Category: Food for Thought

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.

In the spirit of Purim I found a Baal HaTurim in this week’s Torah portion of Tetzaveh that ties into the holiday of Purim, which takes place this coming Sunday. The Baal HaTurim observes that there are three times in all of Tanach where the word “Vinishma” is written. (1) In this week’s Torah portion, by the description of the מעיל (coat) of the Kohen Gadol which had bells on the bottom of it, “ונשמע קולו בבאו אל הקדש” “And its sound was heard when he went into the Kodesh” (Shemos 28:35), (2) “כל אשר דבר ד’ נעשה ונשמע““All that Hashem said we will do and we will listen” (Shemos 24:7), (3) “ונשמע פתגם המלך” “And let the verdict of the king be heard” (Esther 1:20). This is what we say in Tractate Megilla daf 3b: “Rava said, ‘If there is a choice between reading the megilla or learning Torah, megilla is better. If there is a choice between the service in the Beis HaMikdash or reading megilla, megilla is better.” This is what is referred to when it say “All that Hashem said we will do and we will listen,” which refers to learning Torah and by the service in the Beis HaMikdash it says “And its sound was heard,” “And let the verdict of the king be heard,” which refers to reading the megilla and right afterwards in the megilla it writes “for it is greater,” which implies reading megilla is more better. Besides this hint of juxtaposition by the word “vinishma” being written three times in Tanach, Rava himself said megilla is better. (Click here and here for Hebrew text)

The Rashba says that even if there would be enough time during the day to complete the sacrificial service of the daily offering in the Beis HaMikdash and then read megilla, never the less it is better to push off the service and to listen to the megilla with the congregation (Rashba in Megilla df 3a).

Let’s take this into perspective; the Rabbeinu Chananel, depicting the grandeur and royalty of the  daily offering, says “that as soon as they sprinkled the wine libation on the alter the head Kohen would wave his kerchief, Ben Arza would then ring a bell, and then the Leviim would start singing the ‘Song of the Day.’ When they got to an end of a portion, the trumpets would blow and the nation would bow down. For every portion there was a blow and for every blow they bowed down…” What majesty! What show of royalty and honor! All this was done for the sake of the honor of Heaven (כבוד שמים). (Click here for Hebrew text of Rabbeinu Bachye.)

I remember, on one of my trips to Ottawa, Ontario we visited the Parliament and watched the changing of the guards for the royal keys to the parliament. Hundreds of soldiers, a marching band, guns shot into the air, a whole half hour ceremony –  just to hand over the symbolic keys from guard to guard for the English Queen’s governmental satellite in Canada. Royalty and majesty demands that respect. All the more so, and in greater abundance, one can imagine the scene in Hashem’s Sanctuary everyday by the daily service; yet the Gemara in megilla says that the reading of the megilla is better than the Holy Service in the Beis Hamikdash.
There is nothing like the study of and toil in Torah. The gemara in Shabbas (daf 127a) says: “and the study of Torah is equivalent to them all,” referring to all the mitzvos. The study of Torah should ideally be done throughout the entire day and night, and should be done for the sake of making Hashem’s Torah great, and to glorify it (להגדיל תורה ויאדיר). Hashem gave us His blueprint of creation, as a handbook on how to live our lives. It is of course priceless, and the more time one spends struggling to understand it, the greater the Torah is honored, and the greater the respect we are showing to the honor of Heaven. Yet the gemara in megilla tells us we should stop learning to listen to the reading of the megilla.

The Gemara in Megilla says that the reason why the reading of Megillas Esther is so important is because of the publicizing of the miracle. It would seem that publicizing Hashem’s miracles is a greater show of honor of Heaven than either the daily service in the Beis HaMikdash or the learning of Torah. (Click here for Hebrew text of the Gemara.)

However the gemara in Megilla then goes on to say that there is one thing greater than reading megilla, which is the burying of the dead. If there is someone who must be buried, that should be done before the reading of the megilla. The reason being, says the gemara, because the honor of people (כבוד הבריות) is greater. The Orchos Tzadikim in The Gate of the Fear of Heaven says: “The soul is the resource for wisdom, and it resides in the brain just like a king residing over his battalion, and is comparable to the honor of its Creator in a miniature way.” Later he says: “That because the soul came from above, from Hashem’s ‘Throne of Glory’, therefore the body which it rests in, is a miniature world. Therefore man is called a miniature world, (see the Zohar Bamidbar 257b and Medrish Tanchuma, Pekuday, parsha 3.) The soul is compared to its Creator and the body compared to the world below on this earth and above in the heavens.” (Click here and here for Hebrew text.)

Man was created in the image of G-D; we are the prince and Hashem is the king. There is a certain regality to us, gadlus Ha’Adam, the greatness of man; however, Hashem is still the king and we are only His children – so how can the honor of people trump the Honor of Heaven?

We must therefore say that the preservation of man’s honor is the Honor of Hashem. Showing respect and honor to one’s fellow, acknowledging the greatness of man in each individual, a prince to the mighty King Of All Kings, is Hashem’s greatest honor, and trumps even the publicizing of Hashem’s greatness through recounting His miracles.

If we imbibe this message into our psyche, we will, without a doubt, have an even greater appreciation of fulfilling mitzvos between man and his fellow man and between man and his Creator.

This week’s Torah portion of Terumah discusses the preparations for building the Mishkan (Tabernacle). The Torah, when discussing the walls around the Mishkan, says: “And you shall make the planks for the Mishkan of acacia wood upright” (Shemos 26:15).

The Medrish Rabba asks why Hashem used acacia wood. It answers that Hashem is teaching proper manners for all generations; if a person wants to build his house out of fruit trees, tell him: ‘Just as The King Of All Kings which everything is His, but when He said to make the Mishkan He said only to make it out of trees that do not bear fruit, all the more so [you should do the same]’ (Shemos Rabba 35:2).

The Maharz”u, a commentary on the Medrish, explains the Medrish’s question and answer by saying that for many mitzvos, Hashem commands us to spend and essentially lose money –  for example the sacrifices. So why by the Mishkan did Hashem ask strictly for acacia wood which does not bear fruit? To this question the Medrish answers that Hashem was teaching a lesson when building normal buildings.

The Yafeh Toar takes the Medrish’s message a step further. He says that the Medrish was asking that since there are seven types of cedar wood why did Hashem specifically choose acacia wood instead of one of the types of cedar. The answer is because acacia wood does not produce fruit at all; therefore Hashem chose it to teach a lesson in manners to all mankind. (Click here for Hebrew text.)

As The King Of All Kings, King of the Universe and Beyond, we say in our davening three times a week from the beginning of Tehillim chapter 93: “Hashem will have reigned, He will have donned grandeur…” The Medrish Shochar Tov (as quoted in the Artscroll siddur, page 169) expounds that “the concept of grandeur represents Hashem’s revelation as mightier than any force in nature. In man, grandeur, or arrogance, is a contemptible trait, because man’s power is limited at best. But to Hashem grandeur is becoming because all forces owe their existence to Him while He is dependent on nothing.” Indeed, Hashem deserves the best of the best for His dwelling on earth, but for the sake of teaching a lesson to mankind He felt it was worth diminishing His natural honor to teach us this lesson.

It would seem from the Yafeh Toar that cedar wood would have been the ideal type of wood to be used for the Mishkan. It would also seem that cedars don’t really produce a fruit normally eaten by people, but since it has some type of fruit as opposed to the acacia wood, Hashem, all knowing and understanding of Human psychology, made sure to show by using extreme example of something which does not bear fruits at all. We learn from here that when someone wants to teach a lesson he has to be as clear as possible. And a leader should even lower his honor to be sure the lesson is clearly brought across. On the contrary, understanding the message and applying it will give more honor to Hashem in this case.

What is interesting to note is that we see in this week’s haftorah that cedar wood was used in the building of the Beis HaMikdash (the Holy Temple): “And he built the house, and finished it, and he covered the house with paneling and joined planks of cedar. And he built the chambers against all the house, each five cubits; and he covered the house with timber of cedar” (Melachim Alef 6:9, 10). Is Hashem, G-d forbid a hypocrite? How can He use cedar wood for the Beis HaMikdash, His permanent dwelling place on earth, but use acacia wood for the Mishkan to teach mankind not to use wood from fruit bearing trees? The answer, obviously, is  that once Hashem already taught His lesson to mankind in the times of the Mishkan, He of course then deserves and demands the best wood for the Beis HaMikdash.

Leaders at any level are messengers of Hashem to guide their followers, whoever they may be. Hopefully they will be stirred to the right path of service of Hashem. Though the Ramban says in his famous letter to his son: “And now know and see my son, for one who is haughty in his heart towards people is rebelling against The Kingdom of Heaven, for he is glorifying himself with the heavenly majestic clothes as it says “Hashem will have reigned, He will have donned grandeur…” however a leader is still a leader and must be treated with proper respect. A leader, in whatever position of leadership, knowing himself and his responsibility to the people he leads, can also expect to a certain extent the proper respect in order to be a successful leader. However it makes sense that at times he might have to lower or change his standards to send a message across to his people but then he goes back to his normal standards and that is not hypocritical, because teaching lessons and making sure people abide by them is part of his responsibility. People recognizing that and abiding by his word is the ultimate honor.

Besides the weekly Torah portion of Mishpatim, this shabbos we read the first of four special Torah readings leading up to Pesach. The first special portion is Parshas Shekalim, which the Mishna Berura says is designed to remind us of the mitzvah of the half-shekel, which was an obligation for every adult jewish male to donate to the treasury of the Beis HaMikdash each year, at this time, in order to pay for the Korban Tamid –[daily-offering] (Mishna Berura 685:1:1).

The Rabbeinu Bachye says that Moshe, as the king of the Jewish people, enacted a currency based on a silver coin, which he called the  shekel. He called it a shekel because the coin was a pure weight of silver without any disparities.

The reason why a half-shekel was the amount required in contribution, says the Rabbeinu Bachye, is because the Jewish People transgressed all Ten Commandments by the sin of the golden calf and a half-shekel is equivalent to ten gerahs, since a full shekel is twenty gerahs. Therefore, each and every Jew was required to bring ten gerahs as atonement for transgressing the Ten Commandments. Only those over twenty years of age were required to bring it, because the Heavenly Court does not punish people less than the age of twenty.

The Rabbeinu Bachye later asks that, logically, since Moshe was designating the worth of this new currency, the Shekel, he could have made it worth ten gerahs, requiring the donation of a full shekel.   Why did Moshe create the  currency in this fashion?

The Rabbeinu Bachye answers that this odd currency valuation was done in order to hint that it is befitting for any intelligent person to weigh his actions equally, and to dedicate within himself to give of both his body and soul, each one equally and completely. The right and befitting thing to do is to push one’s body to serve Hashem and to go after its soul, which is the main part of existence. But at times one must also push his soul after his body for certain requirements, like food, drink, and clothing, which one cannot live without. As our Sages have taught us: “By Yom Tov the Torah writes, ‘It shall be a holiday for Hashem your G-D’ (Devarim 16:8). The Torah also writes, ‘A holiday it shall be for you’ (Bamidbar 29, 35). Rebbi Yehoshua says that Yom Tov should be split, half for Hashem and half for you” (Pesachim 68b). It is befitting for one’s efforts towards his bodily needs to be channeled for the sake of his soul. We find this by Yaakov Avinu, who put all of his efforts into his soul for fourteen years, learning in the House of Ever. He then put equal effort for his physical self, by engaging in manual labor for fourteen years, in order to marry the two daughters of Lavan. The purpose of his physical work was to serve his intellectual soul, which the half shekel represents; to figure out what is for the sake of Hashem by weighing all his deeds and actions in an equal manner, so that each one gets what is befitting for it. 

This piece delivers  a very profound message about how we must live our lives. It is easy and perhaps fun to live a care-free lifestyle, doing whatever one pleases, whenever it pleases, with no boundaries, enjoying the physical world to its fullest, partying, acting spontaneously, working off of gut feelings and simply believing and doing whatever one wants; indulge, indulge, indulge.  On the opposite extreme there are those in this world who believe that to reach the ultimate in spiritual heights one must be celibate, living in silence, subsiding on stale bread and water, or by secluding themselves from society.  However we see from here  the Torah outlook is that the middle ground is the optimal.While the main thrust of life is spirituality, the soul, and one’s physical actions should be for that sake, physical needs and wants should also be taken care of, with the attitude that they are being done out of G-D’s will – the point being there is a defined purpose for everything. Hashem wants us to dress nicely at all times, elegantly conservative, and even nicer on Shabbos and Yom Tov. Hashem wants us to eat heartily if needed, and healthily to be strong, to serve Him as well as to have lavish feasts on Shabbos and Yom Tov. Hashem wants us to get married and raise a family, bringing the next generation up to continue a lifestyle of Torah and mitzvos.

In fact ,this might be the ultimate challenge in life, as well as the most difficult. The last Mishna in chapter five of Pirkei Avos says: “Reward is earned according to one’s efforts.” To figure out exactly what Hashem wants of us at any given time, to weigh the options and make the exact proper decisions, is very hard to do. To be able to figure out how much time should be spent on one’s physical needs versus on one’s spiritual needs, and to execute it in exactly the way Hashem wants of each individual, is the ultimate test.

The suffering, pain, and effort one puts into this drive  towards perfection, for the perfect split in meeting one’s spiritual and physical needs, is what Hashem ultimately rewards. This is the lesson of the half-shekel.