Hamaayan / The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Ki Tissa Volume 24, No. 21 20 Shevat 5770 March 6, 2010 Today's Learning: Nach: Yechezkel 27-28 Niddah 1:2-3 O.C. 436:3-437:2 Daf Yomi (Bavli): Bava Batra 22 Daf Yomi (Yerushalmi): Berachot 53 The Midrash Rabbah on this week's parashah opens by citing the verse from which the parashah takes its name: "Ki tissa / "When you take a census of Bnei Yisrael . . ." The midrash comments: Hashem said to Moshe, "Tell Bnei Yisrael that they have a debt they owe me, as it is written (Devarim 24:10), `Ki tasheh / When you make your fellow a loan . . .' [The midrash is making a play on the similarity between "tissa" (tav-sin- aleph) and "tasheh" (tav-shin-heh).] Tell them that they should repay me." R' Yitzchak Ze'ev Yadler z"l (1843-1917; Yerushalayim) explains: The makers of the Golden Calf did not intend to deny G-d; rather, their sin was that they wanted to have an intermediary between themselves and Hashem. [Ed. note: This is the same motive which, according to Rambam z"l, caused idolatry to originate in the first place.] Hashem's "desire," though, is to give us His beneficence directly, without an intermediary. Hashem's direct beneficence cannot be obtained, however, unless the Jewish People are united. The reason is that this "flow" from Hashem comes as a result of mitzvah observance, and many of the mitzvot cannot be practiced unless one has assistance. For example, one cannot give charity if there is no one to receive it. Likewise, one cannot teach Torah if there is no one to learn it. [In addition, some mitzvot can be performed only by men, only by women, only by kohanim, only by non-kohanim, etc. Thus, we are all dependent on each other.] This is the message of the machatzit ha'shekel / half a shekel which Bnei Yisrael were instructed at the beginning of our parashah to give. "You are only half a person," the Torah is teaching. Indeed, each person gave the same amount: "The wealthy shall not increase and the destitute shall not decrease from half a shekel," the Torah commands. This highlights that we are dependent on each other. When we learn this lesson, we have paid our debt to Hashem, i.e., we have atoned for the sin of the Golden Calf, because we have made it possible for Hashem's direct beneficence to flow. (Tiferet Zion) ******** "Aharon said, `Let not my master's anger flare up. You know that the People is in a bad state." (32:22) R' Dov Ber Schneerson z"l (1773-1827; second Lubavitcher Rebbe) explains: "You, Moshe, know that the nation is in a bad state, but Bnei Yisrael themselves do not know." A person who has sunken into sin does not even realize that he is surrounded by darkness. This is what the Gemara means when it says, "Once a person has committed a sin and repeated it, it appears to him that it is permitted." In this state, people commit inadvertent sins and do not even know it. This comes from throwing off the yoke of Heaven, which in turn comes from not wanting to accept the yoke of Heaven. R' Schneerson adds: When we say in the Pesach Haggadah that Hashem took us out "from darkness to a great light," this is the darkness to which we refer. (Derech Chaim: Sha'ar Ha'teshuvah ch.5) ******** "Moshe would take the Tent and pitch it outside the camp, far from the camp, and call it Ohel Mo'ed / the Tent of Meeting, and it was that whoever sought Hashem would go out to the Ohel Mo'ed, which was outside the camp." (33:7) "Hashem would speak to Moshe face to face, as a man would speak with his fellow; then he would return to the camp." (33:11) Why did Moshe take the Ohel Mo'ed out of the camp? And, what did Hashem say to Moshe that made Moshe return to the camp? The Gemara (Berachot 63b) answers the second question: Hashem said, "Just as I showed My face to you, so you should show your face to Yisrael and return the Tent to its place." R' Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook z"l (1865-1935; Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Eretz Yisrael) explains: There are two ways that a great person can attempt to transmit lessons to his students. One is to present the material on its appropriate level and hope that the students rise to that level. The second is to lower the material to the students' level. When Moshe took the Tent out of the camp after the sin of the Golden Calf, he was saying to Bnei Yisrael, "You have lowered yourselves; now you will have to travel a greater distance to attain the same level." But Hashem rejected that approach. "I lowered Myself to speak to you," He told Moshe, "and you must lower yourself to speak to them." Students must be taught on their level, not on the teacher's or the material's level. Therefore, Moshe returned the Tent to the camp. (Ain Ayah: Berachot ch. 9, no. 336) ******** Shabbat and the Bet Hamikdash "You shall speak to Bnei Yisrael, saying, `However, you must observe My Sabbaths, for it is a sign between Me and you for your generations, to know that I am Hashem, Who makes you holy'." (Shmot 31:13) Rashi z"l explains: The word "however" teaches that although Bnei Yisrael are eager to build the Mishkan, it may not be done on Shabbat. Building the Bet Hamikdash likewise does not supersede the prohibition against working on Shabbat. In addition, an individual may not offer a personal sacrifice in the Mishkan or Bet Hamikdash on Shabbat. In contrast, regularly-scheduled public offerings such as the twice-daily korban tamid were offered on Shabbat. Why? R' Meir Schlesinger shlita (founder and first rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Sha'alvim) explained: In serving Hashem, we must strive for consistency. Experiencing spiritual highs--even very great highs--followed by lapses is not the ideal. The korban tamid was brought like clockwork twice every day. Thus, it epitomized consistency. In contrast, building a Mishkan or a Bet Hamikdash, might bring a person closer to Hashem in the short term, but it is a one time experience. Thus, in the eyes of halachah it is less meaningful than bringing a korban tamid. [Different Talmudic sages identified different verses which they said were a klal gadol ba'Torah / an encapsulation of or a foundation for the rest of the Torah. The best known of these is Rabbi Akiva's statement, "`Love your neighbor as yourself' is a klal gadol ba'Torah." According to one sage, the klal gadol ba'Torah is the verse (Bemidbar 28:4), "The one lamb shall you make in the morning and the second lamb shall you make in the afternoon." This verse is a reference to the korban tamid, and this sage is apparently expressing exactly the idea set forth above.] R' Schlesinger added that in his youth he would visit stores in Yerushalayim on Friday afternoon with his teacher R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach z"l as the latter attempted to persuade the shopkeepers to close for Shabbat. In one store, the shopkeeper said, "But rebbe, with this money I will build a shul!" As is clear from the explanation above, the shopkeeper's logic was not correct. (Heard from R' Meir Schlesinger shlita) ******** Preparing for Pesach R' Chaim Friedlander z"l (mashgiach ruchani of the Ponovezh Yeshiva; died 1984) writes: As Pesach approaches, we make many preparations-- cleaning, shopping, etc. But the mitzvah of sippur yetziat Mitzrayim / relating the story of the Exodus requires no less preparation, and this we do not do by-and-large. In particular, we tend to make two mistakes which stem from not understanding either the "geder" / definition or "shiur" / required amount of this mitzvah, R' Friedlander states. First, our divrei Torah at the seder tend to focus on the text of the Haggadah rather than on the content, for example, expounding on whether we should say, "Ha lachma anya" or "K'ha lachma anya." Second, many people recite so many divrei Torah on the first part of the Haggadah, which is only the introduction (including "Mah nishtanah" and the Four Sons), that they have to rush through the later part, which actually tells the story of the slavery, persecution and, finally, redemption. Yet, according to Rambam z"l, the portion of the Haggadah about which it is said, "Whoever speaks more about the story of the Exodus is praiseworthy," is only the latter part of Maggid, from "Arami oveid" and onward. R' Friedlander continues: We find two hints in the Haggadah to what the real mitzvah is. One teaches us the geder of the mitzvah: "Even if we are all wise, etc., it is incumbent upon us to relate the story of the Exodus, and whoever speaks more about the story of the Exodus is praiseworthy." The second teaches us the shiur of the mitzvah: "In every single generation, a person is obligated to see himself as if he had participated in the Exodus from Egypt." One must tell the story until he can see himself in it. Why, in fact, is a person who already knows the detailed story of the Exodus obligated to retell it? R' Friedlander explains: When a person relates a moving experience that happened to him, it can be so real to him that he reacts as if he is reliving the fear or the joy that he experienced during the actual event. So, too, the mitzvah of sippur yetziat Mitzrayim is fulfilled when we can picture ourselves in the story, not merely when we know the story. This requires even a learned person to actively retell the story so that he can first experience the bitterness of the slavery and oppression, then the gradual process of the Exodus, and finally the joy of being drawn close by Hashem. This is not an easy task by any means. To help, we have tangible items on the seder plate to aid us: matzah, maror, charoset, etc. When we eat these items, or when we point to them during the course of reciting the Haggadah, it should not be a mechanical act but rather one that causes us to reflect. For example, when we eat the maror, we should reflect on the bitterness of the exile. When we eat the matzah, we should think about the miraculous, sudden departure from Egypt after hundreds of years of exile. The Gemara relates that the sage R' Nachman had a slave named Daru. R' Nachman asked him, "If a master freed his slave, what would be the slave's obligation?" Daru answered, "He would have to give thanks." R' Friedlander explains that R' Nachman wanted to concretize for himself the abstract ideas discussed in the Haggadah. It should be noted that the Gemara describes Daru as a good-for-nothing who did not even work enough to pay his own upkeep. If even such a slave must be grateful for his freedom, how much more so must Bnei Yisrael, who performed back-breaking labor in Egypt, be grateful! R' David Avudraham z"l (14th century) writes that feeling as if one participated in the Exodus leads to "hoda'ah," which means both acknowledgment and thanks, and to "shevach" / praise. R' Friedlander explains: Hoda'ah means "acknowledging" the truth that Hashem performed many miracles for us and "thanking" Him for them. This leads to shevach, which involves speaking His "praises." Ultimately, both of these--hoda'ah and shevach--are meant to lead to kabbalat ohl malchut Shamayim / accepting the yoke of Heaven, which then leads to doing the mitzvot willingly and with joy. This is why, after we say, "In every single generation, a person is obligated to see himself as if he had participated in the Exodus from Egypt," we immediately say, "Therefore, we are obligated to give hoda'ah and shevach." (Siftei Chaim II p.355)