Hamaayan / The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Bemidbar Volume XII, Number 30 5 Sivan 5758 May 30, 1998 Sponsored by the Siegman family in memory of Avraham Eliyahu ben Shalom Zelig Perel z"l This week, for the first time since Pesach, the same parashah is read both in Israel and in the Diaspora. The two communities had been out of synchronization because the eighth day of Pesach, which is not observed in Israel, fell on Shabbat. On that day, Israelis read Parashat Shemini, while a yom tov reading was read outside of Israel. Diaspora communities read Shemini the following week, while Israelis read the next parashah. Last week, Diaspora communities read two parashot - Behar and Bechukotai, while Israelis read only one parashah - the latter. It was important that Diaspora communities "catch-up" before this Shabbat because there is an ancient custom to read Parashat Bemidbar on the Shabbat preceding Shavuot. The reason for this is as follows: The gemara (Megillah 31b) states that Bechukotai should be read before Shavuot because Shavuot is a New Year's Day and day of judgment - G-d determines the success of the fruit harvest on that day - and we wish to "dispense with the year's curses as the year ends." (Parashat Bechukotai contains curses on those who abandon the mitzvot.) However, in order not to enter Shavuot with the curses on our minds, we separate them by one week by reading Bemidbar. (Tosfot ibid.) Why is Shavuot the day when Hashem determines the fruit harvest? R' Tzadok Hakohen z"l (died 1900) explains that before Adam sinned by eating from the Tree of Knowledge, he was surrounded by abundant fruit trees that had been planted by G-d's own "hands." After his sin, he was cursed that he would have to work the ground to earn his food. However, when Bnei Yisrael received the Torah, they (temporarily) returned to the spiritual level that Adam had before his sin, and thus Shavuot is a propitious time to judge the fruit harvest favorably. (Pri Tzaddik: Vayikra p.209) R' Moshe of Kobrin z"l (late 18th century) offers another explanation: The Torah (Devarim 20:19) refers to man as a "tree of the field." Man is judged on Shavuot based on how he accepts the Torah on this holiday. (Torat Avot) ******************** On this day (the fifth of Sivan) early in the world's history, Kayin killed his brother Hevel (Seder Hadorot). The following thought relates to that event and to an event that casts a shadow on the giving of the Torah: R' Simcha Zissel Ziv z"l (the "Alter of Kelm") wrote to his son: Even before Kayin committed his crime, Hashem warned him of the dangerous lure of the evil inclination, saying (Breishit 4:7), "If you will not change for the better, chatat/sin will crouch in the doorway, and you will be drawn to it." "Chatat" is a relatively light type of sin, but the verse warns that one can, nevertheless, become enslaved by it. This in fact happened to Kayin, whose jealousy of Hevel - at first glance a "mere" character fault - led him to murder his own brother. There are several instances where the Torah punishes a seemingly light sin more strictly than a worse transgression. This is because the evil inclination uses these "light" sins to lure us into worse acts. Thus a person who "merely" curses his parents is punished more harshly than one who strikes them. Most people need no deterrent to discourage them from hitting their parents, but one could conceivably be more careless with what comes out of his mouth. This same idea explains Moshe's destruction of the luchot/tablets which he brought down from Har Sinai. Although the midrash states that only the Erev Rav (non-Jews who attached themselves to Bnei Yisrael) worshipped the Golden Calf, Moshe considered all of Bnei Yisrael to be apostates. While Bnei Yisrael did not sin directly, they did not rebuke those who did, and they even flattered the sinners. Flattery is an example of an apparently light sin whose disastrous results can change the course of history, as the incident of the Golden Calf did. (Ohr Rashaz, Breishit No. 46) ************* "But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are completely wrapped up, lest they shall die." (4:20) The story is told of chassid who visited a rebbe for the first time and saw the latter wearing his talit and tefilin and drinking a cup of coffee. Assuming that this was part of the rebbe's unique way of serving Hashem, the chassid immediately ran home to try it himself. This pasuk may be interpreted allegorically to warn that if one observes his teacher only when the latter's holiness is hidden within him, such a person may die a spiritual death rather than find the spiritual elevation which he seeks. (Iturei Torah) ************ Shavuot Shavout is the most "soft-spoken" and "subtle" of all of our holidays, writes R' Avraham Eliyahu Kaplan z"l (1890-1924; dean of Berlin's Hildesheimer Seminary from 1920). Pesach and Sukkot both have names that vividly portray the nature of the holiday: "Chag Hapesach" - "The holiday when G-d skipped over the houses"; "Chag Hamatzot" - "The holiday when the Jews left Egypt so quickly that they had no time to bake bread"; "Chag Hasukkot" - "The holiday commemorating the 'Clouds of Glory' which protected Bnei Yisrael in the desert." Not so Shavuot! Its name - "The Feast of Weeks" - tells us only that it follows the period of the Omer during which we eagerly counted-off the days and weeks until the holiday. Another example of Shavuot's low-key nature: Pesach coincides with the beginning of the harvest, when the Jewish farmer joyfully goes out to the field, full of thanks to the Creator of all. Sukkot falls at the end of the harvest, when the same Jew celebrates the success of his harvest season. Shavuot? It falls early in the summer when the harvest is in full swing and the farmer is about to turn his attention towards cutting his wheat - the most basic and "unromantic" of all crops. Shavuot is a holiday with no mitzvot of its own; it does not need any. Shavuot celebrates the most basic of all of man's needs: Torah, for the soul; bread, for the body. Shavuot does not advertise itself through great miracles (as does Pesach) or a plethora of mitzvot (as do all of the other holidays). Shavuot expects us to understand on our own. Those who are close to the ideals that Shavuot represents do understand the holiday on their own. (B'Ikvot Hayirah, p.234, Ma'amar "Hayom Tov Hagadol V'hatzanuah") Kabbalists teach that each month of the year corresponds to a major body part. This month, Sivan, corresponds to the left ear. Why? R' Avraham (the First) of Slonim z"l (early 19th century) explains: All year long, G-d's words go in one ear and out the other. [Since most people are right-handed, the ear that "hears" is presumably the right ear.] However, when the Torah is given, we must use both ears, even the left one. (Torat Avot) **************** R' Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook z"l (died 1935) writes: Often a person wants to learn Torah, but he finds that, whatever he is learning, he would rather be learning something else. One should know that this feeling comes from the fact that the soul wants to soar and to encompass everything. The soul does not want to be limited in any way. Of course one must deal with this feeling, which, after all, prevents a person from learning. However, one should not deal with those "faults" which originate from his good side in the same way that he tries to completely uproot those faults which originate from bad. (Orpalei Tohar p.57) ************ R' Shimon Hagadol a"h born approx. 950 - died approx. 1020 R' Shimon ben Yitzchak ben Avun Hagadol/"The Great" was born and died in Mainz, Germany. Some say that he is R' Shimon, the maternal uncle of Rashi, who is quoted several times in Rashi's Talmud commentary. Some also identify him as the father of one Elchanan, a Jewish child who, according to a legend which dates back at least 500 years, was kidnaped by his Christian babysitter and grew up to become the Pope. When R' Shimon was later chosen to lead a delegation to beseech the Pope to rescind an anti- Jewish decree, R' Shimon recognized his son when the latter defeated R' Shimon at chess using precisely moves that he himself had perfected and taught his children. R' Shimon authored many liturgical compositions that have become part of our Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and yom tov prayers. He also wrote the poem Baruch Hashem Yom Yom which is part of the Shabbat morning zemirot. R' Shimon served on the bet din/rabbinical court of Mainz together with Rabbenu Gershom "Meor Hagolah"/"The Light of the Exile." Some say that R' Shimon studied under R' Yitzchak al- Fasi ("Rif") in Morocco. It is also said that R' Shimon was a leading kabbalist, and he is referred to by the 12th century sage Rabbenu Tam as, "R' Shimon ben Yitzchak Hagadol, with whom miracles were common." (Sources: The Artscroll Rishonim, p.117; Rashi to Shabbat 85b and Eruvin 42a; Machzor Korban Aharon: Mavo Hapiyutim; Notes to She'eilot U'teshuvot Rabbenu Gershom Me'or Hagolah, No. 32. Our thanks to R' Ephraim Kanarfogel shlita, Dean of Jewish Studies at Stern College and a noted historian, for additional information regarding the story of Elchanan.)