Torah Lishmah

By Rabbi Berach Steinfeld
The gemara in Nazir, daf chof gimmel, amud bais and Sanhedrin, daf kuf heh, amud bais and in Horiyus, daf yud gimel, amud bais quotes Rav Yehuda in the name of Rav that one should learn Torah and do mitzvos even if it is not done lishma because the act that was not lishma will end up being lishma. We find that in the z’chus of the forty two korbanos that Balak brought, he was zocheh to have Rus as his granddaughter.
The gemara says that the reason shelo lishma is okay is because one will reach lishma eventually, yet we see that Balak never reached lishma. How was he then zocheh to having such a wonderful reward of Rus as his descendant?

A. Heimowitz
Rashi tells us the start of problem of the meraglim was,“שלח לך אנשים”  the fact that the initiative wasn’t from Hashem but from Bnei Yisroel which was a lack of trust and emuna. The Rashi is puzzling as Hashem granted the request to see Eretz Yisroel, so where within asking was it sinful? Secondly, from their perspective, if there was deterrence and roadblocks to their promised dreams would Hashem have wanted them to suppress their feelings? 

by Avrohom Gordimer
 
The mitzvah of Pesach Sheni, introduced in our parshah, raises a few questions. 
Firstly, there is no other mitzvah which the Torah provides a second chance to fulfill in the event that one did not perform the mitzvah in its required time. If a person misses Keri’as Shema, Teki’as Shofar, Achilas Matzah, or any other mitzvah within its appointed period, there is no opportunity to make it up later. What is it about the mitzvah of Korban Pesach, the Pesach Sacrifice, that is different, such that the Torah provides an opportunity – actually, an obligation – to make it up if missed?
 

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