Dvar Torah for Parshas Kedoshim

       The pasuk says at the beginning of Parshas Kedoshim, “דַּבֵּר אֶל כָּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם קְדשִׁים תִּהְיוּ” “Speak to the entire congregation of the Children of Yisrael and you shall say to them, ‘You shall be holy” (Vayikra 19:2). This is the theme of the entire parshah; every one of the many mitzvos listed in this parshah is connected to the idea of the nation of Yisrael acting in a holy manner.

       The very next pasuk says, “אִישׁ אִמּוֹ וְאָבִיו תִּירָאוּ וְאֶת שַׁבְּתֹתַי תִּשְׁמֹרוּ אֲנִי יְהוָֹה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם…” “Every man should fear his mother and his father, and you should observe my Sabbaths. I am Hashem, your God” (19:3). Rashi asks, what is the connection between these two mitzvos? He explains that the pasuk is teaching you that the obligation to honor and respect your parents only goes as far as what the Torah allows you to do. If your parent tells you to go against the Torah, for example, to desecrate the Shabbos, you are not obligated to listen. In fact, the pasuk is saying even more than that, you are obligated not to listen.

       The Kli Yakar asks the obvious question that comes out from this: why does the Torah use Shabbos as an example of when to not listen to your parents more than any other mitzvah? He explains that both Shabbos and Kibbud Av V’Eim have the same purpose behind them, to make sure a person recognizes where they came from. The reason we are obligated to respect and honor our parents is because we must be grateful to them for bringing us into this world and everything that comes with that. When we keep Shabbos, we are showing our recognition that we believe in Hashem as the creator of the world. He created everything and everyone, including you and your parents. Before you recognize anything your parents did for you, you must recognize He who did for them, Hashem. Though our obligation to Hashem is the same with any other mitzvah, due to this similarity, Shabbos is the best example to use when discussing our obligation to parents.

Shabbat Shalom!        

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Dvar Torah for Pesach 5774/2014

       There is no question that the highlight of the holiday of Pesach is the Seder, and the highlight of the Seder is the section of Maggid, where we tell over the story of Yetzias Mitzrayim through stories, drashos, and songs. The Hagadah is unique in many aspects, yet we still take many of its components at face value without searching for a deeper understanding. For this reason, I like to focus the Divrei Torah for Pesach on different sections of the Hagadah and try to get a better understanding of those parts. This year, I would like to discuss the introductory paragraph to Maggid, “Ha Lachma Anya”.

       “Ha Lachma Anya” reads, “הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא דִי אֲכָלוּ אַבְהָתָנָא בְּאַרְעָא דְמִצְרָיִם. כָּל דִכְפִין יֵיתֵי וְיֵיכֹל, כָּל דִצְרִיךְ יֵיתֵי וְיִפְסַח. הָשַׁתָּא הָכָא, לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בְּאַרְעָא דְיִשְׂרָאֵל. הָשַׁתָּא עַבְדֵי, לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בְּנֵי חוֹרִין” “This is the poor-man’s bread that our forefathers ate in the land of Egypt. Whoever is hungry may come and eat. Anyone who needs may come and eat the Pesach with us. Now we are here, next year we will be in the Land of Israel. This year we are slaves, next year we will be free men.” This paragraph appears to be an invitation to anyone who wants to come to our Seder and partake in our Korban Pesach (at the time when it was applicable), join our discussion of Yetzias Mitzrayim, or simply just to eat, to come and join us.

      Two questions came to me while reading this. First, if this is an invitation, why are we inviting people now after we have already made Kiddush and begun the Seder, shouldn’t we invite them before we begin? Secondly, and more obviously, this is really not much of an invitation. By the time we extend this invitation, everyone hopefully has a Seder to attend, and if someone did show up at our door, I can’t imagine that we would let them in!

       (As a side point to further strengthen this question, the paragraph mentions that we are inviting anyone to join us in the Korban Pesach. When the Beis Hamikdash stood and we had a Korban Pesach, you could not just join a group whenever you wanted, the group had to be formed before the korban was brought on the mizbe’ach! So by this point in the process, a person couldn’t join our Seder if they wanted to partake in our korban Pesach!)

       In the classic Jewish tradition, I would like to begin my answer with another question. “Ha Lachma Anya” begins by showing everyone a piece of Matzah and then inviting them to the Seder. What’s the big draw we are using to bring everyone to the Seder, a piece of Matzah. So essentially we are inviting everyone to a Matzah party! What type of meal is that? No one would accept an invitation to a meal where the food the host was showcasing was a giant, dry cracker! What is the connection between the Matzah and extending an open invitation to the Seder?

       The commentaries on the Hagadah all discuss the doubling of each sentence in “Ha Lachma Anya”, this year we’re slaves, next year we’ll be free, etc. Even though the first line where we showcase the Matzah does not seem to be included in this pattern, in fact it is. We might think we are still in Galus, we are still eating poor man’s bread, that we have nothing to show from the fact that we left Mitzrayim. But in fact, that is not true at all! All the shefa and brachah and kedushah that we have from the mitzvah of Korban Pesach (and the other mitzvos that followed it) comes from the fact that we left Mitzrayim! When we left Mitzrayim and became the nation of Hashem, Hashem infused us with a kedushah that is everlasting and that we constantly replenish with the constant remembrance of leaving Mitzrayim, which the main focus of comes on Seder night. All this is represented by the Matzah we hold up to show everyone. The Matzah that bridged our years of slavery with our newfound freedom and kedushah.    

       So when we give this invitation at the beginning of the Seder, we aren’t inviting people from the outside, though they are certainly welcome, we are inviting the people who are there with us! We are urging everyone present to be a part of the Seder; to share a Torah thought, a meal, a song, to accept the kedushah that comes with us having left Mitzrayim. It’s not an invitation as much as a pep talk for what’s to come. That’s why this invitation is given even when we don’t expect anyone to come and that’s why it’s placed here as opposed to before Kiddush. It’s not simply about inviting everyone to a meal and a celebration, it’s about inviting people to the Seder, inviting them to leave Mitzrayim with us and join us on the journey to becoming the Am Hashem and all that it entails.

       The Hagadah tells us that each person is obligated to imagine themselves as if they came out of Mitzrayim just this year. How is this possible? One way to begin is to understand what Yetzias Mitzrayim meant for us and how it is all represented by the Matzah we hold up at the beginning of Maggid when we say “Ha Lachma Anya”.

Chag Kosher V’Sameach!

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No New Dvar Torah This Week

Due to Pesach preparations, there is no new dvar torah this week. Please click here for a previous dvar torah for this week's parsha, Parshas Acharei Mos.

Shabbat Shalom!

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Dvar Torah for Parshas Metzorah

       Last week’s parshah began the topic of a metzora, someone who has been smitten with tzara’as. The discussion of this topic is concluded in this week’s parshah, fittingly named, Parshas Metzora. In last week’s Dvar Torah, we spoke about how Hashem uses tzara’as as a punishment, while at the same time, uses it to express his love. This week’s parshah shows this same concept much clearer.

       In Perek 14 Pasuk 34, it says, “כִּי תָבֹאוּ אֶל אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לָכֶם לַאֲחֻזָּה וְנָתַתִּי נֶגַע צָרַעַת בְּבֵית אֶרֶץ אֲחֻזַּתְכֶם” “When you come to the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as a possession, and I place a lesion of tzara’as upon a house in the land of your possession.” (Vayikra 14:34). We know from last week’s parshah that tzara’as can appear on buildings, clothing, and a person’s skin, but why is tzara’as appearing on your house directly connected to coming to Eretz Yisrael? And why is there no connection between Eretz Yisrael and tzara’as appearing on clothing or skin?

       The Paneach Raza gives a very simple explanation. He says that in the desert, they did not have real houses and as such, they did not have tzara’as on those “buildings.” Only when they entered Eretz Yisrael did this concept begin.

       Rashi gives a different explanation. He says that when Bnei Yisrael were coming into Eretz Yisrael, the goyim who were residing there hid their most prized possessions in the walls of their houses. The only way you could find these treasures was if you broke down the walls. So when the tzara’as appeared on the walls and they had to be removed, this ended up revealing the treasure! What was seemingly a punishment turned into a great reward! The owner of the house could have ignored the signs and just let the tzara’as stay on his house, but instead, he listened to the Torah, did teshuvah for his sin, and ended up getting a reward.

       So we now understand why tzara’as appears on buildings and the reason for it appearing on skin is obvious, but what is the benefit of having tzara’as appear on clothing? The Paneach Raza and the Chizkuni explain that when Bnei Yisrael defeated the nations in the land, the nations left their clothing behind among their possessions. Some of this clothing had been used in the service of Avoda Zara that renders it completely forbidden to all forms of benefit. But how were Bnei Yisrael to know which clothing had been used for Avoda Zara and which hadn’t? Hashem made it that tzara’as appeared on the clothing, which forced them to be destroyed, thereby solving the problem. Once again, we have another example of Hashem using tzara’as in order to do good for us just as we saw in last week’s parshah. With all the fear and embarrassment that the mention of tzara’as brings up, it is important to realize how all that Hashem gives us is for our benefit, in more ways than one.

Shabbat Shalom!  

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Dvar Torah for Parshas Tazria/Hachodesh

       Parshas Tazria discusses the concept of tzaraas, poorly translated in English as leprosy. Tzaraas was the miracle disease that only appeared when a person spoke lashon hara. Tzaraas could appear on buildings, clothing, or a person’s skin. When someone thought they had tzaraas, they would go to the Kohen who would then determine if this spot was actually tzaraas or not. The fact that these lesions appeared on inanimate objects as well as people, and the fact that they appeared instantaneously was proof to the fact that they were not a common disease, but rather a direct sign from Hashem for this person to correct their speech habits.

       There is a famous Gemarah (Nedarim 64b) that says there are four living people who are comparable to dead people. One of those four is a metzorah, a person who has tzaraas. The Sichos Mussar explains that you might think the reason a metzorah is compared to a dead person is that because of all the pain and suffering he goes through, he would rather be dead. However, he proves that this is simply not true. The first proof is from the pasuk in Tehillim, “יסר יסרני יה ולמות לא נתנני” “God has chastised me exceedingly, but He has not given me over for death” (Tehillim 118:18). We see clearly that with all the pain that Dovid HaMelech was put through, it was worth it for him as long as he remained alive.

       Another proof to this is the famous Gemarah (Sotah 11a) that says when Paroh asked his advisors if he should enslave the Jews, one of his advisors, Iyov (Job), did not say anything and was punished with all sorts of troubles, which are well documented in Sefer Iyov. Another of his advisors, Bilaam, told Paroh to enslave the Jews and was punished by Hashem by being killed later on. Obviously, Bilaam’s punishment had to be worse than Iyov’s, so we see clearly that death is a worse punishment than suffering.

       Therefore, says the Sichos Mussar, the reason why a metzorah is comparable to a dead person must be because of another law concerning people with tzaraas. When a person was confirmed to have tzaraas, he was forced to leave the camp (or city after Bnei Yisrael entered Eretz Yisrael) and live by himself for a week. The fact that this person was alone, kept away from people, is how he is most comparable to a dead person. This punishment comes מידה כנגד מידה, measure for measure of his crime. Tzaraas is the punishment for speaking lashon hara, which causes rifts between people. So too this person also develops a rift, and is kept away from the nation until he can do teshuvah.

       From the greatness of this punishment, we can see the greatness of the sin. The first person recorded in the Torah to have tzaraas was Miriam, as a result of her saying lashon hara about her brother, Moshe (See Bamidbar 12). The Rambam analyzes this story. Miriam spoke about her brother, whom she was greater than, whom she raised, whom she placed herself into danger in order to save, did not even say anything disparaging about him but rather equated him with all the other prophets who were around at the time, what she said it didn’t even bother Moshe, and still she got tzaraas! It is clear that lashon hara is a very serious sin that we must be careful to avoid.

       However, from the punishment, we also see how much Hashem loves us. The reason Hashem punishes measure for measure of the sin is in order for us to be able to make the connection between the sin and the punsihement easier and figure out what we did wrong. By tzaraas, first it appears on the person’s house, then on their clothing, and only then, if they still haven’t repented, does it appear on their skin. While tzaraas on the skin can be any number of medical conditions, tzaraas appearing on a house or a piece of clothing is obviously unnatural. Usually, Hashem does not like to take the world out of its normal order, He prefers to allow nature to operate by its’ own laws (under His supervision of course). The fact that He is willing to break the rules of nature in order to warn a person about their lashon hara, something that He does not do by every sin, is a sure sign of his desire for us, His children, to speak only good about each other. With such a show of affection, how can we refuse?

Shabbat Shalom!

Click here for a Dvar Torah for Parshas Hachodesh

Click here for last year's Dvar Torah for Parshas Tazria-Metzora

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Dvar Torah for Parshas Shemini

       During the first week the Mishkan was in use, Moshe performed all the work that was done. At the end of that week, Aharon and his sons, as the Kohanim, took over those duties for the rest of time. It was a time of tremendous celebration for the entire nation as everyone was excited about the Mishkan’s consecration. But amid all this, tragedy struck as Nadav and Avihu, the two eldest sons of Aharon and two of the greatest people alive in that generation, died while bringing an unauthorized korban. This was an enormous blow not just to Aharon and his family, but to the entire nation as well.    

       Understandably, Aharon was very upset at the death of his sons. The pesukim tell us how Moshe consoled him. “ויאמר משה אל אהרן הוא אשר דבר יהוה לאמר בקרבי אקדש ועל פני כל העם אכבד וידם אהרן” “And Moshe said to Aharon, ‘This is what Hashem spoke, (when He said), ‘I will be sanctified through those near to me, and before all the people I will be glorified’. And Aharon was silent.” (Vayikra 10:3). Rashi explains that in Sefer Shemos (29:43), Hashem told Moshe that the sanctity of the Mishkan would shown to Bnei Yisrael through the death of a holy person. The idea was that the nation should realize that not everyone was on such a great level that they were worthy of entering and serving in the Mishkan. Through the death of a holy person in the Mishkan, the nation could infer that if such a holy person did not deserve to enter the Mishkan, then neither did they. Now that this event had occurred, it was a clear proof that Aharon’s sons were tzaddikim. With this idea, Aharon was consoled.

       This idea of tzaddikim needing to die to prove this point is discussed in the various commentaries. The question arises, if Nadav and Avihu were the ones selected to prove this point, does that mean they were even greater than Moshe and Aharon? How come Moshe and Aharon were not chosen to establish this idea?  

       The Ohr HaChaim explains that really Moshe and Aharon were on a much higher level than everyone, including Nadav and Avihu. However, the point Hashem was trying to make was to the nation as a whole, that they should realize there were certain boundaries set up between them and the holiness of the Mishkan. If Moshe or Aharon had been the “sacrifice”, Bnei Yisrael would not have connected this idea to themselves, instead they would have assumed that this had no connection to the Mishkan, but rather, on their otherworldly plane beyond our comprehension, Moshe and Aharon had messed up. However, on the level that the nation stood, they had nothing to fear. So Hashem chose Nadav and Avihu, two great people who were nonetheless closer to the level of the nation, to make his point.

       Rashi explains exactly the opposite. By choosing Nadav and Avihu, Hashem was showing that they were even greater than Moshe and Aharon! The Kli Yakar explains; in order to really impress upon Bnei Yisrael the severity of overstepping the bounds of His holiness, Hashem had to show how even the greatest people would be held accountable for this. Using an average or even an above-average person would not have had the same affect.

       Either way you slice it, the deaths of Nadav and Avihu were a tremendous Kiddush Hashem. Through their deaths, Bnei Yisrael were taught to treat holy places with reverence, thereby saving them from their own potential deaths as well as preventing many occurrences of tremendous desecrations of Hashem’s name. Chazal teach us how only the greatest people have the chance to give up their lives to make a Kiddush Hashem. The fact that Aharon’s sons were given this opportunity speaks to their greatness, regardless of what level they may have been on.

Shabbat Shalom!   

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Dvar Torah for Purim

AIMeM would like to thank Shmuel Birnbaum for submitting this Dvar Torah.

      

       With all the traditions that we have on Purim, the one that is most discussed nowadays is the halacha of, “חייב אינש לבסומי בפוריא עד דלא ידע בין ארור המן לברוך מרדכי” “A person is obligated to become intoxicated on Purim until he does not know the difference between ‘Blessed is Mordechai’ and “Cursed is Haman”. (Shulchan Aruch OC 695:2) This obligation seems very out of character for our upright, respectable Jewish religion. We are Jews, representatives of Hashem on this Earth, what explanation is there for requiring us to get drunk on Purim? Secondly, what is it about Purim that we are required to get drunk when no other holiday has this same obligation? Regardless of what your feelings may be about getting drunk, this obligation requires good discussion as it is the halacha.

       Reb Yisrael Salanter explains that the miracle of Purim is different than the miracles of other holidays. Take Chanukah as an example, the decree on Chanukah was that Jews were not allowed to learn Torah and do mitzvos, but there was no decree to actually kill the Jews. So we see the decree was specifically against the spiritual side of the Jewish People. Therefore, on Chanukah, we celebrate the spiritual aspect of the Jewish People. On Purim, however, Haman did not care about the Jews learning Torah, he simply wanted to eradicate the Jewish Nation from the face of the Earth. So on Purim, the miracle was that the physical side of the Jewish People was saved. Therefore, we have a specific mitzvah to celebrate the physical aspects of our lives that we do not have on any other holiday.

       As Jews, what is our purpose in this world? A simple answer to a very deep and complicated question is to increase spirituality in this world. We do this using both the physical and spiritual aspects of our existence. In the Purim story, the danger was only coming against the physical aspect of our existence, yet, Hashem saved us. We see from here that the physical body of a Jew by itself is enough to warrant salvation, even without any spiritual threat. When we say the physical aspect of our existence was in danger, we are separating our mental capacities from our physical bodies. Our mental capacities are what allow our spiritual side to take flight, so we cannot put them together with our physical capabilities. When we say the “physical aspect” of our existence, we mean the body by itself with nothing else, not even higher brain functions. Therefore, explains Reb Yisrael Salanter, we are obligated to get drunk on Purim and throw away our mental control of ourselves, to show how even just that side of us by itself is holy. We want to show Hashem how we recognize that all aspects of our existence are holy, even just this physical shell.

       This license to drink does not allow us to act crazily and go completely out of control. On the contrary, those of us who have seen tzaddikim get drunk on Purim would even call it a privilege to have seen how they act while drunk! When a person drinks the right way, they do not become a mindless shell, but rather they are stripped down to their core which is them putting complete trusting Hashem and realizing how everything is in Hashem’s hands. Drinking takes away their normal human feelings of self-control and makes them wake up to this reality. Without this accomplishment, the purpose in being drunk is extremely weak.

       There are many stories told how (for whatever reason,) the graves of great rabbis were opened many years after their deaths and their bodies were found to still be in good condition, not decomposed even after years in the grave. Based on what we have said, we can understand how this unnatural event can occur. Our spiritual self, our neshama, never decomposes. A spiritual “being” is everlasting. These great people worked on themselves until their physical bodies were spiritual as well, therefore, they did not decompose after many years. Spirituality does not rot! Even if we may not reach the level of these great people, it does give us the responsibility to realize that all parts of ourselves are holy and must be treated as such.

       Let us take this lesson for Purim, understand that both our physical and spiritual sides need to be cultivated. While we might think that it is only our spiritual side that can benefit from recognizing Hashem, what happens when a holiday like Purim comes and Hashem cannot be recognized? His role in the Purim miracle is hidden and cannot be seen at all! So today and tomorrow (for those in Yerushalayim, Shushan, and Teveria), let us focus on using our physical side to recognize Hashem. Since both sides of us come from Him, there is no reason why they cannot both be used to get close to Him.

A Freilechen Purim!

Shmuel Birnbaum lived in Chicago, Il. till making Aliyah with his family over fifteen years ago. He currently studies in Mirrer Yeshiva in Yerushalayim where he lives with his family. He is a first-time contributor to AIMeM.  

Click here for last year's Dvar Torah for Purim

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