Parashas Bechukosai

This week’s parashah begins with the Torah telling us the blessings we will receive if we toil in Torah and observe the mitzvos. We will be granted prosperity and peace; our enemies will be vanquished and Hashem will place His dwelling-place among us.

Then the Torah adds an interesting assurance: וְלֹא תִגְעַל נַפְשִׁי אֶתְכֶם, Hashem assures us that His Soul, as it were, will not reject (“purge itself of”) us.

But isn't it obvious that if we’re toiling in Torah and doing mitzvos Hashem wouldn't reject us? Why would we think that he would?

Perhaps this verse is not an assurance, however. Perhaps it is telling us how to succeed in having Hashem dwell among us and not reject us.

Chazal (Shabbos 105a) tell us that the first word of the Aseres HaDibros,אנכי , is an acronym for the words אנא נפשי כתיבת יהבית. The simple understanding of this phrase is “I (Hashem) Myself wrote this (the Torah) and gave it,” but the sefarim explain that this also means “I (Hashem) wrote and gave My Soul (through the Torah).”

People often want to “connect” to Hashem spiritually. They look for all sorts of unique and innovative ways to achieve this.

But Hashem’s “Soul,” as it were, isn't there; it's in the Torah and its mitzvos.

These pesukim tell us that there’s only one way to “connect”: בְּחֻקֹּתַי תֵּלֵכוּ וְאֶת מִצְוֹתַי תִּשְׁמְרוּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם, through toil in Torah and observance of the mitzvos.

This is the only way to achieve וְנָתַתִּי מִשְׁכָּנִי בְּתוֹכֲכֶם וְלֹא תִגְעַל נַפְשִׁי אֶתְכֶם' that Hashem will dwell among us and not reject us.

 May we merit all these berachos, bimheirah b’yameinu.

Gut Shabbos.

A Quick Thought on Parashas Behar

In this week’s parashah, we are taught the laws of Shemittah – when every seven years farmers had to allow their fields to lie fallow – and Yovel – the 50^th year, when they had to do the same.

Essentially, every 50 years, they were unable to work their fields for two consecutive years.

The Torah goes on to tell us that if people ask, “What will we eat?” Hashem will provide them with so much produce in the 48^th year, that they will enough food to last through the following seasons, until the crop planted in the 51^st year grows.

A frequently-asked question is: We seem to be rewarding a person’s diminished faith. After all, it appears that this blessing will only come in response to the question, “What will we eat.” What about those farmers who have faith in Hashem and do not ask this question?

The Rebbe Reb Zushia of Hanipoli offers a beautiful insight:

Hashem knows what we truly need, what will bring us the most  blessing, what will offer us the fulfillment and contentment. Money is not always the answer; there are often other areas of life where we can better use blessing.

The Torah assures us that the farmer who worries what he will have to eat will be granted all the food he needs.

The farmer who has complete faith and reliance on Hashem, on the other hand, may have a hard time scraping by during those same years. But he will be blessed by Hashem’s bounty in those areas where he truly needs it.

May we all merit Hashem’s brachah in our own lives, in every way.

Gut Shabbos

Parashas Emor

This week’s parashah includes the mitzvah of Sefiras HaOmer,  as we count the 49 days from the second day of Pesach, when the Korban HaOmer – from the grain of the new harvest – was brought, until Shavuos.

These are days when we anxiously await receiving the Torah on Shavuos, and many ask why it is that we count “up,” rather than “down.” After all, when people anticipate an event, they generally count down the days remaining, rather than the days that have passed.

Another question is: Why is this called counting the Omer? What connection is there between the Omer, our counting, and the culmination of our count with the arrival of Shavuos and Mattan Torah?

The word “omer” has numerous meanings. One is a measure of 1/10 of an eiphah¸which is the amount of flour used for this offering. Another (as used in Devarim 24: 19) is a bundle of grain.

The lesson is that during this period, we are not to simply passively count down the days to Shavuos; we are to use each day to count “up,” to accumulate a spiritual bundle by making another improvement.

We start by counting days – we realize that every small accomplishment brings us closer to our goal. Then, as we amass more bundles of achievements, we count weeks, an encouraging sign that our small bundles are piling up in our spiritual treasurehouse – not so that we can sit back, but so that we are inspired to work even more diligently toward our objective.

The Jews had 49 days to be transformed from a slave nation at the 49^th level of impurity to the lofty nation prepared to receive the Torah. On the seventh day after they left Egypt, as they stood at the Sea, the angels looked down at the Jews and the Egyptians and commented, “This group is idolators and that group is idolators!” Seven days in – 1/7 of their spiritual journey – they looked the same! But they were not the same, they were in the process of sanctifying themselves.

Our achievements are incremental. Their effects are not always evident – even to us. But as the days and weeks pile up, though our efforts, prayers, and siyata Dishmaya our bundles amass, so that when we complete our 49-day count, we can reach the level of angels (see Shabbos 88a) and pronounce “Naaseh venishma.”

Gut Shabbos.

A Quick Thought -- Parashas Kedoshim

In this week’s parashah (19:31), we are toldאַל תִּפְנוּ אֶל הָאֹבֹת וְאֶל הַיִּדְּעֹנִים אַל תְּבַקְשׁוּ לְטָמְאָה בָהֶם..., Do not turn to Ov and Yidoni [forms of soothsaying through calling up spirits], and do not seek to become impure through them….

The Torah’s choice of the of the wordתְּבַקְשׁוּ , seek or desire seems a bit unusual. It could simply have said, as it does elsewhere, וְלֹא תִטַּמְּאוּ בָּהֶם, and do not become defiled by them.

Rashi comments do not seek to be involved in these, because if you become involved in them you will become impure. Apparently, Rashi felt that the Torah was adding an additional safeguard here: these practices are so toxic, don’t even want to do them.

However, we can also understand this verse to be teaching us a lesson that applies to everything in life: A person’s aspirations and focus are so inherently powerful, they will affect him. Do not be מְבַקֵשׁ Ov and Yidoni, because the very desire and quest for them has will spiritually corrupt and contaminate the person.

It is axiomatic that middah tovah merubah, whenever there is the power to achieve harm, there is a far stronger potential to do good.

This can give us an insight into a passuk in Tehillim. Dovid Hamelech, said (27:4) אַחַת שָׁאַלְתִּי מֵאֵת ד' אוֹתָהּ אֲבַקֵּשׁ, שִׁבְתִּי בְּבֵית ד' כָּל יְמֵי חַיַּי לַחֲזוֹת בְּנֹעַם ד' וּלְבַקֵּר בְּהֵיכָלוֹ:; I ask but one thing of Hashem, it is this that I desire: To sit in the house of Hashem all the days of my life; to behold the splendor of Hashem and to visit His Sanctuary.

Though he never merited to enter the Sanctuary, the Beis Hamikdash, which was built after his passing by his son Shlomo, his very yearning for that level of connection with Hashem brought him, as the next passuk tells us, to be hidden in Hashem’s shelter on the day of evil, to be concealed in the concealment of His tent, lifted upon a rock.

If we aspire and seek to come close to Hashem, the desire itself has the ability to purify, uplift and sanctify us.

May we be zocheh to have the proper aspirations, and to be transformed by them.

Gut Shabbos.

Parashas Acharei Mos

In this week’s parashah, the Torah has two nearly identical pesukim:  אֶת מִשְׁפָּטַי תַּעֲשׂוּ וְאֶת חֻקֹּתַי תִּשְׁמְרוּ לָלֶכֶת בָּהֶם אֲנִי ד' אֱלֹקֵיכֶם: וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת חֻקֹּתַי וְאֶת מִשְׁפָּטַי אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה אֹתָם הָאָדָם וָחַי בָּהֶם אֲנִי ד':, You shall perform My statutes and observe My Decrees to follow them, I am Hashem Your G-d. And you shall observe my decrees and My statutes, which a person shall perform, and you shall live by them, I am Hashem.

Chazal expound a number of important lessons from these pesukim, as Rashi notes, but there may be an additional insight to be gleaned from their order and the differences between them.

The first passuk is exhorting us to follow the mitzvos. A person thinking about the mitzvos will accept mishpatim, logical statutes, before the chukim, the decrees we cannot understand. The command to do them all is, however, absolute. Ani Hashem Elokeichem, which throughout the Torah means that He gives reward and punishment for their observance.

The second passuk is discussing the next, more profound level. It is discussing how we should do mitzvos and what that expeience should be for us.

If we realize that the source of the mitzvos is Ani Hashem – the Compassionate Master of all, Who always was, is, and will be – then it makes no difference whether the mitzvah is a decrees or a statute.

Beyond that, the Torah tells us, that if we do chukosai and mitzvosai, My decrees and statutes, if we perform the mitzvos properly and with the recognition of Who the Giver is, then v’chai bahem, we will live through them – they will give us enjoyment, pleasure and delight. If we find the mitzvos a burden, it is because we have not yet reached this level, we are not doing the mitzvosai, the mitzvos as Hashem intended us to do them.

May we aspire to – and experience – the proper recognition and appreciation the greatness, beauty and pleasure of the mitzvos.

Gut Shabbos.

Parashas Metzorah

In this week's parashah, we are told that when a person had a discoloration on the wall of his house that may be tzaraas, he must call the Kohen to come view it and determine its status.

If the kohen determines that it is tzaraas, the house and its contents become tamei as soon as the Kohen announces his decision.  

This being the case, the Torah tells us that, before going to look at the house, the Kohen should have the house emptied of its contents, to prevent the possessions becoming tamei. Rashi quotes the Mishnah in Negaim that makes the following observation: Almost all the objects in the house – anything made of fabric, leather, wood or metal – can be purified through immersion in mikvah. The only utensils that would actually be ruined through tumah were the most inexpensive ones, those made of earthenware. The Torah was concerned that the home-dweller should not lose even those inexpensive utensils;  “HaTorah chassah all memonan shel Yisrael; the Torah had pity on a Jew’s resources.

The Torah does not merely advise that the person should remove his possessions from the home; it seems to insist that the Kohen should tell him to do so. It seems to be saying that the Kohen can’t simply go check and hand down his decision; he must first do what he can to help the person mitigate the possible damage. There’s an important lesson to be learned from this: When doing someone a favor, it isn’t enough to do the minimum; we must look at the whole picture, and try to help the person with every detail.

Secondly, if the Torah was concerned that insignificant earthenware vessels should not go to waste, how much more must we be concerned not to waste – and to properly use – the most valuable resources we have been bequeathed, our natural talents.

May we use those talents to make the most of ourselves and to help others in every way, even beyond what they asked us to do.

Gut Shabbos

Parashas Tazria

In this week’s parashah we learn that a woman who has given birth must bring two offerings: a sheep as an Olah (burnt-offering) and a bird as a Chatzas (sin-offering) (12:6). If the mother cannot afford a sheep, she may bring a bird as an Olah as well (12:8).

An Olah is generally brought for failing to fulfill a positive commandment, for improper thoughts, or by one who simply wants draw closer to Hashem; it is not an offering of atonement (see, for example, Makkos 17b, Zevachim 5a) , but one of uplifiting. The Chatas, however, is brought to achieve atonement for sins.

Considering that is it is brought to “cleanse” the person, would it not make sense to bring an animal – a more expensive and significant offering – for the Chatas?

These pesukim offer us some insight into the general dynamic of teshuvah and spiritual growth, beyond the context of a new mother bringing these offerings.

The person bringing a Chatas has already made an important first step – recognizing that he or she has sinned. They must bring an offering for atonement, but sometimes even a token offering is enough, just to concretize their sense of contrition. The person bringing the Olah, on the other hand, may have little or no inherent sense of remorse for their failings; they may think of  themselves as righteous, as people on the level of offering a sacrifice only for the sake of draw close to Hashem.

For a wealthy person, bringing an inexpensive bird may simply be an easy shortcut to achieve “spirituality,” and that would defeat the essential purpose of the offering. He or she must therefore bring a more expensive sheep, to demonstrate – even to themselves – their commitment and sacrifice. To a poor person, bringing even a bird is a challenge, and it is therefore sufficient.

There is another question however: In both pesukim, the Torah first mentions the Olah before the Chatas. However, when birds are brought for both offerings, the Chatas is actually sacrificed first.^* Why, then, does the Torah mention the Olah before the Chatas in that passuk?

In Tehillim (85:15), Dovid Hamelech enjoins us: סוּר מֵרָע וַעֲשֵׂה טוֹב, abandon evil and do good. Ideally, a person life should follow the pattern of this verse in his life: first abandon evil and then do good. Thus the Chatas, which represents a person’s repentance from sin, precedes the Olah, which represents his actively pursuing good deeds.

However, the fact is that this is not always possible. If we were to wait until after we abandoned all sin before we pursued proper behavior, we may never come close to Hashem. Therefore, on a practical level, we often have to pursue our spiritual growth even before we have succeeded in fully cleansing ourselves of sin. Although the Chatas must be offered first, the verse is alluding to the fact that there are circumstances when our own personal Olah, our positive efforts toward spiritual achievement, must come before we have offered our Chatas, our full repentance for our past misdeeds.

May we all be zocheh to true and complete teshuvah and to draw close to Hashem.

Gut Shabbos.

* When an animal is brought for the Olah, it is brought first because an animal is more significant than a bird (Sifsei Chachamim).