Recap for 26 Nissan 5777 (Parsha Shemini)

This Shabbos we discussed parsha Shemini, including commentary from Rav Yeager.  I would like to thank Barack for hosting our Kiddush.  Rob Golder led discussion.

Please continue to keep Howard’s mom, Bracha Bat Malka, in your thoughts and prayers.  May she have a refuah schlema.   

I’d like to wish mazel tov to Avishai and Esther and their families.  The wedding is to take place April 25 at 10:30 AM CST.  There is going to be a live video, please contact David Schlesinger or me for the link.

We discussed the week’s parsha, and how much of the kosher and purity laws, come from this parsha.  We discussed how Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, both lost their lives as the apparent result of not following directives from Hashem and Moshe.  Some commentators add to the reasons they lost their lives, that they were not married, and they were trying to perform their duties while intoxicated.

We discussed that Nadab and Abihu offered up sacrifices to Hashem that were not called for.  We discussed the idea that perhaps Nadab and Abihu were martyrs and knew they would die, but did what they did for a greater cause.  The idea being that this human sacrifice of themselves would result in greater honor for the creator.  We discussed how Moshe said to his brother Aaron, that through their deaths, honor for Hashem would increase amongst the people.

We discussed the argument against this idea, that in Judaism we do not seek martyrdom, and only give up our lives when the alternative is one of the 3 cardinal sins.  These sins include murder, sexual immorality, and idol worship.  In the case of Nadab and Abihu, they were not facing any of the 3 cardinal sins as an alternative to giving up their life.  Nevertheless, it can be argued that Nadab and Abihu had good intentions, and even when making the wrong choices, good can sometimes come out of it.

We discussed the law that the Kohem Gadol, who were in charge of serving the temple, are not allowed to mourn.  Aaron, and his 2 remaining sons, were thus not allowed to mourn the death of Nadab and Abihu.  This is a Kiddush Hashem that they did not mourn and kept up with their duties in the temple.   

We discussed what is meant by a  Kiddush Hashem.  Kiddush Hashem means to bring honor to Hashem’s name.  We discussed that we can do this with both life and death.  When we allow our lives to be taken, rather than committing one of the 3 cardinal sins, this is a Kiddush Hashem through death.  When we act as honorable, spiritual, and moral people, who study and follow the Torah, this is a Kiddush Hashem through life.   

We discussed that the opposite of a Kiddush Hashem, is a Hillul Hashem.  We discussed how through out the Torah, where it states that we did things “as commanded”, this is a Kiddush Hashem.  However, when Nadab and Abihu offered sacrifices that were not called for, it states in the Torah that they did what they were not “commanded to do”.  We discussed that even when we have good intentions, if we do not follow the Torah and commands of Hashem, it can be a Hillul Hashem.

However, as stated above, there has been some commentary that what Nadab and Abihu did was to restore Hashem’s honor to an entire community, in which case it would be a Kiddush Hashem.  We discussed what role good intentions play in determining whether one committed a sin.  And we discussed if we are allowed to give up our life to save an entire community.

We discussed some of the halakuh related to our historic legal system.  In order to convict someone in a capital case requires 2 witnesses.  It does not matter how much forensic evidence there is.  2 witnesses are required, so that it is very hard to get a conviction in a capital case.  Contrast that to our modern secular system, in which forensic evidence is often considered more reliable than eye witness testimony.

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

Recap for 14 Nisan 5777 (Shabbos Hagadol, Parsha Tzav)

This Shabbos Rav Males gave a dvar Torah on the subject of divine intervention.   We discussed that it was a special Shabbos, known as Shabbos Hagadol.  I would like to thank Norm and Eileen for hosting our Kiddush.

Please continue keeping Howard’s Mom, Bracha bat Malka in your thoughts and prayers.  There is a place in the Shemoneh Esrei in which names of those we wish a refua shleimah can be inserted.   

Rav Males gave a dvar Torah in which he commented that Hashem performs miracles however we must do our part.  He commented that Hashem prefers to perform miracles working through nature.  An example of this is the splitting of the Red Sea.  We had to do our part and get in the water.  And then rather than magically splitting the sea with no natural causes, the sea was split with an enormous gust of wind.

Rav Males commented that one of the purposes of us doing our part, is to “minimize” the miracle that appears to come from Hashem.  For example, Hashem commanded Noah to build a very large boat, so that the boat appeared to be the reason why Noah was able to float, along with the animals that were with him.  Hashem could have simply enabled Noah and the animals to float, however he wanted to minimize the miracle.

This all is as true in our everyday modern lives, as it was during historic times.  If we would like Hashem to perform miracles, or simply help u out, we have to do our part.  For example, Hashem will make sure we are provided for so we do not have to work on Shabbos, but we must do our part and work on the other days of the week, and make sure we are observing the Sabbath.  If we work on Shabbos, we may think we will receive more, but we will actually receive less in the long run, as we can not count on Hashem helping us out.   

Rav Males made the point that sometimes the help we receive from Hashem is disguised as it comes through another avenue.  For example, we have to do our part and work days of the week that are not Yom Tov and/or Shabbos, however, Hashem may provide for us through something other than payment through work.  We may win a lottery, or be giving a mysterious gift, that we would not have received if we had not done our part.

Rob led a discussion, of how this Shabbos was a special Shabbos known as Shabbos Hagadol – the great Shabbos.  We discussed the miracles that occurred to us on this Shabbos, such as the Egyptians being unable to do anything when they saw us taking and tying up lamb.  It was on the Shabbos before we left Egypt, that we gathered lamb and began to prepare for the sacrifice that would occur a few days later. 

We discussed how when we were in Egypt, Shabbos Hagadol occurred on the 10^th of Nissan.  We discussed why it is that we commemorate the Shabbos before Pesach, rather than the 10^th of Nissan which may not necessarily fall on a Shabbos.  This is because we could have easily lied to the Egyptians if they questioned our gathering the lamb on a day that was not Shabbot.  However, we do not want to lie on Shabbos.  Because being Shabbos is an important part of the miracle, we commemorate on Shabbos, rather than the 10^th of Nissan.

We have discussed how there is both holiness of space, and holiness of time.  Rob gave a dvar Torah in which he presented the idea that the holiness of Pesach, comes from the holiness of the preceding Shabbos Hagadol.  We created the holiness of the time of Pesach with the Exodus.  We have discussed how there is also a holiness of space.  For example, the space in the tabernacle is holy, as it is a meeting place between man and Hashem. 

We discussed how it was difficult for Moshe to give up his duties to his brother and the Kohen.  Norm commented that perhaps we have given up something in our lives, and it was very hard to give it up, so we can relate to Moshe.  My thoughts are that it can be hard to give something up, but if we do our best, Hashem helps us out with this.  That has been my experience, anyhow.

I would like to wish everyone a Chag Samayach, including my friends and family in Memphis, New York, Israel and Costa Rica.  There are friends and family from all over the world receiving these notes.

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

Recap for 5 Nisan 5777 (Parsha Vayikra)

This Shabbos we discussed Parsha Vayikra, including commentary by Rav Yeager.  We continued our discussion of the upcoming holiday of Pesach.  David Schlesinger led discussion.

This Shabbos it was good to welcome back Howard to our kiddush and learning.  Please keep his mother, Bracha bat Malka, in your thoughts and prayers.  Yaki shared that there are prayers for refuah shlema within the Shemona Esrei.  There are also Psalms that speak about recovery and healing.  

If there is anyone else who is not well that I should mention in the notes, please let me know.

This Shabbos we discussed why the detailed instructions for building the Mishkan, were repeated again in the parsha.  Why did the Torah not simply state the Mishkan was built as instructed?  Howard shared his thoughts that the repetition may have been to indicate that we completed all the details we were instructed to do, however we may not have done them in the same order as instructed.  If the Torah only told us we did things in a different order, we would think we probably left out some details as well.

We discussed that when things are repeated in the Torah, there is a meaning to this repetition.  By including all the details for building the Mishkan more than once, we are also reminded that those commandments that are more briefly described are brief for a reason.  That reason could be that Hashem wants us to figure out the details, or that the details may differ depending on the time period we are in.  However, for building the mishkan, Hashem did not allow for much variations in the details.

We discussed one of the central ideas of Judaism - that Hashem plays an active role in our lives, and has preferences for us.  However, he gives us free will to make our own choices.  We discussed that if Hashem prefers we satisfy the desires he gave us in certain ways, and we use our free will to choose different ways, Hashem may still help us along.

We discussed an example of this, which is with the Golden Calf.  Hashem created us to want to connect to a higher power - however gave us free will to choose this higher power.  Hashem’s preference for us was that we choose him as our higher power.  However, as Norm pointed out, when we choose to have an idol instead, it seems that Hashem actually helped us with its creation – as the idol simply appeared after we had done our part.

We discussed how we built the Mishkan with a lot of enthusiasm.  In fact, when Moshe asked us to bring materials, we brought so much that he had to ask us to stop.  Although we also had enthusiasm with the Golden Calf, the enthusiasm when building the Mishkan indicated our willingness to repent.  It also reminds us that it is important to have enthusiasm when carrying out the commandments in the Torah.  Enthusiasm is great, but we need to be careful how it is channeled. 

We discussed how when we traveled in the desert we were followed by a cloud.  This can be seen as a cloud over the oil that is used in the tabernacle.  The oil represents miracles.  The cloud represents the fact that some of Hashem’s preferences are cloudy, and we may not be able to see crystal clear what his will is for us.  If things were always crystal clear, it would take away free will.

This Shabbos, we discussed some more the upcoming holiday of Pesach.  We discussed how the rising dough which occurs when making bread, represents our ego.  David shared his thoughts that once a year we need to put aside our ego and acknowledge that we are the “junior engineers” relative to Hashem, when it comes to creation.  Hashem did give us an ego for a reason, and during the year we feel good about our abilities and what we accomplish.  This is why we eat bread year round.  However once a year we acknowledge that the ultimate power rests with Hashem and not with us.

We discussed some more this Shabbos, that to get ready for Pesach, it is not necessary to do a complete “spring cleaning” of the house.  It is important to focus on all aspects of this holiday, and not just the preparatory work.  We discussed that although we try to rid our homes of all Chumatz, it is permitted to retain possession of small amounts that are less than about 1 cubic centimeter. 

We discussed some miscellaneous situations.  Rob pointed out that it is ok if a non-Jew brings a sandwich into our homes, although we want to be absolutely sure that this does not increase the odds we will end up consuming some of this chumatz!  We also discussed that if a baby or a pet spits out chumatz, the composition has changed and it is no longer considered chumatz.  We discussed that we only need to clean out rooms in which chumatz was brought in during the year.  And we do not need to be concerned about property that we rent out, that has become the homes of others.

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