Hamaayan / The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Vayikra: Reciprocating G-d's Love Volume 20, No. 23 3 Nisan 5766 April 1, 2006 Sponsored by Abe and Shirley Sperling & William and Ruth Konick on the yahrzeits of Tzvi Dov ben Avraham a"h (Harry Sperling) and Mindel bat Tzvi Dov a"h (Mildred Klessmer) The Siragher family on the yahrzeit of mother Sheina Rachel bat Yisroel a"h The Katz family on the yahrzeits of grandfathers Yitzchak ben Yisrael Hakohen Katz a"h Menashe Yaakov ben Klonimus Kalman Reiss a"h Today's Learning: Yoma 7:5-8:1 O.C. 537:1-3 Daf Yomi (Bavli): Pesachim 74 Daf Yomi (Yerushalmi): Kilayim 41 Our parashah opens: "Vayikra--He called to Moshe." Rashi z"l writes that "Vayikra" "is a way of expressing affection, the mode used by the ministering angels when addressing each other, as it is said (Yishayah 6:3), `And one called unto another.' However, to the prophets of the nations of the world [such as Bilam], G-d revealed himself in a manner which the Torah describes by an expression ordinarily used for denoting events of a casual character and of uncleanness, as it is said (Bemidbar 23:4), `G-d vayikar / happened to meet Bilam'." [The term "vayikar," from the root kuf-raish-aleph, is connected with "mikreh" which denotes "chance," and has also the meaning of "uncleanness" (see Devarim 23:11).] R' Gedalya Schorr z"l (Rosh Yeshiva of Torah Vodaath in Brooklyn) elaborates: The Targum / Aramaic translation of the verse in Yishayah that Rashi quotes-"And one called unto another"--is, "They receive from each other." G-d's affection for Moshe resulted from the fact that G-d received from Moshe as well as gave to him. Specifically, G- d received pleasure from the fact that His will was done. G-d derives pleasure, so-to-speak, from man's efforts to draw closer to Him. In contrast, when G-d spoke to Bilam, it was as if they had a chance meeting. Bilam did not leave that encounter a changed or better person. This is comparable to a chance meeting between two acquaintances, which ordinarily does not have a lasting effect on either. (Ohr Gedalyahu) ******** "When a man / adam among you brings an offering . . ." (1:2) Commenting on this verse, Midrash Rabbah states: "`Adam' is an expression of love, an expression of brotherhood, an expression of friendship." What is this midrash teaching? R' Aharon Lewin z"l (the "Reisha Rav"; killed in the Holocaust in 1941) explains: There is a dispute among the Rishonim / early commentaries as to the purpose of animal sacrifices. Rambam z"l writes that when Hashem gave the Torah, He did not attempt to wean His people entirely from the idolatrous ways with which they were familiar. Rather, He instructed Bnei Yisrael to direct to Him the service that they otherwise would have performed to idols. Many other commentaries disagree vociferously and offer other interpretations. In particular, R' Yitzchak Arama z"l (the "Ba'al Ha'akeidah") explains that Hashem recognized man's emotional need to repay his debts. Therefore, Hashem instructed us regarding an order of sacrifices, and He acts as if man is thereby giving Him a gift. There is a wide gulf between the explanations of Rambam and the Ba'al Ha'akeidah. According to the former, the inclusion in the Torah of a sacrificial service indicates the lowliness of man; according to the latter, it indicates G-d's love for man. R' Lewin continues: In light of this dispute, we can understand the above midrash. Do not think, says the midrash, that the inclusion in the Torah of a sacrificial service indicates the lowliness of man. No! "It is an expression of love, an expression of brotherhood, an expression of friendship." (Ha'drash Ve'ha'iyun: Vaykira, No. 1) ******** "Yesod Ve'shoresh Ha'avodah" ("The Foundation and Root of Divine Service") This year, we are presenting excerpts from the work Yesod Ve'shoresh Ha'avodah by R' Alexander Ziskind z"l (died 1794). The primary theme of this work is improving one's concentration during prayer and mitzvah performance. In Sha'ar Ha'tzon, the author discusses the mitzvot associated with the month of Nissan and the holiday of Pesach. He writes: From the first day of Nissan, one should rejoice and be very, very happy because the days have arrived in which Hashem desired to redeem us and to sanctify us with His commandments. Soon the days will come on which we will give Him pleasure by fulfilling many mitzvot--for example, eating matzah, eliminating chametz from our property, eating maror, refraining from working on yom tov, and all the other mitzvot of this month. Every day, one should look forward to, and anticipate joyfully, the approaching time when he will give this pleasure to his Creator. The closer one gets to that day, the greater one's joy should be. ******** R' Moshe Feinstein z"l Conclusion In 1932, the Communist authorities closed the mikvah in Lyuban, claiming that it was unsanitary. In its place they built a bathhouse that was meant to serve both genders. Not to be deterred, the town's rabbi, R' Moshe Feinstein, learned a lesson from Moshe Rabbeinu, who had persuaded Pharaoh that the Jews would be better workers if they rested one day a week (i.e., Shabbat). R' Feinstein explained to the authorities that Jews are very conservative people and would be uncomfortable bathing in a coed facility. As a result, he said, Jews would not bathe at all and would spread diseases to the general population. After R' Moshe's argument won the day, an engineer was paid to secretly alter the bathhouse plumbing in order to turn it into a kosher mikvah. As a result of the troubles with the mikvah and the impossibility of providing a proper education for their children, R' Moshe and his wife decided that the time had come to leave Europe. R' Moshe wrote to their relatives in the United States and to his teacher, R' Isser Zalman Meltzer, in Eretz Yisrael, asking for entry visas to one of those destinations. In 1936, the Feinsteins received permission to leave the Soviet Union. Since they did not yet have entry visas to a final destination, they traveled to Riga, Latvia, where some of their siblings also were waiting for American visas. Their relatives tried to convince them to stay in Latvia, but R' Moshe recognized the looming danger posed by Hitler and was determined to leave. After a short wait, the Feinsteins received visas for the United States. Their relatives in Riga, on the other hand, never succeeded in emigrating and were killed in the Holocaust. For as long as he lived, R' Moshe saw the fact that he was saved while his brothers and sister, who had applied for visas earlier, perished as a sign that G-d had chosen him for a mission to serve and lead American Jewry. Years later, when he was asked why his door was always open even to those whose problems seemed trivial, R' Moshe explained that he was obligated to behave this way because of his miraculous salvation. While in Lyuban, R' Moshe had authored many Torah novellae and halachic responsa. Not knowing whether he would be allowed to take his library out of the Soviet Union, R' Moshe separated his notebooks into small bundles and traveled from one village post office to another mailing pages to friends and relatives in America. Most of these pages were preserved. On his application for an American visa, R' Moshe had written that he had a rabbinical job in Toledo, Ohio (where his wife's brother lived). In keeping with his lifelong policy of respecting the law of the land, R' Moshe traveled to Toledo and occupied his brother-in- law's pulpit for a short time. (R' Moshe's respect for the law also led him to speak about the importance of voting and of completing one's tax returns honestly.) Soon after, he was offered a position at a new yeshiva that was opening in Cleveland. While in Cleveland, R' Moshe was offered the position of rosh yeshiva of Mesivta Tifereth Yerushalayim on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Initially, his salary of seven dollars a week did not even suffice to commute from his apartment in Brooklyn to Manhattan and also feed his family, so R' Moshe slept on a bench in the yeshiva. After a short time, however, he moved his family to the Lower East Side, where he lived for the rest of his life. At Tifereth Yerushalayim, R' Moshe introduced a program to train rabbis. Many yeshivot, including the Lakewood yeshiva, did not offer semichah or even training in practical rabbinics, and instead sent students to R' Moshe. Soon after his arrival in the United States, R' Moshe also was elected to the five-member presidium of the Agudat Ha'rabbanim / Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada (not to be confused with the O-U). The other members of the presidium were R' Eliezer Silver, R' Joseph B. Soloveitchik, R' Chaim Heller and R' Aharon Kotler. R' Moshe considered this organization to be essential for addressing the significant halachic issues that faced American Jewry but were greater than any one rabbi. (Source: Introduction to Igrot Moshe, Vol. 8). [Editor's note: We have chosen not to relate the later phases of R' Moshe's career because they are relatively well-known and because one can still find many individuals who have first-hand knowledge of his activities.]