Author: Rabbi Milder

This week’s Torah portion of Bamidbar starts the fourth book of the Torah. It begins: “Hashem spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first of the second month, in the second year after their exodus from the land of Egypt saying” (Bamidbar 1:1). The Torah then proceeds to describe one of the many censuses counted in the desert.

Rashi, wondering why Hashem counted His people three times in one year, explains: “Because Bnei Yisrael is beloved to Hashem, He counts them at all times. When they departed from Egypt He counted them. And when they fell at the sin of the golden calf He counted them to determine the number of those remained. And when He came to rest His Divine Presence upon them He counted them. On the first day of the month of Nissan the Mishkan was erected and on the first of Iyar He counted them” (First Rashi in Bamidbar).

The Levush HaOrah, a commentary on Rashi, asks: why was Rashi’s question,which prompted his explanation, placed on this pasuk? The discussion of the census did not start until the second pasuk, which is where this Rashi should be? The Levush HaOrah answers, quoting Rav Shlomo Luria, that the question of Rashi was why did the Torah emphasized the date, the 11^th of Nissan,  more than by any other commandment? Rashi therefore answers that Hashem was displaying his  love through counting his precious people, and since this speech was out of pure love, Hashem’s Presence rested amongst them. This manifestation of his presence was deservingof recognition, it was therefore written on which day it took place, just like a chosson (groom) gives his kallah (bride) a kesuba with the date and location in it. (Click here for Hebrew text.)

The Torah is expressing Hashem’s pure love for his children, that they as beloved as a Kallah to her Chosson. Indeed, the census itself is  an expression of love, in that just as a collector counts his collection constantly, because he loves what he collects, so too Hashem counts his children often.It seems ironic and a bit degrading that Hashem at first expresses his love by comparing our relationship as a chosson giving his kallah a kesuba at their weddingand then laterseems to treat us as an object, comparing the Jewish People to a collector’s item. Why did Hashem’s expression of Love so drastically change, and why is it an appropriate expression of love?

We must say that Hashem is teaching us a lesson about showing one’s love for another. Of course Hashem has the ability to constantly shower us with the ultimate intensity of love , but love does not have to be constantly expressed with the same intensity and exactitude. As long as one genuinely shows continual expressions of love, even if it varies, it is still considered true love, which will be appreciated.

Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Dovid Shmuel Milder

This week’s Torah reading concludes the Book of Vayikra with the double portion of Behar and Bichukosai. In the second parsha we find the first set of blessings and curses for observing and G-D forbid transgressing the Torah at the beginning of Bichukosai.

One of the blessings for completely following Hashem’s Torah is: “I will provide peace in the land and you will lie down with none to frighten you; I will cause wild beasts to rest from the land, and a sword will not cross your land” (Vayikra 26:6).

The Ramban, quoting a Sifra on this pasuk, points out that there is an argument over whether ‘wild beasts resting from the land’ means no wild beast will enter any populated cities, as per Rebbi Yehuda, or, asRebbi Shimon says, that even if wild beast do enter populated areas they will not cause any damage.

The Ramban says that he sides with Rebbi Shimon’s view, and explains why: “For the Land of Israel will be in a state equivalent to the earth before Adam sinned when everyone will be fulfilling the mitzvos, no wild animal or creepy crawler will kill a person, as it says in Berachos 33a, ‘No wild donkey kills rather sin kill.’ This is what the verses in Yeshaya 11:5 and 7 are referring to when it says ‘Righteousness will be the girdle round his loins, and faith will be the girdle round his waist… A cow and bear will graze and their young will lie down together; and a lion, like cattle will eat hay.’ The instinct to prey was originally not within the nature of a wild beast, only because of Adam’s sin, was there a decree of prey on both of them, and the instinct to prey became nature even for an animal to prey on another as it is known, for preying on a man once will make the animal more fierce. And so the pasuk says ‘he learned to attack prey; he devoured men’ (Yechezkel 19:3).

Behold, at the time of creation it says that Hashem gave the wild animals grass to eat as it writes, ‘And for all the animals on the ground and all the birds in the sky and all that crawl on the ground which has an animalistic soul all the vegetation and grass is for them to eat’ (Breishis 1:30).  The pasuk concludes ‘and it was so,’ meaning this was the nature that Hashem placed inside them for all time but afterwards they learned how to prey because of the [first] sin which brought death into the world as we explained earlier. When the slaughter of animals was permitted in the times of Noah after the flood and man was warned by Hashem, ‘But your blood of your souls I will demand an account… I will demand the soul of man’ (Breishis 9:5), but not the animalistic  soul of an animal [spilled] by an animal, which means from then on the nature of the beast to prey stayed in place.

When the Land of Israel will reach its perfection, these bad ways will cease to exist and they will revert back to their original nature that they were originally created with…Therefore the pasuk speaks about the days of redemption through the ‘Trunk of Yishai,’ that peace will return to the world and preying will cease to exist and the will of all wild beasts and creepy crawlers will be as their original nature. Originally this was intended for in the times of King Chizkiyahu who Hashem wanted to appoint as moshiach, (see Gemara Sanhedrin 94a) but they did not merit that, however this will all happen in the future when moshiach comes.” (Click here and here for Hebrew text.)

The Mesilas Yesharim in his first chapter teaches us that Hashem put us into this world to use it; we have the ability to uplift ourselves and our surroundings by using for good what is around us. But we also, G-D forbid, have the potential to destroy ourselves and everything around us by using it for bad: “If you look more deeply into the matter, you will see that the world was created for man’s use. In truth, man is the center of a great balance. For if he is pulled after the world and is drawn further from his Creator, he is damaged, and he damages the world with him. And if he rules over himself and unites himself with his Creator, and uses the world only to aid him in the service of his Creator, he is uplifted and the world itself is uplifted with him. For all creatures are greatly uplifted when they serve the ‘complete man’ who is sanctified with the holiness of the Blessed One.”

The Ramban here seems to be taking the concept of the Mesilas Yesharim one step further. Not only can man uplift or destroy his surroundings, he can even transform their very nature back and forth from the way G-D originally intended to create them!

Not only  Adam HaRishon, someone who was mistaken by the angels as Hashem until Hashem put him to sleep, someone who understood the essence of every animal and was able to name each creature in the world  is it understandable that he could have such a power to transform nature. Yet we see from here that you and I as well, indeed all of us individually  as well as as a collective, have the potential to transform nature and revert it back to its original intention. We, who are living today, have this ability to bring peace to the world, and  usher in the days of moshiach simply by observing Hashem’s mitzvos and doing His will.

It is an awe-inspiring responsibility, but this is the greatness of man;each and every one of us has the ability to live up to it!

In the middle of this week’sTorah portion of Emor we find a discussion  of the yom tovim.  Yet part way through this discussion, the Torah reverts back to the topic of a few mitzvos that were already discussed in last week’s Torah portion of Kedoshim, it says: “And when you reap the harvest of your land you shall not completely remove the corner of your field during your harvesting, and you shall not gather up the gleaning of your harvest. Rather you shall leave these for the poor person and for the stranger. I am Hashem your G-D” (Vayikra 23:22).

The Medrish Toras Kohanim asks the obvious question in the name of Rebbe Avradimus (Avdimi) ben Rebbe Yossi: “Why is this pasuk placed here in the middle of the holidays, with Pesach and Shavuos discussed on one side and Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Sukkos on the other side? Rather it is coming to teach us that whoever gives out leket, shichicha, peah, and maser ani is viewed as if the beis hamikdash is standing and he brought offering within it. Whoever does not give leket, shichicha, peah and maasr ani is viewed as if the beis hamikdash is standing and he did not bring his offerings inside it.”

The Malbim explains that one of the intentions and benefits of the holidays is to support the kohanim of Hashem and the poor people. These two categories rely on the table of Hashem for sustenance… He says that even after the holiday it is a mitzvah to support the poor with gifts of the harvest. This is of equal value to the offerings to Hashem brought on the holidays which supported the kohanim. These mitzvos are done throughout the year, even after the beis hamikdash was destroyed. Indeed, one who does not give a due share to the poor people, it is as if he withheld his offerings in the beis hamikdash. (Click here fore Hebrew text)

The Rabbeinu Bachye, quoting Rashi, adds one more step to the equation.  He quotes the Toras Kohanim almost verbatim, which after asking the question of what this verse is doing at this juncture, the Rabbeinu Bachye, quoting Rashi answers: “From here you learn that whoever gives leket, shichicha and peah to the poor in the proper manner the Torah equates it as if he built the beis hamikdash and brought offerings inside it. I am Hashem your G-D trusted to pay up reward.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)

Leket is 1-2 stalks  of produce that falls during harvest; shichicha is bundles  forgotten during harvest;peah is produce at the corner of the field. All these should be left for the poor to collect and eat. Maaser ani is a tenth of the produce one must give on the 3^rd and 6^th year of the shemita cycle. If these mitzvos are fulfilled in exactly the proper manner, it is as if one built the beis hamikdash and brought offerings on the alter, which Hashem concludes in this verse is guaranteed because He is trusted to reward for just deeds.

However if one is to think about it, what is the big deal? One or two stalks fall, a bundle of grain, or the corner of one’s field – they are not so much, especially if many poor people visit the field. Imagine if a person stood outside and gave $1000 to every poor person who came to him; wouldn’t you think that it is a tremendous mitzvah of tzedaka deserving of being equated with bringing an offering in the beis hamikdash? Yet Rashi goes out of his way to emphasize that doing these mitzvos in the proper manner, exactly as Jewish Law prescribes, to its very detail, with all there proper intentions warrants the same reward as building the beis hamikdash and bringing sacrifices on the alter! Anything less or different, even if it looks like a bigger chesed, a better way to benefit the poor, does not have the same rewarding effect. Why?

We are compelled to say that although it might be a tremendous kindness and quite a show of charity to give $1000 to every poor person who passes by, and it is of course deserving of incredible reward, Hashem still runs the world in a systematic way. Therefore, only if that system is running exactly as the Creator created and expects it to run, only then will it function appropriately. Anything different, whether for better or for worse in the eyes of the doer, cannot produce the same results.

Hashem has a plan and gave us insight into the system of how the world runs. It is our job to understand and live by that plan, and not to try to outsmart Hashem and think we can do better, or that we can be good, moral people on our own terms; it won’t produce the desired effects at least in the long run. This doesn’t mean that everything is black or white, all or nothing. There is plenty of gray, and Hashem takes every minute detail into account. But there is a system of how He runs this world, and only living within that system produces perfection.

One of the many mitzvos in this week’s double portion of Acharei Mos and Kedoshim is the mitzvah of Orlah: “When you come into the land and you plant any fruit bearing tree and you shall stay away from its fruits for the first three years, you shall stay away from them and not eat from it. And on the fourth year all the fruit shall be holy, praises to Hashem. And on the fifth year you shall eat from its fruit to add for you its produce, I am Hashem your G-D” (Vayikra 19:23-25).

The Ramban asks: why can we not eat from any tree the first three years of its existence, and on its fourth year the fruit is treated like maaser sheni (only being eaten in Yerushalayim while praising Hashem, as the Rashbam points out). “The reason for this is to honor Hashem from the first produce of the fruit of the tree and produce of the vine and not to eat from them until all the fruit of one year is brought as praises to Hashem. Behold, fruit in general is not able to be brought within the first three years before the honorable Hashem since they are very little and the tree does not give off into the fruit its good taste or smell within the first three years. A good portion of trees don’t produce fruit at all with in the first three years until year four. For this reason by all of them we wait and not taste any of them until it is brought from what was planted all its first good fruit as holy before Hashem, and there they shall eat and praise Hashem. This mitzvah is similar to the mitzvah of bikkurim.”

The Chizkuni writes something very similar to the Ramban, but with a slight twist, which is worth highlighting: “For the first three years you should stay away from them because it is not proper manners that one should benefit until they bring it as an offering before Hashem for really it is befitting to bring the first of all the produce but the first three years after planting a tree does not produce anything nice and worth accepting to make from it an offering to Hashem since the tree hasn’t fully taken root and settled into the ground.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)

According to the Chizkuni it is not just a lack of respect or honor to eat from the first fruits produced from a tree, it is a lack of manners on behalf of the tree owner. There seems to be a character flaw, a basic lack of common courtesy shown, by one who eats fruit from a tree within the first three years of planting; not just a lack of honor and respect towards Hashem.

What seems to be perplexing is: what is the big deal about eating these fruits? Anyways, they are inappropriate to be brought before Hashem since they are inferior and only into the fourth year is the fruit ready to be brought before Hashem.  It definitely makes sense to bring the best fruit before Hashem in His honor and it would be a tremendous disrespect to eat them “not in front of Him,” without praising him. But why is it a lack of courtesy to eat any fruit which is undeserving to be brought before Hashem; they are anyways unbefitting?

It would seem that it is common courtesy, or basic manners, to give first to someone of higher and more important stature before taking for yourself; it just happens to be disrespectful to give inferior produce, so one must wait until they are important enough to be worth giving. But anything beforehand is untouchable because you are then placing the more important person, in this case Hashem, second – and that is a basic lack of derech eretz, common courtesy.

Our rabbis teach that every Jew learns Torah with an angel in the womb, but forgets it as they emerge  into the world, when the angel touches the upper lip, making an indentation. Yet the entire Torah remains stored in one’s brain, to be unlocked through its study.

In explaining the juxtaposition between the end of last week’s Torah portion of Shemini, which discusses the laws of kosher animals and spiritually impure animals, and the beginning of this week’s double portion of Tazria and Metzora, which deals with the laws of a women giving birth to a boy or girl, the Medrish Tanchuma explains: “Adam, the first man, said, after Hashem created all the animals, birds, rodents and creepy crawlers He then created me. So to by a baby, before he comes out of the womb of his mother, Hashem commands him and says, ‘This you shall eat and this you shall not eat, and this to you is spiritually impure, this you shall eat and this you shall not eat.’ And one who accepts upon himself in his mother’s womb all the mitzvos of the Torah then he will be born…” (parshas Tazria, paragraph 1). (Click here for Hebrew text)

The Anaf Yosef observes that there seems to be a contradiction in the medrish. Originally, Hashem specified  a single mitzvah about what one could or could not eat,  and  later it says that the baby has to accept all the mitzvos in the womb;so were all mitzvos, or only one mitzvah, discussed in the womb? We must therefore say that we learn from this that all of the mitzvos and all Torah learning is dependent on the mitzvah of not eating something spiritually impure. The explanation behind this is based on what earlier rabbis have taught us, that the reason why Hashem distanced the Jews from these spiritually impure things is because they are so disgusting and impure that it covers a person’s heart with impurities and causes one to forget his Torah learning and the necessary means to obtain the Torah.He therefore distanced them and warned against them [eating non-kosher foods]. Now what the medrish says makes sense; Hashem explains to the baby before he leaves his mother’s womb that this he is allowed to eat and this he isn’t;then, if he accepts this mitzva,h he will accept the entire Torah and its mitzvos. For it is for this reason that Hashem warned us [about not eating non-kosher], in order to understand and have the necessary means to obtain the Torah.

We learn from here something absolutely incredible and awesome about the true understanding of Torah and proper service of Hashem! One can have the intellect of an Albert Einstein and a photographic memory, but if he eats non-kosher, which sullies his heart and spiritual essence, he won’t be able to fully grasp the Torah and observance of its mitzvos with crystal clarity. It is true that being smarter might make it easier to pick up and get into Torah learning, but the precision and absolute intensity needed to understand the minutia and profundity of the Torah, to the point of properly observing it, will not be there.

The Torah is the pristine and holy gift of Hashem to mankind; one must be cognizant of that at all time and must treat it with the utmost respect and sacredness. In this way one can truly understand and appreciate the Torah and observance of mitzvos, in order to fulfill G-D’s will.

Hillel says in Pirkay Avos (1:12) that we should strive to be from the students of Aharon: “Loving peace and running after peace, loving everyone and bringing them close to Torah.” Rashi explains: “that we should learn from Aharon who loved peace as it says: ‘I had a covenant with him, the life and the peace’ (Malachi 2:5). When he saw two people fighting with each other he would go up to each one of them unbeknownst to the other and say, ‘So and so, see, why do you fight with so and so, for he ran over to me and pleaded with me to come to you and speak to you until you are appeased and make up with him.’ Aharon would do the same to his friend and through words like these he would create peace amongst them. One time a person said to his wife, ‘I swear not to have any enjoyment with you until you spit in the eye of the kohen gadol.’ Aharon heard about this, he went over to that woman and told her, ‘Mrs. So and So I have an eye ache, may you please spit in my eye, so it will feel better?’ She then spit into his eye. For this reason the Torah states at his death, ‘All the House of Israel cried over Aharon for thirty days’ (Bamidbar 20:29), referring to both the men and women. But by Moshe it only says the Sons of Israel, as it states, ‘And the sons of Israel cried over Moshe.’ (Devarim 34:8).”

In this week’s Torah portion of Shemini, after the tragic incident of the death of Aharon’s two son’s Nadav and Avihu, the Torah says: “Moshe called on Mishael and Eltzaphan the sons of Uziel, the uncle of Aharon and he told them to come close and carry out your brothers from in front of The Holy to outside the camp” (Vayikra 10:4). Rashi there says Uziel was the brother of Amram as it says “And the sons of Kehas: Amram, and Yitzhar, and Chevron and Uziel” (Shemos 6:18).

The Rabbeinu Bachye asks on this Rashi: “What brought the rav zt”l to teach us this? Don’t we already know that Uziel was the brother of Amram? Rather, we must explain his explanation as follows, for the reason why the Torah mentioned he was the uncle of Aharon is to explain that Uziel and Aharon were similar to each other in their actions. There is a connection made between Uziel and Aharon to teach that just as Aharon loved peace and ran after peace so too did Uziel love peace and run after peace. The only reason why the rav zt”l (Rashi) had to explain that Uziel was Amram’s brother was because the Torah said he was the uncle of Aharon.” (Click here for Hebrew text)

The Rabbeinu Bachye is teaching us that the Torah is pointing out that Uziel had the same trait as Aharon, that of being a lover of peace, and running after peace. In fact, it sounds like the reason Rashi points out the obvious, that Uziel was the brother of Amram, is to teach us that this trait was in the family, it was genetic. Yet we don’t find any mention of Uziel and his greatness any place else in the Torah besides these two places and it does not say anywhere that we should be of the students of Uziel, loving peace and running after it! If we are right in assuming character traits can be genetic, then why was Aharon’s outcome any different than Uziel’s? On the contrary, he must have learned from his uncle to use this trait in the best manner possible?

Furthermore, to say that Moshe Rabbeinu did not have this trait would be a misnomer. First off, he was the brother of Aharon, so it should have been in his genes as well. Secondly, the greatest leader in Jewish history, who reached heights in perfection and spirituality that no other man ever reached, at such a lofty level, must have been attuned to his fellow man, and cared for him with the same sensitivity as one who loves peace and runs after peace. Indeed, the entire reason he was given the position of leadership of the Jewish People was because of his feelings of care and sensitivity towards his fellow Jews who were slaves in Egypt. So why didn’t the entire Jewish people mourn Moshe as much, and why wasn’t he called a lover of peace and one who ran after peace?

We must therefore say that even though Moshe Rabbeinu did have, and indeed used, this trait of loving peace and running after it, still Uziel and Aharon excelled at this trait. And the reason why it says about Aharon: “May you be from the students of Aharon” and it does not mention from the students of Uziel must be because Aharon excelled at this trait even more than Uziel.

A person might have a natural inclination to do something or to feel a certain way; but there is always more one can do to perfect that trait. It takes constant care and focus to excel at and to perfect a character trait. Practice makes perfect, and if you keep at it, always trying to find a nuance or an angle to better yourself, then you will be deserving of others looking up to you and wanting to emulate how you live your life. Not only that, but you might even be more appreciated!

This week’s Torah portion of Tzav concludes the categories of personal offerings that were brought on the alter.  The last offerings discussed were the korban shelamim, the peace offering which includes the korban todah, the thanksgiving offering.

The Medrish Tanchuma (Parshas Tzav, paragraph 4) records an interesting discussion between Bilaam, the non-Jewish prophet, and the nations of the world. The nations of the world were jealous of the Jewish people, who were allowed to bring a peace offering, while   all the other nations were only allowed to bring burnt offerings to Hashem: “Another interpretation of ‘And this is the laws of the peace offering;’ This is what the verse in Tehillim chapter 85, verse 9 is referring to when it says: ‘I will listen to what the Lord, Hashem is telling, for he is speaking peace with his nation and with his righteous.’ The nations of the world said to Bilaam: ‘Why did G-D tell the Jews to bring sacrifices but not us?’ Bilaam replied to them: ‘The offerings are only for peace and those who accepted the Torah which writes about it, must bring sacrifices. You originally invalidated it [you did not want to accept the Torah] and now you are requesting to bring offerings?’ The one who accepted it brings the offerings as it says ‘Hashem gives strength to his nation, Hashem blesses His nation with peace’ (the last pasuk in Tehillim, chapter 29). That is why [the earlier quoted pasuk] says:‘I will listen to what The Lord tells…’ What does he tell? ‘And this is the laws of the peace offering.’ Why is it called a peace offering? Because it makes peace between the alter, the kohanim, and the rest of the Jews. How? The burnt offering does not have peace written by it. Neither does the sin offering or the guilt offering, only the thanksgiving offering [which is a subcategory of the peace offering]. Come and see, the burnt offering is completely burned in the fire. By the sin offering the blood and limbs are burned on the alter and it’s skins and meat are given to the kohen. But the yisrael did not get any benefit, nor by the guilt offering. But by the thanksgiving offering the blood and limbs went onto the alter, the kohanim received the cheek bone and thigh areas, and the yisrael kept the skins and meat. We find that it made peace between the alter, kohanim, and the yisrael; therefore it is called the peace offering, for it makes peace between everyone.”

The Etz Yosef explains this medrash as follows: “[Hashem’s] intention is to give the peace offering which makes peace in the world as a kindness only to His nation. For this reason the nations were jealous that they were not allowed to bring a peace offering like the Jews. Bilaam told them the reason which is because there is only peace for the Jews who accepted the Torah which is a Torah of kindness, as it is written, ‘and the Torah of kindness on the tongue,’ but the other nations of the world who did not accepted the Torah are treated with strict judgement, with G-D’s name of Elokim… And even though the Torah does allow non-Jews to bring sacrifices those are only burnt offerings not peace offerings as mentioned in a gemara in Menachos.” (Click here and here for Hebrew text.)

The Midah [attribute] of peace is one of the most important Middos in the world. Every day we pray for peace in kaddish, when we take our steps back in shemone esray, as well asat the end of birkas hamazon when we say: “He Who makes peace in His heights, may He make peace upon us, and upon Israel.” The Maalos HaMiddos in his chapter on peace says that peace is one of the loftiest attributes, for one of the names of Hashem is ‘Shalom,’ as it says in Shoftim 6:24: “And he called to Him, Hashem Shalom.” The Maalos HaMiddos recounts that peace is so important that the Torah even changed the words of conversations by Sarah and Yosef for the sake of peace. The gemara in Yevamos 65b says: one can switch his words for the sake of peace. G-D’s Holy name is burnt for the Sotah waters for the sake of peace between husband and wife. The last paragraph in shemone esray asks for peace, and the concluding blessing of birkas kohanim is: “And He shall place peace upon you.” The gemara in Berachos 17a even says one should be quick to greet another even non-Jews for the sake of peace. No one greeted Rabban Yochanan ben Zachkai with shalom, before he greeted them, even non-Jewish people in the marketplace. Even the dead need peace, as it says in Yeshaya 57:2: “May shalom come and he will rest in his resting place.” (This might very well be where the expression R.I.P – Rest in Peace comes from). There is also a mitzvah of making entreaties of peace before going to war against an enemy nation.

If peace is such a lofty attribute, and so central for the existence of everything in the universe, then why doesn’t Hashem allow the nations of the world to bring peace-offerings? Why make them jealous of the Jewish people? Why not give them an equal chance to serve Him if they really want to? Why is it fair that only the Jews are given an opportunity to make peace with Hashem, and everyone else is left out? If peace and unity is so important, everyone should have an equal opportunity no matter their background, no matter what position they are coming from?
We see from here that true Divine Peace is a privilege, not aright. It has to be earned; there are strings attached. It is not an inherent, automatic right for every human being.

Pesach is upon us. Pesach commemorates the time when we became a nation, when we left Egypt. Hashem took us as his children and servants, and he became our personal Father and King. We then earned the right to be separate and special from the rest of the world, when in unity we accepted the Torah at Har Sinai. But this was not before Hashem went to every nation and offered them the Torah, and they rejected it. One might say: it is not fare;why wouldn’t the Jewish people accept Hashem’s Torah? Hhe just saved them from slavery!? However, this was not the beginning of when we earned our special relationship with Hashem. It dates back to Avraham Avinu, the first Jew, and the first person to recognize Hashem’s existence all by himself. He earned the right for his descendants to be Hashem’s holy and intimate nation, as Hashem promised him. No one else came to that realization. No wonder we are the only people allowed to sacrifice the peace offering to Hashem!

May we take this as a lesson on Pesach: to appreciate our roots, where we came from, who we really are and what we can be: a priestly nation, a nation of princes. Not slaves of Pharaoh, but servants of Hashem! We should feel proud of who we are, and use that pride as an impetus to serve Hashem in the proper manner.

We are living in different times than those that once were. The fine line between good and bad, sin and a good deed, are no longer as clear. Biblical punishment was clear; in the times of the Beis HaMikdash if someone spoke loshon hara [slander] he was struck with spiritual leprosy, starting on his house, then his clothes, and finally his own body, if he continued to sin. He was ostracized from society for a period of time until he repented and went through a process to spiritually cleanse himself. One can imagine that this must have been a major deterrent to motivate people not to slander one another. The Rabbis teach us that in the days of King Chizkiyahu, even the children were experts in the laws of tum’ah and tahara (spiritual impurity and purity). People were more cautious about transgressing certain sins because they did not want to receive lashes (the punishment if they sinned on purpose in front of two witnesses and were warned not to do so). Even more so, they were certainly careful not to flagrantly transgress capital crimes.

Just to paint a bit more of a picture of how much the Jewish People formerly appreciated the severity of sin, the Torah in this week’s portion of Vayikra exclaim: “And if a soul sins and does one of the things that Hashem tells him not to do, and he did not know [he did it] and he is guilty and carries his sin. And he shall bring a pure ram from the flock with your value as guilt to the Kohen and the Kohen will atone for him for his accident, for he did an accident and he did not know and we will forgive him. It is a guilt offering, he is certainly guilty to Hashem” (Vayikra 5:17-19).

The Sforno elaborates on these pesukim and explains that “Our Sages know from tradition that this pasuk speaks of a guilt offering for a doubtful transgression (אשם תלוי). He is not certain if he sinned or not, and regarding this it says, ‘And he shall bear his iniquity, i.e. in accordance with what is befitting for him, whether he sinned inadvertently or perhaps did not sin at all. But his transgression was that he was not careful and slipped into doubt, according to his iniquity he shall bear the punishment. Although at times this offering may be brought even though he never transgressed a sin, let him not think that he is bringing a mundane animal into the courtyard of the Beis HaMikdash for indeed it is nonetheless a guilt offering, even though he did not actually transgress the sin in which he is in doubt, because ‘he is certainly guilty to Hashem’ for not being more careful and putting himself into this position.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)

Rabbi Raphael Pelcovitz summarizes the Sforno quite well: “One can be guilty of actually violating a precept of the Torah or one can be guilty of conducting himself in such a careless manner that he is unaware of his actions and cannot determine whether or not he transgressed. The latter heedless action requires atonement no less than the former overt act of transgression.”

To bring a sacrifice in the Beis HaMikdash was a very serious matter, and to bring one for no reason was a severe transgression. Therefore the Sforno was bothered by how the Torah can obligate one to sacrifice an offering in the Beis HaMikdash if it is possible there was no wrongdoing. He answers that it must be there is an inherent flaw in a person who puts himself in the position where he might have sinned, which in and of itself requires atonement.

But what did he do wrong? It was obviously a mistake; he initially didn’t even realize he might have done anything wrong. Why is it fair to fault someone who wasn’t even conscious of his wrongdoing when he did it?

We therefore see from here how responsive and sensitive a person must be for even putting himself into a position of possibly breaking Hashem’s Holy Torah. One is disturbing the purity of the world he was placed in and putting it on very shaky grounds. For that, even if in reality he did nothing wrong, he is still held accountable, for having potentially compromised the sanctity of the world.
Today we live in a world where there is no universal moral compass, and there is certainly very little sensitivity towards sin. Indeed, there are certainly no feelings of consequence for putting oneself in a position of possibly sinning. One of the tragedies of exile is that we lost and don’t deserve this security system of divine safeguard from disobedience.

Hope for a better future is not lost, however. Hashem endowed us with an intrinsic intellect and imagination. He gave us the ability to toil and to delve into the profundity of his Holy Torah, the instruction book for life.

We will be reading in the Haggada soon, at the seder on Pesach night, that “in every generation man has an obligation to look at himself as if he personally left Egypt.” HaRav Reuvain Trop zt”l explains that every person is obligated to feel that Hashem made wonders and miracles for him and took him out of bondage to freedom. Certainly if one truly feels this he would speak more and more about the story, over and over again, for one enjoys telling stories of what has personally happened to him. This is what the Haggada means when it says: “the more one speaks about the redemption from Egypt the more praiseworthy it is.” It is therefore a mitzvah to elaborate the telling of the story of the exodus from Egypt, since by doing so a person is showing that he feels as if he actually left Egypt. (See the end of Chiddushei HaLev on Sefer Shemos).

We see from here that it is within our ability to imagine and make real the past, but only through learning about it and knowing what it was. Only then can we internalize it and live by it. By using our intellect and imagination we have the ability to become more attuned to right and wrong and to act accordingly, in order to make our world a better place for everyone and everything.

The Beginning of this week’s Torah portion of Ki Sisa discusses the half shekel used for the census and yearly contribution towards the daily offerings. The Torah calls the shekel a holy shekel (Shemos 13:13). The Rabbeinu Bachye asks asks a basic question: why is the shekel referred to as holy?

The Rabbeinu Bachye answers: “That it is called holy because all the mitzvos are the essentials of holiness and some of the mitzvos need this coin, for example redeeming the first born which is done with five shekels, also the mitzvah of erechin (donating one’s self value to the Beis HaMikdash) which are called holy, needs shekels. For this reason we call the language of our Torah Loshon HaKodesh, the holy language, since it is a language of holiness which includes many types of holy things. All sorts of holiness is used with it for it is the language that Hashem used to tell the Jewish people the Ten Commandments and He also speaks to prophets and angels [in this language]. Hashem has 70 names all of them are from Loshon HaKodesh. Also the names of the angels are in Lashon HaKodesh, for example Gavriel is called for his mightiness and Rephael means healing, and many angels’ names end with the letter E-l, one of Hashem’s names to teach us that His name is partnered with them…. This is the language with which the world was created as our rabbis have taught, ‘The world was created with Lashon HaKodesh as it says, ‘For this she is called isha (woman) because from ish (man) she was taken’ (Breishis 2:23, See Breishis Rabba 18:6). The proof to this is from the naming of Adam, Chava, Kayin and Hevel which are all Loshon HaKodesh as well as all the other names [in the Torah]. This will be the language that all the nations and different dialects will use in the future in the times of Moshiach as it says ‘And then it will change for the nations, a clear language for all to call out the Name of Hashem, to serve Him in unity’ (Tzefania 3:9).” (Click here for Hebrew text.)

The dialect of Hebrew used by the Torah, called Lashon Hakodesh, makes sense to be called a holy language since it is literally Hashem’s language, which he used to write the Torah, create the world, talk with others, and to name His creatures, as well as his own seventy names. It will also be the universal language when all the nations repent and return to serving Hashem, speedily in our days. Such a divine means of communication and vehicle of creation naturally deserves to be called holy. However the shekel, which is used specifically for only a few mitzvos out of 613; and not to take any value away from these mitzvos, but they are not major mitzvos which are constantly done or of obligatory nature. The half-shekel was given once a year for the ages of men 20 and up; pidyon haben, redeeming the first born, is only for those who are a first born male, yisrael (a non levi or kohen) and not born via a c-section; erechin is an optional mitzvah. So why was the shekel singled out to be called the Shekel HaKodesh, the holy shekel?

The Rabbeinu Bachye said that mitzvos are the essentials of holiness. We must internalize and appreciate what that means. It must be that the mark every mitzvah has on creation makes such an impression that it can transform a regular coin into a holy coin even if it is only used for a few types of mitzvos.

The lesson to inculcate in ourselves is the appreciation of the opportunity of serving Hashem with His mitzvos, and how we can use them to change ourselves and the world, imbuing everything with holiness.