question of all questions, probably the greatest question you’ll ever face: “What should I do with this tremendous responsibility?”

After all, many people have spent their lives constantly choosing wrong and they’ve failed to accomplish in this world what they’re capable of.

The classic way to achieve this is by making for yourself a Rebbe, a Rav, a Mashgiach.

Women also have a Rebbetzin or a Mashpia.

Traditionally, Jewish women turned to a wiser (and usually older) female relative. They also turned to their father or husband—basically whoever was most qualified & available.

(Sori Krauz, about whom was written here: in-depth-book-review-soris-story-an-amazing-life-of-survival-faith.html, relied on her father as her incomparable rav & advisor until his death.)

​But a community also works for this.

We are very influenced by our environment, for better or for worse.

Rav Miller quotes his former chevruta in Slabodka & talmid chacham, Rav Aharon Birzher, who was murdered by the Nazis along with the rest of the Jews of Kurdaneh:

The best thing is that we should have yirat Shamayim (fear of God). But in case we don't manage it, then at least we should dwell in an environment of yirat Shamayim—an environment that forces us to be good.

All these influences provide a healthy framework for us to move around within.

They prevent us from being like an aimless boat in a churning ocean.

The Loss of Positive Influences

Rav Miller stresses the importance of physically living near your chosen rav.

Some aren't sure whom to choose, so Rav Miller advises to simply choose one because you can always switch later when you find someone better.

From personal experience, it's important to choose the best one possible, with the most uncompromising daat Torah & best middot.

Such a rav is getting harder to find, but truly desiring it, davening for it, and saying v'taknenu malkenu b'eitzah tovah milfanecha (found in Maariv before Shemoneh Esrei & the advice of Rav Levi Yitzchak Bender) helps achieve this.

​​On pages 16-17, Rav Miller briefly answers the questions so many people have on Shlomo Hamelech's marital choices.

​We used to have Neviim (Prophets) to tell us—and they told us the undiluted Truth!

It came straight from Hashem, without the Navi interjecting his own views or middot into it.

And even though it was the truth straight from Hashem, people could not always handle it.

Rav Miller makes this interesting observation (page 18):
It’s interesting to know that – a black man saved the life of Yirmiyah Hanavi.

The white Jews were afraid to save him because he had enemies but along came a black fellow, a slave, and he told the king, “Look! The navi is drowning in mud!”

So the king said, “Take blankets and ropes and run to save him.”

That’s how Yirmiyahu was saved.

We’re grateful to the black people for that!

​But we see that he had been put there to drown in mud.

And that's because Yirmiyah had a bitter tongue. It wasn't his tongue though – he spoke the words that Hakodosh Boruch Hu told him to speak.

But those instances of turning against a Navi proved exceptional.

Yet it told Hashem that people no longer held interest in what Hashem really wanted of them.

Listening to the Neviim could have saved them from Galut, but they'd drifted too far away at that point.

So a few older Neviim remained. But when they passed on, no one else arose to replace them.

​We should at least try to understand what we lost & what we still miss today.

Credit for all quotes & material goes to Toras Avigdor.

Don't forget to check out the Practical Tip on page 21.

And the Q&A on the last page.
Picture
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Privacy Policy

    Picture
    Please note this is an affiliate link. Meaning, I get a small cut but at NO extra cost to you. If you use it, I'm grateful. If not, you still get a giant mitzvah connected to Eretz Yisrael.


    Feedburner subscription no longer in operation. Sorry!

    Myrtle Rising

    I'm a middle-aged housewife and mother in Eretz Yisrael who likes to read and write a lot.


    Picture
    Sample Chapters

    Categories

    All
    Aliyah
    Anti Jewish Bigotry
    Anti-jewish-bigotry
    Astronomy
    Book Review
    Books
    Chagim/Holidays
    Chinuch
    Coronavirus
    Dictionaries
    Emuna
    Eretz Yisrael
    Erev Rav
    Gender
    Hitbodedut
    "If The Torah..."
    Jewish Astrology
    Kav Hayashar
    Kli Yakar
    Lashon Hara
    Love
    Me'am Loez
    Minchat Yehudah
    Mishlei/Proverbs
    Netivot Shalom
    Parenting
    Parsha
    Pele Yoetz
    Perek Shira
    Pesach
    Politics
    Prayer
    Purim
    Rav Avigdor Miller
    Rav Itamar Schwartz
    Rav L.Y. Bender
    Recipes
    "Regular" Jews
    Rosh Hashanah
    Society
    Sukkot
    Tammuz
    Technology
    Tehillim/Psalms
    Teshuvah
    The Lost Princess
    Tisha B'Av
    USA Scary Direction
    Women
    Yom Kippur

    Jewish Blogs

    Daf Yomi Review
    Derech Emet
    Going...Habayitah
    Halacha Q&A
    Hava haAharona
    Miriam Adahan
    My Perspective

    Shirat Devorah
    Tomer Devorah
    Toras Avigdor
    True Tzaddikim
    Tznius Blog

    Yeranen Yaakov
    Rabbi Ofer Erez (Hebrew lectures)

    Jewish Current Events

    Hamodia
    Sultan Knish
    Tomer Devorah
    Yeranen Yaakov

    Jewish Health

    People Smarts

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015

    RSS Feed

    Copyright Notice

    ©2015-2023 Myrtle Rising
    Excerpts and links may be used without express permission as long as a link is provided back to the appropriate Myrtle Rising page.

Home/Blog

Most Popular

Kli Yakar in English

Aliyah

Contact

Copyright © 2023
Photos used under Creative Commons from Brett Jordan, BAMCorp, Terrazzo, Abode of Chaos, Michele Dorsey Walfred, marklordphotography, M.Burak Erbaş, torbakhopper, jhritz, Rina Pitucci (Tilling 67), Svadilfari, kum111, Tim simpson1, FindYourSearch, Giorgio Galeotti, ChrisYunker, Jaykhuang, YourCastlesDecor, bluebirdsandteapots, Natalia Medd, Stefans02, Israel_photo_gallery, Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet, BradPerkins, zeevveez, dfarrell07, h.koppdelaney, Edgardo W. Olivera, nafrenkel88, zeevveez, mtchlra, Liz | populational, TraumaAndDissociation, thinboyfatter, garofalo.christina, skpy, Free Grunge Textures - www.freestock.ca, Nerru, Gregory "Slobirdr" Smith, trendingtopics, dolbinator1000, DonkeyHotey, zeevveez, erix!, zeevveez, h.koppdelaney, MAURO CATEB, kevin dooley, keepitsurreal, annikaleigh, bjornmeansbear, publicdomainphotography, Leonard J Matthews, Exile on Ontario St, Nicholas_T, marcoverch, planman, PhilWolff, j_lai, t.kunikuni, zeevveez, Ian W Scott, Brett Jordan, RonAlmog, Bob Linsdell, NASA Goddard Photo and Video, aaron_anderer, ** RCB **, Tony Webster, mypubliclands, AntonStetner, Zachi Evenor, MrJamesBaker, sammydavisdog, Frode Ramone, Wonder woman0731, wrachele, kennethkonica, Skall_Edit, Pleuntje, Rennett Stowe, *S A N D E E P*, symphony of love, AlexanderJonesi, Arya Ziai, ePublicist, Enokson, Tony Webster, Art4TheGlryOfGod, seaternity, Andrew Tarvin, zeevveez, Israel_photo_gallery, Iqbal Osman1, Matt From London, Tribes of the World, Eric Kilby, miracle design, RonAlmog, slgckgc, Kim Scarborough, DonkeyHotey, Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com, h.koppdelaney, gleonhard, Pedro Travassos, nociveglia, RonAlmog, Israel_photo_gallery, Septemia, Paulann_Egelhoff, Tatiana12, MAD Hippies Life, Neta Bartal, milesgehm, shooting brooklyn, RonAlmog, smilygrl, gospelportals, leighblackall, symensphotographie, zeevveez, Kyknoord, wotashot (taking a break), Tambako the Jaguar, bitmask, Arnie Sacknooson, mattymatt, Rob Swystun, zeevveez, Dun.can, Tim Patterson, timeflicks, garlandcannon, HRYMX, fred_v, Yair Aronshtam, zeevveez, Ron Cogswell, FindYourSearch, Israel_photo_gallery, Serendipity Diamonds, zeevveez, Steve Corey, Dominic's pics, leighklotz, Stefans02, dannyman, RonAlmog, Stephen O, RonAlmog, Tips For Travellers, Futurilla, anomalous4, Bob Linsdell, symphony of love, andydr, sara~, Gamma Man, Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com, robef, European Southern Observatory, Brett Jordan, Johnny Silvercloud, Israel_photo_gallery, smkybear, --Sam--, Paulann_Egelhoff, Selena Sheridan, D'oh Boy, campbelj45ca, 19melissa68, entirelysubjective, Leimenide, dheera.net, Brett Jordan, HonestReporting.com, Iqbal Osman1, One Way Stock, Jake Waage, picto:graphic, Marcelo Alves, KAZVorpal, Sparkle Motion, Brett Jordan, Ambernectar 13, Howdy, I'm H. Michael Karshis, Steven DuBois, Cristian V., tortuga767, Jake Cvnningham, D'oh Boy, Eric Kilby, quinn.anya, Lenny K Photography, One Way Stock, Bird Eye, ell brown, Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com, Kevin M. Gill, lunar caustic, gerrybuckel, quinn.anya, Kaz Andrew, kodomut, kayugee, jintae kim's photography, Futurilla, terri_bateman, Patty Mooney, Amydeanne, Paulann_Egelhoff, Mulling it Over, Ungry Young Man, Ruth and Dave, yangouyang374, symphony of love, kennethkonica, young@art, Brett Jordan, slgckgc, Celestine Chua, rkimpeljr, Kristoffer Trolle, TooFarNorth, D'oh Boy, Grace to You, LittleStuff.me, Kevin M. Gill, philozopher, traveltipy.com, Alan Cleaver, crazyoctopus, d_vdm, tonynetone, penjelly, TheToch, JohnE777, hello-julie, DaveBleasdale, Michael Candelori Photography, andessurvivor, slgckgc, byzantiumbooks, sasha diamanti