VOLUME 117 NUMBER 5
Elul 5, 5785
August 29, 2025
Parshas Shoftim
Candlelighting Time 7:17
Hashem guarantees us that a prophet will come forth from amongst the nation. The Torah states this saying that he will appear from your brethren, your very own brothers. It would seem that it would have been more appropriate to have said that he would be chosen from the people. Why is the terminology employed refer to our brothers?
S’fas Emes brings to bear a point that is valid in general but more specifically involving our merit to have guidance from a prophet. He explains that a prophet is a gift to the nation in general, therefore it is incumbent upon the nation to indeed deserve such support from Hashem. We deserve such superlative treatment from Hashem when there is brotherly love amongst us. When there is dissension within our ranks then we don’t have the need because we first must have a unified and combined nation and then we can together, as a group with a desire to have a joint goal move forward to accomplish and achieve with the strength of the multitudes supporting our objectives.
S’fas Emes continues that Torah in general requires that we must coalesce and blend together in order to truly merit Torah within our ranks. Torah is not just Heavenly wisdom it is the ultimate wisdom of Hashem that He endows us with. If we identify with Hashem as one fused group working in tandem without conflict or discord afflicting us then Hashem will grant us the Torah and we will receive it and merit to study its entirety. However, if we don’t conduct ourselves accordingly, then Hashem will, of course, not bestow upon us His treasure, the Torah. Then he adds another important factor in our search and struggle to understand Torah, Hashem’s word. Moshe himself who conveyed Torah to us directly from Hashem also is considered a national asset and therefore to have that resource entails a cooperative movement on behalf of the nation to insure that we had Moshe in that generation to guide and instruct the people how to serve Hashem.
Brisker Rav makes gives us an incredible insight into the greatness of our nation. He deduces from Rashi in the parsha that not only is there a parsha that one can become a prophet but more than that we are guaranteed that prophecy will continue to exist within our ranks. To align his remarks with that of the S’fas Emes we must assume that once the nation was of such stature to gain the benefit of prophets in our midst, then Hashem promised that it would be ongoing. So great was the need and so worthy was our people that prophecy continued for thousands of years until the time of the Men of the Great Assembly. And truth be told, the Rav explains further than even then prophecy would have continued however we were punished and no longer worthy of that benefit from Hashem.
Even though we are no longer worthy of that gift of prophecy, the Talmud states that there still exists a level of prophecy called the ‘Divine Spirit.’ Of course, only great men of extraordinary stature attain that connection with Hashem but even in our generation Rav Chaim Kanievsky was reputed to have had that relationship with Hashem. Hashem has not abandoned His people and still there are ways for Him to communicate His Will to the nation.
A BYTE FOR SHABBOS
The tribe of Levi did not inherit any land in Israel and therefore the rest of the nation was indebted to provide for them. Nowadays those who dedicate their lives to study Torah have the same status of the tribe of Levi and the nation is obligated to support them to enable them to study Torah. CHOFETZ CHAIM
GOOD SHABB0S
