In this week's parsha, Hashem tells Moshe to appoint Yehoshua to become his successor. The Rambam in Mishne Torah asks why specifically Yehoshua merited to be selected. There were other more qualified candidates, like Elazar and Pinchas, who surpassed him in their intellectual acuity. The Rambam answers that although Yehoshua, Pinchasi, and Elazar were all students of Moshe, Yehoshua was the talmid neeman, most faithful disciple. He ministered to Moshe, followed him everywhere and scrutinized his every action. Of him the Chazal say, gedola shimusha shel Torah yoxer m'lemuda. Personally attending a Torah scholar is greater than studying the Torah itself. This is why Yehoshua merited to inherit the mantle of leadership from Moshe.  

The midrash comments, "Notzer t'eina yochel piryah. The one who guards the fig tree will merit to eat its fruit." Often we think that the greatest scholars, the ones with the sharpest minds and broadest knowledge, are worthy to become leaders. Yehoshua was an outstanding talmid chacham, but he did not become Moshe's successor by virtue of his superior learning, but because he served Moshe faithfully.

The Ramban writes that when Moshe descended the mountain after cheit haegel and sensed the unrest in the Jewish camp, Yehoshua said there must be a war going on. Moshe countered that he was mistaken and that the Jews were involved in blasphemous conduct. How did Moshe know the truth, while Yehoshua did not? Moshe had led the Jews for so many years that he was able to discern correctly what was happening. Yehoshua was still a novice. By serving Moshe and observing his ways, he eventually acquired the ability to sense the nation.

The Baal Shem Tov had many students who were great Torah scholars, prominent among them, Rav Yaakov Yosef of Polnoye. However, the Mezhreticher Magid merited to assume leadership of the Chassidic movement after the Baal Shem Tov's passing. This was because he, of all of the Baal Shem Tov's students, was most familiar with the Baal Shem Tov's ways and conduct, having served him faithfully for so many years.
The ability to serve a great Torah giant, to study his behavior and responses to various stimuli, is crucial for a potential leader's training. Many people can acquire knowledge. Torah can be studied through many different venues. But shimush, serving a Torah leader, is the critical factor in the making of a future leader in klal Yisrael. 

We all understand that we are better off not stealing or murdering. Having a day of rest is great, as is dealing kindly with others. But Torah moves us further than that. It takes us beyond our comfort level. If you don't believe, you'll only be ethical when it's easy for you.  But a person with emunah will stay strong come what may, because he trusts that there's hashgachic consequences and consequential punishment. The Torah is the blueprint of the world. Hashem wants certain choices to be made and therefore he provided defined consequences. He made the world in a way where one choice brings about another choice. Although all mitzvot have rewards and sins bear punishment, there is always hashgacha even if it seems like consequential reality. The more you are open to seeing Hashem, the more you will see Him. And if you really believe He's there, you'll keep the Torah because you'll recognize it as Hashem's imprint on reality.

 "A tzadik lives by his faith."  It says about Avraham that he believed in Hashem and Hashem thought of it as tzedakah. Avraham saw Hashem as the master of all cause and effect in a way that was transcendental. He went beyond his limits of thought. Avraham chose to be thrown into the fiery furnace because he believed that doing what Hashem wanted would only bring good into the world. He could have thought, "I won't submit, I'm tough, I'm a man of truth."  Then it would have been all about him, his principles, and his ego. But Avraham not only had courage, he had emunah.  

On a collective level, the Jewish nation experienced ruach hakodesh (Divine inspiration) in the merit of emunah. When they sang the shirat yahom, the Song at the Red Sea, it wasn't just an epic poem, but a song that took them through the end of  time to Mashiach.  The theme of shirat hayom is that Hashem is there all along in many different manifestations.  Certainly the Jews had many merits, but it was emunah which redeemed them from Egypt.

Following the path which begins with emunah, can take you all the way to ruach hakodesh. Galut is meant to challenge us into facing all the things that tell us Hashem is missing. When we affirm His presence, when we acquire true faith, then we can be redeemed. The Gra sent his students to live in Eretz Yisrael because he believed that the mitzvot hat'luyot b'aaretz move a person to emunah more than any other mitzvot in the Torah. In the land of our fathers we can see Hashem's hashgacha and His presence moment by moment. This is what will bring about our spiritual geulah.

What is the most important ingredient in life? What virtues define man?

Philosophers throughout the generation have debated this question and have come up with several theories. Early Greeks put emphasis on knowledge as the key to human success in behavior and morality. The stoics believed in self-discipline and will power. The school of Epicureans taught that contentment and banishment of fear and pain were central to human existence. Judaism accepts all these ideas as worthy but there is one overpowering virtue that defines us and that is kedusha-sanctity.

"Kedoshim tiyhe ki kadosh ani"-Be holy for I am holy. The key to developing a relationship with Hashem is sanctity. There is hardly an endeavor in human behavior that is not encompassed by kedusha. Kedusha means imitating Hashem in mind and spirit and focusing our energies on that which is uplifting. One area where kedusha is stressed most is tzniut-modesty. Much emphasis has been placed by the Poskim on the halachot of yichud. A man and woman who are forbidden to each other, may not be alone in a secluded area. The laws are complex and have become even more so in contemporary society. Sociological and technological advancement such as the fact that more women have joined the workplace, adoption has become more popular, and the rise in innovations in therapy and medicine have raised many questions in halacha. There is a whole gamut of reasons why the laws of yichud need to be studied, but most compelling is that society has become so permissive and immoral.  

The laws of yichud are discussed in three places in Gemara -Kiddushin, Avodah Zarah, and Sanhedrin. The Rishonim question if yichud is a Torah prohibition? The Rambam answers that it is m'divrei kabbalah because there is only an allusion to it in the Torah. For something to be m'dorayta there has to be an explicit verse telling us so. However many Rishonim counter that it is m'd'orayta  How then could the Torah allow so many leniencies in different situations?

The Smag and the Sefer Hachinuch point out a verse in Vayikra that forms the base for the prohibition of yichud, "V'el isha b'nidas tumasa lo sikorov." What does kirva mean? According to some Rishonim kirvah is yichud. There are cases when a prohibition is deliberately vague in the Torah allowing our Sages to define the parameters, which is the case here with yichud.

What is the nature of yichud d'orayta? What defines it?  Yichud is a situation where a man is secluded with a woman who is forbidden to him. Is the Torah protecting the person from a more serious prohibition or is yichud in and of itself objectionable? The Ramchal writes that yichud is prohibited onto itself. This is also a machloket between Rashi and Tosfot. The Gemara in Kidushin asks, may a man be alone with a married woman whose husband is within the city limits? Rashi rules that it is prohibited while Tosfot maintains that it is permitted. The root of their disagreement is really how yichud is defined. Rashi maintains that yichud itself is an issur while Tosfot maintains that it is only to protect us from a more serious violation. Therefore according to Rashi even a split second is yichud while according to Tosfot it would need to be a longer duration.    

The Piskei Teshuva rules that if the door is closed and unlocked, there is no issur yichud. However according to Rav Akiva Eiger the door or window must be open in a way that anyone can look in.   The Gemara in Avodah Zarah writes that King David and his beit din enacted an issur d'rabanun of yichud that a man may not be alone with an unmarried woman. The Beit din of Hillel and Shammai ruled that yichud extends to being alone with a non-Jew too. The Mishna prohibits a man from being alone with two women.  The Rashba adds that this is only d'rabanun. For yichud to be d'orayta it must be a state of perfect seclusion.

If there is a situation of yichud in a car, some poskim rule to take another woman along. Then the prohibition gets reduced m'dorayta to m'darabanun and in a car there's less suspicion of an issur. In the presence of a young child who can serve as a chaperone, according to some Poskim between the ages of seven and nine, yichud may be permissible. Giving another man the key with the understanding that he can come in at any moment could also be a deterrent. The halacha differentiates between a man who is kosher and a paratz (one who is not careful with Jewish law). In a case of a paratz, he may not be alone even with ten women. If such a man is traveling on the road and there is a woman riding along, three men must be in the car. The same would be the case if they are alone in a secluded area or in an apartment late at night. A brother and sister may be alone in a house temporarily. They may not live together permanently.

Question:

I know living in Israel should be every Jew's dream but it doesn't seem to be the best choice for my family right now. There are many reasons keeping us where we are including health and financial considerations. Am I wrong for only wanting to go there when Mashiach comes?

Answer:

As Jews our mission is to bring light into the darkness of the world through Torah and mitzvot. Eretz Yisrael is the ideal place where we can fulfill our collective purpose. The Maharal writes that we end the second blessing of Birchat Hamzon with, "Al ha'aretz v'al hamazon," as opposed to thanking Hashem for what was mentioned in the actual blessing, i.e. yetziat mitzraim, brit milah, Torah, because all of these levels of elevation are meant to take place in Eretz Yisrael.  The spiritual capacities of other countries are limited in that they cannot reveal Hashem in a way that He can be revealed in the land of Israel. Of course you can live a good life in chutz l'aaretz, but it is in spite of where you are, not because of where you are. In a sense you are working against your environment and the unique spiritual forces that define your country. No matter how holy a person in Lakewood may be, he can never fulfill the mitzvah of maaser there. The kedusha of maaser-elevating gashmiut, is limited in chutz l'aaretz.

A meaningful question to ask yourself would be, "Where can I best accomplish my mission?" If there is no one to replace what you or your husband are doing in chutz l'aaretz then you have to sacrifice and stay. But if what you're thinking is, "I'd rather be in chutz l'aaretz because my family lives here, there's better shopping, I have a nicer home, and I'm emotionally comfortable with the language and culture," then there's a root problem with your reasoning. We shouldn't feel comfortable with the culture of galut. Our purpose is not shopping, consuming, or owning. If Hashem is compelling you to stay in chutz l'aaretz for financial or health reasons, that means you have to find your role and place there.

This was the difference between the First Temple and the Second Temple. The First Temple contained all the vessels and was an edifice of great light. During the Second Temple, everything was concealed.  In a sense the First Temple had more sanctity. However, the Second Temple really brought forth greater holiness because we were forced to reach into a dark place within ourselves to find the light. May Hashem illuminate your path wherever it may lead.