Today's Learning Ketubot 4:8-9 Sponsored by O.C. 170:15-17 the Vogel family Sanhedrin 26 in memory of mother and grandmother Yerushalmi-- Bluma bat Shabtai HaKohen A"H Yevamot 14 Hamaayan/The Torah Spring edited by Shlomo Katz Kedoshim Vol. IX, No. 30 (414), 6 Iyar 5755, May 6, 1995 In this parashah, as in many others in the Torah, we find mitzvot which are said to be "a remembrance of the Exodus." Why are there so many mitzvot which remind us of the Exodus? asks Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski. It is perfectly reasonable to have an independence day rite, such as the just-ended holiday of Pesach, but do we need so many reminders the year round? The liberation from Egypt was not merely a nationalistic event, explains Rabbi Twerski, but was the creation of nation with a mission. The entire nation was to be priestly (see Shmot 19:6), and each individual a holy person. Every incident in the saga of the Exodus can serve as a prototype for the development of spirituality, says Rabbi Twerski. The teachings that can be derived from each event have their application in our strivings toward spirituality thousands of years later. The mission of the Jew today is no different than that of his ancestors who left Egypt: to become priestly and sacred, or in other words, spiritual. Inasmuch as the forces that deter one from spirituality are powerful, ubiquitous, and constant, so must our efforts to vanquish these forces be constantly renewed and reinforced. It is for this reason that we continually refer back to the Exodus as the source for our "arms" in the struggle to achieve spirituality. (From Bondage to Freedom: The Passover Haggadah--p.12) ************************************ "You shall be holy..." (19:2) Ramban and others write that the mitzvah recorded in this verse is: "Sanctify yourself through that which is permitted to you." This means that even that which is permitted, e.g., eating, drinking, and marital relations, should be done with sanctity and not to excess. Rav Avraham of Slonim zatz'l adds the following interpretation: "Sanctify yourself through that which is permitted to you"--it is only to you that it appears that certain actions are "permitted," i.e., neither mitzvot nor sins. In fact, however, there is nothing in the world which is optional; everything is either a mitzvah or a sin, depending on how it is done. (quoted in Netivot Shalom) ************************************ "You shall rebuke your fellow..." (19:17) Knowing when to deliver rebuke is always a difficult task. The following story relates to this dilemma. Rav Moshe Yosef Teitlebaum zatz'l was Rabbi of Zabarov. Once, during his derashah (sermon), he said, "You might wonder, 'Who is this rabbi that he should rebuke us?' Let me explain with a parable: "There was a town which had a fire chief, whose job it was to sound the alarm whenever a fire broke out. Once, a visitor to the town saw a fire breaking out, and instead of notifying the fire chief, he sounded the alarm. "The fire chief was very upset that his job had been usurped, but any right-minded person would laugh at this fire chief. When the fire is raging, every able-bodied person must rush to fight the blaze. "So it is with me," concluded Rav Teitlebaum. "When I see that the city is on fire ,so-to-speak, I must do what I can to quell the flames." (quoted in Tamar Yifrach) ************************************ "I have set you apart from the nations." (20:26) This means that the Jew is set apart from the nations whether he likes it or not, says Rav Elazar Shach shlita. The Jew may think that he has successfully assimilated, but the Holocaust has shown us that even those who never think of themselves as Jews--and perhaps do not even know they are Jews-- nevertheless are seen as Jews by the nations of the world. (Michtavim U'ma'amarim) ************************************ Pirkei Avot Rabbi Chalafta of Bartora said: If ten people study Torah together, Hashem rests His glory on them. How do we know that even when one person studies alone, the same is true? For it says (Shmot 20:21), "In every place that I will mention My name, I will come to you and bless you." Should it not have said, "That you will mention My name"? Rav Chaim of Volozhin zatz'l explains that, in truth, it is Hashem who gives a person the strength to study Torah and to do mitzvot, as we acknowledge (in the Nishmat prayer), "The limbs which You have given me and the soul which You have blown into me, they will praise You." Thus, Hashem says, even though it is I who gives you the strength to mention My name, I will nevertheless bless you as if you had done this on your own. (Ruach Chaim) Another explanation is offered by both Rav Chaim of Volozhin and Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch zatz'l. A person might study for two reasons: one is for the sake of giving honor to the Torah and to Hashem; the second is for the sake of personal honor and grandeur. When one learns for the former reason, he is doing something in which Hashem takes pride. Hashem considers this as if He had taken part in its accomplishment. If, however, a person studies Torah purely for his own honor, Hashem wants no part of it. Thus this latter form of study might be referred to as, "You mention My name," while the former is as if "I will mention My name." And when a person studies for the honor of Hashem and his Torah, he merits the fulfillment of the second half of the verse: "I will come to you and bless you." ************************************ The Jewish Communities of Speyer, Worms, Mainz, Cologne, and L'vov Beginning in this month in the year 1096, many Jewish communities of the Rhineland fell victim to the Catholic soldiers of the First Crusade, who were on their way to conquer Yerushalayim from the Moslems. It is told that these massacres were foreseen by some Torah scholars in another town, Metz who, earlier in the year, had seen three elderly strangers walking through the town as they recited kaddish. These "men" were identified by Rav Shimon Hagadol, a leading sage of the generation, as the souls of the Patriarchs Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. The community of Speyer (in Yiddish, "Ashpira"--the origin of the name "Shapiro") fell on the 8th of the month of Iyar. Ten Jews were killed there before the local Duke intervened. In Worms ("Vermisa"), 800 men, women, and children were massacred on the 23rd of this month. Some sources record that the Jewish community of Worms had dated to the destruction of the first Temple, more than 1500 years earlier. On the 3rd of Sivan, 1,360 Jews were killed in Mainz ("Magenza"). Finally, the community of Cologne was destroyed on the holiday of Shavuot. Many other communities were attacked as well. In many cities, sifrei Torah were also destroyed. These tragedies are recorded in our Tishah B'av kinot (lamentations), as that day has always been the day for mourning all the troubles of Jewish history. Also on the 8th of Iyar, in 5424 (1664), twenty-three Rabbis and Torah scholars and 17 leading members of the community were killed in L'vov, some of them by being burnt at the stake. Among those killed were two sons of Rav David Halevi, known as the "Taz." [The fact that pogroms began in the month of Iyar in different generations is one reason why the prayer Av Harachamim is recited on Shabbat Mevorchim during the month of Iyar.] ************************************ Donations to Hamaayan are tax-deductible.