Recap for 21 Elul 5776 (Parsha Ki Tavo)

This Shabbos we continued our discussion of Torah V’Derech Eretz, including commentary by Leo Levy. We discussed parsha Ki Tavo, including commentary by Rav Yeager. And we discussed some suggestions we can follow in our individual lives today. David Schlesinger led discussion.

We discussed the mitzvah to spend our life as much as possible in a state of gratitude and simcha. David mentioned some members of our community who are amazing and inspirational with this. They remain in a state of simcha regardless of the problems, challenges and/or difficulties they are facing. In a previous Shabbos, David shared that his father, Rabbi Dr George Schlesinger, would say it is not the events that happen to us that matter, but how we react to them.

David suggested that we should put the focus in our life on the future, rather than in the past. This is an excellent suggestion, and I know it helps me. This applied to our story in the Torah as well. It was most helpful for us to focus on our journey into Israel, rather than beating ourselves up for our past experience wandering the desert. It is good to learn from the past, but at some point it needs to be accepted and focus should be on the future, which is what we have the control over.

We continued our discussion of the appropriateness of paying people to perform mitzvah. We discussed the case of judges, who may be paid, however payment should come equally from both sides in a lawsuit.  This helps avoid any conflict of interest. We discussed the pros and cons of a system in which the loser pays the fees. A disadvantage of such a system, is that those with lower income would be less able to seek justice.

We discussed that although we sometimes pay Rabbis to compensate them for opportunity cost, payment can take away the spiritual value of doing mitzvah. We discussed how this spiritual benefit is analogous to the time value of money, worth much more in the "world to come" than it is now in the form of a few dollars.  We discussed how the Rambam was strongly against paying anyone, however there has been disagreement from those who note that we have a history of donating to the Kohen.

We discussed the importance of having a relationship with Hashem. Hashem is a power greater than ourselves, and all the distractions and issues we are facing.  In general, Hashem will help us, but we must do our part. We discussed the example of David and Goliath. In the story, David had to do his part and make an effort to fight Goliath. Then, at just the right moment Goliath “coincidentally” had an itch which resulted in protection being removed. A relationship with Hashem can help us live in a state of simcha even when times are rough, by giving us a source that is more powerful than anything we are facing.  We discussed that davening was an excellent way to develop a relationship with Hashem.  

We discussed how it is important for us to try to do things differently once in a while to get out of routines. This is built into some mitzvah, such as having mezuzah. We all have the same Torah writing, but differ with the outer décor. David mentioned going to Israel for sukkot, which is different than his normal routine. We should all think of how we can change our routines in order to keep the spirit of our life and the mitzvahs as fresh as possible.

We discussed the upcoming holiday of Rosh Hashanah. We discussed the blowing of the shofar, which takes place every day during the month of Elul. On Rosh Hashanah we blow the shofar 100 times. We discussed several reasons why we blow the shofar. One of these is as an alarm, to remind us to examine our deeds and correct our ways. Another one of these is that the shofar signals new opportunity for us. We discussed how Rosh Hashanah is a day of fear, but also a day of opportunity as we look forward to the new year. Yaki mentioned that Hashem judges the whole world on Rosh Hashanah, however Rosh Hashanah is for Jews.  

Finally, we discussed how on Rosh Hashanah, we should be very grateful for all Hashem has given us over the past year. We should be more than happy to give a fraction of this away in the form of tzedukah and/or tithings, if we are in Israel.

This is a summary of what we discussed.  No halachic rulings are intended or should be inferred.

Recap for 14 Elul, 5776 (Parsha Ki Teitzei)

This Shabbos we continued our discussion of Torah V’Derech Eretz. We discussed Parsha Ki Teitzei. And we discussed the upcoming holiday of Rosh Hashanah. David Schlesinger led discussion.

From Leo Levy’s book, we discussed that in certain cases we can and should pay someone for being our Rabbi, and teaching us Torah. The reason for this is to compensate the Rabbi for the opportunity cost that he incurs. For example, if someone is able to make $50 per hour in business, however they are willing to forego this to work as a Rabbi instead, they incur an opportunity cost of this $50 per hour. We discussed specifically, that it is appropriate to pay someone to help teach us for a bar mitzvah.

Dave W pointed out that this week’s parsha contains 74 mitzvah. We discussed 2 of these: having accurate weights and measures, and letting the mother bird go. These 2 are important enough that the number of days in our life is increased if we follow these commandments. We discussed that there is a third mitzvah, that is not in this week's parsha, that will also increase the number of days, which is honoring our parents.

Brett brought up the importance of conducting business ethically, which includes having accurate weights and measures. Brett pointed out that according to the Torah, we will specifically be asked to answer as to how ethically we conducted business during our life time. In business, in addition to accurate weights and measures, we should not misrepresent things.

We discussed how we have rabanic law, which is in addition to what is in the Torah. We discussed how rabbinic law helps us follow Torah law, however Ellie pointed out that if there are too many rabbinic laws, this may result in there being too many opportunities to do averas.

We discussed the halakah of building a fence around the roof of our house, if the roof is flat. Rob pointed out that if it is Hashem’s will that something negative happens in the world, such as someone losing their life, it is going to happen.  However, it does not necessarily have to happen with someone falling off of our roof!  We don’t want to be the vehicle through which negative things happen in the world.

We discussed that the mitzvahs and commandments are for the benefit of us. Hashem does not need us to do mitzvah.  However, hashem loves us enough to want us to do what is best for us. The purpose of the commandments is for us to grow spiritually, feed our soul, and help shape us as human beings with good character. 

We discussed how animals do not have rights, but we have the obligation to treat them well. This is why we have prohibitions against hunting, and why we have laws about how we slaughter animals.  

David shared a couple stories with us. He told of a couple who walked to shul for the first time and how it was pouring rain during the walk. Although one would wonder why this would happen to someone doing this mitzvah for the first time, the rain can be explained as tears from Hashem. In the other story, someone falls down while going to do a mitzvah. Although one would wonder why this would happen to someone doing a mitzvah, it may be that Hashem did in fact intervene so that someone only fell down, rather than having a much more severe accident.

Finally, we discussed how Rosh Hashanah is similar to an annual review for employees who work for companies. Hashem does an annual review of his creations, and from this is determined the potential of the coming year. Of course we have an opportunity between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur to improve our evaluations, before the final determination is sealed.

This is a summary of what we discussed.  No halachic rulings are intended or should be inferred.

Recap for 7 Elul, 5776 (Parsha Shoftim)

This Shabbos we continued our learning of Torah V’Derech Eretz from Leo Levy’s book. We also studied Parsha Shoftim, including commentary from Rav Yeager's book. David Schlesinger led our learning.

We learned from Leo Levy’s book the differences between someone who studies Torah as a craft, and someone who is engaged in a regular work profession. The Torah craftsman studies Torah at certain times, and does not interrupt, postpone, or reschedule his study in order to do work. On the other hand, those who are not Torah craftsman give priority to their work, and do not let Torah study get in the way of this. Regardless, Torah study still has the status of “kevah” status for everyone, as we discussed a few weeks ago. Torah study remains a permanent part of everyone's overall life.

We learned from the Parsha, how certain cases would require at least 2 witnesses. Rob commented about his personal experience, that sometimes having more witnesses is not necessarily better. Nevertheless, the Torah requires 2 witnesses in capital cases. We discussed how gamblers cannot be included as a witness, if their primary income comes from gambling. The reasoning is that if gamblers cannot carry out their own obligation to engage in productive work, they cannot be trusted to testify against those on trial for not carrying out obligations.

We learned how Judaism is a religion of obligations, and not a religion of rights. For example, from the parsha, we are commanded to build cities of refuge for those who commit inadvertent murder. Those who live up to their obligations, but commit murder inadvertently, are not held responsible and are in fact protected. This is quite different from secular law which provides for all types of lawsuits and possibly criminal charges when someone’s rights are violated.

We learned from the Parsha some of the laws we must follow when going to war. We must not destroy any fruit bearing trees. As human life has a lot of value, we should try to save it by offering terms of peace before leading an invasion. Prior to conquering the land of Israel, we gave the inhabitants 3 choices: leave the land, adapt to our ways, or fight us.

We learned from the Parsha, that there is an order of doing things in life, building a house, starting a business, and getting married. Dave W pointed out that those who are engaged in these activities are exempted from going to war.  Specifically, those who are building a house, planting a vineyard, or just getting married are exempt.  We also exempt those with a soft heart from going to war.

We learned cases where we are allowed to make assumptions. For example, we can assume that someone who keeps Shomer Shabbos is going to provide kosher food in his home. We do not need to check the hectar of the items he or she is serving us. There are also assumptions, such as assuming the Eruv is up, if it was up the last time we checked it.

Finally, Norm relayed from a lecture he attended, how the 10 commandments are all contained in the Parsha. Also we must avoid wasting anything, not just fruit bearing trees. If we have extra food we should consider donating it or giving it away.

This is a summary of what we discussed.  No halachic rulings are intended or should be inferred.