Author: Rabbi Milder

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Torah Riddles #238

Question: Why by pikuach nefesh, saving someone’s life who might be in danger, let’s say on Shabbos, we are not concerned for the majority and if for example a building collapsed and most people inside are gentiles but there might be a Jew there we are allowed to search for him on Shabbos but when it comes to dinei nefashos, judging life and death circumstances we do rely on the majority to help with two witnesses in order to sentence someone to death, but isn’t this a case of pikuach nefesh also for if one must save a person at all costs one definitely can’t kill someone? (Kovetz Shiurim Bava Basra 225)

Background:

A. The mitzvah to save a Jew’s life even at the expense of transgressing mitzvos is based on verse of “vichai bahem” that the mitzvos are to live by not die by. The mitzvah to sentence one to death if he transgressed a sin of that severity is “uviarta hara mikirbecha” you shall wipe out the evil from amongst you.

B. By pikuach nefesh there are two factors, the mitzvah of saving a life, and the mitzvah being transgressed. By dinei nefashos there are two factors: the mitzvah of eliminating evil and the mitzvah of saving a Jew’s life.

 C. In both cases where is the source of the doubt in question and which one is the after effect that just has to be taken into consideration?

 Answer: In terms of saving one’s life the source of the question is whether there is a mitzvah now to save one’s life and the byproduct is desecrating Shabbos so the verse of “you shall live by them” resolves the main question at hand and says Shabbos should be transgressed even if there is a small possibility that it’s saving a Jew, just like if one definitely knows he is saving a Jew. But by laws that concern capital punishment where the question is whether to blot out evil or not then if the majority resolves that question then which is the main question at hand then there is no doubt of needing to save a life since that’s just a byproduct of what the real issue is that is wiping out evil, which the majority poskined can be done so the minority issue of saving a life doesn’t exist anymore.

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Lech Lecha – Unity: Acknowledging Your Piece of the Puzzle

For Food for Thought in Spanish: Haga clic aquí para leer en español. Please share this with your Jewish Spanish speaking family, friends, and associates.
 The Rosh on this week’s Torah portion of Lech Lecha explains a gemara in Nedarim 32a that discusses an argument about why Avraham was punished by his descendants being enslaved for 210 years in Egypt. Shmuel says it is because he questioned Hashem’s decree when he said “How am I to know that I will inherit it” (Breishis 15:8). The Rosh explains that the way he expressed himself, the words that came out of his mouth, was inappropriate (not that he actually felt in his heart what he said). (Click here for Hebrew text.)

The other answer given by Rebbe Abahu in the name of Rebbe Elazar is because he recruited Torah scholars to aid him in the war against the four kings, as the Torah states “and he mobilized his trained men, those who were born in his house” (Breishis 14:14). The Rosh explains that Avraham Avinu was punished for sending his students, who he taught mitzvos to, as his vanguard in war. (Click here for Hebrew text of gemara Nedarim.)
Avraham joined the war of the four kings verse the five kings in order to save his nephew Lot who was captured. It was a personal matter of life and death and the Ra”n in Nedarim says the problem was that he took his students who he taught Torah into war, and Rashi there describes that he taught them Torah like a person who poured liquid from one vessel into another, that is how he taught them Torah. These people were obviously close confidantes of Avraham who he trusted as the best soldiers to weaponize for war to save his nephew, Lot. Why should he be punished for the decision that he made? Anyone else that he could have recruited, let’s say his normal servants (besides Eliezer who was his most trusted servant, which one opinion in that gemara holds was the only other person who joined Avraham in battle.) or outside friends or mercenaries, who says they could be trusted? His students were the closest ones to him who could be most trusted; so why was Avraham punished?

It would seem that those that were learning Torah were meant to be staying and learning. Each person has a purpose in life and has their own role in contributing to the fight. The Torah student’s role is to accrue merits for the fighters through their learning and prayers that brings spiritual protection to the fighters on the front line.  Taking them away from their main role, on some slight, minuscule level, was a lack of faith in Hashem’s choice for giving individualized purpose to every person. In fact, the Rosh in Nedarim says the real sin was clearly stated as being questioning Hashem, as Shmuel said but Rebbe Abahu in the name of Rebbe Elazer held that this sin of sending the Torah learners out to war was the precursor punishment that allowed Avraham to fall into the trap of questioning Hashem of saying the expression “bameh aidah“.

We see how important it is for everyone to acknowledge that each individual has a certain purpose in the world, to recognize that purpose and to excel at it as much as he possibly can because that is Hashem’s destiny for that individual.

Sending the Torah student to war would be like requiring someone to always walk on their hands. Granted it’s possible and the more one works at it the better he’ll become but a person is not supposed to walk on their hand. Hands are made to work with, and feet are made to walk with, each one has their own purpose, and one will be a much better walker or runner by foot than by hand no matter how much practice he has.

It is possible that some people’s purpose is to learn Torah and to go out into the battlefield to fight. Everyone’s purpose is not black or white, it could be gray, but the point is that one has to figure out and then excel at their own purpose in life and others cannot criticize if someone is doing something different than them if that is supposed to be their purpose in life since everyone is different and has their own unique role in the world.

We are all like a piece of a puzzle, each piece is different and belongs in a specific place some pieces are similar to each so you know they belong in that area but they each have their own unique role, and when unified the complete picture can be seen and understood.

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Torah Riddles #237

Question: Why does the Ra”n (Beitza 17a “umiha”) hold that if one needs 2 figs to save one’s life and he must pick them off the tree on shabbos and he has a branch with 2 figs or a branch with 3 figs in front of him but he cuts down the branch with 3 figs on shabbos, he transgressed a Torah level prohibition (arguing on the R’I and Rashba who say it’s rabbinic) because adding to the measure is a Torah level issue, and though he cut only one branch but it had the 3rd unneeded fig then he sinned and yet if one steals a sack of 100 dollar bills why did he transgress the prohibition of stealing once and not 100 times?

Background:

A. To transgress a Torah prohibition of Shabbos one has to perform a “meleches machsheves” which is “an act of craftsmanship ” meaning it has to be done with intent, knowing what you are doing, the act was done for the same purpose as done in the Mishkan, in its normal way, constructive, and will cause a permanent result.

B. 2 out of 3 figs were allowed to be picked for the sake of saving the sick person’s life but the branch with the two figs should have been cut off so that there would not have been any prohibition.

C. One is liable for the act of stealing, for example the Ketzos 348:2 proves from a Rashi in the first chapter of Bava Metzia that you are only liable for stealing someone else’s pet who walked into your property if you close your gate so that the animal cannot get out because you did an act which stole it from the owner.

Answer: By stealing because the act is the prohibition then only one act of taking the bag of cash is liable not the hundred bills that’s in the bag.(though you have to pay all hundred back but G-d only counts it as one sin.) But since on Shabbos it’s not only the act but it’s meleches machsheves and though you did only one act of cutting down the branch but with the intent of getting 3 figs when you only need 2 to save the guy’s life so he is liable for that 3rd fig not needed.

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Noach – The Balance Between Bitachon & Hishtadlus

What made Noach such a big tzadik, a righteous person, that only he and his family deserved to survive the flood?

The pesukim in this week’s Torah portion of Noach twice mention that Noach was a tzadik before he entered the ark. The portion begins, “These are the offspring of Noach, Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generation; Noach walked with G-D” (Breishis 6:9). Then in the beginning of the next perek the Torah states, “Then Hashem said to Noach, ‘Come to the ark, you and all your household, for it is you that I have seen to be righteous before Me in this generation'” (Breishis 7:1).

The Ralbag tells us that the Torah “is informing us about the secrets of Hashem’s Divine Providence over man in specific terms and in general terms. For belief in them directs a person towards much perfection, besides the fact that the Torah in general is built upon it. This is what the Torah is teaching us when it said, “And Hashem said, ‘My spirit shall not contend evermore concerning Man since he is but flesh’ (Breishis 6:3), for the flood which was most incredibly bad, was still [Divine] providence on mankind, for He did not prevent them from reaching perfection, which is the purpose of creation just as originally. And the Torah is teaching us by saying, “because with him I saw a tzadik before Me in this generation,” for the tzadik is protected by The Blessed Hashem with incredible protection to save him from bad things that should rightfully come upon him, just as was explained by the saving of Noach and the protection Hashem gave him in this wonderful story. And if there would have been another tzadik besides him, he would have been saved with him, from the fact that the Torah goes out of its way to explain the reason why he was saved, which was that Hashem saw a tzadik before Him. What follows is that if there would have been another tzadik besides him, he would have been saved with him, to the point that if the entire generation would return to Hashem and leave their bad ways, they would have all been saved.”

 It would seem from this Ralbag that what defined Noach as righteous was his incredibly high level of belief and trust in Hashem and His Divine Providence, both in general and specifically in his individual life. Because the faith of a tzadik is so incredibly intense and focused, so too the Divine Providence Hashem has over this person is more direct and personalized. Yet Hashem did not just create a force field around him and his family to save him from the elements with food from heaven. Rather, Hashem instructed Noach, “Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; make the ark with compartments and cover it inside with pitch… and as for you, take yourself of every food that is eaten and gather it in to yourself etc.” (6:14, 21). The Ralbag points out that “The Torah is already teaching us an incredible lesson by telling us of the command Noach was commanded, of making the ark in this exact fashion with specific parameters so that he will be protected, as well as collecting food which will be enough for while he is in the ark. There is an incredible lesson that can be learned [from these instructions] which is that even the righteous man who is guaranteed protection by Hashem should not be lax in preparing provisions for his household and to take action in the proper fashion just because he trusts in Hashem that he thinks it will be found for him food and health. All the more so all the other people should not be lax [in one’s hishtadlus, effort]. Chaza”l say, when it says, ‘in order so that Hashem, your G-D shall bless you,’ one might have thought this is true even if he sits around doing nothing, therefore it teaches you [one is blessed] ‘in all that you will do.'”

One would think that if a person is on such a high level of faith and trust in Hashem, that he is considered a tzadik under Hashem’s Divine protection, then he should not have to put in too much effort into life. In a sense, any hishtadlus [effort] is the antithesis of the highest levels of belief in Hashem’s Divine Providence, for one must believe that everything comes from Hashem and Hashem can do absolutely anything. So, if the more one trusts in Hashem the less he should have to do, and on the contrary the more personal effort one puts in the less of a connection one might think he has with Hashem! Case in point, Moshe went 40 days and 40 nights without eating, for he was on the highest level of belief in Hashem, “face to face”. Wouldn’t one think that that would be the level a tzadik like Noach might be on, if the Torah attests that he was righteous? Or at least on the level of the Jews of the desert who received manna from heaven, drank water from a rock and had Divine Protection by the Clouds of Glory!? Yet Hashem expected Noach to go to great efforts to build himself, his family, and all the animals an ark with exact dimensions, and to collect enough food for everyone.

How much exactly is the requirement for the effort one puts into his life and how does that balance with the concept of emuna and bitachon? Rabbeinu Avraham, the son of the Rambam gives general parameters to answer this question in his Sefer Hamaspik Li’ovdei Hashem. In the chapter on “prishus” he says, “the way to achieve true abstinence, meaning that with your heart, that is the effort to stand up against natural urges. For the love of this world is implanted in every person’s heart, and Shlomo already said, ‘He also but an enigma in their minds’ (Koheles 3:11). We set aside for the concept of hishtadlus the next chapter, and here we are just saying that the main effort one should have is to decide in a person’s mind a pure decision from any craze or delusions because the delights in this world are not the ultimate purpose of mankind…” Elsewhere in the next perek “Hashkeida” he says, “The main hishtadlus, efforts, should be that a person has a feeling to perfect himself spiritually, and to rise oneself, aspire oneself, and find oneself yearning for it. But afterwards focus in on the combo of soul with body and the closeness of one with the other, as well as the benefits from delectable treats, as well as one’s involvement in benefiting and settling his world, and then one will know that this is the reason of why one’s soul would be cut off from the perfection which it was destined for. Just as Shlomo said, ‘made me a keeper of the vineyards of idols, but the vineyard of my own true G-D I did not keep’ (Shir Hashirim 1:6). Because these two connections, the connection between it (the soul) and the world which it was hewn from and the connection it (the body) has from the world it finds itself involved in-are diametrically opposite. When one is strengthened the other is weakened and the amount that one is made greater, so to the other is weakened.”

We see from here that the soul and body are interconnected; therefore physical effort must always be factored in with all the trust and faith one has in Hashem. But the balance of how much effort one needs to put into this world depends on how much emuna and bitachon one has. The more belief and trust one has, the less effort one has to put into his life; not that it is zero, but it is less, (which is why Hashem expected Noach to provide for the animals, his family and himself the bare minimum of food and shelter), maybe even a lot less, than others who have less faith in Hashem. Those that have less trust in Hashem cannot rely on Him more and are expected to put in more effort, hishtadlus. The correlation between body and soul, as well as hishtadlus versus emuna and bitachon are dependent on each other and ones focus but they always coexist together in this world.

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Torah Riddles # 236

Question: Why does the Sefer Hachinuch (mitzvah 2) hold that the mitzvah of mila is not upon the father once his son is bar mitzvah if it was not done yet but in mitzvah 392 he holds that pidyon haben is still a mitzvah on the father even if he didn’t do it after his son turned bar mitzvah?

Background:

A. The Magen Avraham (Orach Chaim 444:11) says that every second one does not have a bris is a transgression (non fulfillment) of the positive mitzvah.

 B. The father has to do pidyon haben to the son even if the son died (after 30 days of life) and the mitzvah wasn’t done yet.

  Answer: As long as a man is an aral, uncircumcised, every second with foreskin is another transgression of a new positive mitzvah so when he turns 13 it’s a new positive mitzvah so the bar mitzvah boy takes this new mitzvah and the father is done. But by pidyon haben the obligation is not due to the fact that the son is not redeemed yet, for even if the son dies the father must still do the processes of redeeming him to perform the mitzva, rather the Torah requires the father to redeem him, and if so the obligation isn’t one the renews itself constantly, rather it is a one time obligation that starts when he is born (after 30 days of life) and lasts forever as long as it is not done. For this reason the mitzvah isn’t being newly forsaken every second, rather one has to get it done as soon as possible, therefore even once the boy grows up the father is still obligated since the original mitzvah has not gone away yet, and even if the father dies, the son just takes over the obligation of the original mitzvah.

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Simchas Torah/Breishis – Kavod Shabbos vs. Kavod HaTorah


 On Simchas Torah we conclude the reading of the Torah and immediately start it again with the reading of the seven days of creation in the Torah portion of Breishis. The creation culminates with the Shabbos; yet the obvious question is, why did Hashem rest on the 7th day and declare it a weekly “holiday “ in perpetuity?
 The Medrish Tanchuma in the second paragraph for the portion of Breishis answers this question based on a Shi’iltos di’Rav Achai Gaon, that was added into the medrish, and says that “Jews are obligated to rest on the day of Shabbos for Hashem created the world in six days and rested on Shabbos. He blessed [that day] and sanctified it, just as a person who builds his own house, and upon finishing it would throw a party. They would have a feast commemorating the conclusion of building, so that is what ‘By the seventh day G-D completed His work’ (Breishis 2:2), means. Hashem says you shall rest on Shabbos just as I rested on Shabbos, as it is written, ‘And He rested on the seventh day therefore Hashem blessed etc.’ (Shemos 20:11).” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
The medrish goes on to discuss various things we do differently on Shabbos than during the week, for example not fasting, eating and drinking fancier food and drinks to delight on Shabbos, as well as dressing up in fancy, clean clothing. One shouldn’t talk about the same subjects or in the same way as they do during the week; neither shall they walk the same way as they do during the week, for mundane matters. (The Radak in Yeshayahu 58:13 adds that one should even eat his meals at different times than during the week, before or after the normal weekday times).
 The medrish then asks, “However we have to figure out, if a person is going to do a mitzvah, or going to pray, or to learn in the beis medrish, is it permitted to take big steps on Shabbos [as they would during the week]? (Big steps are defined by the Anaf Yosef as more than an amah. A normal step is an amah, meaning a half an amah between each foot when taking a step, and the sole of the foot is about a half an amah as well. An amah is 21.25 inches.) Is a mitzvah better or is honoring Shabbos better?” (The Be’ur Ha’amarim explain the question is, is honoring the Shabbos more important or is kavod HaTorah, honoring the Torah and it’s mitzvos when performing them more important? Meaning, are you considered in violation of the pasuk in Yeshaya 58:13 which says one should walk differently on Shabbos if one’s steps are too big when going to perform a mitzvah, or does it only apply to doing personal tasks?)

The Medrish answers, “Come and listen, for Rebbe Tanchum said in the name of Rebbe Yehoshua ben Levi that a person should always run to do any matter of a mitzvah and even if it is on Shabbos. And Rebbe Zeira said that originally when I saw rabbis running to a Torah class on Shabbos, I said to myself that these rabbis are profaning Shabbos. When I heard what Rebbe Tanchum said, I also ran, and I concluded in my learning that the reward for going to a Torah class is in fact for the running.”
The Etz Yosef brings two reasons why the reward in Heaven for going to a Torah class is for running:

  1. According to Rashi, the reward for most people listening to a drasha [speech] from the rabbi is in fact the actual running to the lecture, as most of them cannot follow what he is saying, and even if they can, they won’t be able to repeat the lecture after a short period of time from when they got the reward for learning.
  2.  According to the Maharsha, this is referring to the rabbis who show up but don’t need the shiur, for they already know halacha, but nevertheless they are rewarded for running to the class. (Click here for Hebrew text.)

How could Rebbe Zeira think his fellow rabbis were desecrating Shabbos and what was it that Rebbe Tanchum said which made Rebbe Zeira change his mind so emphatically?

On the one hand we see how respecting Shabbos is so important to the degree that we have to do many things differently, like what we eat and drink, when we eat, how we dress, talk, and even the way we get from one place to the next. They should be different on Shabbos than during the week in order to acknowledge our belief in The Creator and appreciate His handiwork.
On the other hand the importance of respecting Hashem’s Torah can be emphasized by the opening statement of the Medrish Tanchuma on this Torah portion, which is the beginning of the entire book when it says, “’In the beginning G-D created’ this is what the pasuk writes, ‘Hashem with wisdom laid out the foundation of the land’ (Mishley 3:19), and when Hashem created His world, He inquired into the Torah and created the world.” The Torah is the blueprints of creation and handbook for mankind, so in showing honor to the Torah by running to fulfill its mitzvos and learning from it, it does not take away from the sanctity and honor of Shabbos as both are for the purpose of honoring Hashem.

Rebbe Zeira must have understood all this but thought that if the pasuk in Yeshayahu went out of its way to emphasize that one must walk differently on Shabbos, then that must be in all situations. Therefore since performing a mitzvah with alacrity or learning diligently with understanding, or praying with deep intent, suffices to bring honor to the Torah on Shabbos, the speed of travel to begin that mitzvah can be slowed for the sake of honoring the Shabbos, for both can be accomplished. Indeed, it is uniformly a show of respect for Hashem; therefore it must be those rabbi are disrespecting Shabbos by running to do the mitzvah!

However when he heard Rebbe Tanchum’s statement that at all times, even on Shabbos, one should rush to perform mitzvos or listen to Torah being learned, he realized that the ultimate respect to Hashem is in showing one’s interest and passion to hear and perform the “Word of G-D,” even if one does not understand what he is listening to or knows it already and doesn’t gain anything. The rush to acknowledge the importance of listening to Torah and trying to perform His will is the ultimate show of honor to the King Of All Kings and is not a sign of lack of respect to the Shabbos, because it is all one thing, serving Hashem, The Creator Of The World, and showing excitement in performing His will.

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Torah Riddles #235

1.      Question: If the Be’ur Halacha (in 657) says according to the Shulchan Aruch you must buy a child a kosher set of lulav and esrog because proper chinuch is to teach him how to do the mitzvah properly, but a child can’t do it properly anyways since in siman 60 we say that mitzvos must be done with kavana, proper intent and a child can’t have halachic kavana, so if he can’t perform the mitzva anyways then why are we required to buy him a kosher set?

 Background:

A. There is a famous chakira about what it means that mitzvos need proper intent: a. Does the intent make the action, meaning that it’s only considered an action of a mitzva with the intent but without the proper intent it is just a regular action not counting as an action of a mitzva.

b. The action by itself is considered an action of a mitzva even without proper intent, but the reason why we need the intent is for the fulfillment of the mitzvah, for there are two parts to the fulfillment of a mitzva, the action of the mitzvah and the proper intent for the mitzvah.

 Answer: If you say like side b then it makes sense because using a kosher set of lulav and esrog allows him to have a proper action of a mitzva, and his mind is saying he would like to perform that mitzvah, it’s just that it’s a mind of a child which can’t have proper intent but the parent is still doing all that he can to show the child how to perform the mitzva properly.

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Yom Kippur -Enjoying Shabbos is Delighting in Hashem

There are those that have the custom to say the following pesukim at the beginning of kiddush every Shabbos day meal:

13 If you restrain your foot because of Shabbos, from performing your affairs on My holy day, and you call Shabbos a delight, the holy of Hashem honored, and you honor it by not doing your wonted ways, by not pursuing your affairs and speaking words.יגאִם־תָּשִׁ֚יב מִשַּׁבָּת֙ רַגְלֶ֔ךָ עֲשׂ֥וֹת חֲפָצֶ֖יךָ בְּי֣וֹם קָדְשִׁ֑י וְקָרָ֨אתָ לַשַּׁבָּ֜ת עֹ֗נֶג לִקְד֚וֹשׁ יְהֹוָה֙ מְכֻבָּ֔ד וְכִבַּדְתּוֹ֙ מֵֽעֲשׂ֣וֹת דְּרָכֶ֔יךָ מִמְּצ֥וֹא חֶפְצְךָ֖ וְדַבֵּ֥ר דָּבָֽר:
14Then, you shall delight with Hashem, and I will cause you to ride on the high places of the land, and I will give you to eat the heritage of Yaakov your father, for the mouth of Hashem has spoken.ידאָ֗ז תִּתְעַנַּג֙ עַל־יְהֹוָ֔ה וְהִרְכַּבְתִּ֖יךָ עַל־בָּ֣מֳתֵי (כתיב בָּ֣מֳותֵי) אָ֑רֶץ וְהַֽאֲכַלְתִּ֗יךָ נַֽחֲלַת֙ יַֽעֲקֹ֣ב אָבִ֔יךָ כִּ֛י פִּ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה דִּבֵּֽר:

These 2 pesukim are the conclusion of the Haftorah for the morning of Yom Kippur from Yeshayahu perek 58.

There are many aspects of Shabbos that are derived from these pesukim, amongst them being is the mitzvah of oneg Shabbos, delighting in Shabbos. This mitzvah is elaborated on in the gemara Shabbos 118b. Concerning the miztva of oneg Shabbos the gemara states, “Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: With regard to anyone who delights in Shabbos, G-D grants him his heart’s desires, as it is stated: “And you shall delight in G-D and He will grant you your heart’s desires” (Psalms 37:4). This delight in G-D, which is mentioned in the verse, I do not know what it is. When it says: “And you shall call Shabbos delight,” one must say: It is the delight of Shabbos. The Gemara asks: With what does one delight in the day of Shabbos? Rav Yehuda, son of Rav Shmuel bar Sheilat, said in the name of Rav: With a dish of beets, and large fish, and heads of garlic. Rav Ḥiyya bar Ashi said that Rav said: Even with regard to a small item and one prepared it in deference to Shabbos, it is a delight. The Gemara asks: What is the small item mentioned? Rav Pappa said: Small fried salty fish.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)

What was considered a delicacy back then is very different from what we eat today. Nowadays if you want to be very fancy, people have three-layered kugels consisting of kishke, potato kugel, and pieces of meat, fancy roasts for the main course Shabbos night, pastrami meat and kishke in their cholent Shabbos day, 5 types of herring, and tons of spreads to put onto their challah, and of course dessert. By the time Shabbos is over they feel something else… sick to their stomach! Is that really what the mitzvah of delighting in Shabbos is meant to be? On the other hand, just having a can of sardines, even if you have in mind it’s for the sake of enjoying Shabbos, seems not to be the greatest respect to the mitzvah; so why just because one prepares a simple food in deference to Shabbos is it considered fulfilling the mitzvah of oneg Shabbos, delighting in Shabbos?

The Radak on these two pesukim has a very interesting approach to defining precisely what the mitzvah of oneg Shabbos is. He explains in pasuk 13 that “’If you restrain because of Shabbos’ refers to the negative mitzvos ‘and you shall call Shabbos a delight’ the positive mitzvos to delight the body on the day of Shabbos with good and sweet food. For by having better food [on Shabbos] than the rest of the week one will remember the creation of the world, and that G-D made it from nothing and rested on the seventh day. And through [thinking about this] one will give praise to G-D and glorify Him with his mouth and heart and his soul will delight in it.”

In the following pasuk the Radak elaborates, “’Then you shall delight with Hashem’ if you delight on Shabbos you will delight with Hashem, meaning He will shower you with goodness until you will delight with Him and thank Him, and His goodness for everything comes from Him and it’s all within His ability. And delighting with Hashem is the delight of the soul. Rav Saadia Gaon explain that physical delight, meaning delight of your body shall be with Hashem, unlike the fools, as it says by them, ‘delight is not nice to the fool.’ But the intellectual will not overindulge himself in delicacies, rather it will be calculated within reason, for he is involved in wisdom, and he delights in that more, however delighting the body within reason will make the mind better and strengthen its 3 powers, (1) the power of memory, (2) the power to differentiate, (3) the power to think.”
(Click here for Hebrew text.)

The gemara in Shabbos implied that one who is poor should simply have in mind that he makes is for the sake of delighting in Shabbos; then whatever it is counts for the mitzva, even if it is not so elaborate. It is the thought that counts, as they say. However, this is true even when someone is well-off. The Radak is in fact saying that one’s attitude or intent, even when creating an elaborate spread, is what is important for the mitzvah of delighting in Shabbos. Indeed, the whole point in having all these fancy foods which we would not have during the week is to come to a realization of how special this day is. To remind us of how Hashem created the world, something from nothing, and rested on the 7th day. And through this thought process, one will be inspired to sing zmiros, songs of praise to Hashem, as we have for all the meals, and finally in this way one will feel a spiritual elation, a delight for the soul that connects one to His Creator. Chazal say, in fact, that Shabbos is a taste of the Paradise in the World To Come. The key, in fact, is the intent for the sake of enjoying Shabbos, the overindulgence the gluttony is in fact foolish, as Rav Saadia Gaon points out.

One must use his or her mind intelligently and know themselves, live within their means, and not only monetarily but healthily understanding how much one can eat and exactly what can be eaten. This will improve one’s spiritual and intellectual self, and, in that way, one will come to the pure and true goal of delighting in Shabbos ,which is delighting with Hashem. But using these physical means to get to the ultimate spiritual purpose might be the hardest thing to balance, but Hashem gave us the ability and potential to understand ourselves and reach such an incredible feat.

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Rosh Hashana – Ten Days of Repentance: A Time Set into the Nature of Creation


The Orchos Tzadikim in The Gate of Repentance says that six things inspire one to repent. Regarding the fifth of these he says: “The fifth way in which repentance can be aroused is when the Ten Days of Repentance draw near, then every man should arouse his heart and tremble as he goes to meet the Day of Judgment, for he should ponder that all of his deeds are written in a book, and that at this time G-D will bring to judgment every deed and every hidden thing, whether it be good or bad. For a man is judged on Rosh Hashanah, and his decree is sealed on the Day of Atonement (Rosh Hashana 16a). Now, if a man were to be brought for judgment before a king of flesh and blood would he not tremble with a great trembling, and would he not take counsel with his soul? And it would not occur to him to do any other thing, than to find some merit that might save him from that judgment. Therefore, how foolish and stupid are those who do not know what their judgment will be, and yet they occupy themselves with idle things other than the repentance that would find favor before the Great Judge!”
Why is this time of the year any different than any other time of the year when it comes to repentance? Doesn’t Hashem allow and wants us to repent from wrongdoings whenever they happen? The Gemara in Yevamos 105a quotes this gemara in Rosh Hashana 16a and elaborates: “With regard to a decree of judgment that cannot be torn up, Rav Shmuel bar Unya said that Rav said: From where is it derived that a sentence of judgment upon a community is never sealed? The Gemara expresses surprise: Is it truly not sealed? But isn’t it written: “For although you wash yourself with niter, and take much soap for yourself, yet your iniquity is marked before Me” (Jeremiah 2:22), indicating that there is no longer any atonement for iniquity of a community. Rather, one must say as follows: From where is it derived that even when a community’s sentence is sealed, it may be torn up as a result of repentance, as it is stated: ‘For what great nation is there, that has God so close unto them, as Hashem our G-D is whenever we call upon Him?’ (Deuteronomy 4:7). The Gemara objects: But isn’t it written in another verse: ‘Seek Hashem while He may be found, call upon Him when He is near” (Isaiah 55:6), implying that God is not always near and may not always answer whenever we call upon Him? The Gemara answers: This contradiction is not difficult. This verse is concerning an individual who must seek God where He is found, as He is not always equally accessible to answer those who call out to Him. That first verse is concerning a community, for whom He is accessible “whenever we call upon Him.’ The Gemara asks: For an individual, when is the time that God is close to him? Rav Naḥman said that Rabba bar Avuh said: These are the ten days that are between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur.”

The Etz Yosef quoting Rav Yonasan Eibshitz, explains the last part of this gemara. “These ten days between and including Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are specifically made (mesugalim) for repentance. And in these days Hashem arouses us in repentance without any arousal at all from down here [in this world]. This is what the pasuk quoted means, ‘Seek out Hashem from where He is,’ He makes Himself known to us before we call out to Him, and on the contrary, He is around beforehand to give inspiration to his son to repent. And if a person gives his heart, feels in his heart constantly during these ten days, inspiration to repent and fear Hashem, even if he is lax in other matters, nevertheless his heart will be pumping to repent. And this is because Hashem arouses us to repent during these days without any preparation from down here in this world (Ye’aros Devash, drush 1).” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
 What the Etz Yosef is telling us is that the Ten Days of Repentance are days which do not need any cataclysmic events to inspire us to repent, but rather there is a natural drive to repent at this time of the year, which Hashem put into the nature of the world. But what does this mean? And if it is so natural, then why doesn’t it automatically happen? Doesn’t the Etz Yosef say that only if we put our heart (and mind and soul) towards repenting will it take effect? That is true any time of the year!

We must say that a person can potentially inspire himself to do Teshuva, to repent after he has sinned, without any suffering of any sorts happening to him, even at any time of the year, as Chaz”al says is the ideal way to repent. However, the inspiration isn’t necessarily there at other times of the year, and Hashem brings suffering to people who need that extra inspiration and impetus to motivate them to repent, if they cannot do it on their own. But Hashem created the Human Being with a “genetic trait” that at this time of the year triggers, creating inspiration to repent during these Ten Days of Repentance. Yet, like with all other things in life, Hashem gives us free choice to choose not to focus and take advantage of that genetic impulse inside each of us that is triggered at this time of the year. But if one does tap into this inspiration, it is overwhelmingly positive, possibly even better, if not the same as Hashem giving yesurim, suffering to arouse a person to repent.

A gutten shabbos and yor, ksiva vichasima tova and a happy and healthy New Year,
Rabbi Dovid Shmuel Milder

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Torah Riddle #234

  1. Question: The Minchas Chinuch (mitzvah 313) asks why women aren’t exempt from the other 4 afflictions of Yom Kippur besides eating which she is obligated because it is both a positive and negative mitzvah but the other 4 are only Torah level positive mitzvos according to the Sefer Hachinuch. (Tosfos and the Rosh hold they are rabbinic.) Therefore, according to the Sefer Hachinuch why aren’t women exempt from the other 4 because they are time bound mitzvos?

Background:

A. The 4 other afflictions are not wearing leather shoes, not having relations, not washing nor anointing.

B. In terms of the positive mitzvah and prohibition of eating on Yom Kippur the basis of the prohibition is to afflict or withhold from yourself. The Torah says one should not eat on Yom Kippur lest he will be liable for kares, the punishment of being cut off from the nation. All other afflictions are positive mitzvos not a prohibition in the Torah.

Answer: Since the umbrella mitzvah is afflicting oneself on Yom Kipper, then even though not eating is the only prohibition which women are for sure obligated in then all the other positive mitzvos are schlepped along under this umbrella mitzvah so women are obligated in all 5 of them.