Gidon’s Barley-Bread Dream: The Korban HaOmer, Purim, and the Power of Achdus

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. Sheftim perek zayin, Gideon goes to milchamah against Midyan. Pesukim tell us how even after all the simanim that the Ribono Shel Olam gave him that he'll be matzliach, he was still afraid. He was still scared. Doktor Ribono Shel Olam in pasuk, Vayehi balaylah hu, vayomer eilav, kum reid bamachaneh. Gideon, you're ready to go to war. You know what? Sneak up into the machaneh, v'nishmativ b'yadecha. You're going to win this milchamah. I'm reassuring you. V'im yarei atah laredes, pasuk yud, if you are still afraid, reid atah u'Phurah naarcha el hamachaneh. You know what? Go down with Phurah and spy on the machaneh. And what you'll hear over there will reassure you that you will win. V'shamata mah yedaberu. You'll hear what they're talking amongst themselves. V'achar tizchakekna yadecha. You'll feel strong. V'yaradta bamachaneh, and then you'll come down and you'll fight against the machaneh. Pasuk says he did so. Vayered hu u'Phurah naaro. He went down with Phurah, his servant, el ketzei hachamushim asher bamachaneh, with all the people that were in the machaneh, all the Midyanim, as mashma in Chazal, there were Amalekim, there was from many nations gathered there. U'Midyan va'Amalek v'chol bnei kedem noflim b'emek ka'arbeh larov. They were like locusts; there were so many. U'legmaleihem ein mispar. And to their donkeys there were so many, and obviously that was a form, right, the camels, that was obviously a form of milchamah, k'chol shafas hayam larov. Kitzur, he sees that it's a big, it's a big army he has to fight. Vayavo Gidon. Yet Gideon comes. V'hinei ish megid me'achiv. There's a person mesaper l're'eihu. He tells his friend, Chalom. A dream. Gatta chalom. Vayomer, Hinei chalom chalamti, v'hinei tzlil lechem, it's a loaf of bread, se'orim, made out of barley, misape'ach ba'machaneh. It's rolling around. This is the dream I had. A bread of barley is rolling around in the machaneh Midyan, of Midyan. Vayavo ad ha'ohel, it comes to the tent, vayakehu, hits the tent, vayipol, the tent falls, vayahafchehu l'ma'alah, and the tent gets turned over, v'nafal ha'ohel, and the ohel falls down. Vaya'an re'eihu. So the friend says to him, Is this your chalom that you had, that the bread is rolling, this barley bread is rolling? Vayomer, Ein zois bilti, it's cherev Gidon. It's clear that it's the cherev of Gidon ben Yoash ish Yisrael. That means that Gidon is going to come and win the war. He's going to conquer us. Nasan Elokim b'yado es Midyan v'es kol ha'machaneh. Hi kishmaya giden. When Gidon hears this, es mishpachas hachalom v'es sivroi, which means the chalom itself, the story of the chalom, and its interpretation that the Midyani gave, vayishtachu. He bows down to the Ribbono Shel Olam, vayashov machnei Yisrael, vayomer, Kumu. Abaisai, we're getting up, we're going. Tumulchama ki Hashem b'yadchem. It's machnei Midyan. So l'choira, the reassurance came from a chalom, a dream. What was the dream? Se'orim. What was the significance of the se'orim? What's the pshat in the chalom? Why is the chalom about se'orim? Chazal talk about it, the Rishonim talk about it. Im yirtzeh Hashem, we'll have a clearer picture after we go through a little bit of the Chazal. Why the se'orim? What was the nekudah? The bread, the bread was misapek. It rolled around. Mesilas Yesharim, some sefer that explains the rolling around. But it seems to be se'orim bedavka. I guess you're able to tell on a piece of bread if it's se'orim, if it's a barley bread or a wheat bread. But in the chalom, it was so clear, the detail. It's a chalom, yeah? Imagine a person has a chalom, and he says about bread. You think he would be that clear in the chalom that it should be a...

Certain type of bread. Yes, you see from the pasuk that it was so clear, it was clear that it was se'orim. What's the se'orim? What's the yesod? What's the kavanah behind this chalom? So first of all, we have to discuss lahalacha: is a person allowed to go to war based on a chalom? The dream, the dream is mamash, you're right, it's a good sign, it's a good omen, v'mazak the English. So, mimeila, ein l'milchamah al beit af a chalom. Obviously, this is not my shailah. All the Rishonim, b'chovos halevavos, b'rosham, ask this shailah. So there's two shailos here. First of all, there's a halacha of nichush, chaveirim, which means there's a sugya called a person is not allowed to act upon a good omen. Let's discuss this halacha. The Rambam, in Hilchos Avodah Zarah, perek yud aleph, halacha daled, says, Ein menachshin kegoyim, shene'emar, Lo senachashu. You're not allowed to do nichush like the goyim. What is nichush? So the Rambam himself says, Keitzad hu hanichush? What is nichush? Kegon eilu she'omrim, Hilu venaflah piti. A good omen, the bread fell, it's a sign. My stick fell, so on and so forth, all the omens that we know today. Signs and signals, ah, it must be. This is called nichush, and it's asur because of darkei haEmori. Interesting, the Rambam discusses how Eliyahu Eved Avraham did that. Eliezer, eved Avraham, the Rambam continues, did the same thing. He was menachesh. He said, If it'll come out the way I asked the Ribono Shel Olam, ah, it's a siman. Ah, siman? Siman is nichush. Im yered li kach v'kach eser, davar ploni lo yered lo ye'aseh, k'Eliezer eved Avraham, v'chol kiotze b'dvarim ha'eilu, hakolas. So wait a minute, Eliezer did something wrong? Fregt the Ra'avad, what are you—vos retst the Rambam? You give me an example of what's asur from Eliezer, charaif in Eliezer, that he did it, that it must be mutar. Says the Ra'avad, eino chen, nami shibush gadol. This is a tremendous mistake on the Rambam's part, sheharei davar zeh mutar. This is not stam, it's mutar, and then he writes, u'mutar hu. It's mutar and definitely mutar. Ve'ulai yitehu halashon shera, kol nachash she'eino k'Eliezer. He made a mistake in learning Gemara Chulin. There's not enough time to go through the Gemara Chulin, but al kol panim, he says this is 100% good. And then the Rambam continues—I'm sorry, the Ra'avad continues—V'lo hi ela hachi kama, eino re'ui lismoch alav, v'eich chashvu hatzaddikim kemoisam aveirah zu? You think that these tzaddikim, they made aveirah? It can't be. It can't be, and it must be a big mistake on the Rambam's part. So we have here a big machlokes rishonim if someone is allowed to say, If the sign goes a certain way, then I'll do a certain thing. According to the Rambam, it's asur, and according to the Ra'avad... Not only it's mutter, as we find from Eliezer and on, that it's been done. So the shaila becomes not according to the Raivid, but according to the Rambam, according to the Rambam, that you're not allowed to make a sign. So based on a sign, he went to a milchamah. The sign was the chalom. Was this mutter? Was this allowed? So let me tell you, if it wasn't for the Chovos HaLevavos himself that asked this kasha. It's a mefurash Chovos HaLevavos. In Shaar Yichud HaMa'aseh, perek hei, where the Chovos HaLevavos says a person is not allowed to follow signs, but he has to have full emunah and bitachon in the Borei Olam. Ah, you'll ask me gidon, the tzaddik, the shofet Gidon. He made a sign with a dream, and he followed that sign. This was the signal to go to milchamah. What do you mean, a sign? Taman tihyeh. And for the Chovos HaLevavos, what you said. Very pashut, the Eibishter sent him. It's a different story, says the Chovos HaLevavos. Here the Ribono Shel Olam sent him to go listen to what they're talking in the machaneh. The Ribono Shel Olam said, Go down with Purah and listen. Pay attention to what they're saying.

Ebazei, zvelt muter. Azei zogt the chovos halevavos klal. Okay, let's discuss maybe another pshat, and that is, there's a Ran. The Ran says what type of signs are asur? Signs which have no meaning, foolish signs. Omens, black cats, ... okay? Things that we make up on our own. This is just something over the— it is, the bread fell, so what? So the bread fell. But this says the Ran, this is not an omen. This is a serious thing, a chalom, a chalom ba'echad ha'tzanis. So we can have from the Sefer Chasidim, siman reish mem daled, that the Sefer Chasidim says, pay attention to chalomos, serious things, dreams, because you see Gidon went to war based on a chalom. So you see, rabosai, all I did was use the leshonos of the Rishonim, and I started the shiur with that. Could one go to milchamah based on a chalom? Is really a Sefer Chasidim who proves from Gidon, yes, that a chalom is something serious enough, a dream is something serious enough, that you should go to milchamah based on a dream. Azei zogt the Sefer Chasidim, the peirush in siman reish mem daled. So then what becomes a problem of nichush? When it's something which is not serious. Nudnik, drei takkap, he has signs, reizvas, narishkeiten, stuff that the goyim make up. These Fridays and those Fridays, I don't even want to speak it out, Friday the— ... drei takkap. Beit omens that the guy you make up is called darkei ha'emori. This is something which makes a lot of sense. This is something which is real. This is something which is a serious chalom. Now, if you notice, the guy uses an interesting lashon. He tells his friend, Chalem chalamti. Who else used that lashon? Remember who used the lashon chalem chalamti? Paroh. Chalem chalamti. The mefarshim say, Va'lishtanos hachalom — Rashi brings it down — va'lishtanos hachalom pa'amayim. Yosef said, Oh, he had it twice. How do we know he had it twice? Because chalom chalamti. And here too it says what? Chalem chalamti. So maybe double lashon — it's not my pshat, I saw it in the mefarshim — the double lashon implies that he was trying to say serious, that the chalom was a serious thing. Chalem chalamti. It was a serious chalom. And notice that he was able to remember the detail, like I speak out in the beginning of the shiur. You know what it is to remember exactly that it was lechem se'orim? Could you imagine a chalom that's so real and it's so alive that he can remember the detail of what type of bread we're talking about? This is chalom chalamti — it was a serious chalom. And if it's a serious chalom, so Gidon took it serious. Gidon says, Oy bazoi, oy bazoi, I go l'milchamah. Abeisai, I'm thinking of another two pshat. They're both nogea to the shiur; it's both in the context of the shiur. You know, if you notice, it says that Gidon hears the dream and shivroi, which means its interpretation. Which means he paid attention to the interpretation that the goy gave. Which means it wasn't just that he heard the chalom, but he heard the chalom, and he heard the way the goy interpreted the chalom, shivroi, which means its interpretation. Oh, so it means it wasn't just that the chalom was assigned to him, but the interpretation that the goy interpreted was part of the sign. We all know the Gemara tells us, Kol hachalomos holechin achar ha-pisron. It's like Gemara in Brachos. So maybe, maybe, Rav Eisai, Gidon says, Gevaldik, the goy's language poshut is a chalom, and hakol holech achar ha-pisron; I'm mekabel it, gevaldik. Maybe that's the pshat, huh? Maybe the fact that Gidon sees that the goy, and the other guy accepts it, that this is the pisron of the chalom, das ha-layim, velt on metzius fun dem pisron fun dem chalom.

Nefesh. Nefesh keman zogn, gara pshat, another pshat, beisai. And that is, who says it had anything to do with the wall, with the chalom, I mean? Maybe the fact that the goy interpreted it this way is the pshat, because the goy was afraid, and that's what he was thinking about all day. And mimeila, we have another Gemara that every chalom goes after what a person thinks throughout the day. It reflects what the mensch tacht in aveinik, in himself, within what he thinks throughout the day, comes out in the chalom. So maybe it was a sign where the goyim were holding. You're being afraid of them. I think they know something that you don't know, that they're afraid they're going to lose. And that itself was a chizuk to Gidon, to go l'milchamah. And we invert all the shailah of all the rishonim. It has nothing to do with simanim. It has to do with, you know what, go pay attention and see where they're holding. When he sees how afraid they are, and the raya is, because look, there was a chalom, and look how they interpreted the chalom, which means that's what's on their mind, that's what they're thinking, that's what they're afraid of. Mimeila, you should be strong and go l'milchamah, and it's really meduyak in the pasuk. It says in the pasuk, V'im yarei atah laredes, v'shamata mah yedaberu. Listen to what they speak, pasuk yud aleph, v'achar techazek yadecha. You'll get strong. Listen to their schmooze. Listen to their sicha between themselves, their chatter, the chatter between themselves. You'll see that maybe they're more afraid than you are, Golgol of a chama. And that itself will give you chizuk. I went to look if anybody says this pshat. I found Nachlas Shimon, Reb Shimon Krasner, shlita from Baltimore. He has a very nice sefer on Tanach. He also learns this pshat. I think it's a pretty glatta pshat, that the chizuk, that it was nothing to do with the nichush and the dream, and you don't have to go through all that. Just the fact that this is the way they interpreted the dream is the chashimim, they're more afraid than you are. And that gave him chizuk. Problem is, it's not mashma like that in the pasuk. It seems to be that the dream was the defining fact that Gidon is going to win the war. It's not so much that he secured him that they're afraid. It seems that the dream itself was a serious message to him, a lesson to him, a message from Shamayim. Zeh l'choireh is mashma from the pesukim, that the chalom itself is what led him to believe that he's going to win the war. So we come back to the shaila: what's the pshat in the chalom? So, rabosai, let me tell you what I think pshat is. What is the chalom? The se'irim. What role does the se'irim—it seems like the se'irim is a big part of the message here. What's the reason for the se'irim? So there's a ma'amar, Sam Sofer. Sam Sofer says, it's interesting, it's rolling. Yeah? What's the rolling? What's the idea of the rolling bread? Okay, so when you walk out of the shiur, the rolling loaf of bread. What is the rolling loaf? So, says the Sam Sofer, rolling means mutar asur, mutar asur, mutar asur. Okay? It's a heilige Sam Sofer, chavertei. Mutar asur, mutar asur, mutar asur. Says the Sam Sofer, that I told you from Satmar Rav zichrono livracha, that he remembered when they passed by the butcher shops, they used to have the neon lights: kosher, basar kosher, on and off, right? So Satmar Rav flicks, I'm all kosher, I'm all nit kosher, I'm all kosher, I'm all nit kosher. That was his humor to say, on and off. So the heilige Sam Sofer, on and off. It's the same thing. The bread is aser, mutar, aser, mutar, aser, mutar. What's the pshat? Midyan had a hold on Klal Yisroel. Because they had a hold...

Klal Yisroel, they gave taxes. The halacha is, Tosafos paskens, that if the goyim have a kinyan through the fact that they have on you a hold, or through the taxes, you're mufka from trumos and maasros. It has to be your land, and if it's not your land, meaning the goy has the kinyan in it, and even the fact that he just has a kinyan through misim, through taxes, it's his land and you're patur from trumos and maasros. Zogt the Chasam Sofer, you'd be patur from chadash. There would be no issur chadash. So now let's talk about the loaf of bread. The loaf of bread started off that it was mutar because of Midyan. Yidden, you're gonna win, so now becomes Klal Yisroel gets back Eretz Yisroel, now it became aser. What day is this story taking place? Rashi tells us it was Pesach in the morning. Remember the original dream, Pesach in the morning? The korban omer. It all ties in. From the first time he meets the malach, he was cutting the omer. It was Yom Sheini shel Pesach. Here it's Yom Sheini shel Pesach. Now the omer becomes mutar through the korban, and that's the rolling loaf. So when you walk out of this shiur, you remember the rolling loaf. What is the rolling loaf? Mutar asa, asa mutar, mutar asa. It started off that it was mutar because it belonged to the goy, zogt the Chasam Sofer. Yidden is gonna win back Eretz Yisroel, so now belongs to the Yid, vert es aser. But since they're gonna be makriv the korban, vert chadash mutar. And that was the sign, says the Chasam Sofer. Like that, heilige ... safe. So he says, you see in the cholim, the pshat that Gideon is going to win. That's where you see the nitzachon. That's what he says, Gideon, from the cholim itself, you see the nitzachon of Gideon. Rabosai, I would like to offer another pshat. Baruch Hashem, we have enough time for it. And this will be an introduction to Purim, Purim vikurimta. Chazal tell us, and this Rashi quotes a ... that the omer, like I told you, was Yom Sheini. B'schus havoas ha'omer, you're going to be nitzel. The milchamah, the milchamah was won in the zechus of the korban omer that they bring. That's the lechem se'orim, the zechus of the se'orim. Do you remember in history, in what other juncture were we saved from a tremendous tragedy because of the korban omer? Purim. The Gemara tells us in Megillah, tezayin amud aleph, that because of the korban omer, the kinderlach were sitting and learning with Mordechai Tzadik, kmitzah omer. They were learning the halachos of omer, b'schus d'alka korban omer, that's it, they're going to win. They're not going to fall in my hands. Remember such a Gemara? Hey, Purim, d'alka korban omer. How does korban omer, how does korban omer bring yeshuah? You ever think about it? I'm a פירוש'ע Gemara. Not the Korban Omer. What's in the Korban Omer? A pshat, I can learn the eisa Gemara, no? So the pashut pshat in the Gemara is, meheira yibaneh HaMikdash. They were hoping that the Beis HaMikdash will be rebuilt. I've spoken to you in the past about it, that the geulah and yeshuah of Klal Yisrael come when Klal Yisrael hopes and longs for the yeshuah, when they think, meheira yibaneh HaMikdash, that itself brings the yeshuah. Not enough time to go into that, im yirtzeh Hashem maybe before Purim again. But al kol panim, Rav Eizai, is it specific to omer? Chayav or not? Or the efshiya? Efshi is specific to omer, and the omer saved us at the time of Mordechai, and it saves us at the time of Gideon. How do I know this? Let me tell you over a megedike meshech chochmah. Pella, mamash a pelladike Meshech Chochmah, almost a hidden Meshech Chochmah. I don't know how many people know this Meshech Chochmah. It's at the end of Shemos, it's on the haftorah of Shabbos HaGadol. Zogt der Meshech Chochmah: V'avad Hashem minchas Yehudah v'Yerushalayim kimei olam. Olam means sweet. Olam, it's going to become sweet, the minchas Yehudah v'Yerushalayim like it always was. What does that mean? Sweet, he says, has two leshonos: masaik and ar.

Zis is the meshech. Masik means it's inherently sweet. Sugar is inherently sweet. Orev is when you mix other things in it, then it becomes sweet. He says like this: when you come and you take a mincha, notice that a mincha cannot be a korban tzibur. There's no such a thing—I'm sorry, a korban yachid. I'm not saying it properly. The inyan of the mincha can't be in a korban tzibur. A yachid brings a korban, nefesh ki sachta. The yachid brings a korban mincha. All of a sudden, we have over here Minchas haOmer, which is a korban tzibur. So how did it become a korban tzibur? Because Klal Yisrael unites as one, zugt the Meshech Chochma, u'memeila ven zei vern eins, kumen brengen a korban mincha. I'll read it, you know, I'll read it. Zehu Minchas haOmer, pshat, shehayu nichshavim l'tzibur because they became a tzibur, u'klaliyusam shakul keneged kol midyan Amalek. So when Klal Yisrael unites, there is nothing in Midyan Amalek that could even come close to them. Shekol echad miYisrael shakul harbeh, yecholim l'hakriv mincha, u'se'oirim, lekah b'yachid, rak b'tzibur. So the se'oirim is never a Minchas Yachid; it's only a Minchas Tzibur with this korban, to teach me that when they come together, they become a tzibur. He says, a meiridige vort. He says by Esav we find it says nefashos. Mashen kein by Yaakov it says kol nefesh haba l'Beis Yaakov, that only by Klal Yisrael could they become one nefesh, the tzibur. By Milchemes says nefesh, Klal Yisroel is able to unite, and v'orva laShem, because a mitzvah Hashem and Moshiach comes, this is going to be the areivus, that Klal Yisroel unites, and the meileh v'orva. This is sweet by the Ribono Shel Olam, like the mincha, the inyan of the mincha. I said it b'kitzur, because of the time, so I didn't go through it more b'arichus. One was Haman's ikar ta'ina against Klal Yisroel: Yesh am echad, mefuzar u'meforad bein ha'amim. There was no achdus, u'meileh there was an inyan of shekalim. What were the shekalim? Machatzis hashekel, the pasuk says, two become one. So notice that besides for the omer, what is the other thing that causes the yeshuah on the time of Mordechai? The shekalim. The two things, the shekalim hikdimu shekalayhem l'shekalav and the korban omer, because it's yesod are both the same. The shekalim is the taich that two unite as one, and this becomes yesh na echad, the tikkun for the yesh na echad mefuzar u'meforad bein ha'amim. It's a ameiredige shtikel. The minute Haman sees korban omer—remember, when you read it, omer, remember the Meshech Chochmah. I want to tell you even more. The Meshech Chochmah is at the end of Shemos, naftoir of Shabbos Hagadol, a gem, and he goes further. How does the story of Gideon start? Vayidal Yisrael. Interesting lashon. That's how the history of the tekufah starts; we learned it in the perek vav, Vayidal. Moshen dav. Says the Gemara, the Chazal, the Yalkut, what's Vayidal? Shelo hayu yecholim l'hakriv minchah. I have enough to be makriv a minchah? What are you talking about? They were that poor. What does it mean? He says they couldn't be makriv a minchah as a tzibur because they lacked tzibur to become yachid, to be able to make the korban minchah. ... Vayidal. What does it mean, Vayidal? They became poor? They became poor that they can't bring a minchah, meaning that they weren't able to become echad, joined together b'achdus, to make a minchah in a korban tzibur. So the tikun of that was, lechem s'ugim. And that was the remez to Gideon. The remez to Gideon is that the lechem s'ugim, they're going to be makriv a korban se'orim, and with this se'orim you can break the ohel of Midyan. With this you're able to break the ohel of Midyan. I want to tell you one more interesting nekudah in the Meshech Chochmah. Meshech Chochmah says, what's the pshat that they were that poor and they couldn't make a tzibur? Because they were doing avodah zarah.

When you do avodah zarah in Klal Yisrael, that itself is mafrid. Why? Because what unites is the Torah. But this embarks, this lodges, and makes us all nifrad, is when everybody is doing their own thing and not united under the, quote unquote, the banner of Torah and mitzvahs. Okay. How did he see yesh na mechod mefuzar umeforad bein ha'amim? How did he see? Where did it just tell us? What, he went into the house and he saw them fighting? I mean, I never understood this, that he went to the seudah. Chazal tell us they went to the seudah. Went to the seudah. So then once the ta'ich, bisto Chazalvy ends, you're coming, you want to be like and assimilate just like the goy. So, memeila you're nifrad. And when you're nifrad, you're worthless. You're nothing. You're me'at min ha'amim. You're the nothing among the nations. When a Yid goes where he shouldn't go, he stands out as a nobody among them. That's when Klal Yisrael unites in the beis medrash, in Torah and avodah, then they have an echad, they have a koach. Yesh na mechod mefuzar umeforad bein ha'amim. That itself means that they're mefuzar umeforad amongst themselves. They like it. It's emes. How is Haman—you think Haman went around looking, oh, look, ... Torah and beis... Mos veiser. He sees that they come to the seudah. You don't belong here. You stand out. And you're trying to belong. That itself separates you from the other Yid. It's when you stand separate, that's when you become one. That's how you... And that's really what the Meshech Chochmah is saying, and that's the vayidal, they couldn't bring a korban minchah. And if they couldn't bring a korban minchah, now, se'oirim is telling us, oh, they're bringing the korban, and they're able to unite. And who knows if this is not because of Gidon, who stands there and ta'ines zechus for Klal Yisrael, one person caring for the rest of Klal Yisrael. Leich b'kochacha zu. This is what the Chazal tell us, that the Ribbono Shel Olam says, I appreciate the fact that you, Gidon, stood up to save the rest of Klal Yisrael. That itself is the inyan of the achdus, and maybe that's the cherev Gidon, loshon. What was the pisron? Even though the goy said it, it's not a... but the goy said, it's what ein zois bilti im cherev Gidon. This, the leich b'kochacha zu, Gidon's cherev is what, Rabosai, that he stands up, unites Klal Yisrael. He stands up caring. He says, What's going to be? Ayei kol niflo'osav? The cherev of Gidon, through the omer, through the achdus, is the mapalah to the oyel of Midyan. You've just experienced another Torah class, brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.