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By Rabbi Shloimie Lindenbaum
על גבול ארץ אדום לאמר (פרק כ פסוק כג)
Klal Yisroel continue their journey through the desert, and they send a request to Edom (descendants of Eisav) to pass through their land. They phrase their question as a message from “your brother, Israel”. Immediately after their request is denied, Hashem informs Moshe, “on the border of Edom”, that Aharon is about to pass away. Rashi explains the significance of them being on the border of Edom, that the reason why Aharon was taken from them was because they sinned by showing attachment and closeness to Edom. R’ Yaakov Kamenetsky asks, we find that it is forbidden to despise Edom, “because they are your brother” (דברים כג ח), if so, why is it a problem for Klal Yisroel to show them kinship with this very same phrase? R’ Yaakov explains that although we are not allowed to hate them, our natural feelings should be one of distance and disgust because of their evil ways. When we act towards them as brothers, it should be only because Hashem told us that we mustn’t hate them. Here, however, Klal Yisroel initiated a brotherly gesture towards Edom because of their own personal feelings of closeness. This was why Hashem took away Aharon, which resulted in a war with Amalek.
וממדבר מתנה (פרק כא פסוק יח)
The Torah tells us that Klal Yisroel received “from the desert, a gift”. The Gemara in Nedarim explains the verse homiletically, one who makes themselves ownerless like a desert, will receive the Torah as a gift. Tosfos and the Rosh explain this to mean that if one treats themselves as ownerless property by freely sharing their Torah to all, they will merit a gift of Torah for themselves. R’ Gedaliah Schorr offers an additional explanation, one who declares themselves ownerless, not tied down to their desires and wants, but rather completely free to toil in Torah, will merit the Torah as a gift. That is to say, although the initial step must be a person giving of their own effort in Torah, if they truly devote themselves to it then they will be given the Torah as a present, even being given the ability to retain the information that they have learned.
