myDvar

The Talmud tells us in three places “All is in the hands of Heaven, except the fear of Heaven” (Brachot 33b, Megilla 25a, Niddah 16b). One frequent interpretation of this is that while a person’s characteristics, aptitudes, skills, etc are predestined, one can choose to use this for good or for ill. An agile person who can climb walls could choose to be a catburglar or a fireman. So what does this have to do with our parsha?

In Parshat Vayishlach, Shimon and Levi decide to take revenge on Shechem for what he did to Dinah. The two of them killed all of the Shechemites and plundered the city. For this behavior, Jacob rebukes them there in Parshat Vayishlach and again in Parshat Vayihi. But we see later on that the tribe of Shimon is viewed very differently from the tribe of Levi, who is honored to serve in the Temple, and carry the Mishkan. Neither tribe is given land in Israel, but the Levites are given special cities to live in for rotations of serving in the Mishkan and then eventually the Temple. The Levites are also given tithes by all farmers in Israel. The Shimonites do not receive these special privileges, nor do they receive land like the other “regular” tribes. Why? And again, what does this have to do with our parsha?

The trait of being an angry or vengeful person is normally a bad one. In most circumstances, taking vengeance is frowned upon. However, when Moses descend from Mount Sinai and sees the Golden Calf being worshipped, he calls out “Whoever is for G-d, to me!” (Shemot 32:26). Who gathers to Moses? The Levites. It is the same characteristic that led their ancestor to kill Shechem and his city that led the Levites of Moses’ time to kill those worshipping the Calf. It is for this correct use of character that the Levites are rewarded to serve G-d in the Mishkan, and to receive tithes, and so on.

May we all find productive ways to use our G-d given characteristics in Avodat Hashem.

The parsha commences with the counting of Bnei Yisrael and continues with the sin of the Golden Calf (The Jewish People worship a golden calf, which is considered idolatry.)

A question I just thought of was even if the Jewish People thought that Moshe was not returning, why would that prompt them to start serving an idol?! Where is the logic? Why would they need an intermediary to God, all of a sudden- even if Moshe was gone? They could have just turned to Yehoshua, or God himself with their concerns!

The Lubavitcher Rebbe points out that the title of this parsha does not merely concern the beginning of the parsha’s events, namely the counting of Bnei Yisrael. The word Sisa can mean to count, but it can also mean to lift up. The Rebbe explains that even though the Jewish People in this parsha commit a heinous crime of idolatry- they still needed to realize that one can get up from a fall. They can be uplifted. They fell so low, and yet repentance was still available to them. While it is true that many people were punished for their actions, the Jewish People as a whole, were saved by Moshe’s pleas, and in the next perek, God is already commanding them to take the next step- to enter the land of Israel.

There are many sources for this idea. We all, including myself struggle with different challenges, and it can seem like we fall into the same tantalizing pit of sin again and again. Not to cite cliches, but life is a war, with many fronts. As long as we stay in the war and march forward, we will with God’s help succeed.

(Rav Rosner)

Have a great shabbos- from Baltimore ir HaKodesh!

In this week’s Parsha, right after discussing the details of the construction of the Mishkan the Hashem instructs Moshe to tell the Jewish people about Shabbat. There it states (in full):

וְאַתָּה דַּבֵּר אֶל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, לֵאמֹר,אַךְ אֶת-שַׁבְּתֹתַי, תִּשְׁמֹרוּ:  כִּי אוֹת הִוא בֵּינִי וּבֵינֵיכֶם, לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם–לָדַעַת, כִּי אֲנִי יְהוָה מְקַדִּשְׁכֶם. וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם, אֶת-הַשַּׁבָּת, כִּי קֹדֶשׁ הִוא, לָכֶם; מְחַלְלֶיהָ, מוֹת יוּמָת–כִּי כָּל-הָעֹשֶׂה בָהּ מְלָאכָה, וְנִכְרְתָה הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַהִוא מִקֶּרֶב עַמֶּיהָ.שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים, יֵעָשֶׂה מְלָאכָה, וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן קֹדֶשׁ, לַיהוָה; כָּל-הָעֹשֶׂה מְלָאכָה בְּיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת, מוֹת יוּמָת. וְשָׁמְרוּ בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, אֶת-הַשַּׁבָּת, לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת-הַשַּׁבָּת לְדֹרֹתָם, בְּרִית עוֹלָם. בֵּינִי, וּבֵין בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל–אוֹת הִוא, לְעֹלָם:  כִּי-שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים, עָשָׂה יְהוָה אֶת-הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת-הָאָרֶץ, וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי, שָׁבַת וַיִּנָּפַשׁ.

‘Speak to the children of Israel, saying: However, you shall keep My Sabbaths, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. You shall keep the Sabbath, for it is holy unto you; every one that desecrates it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days work shall be done; but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work in the Sabbath day, shall surely be put to death.  The children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel for ever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased from work and rested.’

The Abravanel asks many questions on these verses, but I am going to focus on just a few. First, what is the significance of telling us about keeping Shabbat right after the discussion of the Mishkan? Weren’t we just told about Shabbat at Har Sinai a few weeks ago? Second, why does the Pasuk use the word שַׁבְּתֹתַי (my Shabbats) in plural? It could have just said “but keep the Shabbat”. Finally, why does the description of Shabbat use the word אוֹת (a sign) twice – first, it is a sign through which we can know that Hashem sanctifies the Jewish people and second, it is a sign that Hashem created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th.

To answer these questions, the Abravanel explains that there are two major aspects to Shabbat. First, there is the acceptance and appreciation of the fact that Hashem created the world. Shabbat comes as as a break from the busy week to serve as perpetual sign that there is a Creator who placed us here and gave us purpose in our weekly tasks. This aspect of Shabbat corresponds to the word “Zachor (remember)” which is recorded in the first recounting of the 10-commandments in the Torah. Through Zachor, we observe Shabbat in an active sense. By refraining from work we have an opportunity to spend time learning Torah, taking advantage of the extra Neshama we have on Shabbat to come closer to Hashem.

The second aspect of Shabbat, (as noted by the plural שַׁבְּתֹתַי) is the recognition that there is a World To Come. Chazal say that the Shabbat we experience is 1/60th of our ultimate Olam Habah, and note that the World To Come is a “Yom SheKulo Shabbat (a day which is entirely Shabbat).” Through this recognition, Shabbat serves as its second sign. By reminding us that that we have a place and a purpose on this world, Shabbat ensures that we keep focused on the fact that it is Hashem who makes our work successful in this world and gives us our due reward in the World To Come.

This second aspect of Shabbat is manifest through the word “Shamor (to guard)”, as recorded in the second recounting of the 10-commandments. In contrast to Zachor, Shamor is a passive observance of Shabbat. We keep Shabbat by not doing things. Through this observer we realize that just as there is value to action, there is sometimes also value to in-action. Just as we must work for 6 days (as it says שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים, יֵעָשֶׂה מְלָאכָה), so to0 we accomplish even more by showing that we refrain from work on the 7th day. Through this in-action we show how we recognize Hashem’s ultimate dominion and realize that all we accomplish is through Him.

This is why Shabbat is commanded again right after the instructions for the Mishkan. It is very easy to understand how the Jewish people might have thought that the holy task of building the Mishkan might supersede the observance of Shabbat. Isn’t it more important to have the Mishkan built as soon as possible to help bring Hashem’s presence into the world than to keep Shabbat? The answer is “No.” The most important thing is to realize that just as the world was created by Hashem, so to everything we accomplish, we accomplish through His hands.

Have a wonderful and rest-filled Shabbat!

Also, enjoy this video to get into the Shabbat mood.

A fantastic piece from the Meshech Chochma, R’ Meir Simcha of Dvinsk (bigraphy here).

The Pasuk says: וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת כִּי קֹדֶשׁ הִוא לָכֶם מְחַלְלֶיהָ מוֹת יוּמָת כִּי כָּל הָעֹשֶׂה בָהּ מְלָאכָה וְנִכְרְתָה הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַהִוא מִקֶּרֶב עַמֶּיהָ - Keep the Sabbath, for it is a sacred thing for you. Those who desecrate it shall be put to death, for whoever performs work on it, that soul will be cut off from the midst of its people. (31:14)

The concept of being put to death for breaking Shabbos is odd from a logical perspective – one is commanded to break Shabbos to save another Jew’s life, and even in a case where there is only a possibility of there being a danger to someone, one is still commanded to break Shabbos. So it is clear that a human life is more precious than Shabbos, but this being the case, how can we put someone to death who breaks it? Isn’t this counter-intuitive?

R’ Meir Simcha explains the answer beautifully. Shabbos is less sacred than a Jew, as without a Jew observing Shabbos, Shabbos essentially isn’t there. As such, everything about Shabbos, including the very purpose of Creation, is solely remembered by a Jew who observes it, and this means that Shabbos is “indebted” to the Jew, and we therefore forego it to save a Jew’s life.

Not so by someone who desecrates Shabbos. Such a person cuts himself off from the the connection to Hashem and the Torah, and it is better for this person to die and get atonement like that than for him to survive and continue in his ways.

So this is what the Pasuk is telling us: “וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת כִּי קֹדֶשׁ הִוא לָכֶם - Keep the Sabbath, for it is a sacred thing for you”, ie it is vitally important for Jews to honour and observe Shabbos, because if they don’t, who will? Therefore “ מְחַלְלֶיהָ מוֹת יוּמָת - Those who desecrate it shall be put to death”, because someone who desecrates it has lowered themselves to below the level of Shabbos, the sign Hashem gave us. “כִּי כָּל הָעֹשֶׂה בָהּ מְלָאכָה וְנִכְרְתָה הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַהִוא מִקֶּרֶב עַמֶּיהָ - for whoever performs work on it, that soul will be cut off from the midst of its people” – this person has lowered himself beneath Shabbos by desecrating it, and has therefore alienated himself from what made his people special – that their lives were holier than Shabbos, by keeping it. Only a person who cuts himself off by desecrating Shabbos is suitable to be put to death in the name of Shabbos, so we see that it is not counter intuitive at all to put someone to death in the name of Shabbos.

This shows the level of detail in the Pasuk, that the Torah explains the mechanics of why someone is put to death for breaking Shabbos.

Geshmack!

Contrary to common belief and practice, there are very few instances where Judaism actually cares about what clothing you wear. This weekend we will experience two out of the four such instances. These are: Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, when we wear white; Tu B’Av, when single girls borrow each others’ dresses; Purim, when we wear costumes; and finally the clothes the Kohanim wore in the Beit haMikdash, which we read about in this week’s Parsha.

What is the meaning behind these four situations where clothing is important?

Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch talks about the importance of the Bigdei Kehuna. He explains that when the Kohanim were doing the service in the Temple, they had to think of themselves as messengers of the congregation of Israel. They had to realize that they should have no ego involved in the service and were, on their own account, naked in front of Hashem.

This is in contrast to the High Holidays where we are being judged on account of our own actions. On those days we wear our own white clothing, working to cleanse ourselves of our personal actions.

On Tu B’Av, once again, people dress in clothing that doesn’t belong to them. The custom used to be that single girls would all wear borrowed dresses and go dance in the fields to find their future husbands. The borrowed clothing ensured that poorer people weren’t disadvantaged by their lower quality clothing. In this case, clothing is used as a means of expressing care and compassion towards others, ensuring that no one is disadvantaged by class differences.

Finally, we come to Purim. On Purim, we wear costumes, disguising our actual appearances. Why is this? One of the central lessons of Purim is that the reason the Jewish people were saved is because we banded together as a community and davened to Hashem to save us from Haman’s plots. While the story played out in such a way that Esther was the means to our salvation, Mordechai warned Esther that if she didn’t do what she could to save the Jews, HaShem would still save the Jewish people as a whole, but would not extend that salvation to Esther and her family (כִּי אִם-הַחֲרֵשׁ תַּחֲרִישִׁי, בָּעֵת הַזֹּאת–רֶוַח וְהַצָּלָה יַעֲמוֹד לַיְּהוּדִים מִמָּקוֹם אַחֵר, וְאַתְּ וּבֵית-אָבִיךְ תֹּאבֵדוּ Esther 4:14).

On Purim, therefore, we disguise ourselves to show that it’s not the individual but the community that is important. It doesn’t matter who you are, or what type of Yarmulke or what color pants you wear. What’s important is that we are all Jews and we are all celebrating Purim together.

Have a great Shabbat and a Happy Purim!

Terumah 5770
The Beis HaLevi asks why the Parshah of donations, Terumah, follows the Parshah of civil law, Mishpatim. He answers, that this is to teach us that before a person can begin to give tzedakah with his money, he must meticulously ascertain that none of his wealth has been acquired in a manner that contained even a trace of theft. If this condition is not fulfilled, his mitzvah of tzedakah will have been in vain. This is an example of the rule that chazal teach us: A mitzvah that is fulfilled as a result of sin – is not a mitzvah. “For I am the Lord, Who loves justice, hates robbery in a burnt offering” (Yeshayah 61:8) – we must ensure that our sources of merit remain uncontaminated.
Good Shabbos!

[This  Dvar Torah is based on an idea I heard from Rabbi Yaakov Hillel when he was in Los Angeles a few months ago.]

This week’s parsha discusses the construction of the Mishkan and all of its vessels in great detail. Hashem tells Moshe to create two poles made out of acacia wood and covered in gold with which to carry the Aron (the Ark).

These poles are quite similar to those made for carrying the Mizbeach (the Altar) and the Shulchan (the table for the Showbread), but the instructions are different. Only when describing the Aron’s poles does Hashem command Moshe to ensure that the poles are never separated from the Aron (לֹא יָסֻרוּ מִמֶּנּוּ).

What is so special about these poles that they can never be removed? If their use is purely for carrying the Aron around, wouldn’t it be more practical to remove them when the Jewish people were camped? This question is made even stronger by the Midrash which notes that there wasn’t actually enough room in the Kodesh Kodashim (Holy of Holies) for the poles.  Yet, a miracle occured and not only did the Aron and the poles fit into the Kodesh Kodashim, but there was room for the Kohen Gadol to enter for the Yom Kippur service.

Rabbi Yaakov Hillel says that the poles are actually symbolic of those people who support Torah and Torah learning in their communities. Just as the actual poles were inseparable from the Aron and equally deserving to rest in the Kodesh Kodashim, the supporters of Torah are also spiritually connected to the institutions and people that they support.

The Midrash also teaches us that when Hashem performs miracles to help sustain Torah, those miracles are performed primarily for the “poles” who support Torah.

Have a happy Shabbat!

The Netivot Shalom  states that true simcha is being שמח בחלקו (happy with what one currently has). How does Adar (and Purim in particular) function to increase this simcha, if true simcha is an internal mindset, not based on external settings?

The Netivot Shalom elaborates that Purim represents an אור לגלות, a sign that Hashem still cares for us, despite our inability to do proper teshuvah and extract ourselves from exile. When we enter Adar, we are reminded of that relationship,; we are reminded that our חלק is one in which Hashem is still our Redeemer and actively anticipating the Final Redemption, and that awareness should lead to increased happiness.

In this week’s parsha, the Torah discusses the laws of eved ivri – a Jew who is sold as an indentured servant to another Jew. If a man steals and cannot afford to pay restitution, he is sold into slavery for up to 6 years. Alternatively, a man can voluntarily, because of severe poverty, choose to sell himself as a slave. After 6 years, he is freed but can choose to stay with his master and continue to be a slave. If he chooses not to go free, he is taken to the Jewish court of law where his ear is pierced, after which he remains a slave until the yovel year, which occurs every 50 years.

Rashi[1] quotes the Gemara in Kiddushin, “let the ear that heard at Mt. Sinai ‘lo tignov – do not steal’, yet went and stole, be pierced. If he sold himself into slavery, let the ear that heard ‘ki li B’nei Yisrael Avadim – Israel shall be servants to Me (God)’ be pierced.”

If we pierce his ear as a punishment for stealing or for selling himself into slavery, why do we not pierce his ear immediately when he stole or sold himself? Why do we wait until 6 years later, when the slave decides that he does not want to go free?

The Kli Yakar[2] explains that Jewish law does not punish someone twice for the same offense. At the time of the theft, the punishment was to either pay restitution or to be sold into slavery. Now, six years later, the eved ivri shows that slavery was not a true punishment for him. In fact, he enjoyed it so much that he now wants to stay for up to 50 more years. His original offense then remains unpunished and piercing his ear serves as that punishment.

Rav Shimon Schwab[3] offers a different explanation. He argues that the sins deserving of piercing an ear (theft and selling oneself into slavery) were not actually committed until the point that the slave decides to renounce his freedom. When it says in the 10 commandments, “lo tignov­ – do not steal,” this refers specifically to “stealing souls,” i.e.  kidnapping. (The prohibition on monetary theft appears later.) The concept of “ki li B’nei Yisrael Avadim – Israel shall be servants to God” is also inherent to the first commandment heard at Sinai, “I am Hashem, your God, who took you out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.” Kidnapping is considered theft because the kidnapper, so to speak, steals the victim’s soul from its rightful owner, Hashem. He takes a person from the freedom to serve God, and imposes human subjugation upon him. So too, when a man voluntarily, not out of poverty or legal requirement, decides to remain a slave to another person, he is, in effect, kidnapping his own soul from God. He is choosing a human master over God and is therefore culpable for violating what his “ear heard at Sinai.”

Though we do not implement the legal structure of eved ivri today, we are still susceptible to rejecting Divine authority in deference to human masters. The eved ivri reminds us to keep our Divine obligations paramount to any responsibility to humans such as professors, bosses, or sfriends .

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[1] Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (1040-1105), a classic Torah commentator, who lived in France.

[2] Rabbi Shlomo Efraim of Luntchitz (1550-1619), a Torah commentator from Poland and Czechoslovakia.

[3] (1908-1995) Rabbi and communal leader in Germany and subsequently the United States.

Mishpatim 5570
“If you take your neighbor’s garment as security, until sunset you shall return it to him, for it is his only covering; it is his garment for his skin. With what shall he lie? And it shall be [that] if he cries out to Me, I will hear because I am gracious” (Shemos 22:25-26).

The Midrash Tanchumah teaches that Hashem has extreme discontent for the individual who takes his fellow’s clothing as collateral and fails to return it at its proper time. Hashem says to such a person: “How much you owe Me! Yet your soul ascends to Me every night, gives an account, is found guilty before Me, and I return it to you. You too, take and return, take and return” (Mishpatim 9:9). The Midrash acknowledges that according to the strict line of justice a lender may take collateral to ensure that he gets repaid. It is nonetheless institutionalized that the security be returned when it is needed by its owner. Hashem accuses one who violates these laws of hypocrisy – his very existence is totally dependent on Divine mercy and yet he fails to act mercifully with his fellows. The Mishnah in Sotah (8b) describes how the Heavenly tribunal will mete out judgment to a person in equal measure to the justice meted out by that individual. He failed to hear the cries of those whom he oppressed – measure for measure Hashem will hear them and bring their oppressor to justice.
Good Shabbos!