Active Involvement

In memory of 

Mendy Klein OBM

who passed away this week. He was an amazing person and a great Baal Tzedaka. Dina and I will miss you. May his family be consoled. 

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In parshas Behar, the Torah says, that when giving a loan to a fellow Jew, one shouldn't charge interest, and it concludes, "I Am Hashem your G-d who took you out of the land of Egypt... to be for you as G-d."

The Sifra explains, "From here, (our sages) said, 'Whoever accepts the yoke of (not taking) interest, accepts the yoke of Heaven, and whoever removes the yoke (and takes) interest, removes the yoke of Heaven... for anyone who admits to the mitzvah of (not taking) interest, admits to the Exodus from Egypt, and anyone who denies (and takes) interest, denies the Exodus from Egypt.'"

What is it about the mitzvah of (not taking) interest, that it is specifically connected to accepting the yoke of Heaven, and the Exodus from Egypt?

Rashi explains the connection between taking interest and the Exodus from Egypt. That just as by the Exodus, Hashem differentiated between a firstborn and a non-firstborn, so too, He knows when someone lends his own money with interest, claiming that the money belongs to a non-Jew.

The difficulty we remain with, is that Rashi's explanation is only on a specific circumstance, that he claims that the money belongs to a non-Jew. However, from the Sifra it seems that taking interest, in any situation, is a denial of the Exodus. How is the general idea of charging interest a denial of the Exodus?

It is also strange to equate the taking of interest to throwing off one's yoke of Heaven, instead, it seems to be more of a lack of trust in Hashem. He is afraid that if he doesn't invest all of his money, he won't have enough. On the other hand, one who lends money to another Jew without any gain, displays a great trust in Hashem, because he is showing that he is certain that Hashem will take care of him, even without that money invested. Why does taking interest equate with throwing off one's yoke of Heaven?

Accepting the yoke of Heaven expresses itself mostly in the performance of mitzvahs. Why do you do a mitzvah? Because Hashem said so. That is the simple definition of accepting the yoke of Heaven. When you do a mitzvah this way, Hashem participates in your mitzvah. That is one of the reasons why we say in the blessing before a mitzvah, "He sanctified us with His commandments," and not "the commandments," they are His, because He does them. How does this work?

There are two ways. First, there is when Hashem does the mitzvah before us, as our sages say, "What He does, He tells Yisrael to do." Then there is when Hashem does a mitzvah as a result of a Jew doing a mitzvah, as our sages say, "Whoever reads the Torah, Hashem reads and responds opposite him." The same is true about every mitzvah.

The fact that we effect above, doesn't mean that we are in some way comparable to Hashem, of course we are not, as nothing is. So why do we effect above? It is only that Hashem wanted it to be that way, so it is. But we have to ask: Why does Hashem want our service to Him, to have an effect above?

To understand this, we first have to answer a more general question. Why does Hashem want us to serve Him at all? One of the reasons Hashem created the world, is "In order to do good to his creations," because it is "His nature to do good." If so, why doesn't He just fill our needs without our service to Him, from the top down, according to his nature?

Because of His nature to do good, He would want us to feel good about what we receive from Him, to feel like we earned it, no one feels satisfied with a hand out. When you get something that is not earned, it is called "bread of shame." Hashem has us serve Him, so that we earn what we receive from Him.

Now that we understand why Hashem has us serve Him, we will also understand why our service effects above. When we do work, we only feel good about it, when it is meaningful, when it actually accomplishes something. If someone were to give you meaningless busy work, a boondoggle, in order to give you a paycheck, it doesn't feel good either. It is still bread of shame, because you know that it is a hand out. Hashem made our service make a real difference above, so that it would be truly satisfying and meaningful.

Another reason that Hashem had our service make a real difference, is because work that accomplishes nothing is not satisfying.

There was a landowner that loved the motion of a sickle being swung in the field. So he hired a peasant to swing his sickle in his room for the same pay he would receive in the field. After a short while, the peasant quit, saying, "I don't see any accomplishment."

Therefore, Hashem set things up in a way, that our service effects above. This makes our service more enjoyable and gratifying. It also helps us overcome the yetzer hara, the evil inclination, knowing how much our service to Hashem accomplishes, we are strengthened and are able to win the battle.

Now that we know how we affect the world with each particular mitzvah that we do, there is also the general concept of how we effect above, symbolized by the mitzvah of (not taking) interest.

What is interest? It is making a profit off money that you once had, now it is in the borrowers possession, but you are still making money on it. You are not involved at all, but you are taking the profit. It is different than an investor who risks his capital, and gains and loses with the success of the venture. When one takes interest, he is not involved.

Hashem treats us, as we treat others. If we give loans with interest, meaning, that we are not involved, Hashem in turn, will not participate in our mitzvahs, which is what happens when we accept the yoke of Heaven. Now that one charged interest, he threw off the yoke of Heaven, and Hashem doesn't participate in his mitzvahs.

This will help us understand the connection between taking interest, and the Exodus from Egypt. The Exodus represents becoming free of all restraints. When we accept the yoke of Heaven, Hashem becomes our partner in our service. When you have Hashem as your partner, you are freed of all restraints, you are free from your Egypts.

This is a lesson for us. It is not enough what you have done in the past. Even if you established great ongoing things. You have to be an active participant in the world in your relationships, and in the good things you have established already. You shouldn't think, "I have already done my work, teaching others to run the Torah institutions and the chesed organizations, I will now be involved in my own growth and my own pursuits, and I will enjoy the residual income of my past involvement in spreading Torah and doing kindness." In a small way, this is akin to taking interest. Rather, one should continue to be involved, and the reward for this, is Hashem will be his partner, his life will be filled with blessing and he will be freed of all restraints.

In the merit of our involvement in spreading Torah and doing kindness, we will surely break free from the restraints of this exile, and hasten the coming of Moshiach. May he come soon.

Jewish Beauty

Photo by Inga Barsky

Dear friends, 

Dina and I are so grateful to Hashem that our daughter Fruma is engaged to Levi Karp. Here is what I wrote in honor of their engagement. The dvar Torah is in regular font, and the personal message to the new couple is in italics. 

Yitzi 
____

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Baruch Hashem, I am here to see my daughter Fruma get engaged, and to a wonderful bochur, from a wonderful family. 

Mazal Tov to the Karps and the Glicks, and to the Hurwitzes and Berkowitzes, Baruch Hashem, this is a match made in heaven. And now, if there was someone in Lubavitch that you weren't related to yet, you can be certain that you are now. 

You are getting engaged in the week of Behar-Bechukosai. 

You may ask, what does Behar-Bechukosai have to do with shidduchim?

The last Mishnah of maseches Taanis, talks about shidduchim. It tells about Tu B'Av, when the eligible girls of Yerushalayim would dress in white and dance in the Vineyards. They would say to the boys, "Bochur, lift up your eyes and see, what will you choose for yourself? Don't look at beauty, look at family. Charm is false and beauty is futile, a woman who is G-d-fearing is to be praised."

The Rebbe asks, "Was it possible, that every maiden in Yerushalayim came from a good family, that she would be able to say, look at my family?"

The question becomes stronger, when you see what the Talmud says next. It brings a beraisa that details what exactly the young ladies said. The pretty ones said, "look at beauty." The ones with yichus said, "look at family." The homely ones said, "take your pick for the sake of heaven."

The beraisa seems to be contradicting the Mishnah, the Mishnah seems to put everyone in one boat, "look at family," but the beraisa says that they said details. Also, it seems very vain and shallow of the pretty ones, to say, "look at beauty." Is that a Jewish value? And how does it fit with the wholesome message of the Mishnah, that "Charm is false and beauty is futile?"

There are two approaches when it comes to viewing the qualities of a person. You can take a general view of a person, or you can look at the details.

In the general view, you see a Jewish girl, a daughter of our matriarchs, Sarah, Rivka, Rachel and Leah, who inherited their beautiful qualities. Even though they might be hidden at the moment, you know that they are there, and that eventually they will surely surface. The Mishnah is talking about this general view, that is why it says, "Lift up your eyes and see," because he is taking a general view. And when it says, "Charm is false and beauty is futile," it is referring to shallow beauty and shallow Charm.

The beraisa is talking about a detailed view, after he already has seen the general view. The girls of Yerushalayim are talking about meaningful Jewish virtues. Why is she beautiful, because she took the beautiful inheritance that she got from Sarah, Rivka, Rachel and Leah, and made them her own. Therefore, she is truly beautiful on the inside, and when you are beautiful on the inside, it comes out on the outside, that is Jewish beauty worth mentioning. That is not false and not futile.

In other words, if you accept the gifts that are your inheritance and make them your own, then the details have value. Real beauty and real family in the light of Torah, in the light of Yiddishkeit, and Chassidus. However, if you only have the details without making the inheritance your own, it is empty beauty, false and futile.

This brings us to Behar-Bechukosai. Behar is a mountain, tall, strong and beautiful, it is the details. Bechukosai is our essence, our inheritance, the Torah. If you make the Bechukosai, the Torah your own, then the Behar, the details are of value. But if you only have the Behar, the details, it is a pretty rock, with no Yiddishe taam and no Jewish value.

We are blessed to have Fruma and Levi, who have it all. They know where they come from, the Karps the Glicks the Hurwitzes and the Berkowitzes, who have amazing virtues, they are honest, kind, giving, talented, strong, learned, smart and chassidish, to name a few. And you both are internalizing them. It is wonderful to see such an amazing couple coming together, just keep it up. Make Hashem proud, and the Rebbe proud, and you will certainly make us and all klal Yisrael proud. 

And to my Fruma, you come from a long line of great, smart, kind, and strong women, who made a difference. I see that in you. Take a lesson from your mother and from Levi's mother, who are both truly beautiful because they internalized it. And since they are beautiful on the inside, they are beautiful on the outside as well. 

You have it in you to be like them and even better. 

Mazal Tov! Mazal Tov! 

Sefiras HaOmer

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The mitzvah of Sefiras HaOmer (the counting of the Omer), is found in parshas Emor which is always read during Sefira. It is also read on the second day of Pesach, the day that we begin the counting of the Omer. 

Sefiras HaOmer is a unique mitzvah in certain ways, which will be the discussion of this article. 

What is the reason for the count? According to many, it is a preparation and readying ourselves for the holiday of Shavuoth. 

The Chinuch tells us, "We are commanded to count from the day after the first day of Pesach until the day of the giving of the Torah, to give guidance to our souls, to have great yearning for the honorable day in our hearts, 'like a servant who longs for shade,' constantly counting, when will come the time that he pines for, to go free, because the counting shows about the person, that his whole hope and yearning is to reach that day."

This will help us understand why we don't say Shehecheyanu at the start of the count. First, because it is a preparatory mitzvah, and we don't say Shehecheyanu on a mitzvah that is a preparation for something else. For example, when we search for chametz before Pesach, we don't say Shehecheyanu, because it is a preparation for Pesach. 

A second reason, is because the count represents a longing and anticipation for something you don't have now. Therefore it is associated with discomfort and we don't say Shehecheyanu on something that is painful. 

Today, according to some opinions, the mitzvah of Sefiras HaOmer is "zecher l'mikdash," meaning that it is not the same as in Temple times, when we brought the Omer offering. Now that we don't have the Temple, we do it in remembrance of Temple times, but we still say the blessings and it has the same spiritual effect on us, as we will mention later in this article. 

The Zohar says, that the seven weeks we count, are like the seven days that are counted before mikva. Through this we purify ourselves, so that we can enter the chupa on the day of the Giving of the Torah, Shavuoth. 

Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, when putting together the siddur that Chabad uses, was very particular in every detail, the liturgy, the order, etc. That it should be able to be used by every Jew. It follows the nusach (system of prayer) of the Arizal, but leaves out the deep spiritual meditations that he added to his siddur, because it is beyond most people to understand and follow, and the siddur was meant to be for every Jew. When he made his siddur, he had sixty nusachs of the siddur, that he compared and reference, before coming up with his final product. 

One of the changes he made to the siddur, whereas the Ari's siddur ends with meditations, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi put Sefiras HaOmer last. Why did he make this change? 

The end of the siddur is not arbitrary, especially when we know how particular he was about every detail. The end of a book is the culmination of the work, and in it you can find the essence and the central purpose of the work. 

The Ari's siddur ends with meditations of the higher spiritual realms, because it is a siddur that was made for a particular few, who are at the high level, that their prayers affect the world and the higher spiritual realms, bringing everything in sync with Hashem's purpose. The essence and the central purpose of that siddur is not so much the person praying, rather, the effect it has on the world, therefore, it ends with meditations. 

Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi's siddur is for every individual Jew. Its central theme is the effect on the individual, and it culminates with Sefiras HaOmer, because somehow Sefiras HaOmer encapsulates the central theme of the siddur. How does it do that? 

Mitzvahs generally fall into one of two categories. The first are mitzvahs that require action, like putting on Tefillin, lighting Shabbos candles, eating matzah, etc. Or even a minor action, like speaking, saying words, like reading the Megillah, retelling the story of the Exodus from Egypt, etc. 

The second type of mitzvah, is the kind that is in the heart, like love and fear of Hashem, etc. 

The mitzvah of prayer is unique in that while it requires action, it has to be said with the lips, it also is in the heart, as it has to be pleading and beseeching with meaning. As the Rambam says, "The obligation of this mitzvah is as follows, that a person should beseech and pray every day, by saying praises of Hashem, followed by asking for his needs through requesting and beseeching, and after that, to give praise and thanks to Hashem for the good He has given him." Requesting and beseeching require that you understand what you are saying, and it comes from the heart, if not, it isn't prayer. So prayer has both the qualities of action and heart. 

While other mitzvahs require proper intent, the intent itself isn't the actual mitzvah, but by prayer, the intent itself is the mitzvah. 

The same is true about Sefiras HaOmer. The law is, that you have to say the count, but if you don't understand the Hebrew, you could say it in any language you understand, because if you don't know what you are saying, you are not counting. So Sefiras HaOmer is like prayer, in that it has both qualities of action and heart. 

Another way prayer and Sefiras HaOmer are alike, is in its effect on the individual. 

When praying we are meant to stand before Hashem, "like a servant before his master." And as the Rambam says, "One should clear his heart of all thoughts and see himself as if he stands before the Shechina." When you pray in this way, it changes you and lifts you to a higher level than before, until you are a completely different person. 

The same is true about Sefiras HaOmer. The purpose of Sefiras HaOmer is to change ourselves spiritually, every day we work on a different aspect of our spiritual makeup. As we say in the "Ribono shel olam" prayer, that we say following Sefiras HaOmer, "You have commanded us... to count Sefiras HaOmer in order to purify us from our evil and impurities... so that the souls of Your people Israel may be cleansed from their defilement." Just like prayer, the counting of the Omer changes you. 

There is a third way that prayer and Sefiras HaOmer are alike, and different from most other mitzvahs. Most mitzvahs require action, and after you do them, they are done and complete. 

When it comes to prayer, the point is to beseech and pray for your needs, even though you don't know if and when your requests will be fulfilled, which would be the completion of what you are praying for. The act of prayer, asking for your needs, although it is not complete in its fruition, is the mitzvah. In a way, prayer is the preparation for the fruition of your requests, and it is this preparation that is the actual mitzvah. 

The same is with Sefiras HaOmer, it is only a preparation for receiving the Torah, for Shavuoth, and the preparation, the counting, longing and anticipation is the actual mitzvah. 

You might think, that individual prayer is not as powerful as the special few that pray with the Ari's siddur meditations. But Sefiras HaOmer teaches us otherwise. 

When you think about it, you will realize that this counting is very powerful, and we see its strength in the holiday it brings, Shavuoth. 

Shabbos is established by Hashem, no matter what, every seven days you have Shabbos, it is totally out of our control. Most holidays are set to a date on the calendar, we sanctify the months of the year, establishing when the new month begins, but it generally follows the cycle of the moon. In that we have some control. 

However, Shavuoth is not set to a date on the calendar, rather it is set to the count of the Omer. We count forty nine days and the fiftieth is Shavuoth, it is totally in our control. 

We see the power of Sefiras HaOmer in a few ways. First, outside of Israel, instead of every holiday being one day, we add an extra day. The reason for this, is because in the times that we would sanctify the new month according to the testimony of two witnesses that saw the new moon, the community outside of Israel wouldn't know exactly when the new month began until a while later. To deal with this doubt, it was established, that outside of Israel they would celebrate a second day, just in case the new month began a day later. So the extra day of every holiday, is because of doubt. 

The exception to this rule is Shavuoth. Since Shavuoth is after forty nine days of counting the Omer, there is never a doubt when Shavuoth is, it is always on the fiftieth day, irrespective of the date it falls on. If so, why do we have a second day of Shavuoth? Because the rabbis made all the holidays the same. Different than Sukkos and Pesach, the extra day of Shavuoth was never because of a doubt, therefore, it is stricter than the extra days of the other holidays. 

It is Sefiras HaOmer that establishes when we celebrate Shavuoth. 

The second way is how our individual counts effect Shavuoth. According to many, if someone crosses the International Dateline during Sefira, and his count is off by a day, he will have to celebrate Shavuoth according to his count, either a day earlier or later than everybody else. 

And finally, Sefiras HaOmer draws Hashem's blessing into the world, as the prayer after Sefiras HaOmer continues, "And through this, abundant bounty will be bestowed in all the worlds." And these blessings are drawn into the details, as the next words tell us, "And rectify our nefesh, ruach and neshamah from every baseness and defect, and purify and sanctify us with Your supernal holiness." 

Similarly the individual prayers of every single Jew, is very powerful, even though it is focused on his needs. Prayer is not just to draw down the blessings that are already in the world. In prayer we say, "It should be the will before You," because we, so to speak, draw from beyond existence a new will that didn't exist in the world before. And this new will is drawn into the details, to heal someone who wasn't meant to be healed, to grant children to someone who was meant to be barren, to rain on a place where there was supposed to be a drought, etc. When a new will is drawn into the world, it affects all of existence, raising it higher than it ever was before. So like Sefiras HaOmer, the prayers of an individual are extremely powerful, it changes the world. 

Now we can understand why Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi put Sefiras HaOmer last in his siddur, because it encapsulates the essence and the central theme of individual prayer, which is the point of his siddur. 

Through our counting Sefiras HaOmer, which is "zecher l'mikdash," and through studying its laws, we will merit the coming of Moshiach and the rebuilding of our Holy Temple, the Beis Hamikdash, in Jerusalem. And we will certainly be able to count the Omer in its proper way, as we say right after counting, every night of Sefiras HaOmer, "May the Merciful One restore unto us the service of the Beis Hamikdash to its place, speedily in our days; Amen, Selah." May it happen soon. 

Dedicated in memory of Chaya Spalter, whose yartziet was this week. It is amazing how one person can affect so many, as she had an amazing effect on everybody she met, including my family and myself. She was beautiful inside and out and a force of good in the world. 

Saving A Life Is Keeping Shabbos

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In parshas Acharei it says, "And you should keep my rules and ordinances, which a person must do and live by them, I Am Hashem."

This verse is quoted by the Talmud, as proof that one should save a life , even if it means desecrating Shabbos. The Talmud asks, "How do we know that saving a life pushes off Shabbos?" The Talmud tries several different ways to prove it, but they all are not concrete. Then it brings the proof from our verse, which stands up to the test and is not disproven. It says "And you should keep my rules and ordinances, which a person must do and live by them, you should live by them and not die by them."

There is a general rule in all of Torah, "There is nothing that stands before saving a life, other than idolatry, adultery and murder." So why do we need a separate proof to teach us that you can break Shabbos to save a life? Isn't Shabbos already included in this rule?

It is brought down in several places, that the law of "(It is better to) break the law, rather than be killed," is also learned from this same verse, "You should live by them and not die by them." So being that the Talmud says this teaching specifically by Shabbos, we must conclude that there is something unique about this teaching, "You should live by them and not die by them," that has specifically to do with Shabbos, different than any other mitzvah. What is the unique aspect of this teaching that pertains to Shabbos? The verse itself, "And you should keep my rules and my ordinances... And live by them," is talking about all mitzvahs. So why does the Talmud specify Shabbos?

The Rambam also says this teaching twice. When speaking about the general rules of the Torah, he says, "For example, if an idol worshipper were to threaten a Jew, that he should break one of the mitzvahs of the Torah or he will kill him, he should break the mitzvah and not be killed. As it says with regards to mitzvahs, 'Which a person does and lives by them,' you should live by them and not die by them." And then again by the laws of Shabbos he says, "It is forbidden to hesitate to break Shabbos for a sick person who is in danger, as it says, 'Which a person does and lives by them,' and not die by them." Why the specific mention by Shabbos?

By Shabbos the Rambam continues, "This teaches you that the rules of the Torah are not a revenge on the world, but rather compassion, kindness and peace for the world." It seems that this should have been written by the general rules, because it talks about all the rules of the Torah. Being that he mentions all the rules of the Torah, we must conclude that there is something that we will learn from Shabbos, that will give us a deeper understanding of this teaching, and that will also apply to the rest of the mitzvahs. What are we meant to learn from Shabbos?

There is a difference between all the mitzvahs and keeping Shabbos. When it comes to mitzvahs in general, the rule is, "There is nothing that stands before saving a life." Meaning, that saving a life "pushes away" the obligation of doing the mitzvah. You are still obligated, but saving a life trumps the obligation. However by Shabbos, the Rambam says, "When it comes to a sick person, Shabbos is like a week day, for all the things that he needs." In other words, when it comes to saving a life, it is not Shabbos, there isn't any obligation to begin with.

Similarly, Rashi on the Talmud, when explaining why saving a life trumps mitzvahs, he says, "The reason for this, is because the souls of Israel are more dear to Hashem than the mitzvahs, Hashem says, 'Nullify the mitzvah and he should live.'" Meaning, that when it comes to all mitzvahs, we nullify the mitzvah. The mitzvah is still obligated, but we nullify it. However, when it comes to saving a life on Shabbos, he says, "The person should do the mitzvahs in a way that he will certainly live, and not to come to a possibility of death by doing it, so we break Shabbos when in doubt." In other words, when it comes to Shabbos, we don't nullify the mitzvah, rather, part of keeping Shabbos, is that it should be done "in a way that he will certainly live, and not come to a possibility of death." So saving a life is part of keeping Shabbos.

When it comes to saving a life on Shabbos, the Talmud says, "One who hurries is praised, one who asks a question is shedding blood." But the Rambam doesn't use these terms, instead he says, "It is forbidden to hesitate." In other words, the Talmud is telling us how to save a life , "hurry and don't question." The Rambam, on the other hand, uses the term "It is forbidden," in the laws of Shabbos, he is telling us a law of keeping Shabbos, "It is forbidden to hesitate." He is saying, that saving a life is part of keeping Shabbos.

There is another Talmudic passage about saving a life on Shabbos, "Desecrate one Shabbos, in order to keep many Shabbosim." This is saying, to break Shabbos for Shabbos' sake, but it is not saying that saving a life is part of keeping Shabbos. On the other hand, "You should live by them and not die by them," is saying that living is part of keeping mitzvahs, and in our case, saving a life is part of the mitzvah of keeping Shabbos.

Why is saving a life part of keeping Shabbos?

Regarding Shabbos, the Torah says, "You should keep My Shabbosim, for it is a sign between Me and you for generations, to know that I Am Hashem Who makes you holy." Rashi explains, "It is a great sign between us, that I chose you, when I bequeathed to you my rest day, to rest."

In order to have Shabbos, there is the necessity of both Hashem and us, if there is no us, there is no Shabbos. So when a person's life is in danger, the existence of Shabbos is under threat. Therefore, his life must be saved in order to have Shabbos.

It is not just that he is being saved, but the act of breaking Shabbos in this case is how you keep the Shabbos. In other words, Shabbos itself is saying, that you have to do the act of breaking Shabbos, for its own sake. So there could be "a sign between Me and you," if there is no you, there is no Shabbos, and the sign doesn't exist.

In truth, every mitzvah is a sign between Hashem and us, but the Torah only says it openly by the mitzvah of Shabbos. That is why the Talmud and the Rambam repeat the teaching of "You should live by them and not die by them." by Shabbos. So that we apply to all the mitzvahs what we learn from Shabbos, that saving a life is part of keeping the mitzvah.

As you can imagine, writing this article was very meaningful to me, as I am in a constant state of being "a sick person who is in danger." There were countless times that I had to be saved on Shabbos, and I am grateful that I am so important to Hashem and to His Shabbos.

We are so precious and dear to Hashem, He chose each and every one of us, and He shared with us His most prized possession, Shabbos. He made it so, that without us, it is nothing.

May we soon merit to see the coming of Moshiach, and experience the era that is called "The day that is entirely Shabbos," the era of Moshiach. The time has come.

If It All Turned White It Is Pure

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Most of the parsha of Tazria tells us the laws of diagnosing and quarantining a Metzora. It begins to say that if a person notices a white patch develop on his skin, he should be brought before a Kohen, only a Kohen can pronounce a person ritually impure on account of Tzaraas. If the Kohen sees that hair inside the patch changed from its color to white or the white patch appears deeper than the skin around it, it is definitely Tzaraas and the Kohen pronounces him ritually impure. If however he doesn't see one of these signs, the Kohen will quarantine the person for seven days. On the seventh day, the Kohen reexamines the person. If he sees one of the signs or if the patch became bigger, he is pronounced impure. If it becomes smaller or darker than the usual shades of Tzaraas, it is not Tzaraas. If it is the same as it was the first time he was examined, the Kohen quarantines him for another seven days. 

On the seventh day, the Kohen reexamines him as before, and the same rules apply, except that this time, if the patch remains the same, it is not Tzaraas, and he is pronounced ritually pure of Tzaraas. 

In a case that the Kohen determined that it was indeed not Tzaraas, the person must wash his clothes and go to the mikvah and he is pure. In other words, even though he is not a Metzora, he was considered impure, but at a lower level of impurity. 

Then the Torah seems to continue with these laws, but for some reason, it starts with a verse, as if it is beginning a new subject. "If a person has a patch of (what appears to be) Tzaraas, he is brought to the Kohen." Then the Torah continues with more details about diagnosing a Metzora. It adds that if some skin within the white patch appears fresh, like normal skin, it is another sign that it is definitely Tzaraas. It is just an old patch of Tzaraas that fresh skin started to grow on. Then it says that if the patch spread over the entire person's body, meaning everywhere the Kohen can see, he is pronounced ritually pure. Later, if fresh skin appears somewhere on his body, the Kohen will pronounce him impure, because his whole body isn't completely covered. 

Why does the Torah start this as if it is a new subject? Why didn't it continue with something like, "And if the Kohen sees fresh skin...?" As it does in the following verse, "And if the Tzaraas erupts on the skin, that the Tzaraas covers all the skin with the patch, from his head until his feet, wherever the eyes of the Kohen can see. The Kohen examines it, if it covers all his skin, he pronounces the patch ritually pure, if it all turned white, he is pure." There is even a break in the Torah before and after these laws, indicating that it is a separate subject. If it is just adding more details about Tzaraas, it is not a new subject. So there must be something very unique here that the Torah deems it necessary to start it as a new subject. What is the new idea that we learn from here? 

To understand this, let us look at another difficulty in this passage. 

The verse says, "If it all turned white, he is ritually pure." The Torahs Kohanim and the Rambam say, that this only applies when the Kohen first pronounced him ritually impure, and then it spread all over. But if the person appears before the Kohen to begin with and it's all over his body, or after he was already pronounced ritually pure, it then spread all over, he is impure. 

However, Rashi, who explains the simple meaning of the verse, doesn't say anything, leading us to believe, that it doesn't matter what the circumstance is, "If it all turned white," he is pure. 

Torahs Kohanim and the Rambam tell us the law, Rashi, on the other hand, doesn't come to teach us the final law, rather, to teach us the simple meaning of the verse. It is common that the law is different from the simple meaning. The Torah has many levels of interpretation, there is the simple meaning, the legal, the esoteric, and more. They each teach us different things, they connect to different aspects of our lives. So it is okay if they disagree with each other. However, when we see this kind of disagreement, we have to ask: What is the underlying factors of this disagreement? And what can we learn from them? 

The Torahs Kohanim and the Rambam are looking at the legal aspect of the verse. All of the laws of purity and impurity are biblical decrees. That means that they are what they are, we don't use logic to infer anything else from them, and we apply the law to that specific case and no other scenario. 

Being that the law of, "If it all turned white," comes right after the law, that when fresh skin appears within a white patch, the Kohen pronounces him ritually impure, we must conclude, that only after he is pronounced impure, and then it spreads all over, is he pure. 

Rashi on the other hand, is explaining the simple meaning. According to the simple meaning, the reason that, "If it all turned white," is pure, is because of logical reasoning. Because, now that it spread all over his body, we recognize that it is not Tzaraas, rather the natural condition of his skin, and that is why he is pure, it was never Tzaraas to begin with. 

Now we can understand why it is a new subject. Because it is teaching us about a case that was never Tzaraas to begin with. Being that it has nothing to do with Tzaraas, it is a new subject. 

This will help us understand something that the Talmud says. 

The Talmud says, "The son of David (Moshiach) won't come until all the kingdoms will turn over to heresy. Rava asks: What is the verse (that proves this point)? 'if it all turned white, he is ritually pure.'" And Rashi explains, "Just as with a patch that spread all over the skin, when all the kingdoms will turn over to heresy, redemption will come." 

This Talmudic passage is also found where the Talmud tells us signs that we are in "ikvisa d'mishicha," the time just before the coming of Moshiach. 

Why will Moshiach come when the whole world will become heretical? There are two ways to understand this, in line with the two approaches to "If it all turned white," that it is either a biblical decree or a logical reasoning. 

The first way of looking at it, is that things will be so bad that there will be no choice but for Hashem to send Moshiach. Just like a biblical decree, it is from the top down, directly from Hashem, without our input. 

The second way of looking at it, is that the whole world becoming heretical is a point of clarity, when they will all recognize that they have nothing to do with Hashem, and it will become clear that only we do. Then Moshiach will come and they will want to learn from us, therefore, we will have a tremendous effect on the world, and we will all serve Hashem together, as it says, "For then I will convert the nations to a pure language that all of them call in the name of Hashem, to worship Him of one accord." This is from the bottom up, like logical reasoning it will come from the world's understanding.

This is similar to what the Talmud says about the Jewish people, "The son of David (Moshiach) won't come but in a generation that everybody is deserving or that everybody is undeserving. In a generation that everybody is deserving, as it says, 'And your nation are all righteous, they will forever inherit the land.' In a generation that everybody is undeserving, as it says, 'And He saw that there was no (righteous) man, and He was astounded that there was no one to intercede.' And it says, 'For My sake, for My sake I will do.'" 

Since the Rambam rules that, "The Torah assures us, that in the end Yisrael will do teshuva at the end of their exile and they will be redeemed immediately." Meaning, that we will do teshuva because we want to, and we will be deserving. We can conclude that the nations of the world, because of our influence, being a light on to them, teaching them what Hashem wants from them, to keep the Seven Mitzvahs that were given to the Children of Noah, they will deserve it too. 

By being a light on to the nation, they will become a help to us in completing our mission. This will surely hasten the coming of Moshiach. May he come soon. 

Split Hooves & Chewing The Cud

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In this week's parsha, Shemini, there are the laws of kosher animals. When it comes to land animals, there are two signs that tell us that they are kosher, cloven hooves or in the common vernacular, split hooves, and that it is a ruminant, it chews its cud.

The common domesticated animals that we eat are cattle, sheep and goats, but a lot of animals in the wild are kosher, including all kinds of deer, antelope, moose, buffalo, bison, wildebeest, giraffe, and many more. All of them are herbivores, and none of them are animals of prey. These animals don't have upper teeth and chew their food in a side to side motion.

There is a discussion about these signs. The question is: Are they what causes the animal to be kosher or are these animals kosher for other reasons, just that Hashem gave them these signs so we can identify them as kosher?

It seems from the verse, "because it chews its cud," that it is what causes the animal to be kosher. But even if it's not, the fact that Hashem gave us these signs to differentiate between kosher and non-kosher animals, it means that we can learn from them how to know if the animal part of us, the body and the animal soul, is acting in a kosher manner or not.

Being that the Torah tells us about both kosher and non-kosher animals, it is a message to us that the animal part of us could possibly be acting in a non-kosher way. And even if we go through the motions of keeping the Torah, we could still be acting in a non-kosher way. As we see when it comes to law, sometimes using the law, one can do terrible things and make people's lives miserable, but it is legal. The same is possible with Torah, one can follow the letter of the law and at the same time, not be a good person, and that is not kosher.

Let us see what we can learn from the kosher signs, that will act as a litmus test, as to whether the animal part of us is kosher or not.

Animals, like humans, have their heads and hearts separated from the ground, it is only their legs that touch the ground and even they are separated from the ground by hooves. This means that we should not have our higher faculties, our heads and hearts, our thoughts and emotions, invested in earthly pursuits, just the lower faculties of action, our arms and legs, and even they should have a separation, meaning, only as much as necessary.

The hooves have to be split, meaning that even in our earthly pursuits, Hashem should be able to come through and permeate them, making the physical G-dly.

The law is that the hooves have to be split through and through. This means that when they walk, with every step, they connect to the ground with both a right and left hoof. Meaning, that when we deal with earthly matters, we should always have the balance of drawing good closer with the right, and pushing bad away with the left. Good is what is in line with the Torah, bad is what is not. There has to be a constant effort to keep on the right path, not to veer to the right or the left.

This is especially important when making an effort to bring someone closer to Hashem. Some, with their kind hearts, make the mistake of watering down Judaism, in the hope that this will get them involved. This is wrong, because it is a slippery slope, and eventually it is not Judaism anymore. The right way, is to keep Torah what it is and bring them closer to it, however, one shouldn't change the Torah to fit another's lifestyle.

Others, in their zealousness, make the mistake of being too strict when it is uncalled for, pushing people away from Judaism.

The same is true for every one of us. There is a fine line that has to be held, veering left or right just a small amount, can get us totally lost.

Nobody ever got lost all of a sudden. First he was on the correct path, then he veered just a little bit off the path, then a bit more and a bit more. Until he found himself totally lost.

There is one more thing to do to keep the animal part of us kosher and that is learned from chewing the cud. After the animal swallows its food, it regurgitates it and chews on it again. This means that all that was mentioned above, is not enough. Even with all those strategies in place, when it comes to earthly pursuits, we have to constantly reevaluate our situation and make certain that we are on the right path.

We can also learn if we are serving Hashem properly, by applying these kosher signs to evaluate it.

Generally love and fear are opposites, but when it comes to serving Hashem both work together. It is a split hoof, love on the right and fear on the left, and with each step they go together.

Most of us by nature, serve Hashem in one of these two ways. Some of us through love and others through fear. For example, some of us might love to do acts of kindness, but when it comes to things that take discipline we are not so involved, others love discipline, but are not so involved in doing acts of kindness. But if we only do what comes naturally to us, how do we know that it is truly for Hashem? Maybe we are doing it because it is our nature. When we serve Hashem through only one of these two ways, it is like one solid hoof, it's not kosher. When we go against our nature and serve with both love and fear, a split hoof, then we know that it is kosher.

It has to be split through and through. Meaning, that you shouldn't just be going through the motions of love and fear superficially, but it should truly affect you through and through. You have to be real.

And again, one must "chew his cud," constantly reevaluating himself to see if he is on the right path.

May we learn to be real and true through and through and serve Hashem with both love and fear. This will surely keep us on the right path, the path that leads us to the coming of Moshiach. May he come soon.

Acharon Shel Pesach Haftora Part I: Moshiach & His Effect On The World

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The Haftora for Acharon Shel Pesach is from the book of Yeshayahu. It begins with a prophecy about the destruction of Sennacherib and the Assyrians, who already captured the Ten Northern Tribes and were now threatening the kingdom of Yehuda. It continues with prophecy of Moshiach, what he will be like and what the world will be like when he comes. Followed by the ingathering of the exiles, and the joy we will experience.

The whole Haftora is about the time of Moshiach. Even the beginning, which speaks of the destruction of Sennacherib, is a message about the coming of Moshiach. First, because the king of Yehuda at that time was Chizkiyahu, of whom the Talmud says, that "Hashem wanted to make Chizkiyahu Moshiach." And second, to Chizkiyahu and Yehuda, it seemed impossible to overcome Sennacherib and his powerful army, who exiled the Ten Northern Tribes, who were much stronger than Yehuda. Yehuda was gripped with fear and the futility of their situation. Hashem destroyed Sennacherib and his army, and the kingdom of Yehuda had a miraculous salvation. Same is true about the times of Moshiach, although we are suffering and it seems impossible, our salvation will come quickly and in a miraculous way.

Why do we read about Moshiach on Acharon Shel Pesach?

The first days of Pesach are about the Exodus from Egypt. The last days of Pesach are about the future redemption. Because of this, we read the Song of David on Shevii Shel Pesach, instead of the Song of Devorah. Because David is the father of Moshiach.

The light of Moshiach shines bright on the last days of Pesach, but even stronger on Acharon Shel Pesach, which is only celebrated outside of Israel. This is because, we transform the day from mundane to holy, as we take a plain weekday and turn it into Yom Tov. And that is what the coming of Moshiach is all about, the total transformation of the world from mundane to holy.

The Haftora now tells us about King Moshiach, and what he will be like.

"And a staff will come out from the shoot of Yishai and a branch will sprout from his roots. The spirit of Hashem will rest upon him, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and strength, a spirit of knowledge and fear of Hashem."

What is this spirit of Hashem that will rest upon him? It is a very high level of G-dliness, where the neshama and Hashem's Essence are one. It is beyond the world, it is a place of total unity and it is not subject to any kind of division that is found in the world, even in the most sublime spiritual realms.

Moshiach will therefore be a unifier of opposites. First the unification of above and below, the spiritual realms and our physical world. We experienced this at the splitting of the sea, a brief taste of Moshiach, in preparation of receiving the Torah. At Mount Sinai we again experienced this in a more powerful way, as we were given the power to connect heaven and earth, to imbue the physical with G-dliness through the study of Torah and the performance of mitzvahs. However this will only be complete when Moshiach comes, and the essence of Hashem will dwell openly in this physical world, there will be a total unification of opposites.

We see this in the Haftora, first with Moshiach himself, he will have a spirit of "wisdom (chochma) and understanding (bina)," chochma is the opposite of bina. Chochma is the ability to conceive a new idea. In order to do this, you must totally not exist, it is only the idea, that is why, when a new idea comes to you, all of a sudden you recognize where you are and that you were thinking, because at the time that you conceived the new idea, it was like you weren't there. Bina is contemplation, it is you thinking about the idea and its details, you are totally there.

Then it says that he will have "a spirit of counsel and strength," which are opposites. Counsel is from the mind, strength is from the body and emotions. He will have a spirit of "knowledge and fear of Hashem," again opposites. Knowledge of Hashem, brings you to love Him, the opposite of fear.

This uniting of opposites continues with the world. First the animals as it says, "And the wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat, and the calf, the lion, and the fattened ox together, and a young boy will lead them. The cow and the bear will graze Together," all opposites. Then even the earth will know Hashem, and earth doesn't have the ability to think, as it says, "for the land will be full of the knowledge of Hashem like the waters cover the sea." The earth, which is the opposite of the ability to think, will be full of the knowledge of Hashem.

Are these expressions to be taken literally or metaphorically? The Rambam in Hilchos Melachim says, that they are a metaphor for how the Jewish people and the nations of the world will act towards one another. However, in his Igeres Techiyas Hameisim he says, that what he wrote in Hilchos Melachim (about taking it metaphorically), is not to be taken as the law, rather, that it could be understood that way. In other words, even according to him, it is possible that it will be literally. There is a rule that, "a verse shouldn't be taken out of its simple meaning," Then perhaps it should be taken liberally, and accordingly some do take it literally. So it is a sure thing that the nations of the world, even those that are vicious like snakes, will become tame and friendly.

The Haftora says about Moshiach, "He will smell the fear of Hashem, He won't judge by the sight of his eyes, nor by the hearing of his ears." Meaning, that he will judge by his ability to smell. The Talmud tells a story of how the rabbis used this as a test to see if Bar Kuziba (Bar Kochba) was Moshiach. They saw that he could not judge by smell and they knew that he wasn't. According to the Zohar, this sense of smell is higher than wisdom and understanding. But didn't it say, that he will have " a spirit of wisdom and understanding?" What is the point of the wisdom and understanding, if he will be judging people by his ability to smell? Here again you have opposites, smell is higher and on the outside, wisdom and understanding are lower and on the inside, but by Moshiach these abilities will unite, the higher and lower, the inside and outside will also be one.

How will he be able to judge without witnesses? Doesn't the Torah require witnesses? Some suggest that he will only confirm that the judgements are accurate. But the indication of the Talmud, that he will "smell and judge," is that he will actually judge cases, and not merely confirm. So how can he do that?

The law is, that a king can judge without witnesses in certain cases. For example, to maintain order. This kind of judgment he will do by scent. The difference between a regular king and Moshiach, is that a regular king would do it as a one time thing, however, with Moshiach it will be a regular occurrence.

Then it says, "with the utterance of his lips he will slay the wicked." This is difficult to understand, because as we mentioned above, Moshiach will bring with him such a great level of awareness of Hashem, and the Torah that he will teach will be deeper than that of Moshe Rabbeinu. So how is it possible that any wickedness will exist? What wicked will he slay?

The reason that Moshiach will have such a profound effect on the world, is because his neshama is from the highest place, higher than any other. The rule is, that what ever is higher falls down lower, so that things that seem low to us, like wickedness and evil, originate from a very high spiritual source, just they fall so low, that we can't see the good in them. Since Moshiach comes from even a higher source, he will be able to reveal the good in the lowest of things. "He will slay the wicked," means that we won't see them as wicked anymore, rather as good. We will see that everything Hashem created is truly good.

It also works the other way around. If we raise the lowest and most mundane parts of our lives to Hashem, we draw Moshiach closer.

It is interesting to note, that there is a special prayer that we add on Yom Tov, when the Holy Ark is opened before Torah reading, it begins "Ribono Shel Olam," In it, we ask that the words of the verse, "The spirit of Hashem will rest upon him, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and strength, a spirit of knowledge and fear of Hashem," should be actualized in us. This verse is clearly talking about Moshiach, on what basis do we ask that we should be like Moshiach?

The highest level of our soul, the "yechidah," is equal in every one of us. That is the part of us that is one with Moshiach, so in our essence, we all have a bit of Moshiach. Even though we don't feel it, it effects us, and we are blessed one way or another with this blessing. When we see miraculous things happening in our lives, and tremendous success, out of the normal, we know that these blessings are coming true.

In addition to the wolf, the leopard, the lion and the bear, the Haftora says, "A baby will play at a vipers hole and an infant will stretch out his hand over an adder's den. (These snakes) will not damage nor harm anywhere on My Holy Mountain, for the knowledge of Hashem will fill the earth like the waters cover the sea." What does the knowledge of Hashem have to do with snakes and wild animals and not damaging?

Another question. It seems that all the people with the dangerous animals, are little children. First a young boy, then a baby and finally an infant. Why children?

These wild animals will remain the same, and yet not damage, because if they become tame, then what is the big deal saying that they won't damage? The amazing thing that will occur is that they will remain wild and still not damage. And this will be because "The knowledge of Hashem will fill the earth." How will this work?

Another question. Why isn't it enough that the world should become filled with the knowledge of Hashem? Why is it necessary to be filled, so much so, that it will be like the waters cover the sea?

The people in the world have a direct effect on it. The world will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem because there will be a broadening of the minds of humanity. And because they will have a profoundly deeper understanding, they will recognize the truth of Hashem. This will cause a transformation in humanity. And being that humanity will be affected, the animals will as well.

However, if the world will only be filled with the knowledge of Hashem, that would mean that every part of the world will be filled according to its ability to understand. That would mean that a smart person would know more than someone who is less smart, and that can breed different opinions, which can lead to arguments and strife.

That is why it will be, like the waters cover the sea. In the sea there are mountains and valleys, there are also all different types of creatures and plants, but when you look from above the water, all you see is the water. The same will be when Moshiach comes, there will still be smart people and less smart, but because they will be totally engulfed by the knowledge of Hashem, everybody will be equally nullified before Hashem, in other words, there will be no clashing egos, it will only be about Hashem. This is the ultimate unity that is possible, therefore there will be peace, the ultimate level of peace that can possibly be achieved.

When you speak about children, especially babies, it automatically includes everybody, but if it would have said adults, we would think that children are excluded.

Symbolically the child is the Jewish people, as it says, "Israel is a young child and I love him," it symbolizes all that is innocent and pure, and all that is good and holy in the world. The snakes symbolize the first snake that instigated the first sin with the tree of knowledge and it symbolizes all that is bad in the world. Since the world will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem, and the source of the evil will be revealed, that it is really good, there will be true peace and harmony between them.

May we merit to see the coming of Moshiach today, on Acharon Shel Pesach, when the light of Moshiach shines brightest. We surely deserve it. The time has come.

Dedicated to my son Eli Chaim who celebrates his birthday on Acharon Shel Pesach. We are so proud of you, may Hashem give you a successful year.