Category: A Taste of Torah

Written by: Rabbi Mordechai Raizman

Walking with You

In the beginning of the second Torah portion of this week, we are commanded to walk in the ways of Hashem. Rashi explains this commandment does not refer to doing the mitzvos, but rather, the effort that goes into the action of doing them. The reward for this effort as stated in the ensuing verses includes peace, prosperity, and that G-d will rest His presence with you and walk with you. How do we understand the meaning of this last blessing? How does G-d walk with you?

The Seforno (a 16^th century commentator on the Chumash) explains that walking with you means that G-d is ready to interact with us wherever we may be. We should not limit our interactions with G-d to only designated places for Torah and tefillah. Yes, our synagogues and Batei Medrash are places where the presence of Hashem is felt. However, we have to understand that they do not have to be the only places.

If we do as the Torah commands us, to walk in the ways of Hashem, applying ourselves as much as we can in the effort of doing the mitzvos, we will have the ability to feel His presence wherever we are. It is not about how much we do, but rather about the effort we put forth in doing. This effort leads us and keeps us focused on strengthening our connection with G-d in our synagogues, in our homes, and wherever we may be. The more effort we put in, the more we are thinking about doing His will, which will subsequently lead to feeling His presence in all aspects of our lives.

Written by: Rabbi Avrhom S. Moller

“And the man with the leprous curse shall have tattered clothes, his hair should be wildly grown, he shall hood his face to his lips and call out, ‘I am impure, I am impure.’ ” (Vayikra 13:45)

This chilling description of the metzorah, leper, who is cast out of society is quite depressing. If we were to encounter such an unfortunate on the outskirts of our city, we would probably give him wide berth. However, when we analyze this description more carefully with the help of our sages we see that the Torah is teaching us some important lessons for those who are suffering and those who are aware of their suffering.

The metzorah is suffering through this ordeal because of his anti-social behavior. The Gemara in Erchin 16a tells us that tzoraas is caused by defamation of others. The offender is now receiving a very public and humiliating divine punishment from which he cannot escape. It is his role to accept it with humility and contrition by acting as a mourner (there are many parallels between the metzorah’s behavior and that of the aveil, mourner). This invokes Divine mercy since the purpose of this punishment is to get the person to reflect on his bad ways and to repent. A person who is accustomed to negate others will have difficulty accepting his own shortcomings and will need to work hard to attain real contrition.

What can we do to help this person who has been cast out? We understand that he has been punished in a very harsh way but that being judgmental is the wrong thing to do. When we see a person suffering, it is wrong to suggest that we know the reason or to tell the person to repent. He needs our empathy and support, not our judgment. When he cries out that he is impure, it is so that we have pity on him and we pray for him. (See Shabbos 67a.)

When Iyov is visited with terrible suffering and his friends try to explain Hashem’s reasons for his suffering, he is very hurt. Hashem tells them that they have sinned in doing so. Friends are there to empathize, to be helpful and sometimes to be silent and pray that this person’s suffering comes to a happy ending. It is not one’s place to explain or to suggest to the sufferer what he could or should do differently.

There is a story told about a young widow in Yerushalayim who lost her husband suddenly and was devastated. The Tzaddik of Yerushalyim, Reb Aryeh Levine Z’L, came to pay his condolences. He was so devastated that he could not utter a word. He simply sat and cried. This unfortunate woman later related that his visit brought her more comfort than all of the well-intended words of comfort and reassurance that she heard during the Shiva.

As adults we need to model this empathy in word and deed. If our children see us as non-judgmental people with the ability to empathize and support people who have made poor choices but are ready to change, they will emulate that behavior and make this a world in which people can redeem themselves.

Written By: Rabbi Mordechai Raizman

This week’s parsha, Vayekhel, discusses the building of the Mishkan (tabernacle) and Betzalel who was given the task of building it by himself. The parsha also includes the pasuk, “V’chol chacham lev bachem yavou vyaasu es kol asher zivah Hashem,” meaning any wise-hearted person can come and fulfill the command that Hashem gave them to build the Mishkan. If this was Betzalel’s assignment why is the directive being given to anyone who wants to do it?

Horav Moshe Feinstein, z”l, asks this question and suggests the following thought. Yes, it is true that Betzalel was given the assignment to build the Mishkan. However, Hashem wants to impress upon his people that any undertaking’s success should not be dependent on one individual for several reasons. First, we never know what tomorrow brings. If something had happened to Betzalel, how would the Mishkan been completed if he was the only one who knew how to build it? Second, as a society, it is our responsibility to help build and maintain our community to ensure its growth and survival. We cannot assume or expect one person to do everything no matter that person’s skill and commitment or the size of the job.

This pasuk teaches us a very important lesson to transmit to our children. As adults, we must step up to the plate to become active participants of our community. We must realize that a successful community cannot rely on one or a few people to sustain it. Although, there are individuals who are natural leaders, Klal Yisroel must understand that it is everyone’s obligation to become involved and offer assistance wherever and whenever needed and that these actions will also train the next generation to be productive members of our society.

Written by: Rabbi Avrohom S. Moller

This week, we will read the special addendum of פרשת פרה together with the weekly sidra. This special reading discusses the need for ritual cleansing from contact with the dead by preparing and sprinkling the ash water of the פרה אדומה, the Red Heifer. The connection to this part of the holiday cycle is that we need to pay attention to our preparation to bring the Korban Pesach, and all Jews are obligated to be ritually pure by the time that Erev Pesach arrives. The entire process and mitzvah of Parah Aduma is fraught with mystery and seems to defy human logic. Those involved in processing the Parah Aduma become ritually impure because of their involvement, yet the ash which is produced is used to purify people who are tamei — impure from contact with the dead. This paradox led Shlomo, the wisest of all men, to declare, “I thought I would be the wisest; yet it eludes me” (Koheles 7:23).

Interestingly, Rashi quotes Rebbi Moshe HaDarshan who gives a partial explanation to this exotic ritual. He says that since the heifer is the mother of the calf and the Jewish people sinned with the Eigel HaZahav, the Golden Calf, “Let the mother come and clean up the soiling caused by her child.” This explanation seems vague and creates more questions than answers. Firstly, what is the connection between tumas meis – the impurity which results from contact with the dead and the sin of the Golden Calf?  Secondly, how does this ritual correct that sin?

The sin of the Golden Calf was the result of the Jewish people losing their composure. They thought they had just witnessed the demise of their leader Moshe Rabeinu, and therefore they were leaderless in the middle of the desert with no plan. They were desperate for an intermediary to intercede with Hashem and to carry on the mission of Moshe. They figured that they would do what they had seen the Egyptians do, resort to idolatry which would provide them with a way to control their destiny. They knew that this was a terrible deviation from what they had just been told at Har Sinai but they rationalized it as, desperate situations justify desperate means.

The essence of their sin was this rationalization. They had been taught by Moshe time and time again that they need to trust Hashem and rely on Him alone without attempting to resolve issues about their destiny with human solutions. This is where they failed when they made the Golden Calf. The consequences of this failure were dramatic indeed. The Gemara (Avoda Zarah 5a) explains the pesukim in Tehillim 82 where Hashem exclaims, “I had planned for you to become immortal like the angels; indeed (because of the sin of the Golden Calf) you will have to die like people.”

We had arrived at Har Sinai proclaiming, “Naase V’Nishma,” willing to do everything even if we could not understand the logic. This is the secret of the angels. They obey without questions and this attitude would have brought us immortality. However, we regressed during the Eigel HaZahav and lost this promised status. Thus, mortality is an outcome of our inability to place sufficient trust in Hashem and follow him without resorting to our own devices. This is what Rebbi Moshe HaDarshan is suggesting about the ritual of Parah Adumah; it is inexplicable and seems irrational, yet we follow it without question to train ourselves not to question Hashem’s reasoning. This is how the mother comes and cleans up the soiling caused by her child which relates to how the Parah, a mature and stable adult cleans up the impetuous action of the wayward child.

This special reading is part of Chazal’s planning to prepare us for the Yom Tov of redemption, Pesach. This holiday reaffirms our faith and trust in Him and the message of the Parah reminds us what the level of expectation that Hashem has for His people. Let us usher in this season with renewed faith and trust and the commensurate loyalty to His word.

Written by: Rabbi Avrohom S. Moller

It’s Not About Me

In this week’s Torah portion, Tezaveh, the name of Moshe is omitted. Commentators wonder why his name is omitted. The next question they ask is why in this specific Torah portion is his name absent since it appears in every other portion since his birth.

The understanding of many is that when Moshe in pleading on behalf of the people to G-d, one of the times they sinned, he said, “Erase me from your Torah.” Those words had an effect; his name needed to be removed from the Torah as a fulfillment of that statement. That only explains why his name had to be erased somewhere but why in this specific Torah portion?

There is a beautiful lesson that is being taught here. Moshe never wanted to be the leader. He begged for Aaron, his older brother, to take the position. However, G-d appointed him and although He gave Aaron a role as well in the process of the redemption, Moshe was clearly the leader. Aaron’s role was that of the Kohen Gadol and his responsibility was being the leader in the service of the Mishkan (Tabernacle).  This week’s portion deals with the vestments of the Kohen and is about Aaron and his descendants that would inherit the priesthood after him. In a way, G-d grants Moshe’s request for Aaron to be the leader by not mentioning him when it is time to put the spotlight on Aaron. This was the week that focuses only on Aaron as Moshe truly wanted to show respect for his brother.

It is a great lesson in life to be able to step aside and give the proper respect to those around us when that respect is due. We should all be able to look for ways how we can think about others first like Moshe who throughout his life lived by the principle it’s not about me.

Written by: Rabbi Avrohom S. Moller

The Torah gives us the following instruction for assembly of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) walls. “והבריח התיכון התוך הקרשים מבריח מן הקצה אל הקצה – The center rod passed through the inside of the planks (of the Mishkan walls) bolting them together from end to end.”

This passuk describes a wooden rod passing through three walls of the Mishkan, north, west and south. The Gemara (Shabbos 98A) tells us that they were able to miraculously push this rod through the walls and turn the corners as it was pushed in for a total of 50 cubits (approximately 80 feet). What does this rod symbolize and why the need for its continuity from end to end? Furthermore, Rashi tells us that Yaakov Avinu planted the trees that provided this wood. Why did he do that?

Reb Zalman Sortzkin (Lutzker Rov 1881-1966) explains in his Sefer- Oznayim LaTorah that the Jewish people have many divisions and the different communities have different temperaments and character. It is exceedingly challenging to unify the Jewish people around a cause and the only unifying element is our Torah. We can travel through time and space and the only common theme we will find in our eternal nation’s history and dispersion is the Torah and its way of life.

When Yaakov Avinu was on his deathbed, he was concerned that his children would go separate ways after his death. They reassured him by saying Shemah Yisroel, affirming that their faith in Hashem would keep them together. Yaakov planned that the Mishkan would be the central focus and unifying factor for the period in the desert and beyond (Yehoshua Chapter 22).

The center rod holding the separate planks together symbolizes this value. The Tree of Life is our Torah and it is the only source of unity for us. Rabbi Saadya Gaon (882-942) writes, “Our nation is only a nation because of its Torah.” The miracle of bending the corners signifies that this unifying force defies the rules of logic and is the secret of our eternity.

Written by: Rabbi Mordechai Raizman

Eternal Commitment

AT the end of this week’s Torah portion, the famous phrase Naaseh V’nishma is quoted. Our ancestors stated, “We will do what is commanded and then we will listen.” They took the ultimate leap of faith and put their trust in G-d to follow the Torah and its commandments. The Talmud relates that at the actual giving of the Torah, G-d picked up a mountain and was holding it above their heads. G-d says to the people, “Either you accept the Torah or you will be buried there.” The commentators wonder about this sentence. It would seem the correct way of saying it would be – If you don’t accept the Torah, you will be buried here – since G-d is holding the mountain on top of them. What is the meaning of you will be buried there which seems to reference another place?

The Tzobiner Rav z”l (a 20^th century revered Rav) answers that G-d was explaining to them the importance of this acceptance. Just like we need air to breathe physically, we need the Torah to breathe spiritually. When B’nei Yisroel accepted the Torah, it was not just for the moment, an acceptance of here and now. Rather, an acceptance for all generations in the future as well. He was illustrating that without the Torah and its values it is as if one is dead. There will be your burial place is a reference to later at any point in time if one chooses to live devoid of these values.

Today we have many challenges in our society that confront our values on a daily basis. We need to keep making the choices that will keep the eternal flame of the Jewish people alive. G-d is still talking to us. We just need to respond.

Written by: Rabbi Avrohom S. Moller

This week’s parsha contains the Aseres HaDibros – the Decalogue. According to several early commentators the entire body of the 613 mitzvos are encompassed in these 10 commandments. When we read this parsha, both as parshas hashavua and on Shavuos, it is an opportunity to relive the awesome experience and responsibility that we received as we stood at the foot of Har Sinai.

The first commandment is, “Anochi Hashem – I am Hashem your G-d who took you from Egypt from the house of slavery.” This seems like a preamble, not a commandment. Most authorities, including the Rambam, say that this is in fact a commandment to believe in G-d. Let’s examine this verse in order to fully understand what is being demanded of us.

Firstly, we should take note that the 10 dibros are presented in singular form (אלקיך – your G-d, הוצאתיך – took you out, לא יהיה לך; לא תרצח – You shall not… all in the Hebrew singular form). This is different from other sections of the Torah that contain laws which are addressed in the plural form. This is because the basis of the giving of the Torah is personal; all observance is about having a personal relationship with Hashem. There actually seems to be a contradiction in the concept of mitzvos. There is a standard halachic formula of how Hashem is to be obeyed and his universal laws are kept by each and every Jew. However, there must be space for individuality and an expression of everyone’s uniqueness. The Torah expects us to strike a balance between compliance with a set of rules and having a dynamic experience and relationship with G-D. A Jew must work his whole life to be close to Hashem and have a personal relationship with him all the while as he or she is living within the parameters of the halacha.

Secondly, Hashem describes himself as the one “who took you from Egypt from the house of bondage.” This is the principal of divine intervention and involvement. G-D is not a reclusive divine being who is above all and is withdrawn from the petty doings on this earth. He is intimately aware and involved in our affairs. He does not tolerate injustice. He cares about every being and intervenes when he deems it necessary. Furthermore, he drew the Jewish people out of the house of bondage so that He could have this closeness with them. The term “house” of bondage connotes more than mere slavery. Rav S.R Hirch, z’l, explains that it refers to a situation where anyone born and living in that house is stripped of any sense of self, which is the essence of his humanity. In Egypt, we were reduced to being “things,” mere chattel to be deployed for the benefit of our masters. When Hashem drew us out of Egypt, he restored our humanity, made us responsible to him and changed our lives and our outlook. We were free to make choices and the Torah is there for us to help us make good choices.

This commandment is about having an active relationship with Him. It is about recognizing that He has a profound interest in us and in our success. He took us out of Egypt so that we can rise to our potential and be his servants. However, servitude to Hashem is completely different than the enslavement in Egypt. Serving Hashem entails choosing, knowing what he expects of us by learning his Torah and basing our life on those wishes.

As Jews, we pass the heritage of the Torah from generation to generation. The primary message is that we are a people who belong to Hashem because he made us human again, and He did so to give us His Torah. We transmit this through word and deed creating another golden link in the chain from Sinai.

Written by: Rabbi Mordechai Raizman

In this week’s parsha we find an interesting posuk that comes after the splitting of the sea and right before the Jewish people singing the famous song, the Shira, in gratitude for the miracle that just saved them. “The Jewish people saw the great hand that Hashem showed in Egypt. They feared Hashem and believed in Him.”

There is an obvious question here. What does this mean that they saw the great hand that Hashem showed in Egypt? Shouldn’t they be saying they saw the great hand in front of them since the miracles in Egypt had happened in the past?

There is a famous expression – Hindsight is 20/20. There are times in our lives when we experience something but do not fully grasp the magnitude of what we just experienced until later in life. A look back gives us a different vantage point to fully understand what took place and the underlying meaning of it.

As the Jews were enslaved in Egypt for so long, it was difficult for them to truly see and understand the hand of Hashem when the miracles and plagues happened in Egypt. Now that they were finally at the end of their slavery and fully redeemed, they were able to step back and take everything in that occurred during the past year. They now fully understood what happened in Egypt. The hand of Hashem was guiding them and leading them into a new world ahead.

As we look back at this past calendar year of 2020, we are still struggling to fully understand all that has happened in our world and the messages that are being sent to us. The key is for us to continue looking back and focus on what we can learn from this experience. In the moment, our vision may not always be that clear.

However, hopefully, in the coming months we will be looking at the light at the end of the tunnel. As our vision gets clearer, let us grasp what we can from all that we experienced, whether it be the moments spent together with our families, the realization of not taking everyday activities for granted, reflecting on our spiritual growth during this time and/or strengthening our commitment to revere and respect our shuls and synagogues from which we were separated.

Do not run away from 2020. Instead, let us look back and take some greater understanding and commitment moving forward.

Written by: Rabbi Avrohom S. Moller

The Sefer HaChinuch (Book of Initiation) was written during the 14^th century by an anonymous author. Many attribute it to Rabbi Ahron HaLevi of Barcelona, a student of the Ramban-Nachmonides. The sefer was written to enumerate the 613 mitzvos of the Torah following the order of the parshiyot. Each mitzvah is listed and then the following format is used to explicate it. First, a general description is given, followed by some technical background for each mitzvah, then the author proposes a rationale for the mitzvah, and concludes with the conditions in which the mitzvah is observed.

Parshas Bo has a large cluster of mitvos dealing with the rituals of Pesach. The various details of the Korban Pesach, the prohibition of chametz, the mitzva of matzah, etc. The Sefer HaChinuch discusses each of these in turn. After explaining several prohibitions relating to the Korban Pesach such as not eating it unless it is properly roasted, not to take the meat out of the room where it is being eaten, and not to break the bones to extract the marrow, the author gives an uncharacteristically long comment about the common rationale of these prohibitions. He explains that the purpose of eating the Korban Pesach on the Seder night is so that we relive the feeling of freedom which we experienced as we left Egypt. This feeling is enhanced by high living and good cuisine. If one does not prepare the meat well, runs around with it while he eats it, breaks the bones to scrape out the marrow, he is not acting royally and like a free person. Rather, he is acting like a desperate starving beggar and that is not the ambience that we are trying to create with this ceremony.

The Chinuch then turns its attention to a general philosophy about practical mitzvos. If one thinks that commemorating the great gift of freedom that Hashem gave us when we left Egypt is best accomplished by meditation and focusing on the theme instead of physical and mechanical acts, he is mistaken. If we follow the rituals and mitzvos of the Torah, it will have a far greater impact on our attitudes than simply focusing and thinking about the Torah values. “The heart follows the physical actions,” declares the Sefer HaChinuch, telling us that this is an important principle in leading a Jewish life. If a person has wonderful attitudes and ideas of love of Hashem, but he does not fulfill the practical dictates of the Torah, he is falling very short and will eventually lose his positive beliefs as well. Hashem created the practical mitzvos because he understands the human condition much better than we do, and this is the path to success that he has laid out for us.

Ritual is a central part of our Torah. While we are taught hundreds of mitzvos with myriads of technical details on how to fulfill them, we are also warned not to become ritualistic, following the mechanical requirements and forgetting the attitudes which these mitzvos are supposed to instill in us. Even so, we must remain balanced and still have a strong affinity to the practical fulfillment of mitzvos, “בכל פרטיה ודקדוקיה – with all of the attending details and nuances,” to be considered true servants of Hashem. This way we will reap the complete benefits of the mitzvos and become transformed into Torah true personalities.