Asking Questions

Pesach is the holiday where asking questions is encouraged. The focus of the Seder is the מה נשתנה, and we encourage our children to ask as many questions as possible.

Yet, the issue of asking questions among religious, G-d fearing Jews, is a matter of great controversy. This is another area of difference between the rationalists and traditionalists. Both believe in אמונת חכמים, having faith in the authority of the Rabbis. The issue is to what extent are we allowed to question.

Specifically, the subject of potential fallibility in matters of science and astronomy, has very differing views.

The rationalists have no problem in assuming that some of the ideas held by great rabbis in previous generations, have proven to be incorrect. The traditionalists would view such opinions as bordering on heresy. An example would be preconceived notions as to the movement of the sun each day, where even the great Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi is alleged to have acknowledged that the Gentiles were more correct about astronomy.

Rationalists like the Rambam felt that seeking truth by questioning, was a healthy method of understanding Hashem’s universe.

Traditionalists felt that such exploration might cause one to lose his faith. Following the “Rebbe” and trusting his guidance would always set us on the right path.

We ask questions on Pesach. But perhaps these questions are meant for everyone, or maybe just for the children.

Yesterday was three with ספירת העומר.

Valley of Dry Bones

This year we will not read the Haftarah regarding the Valley of Dry Bones from the Book of Yechezkel. This is because we do not have a Shabbat Chol Hamoed. This is also why Ashkenazim will read שיר השירים on the seventh day of Pesach.

This is a perfect example of the way the rationalists verses the traditionalists view this amazing prophecy.

When the prophet describes the bones miraculously transforming into human beings, it can be viewed as a vision of the resurrection of the dead in the future.

The rationalists will see this as allegory or a dream. The traditionalists will view this as an absolute description of what will take place in the future.

This division in outlook has been going on for thousands of years. To this day, some are dogmatic in maintaining these views. It seems to me that we need to find some common ground and meet somewhere in the middle between these two viewpoints.

Sefirat Haomer: Yesterday was two.

Believing in Miracles

A major topic of the Pesach holiday is the idea of miracles. We celebrate the miracle of the Ten Plagues as well as the splitting of the Red Sea on the seventh day of Pesach.

There are two schools of thought regarding miracles. The Rambam was very much a rationalist. He downplayed the supernatural aspect of these events and attributed much of what occurred to nature. He was also concerned that even if they were outstanding events, over time people would downplay these events and attribute them to nature or sorcery.

Other scholars viewed these miracles as the Hand of G-d. Rav Yehuda Halevi reasoned that since even the Gentile world acknowledges these events, they must be true.

These two views also reflect the two schools of thought today regarding amulets, Segulas, and visiting graves of Tzaddikim. The rationalists will not put much importance to any of this. While the other viewpoint, sometimes referred to as the mystics, do believe in such Segulot as being authentic.

I will be sending out my Divrei Torah in the evening to remind everyone about Sefirat Haomer that we began last night.

חול המועד

We are now beginning the phase of the holiday known as חול המועד. The tractate in the Talmud that deals with these laws is known as מועד קטן, or the small festival.

It is interesting that the Minhag of Eretz Yisrael, is not to put on Tefillin during Chol HAmoed, but in Chutz L’Aretz, Tefillin is worn.

The reason for this is that most people work on חול המועד outside of Israel. For them, it is more חול, profane, than מועד, festive. In Israel, most work places are closed.

Despite this being true, our physical presence in Eretz Yisrael, lends itself to more holiness than in חוץ לארץ.

This is one of the explanations as to why there is a two day Yom Tov outside of Israel. It takes them two days to achieve the holiness we achieve in one day here in Israel.

Body and Soul

Moadim Lesimcha. Tonight we begin counting ספירת העומר.

The book, דרך ה׳, by the Ramchal, speaks of the struggle between the body and soul, the גוף and נשמה.

The body is purely physical, and longs for gaining physical pleasures. The soul is inherently holy, and gets its nourishment from spiritual matters. It is not interested in anything mundane. It is restricted by being placed in a human body.

The goal of every Jew is to give dominion to the soul, and to learn to minimize man’s physical tendencies.

We accomplish this as we devote our lives to Torah and Mitzvot. This brings us an inner joy that is far greater than fleeting, momentary, physical pleasures.

Hashem gives us special holidays like Pesach, where we get a heavy dose of Kedusha, after a long, dark, Corona filled winter.

Let us hope the next week will be one of great elevation for ourselves and all of כלל ישראל.

זריזות

This week we read פרשת צו which coincides with Shabbat Hagadol. The interpretation of the word, “צו” would usually mean, “to command.”

However, the Rabbis explain that the word צו, refers to the concept of זריזות, alacrity. It describes the manner in which we are to observe the Mitzvot.

This is meant that we fulfill our obligations with swiftness and enthusiasm. We are meant to be active rather than passive.

The מסילת ישרים speaks of two initial levels of observance. One is זהירות, being cautious, and the other is זריזות. The first applies to taking great care that we not transgress a negative commandment. The זריזות refers to the way that we approach positive commandments with eagerness and excitement.

This should also be our approach to the numerous Pesach Mitzvot. We should view the coming Chag with joy and excitement. We should feel fortunate that we will be conducting our Seder with all of its details, especially after we experienced such a difficult year.

Our זריזות in serving Hashem should begin this Pesach and carry us throughout the year.

חטאת-אשם

The fifth chapter of ויקרא deals with the subject of the קרבן אשם, known as the guilt offering. We contrast this קרבן with the קרבן חטאת, sin offering.

Both of these sacrifices are offered for an inadvertent transgression, known as the שוגג. However, the חטאת involves transgressions that are very severe, in the sense that that if these were violated intentionally, they would carry the death penalty or כרת, excision.

The אשם is a little more flexible in that the donor contributes according to what he can afford. It begins with the sheep family, and then goes to turtle doves, and even a meal offering for the poor.

The Torah lists examples of violations that require the offering of a קרבן אשם. Withholding testimony, being unaware of having come in contact with something טמא, an unfulfilled oath, and trespassing that which was sanctified, are examples of the אשם requirement.

The Torah adds other אשם situations when he denies having stolen an object, and it is found in his possession. Similarly, a false oath requires the אשם.

The important factor to be aware of is that one is able to achieve complete atonement and forgiveness in situations where he let his יצר הרע get the better of him. There’s always room for תשובה!0

Hardships for our Benefit

There is a story in חובות הלבבות, Duties of the Heart, that is very appropriate to the Pesach season.

There was a philanthropist who did two separate acts of Chesed. The first case involved taking on an abandoned baby. This baby was cared for until he reached adulthood and was able to manage on his own.

The second case involved the philanthropist paying to free a Jew in prison, who was wrongly accused. He was horribly abused by his captors. He was rehabilitated by this kind Jew for a few years, until he fully recovered from his ordeal.

The חובות הלבבות writes that the freed captive was able to show far more gratitude and appreciation than the abandoned baby. The baby never really had to face real hardship. He was grateful that a stranger took him in and raised him for many years.

But the freed prisoner was far more appreciative even though his care was much shorter. He tasted real suffering which allowed his freedom to be that much more sweeter.

The slavery in Egypt was necessary to appreciate our freedom. Similarly, we believe that we grow from the difficulties we go through. And it is likely that Hashem sends challenges our way to mold us into better and more productive human beings.

אשר נשיא יחטא

It is always interesting to find a connection between the Parsha and current events. Although ויקרא dealt primarily with the sacrifices, there is one very striking Pasuk worth mentioning.

Numerous types of sins are mentioned with the appropriate method of atonement. There are times when a חטאת, a sin offering is in order. Other times, the אשם, guilt offering is offered. The Parsha also speaks of inadvertent sinners such as the Kohein or even the entire community.

In other instances it speaks of, “if” one will sin. But when speaking of the נשיא, the head of a tribe, who was a political figure, the Torah says, אשר נשיא יחטא, “when” the נשיא shall sin.

When it comes to the man in a position of power, his eventual sin is viewed as inevitable. The first letter of the words, אשר נשיא יחטא, spell, “אני”, describing selfishness. Somehow people in high positions feel that they have everything coming to them. Whether it is taking money not due to them, or getting involved inappropriately with forbidden women, they have their own set of rules.

It is certainly a timely message as we are about to vote in another election. A great influence as to who we vote for has to do with the one who is most honest and least corruptible.

No Fish Sacrifices

Rav Shlomo Mann זצ״ל, asked why we do not offer fish as a קרבן. We offer animals and fowl, but never fish.

The answer is based on a Midrash that says that Eve, in the Garden of Eden, not only shared the forbidden fruit with Adam, but she insisted that all animals and birds, also partake of this fruit.

The קרבנות were meant to be an atonement for the sin of partaking of the Tree of Knowledge.

The fish did not take part in this sin, so they were not in need of atonement.

This is also connected to the custom of eating fish on Shabbat. The fish were protected from עין הרע, as they were covered by the water. The water is symbolic of Torah. As long as we are immersed in Torah, we are equally protected from sin.

Proper כוונה

Shavua Tov-

A major theme of the Book of Vayikra, is not only the קרבנות, but the importance of the right כוונה, or intent.

We learn in the instance of sacrifices, that כוונה is as important as the offering itself. This is not an area where we are able to fool Hashem. He can see what our real

feelings are. A קרבן offered just for show, is not only meaningless, but also an abomination.

Having the proper כוונה in the observance of all Mitzvot, is equally important. This is why the Rabbis say, מחשבה כמעשה, even having the right thoughts, is as if we actually did the action.

Similarly, in our interaction with others, we should act sincerely and with good intentions. We should be there to help and do חסד, not for the purpose of future gains, but for the sake of the Mitzva alone.

Perhaps this is why רבן יוחנן בן זכאי told his students on his death bed, that they should fear G-d the same way that they fear man. Sincerity and proper כוונה is the key to our observance of Mitzvot, bearing fruit.

קרבנות

This week we begin the Book of ויקרא, which is also known as ספר הקרבנות, the Book of Sacrifices.

All of the details of the various sacrifices are brought in this book. The regulations and details must be followed to the letter. Only עבודה זרה and קרבנות are punishable with forbidden thoughts. In the case of sacrifices, having the wrong intention connected to the procedural order, causes פיגול, and can also nullify a sacrifice.

Certain קרבנות, like the קרבן פסח, can be eaten by the donor. This is in the category of קדשים קלים, a lesser level of holiness. However, there are other קרבנות eaten by the Kohanim only. There is an expression that says, הכהנים אוכלים והבעלים מתכפרים, the Kohanim eat, and the owners are atoned. Such sacrifices are in the category of קדשי קדשים, holy of Holies.

The Rabbis emphasize that although we do not have a Temple where we can actually offer sacrifices, there is great reward in studying its laws. Many educators even felt that this was the first section of חומש to teach children. When we study a subject purely for its knowledge, there is much greater reward in it.

Children at the Seder

The most important people at the Seder, are the children. We are to focus on them and be sure they are involved until the end.

Rav Aviner put out a pamphlet with questions and answers to be used at the Seder. There is one question that caught my eye.

“Which animals received a reward connected to the Pesach story?” The answer: The dogs, for staying quiet during the tenth plague. They were rewarded with having the טריפה, animals unfit for eating, given to them.

The donkeys were rewarded with פטר חמור, a special ceremony involving first born donkeys, and exchanging a lamb for them. Every Jew had eighty to ninety donkeys laden with all of the wealth of Egypt.

And we reward the birds with feeding them bread on שבת שירה. They ate the מן that Datan and Aviram put out on Shabbat, to try to make Moshe and Aharon look bad.

Part of our Pesach preparations should be to make our Seder especially enjoyable for the children.

ביטול

The word, ביטול, or nullification, has special significance regarding Pesach.

The Torah forbids us from having Chametz in our possession. A statement of ביטול is sufficient to remove this prohibition from upon us.

We are declaring that we have made ownerless or הפקר, any Chametz that we might have in our possession. The Rabbis added that ביטול alone is not sufficient and we must physically remove or sell to a non-Jew any Chametz that we may own.

We still do the ביטול declaration which would cover such forbidden foods that we have not taken into account.

Normally, we do ביטול at night after we search for Chametz, and again the following morning together with the burning.

This year is different because ערב פסח falls on Shabbat. We will do the burning on Friday and the ביטול on Shabbat when we are no longer permitted to eat Chametz. Yes, ביטול is a very important Pesach word.

Public Funds

We learn from ויקהל-פקודי several things about money management of public funds. When they made the collection to build the Mishkan, people were told to stop giving. This was most unusual that more funds were collected than needed.

We learn that the heads of tribes, the נשאים (purposely spelled without a second י׳) were reprimanded. They thought they would wait until everyone else had made their donation, and they would cover whatever was missing. As leaders, they should have set the example by giving first.

We also learn that when one is handling public funds, it is preferred that this be done by at least two people, to avoid accusations that they were pocketing some of the funds.

And the final point learned is that a public figure, like Moshe Rabbeinu should be extremely organized, to give an accounting of how public funds were used down to the last detail.

All of the above is sound advice to avoid any doubts or suspicions in the handling of public funds.

Thinking About Giving Charity

There is an interesting discussion in מסכת שבועות, regarding whether one is obligated to give צדקה if he only thought about giving. The question was whether he must verbalize his intention in order to be obligated, or was the intention enough.

This argument is based on the words of our Parsha that described the generous contributor as נדיב לב, “generous of heart.”

The ruling in יורה דעה is that if one makes a non-verbalized vow regarding הקדש, sanctified matters, he is certainly obligated. Even though there is some question as to whether funds designated for צדקה, have the same rule as designating an animal for הקדש, the conclusion is that if one merely intended in his mind to give charity, he should convert this intention into practice, and give that amount to charity.

The Month of Nissan

Shavua Tov, Chodesh Tov-

We have now begun the month of Nissan. This is a very happy month and is referred to as the חודש הרחמים, the month of Divine mercy.

Almost the entire month has special events taking place. From the first to the twelfth of Nissan, each head of a tribe, brought special sacrifices commemorating the dedication of the Mishkan. The thirteenth of Nissan was אסרו חג, an additional day of celebration.

The fourteenth of Nissan was technically, חג הפסח, as that was the day that the קרבן פסח was prepared. The next seven days from the fifteenth to the twenty-second, was חג המצות, the Holiday of Matzot.

In the future, there will be seven days of celebration right after Pesach, rejoicing the coming of Mashiach.

We see that the entire month is special. We, therefore, do not say תחנון the whole month, and fasting and eulogies, are forbidden. It is a most auspicious time to pray for the גאולה, redemption.

בנין אב

This Shabbat is special as we Bench Rosh Chodesh, finish the Book of Shemot, and read from a second Torah, פרשת החודש. We also have a double Parsha of ויקהל-פקודי.

Parshat ויקהל begins with an account of how Moshe gathered the entire congregation of Israel the day after Yom Kippur, and reiterated the importance of Shabbat.

The point that is most noticeable, is that Moshe instructs the people not to kindle a fire on Shabbat. Some want to learn the principle of בנין אב, from this instruction. The kindling of a fire is the precedent setting case for the other thirty-eight מלאכות of Shabbat.

We find this idea of בנין אב in many instances in the Torah. The precedent setting case, becomes the rule for all other cases that are in the same category.

This בנין אב concept is among the list of the thirteen methods of derivation presented by רבי ישמעאל, that we read every morning before פסוקי דזימרה.

Aharon’s Dilemma

During the turmoil of the sin of the Golden Calf, the Torah tells us that וירא אהרון, that Aharon saw. What exactly did Aharon see that made him decide to help create the Golden Calf?

The Gemara in סנהדרין says that he saw his nephew, חור, son of Miriam, murdered by the mob. Aharon was aware that the world would have no תקנתא לעולם, no eternal repair, if a future Pasuk in איכה, would be fulfilled.

The Pasuk said, אם יהרג במקדש כהן ונביא, “if a prophet and Kohein will be killed in the sanctuary. Now that the Prophet חור was dead, Aharon was afraid that he, the Kohein, would also be killed, and it would mean disaster for the world.

He, therefore, made the decision, which he later regretted, that he needed to help make the עגל, in order to save the world.

Isn’t it interesting how so much can be learned from the simple two words, וירא אהרון!

How to Achieve Forgiveness

We learn a great deal from the manner in which Moshe Rabbeinu prayed for Hashem’s forgiveness.

There were three major components to his approaching Hashem. The first is called זכות אבות. Moshe mentions the merits of the Patriarchs and the promise that their children would live forever. The second component is the idea of חילול ה׳. Moshe tells Hashem that if He punishes the Jewish people, His name will be desecrated and He will look weak in the eyes of the nations.

And the final important measure is the power of the י”ג מידות, the Thirteen Attributes of G-d. Hashem actually teaches Moshe that the recitation of these attributes, have the power to change harsh judgement into mercy.

So the combination of זכות אבות, קידוש ה׳, and the י”ג מידות, all have the power to bring about forgiveness.