Author: Rabbi Milder

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Breishis – The Law of the Land

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According to the Sifsei Chachamim the first Rashi (written by Rav Shlomo Yitzchaki) on Chumash is a question asked and answered by his father:  בראשית” IN THE BEGINNING — Rabbi Yitzchak said: The Torah which is the Law book of Israel should have commenced with the verse (Exodus 12:2) “This month shall be unto you the first of the months,” which is the first commandment given to Israel. What then is the reason that it commences with the account of the Creation?
Many commentaries explain the basis of this question. The Gur Aryeh points out: “Even though there is no story in the Torah which is not needed, (even the fact that the sister of Lotan was Timna), as pointed out in Sanhedrin perek Chelek, but since the name ‘Torah’ is only meant for the mitzvos of the Torah, because the word Torah comes from the word hora’ah, (which means teaching) to teach us the actions we should be doing. Therefore the Torah of Moshe is called Torah for in it only the mitzvos are written. You should know that the Book of Iyov was also written by Moshe as stated in Bava Basra 5b, and if one would write the Book of Iyov inside a Torah it would be forbidden to be read in a congregation. That is why he asked why there was no need to write [these stories in the Torah] etc.”

The Ramban, with a slightly different take on the question, ponders: “One can say that in fact there actually is a big need to start the Torah from the creation of the world, for it is the root of our beliefs. One who does not believe in this, and thinks that the world is ancient, denies everything and has no Torah at all! But the answer is that what happened by creation is really a very deep secret which cannot be understood from just the pesukim, and it is only understood in all its clarity according to the oral tradition that dates back to Moshe Rabbeinu who heard from the Mouth of The Almighty, and knowledge about it must be hidden in secret. This is why Rabbi Yitzchak said the Torah did not have to start from creation, and the story of what was created on the first day, and what was done on the second day, and all the other days, as well as all the detail of forming Adam and Chava, their sin and punishments, and the story of Gan Eden and Adam’s banishment from there; all this is not fully understood from what is written in the Torah. Definitely the story of the generations of the flood and the Tower of Babel, which there is not great need for them to be mentioned. The People of Torah could have done without these writings, and would have believed in them based on the hint mentioned in the Ten Commandments: ‘For in six days Hashem made the heaven and earth, the sea and all inside it, and He rested on the seventh’ (Shemos 20:11). The specifics could have been left for certain individuals to know through halacha liMoshe miSinai, oral transmission, through the Oral Tradition.”
Basically the question is: why does the Torah have to start with all these stories if it is really supposed to be a list of mitzvos? Why can’t you put the stories in a separate book like the Book of Iyov, which was written by Moshe Rabbeinu as well but was include in Writings (Kesuvim)? Or don’t put any of it into writing since it is so complex; it should just be known and understood by the individuals that can understand it, passed down from generation to generation through the Oral Torah dating back to what Moshe received with the Written Torah on Har Sinai?

To answer Rashi quotes his father to say : “Because of the thought expressed in the text (Psalms 111:6) ‘He declared to His people the strength of His works (i.e. He gave an account of the work of Creation), in order that He might give them the heritage of the nations.’ For should the peoples of the world say to Israel: ‘You are robbers, because you took by force the lands of the seven nations of Canaan’, Israel may reply to them: ‘All the earth belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He; He created it and gave it to whom He pleased. When He willed He gave it to them, and when He willed He took it from them and gave it to us’ (Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 187).”
There are many commentators who struggle to understand his answer, but we are going to focus on the Ramban. The Ramban says that the creation of the world, Adam and Chava’s banishment from Gan Eden after they sinned, the punishments of the generation of the flood (with one righteous person escaping with his children), and the Tower of Babel (with that generation being spread out and settling in different lands according to their families), are lessons to teach us that it is appropriate that when a nation continues to sin they lose their place and another is elevated to replace them in inheriting their land, for this is the law of G-d in the land forever. All the more so the Canaanites, who are cursed and shall forever be slaves (Brieshis 9:27), who didn’t deserve to inherit the chosen area, but rather it rightfully belongs to the beloved servants of Hashem, in order that they observe the statutes and laws of their Creator. Meaning, Hashem abolished those that rebelled against Him, and brought in His servants who knew that through serving Him they would deserve to inherit the land. And, if they would sin, the land would vomit them out, just as it vomited the nation that came before them.

The Gur Aryeh sums up the Ramban by saying: “And the Ramban also wrote that all the mitzvos in the Torah are the laws of G-D in the land, meaning all the mitzvos in the Torah are applicable specifically in The Land [of Israel]. It is also written in Sefer Melachim: ‘When the Jews were exiled and non-Jews settled in the land, and they did not know the Laws of G-D in the land, Hashem sent against them lions’ (Melachim Beis 17:26,) we see from here that the Torah is G-D’s law of the land.”

The Gur Aryeh goes on to say: “And you should delve into the words of the Ramban in parshas Toldos on the posuk, ‘and kept My charge,’ (Breishis 26:5), and therefore it needed to be written in the Torah that according to strict judgement the land came to the Jews, for He created it and He gave it. One can ask that it now makes sense why the Torah portion of Breishis is in the Torah; but why all the other stories, why were they written in the Torah? But this also is not really difficult to understand, for if the Torah portion of Breishis was the only story written down to say that The Holy one Blessed Be He created and gave to whom He felt was proper in His eyes. The nations will answer that ‘This is a lie, The Holy One Blessed Be He did not give the land to you, for He does not exercise judgement without first judging, for why would He take the land away from the nations and give it to the Jews?’ But now that the entire story of all the generations angering Hashem until Avraham comes around and received all their reward, the land was then taken away from the nations and given to his children as an inheritance, but not to all his children, for He said to Avraham, ‘You shall know that your offspring will be a stranger in a land not theirs and they will be enslaved etc.’ This was not fulfilled through the offspring of Yishmael and Esav, only through the offspring of Yaakov, for Hashem brought them into servitude and fulfilled ‘And also the nation that they have served, I will judge…’ until ‘And this month shall be for you,’ therefore the entire story had to be written down that the Jews were in servitude and were redeemed, and therefore the giving of the land was to Yisrael and not to Yishmael or Esav.”
The Land of Israel is only a speck on the map, not even as large as New Jersey. There are much vaster and larger, as well as more beautiful, pieces of land throughout the world, like the Alps, the Rockies, the Himalayas, etc. Strategically, it is not bordering any major oceans like e America, Africa, parts of Europe, China, etc. One can always go around Israel to Africa, or from Africa to the Middle East, the same route the Jews took when going out of Egypt. So why is everyone so resolute in working to discredit the Jewish claim on the Land of Israel?

The reason is because everyone knows there is something special about the location; but what they don’t realize is why it is special; what or who makes it special. They don’t realize the land is only holy, blessed, and enriched because there is the “Law of the Land” that, if followed, enable its beauty and magnificence to sprout to its fullest potential. But if the “Law of the Land” isn’t followed, it doesn’t want its inhabitants, and the inhabitants don’t deserve the benefits of the land.

To actualize the deep connection between observing the mitzvos and living wholeheartedly in the Promise Land, it was worthwhile to add in all the stories of the Torah, the law book of Hashem, the King Of All Kings, into the book written mainly as The Law of the Land. Though many mitzvos do apply outside of the Land of Israel as well, they apply doubly inside The Land.

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Vezos Habracha – Good Leadership: The Hallmark of the Jewish People

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One might think that the way to conclude the guide book of mankind would be to reinforce how important it is to observe it, or how awe-inspiring and exalted is its author, Hashem, The Holy One Blessed Be He. Yet the last 3 pesukim of the Torah talk about Moshe Rabbeinu, Hashem’s loyal servant, according to Rashi (according to the Ramban on Chumash the pasuk is in fact praising Hashem.)

The Torah concludes: “And there was no other prophet that stood up amongst the Jews like Moshe who knew Hashem face to face. For all the signs and wonders that Hashem sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and his servants and his entire land. And all the strong hand and all the great awe that Moshe did in the eyes of all the Jews” (Devarim 34:10-12).

Rashi on the last pasuk of the Torah says that “and all the strong hand” refers to the fact that Moshe “received the Torah in the tablets with his hands.” “And all the great awe” refers to “the miracles and mighty deeds [performed by Moshe] in the immense, awesome wilderness. Finally, “in the eyes of all the Jews” refers to “when he took the liberty of shattering the tablets before their eyes, as it says: ‘I shattered them before your eyes.’ The Holy One Blessed Be He consented to his opinion, at it is said: ‘which you shattered,’ ‘more power to you for shattering them!’” (Click here for Hebrew text.)

According to Rashi, the very last statement of the Torah refers to the smashing of the tablets. Why does the Torah conclude with referencing this lowly moment in our history? What message is being taught and why does it have to be taught now, at the very end?

The last Sifsei Chachamim on Rashi explains why Rashi feels he needs to add that Hashem agreed with Moshe deciding to throw down and smash the tablets. “He is coming to answer that now it is coming to praise Moshe, but is it a praise of Moshe that he broke the tablets? That is why he explained that Hashem acquiesced to this etc. Question: How does the Medrish know that ‘which you shattered’ could be interpreted as ‘more power to you for shattering,’ maybe the word אשר should be translated the way it is normally translated every place else? The Ramban already answered in the first chapter of Bava Basra 14b that we darshan a smuchin (a juxtaposition of two words next to each other in the Torah which can teach us a lesson or halacha), for it wrote earlier 10:2 אשר that which you broke and you placed, which implies the broken shards of the tablets were beloved by G-D. If their breaking would have been difficult in front of Him, He would not have said to place them in the Ark, for a prosecutor does not become a defendant. But because of the smuchin we darshan אשר as being a language of אשרי, happy is you. And see in his (the Ramban’s) piece in tractate Shabbos 87a, when it says a prosecutor doesn’t become a defendant I humbly believe it means that The Blessed Hashem commanded that the Ark should be placed in the inner chambers in order to be reminded of the Jewish merit of accepting the Torah and if it was sinful to break the tablets then they would have been a prosecutor to remember the sin of the golden calf, that for that reason the tablets were smashed, rather it must be that Hashem definitely agreed to them being smashed.”

Something doesn’t make sense here. If it must be that Hashem acquiesced to the smashing of the tablets because he would not have placed them in the Ark in the Holy of Holies lest they act as a reason to prosecute the Jews and not a merit to defend them, but isn’t the very fact that they are smashed a reason to remember the sin of the golden calf and to prosecute them? That was the whole reason why Hashem agreed with Moshe to smash them! So why wouldn’t it be used against them?

We must therefore say that even though  Hashem agreed with Moshe to smash the tablets, which were the symbol of merit for accepting the Torah, they must still be a symbol of merit even though they were broken, and would not have been broken if the sin of the golden calf had not happened. But because the leader of the nation took proper actions to reprimand his people and did not capitulate to their ideas or look the other way when there was a serious problem already happening, it is meritorious and is a symbol of excellent leadership, which will trickle down as an example of how to sacrifice for the cause of good.

This lesson is definitely worth concluding the entire Torah with, because it is teaching us that it is not the book itself which is sacred, rather it’s what is inside that counts. If we have leaders that are focused on doing what’s right for Hashem’s sake, at whatever cost, it will have a trickle down effect on the entire nation and bring merit to everyone which makes it very apropos for Hashem who acquiesced to this matter to conclude the Torah with this lesson.

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Haazinu – The Nickname That Stuck

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 Yehoshua (Joshua) Bin Nun, the successor of Moshe Rabbeinu, was given the name Hoshea at birth, and we in fact find a few times throughout the Torah his original name used. One instance is at the end of this week’s Torah portion of Haazinu, where it states: “And Moses came and spoke all the words of this song into the ears of the people he and Hoshea the son of Nun.”

The Chizkuni explains how he got the name Yehoshua: “In the beginning when he began being an attendant of Moshe Rabbeinu, Moshe called him Yehoshua, for this is normal practice of kings to change the names of their attendants, for example, Yosef, Daniel, Chananya, Mishael, and Azaryah. Now that he became the King he went back to his original name. Nevertheless in all of Tanach he is called Yehoshua because that is what he was used to being called.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)

We know the nickname Yehoshua is not derogatory, because that was what Moshe used as a defense for Yehoshua against the bad influence of the spies. Also, the addition of the “yud” to the beginning of his name which starts with the letter “hay” combines to be one of Hashem’s names. However, it does seem to be a lack of respect and a detraction from the honor of the king to be called by the name he was called when he was just an attendant or servant of the previous king. Not only did he write and name the first book of Neviem by that name, Yehoshua, but he is also referred to as Yehoshua in other books of Na”Ch, which he did not write! Why just because of habit is it acceptable to call the king by the name he was called when he was just the attendant?

It would seem that the power of habit can change the rules of derech eretz, proper manners. This means that even though it would seem more appropriate to call him by Hoshea once he was king, since he already got used to being called Yehoshua, that turned into the acceptable name to refer to him as.

What we can take from this is that habit must be taken into account when deciding what is appropriate and not appropriate as long as it is not an insulting habit.

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Vayelech – Realizing Greatness Comes with Responsibility

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The opening pasuk of this week’s Torah portion of Vayelech states: “Moshe went and told these words to Bnei Yisrael” (31:1). “These words” are referring to the concluding lectures on Hashem’s Torah and the final message Moshe gave to his followers before he passed away.

The Medrish Tanchuma (paragraph 3) on this pasuk relates a riveting message about the greatness of Torah, the greatness of one human being, and the responsibilities that comes with such an exalted position. “It writes, ‘Hashem founded the earth with wisdom,’ (Mishlei 3:19). ‘Wisdom’ always refers to Torah. What is its name? Amon (אמון) , as it says, ‘And I was by Him Amon ’ (Mishlei 8:30). It was not called Torah until it was given at Har Sinai, and because of what it adds up to in gematria, is it called Torah. This is because there are 613 mitzvos in the Torah. Torah in gematria is 611 and the other two were given by the mouth of Hashem Himself. This is what the pasuk meant when it said, ‘God spoke one thing, I heard two’ (Tehillim 62:12). This is also what it means, ‘Torah that Moshe commanded us” (Devarim 33:4), like the gematria value of Torah that Moshe commanded us, and the others that Hashem commanded, as I explained in Parshas Yisro, is an inheritance to the Children of Yaakov, and not to the other nations of the world, as it says ‘He relates His word to Yaakov, His statutes and judgments to Israel. He did not do so for any other nation’ (End of Tehillim 148). It also write about it ‘day day’ as it says I was Amon beside Him, and I was [His] delight day in and day out’ (Tehillim 8:30). A day [for Hashem] is no less than a 1000 years as it says, ‘For a thousand years are in Your eyes like yesterday’ (Tehillim 90:4). When was this written about? Before it was given. But [the Torah] could not have been written on silver or gold, for silver and gold were not created yet before the world was created, rather it was written ‘on the arm’ of The Holy One Blessed Be He. Therefore every person must understand and intellectualize in one’s knowledge and mind that he should toil in Torah day and night, as it says, ‘you shall toil therein day and night,’ (Yehoshua 1:8), as well as in good deeds. This is because the whole entire world is judged every day and because of one person the entire world can merit to be innocent or be guilty. If it is guilty on his part, about him the pasuk writes, ‘And one sin causes him to lose a lot’ (Koheles 9). Also, similarly to what our sages of blessed memory have taught, ‘The world is half guilty half innocent. If one comes and transgresses a sin, then he tips the scale of sins higher than mitzvos, which means the entire world is guilty because of him. But if the sins and mitzvos were equal and one comes and performs one mitzvah, then the merits tip the scale higher than the sins, so happy is him who brings merit upon the world. If he isn’t a full time learner he should do his work honestly.” (Click here and here for Hebrew text.)

This medrish is fascinating. The Torah was created 2000 years before creation but was not called the Torah; rather it was called Amon, stemming from the same root as emuna, meaning faith or honesty. And for whatever it means, during that time, since it was so valuable, it is assumed to have been written down on the most valuable substance; but of course silver and gold did not exist before the world was created, so it was written, figuratively, on “Hashem’s arm.” Only after Hashem gave the Torah to the Jewish people at Har Sinai, the first two mitzvos directly from Him into the ears of Bnei Yisrael and the other 611 mitzvos through Moshe Rabbeinu, was it then called Torah which has the numeric value of 611. Why is this mentioned, and what is the connection to the next part of the medrish which is actually based on a Braisa in Kiddushin 40b that describes how Hashem judges each person and the entire world every day?  And we must view the world as half guilty and half innocent, as well as ourselves as in the middle, half innocent with mitzvos and half guilty with sin. Our next move will make it or break it, not only for ourselves but for the entire world! This is hopefully an impetus for us to make the right move, either to learn harder or to do the right thing, like running our business honestly. But why should we view ourselves in this fashion? Why is this an important attitude in our service of Hashem to motivate us to toil in Torah and perform good deeds?

This medrish is showing us what type of an approach we should have in performing Hashem’s will. We have to realize what we are dealing with and who we are. We are dealing with such high standards of living, priceless ideals, which stem from the most divine, holiest, ancient and pristine settings. This means we have to take care of what we have with gentleness, awe, and reverence. We have to stay focused on our task at all times, and not let it slip away from beneath our fingers.

But we also have to recognize who we are. The greatness of the individual and the great responsibility Hashem entrusts to us. Each and every one of us are in fact held to such a high level that we can decide the fate of all humanity, with any decision we choose to make, for good or for bad. Hashem entrusts this task into our hands.

We should take this to heart and meditate on how special and great we in fact are. Not only should we look the part, walk the walk, talk the talk, and dress the dress, but also realize the awesome responsibility we have, and take appropriate action to live up to this lofty responsibility.

With this attitude and insight the world will be elevated to a whole new terrain and quality of life!

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Sefer Chofetz Chaim Last Footnote in Introduction

Today we concluded the introduction to Sefer Chofetz Chaim with the last footnote there. After Sukkos we’ll continue from where we previously left off in chapter 3.

Today the Chofetz Chaim touched on a few issues like how everything he writes is based in halacha even if he quotes the mussar sefer, Shaarei Teshuva by Rabbeinu Yona, But Rabbeinu Yona was very precise to speak in terms of laws of lashon hara. The Chofetz Chaim said he anyways brought multiple proofs for all he taught when he quotes sources like Rabbeinu Yona when they rule stringently, though when Rabbeinu Yona rules leniently he will quote him on his own.

The Chofetz Chaim then said that he left no Halacha unturned and even if he wrote a leniency that those who habituate in lashon hara might take advantage of, it is still worth mentioning because Chazal in Bava Basra elaborate on the pasuk that “all of Hashem’s ways are straight and the righteous should walk in them though the wicked my stumble in them.” Meaning it is worthwhile to reveal something which sounds questionable or a leniency on face value but all of G-d’s Torah is truth and those that want to delve into it and observe it properly should have the opportunity to do so even if the wicked might choose to take advantage of it and warp it for their own evil ways.

The Chofetz Chaim then went into much detail proving that the Chaz”al which says “It’s better to do things by accident (unknowingly) then (to be taught the Halacha) and do it purposefully (anyways). The Chofetz Chaim debunked applying this rule to the laws of lashon hara because the rule doesn’t apply to mitzvos that are explicitly stated in the Torah. Would you say don’t teach people the laws of stealing since most people have issues with it anyway? Or don’t teach the laws of Shabbos because they are too difficult to keep? Of course not! On the contrary the Gemara in Erechin purposefully discusses various Halachos of lashon hara and the Torah explicitly tells us we should constantly remember what happened to Miriam in the desert when she spoke lashon hara against Moshe so of course to truly realize the severity we also must learn all the laws that pertain to it.

By learning the laws of lashon hara in detail then even if we sometimes transgress at least we won’t habitually speak it, we might even feel bad in those times when we do slip and apologize to the person you spoke about if you know you made him feel bad and at the very least make sure to try not to speak lashon hara again.

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Netzavim-Unity People

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There is a famous axiom in Jewish Law, that all Jews are responsible for each other, כל ישראל ערבים זה לזה. This is based on a gemara in Shavuos 39a. The question is how far does this concept extend?

The Gemara in Kiddushin 40b states: “Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, says: Since the world is judged by its majority,and an individual isjudged by his majority,ifhe performs one mitzva he is praiseworthy, as he tiltsthe balance ofhimself and the entire world to the scale of merit.Ifhe transgresses one prohibition, woe to him, as he tiltsthe balancefor himself and the entire world to the scale of liability, as it is stated: “But one sindestroys much good,” i.e.,due to one sin that thisindividualcommits, he squanders much goodness from himself and from the entire world.” Interesting enough the Gilyonay HaShas says, based on a medrish, Jews and non-Jews are judged at two different times. Non-Jews by night and Jews during the day therefore when the gemara says “the world is judged” it is referring to the Jewish world which is all judged together and one person can make “a world of a difference!”  

In fact Rav Moshe Chaim Luzzatto in his Derech Hashem tells us: “Those who cause others to partake in the World to Come will definitely be the foremost in that Community. They will be the leaders, while those who enter by virtue of their association with them will be beholden and dependent on them. In order for this to be possible, all people were originally bound to each other as our sages teach us ‘All Israel are responsible for one another’ (Shavuos 39a). As a result of this, each individual is bound to everyone else, and no person is counted separately. G-D’s attribute of good is the stronger, however, and if the guilt for sin is shared by others, this must certainly be true of the merit associated with good deeds” (Derech Hashem, Individual Providence 2:3:9)

There is a Medrish Tanchuma on the opening pesukim of this week’s Torah portion of Netzavim which elaborates on this point. The pesukim say: “You are all standing this day before the Lord, your God the leaders of your tribes, your elders and your officers, every man of Israel, your young children, your women, and your convert who is within your camp both your woodcutters and your water drawers” (Devarim 29:9, 10).

The Medrish Tanchuma says: “Everyone is responsible for each other, even one righteous person amongst you, all of you are alive in his merit. Not only you, but even if one righteous person is amongst you, the whole entire world, in his merit keeps on existing, as it says, ‘And a righteous person who is the foundation of the world’ (Mishlei 10:25). And when one of you sins, the entire generation can be smitten, and so you find by Achan, ‘Behold Achan son of Zerach profaned the bounty etc.’ (Yehoshua, perek 7). The Attribute of punishment is less, and still the generation was grabbed by it, all the more so the attribute of good which is much greater. For this reason it writes ‘Every man of Israel,’ not only the great people amongst you but even your children and your wives, and your convert (The Etz Yosef points out that this terminology is emphasized to teach us that every Jew is responsible or are grabbed in the sin of even one person. But as we will see this is also true about mitzvos and reward.) This is why it says ‘every man of Israel’ since human beings tend to be more merciful on males more so than females, however Hashem isn’t like that, He is merciful on His entire creation, on the females and males, on the righteous and the wicked, as it says, ‘both your woodcutters and your water drawers’.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)

The Biur HaAmarim on the Medrish Tanchuma points out that in Parshas Re’eh the medrish (paragraph 3) says that since the acceptance of the Torah on Har Sinai a generation will not be punished for one person’s sin. Therefore it must be that it is talking about if no one knew about it; but if people knew about it and were quiet, then everyone is responsible because that was part of the covenant. The extent of ‘all Jews responsible for one another’ is to the point that we are rewarded or punished in a global way for even one mitzvah, or G-D forbid, one sin, a person does. The consequences hit everyone, young or old, male or female, righteous, or wicked, and indeed Jews from all backgrounds; we are all connected as one and affect each other in everything we do.

The medrish points out that the Torah goes out of its way to mention that Hashem also includes women in the reward for a good deed of the righteous, because people think differently based on an attitude throughout history that women aren’t equal. In fact the Biur HaAmarim says “there are those who are more merciful on males but there is also the opposite.” But why should that be? Every human was created in the image of Hashem, with free will and the ability, for the most part, of everyone to be able to speak on an intellectual level; why then should there be gender inequality?

It must be that because people are different then it causes others to look at them as unequal. But Hashem purposefully created men and women to be different in order that the ultimate purpose of the world will be fulfilled in the most optimum way, with each half focusing on their own specialties. That is why men and women have different responsibilities in serving Hashem, though many of the responsibilities still overlap.

Therefore, Hashem, who doesn’t see differences as inequalities, of course will treat everyone equally. But in order for humans, with our frailties, to comprehend that, Hashem had to go out of his way to point that out in these pesukim.

Natural human instinct seems to equate difference with inequality. It takes Divine precision to realize we are all deserving to be responsible of each other and share to a lesser extent in our punishment, and more of an extent in our reward.

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Torah Riddles Test #68

  1. Question: Why can you fulfill the mitzvah of pidyon haben by giving the five coins one coin at a time to the kohen but you can’t fulfill the mitzvah of lulav and esrog by picking up each of the four species one at a time?

Background:

A. Rav Algazi In Bechoros daf 51 says based on a Tosfos in Sukkah 34b which talks about picking up the lulav and esrog to do the mitzvah that Tosfos holds that anything which is one mitzvah cannot be done one after the other even if you had in mind originally to pick up each item one at a time.

B. The main mitzvah that pidyon haben dependent on giving money (to the kohen).

C. The main mitzvah of lulav and esrog is taking them.

Answer: By lulav and esrog all 4 species must be taken if each one was picked up separately you can’t say they add up to taking all of them a daled minim. But as long as the kohen gets his money in the end it doesn’t matter how that happens the mitzvah is fulfilled so you can give each coin one at a time.

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Torah Riddles Test #67

  1. Question: Why are you liable for eating on Yom Kippur the forbidden designated amount of food in a scenario where the first half is permissible?

Background:

A. For example if a person is dangerously sick and was told he must eat half an amount of a thick date of food every 9 minutes. If he eats the full date amount he is liable though the first half was permissible for him to eat.

B. A thick date is the amount considered to be enough to compose and settle one’s mind if he is hungry, which is why it is the amount of liability.

C. The Torah says one should cause himself to suffer on Yom Kippur.

D. The Kesser Sofer (responsa 31) says that even if a person ate half a date size right before Yom Kippur and another half right after Yom Kippur started he is still liable.

Answer: Even though he was only not allowed to have half of what he ate but because the combo combined to create a state of composer and settling of the mind it then created a liability since that is the exact issue which the Torah forbade. The exact measurement is just the amount designated which causes composer.

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Sefer Chofetz Chaim Chapter 3 halacha 6

Quite simply today’s halacha plainly states that it is forbidden to speak lashon hara even if no harm was done, and even if you somehow knew no harm would be done.

Unlike other sins between man and his fellow which are only a sin if it actually happened liked stealing, overcharging or interest, lashon hara is a sin even if no harm what so ever is done. The proof is the fact that the gemara in Erechin 16a says the coat the Kohen Gadol wears in the Beis HaMikdash with the bells and pomegranates  is an atonement for the sin of lashon harm if no harm was done. If harm was done then the person received tzaraas, (spiritual leprosy.) There would be no need for an atonement if harmless lashon hara wasn’t a sin. It must be that the very fact a person just speaks negatively about his fellow Jew to his own benefit is enough to be a sin even if no harm is done, which Rabbeinu Yonah in his Shaarei Teshuva also points out.

Furthermore we saw why Miriam was punished with tzaraas even though Moshe didn’t take what she said to heart and it didn’t cause any skirmish or hard feelings whatsoever when Miriram told Aharon lashon hara that Moshe separated from his wife and the Torah said Aharon responded to her words. Rechilus is deserving of tzaraas if it effectuated some kind of skirmish to start, ill-feelings between two people. But lashon hara is deserving of tzaraas even if the speaker caused the listener to start talking about the situation, even if he doesm’t say something negative or tries to defend the person spoken against but point is it made an impression. So because Aharon started talking as the Torah say, after Miriam told him about Moshe, she was therefore derving of tzaraas. Nothing else was said after that and that is why Aharon never got tzaraas. Whatever he said had zero impact on anything.

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Ki Savo – Judgement Day: Cursed or Blessed

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.

In this week’s Torah portion of Ki Savo we read of the blessings for observing the Torah and curses if the Torah is not kept. Towards the end of the curses, the Torah writes: “And your life will hang in suspense before you. You will be in fear night and day, and you will not believe in your life” (Devarim 28:66).

The Maharam of Rottenberg observes that there are only two times in all of Tanach that the word teluim or תלואים (hanging in suspense) is used. They are in this pasuk, as well in a pasuk in Hoshea 11:7, וְעַמִּ֥י תְלוּאִ֖ים לִמְשֽׁוּבָתִ֑י “And My people waver whether to return to Me, and to the matter concerning which they call them, together they do not uphold [it].” In Hoshea the context being to waver in wanting to repent or not, instead of hanging in suspense.

The Maharam continues by saying that this concept of hanging is also mentioned in a gemara in Rosh Hashana 16b: “That the fully righteous are judged for life on Rosh Hashana and the completely wicked are judged for death but those in the middle are hanging in suspense by teshuva (repentance) until Yom Kippur. If they do repent they are deserving  life and if they do not repent they are deserving death.” This, the Maharam says, is what “your life will hang in suspense” means; that your life will hang on repentance, just like a hanging scale teetering from one side to the other. (Click here and here for Hebrew text.)
The Maharam connects the pasuk with the curses of this week’s Torah portion to Rosh Hashana; but it seems not to make sense that everyone who is in this middle state every year, which is probably most of us, are in an accursed state waiting in limbo, to see what will become of us.

Rather, it would seem that the Maharam is sending a different message. There are two types of people in this world. (Really 3, the third one being one who doesn’t really fully focus or doesn’t focus at all on the incoming Day of Judgement). The other 2 understand full well that there is an incoming judgement, but there are two possible ways one can handle it.

If you look closely at the gemara in Rosh Hashana, it says that the in-between person’s judgement holds in limbo not his own life or death, granted that is the result of his judgement, but this is a different perspective. Namely that  a person with calmness and equanimity who realizing his life is on the line for the coming year and will take orderly and decisive strides to work on himself to make sure he learns enough mussar and instills in himself the proper fear of Heaven to accurately repent and be signed into the Book of Life by the time Yom Kippur ends.

Then there are other people, which the Maharam says the pasuk in the curses is describing, who take the upcoming day of judgement as a time of immense anxiety, where their focus is on their lives which is literally hanging in the balance. Imagine the scale hanging on each side, going up and down; will I do accurate teshuva, will I not; the nausea and dizziness of swinging up and down in doubt; wouldn’t that cause such stress and anxiety! It might thrust a person into action and they will in the end take the correct steps to repent appropriately and deserve to be signed into the Book of Life. But the means of getting to that point will be psychologically much more horrifying. It’s an accursed state of being.

There are clear times in Jewish History when all the curses described in the Torah portion came true and people literally felt their life were on the line and were unsure if they were going to  live to see the next day. But there were other times in history where the blessings of Hashem were clearly seen and there was much calm and peace, while still being deeply rooted in our G-D fearing ways.

But it would seem that even on an individual level there are two possible ways one can approach Yom HaDin, the Day of Judgement, (1) in a blessed serene manner or (2) in an accursed anxious manner. What steps will be taken at this awe-inspiring time to do teshuva? Will they be anxious and accursed or calm and orderly?