Parasha Thoughts
By Rabbi Shemuel Akhamzadeh
×›Ö¼Ö´×™Ö© יְהוָ֨ה ×ֱלֹהֶ֜יךָ מִתְהַלֵּ֣ךְ ×€ בְּקֶ֣רֶב ×žÖ·×—Ö²× Ö¶Ö—×šÖ¸ לְהַצִּֽילְךָ֙ וְלָתֵ֤ת ×ֹיְבֶ֙יךָ֙ ×œÖ°×¤Ö¸× Ö¶Ö”×™×šÖ¸ וְהָיָ֥ה ×žÖ·×—Ö²× Ö¶Ö–×™×šÖ¸ ×§Ö¸×“Ö‘×•Ö¹×©× ×•Ö°×œÖ¹Ö½×־יִרְ×ֶ֤ה בְךָ֙ עֶרְוַ֣ת דָּבָ֔ר וְש×ָ֖ב מֵ×ַחֲרֶֽיךָ׃ (ס)
Since the LORD your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you, let your camp be holy; let Him not find anything unseemly among you and turn away from you. Devarim 23:15
The Chofetz Chaim writes that dressing and acting modestly is a very special Mitzvah, so much so that it is the ONLY mitzvah that carries the consequence of losing Hashem’s Hashgacha/Providence if not performed. Keeping this mitzvah will bring Hashem’s constant protection as he will be in our midst.
On Rosh Chodesh Tamuz of the year 5684, Over 93 years ago and a couple of years before the outbreak of World War Two, the Chofetz Chaim penned a letter to the Rabbanim of different communities all over Europe to warn them about the dire consequences of immodesty. He begged them to try everything in their ability to fix the problem. He writes regarding all the suffering and situations turning for the worse in every corner of the world for the Jewish communities:
” … I was thinking that the main reason is due to us pushing Hashem away from ourselves. He commanded us to act and be holy ….and in another verse states : Since the LORD your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you, let your camp be holy; let Him not find anything unseemly among you and turn away from you. Devarim 23:15 . As we see the words of the Torah are explicit that when we are Kadosh/ holy Hashem will walk in our midst to protect us from all suffering, and if C’V he sees anything unseemly amongst us he will step back from our camp, and then all suffering….”
To end his letter the Chofetz Chaim begs everyone to help and fix the dire situation. May we merit to have a Machane Kadosh / Holy Camp.