Hamaayan / The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Volume 19, No. 32 12 Iyar 5765 May 21, 2005 Sponsored by The Rutstein family in memory of mother and grandmother Pesha Batya bat Zemach a"h (Bessie Rutstein) The Marwick family in memory of Morris Bervin a"h Milton Cahn in honor of his upcoming marriage to Miriam Feigenbaum Today's Learning: Ma'asrot 1:7-8 O.C. 347:1-349:1 Daf Yomi (Bavli): Shabbat 19 Daf Yomi (Yerushalmi): Makkot 2 Our parashah opens (after an introductory verse): "When you come into the Land that `Ani' / I give you. . ." This and similar phrases are found 22 times in the Torah. Why, asks R' Shaul Yedidya Elazer Taub z"l (1886-1947; the Modzhitzer Rebbe), does G-d remind us so many times that He is the One giving us the Land? R' Taub explains: We read in Yoel (4:21) [and also recite in the Av Harachamim prayer on Shabbat], "Though I cleanse - their blood I will not cleanse, and Hashem dwells in Zion." What does Zion have to do with G-d's avenging the blood of our martyrs? Furthermore, this verse appears to be contradictory - has Hashem avenged their blood or not? The answer is that although Hashem will avenge the blood of Jewish martyrs, the primary vengeance will be incomplete until G-d dwells in Zion, until G-d and His people return from their dispersion among the nations. This is the explanation for our verse, as well. When G-d refers to himself as "Ani" / "I", he is referring to His attribute of vengeance. Indeed, "Ani" is an acronym for the Hebrew phrase, "E-l nekamot Hashem" / "Hashem is the G-d of vengeance." [Note that we have substituted the letter "heh" for the letter "yud" which begins His Name.] When will G-d be "Ani" / the G-d of vengeance? When you come into the Land! (Quoted in Otzrot Tzaddikei U'geonei Ha'dorot) ******** "You shall sanctify the year of the fiftieth year . . . and each of you shall return to his ancestral heritage . . ." (25:10) Why is the word "year" mentioned twice? R' Yechezkel Shraga Lifschutz-Halberstam z"l (the Stropkover Rebbe) explains: During the 49 days of the Omer, we are supposed to be preparing ourselves to receive the Torah on Shavuot, the 50th day. But what if Shavuot comes and we realize that we have not prepared at all? It is written in certain works that one should not become depressed, for, on Shavuot itself, one can make-up all of the spiritual gains that he should have accomplished during the Omer. The same thing, says the Stropkover Rebbe, is true of the Yovel / Jubilee year, which has additional holiness compared to other years. The repetition of the word "year" in our verse teaches that one can attain in one year everything that he should have achieved in the preceding 50 years. This is similar to that which Rambam writes: "Even the repentance of one who does not repent until he is on his death bed is accepted." [Ed. note: Rambam does write, however, that such a repentance is not as meaningful as a repentance that occurs in one's youth, when one's drives are stronger.] Why is it that one can repent in his old age after a lifetime of sinning? Why is it that one can accomplish in a short time (in the 50th year or on Shavuot) what one should have spent a long time accomplishing? Our verse tells us the answer: Such a person is merely returning to his ancestral heritage. In reality, no Jew ever lets go of that heritage completely, whether he realizes it or not. (Divrei Yechezkel Shraga Vol. III) ******** "Do not cheat your fellow man." (25:14) Said R' Simcha Bunim of Pshischa z"l (early chassidic rebbe): The Torah prohibits cheating and fooling other people. One who goes beyond the letter of the law will not even fool himself. (Quoted in V'karata La'Shabbat Oneg) ******** "Or his uncle (`dodo'), or his cousin (`ben-dodo') shall redeem him, or a relative from his family shall redeem him; or if his own means become sufficient, he shall be redeemed." (25:49) Literally, this verse is teaching a law about redeeming (i.e., buying back) real property that was sold. However, writes R' Akiva Yosef Schlesinger z"l (1835-1922; rabbi in Hungary and Yerushalayim), it also alludes to the three Temples. The letters of "his uncle (`dodo') or his cousin (`ben-dodo')" are the same as the letters of "David" and "son-of-David" (`ben- David'). This alludes to the builders of the first Bet Hamikdash: King David, who gathered the materials and selected the site, and his son, King Shlomo. The second Bet Hamikdash was built with permission and financial assistance of the Persian King, Daryovesh (Darius). This is alluded to by the phrase, "A relative from his family," because Darius had a Jewish mother-Queen Esther. The final phrase says: "If his own means become sufficient, he shall be redeemed." This means that the Third Temple will be built when Jews have sufficient means to redeem Eretz Yisrael from the non- Jews who occupy parts of it. (Torat Yechiel) ******** Pirkei Avot "Rabbi Chanina ben Chachinai says: `One who stays awake at night or who travels alone on the road, but turns his heart toward idleness - indeed, he bears guilt for his soul'." R' Yosef Teomim z"l (1727 - 4 Iyar 1792; author of the classic halachic work Pri Megadim) comments: This Mishnah is warning us that if one can't sleep or must be awake at night, or if he must travel, let him at least use the time for Torah study and spiritual growth. One who idles away this valuable time is punished severely ("He bears guilt for his soul") because he is turning away from that which grants eternal life. As King Shlomo taught (Mishlei 10:27), "The fear of Hashem will increase days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened." R' Teomim continues: There is a paradox here. Why does the fear of Hashem increase one's days, while other types of worry are bad for a person's health? The answer is simply that when one turns to Hashem, Hashem supports him and strengthens him (paraphrasing Tehilim 27:14). (Sefer Ha'maggid) ******** "Rabbi Elazar of Modai says: `One who desecrates sacred things, who disgraces the festivals . . . nullifies the covenant of our forefather Avraham . . . has no share in the World to Come'." R' Eliyahu Shick z"l (see below) asks: Why did Rabbi Elazar of Modai of all people teach this lesson? Also, is it true that one who desecrates sacred things has no share in the World to Come? We learn in Masechet Shabbat (55a), "Whoever says that the sons of Eli sinned [see Shmuel I, ch. 2] is mistaken." Rashi explains that the Gemara means that they did not sin in the way that a literal reading of the verses would suggest. Rather, their only sin was desecrating the honor of the sacrificial service. It would seem, wonders R' Shick, that the Gemara is downplaying the evil of desecrating sacred things! Is this consistent with saying that such a person has no share in the World-to-Come? He answers: The heretics [referring to the assimilationists of the mid-1800s] deny that Eretz Yisrael has greater sanctity than the rest of the world, and that Yerushalayim and the place of the Temple have the greatest sanctity of all. They also deny the uniqueness of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov and the sanctity that one has by virtue of being their descendant. These people deny entirely that any person (i.e., Avraham), place (i.e, Eretz Yisrael) or time (i.e., the festivals) can have special sanctity. Essentially, they profane all that is holy. Such a person has no share in the World-to-Come. However, that was not the case with Eli's sons. They demeaned the honor of the sacrificial service, but they performed the service. They did not deny its essential holiness. What has this to do with Rabbi Elazar of Modai? The Midrash relates that the city of Beitar (one of the largest cities in Eretz Yisrael at the time of the Roman Empire) was destroyed because its inhabitants rejoiced at the destruction of Yerushalayim. Interestingly, the Midrash records that Rabbi Elazar of Modai prayed regularly for the people of Beitar. [Ed. note: R' Shick does not explain further. Apparently he means that Rabbi Elazar prayed for the people of Beitar because he recognized that their disdain towards Yerushalayim put them in danger of both physical and spiritual destruction. Perhaps Rabbi Elazar taught this Mishnah as a warning to them, or perhaps it was after Beitar's destruction drove home the danger of desecrating that which is sacred.] (Derech Avot) ******** R' Eliyahu Shick z"l R' Elinke Lieder, as our subject was commonly known after the town (Lida) where he served as rabbi for 20 years, was born near Vilna in 1809. Young Elinke's father died when the boy was 12 weeks old and, in his writings, R' Elinke expresses his gratitude to his uncle, R' Pinchas, and his stepfather, R' David, who raised him. Nothing is known about R' Elinke's early education, but after his marriage he became a student of R' Binyamin Diskin, father of the better known R' Yehoshua Leib Diskin. R' Elinke held a number of rabbinic positions in his career before being appointed to the prestigious rabbinate of Lida. In one of his early positions, he was the mentor of R' Chaim Leib Tiktinski, who later went on to head the Mir Yeshiva. (R' Chaim Leib was then a young orphan and R' Elinke took the boy under his wing. Recognizing the lad's talents, R' Elinke used to appoint the boy to teach the rabbi's classes to the townsfolk if R' Elinke was unavailable.) One of the most significant problems facing Russian Jews in the mid-1800s was the issue of the "Cantonists," i.e., Jewish boys who were torn away from their homes and drafted into the Russian army at a very young age. It was very common that communities would meet their quota of conscripts by kidnapping the children of the poorest families, while the town's leaders and wealthy families turned a blind eye. R' Elinke cried out against this injustice, applying to these people the verse (Yishayah 42:24), "Who delivered Yaakov to plunder and made Yisrael looters." He observed that "Yaakov" usually refers to the lower classes of the nation while "Yisrael" refers to the dignitaries. However, R' Elinke did not just lecture about the problem. On at least one occasion, he physically led a mob that attacked a prison and freed a large group of young boys. R' Elinke left several written works, of which the best known is Ein Eliyahu, a commentary on the aggadic portions of the Talmud. An excerpt from his commentary on Pirkei Avot, entitled Derech Avot, appears above. In his old age, R' Elinke served as Rabbi of Kobrin. He died in 1874. (Source: Rabboteinu She'ba'golah)