Today's Learning Avodah Zarah 4:6-7 Sponsored by O.C. 365:2-4 the Meth family Chullin 3 in honor of Yerushalmi-- Nachum's birthday Bava Batra 13 Hamaayan/The Torah Spring edited by Shlomo Katz Ki Tetze Vol. X, No. 43 (480), 9 Elul 5756, August 24, 1996 Siddur Avodat Yisrael writes that there is a chapter of Tehilim which corresponds to each parashah -- this week, psalm 32. This psalm deals with repentance. Siddur Avodat Yisrael associates it with Shabbat Shuvah, while Rav Yaakov Emden and the Vilna Gaon recommend that it be recited on Yom Kippur itself. Our parashah always fall during the month of Elul, the season of repentance. Indeed, the midrash interprets the beginning of our parashah as an allusion to man's war against the evil inclination. Also, the Zohar interprets the verse (21:13), "And she shall cry for her mother and father for 30 days," as a reference to tears of teshuvah during the 30 days preceding Rosh Hashanah. Rav Yechezkel Sarne z"l writes: The basic requirements of teshuvah -- confession, regret, and resolution to improve -- are sufficient to obtain forgiveness. Beyond that, man desires to be completely purified of his sins. That is what King David worked on his whole life, as addressed in this psalm. (Daliot Yechezkel) ************************************ The verses and commentaries on this page relate to the chapter of Tehilim associated with our parashah (see page 1). "Fortunate is the man against whom Hashem will count no iniquity, and whose spirit is without deceit." (32:2) Rabbenu Yonah z"l (13th century) writes: There are many levels of repentance, in accordance with which one draws near to the Holy One Blessed be He. And, although there is forgiveness in relation to each kind of repentance, the soul does not become completely purified to the extent that the sins are regarded as never having been committed unless one purifies his heart and properly conditions his spirit. It is the same here as with a garment that needs washing. A little washing will suffice to remove the surface dirt, but only after much cleaning will it become entirely clean. The soul is cleansed from transgression according to the cleansing of the heart. (Shaarei Teshuvah I:9) Rav Yehuda Leib Segal z"l elaborates: When a person sins, he becomes distanced from Hashem. Even after his repentance, a blemish remains on man's soul until he attains the required spiritual level where his soul is finally cleansed. "Fortunate is the man against whom Hashem will count no iniquity -- because he has finally been forgiven completely -- and whose spirit is without deceit -- because he has cleansed his soul of the effects of sin." (Yir'ah Vadaat: Commentary on Shaarei Teshuvah) ************************************ "If bird's nest happens to be before you on the road . . ." (22:6) The midrash states: Wherever you go, the mitzvot accompany you. If you build a new house, you shall make a fence for your roof. If you make a door, put a mezuzah on it. If you put on new clothes, make sure there is no shatnez, etc. Even when you are doing nothing, says the midrash, just walking in the road, the mitzvot accompany you. "If bird's nest happens to be before you on the road . . ." Rav Gedaliah Schor z"l (Rosh Yeshiva of Mesivta Torah Vodaath) explains: This accompaniment connotes "connection." Specifically, through mitzvot, a person becomes connected to Hashem. When a person engages in physical activities, his very nature becomes more material and less spiritual. (This is the idea behind the teaching that "One sin brings another sin in its wake.") Therefore, Hashem commanded that every type of activity should be associated with a mitzvah, not only those mentioned above, but also those associated with planting, harvesting, baking, eating, etc. On a deeper level, the truth is not that the mitzvot exist to sanctify our actions, but the opposite. G-d did not give us the mitzvah of mezuzah to sanctify our houses; he gave us houses so that we could observe that commandment. (Ohr Gedalyahu: Chodesh Elul) ************************************ "A perfect and honest weight shall you have, a perfect and honest measure shall you have . . ." (25:15) The gemara (Shabbat 31a) teaches: "When man is brought into judgment in Heaven, they ask, 'Did you conduct your business faithfully/b'emunah? Did you set aside times for Torah study? Did you look anticipate the redemption?'" Rav Avraham Yaakov Hakohen Pam shlita (Rosh Yeshiva of Mesivta Torah Vodaath) asks: What does it mean, "Did you conduct your business faithfully?" Should not the question be, "Did you conduct your business according to halachah?" Says Rav Pam: In fact, the question is not only whether you conducted your business strictly in accordance with the law. Hashem wants to know, "Was your faith in Me so strong that you were able to exceed the minimum demands of halachah?" Did you give yourself the benefit of every halachic doubt, or did you give that benefit to the other party? (Atarah La'melech p.105) ************************************ Rav Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz z"l ("Mr. Mendlowitz") born 5646 (1886) - died 3 Elul 5708 (1948) Rav Shraga Feivel was (in the words of Rav Moshe Feinstein z"l), "The father of all Torah Jews in the United States in his generation and beyond." Yet, he was not a posek, a rosh yeshiva, or a chassidic rebbe, and he insisted on being called only "Mr. Mendlowitz." Rav Shraga Feivel was a leading student in the finest yeshivot in Hungary before coming to the United States in 1913. After some wandering, he accepted a job in a Scranton, Pennsylvania cheder. He was laughed at, though, when he spoke of creating a full-time day school, so he quit his job and attempted to manufacture ice cream in the hopes of some day financing his own day school. Later, Rav Shraga Feivel settled in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, where he joined with others to found a newspaper devoted to raising the spiritual level of New York's Jews. A new chapter opened in 1923, when he was hired as the rebbe of the 8th -- and highest -- grade in Yeshiva Torah Vodaath. Through his influence, there soon was a 9th grade, then a 10th, and so on. (His influence was felt outside the classroom as well, for example, in the dramatic increase in the market for more expensive tefilin and better tzitzit.) When his first students completed high school, he persuaded them to stay on, and thus began the new post-high school division of Torah Vodaath. This was the beginning of a Torah revolution in the Western Hemisphere, the first post-high school yeshiva which offered no secular studies and was not devoted to producing pulpit rabbis. Torah Vodaath was unique in another respect as well, being the first yeshiva in the world to combine the Lithuanian method of learning -- he hired many great Lithuanian roshei yeshiva -- with the warmth and teachings of the chassidic movement. Contrary to the mood of American Jewry of the time, Rav Shraga Feivel encouraged his students to be expressive about their Judaism, including singing and dancing as a means of serving Hashem. Rav Shraga Feivel was instrumental in the founding or growth of many other yeshivot. For example, beginning in 1938, he refused to accept students from the area of Brooklyn where Mesivta Chaim Berlin had just been founded. Later, he would send his best students to serve as the kernel of such new institutions as Lakewood and Telz. He also directed substantial amounts of money to the fledgling Ner Israel in Baltimore. Rav Shraga Feivel's concern for his students' growth did not end in June of each year. Accordingly, he invented the yeshiva summer camp as we know it. Another legacy of Rav Shraga Feivel is "Torah U'Mesorah," the umbrella organization for hundreds of day schools throughout the United States. This organization provides financial assistance, educational materials, and teacher training to schools in far-flung communities which might otherwise be bereft of Judaism. Divrei Torah from two of his students appear above. ************************************ Donations to Hamaayan are tax-deductible