Lighting The Souls Of Our Brothers And Sisters

Dedicated By Irving Bauman

לזכר נשמת אבי
הרב משה אהרן בן ר ישראל חיים באהמאן

לזכר נשמת

Harav Hagaon Rav  Nosson Ben Hagaon Rav Yakov Kamenetsky 

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In this week's parsha, Bahaloscha, it tells us how Aaron was commanded to light the menorah. This is one of the ways Aaron lit up the souls of the Jewish people. And we see that Aaron was committed to lighting up Jewish souls, as we read in Pirkei Avos, "Be  from the students of Aaron, love peace and pursue peace, love the creations and bring them close to the Torah." 

This is a call to every Jewish person, to have an effect on his or her fellow Jew, first, by bringing peace amongst them, and second, bringing them closer to the Torah. 

And we learn from Aaron how to go about it. He didn't wait for the people to come to him, rather he "pursued" them, and he even went to the lowest denomination of the Jewish people, the ones whose only redeeming factor is that they were Hashem's "creations." He also didn't water down the Torah to fit their lifestyle, rather he brought them "closer to the Torah." 

How do you bring them closer? Through igniting their neshamas. The spark is always there, but it's sometimes hidden, and it is our job to uncover it and turn it into a flame. 

We could learn from our parsha how to go about it. The verse says, "(Bahaloscha) When you will kindle the lamps," however the literal translation is, "When you will raise the lamps" And as Rashi explains, that he should light it until the flame stands on its own. Meaning that we should ignite the Jewish person's neshama until it burns bright on its own. 

There are three laws that pertain to lighting the menorah in the Temple. First, the actual lighting can be done by any denomination of Jew, Kohen, Levi or Yisrael. Second, setting up the lamps with the oil and the wick, can only be done by a Kohen. Third, it can only be lit in the Heichal, AKA the Holy. 

These three ideas can be applied to igniting the souls of the Jewish people. 

First, it can be done by any Jew, therefore it's incumbent upon each and every one of us to do the work of igniting the souls of our brothers and sisters, the Jewish people. 

Second, what you use to light them, can only be prepared by a Kohen. In other words, not everyone is in the position to decide what is the proper way to go about igniting souls, that has to be set by a Kohen. 

What is a Kohen? It is one who has no desire and no bias of his own, "Hashem is his portion," he is so in sync with Hashem, that his only desire is what Hashem wants. This is the type of person that can tell us how to go about it. Once he tells us how, then everyone could go about doing it. 

Third, it can only be lit in the Heichal. The Mishnah tells us, "There are ten levels of holiness," the holiest was the Holy of Holies, then came the Heichal, the Holy. And if the lamps were lit in a lower place than the Heichal, it wasn't a kosher lighting. 

This refers to the standards one keeps throughout the process of igniting souls. You may ask: There are other Jews, that much less is expected of them, why do you hold me to such a high standard? 

The answer. Every one of us has a specific purpose and mission from Hashem. And if you see that you are capable of keeping to a higher standard, it is a sign that it is what Hashem wants of you. And if you are not keeping to the standard that Hashem wants of you, then you are not doing His will. 

To explain. There is wisdom and there is will. Wisdom can be divided, you can understand a little or a lot of what is being taught, but when it comes to will, there is no dividing it, you either do it or not, if you only do half, you haven't done the will. 

The same as it is when it comes to people, that every person is different, and therefore, Hashem has different expectations of every person, so too, every generation is different and has different expectations. We can't compare ourselves to the great people of past generations, but we must realize the charge of our generation. In the past, the inner Torah (Chassidus) wasn't revealed, but now that it is revealed, it's proof that Hashem wants us to embrace it and make them part of our daily study. Learning it will surely enhance our study of the revealed Torah (Mishnah, Talmud, Halacha, etc.). 

I have the merit to be the Rebbe's emissary, to do the work of igniting souls. He laid out the plan, and we follow it. In all my years as his shliach, I have never seen a Yid light up more than when I was teaching him or her Chassidus. Parsha, Mishnah, Talmud, Halacha, etc. are all good, it's part of the flame, but not the brightest part, the inner Torah is the brightest part of the flame. 

May we merit to see the coming of Moshiach, which will come when the wellsprings of the inner Torah will spread out. As the neshama of Moshiach told the Baal Shem Tov, when he asked, "When will the master come?" He responded, "When your wellsprings (meaning chassidus) will spread out." May he come soon. 

Why Do We Stay Awake The Night Of Shavuoth?

Dedicated By Irving Bauman

לזכר נשמת אבי

הרב משה אהרן בן ר ישראל חיים באהמאן

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It says in the Midrash, that on the night before the giving of the Torah, the night of the first Shavuoth, the Jewish people slept all night, "because the sleep of Atzeres (Shavuoth) is pleasant and the night is short." Even a mosquito didn't bother them. In the morning, when Hashem came to give them the Torah, He found them sleeping. And this is what Hashem said, "Why did I come and there is no man, I called and there is no answer." And this is where the tradition to remain awake on the night of Shavuoth and learn Torah, to correct the mistake of sleeping on the night before the giving of the Torah. 

Every story in the Torah is meant to teach us a lesson in our service to Hashem. Especially when it tells a story that reflects negatively on the Jewish people. Because Hashem goes out of His way not to say something that sounds negative, as we know that He added several words to the Torah, just not to speak negatively about impure animals. How much more so, when it comes to the Jewish people. So when there is something that sounds negative about the Jewish people, there must be an important lesson to be learned from it. What is the lesson that we are meant to learn from this story? 

You can simply say, that the lesson is that we should stay awake on Shavuoth night. However for that we don't need all of the details, it would have been enough to write that we slept that night and Hashem wasn't happy with it. But it gets into the details, "because the sleep of Atzeres (Shavuoth) is pleasant and the night is short." Even a mosquito didn't bother them. What do we need all these details for? 

We must conclude, that there is something deeper going on here, a much more meaningful lesson. What is the lesson that we are meant to learn from this story? 

We also have to understand, how it is that the Jewish people could have slept to begin with that night? Because fifty days earlier, when they heard that they would be receiving the Torah, they were so excited and so filled with anticipation, that they started to count the days. Now that they finally reached the fiftieth day, their excitement must have known no bounds. Does it make sense that they were able to fall asleep? 

On top of that, when they were in Egypt, they were at the lowest level possible, the 49th level of impurity, and now with their count, not only were they getting closer to receiving the Torah, they were also working on their spiritual makeup, every day of the count they reached a higher level of the 49 levels of holiness. And on the 49th day of the count they reached the 49th level, the highest level a person can attain through his or her own effort. They were now spiritually prepared to receive the Torah. The fiftieth level would be bestowed upon them by Hashem in the morning, with the giving of the Torah. How is it possible that they fell asleep? 

It is obvious that they wouldn't have just fallen asleep, there was too much excitement and anticipation. They didn't lose interest in the Torah, rather they must have intentionally gone to sleep as a preparation for the giving of the Torah. 

How do we know that going to sleep was a positive thing? Because the Midrash tells us that even a mosquito didn't bother them. Now why would Hashem make that miracle happen for them. if it wasn't a good thing? 

The Alter Rebbe explains, that as great as the neshama's understanding and connection to Hashem can reach while it is in the body, it doesn't compare to the understanding that it could attain when it is up on High, before it enters the body, because the body can't handle that level of connection. 

Therefore, when a person is asleep, and the neshama goes on High to be refreshed, and only a smidgen of the neshama remains in the body, it is able to connect and grasp ideas that it normally wouldn't understand while in the body. 

That's why it is, that when a seriously diligent student of the Torah, one who is totally given over to it with his whole heart and soul, goes to sleep with an unanswered dilemma that is perplexing him, often he will awake with the answer. This is because his neshama was treated to the answer when it went up on High. 

That is why they went to sleep, because they had already reached the 49th level, the highest level that they could attain on their own. They felt that if they go to sleep, they will attain a much higher level. And they felt that this would be the best preparation for receiving the Torah. This is the meaning of, "the sleep of Atzeres (Shavuoth) is pleasant." They were basking in the highest levels of G-dliness. 

It goes a step further. The more effort one puts into refining himself while in the body, the higher the neshama soars and the greater the levels of G-dliness it will be able to grasp. Being that they reached the highest level of refinement a person can attain, they knew that their neshamas would reach the highest levels possible. When you are at this level, "The night is short." The darkness of the world is not existent. 

And this is why the mosquitoes didn't bother them. Because when a person is at such a high level, the creatures of the world don't bother him. 

However, Hashem wasn't happy with this. Because the whole purpose of the Torah is to work with the physical world, refine it and infuse it with G-dliness, making the most mundane holy. This can only be done when the neshama is in the body, and so the best preparation for receiving the Torah, is not separating from the physical, just the opposite, it is through being in the physical. 

The lesson here, is that there might be a person who thinks, "I don't want anything to do with this dark world. I have already accomplished a lot spiritually, I will cut myself off from the world, and bask in the light of my accomplishments." 

To him the Torah says, that it is not what Hashem wants. Even the greatest generation, who reached the highest level, Hashem didn't want them to separate from the physical world, rather to work with the physical world, raising it up to Hashem. So too, we should work with the physical world and refine it, and infuse it with G-dliness and work with a Jew who is less knowledgeable and help him or her reach a higher level.. 

Now we will understand why we stay up the night of Shavuoth, because the giving of the Torah is all about neshamas in bodies affecting the physical world. And if we do, we will merit to see the coming of Moshiach, when the world will finally be completely refined and infused with G-dliness. May he come soon.

Why Is Israel On A Different Parsha Track Than The Rest Of The World?

Dear friends, 

This is an updated version of an article I wrote a few years ago. Thanks to my readers comments, there is a lot of new information. 

Enjoy, 

Yitzi 

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Since Pesach Israel has been one parsha ahead. This means that if you are traveling to Israel, you will miss a parsha. 

There are two cases where this can happen. The first is Pesach. Outside the Holy Land we are obligated to celebrate an eighth day, in Israel Pesach is seven days. When the eighth day falls on Shabbos, in Israel that Shabbos is not Pesach anymore, so they read the next parsha. Outside Israel it's still Pesach and the Torah reading is on the holiday theme. It is only the next week that the next parsha is read. And so the parsha in Israel is one week ahead. 

The same thing happens when Shavuoth falls on Erev Shabbos (Friday). Outside of Israel we celebrate Shavuoth two days, in Israel it is only one day. The same scenario will play out, while outside of Israel we will be celebrating Shabbos as the second day of Shavuoth, in Israel it will be a regular Shabbos and they will be reading the next parsha. Outside of Israel we will be reading the holiday Torah reading and only resume the parsha on the next Shabbos. So we are off by one parsha. (This will happen next year 5780.) 

Sometimes after Pesach it goes on for five weeks, aligning two weeks before Shavuoth with parshas Behar-Bechukosai. Outside of Israel they are together, inside Israel they are separate and so, we are realigned. Other times it can go on for about four months, until parshas Matos-Maasei are combined outside of Israel, while in Israel they remain separated, and we are back on the same track. 

After Shavuoth it always realigns with parshas Chukas-Balak. 

Between Pesach and Matos-Maasei there are, depending on the year, three or four double parshas. Between Pesach and Shavuoth there can be as many as three, which could put us on the same track as early as the Shabbos following Pesach. So, why do we wait until Behar-Bechukosai (5 weeks) or Matos-Maasei (4 months), to become realigned? 

The first thing to understand is that the schedule of the parshas was established outside of the land of Israel. At a time, when in Israel, the Jewish community was small and less educated, and they would read the Torah, completing it over a three year cycle. 

Later, when Israel, once again became a center of Torah, it adopted the system from outside the Land. Every few years, because of the extra Shabbos, Israel is forced to go on to a different track, while outside of Israel, they remain on the regular track. 

Why were these parshas, outside the Land, set up this way? 

The answer is, that when setting up the parsha system, the rule is that the first parshas to be doubled up are the last parshas of a chumash, therefore Behar-Bechukosai and Matos-Maasei will be the first to be read together in their respective chumash. They also wanted that parshas Pinchas, whenever possible, should be read during the Three Weeks, between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av (Tisha B'Av). Which is the saddest time on the Jewish calendar. Pinchas has the holiday sacrifice readings, which are joyous and sweetens the harshness of the time. It was also established that parshas Vaeschanan is always read the Shabbos after Tisha B'Av. It is Shabbos Nachamu, the first Haftora of consolation after Tisha B'Av. 

They also established, that parshas Bechukosai, which has the curses, be read before Shavuoth, with at least one parsha, parshas Bamidbar, buffering between the curses and Shavuoth. This can cause the tracks to align earlier. 

Sometimes there is no choice but to have parshas Naso also before Shavuoth, however, whenever possible, Nasso is after Shavuoth, being that they want the connection between the curses of parshas Bechukosai and Shavuoth to be recognized and if you have two parshas in between, it is not so recognizable. 

It turns out that in a Jewish leap year, when there is an extra month of Adar added to the calendar, the tracks realign with parshas Matos-Maasei, since there are four extra weeks, and most of the double parshas have to be split up and being that outside of Israel we wait until Matos-Maasei to have a double parsha, there is no choice but to realign then. 

However in a regular year, they realign with parshas Behar-Bechukosai although in many years there is the possibility of realigning earlier, because it is a long standing tradition to realign with parshas Behar-Bechukosai and they don't want to break from tradition. 

When Moshiach comes, The Three Weeks will become a happy time, and parshas Pinchas will be unnecessary to sweeten the time. Perhaps then we will be able to align the tracks earlier, which won't matter much, because we will all be living in Israel. 

(All of the information above, was gleaned from questions I posed to rabbis who visited me. As I am limited to the books that I have on my eye gaze computer. Therefore, I request, that if you have more information on the subject, or if there are inaccuracies in what I wrote, please share it in the comments section below.) 

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Thank you Dovid Hurwitz, Mendy Bortonk and DH for your incites.