Today's Learning Pesachim 8:2-3 O.C. 33:5-34:2 Sponsored by Bava Metzia 46 Dr. & Mrs. Robert Klein Yerushalmi-- in memory of father Pesachim 59 Dr. Ernst Shlomo Kaplowitz A"H Bob and Rose Margolis in memory of Bob's mother Arline Margolis A"H HAMAAYAN/THE TORAH SPRING edited by Shlomo Katz PARASHAT RE'EH Vol. VIII, No. 43 (378), 29 Menachem-Av 5754, August 6, 1994 At the end of this parasha, the Torah repeats some of the basic laws of the holidays and instructs that the holidays of Shavuot and Sukkot should be joyous. But why is there no similar commandment regarding Pesach? Certainly there is a mitzvah to be joyous on Pesach as well. Rav Shlomo Goren shlita explains that Pesach is the holiday of national freedom, but without spiritual freedom. Spiritual freedom came on Shavuot, with the giving of the Torah. [Ed. Chazal say that the only free person is one who studies Torah.] National freedom without spiritual freedom, i.e., without Torah, is not an object of joy, writes Rav Goren. Only when the Torah introduces Shavuot can it command us to be joyous, and, retroactively, we can be joyous on Pesach as well. As King David wrote (Tehilim 19:9) "Hashem's orders are upright; they make the heart glad." (Torat haShabbat v'haMo'ed, p.26) ************************************ "Their trees of worship you shall burn in fire." (12:3) Here the Jews are commanded to completely destroy any tree in Eretz Yisrael which the Canaanites had made an object of idol worship. Yet earlier, in Parashat Mishpatim (23:24), the Jews were commanded simply to smash them or break them, a less complete destruction. Why? Rav Yechezkel Abramsky zatz'l explains as follows: The trees in Eretz Yisrael never belonged to the Canaanites; they were always Bnei Yisrael's trees because Hashem had given the Land to the Patriarchs. Accordingly, the Canaanites could not affect the halachic status of the trees which they worshipped. The trees did not become prohibited to enjoy, and the Torah said (in Parashat Mishpatim) to break those trees only as a reminder not to worship idols. However, after Parashat Mishpatim was taught, Bnei Yisrael worshipped the Golden Calf. They thereby indicated that they did not object to the idolatry of the Canaanites, and that had the halachic effect of ratifying the Canaanites selection of certain trees as objects of idol worship. Thereafter, those tree became prohibited to enjoy and had to be burnt. (quoted in Ta'am vaDa'at) ************************************ "If there shall be a destitute person among you. . . ." (15:7) Chazal teach that it is meritorious for one who gives charity to allow the pauper anonymity. However, a pauper has no right to insist on it. Rav Yitzchak Hutner zatz'l explains that one is never obligated to give something away for nothing. In the case of charity, the payment that a person is entitled to receive is gratitude. Accordingly, a the charity-recipient has no right to remain anonymous if the giver insists on receiving gratitude. (And, notes Rav Hutner, the poorest person has as big a store of gratitude as the richest person.) Nevertheless, it certainly is meritorious to forego the gratitude which is due, especially considering the pain that it causes the pauper. (Pachad Yitzchak, Igeret 15) ************************************ "You may not slaughter the Pesach in one of your gates [i.e., cities] which Hashem gives you." (16:5) Chazal teach that the Jews in Egypt fell through the 49 gates of impurity and Hashem had to lift them out. So too, at any time, a person may fall through those gates, and Hashem may rescue him. However, says Rav Eliezer David Gruenwald zatz'l, a person should not be satisfied with the "gates" that Hashem "gives" him, but should work on his own to climb through further gates of holiness. (Chasdei David) ************************************ "You shall make a holiday of Sukkot for yourself" (16:13) Rav Shlomo Halberstam (the Bobover Rebbe) shlita notes that the root of the word "Sukkah" is the name for one of the forms of Ruach haKodesh--Divine Inspiration, i.e., the ability to see that which is hidden. Thus, this verse may be read as a lesson that every person should set aside times ("make a holiday") devoted to introspection, i.e., seeing himself. (quoted in Sukkat Bet Ropshitz p.31) ************************************ "For seven days you shall celebrate to Hashem . . . and you shall be only joyous." (16:15) From this last phrase Chazal deduce that one must be joyous on an eighth day as well, i.e., Shemini Atzeret. However, numerous commentaries ask: Doesn't the word "only" suggest that something is being excluded, rather than that something is being included? The Vilna Gaon is quoted as explaining that something is indeed being excluded. The Torah is teaching that after the seven days in which we were joyous and performed numerous mitzvot (sukkah, lulav, etc.), there comes a holiday when the only mitzvah is to be joyous. (Kol Eliyahu) ************************************ Rav Shmuel Salant born 1816 - died 29 Menachem-Av 5669 (1909) Rav Shmuel of Salant was a dominant force in the life of the Ashkenazic community of Yerushalayim known as the "Old Yishuv"--the "Old Settlement"--for nearly seven decades. A native of the town whose name he bore--he was the son-in-law of Rav Zundel Salant, Rav Yisrael Salanter's teacher--he was appointed Rabbi and President of the Rabbinical Court of Yerushalayim while still in Europe in 1840. In 1841, Rav Shmuel arrived in Yerushalayim. In the 1840's, the Ashkenazic community was far smaller than its Sephardic counterpart. Interestingly, it is reported that the Moslems, who require ritual slaughter similar to that of the Jews, would not eat meat shected by an Ashkenazi because the Turkish sultan did not recognize the Ashkenazim as Jews until 1866. One of Rav Shmuel's primary tasks was to organize the Ashkenazic community into a coherent structure such as the Sephardim had. He founded the Etz Chaim Yeshiva, which continued to be the preeminent Ashkenazic yeshiva in Yerushalayim until the first third of this century. Rav Shmuel refused to use the title "Rabbi of Yerushalayim" in his correspondence, saying that he had not been universally elected. Indeed, from 1859 to 1878 Rav Shmuel voluntarily left the post in favor of Rav Meir Auerbach. During the second half of the 19th century, many Ashkenazic Jews in Yerushalayim considered their Rabbi to be, not Rav Shmuel, but Rav Yehoshua Leib Diskin. On his deathbed, Rav Shmuel named Rav Chaim Sonnenfeld as his successor, but predicted that Rav Chaim's appointment would not be confirmed because Rav Chaim was Hungarian, whereas most of the Ashkenazic community was Lithuanian. This was indeed the case, and the Rabbinate of the Old Yishuv remained vacant for ten years. (Guardian of Jerusalem) ************************************ DONATIONS TO HAMAAYAN ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE