Planes are wonderful things. They help you get where you want to go when it seems almost impossible. I'm not talking about getting from one part of the country to another, like traveling from New York to California. I am talking bigger than that; flying over seas!
In the past, people weren't able to go from America to Israel in their horses or bicycles, they needed to travel by boat. There was always that body of sea water stopping them from making that trip. With the convenience of a plane in our day and age, it doesn't get easier than that.
In Parashas Tzav the posuk says, “If he shall offer it for a thanksgiving offering...” [1] The Gemara says there are four situations which require one to bring a korban todah. I will mention two out of four: (a) a person who safely crossed a sea or an ocean and (b) a person who safely crossed a desert. [2]
A korbon todah has a special din where it must be eaten within one day and one night, where other korbonos have more time than that to be consumed. Sounds simple, but it isn't; a korbon todah is made up of a whole animal plus 36 loaves of matzohs and challas (after 4 have been given to the kohen who does the korbon service). I don't remember the last time I had to eat that much in twenty-four hours.
By necessity, the person bringing the korbon will be forced to make a large seudah to which he will invite his family and friends. At the meal, he will have an opportunity to explain the reason for this seudah, publicizing the greatness of Hashem and all He had done for him.
Walking through a body of ocean water is a much bigger miracle than crossing over it via an airplane. You want to talk about Hashem's greatness, here it is! Hashem performed the miracle of splitting the sea for the Jews to walk through while being pursued by the Egyptians. Once every Jew crossed the Yam Suf safely onto the sea shore, Hashem caused the oceans to cave in and swallow the Egyptians alive.
During the seder, a huge chunk of the Haggada is Maggid. It is the section where we tell over the greatness of Hashem and the wonderful miracles He performed for us while leaving Egypt. The word Maggid means to 'say over' as in to tell over the stories of yetzias mitzrayim. Included in the seder is Hallel- a praise to Hashem for saving us from Egyptian hands.
Now's our time to take the opportunity to explain the reason for this seudah, Pesach night.
May we all be zocheh to witness the miracle of the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash, bimheira b'yameinu.
Chag Kasher v'Sameach,
Nisso
[1] 7:11
[2] Brachos 54b
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Parashas Vayikra - Don't emulate Robin Hood
L'Iluy Nishmas: R' Alter Yisrael ben Meir Lieber Keller a"h
[This week's dvar Torah is a short one (possibly next week as well) due to a lack of time with the preparations of Pesach cleaning and all...]
Everyone knew 'Robin Hood' as a very loyal person. The reason is because Robin Hood would bounce from one rich man to another to steal his money. What he did with the money is what made him the legend he was. He took from the rich and gave to the poor.
What Robin Hood did was nice and dandy, however, halachically, what he did was wrong. It is assur for us to emulate this idea.
How do I know that? I am not a posek! Besides being common sense, I know it because of the second posuk in this week's parasha. It says, “If man (adam) wants to donate a korban to Hashem... you shall bring them.”
Rashi asks, “Why did the posuk say 'adam'?” Sifsei Chochomim adds, “It could of used the word 'ish' which also means man.” Rashi answers, “Just like Adam HaRishon offered korbonos which weren't stolen (because everything belonged to him,) so too Bnei Yisroel should not donate stolen goods.
I don't think this specifically goes for donating to Hashem. I think this rule can also be applied to donating things to poor people as well (tzedaka).
To take this another step: In this week's parasha it tells us what one must do if he donates a dove; Throw away the stomach, because birds go from place to place eating things which belong to other people. Rashi quotes Vayikra Rabba [3:4] who says, “They feed off stolen food.”
So we see that if the stomach of a bird gets rejected from korbanos due to the act of eating stolen foods, even the more so - our korbonos would get rejected if they were entirely stolen.
Have a wonderful Shabbos and an easy time cleaning for Pesach – leaving no Chometz behind.
Nisso
[This week's dvar Torah is a short one (possibly next week as well) due to a lack of time with the preparations of Pesach cleaning and all...]
Everyone knew 'Robin Hood' as a very loyal person. The reason is because Robin Hood would bounce from one rich man to another to steal his money. What he did with the money is what made him the legend he was. He took from the rich and gave to the poor.
What Robin Hood did was nice and dandy, however, halachically, what he did was wrong. It is assur for us to emulate this idea.
How do I know that? I am not a posek! Besides being common sense, I know it because of the second posuk in this week's parasha. It says, “If man (adam) wants to donate a korban to Hashem... you shall bring them.”
Rashi asks, “Why did the posuk say 'adam'?” Sifsei Chochomim adds, “It could of used the word 'ish' which also means man.” Rashi answers, “Just like Adam HaRishon offered korbonos which weren't stolen (because everything belonged to him,) so too Bnei Yisroel should not donate stolen goods.
I don't think this specifically goes for donating to Hashem. I think this rule can also be applied to donating things to poor people as well (tzedaka).
To take this another step: In this week's parasha it tells us what one must do if he donates a dove; Throw away the stomach, because birds go from place to place eating things which belong to other people. Rashi quotes Vayikra Rabba [3:4] who says, “They feed off stolen food.”
So we see that if the stomach of a bird gets rejected from korbanos due to the act of eating stolen foods, even the more so - our korbonos would get rejected if they were entirely stolen.
Have a wonderful Shabbos and an easy time cleaning for Pesach – leaving no Chometz behind.
Nisso
Friday, March 12, 2010
Parashas VaYakhel/Pekudei - Let's not be a slow poke
I was on a packed bus (this happened more than once) and a younger guy offered his seat to an elderly man. “That guy's a Tzaddik, he really has respect for elders...,” one might think. Actually, everyone did - except the elderly man. The old man started yelling at the young guy, throwing out words as if it was a baseball, “Don't do me any favors! I am probably stronger than you are! Dumb young guy thinks I am too old to stand on a bus...” He was going at it for about five minutes.
Sometimes, I hesitate giving up my seat to old men just in case the situation might happen to me. I still offer the seat if I'm not too late though.
What do I mean by, “If I'm not too late?”
Have you ever been on a packed bus and wanted to offer your seat to an older man, however, by the time you offer it, someone else already did? It's happened to me on numerous occasions.
In this week's parasha (btw, it's a double parasha), we speak about the building of the Mishkan. The second aliyah repeatedly mentioned, “Everyone, men and women, donated to the building of the miskan.” However, when the Torah mentioned the donation of the stones (to the ephod and the choshen,) it mentioned only the Nesi'im.
Why did the Torah specify them and no one else? Rashi says, the Nesi'im were the last ones to donate to the Mishkan, but the first ones to sacrifice at the Chanukat Ha'mizbeh'ach.
It wasn't because they held one thing was more choshiv than the other. The Nesi'im wanted to supply whatever material was lacking in the building of the Mishkan. They thought that if they donated the material which was lacking to complete the Mishkan, then it was as if they built the whole thing. The problem is, they under-estimated Bnei Yisroel's generosity in donating everything they owned. Additionally, Bnei Yisroel were so zealous in wanting to contribute for the Mishkan, all the material was collected within two days!
Even though they had good intentions, the Nesi'im still postponed the fulfillment of a mitzvah. They later learned their lesson, did teshuva, and were the first ones to bring the sacrifices by the inauguration.
The next time we are faced with a mitzvah, let's not let it slip away.
Have a wonderful Shabbos,
Nisso
Sometimes, I hesitate giving up my seat to old men just in case the situation might happen to me. I still offer the seat if I'm not too late though.
What do I mean by, “If I'm not too late?”
Have you ever been on a packed bus and wanted to offer your seat to an older man, however, by the time you offer it, someone else already did? It's happened to me on numerous occasions.
In this week's parasha (btw, it's a double parasha), we speak about the building of the Mishkan. The second aliyah repeatedly mentioned, “Everyone, men and women, donated to the building of the miskan.” However, when the Torah mentioned the donation of the stones (to the ephod and the choshen,) it mentioned only the Nesi'im.
Why did the Torah specify them and no one else? Rashi says, the Nesi'im were the last ones to donate to the Mishkan, but the first ones to sacrifice at the Chanukat Ha'mizbeh'ach.
It wasn't because they held one thing was more choshiv than the other. The Nesi'im wanted to supply whatever material was lacking in the building of the Mishkan. They thought that if they donated the material which was lacking to complete the Mishkan, then it was as if they built the whole thing. The problem is, they under-estimated Bnei Yisroel's generosity in donating everything they owned. Additionally, Bnei Yisroel were so zealous in wanting to contribute for the Mishkan, all the material was collected within two days!
Even though they had good intentions, the Nesi'im still postponed the fulfillment of a mitzvah. They later learned their lesson, did teshuva, and were the first ones to bring the sacrifices by the inauguration.
The next time we are faced with a mitzvah, let's not let it slip away.
Have a wonderful Shabbos,
Nisso
Friday, March 5, 2010
Parashas Ki Sisa - Hidden Miracles
My wife and I sell baked goods daily to the bochurim of a Yeshivah/Kollel I learn in. We leave a big basket outside the Bais Medrash so people can buy something on their way in or out. When we first started selling, I used to count the money we make every day to make sure that everything we sold was paid for. (There are kids in the neighborhood who apparently don't know how to read signs which say, "For sale" even if the sign has a number with the Israeli currency symbol next to it.)
I started to notice that little by little money was missing. It was frustrating because I tried hard giving the benefit of the doubt, but after a certain amount, it's not easy. I decided to try something new, which even today (4-5 years later) got rid of the frustration.
I remembered learning a gemara in Mesechta Brachos saying that Hashem performs miracles when they aren't revealed. When I was always calculating the money, I didn't leave any room for Hashem to miraculously slip in a couple hundred shekels :) What I do now is: any money made on that day is thrown into a bucket and on Rosh Chodesh, I calculate everything made that month. That way I don't get frustrated when I see money missing and I also leave room for Hashem to work His ways.
In this week's parasha, Hashem asked Moshe to count Bnei Yisroel (again). Obviously Hashem knows the population of Am Yisrael, so what's the reason for this census? Generally, anything (or anyone) important is counted or noticed by the owner. [In Mesechta Baba Matziah, it says that a person is always putting his hand on his wallet because he wants to make sure it's secured.] In this case, Hashem shows His love for us by counting us and by making us feel important to Him.
Hashem instructed Moshe in how to count Bnei Yisroel: by collecting a half a shekel from them and adding up the shekels to calculate the amount of people. The Torah says, "Thus there will be no plague among them when you count them." Rashi comments: Things that are counted are subject to the evil eye and as a result, a plague befalls them, like the one which occurred in the days of David. (King David told his general, Yoav, to count Bnei Yisroel, and as a result, a plague ensued killing many of the nation. [1])
When Hashem looks deep into our actions, He also judges us more intensely. That's what's referred to by the evil eye. Additionally, when a group is counted, so instead of looking at the group as one big group, they are also looked upon individually. Similar to the concept of davening with a minyan. When someone davens by themselves, each tefilla is deeply looked into; whether we prayed with the proper kavanas, or pronunciations, etc... However, when davening in a minyan of ten men, the tefillos are accepted automatically (that doesn't necessarily mean they will be answered.)
The Be'er Yitzchak explains that the plague didn't befall Bnei Yisroel because they were counted, rather it was because if they deserved to be punished, then counting them might prevent any merits which might otherwise have saved them.
I think an explanation for the Be'er Yitzchak is the gemara in Brachos; Hashem would be less hesitant to preform hidden miracles as opposed to an open miracle. So by counting Bnei Yisroel - it might take away the opportunity of giving them merit.
Have a wonderful Shabbos,
Nisso
[1] Shmuel I
I started to notice that little by little money was missing. It was frustrating because I tried hard giving the benefit of the doubt, but after a certain amount, it's not easy. I decided to try something new, which even today (4-5 years later) got rid of the frustration.
I remembered learning a gemara in Mesechta Brachos saying that Hashem performs miracles when they aren't revealed. When I was always calculating the money, I didn't leave any room for Hashem to miraculously slip in a couple hundred shekels :) What I do now is: any money made on that day is thrown into a bucket and on Rosh Chodesh, I calculate everything made that month. That way I don't get frustrated when I see money missing and I also leave room for Hashem to work His ways.
In this week's parasha, Hashem asked Moshe to count Bnei Yisroel (again). Obviously Hashem knows the population of Am Yisrael, so what's the reason for this census? Generally, anything (or anyone) important is counted or noticed by the owner. [In Mesechta Baba Matziah, it says that a person is always putting his hand on his wallet because he wants to make sure it's secured.] In this case, Hashem shows His love for us by counting us and by making us feel important to Him.
Hashem instructed Moshe in how to count Bnei Yisroel: by collecting a half a shekel from them and adding up the shekels to calculate the amount of people. The Torah says, "Thus there will be no plague among them when you count them." Rashi comments: Things that are counted are subject to the evil eye and as a result, a plague befalls them, like the one which occurred in the days of David. (King David told his general, Yoav, to count Bnei Yisroel, and as a result, a plague ensued killing many of the nation. [1])
When Hashem looks deep into our actions, He also judges us more intensely. That's what's referred to by the evil eye. Additionally, when a group is counted, so instead of looking at the group as one big group, they are also looked upon individually. Similar to the concept of davening with a minyan. When someone davens by themselves, each tefilla is deeply looked into; whether we prayed with the proper kavanas, or pronunciations, etc... However, when davening in a minyan of ten men, the tefillos are accepted automatically (that doesn't necessarily mean they will be answered.)
The Be'er Yitzchak explains that the plague didn't befall Bnei Yisroel because they were counted, rather it was because if they deserved to be punished, then counting them might prevent any merits which might otherwise have saved them.
I think an explanation for the Be'er Yitzchak is the gemara in Brachos; Hashem would be less hesitant to preform hidden miracles as opposed to an open miracle. So by counting Bnei Yisroel - it might take away the opportunity of giving them merit.
Have a wonderful Shabbos,
Nisso
[1] Shmuel I
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
