***** Please note new address for getting on/off the email mailing list: ***** ***** majordomo@pobox.com ***** ***** send a one line message saying either: ***** ***** subscribe hamaayan ***** ***** OR ***** ***** unsubscribe hamaayan ***** ***** ********************************************************* ********************************************************* ***** ***** ***** ALL BACK ISSUES SINCE 1990 ARE NOW AT ***** ***** http://www.acoast.com/~sehc/hamaayan/ ***** ***** ***** ********************************************************* ********************************************************* [ HaMaayan is published weekly for the edification and enjoyment of the reader who is lacking the time or ability to study the weekly Parasha on his own. HaMaayan's goal is to acquaint the reader with the broadest spectrum of traditional Torah commentary, from the "rationalism" of Rambam (Maimonides) and Abarbanel to the "mysticism" of Alshich and the Chassidic Masters. While the editors hope these brief "snippets" will engender further discussion of Torah topics ("L'Hagdil Torah U'L'Ha'adirah"), they unfortunately lack the time to respond to lengthy questions. Shabbat Shalom. ] Today's Learning: Kereitot 5:4-5 O.C.545:5-7 Me'ilah 10 Hamaayan / The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Beha'alotecha Vol. XI, No. 36 (519) 16 Sivan 5757, June 21, 1997 In this week's parashah, Moshe's father-in-law Yitro prepares to depart from Bnei Yisrael to return to his homeland. Moshe pleads with him (10:31), "Please do not forsake us, inasmuch as you know our encampments in the wilderness, and you will be as eyes for us." Rashi explains: "You know our encampments" means, "You have seen the miracles which G-d has done for us." "You will be as eyes for us" means, "If something escapes us, you can enlighten us." Rav Elya Meir Bloch z"l explains further that Yitro joined the Jewish people (as told in Parashat Yitro) after hearing of the miracles which G-d performed in Egypt and at the Yam Suf/Red Sea. Although the Jewish people actually saw those miracles, while Yitro did not, it appears that Yitro appreciated the miracles more than Bnei Yisrael did. He was the one who recognized that Hashem acted middah-keneged-middah/measure for measure against the Egyptians. This is why Moshe wanted Yitro to stay, because, through him, Bnei Yisrael could gain a greater appreciation for Hashem's kindness. This is a lesson for us as well, says Rav Bloch; specifically, it demonstrates that we need sages to help us see events correctly, even when the events themselves are well known to us. (Peninei Da'at) ****************** "Those men said to [Moshe], 'We are tamei through a human corpse; why should we be diminished by not offering Hashem's offering in its appointed time among Bnei Yisrael?'" (9:7) Rav Gedalyah Schorr z"l asks: In what way would they be diminished by not bringing the Korban Pesach? Doesn't the Torah excuse one who is unavoidably prevented from doing a mitzvah? True, Rav Schorr explains, these people would not be punished for missing the observance of this mitzvah. However, the fact would remain that they had not observed the mitzvah. In a similar vein, the Zohar relates that certain sages were engaged in the mitzvah of redeeming captives and thus did not recite Kriat Shema. Although they were excused from the mitzvah of Shema, the aura of a person who has recited Kriat Shema was missing from their faces. (Ohr Gedalyahu: Pesach Sheni) ****************** "Please, Hashem, heal her, please." (12:13) The ancient Aramaic translation Targum Yonatan renders this: "Please, with love, O' loving G-d; please, O' G-d who rules over the soul of every person, please heal her." Where in our verse does the Targum Yonatan find an allusion to the soul? asks Rav Yissachar Dov Rokeach z"l (the "Belzer Rebbe"). He explains as follows: Kabbalists teach that one can aid the sick by giving 160 coins to charity, or by giving the number of coins equal to the gematria of the sick person's name. We also are taught that a person's name describes his essence, his soul. The gematria of the phrase, "Please, Hashem, heal her please," equals 449. This equals 160 plus the gematria of Miriam's name, 290 (with a difference of one, which may be disregarded in gematria for reasons which are beyond the scope of this space). Thus Moshe's prayer alluded both to 160, for the 160 coins which can redeem the sick, and to Miriam's soul, i.e., her name. In the book of Melachim II, continues the Belzer Rebbe, the prophet Elisha's messenger asks the Shunamite woman, "Hashalom lach/Are you at peace? Is your husband at peace? Is your child at peace?" She replies simply, "Shalom." Why? In fact, her son was not well and she had come to seek Elisha's help. The child's name was euecj/Chabakuk, whose gematria is 216. Add 216 to 160, and the result is 376, which is the gematria of "Shalom." (Sefer Maharid) ****************** Parashat Beha'alotecha in Halachah * This parashah contains five of the Torah's 613 mitzvot. (Sefer Hachinuch) * "When you go to wage war in your Land against an oppressor who oppresses you, you shall sound short blasts of the trumpets . . ." (10:9) "On the day of your gladness, and on your festivals, and on your new moons, you shall sound the trumpets over your [sacrificial] offerings . . ." (10:10) Rav Yosef Babad z"l writes: The author of Sefer Hachinuch follows the view of Rambam that these two verses collectively express only one of the 613 commandments. However, many sages disagree with this; just because the mitzvah of blowing trumpets on the holidays is similar to the mitzvah of blowing trumpets in times of trouble is no reason to count them as one mitzvah. After all, even Rambam counts the mitzvah (earlier in the Torah) of blowing the shofar on Rosh Hashanah as a separate mitzvah from the mitzvah (also earlier in the Torah) of blowing the shofar on Yom Kippur of the yovel/jubilee year, and those two mitzvot are identical! [Ed. Note: The mitzvah of trumpets is a different mitzvah from the mitzvah of shofar.] The verse before the two verses quoted above assigns the mitzvah of sounding the trumpets to the kohanim. [We might have thought that this applies only to the adjacent verse. However,] because Rambam counts both verses as one mitzvah, it follows that in all cases the trumpets should be sounded by the kohanim. (Minchat Chinuch No. 384) * Rambam writes: It is one of the positive commandments to cry out and sound trumpets on account of any trouble which befalls the congregation, as it is written (10:9), ". . . against an oppressor who oppresses you, you shall sound short blasts of the trumpets." This means, against any oppressor, including drought, cholera and locusts, etc., you shall cry out and sound the trumpet. Rambam continues: This is part of the process of teshuvah, that when troubles come people will cry out and sound trumpets and know that it is all because of their bad deeds that these troubles have come. However, if they will not cry out and sound the trumpets, but they will instead say that these events are merely the way of the world and come by happenstance, then they are being cruel [to themselves] and their troubles will multiply. (Hil. Ta'aniyot 1:1-3) ****************** From the Humor of Our Sages . . . "And the man Moshe was very humble . . ." (12:3) Someone once told Rav Shneur Zalman (the "Ba'al Hatanya") of a certain rabbi who kept the works of the chassidic rebbe, Rav Pinchas of Koretz, under the bookcase (as a sign of disdain). The Ba'al Hatanya responded: "That rabbi obviously does not realize that if he would put Rav Pinchas himself under the bookcase, even then Rav Pinchas would remain silent. ****************** Rav David Menachem Manes Babad z"l born 5625 (1865) - died 21 Sivan 5697 (1937) For centuries, the name "Babad" þ short for "Ben Av Bet Din"/"Son of the head of the rabbinical court"þ was one of the most distinguished among the Eastern European rabbinate. In particular, a long chain of Babads served in the rabbinate of Tarnopol, best known among them Rav Yosef Babad z"l, author of Minchat Chinuch. Our subject was a great-nephew of Rav Yosef, and also served as rabbi of Tarnopol. Rav David Manes, as he was known, was renowned as a posek/halachic authority, both in Poland and, later, in Western Europe. (The latter came about when he lived in Switzerland for two years for health reasons.) His responsa are published in the three volumes of Chavatzelet Hasharon. He was known both for his vast scholarship and his keen mind, and many of his novel interpretations foreshadowed those of his younger, but better known contemporary, Rav Velvel Brisker z"l. Rav David Manes' halachic rulings demonstrate his strict adherence to tradition; for example, he quotes the medieval authority Rav Shlomo ibn Aderet (Rashba) who said, "Even 600,000 heavenly signs would not persuade me to deviate from the customs practiced by Jewish grandmothers." Rav David Manes also wrote, When I see that G-d-fearing people avoid a certain action, I will avoid it, even if it is clear to me as day that it is permitted. This is because even if a person is conversant in the entire Torah, it takes a tremendous amount of Divine assistance to understand the Torah correctly. In Tarnopol, where he lived for 27 years, Rav David Manes conducted a yeshiva where he delivered four lectures a day, beginning at 4:30 a.m. (even on Shabbat). To his students, he repeatedly spoke about the importance of review, and after every seven pages of gemara he would go back and repeat the same lectures which he had given previously. Rav David Manes was a devoted chassid of three generations of Belzer Rebbes, but he discouraged his students from pursuing chassidic teachings at the expense of traditional yeshiva studies. When his position in Tarnopol was challenged by a cousin-by-marriage who considered himself to be the heir of the Minchat Chinuch, Rav David Manes attributed this to his having disregarded the advice of the Belzer Rebbe. Specifically, the Rebbe had instructed Rav David Manes to enter Tarnopol for the first time wearing a traditional rabbinc hat known as a "spodek," but the new rabbi rejected this advise, thinking that Tarnopol was too modern for such dress. Rav David Manes' tombstone was the only one in Tarnopol to survive the Holocaust. ****************** Donations to Hamaayan are tax-deductible ****************** ************************************ Posted by Alan Broder, ajb@acm.org. Shlomo Katz, the editor of Hamaayan, can now receive EMAIL at hamaayan_editor@juno.com