Today's Learning Shekalim 1:4-5 O.C. 40:8-42:1 Sponsored by Bava Metzia 60 Dr. and Mrs. Irving Katz Yerushalmi-- in memory of father Beitzah 2 Moshe Aharon ben Menashe Reiss A"H Abbe and Adena Mendlowitz in honor of the completion of shas by father Rabbi Hersh Mendlowitz Hamaayan/The Torah Spring edited by Shlomo Katz PARASHAT KI-TETZE Vol. VIII, No. 45 (380), 13 Elul 5754, August 20, 1994 This parasha teaches us the Torah's attitude towards beauty, says Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik zatz'l. "When you will go out to war against your enemies and you will see a beautiful woman among the captives"--when you fight your enemies--Canaanites, Persians, Greeks, Romans, or Germans--you will undoubtedly see beautiful aspects of their cultures. Therefore, you should know: You are permitted to bring home everything beautiful that you see, but don't be fooled by external beauty. This is symbolized by the Torah's demand that the captive woman change out of her foreign clothes. The Torah demands a waiting period after the captive woman is brought into the home--i.e., examine this new-found culture very carefully. Is it something that you want in your home? (Yemei Zikaron p.125) ************************************ "You shall not see the ox of your brother or his sheep cast off [i.e., lost] and turn yourself away from them; you shall surely return them to your brother." (22:4) Rav Yaakov Yosef haKohen of Pollonye interprets this homiletically: "You shall not see the ox of your brother cast off"-- it is better not to see your brother in a state of spiritual decline (becoming like an ox). "[T]urn yourself away." But if you do see, "[Y]ou shall surely return [him]." (Toldot Yaakov Yosef) ************************************ "He happened upon you on the way, and he struck the weaklings who were straggling at the rear, when you were faint and exhausted, and he did not fear G-d." (25:18) Why do we reserve special hatred for Amalek more so than for other nations which attacked us without provocation? Rav Velvel Brisker zatz'l asks. The Gemara (Bava Kama 79) says: Why is a burglar punished more severely than is a robber? Because a robber equates G-d with man [he is afraid of neither], while a burglar places G-d lower than man [he fears man more than he fears G-d, therefore he steals when man is not looking]. Rav Velvel explains: A burglar is a greater sinner than is a robber because a burglar has begun to think through the consequences of his action, but has stopped those thoughts before they can lead him to G-d. This is worse than a robber who has not thought out his actions at all--therefore he fears no one--but at least he has not snubbed G-d. Similarly, had Amalek attacked Bnei Yisrael head-on, we would not fault him. However, by attacking only the weakest Jews, Amalek acknowledged that there is something to fear. And despite that, he showed that he did not fear G-d. (Chidushei haGriz) ************************************ "Remember what Hashem, your G-d, did to Miriam on the way, when you were leaving Egypt." (24:9) "Remember what Amalek did to you on the way when you were leaving Egypt." (25:7) There are a number of commandments, these two and others, which require us to remember certain events. Why does remembering historical events play such an important role in Jewish thought and practice? Rav Yoel Schwartz shlita explains as follows: Tehilim (107:43) states, "[One] who is wise will keep [i.e., remember] these [events] and will study Hashem's acts of kindness." One might think that studying the event comes before committing it to memory, but King David tells us otherwise. The reason for this is that many events cannot be understood until long after they have passed. In order to understand them later, we must commit them to memory and "keep" them. Rav Schwartz continues: Long ago, the Arabs named us the "People of the Book." There is a great deal of truth to this beyond its literal meaning. What is the difference between a book and a newspaper? The latter represents a fresh start every day; yesterday's front page headlines are easily and often thrust aside in light of the new day's breaking developments. Not so a book, whose each page builds upon the foundation laid by the preceding pages. This is our attitude towards history. Each event is a building block for tomorrow. This is why remembering is so important to us. (haTekufah b'Aspaklariah Toranit p.147) ************************************ Rav Eliezer Yitzchak Fried of Volozhin born 5570 (1810) - died 19 Elul 5613 (1853) Rav Eliezer Yitzchak was a nephew and also a son-in-law of Rav Yitzchak son of Rav Chaim of Volozhin. He briefly succeeded his father-in-law as head of the Volozhin Yeshiva (the first modern yeshiva) upon his father-in-law's passing in 1849. Rav Eliezer Yitzchak assisted in the administration of the yeshiva already in his father-in-law's days. A document from that period still exists in which Rav Eliezer Yitzchak reports the yeshiva's curriculum to the Russian government. He writes: For this coming year, 1847, the students will learn the following subjects: Talmud-the first tractate of the fourth order; its name is Bava Kama [and it] deals with concepts concerning causing damage to another's property and includes various explanations, some practical and some expository, which relate to religious law. The document reports that the yeshiva had thirty students at the time, but the actual number probably was much greater. A very small number of Rav Eliezer Yitzchak's halachic responsa are preserved in the work Chut haMeshulash. After Rav Eliezer Yitzchak's own untimely passing, he was followed in the post by his (now) better known brother-in-law, Rav Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (the Netziv). ************************************ DONATIONS TO HAMAAYAN ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE