Today's Learning Sponsored by Shabbat 10:4-5 Mr. Adam Aaronson Kitzur 199:14-200:1 in memory of his grandfather Bava Kama 45 Yankel Lifshitz Yerushalmi-- (Yaakov ben Yechiel Mechel) Eruvin 6 PARASHAT SHEMINI The 13th day of the Omer Vol. VIII, No. 26 (361), 28 Nisan 5754, Apr. 9, 1994 Near the end of this parasha (11:44) we read, ". . .you are to sanctify yourselves and you shall become holy. . . ." On this the Gemara (Berachot 53b) comments: "'You are to sanctify yourselves'-- this is the washing before eating; 'and you shall become holy'-- this is the washing after eating." In what way does washing before eating make one holy? asks R' Yaakov Zvi Mecklenburg (author of haKetav v'haKabbalah). There is another context in which washing is called "kiddush"þ "sanctification"--this is the kohanim's washing before beginning the Temple service. Ramban explains that it is a sign of respect that, when one approach's a king's table, one washes his hands. One should see the table on which he eats as an altar or as the King of Kings' table as well. Every meal should be viewed as being eaten in the presence of the King of Kings. When one washes in preparation, he thus sanctifies himself. (Yalkut Lekach Tov) ************************************ "Moshe said to Aharon and to his sons Elazar and Itamar, 'Do not leave your heads unshorn and do not tear your garments so that you will not die [lest] He become angry at the whole nation. . . '." (10:6) Why should Hashem become angry at the entire nation just because one of the kohanim dies for his own sin? asks R' Aharon Cohen (son- in-law of the Chafetz Chaim). This teaches that the Jewish people depend on the merit of tzaddikim--the righteous. If the righteous should die, even for their own sins, the entire Jewish nation is placed at risk. (Pirchei Aharon) ************************************ The Gemara states that the middle words of the Torah are "darosh darash," found in verse 10:16 in this parasha. Taken literally, however, this appears not to be true. What the Gemara may mean, though, is that of all cases of repeated words, e.g. "darosh darash" or "yarok yarak" (beMidbar 12:14), this is the middle instance. Similarly, when the Torah says that the "vav" of the word "gachon" (11:24) is the middle letter of the Torah, it means that it is the middle occurrence of an unusually sized letter. (heard from R' Moshe Zuriel shlita) ************************************ "Anything which moves on its belly and anything which walks on [from] four up to many legs, from among the rodents ("sheretz") which crawls on the earth, you shall not eat. . . ." (11:42) R' Chaim ben Bezalel (brother of the Maharal of Prague) writes that throughout history there have been three focuses for the evil inclination: idolatry, immorality, and money. The non-kosher status and ritual impurity of the sheretz is due to its similarity to those who incessantly chase after wealth. How so? R' David Kimchi (Radak) writes that the word "rasha," meaning "evil person," derives from the verse (Iyov 34:29): "He will make calm and who will move?" The word used for "move" is "yarshi'a". In other words, an evil person is one who is constantly on the move, incessantly chasing after wealth, as opposed to a tzaddik (like Yaakov) who sits in his tent and studies Torah, while making do with what is readily available. The word "sheretz," notes R' Chaim, contains within it the word "ratz"þ"runs." In addition, the Torah connects the sheretz with the species which have "[from] four up to many legs." Thus the rodent is doubly reminiscent of the "rasha" described by Radak, and that is why it may not be eaten and is ritually impure. (Sefer haChaim II:5)Rav Yaakov Bei Rav ************************************ PIRKEI AVOT "Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says, 'The world exists because of three things: truth, justice, and peace'." (end of the first chapter) Many commentators wonder how this teaching differs from an earlier mishnah in the same chapter, "The world stands on three things: Torah, the Temple service, and acts of kindness." According to Rabbenu Yonah, the earlier mishnah is explaining why the world was created, while our mishnah explaining what keeps the world going. However, this requires clarification. If the merit of Torah, the Temple service, and acts of kindness was enough to bring the world into existence, certainly it is enough to keep it in existence! Why should a different set of merits be required? R' Yosef Yaavetz explains: The earlier mishnah (the teaching of the kohen gadol Shimon haTzaddik) referred to the time when the Temple still existed. Why, however, does the world continue to exist now that one of its three legs, the Temple service, is missing? In answer to that question Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel (who lived after the Destruction) says, "The world exists because of three things: truth, justice, and peace." The explanation for this is that a lesser merit can indeed keep the world in existence even though it would not have sufficed to support the creation the world. Thus, even though we are lacking the Temple service, truth, justice, and peace keep our world alive. (Midrash Shmuel) Ramban (Sh'mot 21:20) notes that the word "stand" can sometimes mean "exist". Indeed, in that verse in Sh'mot, this definition has serious halachic consequences. Specifically, the verse states that if one person is injured by another, but he "stands" after 24 hours, the one causing the injury is not executed as a murderer. Does this mean that he must physically stand, or only that he must survive (exist)? According to Ramban, it is only the latter. ************************************ Rav Yaakov Bei Rav born 5235 (1475) - died 30 Nisan or 1 Iyar 5306 (1546) R' Yaakov ben Moshe Bei Rav was one of the leading scholars of Tzefat and was its Av Bet Din (President of the rabbinical court) in that city's most glorious era. He was born in Spain and was a disciple of R' Yitzchak Abohab (the second), the teacher of Abarbanel. After the expulsion, he led to North Africa, where, at the age of 18, he was appointed Rabbi of Fez. After wandering through Algeria, settling in Yerushalayim, and then moving to Egypt, R' Yaakov set up a yeshiva in Tzefat. There he attracted such students as R' Yosef Karo, author of Shulchan Aruch and other works, and R' Moshe Trani (the Mabit). These men were already accomplished scholars when they came to drink from R' Yaakov's scholarship. R' Yaakov's wrote several works and is cited frequently by his contemporaries. He is best known, however, for his part in the semichah controversy. (Although we refer to rabbinical ordination as "semichah," our semichah does not have the same halachic significance as the semichah that was practiced from the time of Moshe Rabbenu until the fourth century. Semichah today merely means that the recipient has achieved a certain proficiency in his knowledge of halachah. In earlier times, however, there was a difference between the types of halachic decisions which could be made by a "Rabbi" who had received semichah and one who had not. For example, only one who had semichah could judge a capital case.) Semichah can be awarded only by one who has semichah, which no one does today. However, R' Yaakov understood from Rambam's Mishneh Torah (Sanhedrin 4:11) that if all scholars residing in Eretz Yisrael would consent to give one of their number semichah, they could do so. He, in turn, could give semichah to others. With that done, they could establish a sanhedrin. R' Yaakov is said to have been motivated by a desire to aid Spanish Jews who had masqueraded as Christians achieve atonement. This required them to receive makkot--39 lashes--but only a sanhedrin can mete out that punishment. R' Yaakov did receive semichah, and he awarded it to others (including R' Yosef Karo, who passed it on to R' Moshe Alshich, the Torah commentator). It is said that R' Yaakov sent a certificate of semichah to R' Levi ibn Chaviv (Ralbach), Chief Rabbi of Yerushalayim, but that the latter did not accept it. Not only did Ralbach disagree with R' Yaakov's interpretation of the crucial statement of Rambam, he felt that the semichah was not valid even according to R' Yaakov's interpretation because some scholars had not been consulted. (As mentioned above, reinstating semichah requires the agreement of all of the scholars of Eretz Yisrael. The leading scholar in Egypt, Radvaz, sided with Ralbach. ************************************ Donations to Hamaayan are tax deductible