"We Will Stop the Sun" – What is the difference between Zerach, who shone like the sun, and David, who merited the kingship? There is a Halachic (Jewish law) ruling that comes from a sword, and there is a ruling that comes from a pure heart. What is the difference between Shmuel ben Yeter, who drew a sword to rule, and David, who sacrificed his life but refrained from drinking – because one does not rule Halacha from an act of mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice). A journey through the Midrashim (homiletic teachings) of our Sages and the Talmudic discussions raises the question: Is the Halacha passed from generation to generation through force – or through study and clarification?

Sunday, 3rd of Tammuz, 5785 - The Daily Chizuk (encouragement) from the Gaon and Tzaddik, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a (may he live long and good days)

¹Zerach was the greatest Tzaddik (righteous person); he shone like the sun. For Saul asked (Midrash Shmuel, Chapter 22): From whom does David descend? From the seed of Zerach or from the seed of Peretz?

They answered him: Do not ask about Zerach or Peretz; ask if he is even a Jew at all! "An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter the congregation of Hashem; even to the tenth generation shall they not enter the congregation of Hashem forever" (Deuteronomy 23:4).

No, it is written "Ammonite" (male) and not "Ammonitess" (female) (Yevamos 77a)! "Moabite" (male) and not "Moabitess" (female)!

He answered, "That is no excuse." The mother of David stood before him and said to him, "Then say 'Egyptian' (male) and not 'Egyptian woman,' 'Edomite' (male) and not 'Edomite woman.'"

Then came Shmuel ben Yeter—sometimes called Shmuel the Israelite, sometimes Shmuel ben Yeter—and drew his sword. The Gemara (Talmud) asks: Does one rule Halacha by means of a sword? Shmuel said, "Whoever does not listen to this Halacha—that it is an 'Ammonite' and not an 'Ammonitess,' a 'Moabite' and not a 'Moabitess'—shall be pierced by the sword."

So how is this? Do we rule Halacha with swords? Halacha is Halacha; one does not kick against any sword! The main thing is to rule the Halacha; a person must learn in a way of assokei shema’teta aliba d’hilcheta (bringing the Talmudic discussion to a practical Halachic conclusion)! To learn Halacha like the ²tribe of Benjamin who jumped into the sea (Yalkut Shimoni on Nach 799), because that was the Halacha.

The work is to clarify the Halacha like King David: "Who will give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem" (II Samuel 23:15). All the wells were in the hands of the Philistines, all the wells. ³Three mighty warriors went; they had the status of a Sanhedrin (High Court) to rule that the water was kosher (permissible), but David did not want to drink the water. David said, "Under no circumstances will I drink the water." He said, "I am with twenty men—so we do not state a Halacha in the name of someone who sacrifices his life for the Halacha." Regarding a matter of Halacha, one who performs mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice) does not have the Halacha stated in his name.

So now King David said, "Who will give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem"; he was born in Bethlehem in Judah. Saul asked Jonathan, "What are you doing to me? Why are you sending him away?" Saul wanted to kill him; he asked Jonathan, "What did he ever do for you?"

Because he killed the Philistine! The Philistine, Goliath, was an innocent man; he did no harm to anyone, why kill him?

David came to Goliath with a staff. Goliath said to him, "Why do you come to me with a staff? Are you not ashamed? Where is the honor? Where is the derech eretz (proper conduct)? It is not derech eretz to come like this with a staff! Come with a spear, with a javelin."

It is written in the 'Etz Chaim' (The Tree of Life) on the verse, "And Moses took the staff of G-d" (Exodus 4:20). There is a staff of G-d in my hand, but in the end, they used a spear. As soon as Moses passed away, they used a spear. Joshua had a spear; he held the spear and said, "Sun, stand still at Gibeon."

"Sun, stand still at Gibeon" occurred on a Tuesday. On Tuesday, the 3rd of Tammuz, we will stop the sun—"Sun, stand still at Gibeon."

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1. Peretz and Zerach are twins born to Tamar and Judah the son of Jacob. Peretz broke through the path and came out first, even though Zerach had first extended his hand. The House of David is indeed attributed to Peretz, as written at the end of the Scroll of Ruth: "And Nachshon begot Salma... and Jesse begot David"—all are from the seed of Peretz. When David came before Saul after defeating Goliath, Saul said: "Saul asked: Who is this youth? He said: If he is from Peretz—he is destined to rule, and if he is from Zerach—his end is to be important. Hashem said to him: By your life, both this and that are his!" That is to say, Saul tried to understand—did David come from the seed of Peretz, from whom kingship would emerge through the generations (as stated in the Book of Ruth regarding the House of David), or from Zerach—the firstborn, from whom importance would emerge, but not kingship.

2. Gemara Sotah 37b: "At the hour that Israel stood by the sea... this one said, 'I will go down first,' and that one said, 'I will go down first.' The tribe of Benjamin jumped and went down into the sea first... and the princes of Judah pelted them with stones. Therefore, Benjamin merited to be the host to the Divine Presence" (meriting that the Holy Temple was built in the portion of Benjamin). 3. "And David longed, and said: 'Oh that one would give me water to drink of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!' And the three mighty men broke through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem... but he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto Hashem. And he said: 'Far be it from me, O Hashem, that I should do this; shall I drink the blood of the men that went at the risk of their lives?'"