Recap for 3 Sivan 5777 (Parsha Bamidbar and discussion of Shavuos)

This Shabbos we discussed the upcoming holiday of Shavuos, including commentary from Rav Malamed. We also discussed Parsha Bamidbar, including commentary from Rav Males and Rav Yeager.  David Schlesinger led discussion.

Rav Males shared his thoughts on the parsha, and how we were asked by Hashem to do a census. He brought up an interesting question, which is why did Hashem need us to do a census, when Hashem already knows everything?  There were several answers to this question that Rav Males brought up. First, the census gave us an opportunity to meet personally with Moshe, or at least with the leaders of the tribes. Secondly, this census gave us a chance to be more than just numbers, but to be names as well, which is something that Rav Yeager also brought up.

Franco pointed out another interesting reason for the census, which is that it gave Moshe the opportunity to hear something positive, other than all the complaints and arguments he must have had to listen to up until this time. The census gave everyone a chance to see how our numbers had grown, and hopefully to see the role that Hashem had played in our success as a nation. One of the ideas we have discussed at our learning a lot, is that although Hashem is capable of doing everything, such as doing a census, he wants us to do this type of work on our own and not rely on him for everything, which is why he asked us to do it.

We discussed the upcoming holiday of Shavuos. We discussed how Shavuos has many meanings, one of them is that historically it was the time of the first wheat harvest. The perhaps most well known meaning of Shavuos, is that this holiday commemorates the time of our receiving the Torah at Mt. Sinai. We discussed how today without a Temple, there is no Torah mandated mitzvah on this holiday, other than following the usually halakuh for Yom Tov, which includes work prohibitions. 

 We discussed how Shavuos represents the height of the fundamental idea of Judaism, that our purpose is not to reject physicality, but to bring spirituality to the physical world. David spoke about how we can elevate the most mundane objects. One of the questions I asked is how we could possibly elevate un-kosher food. We discussed how the purpose of unkosher food, is to bring more significance to that which is kosher. If unkosher food did not exist, and we could eat any food, we would not have the same significance in elevating kosher food to a spiritual level.

Dave W pointed out that we read the Book of Ruth every year on Shavuos. He spoke about how Ruth first came to Israel during the time of this holiday, and her acceptance of the Jewish faith being analogous to our acceptance of the Torah, which we commemorate on this holiday. This all shows us that the acceptance of the Torah does not only take place on Mt. Sinai, but can take place at different times, as it did for Ruth.  Everyday we all hopefully accept the Torah.

There are several customs that we do on Shavuos, that we discussed. One of these is to study all night, or as long as we can without significantly affecting our ability to function the next day. It is believed that this custom, comes from the Zocar and Kabballah.  Another custom is to consume dairy and honey on this holiday. We discussed that this doesn’t mean we forego our normal consumption of meat on Yom Tavim.  We may be able to start off eating dairy, and then finish up later with a meat meal.  

A very interesting idea that was brought up, is that by having dairy and honey, we symbolize making “good” out of something that initially would seem like an undesirable thing. Milk comes from a live animal, which normally would not be considered kosher, and honey comes from a bee, which is an un-kosher insect. However, honey and milk are considered kosher. This is a lesson for us that we can apply to our everyday lives, that we can often make "good" out of "bad", and turn negatives into positives.  David’s father, Rav Dr. Geroge Schlesinger, shared this idea many times with his articles and work on the problem of evil and virtuous response to suffering, that we can often make good out of our reaction to something negative and/or undesirable.

We discussed how Shavuos is the only holiday that historically did not have a fixed date on the calander. Once Pesach was determined, Shavuos would occur after 49 days, regardless of which day this fell. Of course today, we don’t have judges determining the new month based on witnesses accounting of the moon, so we know the date of Shavuos without having to count, but we still go through the process of counting the days in the Omer.

We discussed how Shavuos is to Pesach, as Shemini Atzeras is to Sukkot. However the reason why Shavuos can not occur immediately after Pesach, is because it takes time for us to raise ourselves spiritually to a level in which we are ready to receive the Torah. We count the Omer between Pesach and Shavuos, so we are aware of how far away the receiving of the Torah is to occur, and can measure our progress in getting ready for this event which will be soon occurring.

We discussed how with Shavuos we are at a very high point. This is why we were able to bring bread into the temple as a sacrifice. With Pesach, we commemorate freedom from slavery, and becoming aware of Hashem's existance.  With Shavuos, we commemorate the reason for our redemption, which is to receive the Torah at Mt. Sinai, and use it as a blueprint for how to bring spirituality to the physical world we live in.

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

Recap for 24 Lyyar 5777 (Parsha Behar and Bechukotai)

This Shabbos we discussed Parsha Behar and Parsha Bechukotai, including commentary from Rav Yeager. This Shabbos we were honored to have with us, Rabbi Noff, from Baltimore, who lived in Memphis at one time and worked closely with Rabbi Efraim Greenblatt. This Shabbos we heard Dvar Torah from both Rabbi Males and Rabbi Noff.  David Schlesinger led discussion.

Rav Males spoke about how the number 7 comes up a lot, both in this week’s parsha with respect to the 7th year for the land, known as the Sabbatical year, and with many of our holidays including Pesach, Sukkot, and others that last 7 exactly days. Another example of the number 7 coming up, is what we are currently in the process of doing - the counting of the Omer, which will last a total of exactly 7 weeks of 7 days.  Also, what is known as the Jubilee year, discussed below, is determined by counting 7 times 7 years.  

In his talk, Rav Males brought up the interesting thought that a great teacher would not tell his students why the number 7 comes up a lot, but bring up the topic to inspire the students to continue learning about this on their own. The answer as to why 7 comes up a lot may be something that Rob has pointed out, that this is simply just the way Hashem wants it to be and there is no specific reason. But maybe Rav Males, and these notes, will inspire some of us to look into this further!

Rabbi Nuff spoke at our Kiddush about the great importance of Shabbos. We have discussed that if we refrain from work on Shabbos, and observe Shabbos, it may seem that our economic opportunities will decrease and this will affect our ability to earn a living. However, as stories that we heard from both Rabbi Nuff, and Dave W, point out, if we observe the Shabbos and/or do other mitzvah, Hashem will take care of us. Both Rabbi Nuff and Dave W told stories about how they were able to carry out very unexpected, but highly valuable business transactions, which from all indications were the results of doing our part to observe Shabbos and/or doing mitzvah.  We did our part, and Hashem did his part which is to play a great, positive role in our lives.

This Shabbos we discussed from Rav Yeager this idea of the 7th Sabbatical year. The years are counted, and during the 7th year, the agricultural lands are allowed to rest. During this year no attempt is to be made to harvest produce. If any produce happens to grow, it becomes available to everyone, not just the land owner. After 7 cycles of 7 years, there is a 50th year, known as the Jubilee year. On the Jubilee year, the land reverts back to its original owners, and all slaves are set free. 

We discussed how by allowing the land to have a Sabbatical year, we acknowledge that Hashem is the ultimate owner of everything, including agricultural lands. By observing the Sabbatical year, we demonstrate our awareness that everything will eventually revert back to Hashem.

We discussed how today, there is disagreement on when the Jubilee year occurs, so that we blow the shofar on every Yom Kippur in honor of the Jubilee year. We discussed that one of the disagreements is whether or not the 50th year also counts as the 1rst year of another 7 year cycle.

We discussed this Shabbos the great desirability to own land in Israel. It is desirable to try to buy any land in Israel, from non-Jews. Once we own land in Israel, we should try not sell it unless absolutely necessary. When all Jews own land in Israel, this is a representation of  everyone returning to our homeland, and is an important step in bringing the world to a state that Hashem wants us to strive for. If we do have to sell our land in Israel, we should strive to get it back.

We discussed this Shabbos how at one time we had a desirable world, which we are striving to return to today. Although the world today is not desirable, Hashem has set up today's world to be the most perfect world, given the decisions man has made, such as the decision by Adam to eat from the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. There is a difference between a desirable world, and a perfect world.

After Adam made his decision to eat from the forbidden tree, conditions changed for mankind, and for animals, who became very wild, and stopped acting according to moral principles. We discussed that there is a difference between a desirable world that will be here when Magiah comes, and a perfect world which is perfect when it includes the undesirable situations we see today, because this gives us an opportunity to have the purpose of rectifying the undesirable situations, and having a virtuous response to suffering, which is an idea that comes from David's father, Rav Dr George N Schlesinger.

We discussed how each time in history that we were in an undesirable situation, and we became redeemed, there were forces trying to return us to the undesirable situation, and Hashem had to intervene with miracles. There are 3 situations we discussed. The first situation was our slavery in Egypt. We were of course redeemed from Egypt, but then Pharaoh changed his mind and wanted us back. Hashem had to intervene and perform the miracle of the splitting of the Red Sea which saved us. In the second situation, we were redeemed by the Persians who decided to allow us to build our Temple. And just like with Pharaoh, the Persians changed their mind. Eventually Hashem saved us by performing the miracle of Purim. The 3rd situation is going on to this day. We were given the land of Israel, by the world, back in 1948. But today it seems that much of the world may have changed their mind when they ask Israel to make sacrifices no other nation would be expected to make, especially nations surrounded by enemies. Like the first 2 situations, Hashem will help Israel, however we must do our part.  Our part is to follow his Torah, do mitzvah, and most noteably make an effort to support Israel.  Going to Israel, helping and supporting Israel are all very big mitzvahs, and will lead to Hashem doing his part as well.

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

Recap for 17 Lyyar 5777 (Parsha Emor)

Please come to our early minyan, come on time, and bring friends.  We would very much like to keep our minyan going, continue having our Kiddush and Learning, and these notes to follow.  I would like to thank those who help us make a minyan every Shabbos.

This Shabbos we discussed parsha Emor including commentary from Rav Yeager. We also discussed the day known as Lag B’Omer, including commentary from Rav Malamed. I would like to thank David and Linda for hosting our Kiddush and Learning. I would like to wish Dave W happy birthday, which was on Lag B’Omer! David Schlesinger led discussion.

Harold Katz, a regular reader of these notes, pointed out that this week’s parsha, at least the first part, is about the Kohen, and special rules that apply to them. Even today in modern times, the Kohen play a very special role in our services.  Along with special privileges, the Kohen have responsibilities.

We discussed how the second part of the parsha starts off mentioning Shabbos, and then continues to mention our various holidays including Pesach, Shavuos, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Shemini Etzeras.

We discussed why Shabbos is mentioned first. On Shabbos we focus on our connection with Hashem, which is our ultimate goal. This section of the parsha starts off with our ultimate goal, and only later discusses the holidays which are intermediate steps on the way towards that goal.

On holidays we want to avoid distractions, which would keep us from grasping and experiencing the meaning of the specific day. However on Shabbos, we take it a step further, and more directly pursue our ultimate goal of connection to Hashem. We discussed Yom Kippur, which is considered the “Shabbos of Shabbos”, which is the most intense focus we have on pursuing our ultimate goal.

Because the holidays are an intermediate step towards our ultimate goal of connection with Hashem, the laws of not performing work are less strict. For example, we discussed how we can barbecue on Shavuos and other holidays. We discussed how the penalties for violating the laws of  holidays, are less severe than for violating Shabbos. We discussed that when Shabbos and a holiday fall on the same day, we follow the rules of Shabbos. This is because we observe Shabbos more frequently than the holidays. We discussed that whenever there is a conflict between 2 positive mitzvahs, we do the one we engage in more frequently.

We discussed how the purpose of man, is not to be like a “train set”, that automatically makes decisions. Hashem gave us free will so that we can make up our own minds whether or not we want to follow the Torah in making our decisions. Of course, Hashem has preferences.  But he leaves it up to decide if we want to go along with these preferences.  If Hashem did not leave it up to us, we would be like "train sets", and there would not be much of a purpose in this.

Hashem’s preference is that we follow his Torah, and choose to be partners with him in the act of creation. David pointed out that Hashem did not create “sandwich trees”. What this means, is that Hashem creates the laws of science, and a physical world with raw materials, however, we have to create things for ourselves. This is why it is so important that we engage in the physical world during the 6 days of the week we are not observing Shabbos, or a holiday. If we do not engage in work during these days, Shabbos has less meaning, because we are not really resting from any activity.

We discussed how on the 7th day of the week, it is important that we take a step back and increase our focus on our ultimate purpose. We discussed that if we did not take this seventh day, we would tend to forget who is the “senior partner” in the work in which we engage. It can be easy to forget who is ultimately in charge, if we get lost in the physical world and do not take the time once a week on Shabbos to increase our awareness of Hashem’s presence.

We discussed the holiday of Lag B’Omer, which occurs every year on the 33rd day of the Omer. We discussed that here in the diaspora we begin counting the Omer from the second day of Pesach. Lag B’Omer is a celebratory day, which is a break from the normal mood of the time through-out the Omer. On Lag B’Omer, we can get haircuts, listen to music, and have weddings.

We discussed that there are 2 events that we commemorate on Lag B’Omer. The first is that the death of Rabbi Akiva’s students stopped on this date. 5 students were left, who are the source of Torah knowledge we have today. Lag B’Omer is also the day that Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the author of the Kaballah work known as the Zohar, passed away. Rabbi Bar Yochai transmitted much knowledge on this day, and wanted the day of his passing to be commemorated.

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