The Message of the Aleph

by Rabbi Pinchas Winston

Friday Night
IT IS AMAZING how so much can come down to something so little. As is known, in the first word of Sefer Vayikra there is one letter that is smaller than the rest, the last letter, which is an Aleph. There are several larger and smaller letters in a Sefer Torah, but none as meaningful than this small Aleph. All of life and history comes down to what it represents.

Zoom class on Purim, b”H, Tuesday, March 8, 7:30 pm Israel time. Meeting ID: 836 1383 3117, Passcode: 327302, or see it on YouTube after.

Rashi was also compelled to explain it, though he usually doesn’t focus on hints. He explains that it is the Aleph that transforms the word from vayikar, which is a language of chance, to vayikra, which means “and he called.” Vayikar, as Rashi points out, was used with respect to Bilaam’s prophecy, to impersonalize it. Vayikra is being used with respect to Moshe for the opposite reason, to show how dear he was to God.

One of the fundamental differences between Moshe Rabbeinu and Bilaam, I have pointed out in the past, was a neck’s length. The both knew a tremendous amount about God and how He worked. However, everything Moshe knew went from his head to his heart, and that made him true to God. Bilaam’s knowledge got stuck in his head and never made it down to his heart, and that made him inconsistent at best, evil at worse.

But before we shake our head in disgust at Bilaam while identifying with Moshe Rabbeinu, we should realize that we have a tendency to make the same mistake. This is why the verse tells us, “And you shall know this day and consider it in your heart, that God, He is God in heaven above, and upon the earth below; there is none else” (Devarim 4:39). It’s not enough just to know this in your head. You have to get it to your heart if you want to go from the level of vayikar to vayikra.

It’s the difference of living on the level of only Elokim as opposed to on the level of Hovayah. Pharaoh believed in Elokim, but not Hovayah. He agreed that God made the world and ran it, but through nature. He had a hard time, at least at first, accepting that God just makes it look like nature has rules, and is willing to manipulate history at will when it suits His purpose for Creation.

The Aleph, which is constructed with two Yuds and a Vav which have a gematria of 26 and Hovayah, alludes to this. The Aleph of Adam does as well. And of course, the Aleph of kisay at the end of Parashas Beshallach is only about this…

Shabbos Day
AMALEK ATTACKED THE Jewish people just after they complained about a lack of water at the end of Parashas Beshallach, and Rashi explained the connection. It was one thing to ask for more water. It was a whole different thing to ask, “Is God among us or not?” (Shemos 17:7).

Kabbalah explains that the question was not what is sounds like. They weren’t blind and they weren’t stupid. There were more than enough reminders that God was with them and all around them. The question they had was, which level of Divine Providence was going to accompany them into the desert? The one that saved them from Egypt with miracles they hadn’t deserved, or the one that only does them good when they are good?

That doubt in Divine Providence woke up Amalek whose very existence triggers doubt in Divine Providence. His name even equals suffek—doubt in gematria, and it is Amalek against whom God personally declared war. In fact, as Rashi explains at the end of the parsha, as long as Amalek remains in the world, God’s throne—kisay—will be missing its Aleph, and the Yud-Heh from His name Hovayah will be separated, so-to-speak from its Vav-Heh.

What does this mean? It means living on the level of Elokim and nature, and not on the higher supernatural level of Hovayah. It means not letting the knowledge of God make it down to your heart so that you can be real with it. Amalek would prefer a person not believe in God at all, but he can tolerate such a belief as long as it remains cerebral and not heartfelt.

Amalek has many ways to do this but they all kind of work the same way: distraction. There is distraction of the mind, and there is distraction of the heart. Distraction of the mind is when ideas are introduced that cause a person to question the existence of God or His hands-on providence. Distraction of the heart is when things happen to block a person from feeling the reality of what they know, or should know. It’s REALLY important to find out if God exists and if Torah is true, but many people don’t feel the same way.

That’s how we can believe that God runs the world and directs history and, yet get all emotionally uptight when reading or hearing bad news. We respond as if the Hamans of history can act independent of God’s providence.

It’s like getting angry at someone who rear ends your new car. Who doesn’t get angry about that? Yes, you believe God runs the world. Yes, you believe that everything is a function of Hashgochah Pratis. Yes, you believe that there is no such thing as an accident. But somehow that seems less relevant in the heat of the moment than the feelings of injustice you feel while giving the other driver a piece of your mind.

Now imagine in the midst of your complaint a booming voice comes down from Heaven and says, “I caused that to happen to you!” Now what? Do you say, “Hold on one minute God, I’ll be with You right after I let this guy know what a dangerous driver he is…”? Or, do you stop in your tracks and retreat with your tail between your legs, forgetting about the other driver while you wonder what made God cause the accident to happen to you? It is such emotional clarity that equals that little Aleph that turns vayikar into vayikra, Elohim into Hovayah, and Amalek into nothingness.

Shalosh Seudot
THE ENTIRE TORAH and life in general comes down to the message of this Aleph, of vayikra versus vayikar. Purim certainly does, which is why we read Parashas Zachor about Amalek’s attack right before it. If you want the full story, see my book called Redemption to Redemption: The Very Deep and Intricate Connection Between the Holidays of Purim and Pesach.

Normally, the main halachic division in the Jewish people is between those who keep Shabbos, and those who don’t. But the hoshkofic division is really this, between those on the level of vayikra and Hovayah, and those only on the level of vayikar and Elokim.

The heroes of Jewish history live on the level of the Aleph. Take Pinchas for example. While the rest of the nation mourned the invasion of the Midianite women, Pinchas took action to stop it because, as the Torah says, he acted on behalf of God, not himself. Everyone saw the Midianite women and what they caused, but Pinchas saw the hand of God behind it all and viewed it as a challenge to respond and stop it.

Mordechai too. Everyone saw Haman rise to power, but only Mordechai saw the hand of God pushing Haman up, and that’s what he dealt with. This is why he remained untouchable, because he did not fight Haman on Haman’s level, that of vayikar. He fought Haman on the level of vayikra, a level Amalek by definition does not understand and cannot access.

And now we find ourselves once again in a similar situation in the Ukraine. After all this time, Jews still live there. All of a sudden, Russia attacks and Jews are forced to leave their homes. Some have chosen to make aliyah and become an ingathered exile. Others talk about staying or returning and rebuilding life there…now…at this late stage of history…so close to the final redemption!

From a vayikar point of view, it’s just a war waged by a megalomaniac that just happens to affect Jewish lives. Nothing especially Jewish to learn from it. From a vayikra perspective, it’s a war that God is waging to uproot Jews from their foreign land and gather them on to Jewish soil, something they should have been yearning to do.

As Rashi points out in Parashas Vayailech, the final ingathering of Jews to Eretz Yisroel will be so difficult that God will have to take them by Diaspora Jews hand, so-to-speak. That was Europe in the 1920s and 30s, the Ukraine now, and soon to be, America and other western countries. Can’t see it? Try adding an Aleph to your vayikar. You’d be surprised how much better you can see what God is doing, and how quickly.

The Russian invasion: a wake-up call for Israel and the West

by Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger

Irrespective of the final outcome of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it should serve as a wake-up call for Israeli and Western policy-makers and molders of public opinion.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has exposed the flawed nature of certain assumptions, which have impacted the worldview of the Western establishment – but not the worldview of most of the world - while attempting to induce/coerce Israel into adopting these assumptions.
For example:

*The illusion that most of the world subscribes to the Western worldview of a new world (and new Middle East) order, which is supposedly more stable, predictable, tolerant and trending toward peaceful-coexistence, focusing on butter rather than guns;

*The ostensible end to the era of major wars and massive ground force invasions;

*The self-destruct notion that a military posture of deterrence can be effectively-replaced by peace accords, security guarantees and generous financial and diplomatic packages. Thus, the seeds of the current predicament of Ukraine were planted in the reckless December 1994 Budapest security assurances, which were extended to Ukraine by the USA, Britain and Russia in return for Ukraine's surrender of its most-deterring nuclear stockpile (3rd largest in the world). In 2022, these assurances are exposed in their futility.

*Ignoring the tenuous, unreliable, unpredictable, non-committal and open-ended nature of all security guarantees, even article 5 of the NATO Charter, which is supposed to be the tightest security commitment. But, article 5 states that all NATO members shall assist an attacked member "as [they] deem necessary, including the use of armed force…." As they deem necessary….

*The delusion that peace and security agreements are more important (for national security) than military capabilities and geography/topography-driven posture of deterrence. This delusion ignores the fact that while peace accords and security guarantees are tenuous, topographic dominance (e.g., the Golan Heights and the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria) and geographic depth are everlasting.

*Overlooking the fact that a gradual reduction of defense budget is interpreted by most of the globe as erosion of deterrence in a stormy world (and volatile Middle East), undermining stability and crippling national security, and therefore inducing terrorism and wars;

*The presumed superiority of the diplomatic option as a more effective negotiation tool than the military option in settling conflicts with rogue regimes, which have systematically revealed themselves as bad-faith negotiators (e.g., Iran's Ayatollahs since assuming power in February, 1979);

*The alleged subordination of national ideologies and strategic visions to a cosmopolitan/universal peaceful-coexistence state of mind;

*Preferring the speculative assessments of the future track records of rogue regimes over their realistic historical track record, which highlights the centrality of rogue history in shaping their radical national vision, policy-making, school curriculum, religious sermons and media.

*The illusion that rogue conduct (e.g., subversion, terrorism and wars) is despair-driven, rather than ideology-driven.

Western policy makers have attempted to induce/coerce Israel into a withdrawal from the topographically dominant mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria – in return for a peace accord and security guarantees. However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the false sense of security, which is generated by security guarantees, which replace geographic depth and dominant topography in the highly volatile, violent, intolerant and unpredictable Middle East. The global experience has reaffirmed the centrality of the military-driven posture of deterrence in the shaping of national security.

Moreover, unlike Ukraine (the 2nd largest European country), Israel's lack of geographic depth (a 7-15 miles sliver from the Mediterranean to the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria) provides for an extremely small margin of error. Thus, if the 1973 surprise Arab military offensive were launched against a pre-1967 Israel (without the dominant topography of the Golan Heights and Judea and Samaria and the strategic depth of the Sinai Peninsula), the Arabs would be able to annihilate the Jewish State.

Anti-Semites, Bacon and Churches – The ABC of what is happening now

BS”D
Parashat Vayikra 5782
by HaRav Nachman Kahana

An incident:

About 15 or so years ago, a young Chinese woman entered the Chazon Yechezkel bet knesset on Shabbat where I was the rabbi. The following Shabbat she returned, as well as the next. At this point I approached her wanting to learn who she was and what brought her here?

She told me that she was born in central China, in an area where 1000 years ago many Jews lived, and she had come to learn about Judaism. A few weeks later she applied for conversion. While waiting for the process to begin, she returned to visit her parents in China. I received an e-mail from her that her Chinese passport had expired and had been confiscated. The problem was that her entrance visa back to Israel was stamped in her passport so she could not return. She informed me that the Israeli Embassy and consulates have a strict rule that a Chinese person can speak only to an uncooperative Chinese clerk, so she had no way to return, and asked for my help.

As her “adopted” rabbi, I decided to make one try. I went to the ministry of the Interior where I received the number 110 on the waiting line. I had no patience for this and decided to make a desperate try. I went to the administrative sector where I passed several uninspiring titles of officials on the doors, until I reached the door of the assistant head of the department. Now without an appointment no one has a chance of entering the “holy of holies” of such a high official; but “why not?”, I said to myself. I gently knocked on the door and a female voice said “lavo” (come in). I opened the door and very respectfully asked if I could speak with her, while preparing myself for an indignant rejection. But lo and behold she invited me to sit down, not a small miracle thus far. I explained why I had come and gave her the name of the Chinese woman. She opened the computer and found the relevant file.

Then the assistant head of the department surprised me with her reply: Rav Kahana; I am not as religious as you. But tell me, aren’t there more than enough goyim in the country that you want to bring in another one?

Truthfully, I couldn’t have agreed with her more. I thought for a moment before replying. I said to myself that I could answer “but my shiksa is different” or some other foolish remark, so I answered, “Geveret (madam) I will accept any decision you make”. She thought a moment or two and then said that she would send her a new visa. I thanked her and left, astounded by what had happened.

A few weeks later the Chinese woman appeared in the bet knesset, looking very happy. The story could have ended here but something else happened. I was never really sure regarding this young lady. Her conversion was successful. She met a Jew from America and they married in the Plaza Hotel in Yerushalayim. One of the guests was the wife of the Chinese ambassador to Israel!

What did that mean? In any event, she left Israel with her new husband never to be seen again.

The point in this story is what the official said to me, “Rav Kahana, aren’t there more than enough goyim in the country that you want to bring in another one?”

In the tiny space that we occupy on this planet, we already have too many non-Jews, as I pointed out last week. In addition to the millions of Arabs, there are about 400 thousand goyim from Russia and Ukraine who are not interested in becoming Jews after entering Israel under the clause in the Law of Return that one has the right, like a real Jew, if you have at least one Jewish grandparent.

As it appears now, we are about to witness a mass invasion into our country by Ukrainian goyim who neither have Jewish parents or grandparents. Many thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, will pass through the holy gates of the Ben Gurion airport and remain here because the inferiority complex of our secular ministers require them to prove to the world that we are the most humanitarian nation, even to the point of religious, cultural and national suicide.

I recall that prior to the demise of the Soviet Union and the large influx of immigrant gentiles, there was one single butcher shop in Yerushalayim that sold chazir (pork). It was on Rechov Ramban, “Chaim’s Butcher Store”. Today there are many such stores in Yerushalayim and in cities where these goyim live.

They are for the most part church goers. So, the number of churches which have grown in the country will increase even more when these new Ukrainians arrive.

Here you have the ABCs of this situation: many are Anti-Semites; they devour chazir (Bacon) and are connected with the Churches they established.

There are 50 countries with Moslem majorities and over 20 with Christian majorities: but only one single very small country with a Jewish majority – Medinat Yisrael

Are we really so stupid? It seems that one who leaves the Torah also loses clarity of thought.

But the story doesn’t end here.

These Ukrainians will receive housing, jobs, and money from the government; frills which are intended for our brother and sister Jews when they leave the galut to come home. Ukrainian gentiles can go to almost any country in Europe, but they prefer to come to Israel, while millions of galut Jews turn their backs on HaShem’s holy land!

However, this situation is temporary. History has proven time and again that Jews who cling to the galut will, at some point, be forced to pack all their worldly possessions into a small suitcase and make a run for the borders. Some will “make it”, most will not!

Shabbat Shalom
Nachman Kahana
Copyright © 5782/2022 Nachman Kahana

The 800-Pound Gorilla of the Non-Orthodox World

by Victor Rosenthal

The Jewish Press reports:

Hundreds of members of the Reform and Conservative movements from Israel and the United States arrived on Friday morning at the Kotel plaza for the Rosh Chodesh Adar B prayer. They were met with enormous resistance from mostly Haredi Jews, including an estimated ten thousand seminary women who followed the instructions of two leaders of the Haredi Lithuanian public, Rabbis Chaim Kanievsky and Gershon Edelstein, to protest the Reform and Conservative presence. Large police forces separated the two parties of obviously God-loving Jews.

There are life-and-death issues that Israel and its leaders are contending with today, and this isn’t one of them. But in the long term, the unity or lack thereof of the Jewish people will have effects on them no less serious than the threat of the Iranian bomb or the invasion of Ukraine.

Most accounts of the controversy in the media are misleading, because they are incomplete or lack context. Reading them, one gets the idea that mixed-gender groups of “reformim” are invading the segregated prayer areas of the Western Wall. That isn’t the case.

One important player is the Rabbi of the Kotel [Wall], Shmuel Rabinowitz. He is a government employee, appointed in 1995 by then-Prime Minister (Yitzhak Rabin) and the Ashkenazi and Sephardi chief rabbis of Israel. There is no defined term for this position, and Rabinowitz is the fourth person to hold it. The first occupant of the office, Rabbi Yitzchak Avigdor Orenstein, was appointed by the British in 1930, and served until he was killed when the Jordanians shelled the Old City in May, 1948.

Rabinowitz, supported by a large portion of the Orthodox community, takes the position that the Kotel is an Orthodox synagogue, and therefore what happens there must follow Orthodox custom. In particular, the prayer area next to the Kotel is divided into men’s and women’s sections, and women are not permitted to pray with a sefer Torah [Torah scroll], even in their section.

The Nashot Hakotel [Women of the Wall], wish to be allowed to pray out loud in the women’s section, wearing a Tallit [prayer shawl] in the women’s section, with a sefer Torah. Officials of the Kotel, on the instructions of Rabbi Rabinowitz, attempt to prevent them from bringing a sefer Torah into the Kotel area; and their monthly services are often disrupted, sometimes quite violently, by large groups of Haredi [“ultra-Orthodox”] men and women.

At the same time, the American Reform Movement and its Israeli offshoot, along with the Israeli Masorti [Conservative] Movement demanded a section of the Kotel where they could be allowed to pray in mixed groups of men and women, as their custom.

It is controversial whether the prohibitions in question are a matter of halacha [Jewish law], or are only local customs which have lesser (but not negligible) force. The Nashot Hakotel, which includes Orthodox women, argue that a woman reading the Torah out loud in an all-woman group is entirely acceptable according to halacha. Those that oppose it generally argue that it should be prohibited because it offends others to hear a woman sing in public, and to see her wearing a tallit.

In 2017 a compromise was reached between the Reform and Masorti groups and the government (including representatives of the Haredi parties) to set aside an area to the south of the men’s and women’s sections of the Kotel where mixed prayer would be allowed. The Nashot Hakotel joined them, because they wanted the support of the Reform Movement. Led by Anat Hoffman, who was both the head of the Nashot Hakotel and the American Reform Movement’s Israel Religious Action Center, they agreed to hold their women-only services in the to-be-created egalitarian area. This created a split in the organization, with those who felt it was important to pray in the main women’s section forming a group called the “Original Women of the Wall.”

In any case, due to pressure from the Haredi public, the compromise was never fully implemented. Although a location was set aside, it had an entrance separate from the main Kotel plaza, was hard to find, and was smaller and less developed than needed. Most important, the compromise provided for a council that would govern the practices in the new area that would include Reform and Masorti representatives. Haredi opposition was especially strong to this, and it didn’t come about.

The question has been tied up in legal and political wrangling, and still hasn’t been settled. At this time, the area is available for egalitarian prayer, but there are often disputes between the liberal groups and Orthodox worshipers, who appear at the space and provocatively set up a partition between men and women. The Nashot Hakotel still worship in the women’s section of the main part of the Kotel, still resort to subterfuge to bring in a sefer Torah, and still are greeted with violent opposition from Haredim.

I believe that both the Israeli Masorti Movement and the Nashot Hakotel are shooting themselves in the foot by associating themselves with the Reform Movement, both its American mothership and its satellite in Israel. The Masorti Movement in Israel is doctrinally closer to Orthodox Judaism than it is to Reform Judaism. There is a commitment to binding halacha, and most of its members are observant of Shabbat and Kashrut (though admittedly its rabbis’ rulings are often more lenient than those of Orthodox rabbis).

Reform Judaism, on the other hand, makes Shabbat and Kashrut optional. It replaces the mitzvot [commandments] of the Torah as codified into halacha with a collection of platitudes that many observers note are identical to liberal – lately, “progressive” – American (or left-wing Israeli) politics.

The observance of mitzvot because they are mitzvot and not because of their social utility is the essence of Judaism, more important than any set of beliefs. This is entirely absent from Reform Judaism, and I think this in itself is enough to support the position that Reform Judaism is a different religion from Orthodox or even Masorti Judaism.

The Reform Movement in America, from its beginning, was anti-Zionist. After the founding of the state, and more so after Israel’s victory in the 1967 war, it became more pro-Israel; but in recent years – because of its close association with the Left both in America and Israel, it has moved farther and farther in the other direction. The American movement’s “Reform Zionism” consists of an arrogant and somewhat ignorant attempt to change Israeli politics and society to fit an American conception of virtuousness.

The ordinary Israeli sees Reform Judaism for what it is, which is a politically left-leaning, spiritually vacuous, non-Jewish religion. But it is the 800-pound gorilla of the non-Orthodox world, with money, clout, and people that it uses to project its influence here in Israel, where in my opinion it does not belong. Both the women and the Masortim thought they could help their cause by hitching a ride with them.

But they were wrong. It has not helped the Nashot Hakotel, who wish to be able to pray according to halacha, to be associated with a group that does not believe in halacha. And it does not help the Masorti movement, which wants to be accepted as a fully legitimate branch of Judaism, to be associated with a group that does not practice Judaism.

Rav Kook on Parashat Vayikra: Black Fire on White Fire

With the construction of the Mishkan complete, the holy structure began to fulfill its primary purpose: a conduit for communication between God and Moshe. “I will commune with you there, speaking to you above the ark-cover” (Shemot 25:22).

Before each actual communication, God would first summon Moshe to the tent, with a voice that only Moshe could hear:

וַיִּקְרָא אֶל־מֹשֶׁה וַיְדַבֵּר ה’ אֵלָיו מֵאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד לֵאמֹר׃

“God called to Moshe, speaking to him from the Communion Tent” (Vayikra 1:1).

What was the nature of this Divine call?





The Miniature Aleph and the Four-Pronged Shin
The word vayikra (“He called”) is written in an unusual fashion. The last letter, the aleph, is written in miniature in the Torah. Did God command Moshe to write it that way? Or was this an expression of Moshe’s extraordinary humility — an attempt to “hide” the aleph, so to speak, so that it would appear that God only “happened” (vayikar) to speak with Moshe, similar to the chance prophetic experiences of evil Bilaam?

We find a second unusual letter in the tefillin (phylacteries) worn on the head. Usually, the letter shin is written with three upward strokes, but the shin embossed on the left side of the tefillin has four. Some commentaries connect this peculiar shin to the Midrashic description of the Torah’s transmission to Israel via black fire engraved on white fire. What does this mean? What are these black and white fires?

Black Ink on White Parchment
When we think about a Torah scroll, we usually only consider the letters themselves, written in black ink. Yet, the Talmud (Menachot 29a) rules that every letter in a Torah scroll must be completely surrounded by parchment. This requirement is called mukaf gevil. In other words, the white parchment around the letters is an integral part of the Torah; without it, the Torah scroll is disqualified.

In fact, the white space is a higher form of Torah. It is analogous to the white fire of Sinai — a sublime, hidden Torah that cannot be read in the usual manner.

There is a delicate balance between black and white in the Torah. The shirot, the poetic portions in the Torah, are written in a special fashion, like a wall constructed from layers of black and white bricks. These poetic sections are the loftiest parts of the Torah. Consequently, they have more white space, as they contain a greater measure of the esoteric white fire. If a scribe were to write other sections of the Torah in this special layout, the Torah scroll would be rendered invalid. After the Torah was revealed and restricted to our limited world, it must be written with the appropriate ratio of black to white.

What about the four-pronged shin on tefillin? The mitzvah of tefillin is closely connected to the manifestation of Torah after its revelation into the finite world. “All of the peoples of the land shall see that the name of God is called upon you, and they shall be in awe of you” (Devarim 28:10; see Menachot 35b). Thus, tefillin correspond to the lower realm of black fire, and are marked with a shin bearing an extra measure of black.

We can deepen our understanding of the white and black fires by considering another example of white space in the Torah. Extra space is left blank to separate sections of the Torah. The Sages explained that these separations allowed Moses to reflect upon and absorb the previous lesson. In other words, the white fire corresponds to the loftier realm of thought and contemplation. The black fire of the letters, on the other hand, is the revelation of intellect into the realm of language — a contraction and limitation of abstract thought into the more concrete level of speech.

The Divine Call Before Revelation
The distinction between white and black fire also sheds light on God’s call to Moshe before speaking with him. The voice summoning Moses to enter the tent was in fact the divine call from Sinai, an infinite call that never ceased (Devarim 5:19). The summons would reach Moshe as he stood outside the tent, before being constrained within the four walls of the Mishkan. This voice was not a revelation of Torah, but an overture to its revelation. It belonged to the esoteric white fire of Torah, before its constriction and revelation into the physical world.

This is the reason that Moshe made the aleph of the divine call smaller. Since it belonged to the realm of white fire, the summons required an extra measure of white space over black ink. Superficially, Moshe’s miniature aleph humbly implies a diminished state of the revealed Torah of black fire, but on a deeper level, it reflects an increase in the esoteric Torah of white fire.

(Gold from the Land of Israel, pp. 179-181. Adapted from Shemuot HaRe’iyah IV by Rav Chanan Morrison)

The Rationale of Sacrifices

by HaRav Mordechai Greenberg
Nasi HaYeshiva, Kerem B'Yavneh

After Sefer Shemot concludes with the construction of the mishkan and the dwelling of the Divine Presence in it, Sefer Vayikra opens with the sacrificial service in the mishkan. The Rishonim dispute the rationale of sacrifices:

The Rambam, in Moreh Nevuchim, explains that the sacrificial service comes to draw man away from idolatry. The Torah took man's nature into account, and since common practice then was to sacrifice on altars to the gods, the Torah did not want to detach Israel entirely from this service. "That would have been as if a prophet were to come in our time, who would call for the service of Hashem and say: "G-d commanded you not to pray to him, not to fast, and not to ask his salvation in times of trouble." Therefore, the Divine wisdom retained the form of service that they were accustomed to, and moved it to the service of G-d.

The Rambam brings proof to this from the pasuk in Parshat Beshalach, "G-d did not lead them by the way of the Philistines ... for G-d said, 'Perhaps the people will reconsider when they see a war and they will return to Egypt.'" (Shemot 13:17) G-d was concerned there that Bnei Yisrael were not yet accustomed to act as free men. Here, too, he did not forbid them from offering sacrifices, until they would be detached entirely from idolatry. In short: There is no inherent value to the sacrificial service, but rather it is a means to distance the people from idolatry. Thus, we find in many of the Prophets that there is no inherent purpose in sacrifices, but instead they say: "Does Hashem delight in elevation-offerings and feast-offerings as in obedience to the voice of Hashem?" (Shmuel I 15:22) "'Why do I need your numerous sacrifices?' says Hashem." (Yeshaya 1:11)

The Ramban objects strongly to the Rambam's view, since according to him the entire idea of sacrifices is only, "to counter the wicked and foolish [people] of the world," whereas the Torah says that they have a "pleasing fragrance." He also asks from the sacrifices that Hevel and Noach offered, even before there was idolatry in the world. Rather, the Ramban writes that it is more logical that all the actions in a sacrifice indicate that man deserves to have all of these actions done to him:

He sinned to his G-d with his body and soul, and he deserves that his blood be spilled and his body be burned, were it not for the mercy of the Creator who took from him a substitute. This sacrifice atones, so that its blood should be in lieu of his blood, a soul in lieu of a soul, etc.

However, the Ramban concludes that while this fits well in an Aggadic manner, in the Kabalistic approach, "there is a hidden secret to sacrifices" The Meshech Chochmah, in his introduction to Sefer Vayikra explains that "it is to draw close all the forces of the worlds. It is something electric, spiritual, which, through the actions of the priest, do wonders in the various worlds."

The Meshech Chochmah further explains that, in fact, there is no dispute between the Ramban and the Rambam. The Rambam talks about sacrifices on an altar, which are truly to wean from idolatry, while the Ramban talks about sacrifices in the Temple, which have inherent worth, and about them it says that they have a "pleasing fragrance." These are the sacrifices that Noach and Hevel offered, and even the Rambam agrees to this. He explains with this the reason why it is forbidden to offer on an altar after the destruction of the Temple. This is because then the desire for idolatry no longer exists, and therefore there is no reason to sacrifice on an altar.

Perhaps we can bring proof to his suggestion that the Rambam does not negate the Ramban's words that there is inherent rationale for sacrifices. The Rambam writes in Hil. Me'ilah (8:8) as follows: "All of the sacrifices are in the class of chukim (decrees). Chazal said that the world exists for the service of sacrifices."

Why Do Children Start With Vayikra?

by HaRav Shaul Yisraeli, zt"l
Rosh HaYeshiva, Mercaz HaRav
Rosh Kollel, Eretz Hemdat
Chaver, Beit Din HaGadol Yerushalayim

For many generations there has been a custom to begin a child’s learning of Chumash with Sefer Vayikra, which Chazal call Torat Kohanim. The explanation is found as far back as the midrash (Yalkut Shimoni, Tzav 479): "Why do young children start with Torat Kohanim? Let them start with Bereishit? Since the korbanot (sacrifices) are pure and the children are pure, let the pure come and deal with the pure."

Vayikra is not a book whose purpose is just to provide practical instructions on the way to bring sacrifices. Rather, it deals, on a fundamental basis, with Bnei Yisrael as a mamlechet kohanim v’goy kadosh (kingdom of priests and a holy nation). There is no more appropriate time to inculcate these values into children as when they have the freshness and purity of young age.

The bringing of korbanot is the essence of avoda (service of Hashem), which along with Torah and gemilut chasadim (acts of kindness) are the pillars that keep the world standing (Avot 1:2). The Torah represents the thought-related element of Judaism; gemilut chasadim is the active part between man and his fellow man. However, these two are insufficient without avoda, the active part of our proper connection with Hashem, which also must exist in order that the proper behavior between man and man will have its full meaning. We need to use the hand (action) and the heart (thought) in making our relationship with Hashem complete. The avoda must come from within a person, as korbanot should not be offered as some sort of external donation but as a gift from one’s essence The prophets (see Yeshaya 43:23, for one example) spoke very strongly against the phenomenon of people offering korbanot without the correct frame of mind or actions, which Hashem said He has no interest in.

On the other hand, we must reject that which some say that since the main thing is what is in a person’s heart, it is enough to serve Hashem with one’s heart. This reminds us of the gemara (Yevamot 109b) that says that whoever says that he has only Torah does not even have Torah. The heart does not have real value if it is in a manner that is disconnected from action.

Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai said that the pasuk, "This is the Torah of the olah sacrifice" refers to the atonement for the thoughts to sin (Vayikra Rabba 7:3). This is because the heart itself needs protection. Therefore, actions are needed to protect the heart from going into morally dangerous thoughts. On one hand, the korbanot are given as if from our very essence, by means of the thought process. In practice, though, they are brought from the cattle and the flock of sheep.

This matter of avoda has to be learned well and from an expert teacher. That is why Moshe, who thought he had finished his leadership role after the Exodus and the giving of the Torah, was told that he had a greater role still ahead of him: to teach Israel the laws of purity and of korbanot (Tanchuma, Vayikra 4).

Moshe's Private Revelation

by Rabbi Dov Berel Wein

Moshe hears the voice of the Lord as God calls to him. However, it is not the same experience that it was at Mount Sinai. There, it was with noise and fanfare, thunder and lightning, pageantry, and awe. At Mount Sinai, even the soundwaves were visible and real. But here, according to the Midrash, it is a private revelation exclusive to Moshe. The great heavenly voice is not heard outside the precincts of the Tabernacle itself.

According to some commentators, this is one of the reasons why the word Vayikra itself is spelled with a small letter –Aleph zeira - the small Alef at the end of the word Vayikra. It is interesting to note that one of the celestial powers of the Almighty is that of tzimtzum – the ability to diminish the godly presence, so to speak, in the universe, to allow for nature and human beings to function in the so-called vacated space.

We find that when the prophet Elijah searches for God, he does not find Him in the great wind or in thunderous sound, but, rather, in the still small voice of silence itself. I have written many times about the importance of being able to find God within our own being, within our own soul, for only by discovering God in that manner can a person achieve permanent elevation of spirituality and faith.

External events may make a great impression upon us, both physically and spiritually. But they are usually only a temporary influence, a momentary catalyst. Determined pursuit of spiritual and moral attainment is always dependent upon that still small voice that Elijah heard within himself and is the voice that all of us can also hear for ourselves, if we will do so.

We are all aware that it is much easier to hear loud sounds than furtive whispers. To hear a low voice or a whisper requires concentration. It demands a desire to hear, not an automatic reflex of our auditory senses, but, rather, an intentional expression of our inner desire to hear the seemingly inaudible. The gurus of espionage and counterespionage, of police and governmental surveillance, have constructed elaborate technological methods for blocking out all the extraneous noise that their microphones pick up, so that they are able to eavesdrop on the whispered conversations of enemy agents, spies, saboteurs, and criminals. Only one extraneous noise can cancel a surveillance project and prevent a consequence or benefit.

I would hazard to say that this is true in the pursuit of a meaningful spiritual life as well. All the outside static of everyday life, of the mundane and the tawdry, foolish and the distracting, must be eliminated, for us to hear our own still small voice in our soul. We live in a very noisy world, and the ruckus of life often prevents us from hearing what we ourselves wish to say to ourselves, because of the outside static of noise that constantly engulfs us. We should certainly concentrate more on hearing our own inner self and soul.

COVID Apology Letter

A template for the many people who need to repent for their COVID-related sins.

by Rabbi Chananya Weissman



As a public service, I present this letter as a template for the many people who need to repent for their COVID-related sins. We cannot just move on and pretend this never happened. Those who harmed others are obligated to repent and those who were harmed deserve proper amends. Every individual is encouraged to customize and personalize this letter as appropriate.

*

Dear ______________

I owe you a tremendous apology. It would be easy for me to blame other people, but ultimately I am responsible for my actions.

The Torah teaches that repentance requires three components: confession, regret, and a resolution to change. The Torah also teaches that when one sins against his fellow, God will not forgive him until he makes amends to the person he harmed. I am sending you this letter as the first step of my repentance.

I am deeply sorry for having done the following (select all that apply):

• Pressuring you to wear a mask
• Pressuring you to take one or more injections of the bioweapon
• Dismissing your concerns
• Mocking you
• Administering the shot to you
• Dismissing or downplaying the damage you suffered
• Treating you like a social outcast or a spreader of disease
• Cutting you out of my life
• Verbally abusing you
• Physically assaulting you
• Shaming you in public
• Shaming you online
• Blaming you for the situation
• Calling you a murderer
• Snitching on you
• Refusing to give you service
• Barring you from a minyan
• Depriving you of livelihood
• Depriving you of education without discrimination
• Depriving you of participating in other social, communal, or public activities
• Lying to you or otherwise withholding the scientific truth about masks, the shots, etc.
• Lying to you or otherwise withholding the truth about the Torah's true position on these matters
• Physically and/or emotionally abusing your children in any of these ways
• Accepting bribery in any form to participate in these crimes
• Other ____________________

I should have known better. I should have been more courageous.

I cannot undo the past, and it might be impossible for me to fully rectify the damage I caused. However, even the worst sinners are encouraged and obligated to repent, and to make amends however possible. I accept this upon myself.

I also accept upon myself not to repeat this behavior in the future. This includes working to rectify the underlying character defects that caused me to be misled and sin in these ways.

I beg of you to accept my apology and find it in your heart to forgive me.

Sincerely,

Rav Kook's Igrot Hare’aya: The Relationship between Good and Bad Traits, part II

93 (part II) 

Date and Place: 9 Tishrei 5766 (1905), Yafo

Recipient: A young Moshe Zeidel. A close disciple of Rav Kook, from their time in Boisk, he asked Rav Kook many philosophical questions. He would become Dr. Zeidel, a philologist philosopher, and educator.

Body: I will explain to you what I meant in a previous letter (#20): “Every matter of greatness is connected to parallel shortcomings.” This is related to the idea that Hashem does not allow a human inclination to exist only for good and not for bad (see Yoma 69a regarding the attraction between men and women). All powers were created in their totalities. It is the sacred obligation of man to develop an approach whereby the general power will be used for good and not for bad.

The early thinkers long ago pointed out that a phenomenal memory allows a person to remember all of the wisdom and the good that he saw, but also all the vanity and the evil. This phenomenon is true of all of man’s skills and attributes. Therefore, shortcomings always cling to positive attributes. Thus, the greatest elements of knowledge and the dearest attributes are by necessity connected to correspondingly great shortcomings.

Only when one reaches a high level, when he sees divine truth openly, then he need not be afraid of evil. This is because evil and the unseemly are not found with truth except to the extent that the divine light is hidden from those who grasp or feel it. When Hashem will be the source of light and grandeur, then we will be able to say, “Your nation consists only of the righteous” (see Yeshayahu 60:19-21).

In order to reach such a level one needs internal preparation and personal refinement, to the point that his strongest interests in life will coincide with the divine interest. Then there is no Satan, no spiritual danger, and no need to restrict any human power and interest from expanding. There is also no need for difficulties, which exist to prepare the world to check the powers of evil, and therefore these difficulties will cease to exist. When we take each step toward Hashem’s desire for the world, we elevate life and prepare ever better for the purpose of complete good.

In the world, we primarily need nations to act as opposed to individuals. That is why when we elevate ourselves, we do so from the perspective of our part in the Assemblage of Israel, to elevate and strengthen it. On the one hand, we need to say that “the world was created for me” (Sanhedrin 4:5) and wonder when our actions will reach the levels of the actions of our forefathers, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov (see Tanna D’bei Eliyahu Rabba 25). Their greatness lay in their ability to elevate their actions to that of the nation that would come from them even while that nation was in potential rather than actuality. This can apply in our days, as well. Although there is already a Nation of Israel to which we are connected, we are also connected to the situation of the forefathers, i.e., to look forward to what will be in the future. We do this with a connection to the nation as a whole, which ignores the value of the individual and even a single generation and focuses on the connection to the nation in the broadest sense. This is reminiscent of the large revolution around the sun in relation to the individual planets.

Anything that focuses on potential must be connected to something with a lacking. Of all the nations, Israel is the most focused on the potential that has not yet come in practice, as this is part of our name and the content of all of our special qualities. Therefore, we must be affected by major shortcomings. On the other hand, they are all great levels of attainment when they are handled properly. “He did not look toward iniquity in Yaakov and did not see spiritual decadence in Israel; Hashem, its G-d, was with it, and the friendship of the King was within it” (Bamidbar 23:21).

Imagine: singing about the coming of the messiah in a cattle car on the way to Treblinka

by Rav Binny Freedman

In a cattle car in Poland, in the summer of 1942, Reb Azriel Dovid Fastag, who was the composer of tunes for the Moshitzer rebbe, was headed to his death in Treblinka. It is impossible to imagine what it must have been like. Over a hundred Jews, forced to stand for days on end with only a bucket in the middle of the car for waste, no room to even sit or lie down, no food or water, in the stifling summer heat, all crammed in together heading to whereabouts unknown, for reasons they could not even imagine.

Listening to the clickety-clack of the wheels of the train, a tune sprang into his mind, and he composed the now-famous “Ani Ma’amin” tune:

“I believe, with complete faith, in the coming of the messiah, and even though he may tarry, I await him nonetheless…”

And he began to hum and then to sing the haunting melody, in the crowded cattle car full of despair hurtling into the darkness. And one by one, the Jews in the car picked up the tune and begin to hum, and then to sing with him. And when the Jews in the car next to them heard the singing, after a time, they picked up the tune as well, and began to sing along. Overwhelmed by the power of this tune, he wrote down the notes and shared them, determined to ensure the tune would survive.

Eventually, after the war, one of the young students in that car who eventually escaped and survived the war, made his way back to the court of Mozhitz now in Brooklyn, and shared the tune with the Mozhitzer Rebbe and it became the unofficial anthem of the Holocaust in the Jewish religious world…

Imagine: singing about the coming of the messiah in a cattle car on the way to Treblinka…

This week, we will conclude the second of the five books of the Torah, Sefer Shemot (the book of Exodus).

And the way in which the Torah concludes this book, which shares the story of the Exodus from Egypt, is interesting. With the building of the Mishkan (the Tabernacle) complete, the Torah tells us:

“When the cloud arose above the Mishkan, the Children of Israel would travel on all of their journeys, but if the cloud would not rise, then they would not travel until it rose. For the cloud of G-d was on the Mishkan by day, and a pillar of fire at night before (in the eyes of) all of Israel on all of their journeys.”

(Shemot 40:36-38)

After all of the bombastic events of the book of Shemot, the ten plagues, the Exodus, the splitting of the sea and the revelation of Sinai, not to mention the building of the Mishkan, why do we conclude this entire book with the cloud above the Mishkan and the system of how the Jews knew when to travel? This is the big finale of the book of the Exodus: traffic control?

And there is an interesting detail which begs a question: When it was time for the Jews to journey again the cloud would rise up and go before them to lead the way, so why does the last verse suggest the cloud was on the Mishkan on their journeys? If it was on the Mishkan that meant they were encamped?

So Rashi explains that since each of their encampments was part of the journey, they too were considered part of the journey.

What does this mean and why is this the conclusion of the entire book of Shemot?

Fast forward to the beginning of the book of Yehoshua (Joshua). After forty years in the desert, Yehoshua is getting ready, with the Jewish people and an army of six hundred thousand men to enter and conquer the land of Israel and decides to send two spies to spy out the land. It is difficult to understand why Yehoshua would choose to do this, especially after the debacle of the spies nearly forty years earlier, but even stranger is the mission itself.

The two spies cross the border and head straight for … a brothel! (though some suggest it was an inn) And they are discovered almost immediately. (One can only imagine two individuals who just spent forty years receiving Torah from Moshe in the desert, eating the holy Manna every day and protected by clouds of glory, walking into a Canaanite bar with their big Yarmulkes and tefillin on debating which blessing to make on beer; wonder how they got caught so fast …)

But Rachav the righteous innkeeper (who was just a brothel owner…!) hides them on the roof under bales of flax. She then advises them to escape westwards up into the mountains, as the King’s men will look for them to the east. Heeding her advice, they indeed hide for three days in the hills before subsequently making their way back east over the border.

And then comes the most incredible part of the whole story: rather than apologize for their failed mission they clearly (Yehoshua 2: 23-24) feel they have succeeded!

“ … Hashem has given the land over into our hands” (ibid. v. 24)

This, despite not getting much further than the underside of a pile of flax on a rooftop?!

So, there is a unique phrase the two spies employ when they report to Yehoshua and describe the events of their mission:

“ kol ha’motz’ot otam” ( ibid v. 23) which literally means ‘all that found them’.

We find this word again at the end of the book of Bamidbar (Numbers) in the portion of Massei, which literally means journeys.

There were forty-two journeys the Jewish people travelled in their forty years in the desert, and the Torah describes them as well, (Bamidbar 33:2) as Motza’eihem ; literally ‘what found them’.

Because the places described in these forty-two journeys are not really places; a rock or a sand-dune in the middle of the wilderness is not really a place such as we normally encounter; there is no town or Bedouin encampment; no hospital or lake, for the most part. Refidim is where ‘rafu yadam’, their hands became weak (and they needed water), Di-Zahav means gold; it is here the Golden Calf occurred; these are not places, they are rather events; and we don’t travel to events; events find us.

There is a blessing we say every morning as part of the morning blessings:

“ Ha’meichin mitzadei gaver” Literally : He who prepares the steps of man. And the Talmud (tractate Brachot 60b) shares that initially, this blessing was said when we put on our shoes. Really? A blessing for putting on your shoes?

But in truth this blessing hides a deep idea: We wake up in the morning full of our plans for the day. Just remember, with all our best laid plans, who really prepares our steps for the day. We may think we are headed off for a job interview, and we certainly have to do all we can to prepare for that meeting and ensure its success. But as we put our shoes on, it behooves us to remember that what really ends up happening is in much bigger hands than our own…

Everything that will come into our lives, today and every day, are events that find us, and we can’t really change those events; what we can change is how we react to them, and what we choose to do with them. Perhaps that is what the spies are telling Yehoshua:

‘We had a very different idea of how this mission would go, but these are the events that found us.’ Hashem wanted the Jewish people to see just how terrified the Canaanites were of them, and He planned the mission as it actually transpired.

And maybe that explains the end of the book of Shemot. Even when we encamp, we are always on a journey; and everything that happens comes to us for a reason; it’s all part of the journey.

So how do Jews in a cattle car, headed for Treblinka, find the strength to sing about Treblinka?

Perhaps in the same way the Jewish people survived two thousand years of bitter exile: we somehow understood that every event, or encampment, was really just part of a much larger journey, and it was never about controlling the events, it was always about deciding what we are meant to do with them and who is really planning them.

All of which will lead us to the third book we begin next week: Vayikra which literally means ‘and He called’; the recognition that hidden in all of the events of our lives is always … a calling.

Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem.

Rabbi Ari Kahn on Parashat Pekudai: Building Trust

The Yishai Fleisher Israel Podcast: Can Israel Learn from Ukrainian Nationalism?

Season 2022 Episode 9 Yishai and Malkah Fleisher ask whether Israel needs to be involved in the Ukraine morass - or should it secure itself first? And can the Jewish State learn something from Ukrainian Nationalism? Then, on Table Torah: the end of the Book of Exodus, and the pride of getting stuff done for God!

Obama’s Third Term

by Victor Rosenthal

While our attention here in Israel is on Ukraine, the US and Iran are preparing to come to some kind of nuclear agreement. Or not. I’ve been wrong about a number of things lately – I never thought Putin would do more than lop off the Donbas region from Ukraine – and I might be wrong about this too, but the Biden Administration’s desire to have something to brag about seems strong enough to swallow anything the Iranians throw at them at the last minute.

Any deal will have minimal effect on Iran’s ability to make and deploy nuclear weapons. What the signing will do is provide an immediate financial boost to Iran, which can be used both for its nuclear project and the support of its terrorist partners in Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq; and it will place Israel in the position of the “rogue” that violates international order if she attacks Iran.

And if there is no deal? I presume that some sanctions would remain for some time. But they will not have any material effect on Iran’s project.

Incidentally, the effect that serious sanctions and actions to isolate a bad actor can have are evident in Russia, whose economy has already been severely wounded by even a few days of economic warfare by the West. It’s a pity that similarly harsh measures were never taken against Iran.

I think there will be a deal, because both sides want it: the Iranians, because they will give up little or nothing, and receive a lot. And the Biden Administration, because appeasing Iran is part of its long-term Middle East policy. Let’s look at that.

Prior to 1973, US policy was not particularly friendly to Israel, primarily because of competition with the Soviet Union for influence with the oil-rich Arab countries. But during the Yom Kippur War, President Nixon, worried that the Soviet-aligned Arabs might win – or that Israel might use her nuclear weapons – airlifted weapons to Israel and then asked Congress to provide billions in aid to pay for them. In response, the Arab-led oil cartel, OPEC, declared an embargo on oil deliveries to countries that supported Israel, including the US. The embargo was only in effect for five months, but caused a huge spike in the price of oil whose shock waves affected almost every part of the world economy. Many countries whose Mideast policy had been neutral or pro-Israel began to tilt toward the Arabs as a result. In the US, oil companies took a public stance calling for a more “even-handed” (i.e., less pro-Israel) policy.

In an attempt to woo them away from the Soviets, Nixon and Kissinger promised Arab leaders in 1974-5 that they would work to “reduce [Israel’s] size to historic [pre-1967] proportions.” This has been US policy ever since. Beginning with Jimmy Carter’s Camp David Accords that gave the Sinai back to Egypt, there have been numerous American-led initiatives to do just that.

Presidents Reagan, GHW Bush, Clinton, GW Bush, and Trump all thought that the solution to the conflict between Israel and the Arabs lay in a territorial compromise with some kind of Palestinian entity. And all of them understood that Israel’s security had to be preserved. But Barack Obama was different.

Obama was the second American president, after Jimmy Carter, who was clearly anti-Israel. His sympathy with the Palestinian movement was clear from remarks that he made when he was running for the Senate back in 2003, from the speech he made in Cairo shortly after he took office, in which he compared “Palestinian [suffering] in pursuit of a homeland” to the Holocaust, and to the pain and humiliation of slavery and segregation felt by black Americans.

Obama often claimed to support the Jewish state, and pointed to the 10-year commitment his administration made to a $38bn program of military aid. But the money is spent in America, where it buys the most expensive weapons in the world, developed on a cost-plus basis. Obama eliminated the provision that allowed some of the aid to be spent on purchases from Israel’s own defense industries. The aid program serves America’s interests and damages Israel’s. It addicts Israel to expensive American weapons, weakens Israel’s defense industries, and gives the US too much leverage over Israel’s actions. Israel would be better off without it.

A list of all of Obama’s actions that were damaging to Israel would stretch from January 2009, when he ordered Israel to end its ground invasion of Gaza before inauguration day, to his final spiteful act as a lame duck president, when he ordered his UN ambassador to abstain on the anti-Israel UNSC resolution 2334 (the last time this happened was during Carter’s presidency). His contemptuous treatment of Israel’s then Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu – he instructed an aide to refer to the former combat soldier as “a chickenshit” to a reporter – tells us everything about his attitude.

But the most dangerous initiative of his administration was, of course, the JCPOA, the original Iran deal of 2015. At the time it was clear that it did not prevent, or even significantly slow, Iran’s progress. It couldn’t be enforced. It weakened a UN resolution forbidding Iran from developing nuclear-capable ballistic missiles. And it actually legitimized Iran’s having nuclear weapons after a few years. We should remember that under the non-proliferation treaty that Iran signed, it agreed to never develop such weapons.

It’s hard to see what American interest the deal served then, and even harder now. It will give Biden something to brag about, and it will be yet another shot at former president Trump. But where is the benefit from increased funding for terrorism, strengthening America’s greatest enemy in the Mideast, and beginning a round of nuclear proliferation in the volatile region? Where is the benefit for the US and the rest of the West from enabling the establishment of an Iranian caliphate in the region?

This is just one of the administration’s actions that are difficult to understand. Recently, it effectively killed a proposed natural gas pipeline from Israel to Europe through Cyprus and Greece. Now, with Russia threatening to cut gas supplies to Europe, this looks even more stupid.

Last month, the US cut military aid to Egypt by some $130m out of $300m. The stated reason is that they are not satisfied with al-Sisi’s plan to improve the human rights situation in Egypt. At the same time, the Iran deal will free up billions which Iran can use to continue supporting terrorist groups targeting Egypt. In case you’ve forgotten, Obama supported Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi over Mubarak.

Shortly after taking office, the administration removed the Yemenite Houthi rebels from the list of terrorist organizations. On the same day, they attacked a Saudi airport.

Why? The answer is that the Biden Administration is Obama’s third term. Its foreign policy team, and especially those responsible for negotiations with Iran, are made up almost entirely of former Obama Administration people. Although I can’t prove it, I believe that Obama, Ben Rhodes, Susan Rice, and others are pulling the strings.

And these people share a bizarre ideology. They see the world through a lens that combines leftism, Islamism, and a naïve third-worldism. They see Islamism as the most authentic political movement in the Middle East, and so they support the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, as well as Iranian control of Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. Among their goals are the replacement of Israel – which they see as an outpost of Western colonialism – by a Palestinian state. I believe they see the possibility of a strong, modernizing Israeli-Egyptian-Saudi bloc as dangerous to Islam, and will try to prevent it from arising.

Try as I might, I can’t see how this fits in with American interests.

Rav Kook on Parashat Pekudei: Always on His Mind

Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzinski (1863-1940), the brilliant Lithuanian scholar and posek, was known to write scholarly Halachic correspondence while simultaneously conversing with a visitor on a totally different subject. When questioned how he accomplished this remarkable feat, Rav Grodzinski humbly replied that his talent was not so unusual.

“What, have you never heard of a businessman who mentally plans out his day while reciting the morning prayers?”

Constant Awareness
One of the eight special garments worn by the kohen gadol, the high priest, was the tzit. This was a gold plate worn across the forehead, engraved with the words kodesh le-Hashem — “Holy to God.”

The Torah instructs the kohen gadol that the tzitz “will be on his forehead – always” (Shemot 28:38). The Sages understood this requirement not as addressing where the head-plate is worn, but rather how it is worn. It is not enough for the tzitz to be physically on his forehead. It must be always “on his mind.” The kohen gadol must be constantly aware of the tzitz and its succinct message of “Holy to God” while serving in the Temple. His service requires conscious recognition of the purpose of his actions, without irrelevant thoughts and musings. He cannot be like the fellow whose mind was preoccupied with business matters while he mumbled his daily prayers.




Tefillin and the Tzitz
The golden head-plate brings to mind another holy object worn above the forehead: tefillin. In fact, the Sages compared the two. Like the tzitz, wearing tefillin requires one to be always aware of their presence. The Talmud in Shabbat 12a makes the following a fortiori argument: If the tzitz, upon which God’s name is engraved just once, requires constant awareness, then certainly tefillin, containing scrolls in which God’s name is written many times, have the same requirement.

This logic, however, appears flawed. Did the Sages really mean to say that tefillin, worn by any Jew, are holier objects than the sacred head-plate worn only by the high priest when serving in the Temple?

Furthermore, why is it that God’s name is only recorded once on the tzitz, while appearing many times on the scrolls inside tefillin?

Connecting to Our Goals
We may distinguish between two aspects of life: our ultimate goals, and the means by which we attain these goals. It is easy to lose sight of our true goals when we are preoccupied with the ways of achieving them.

Even those who are careful to “stay on track” may lack clarity as to the true purpose of life. The Sages provided a basic rule: “All of your deeds should be for the sake of Heaven”(Avot 2:12). However, knowledge of what God wants us to do in every situation is by no means obvious. Success in discovering the highest goal, in comprehending our purpose in life, and being able to relate all of life’s activities to this central goal — all depend on our wisdom and insight.

For the kohen gadol, everything should relate to the central theme of “Holy to God.” We expect that the individual suitable for such a high office will have attained the level of enlightenment where all of life’s activities revolve around a single ultimate goal. Therefore the tzitz mentions God’s name just once — a single crowning value. Most people, however, do not live on this level of enlightened holiness. We have numerous spiritual goals, such as performing acts of kindness, charity, Torah study, prayer, and acquiring wisdom. By relating our actions to these values, we elevate ourselves and sanctify our lives. For this reason, the scrolls inside tefillin mention God’s name many times, reflecting the various spiritual goals that guide us.

In order to keep life’s ultimate goals in sight, we need concrete reminders. The tzitz and tefillin, both worn on the forehead above the eyes, are meant to help us attain this state of mindfulness.

Now we may understand the logic of comparing these two holy objects. Even the kohen gadol, despite his broad spiritual insight, needed to be constantly aware of the tzitz on his forehead and its fundamental message of kodesh le-Hashem. All the more so an average person, with a variety of goals, must remain conscious of the spiritual message of his tefillin at all times.

(The Splendor of Tefillin. Adapted from Ein Eyah vol. III, p. 26 by Rav Chanan Morrison)

Not seeing The Conductor but seeing the Performance

by Rabbi Pinchas Winston

Friday Night
WHEN I WATCH a conductor lead an orchestra, I always wonder what he is actually doing. He just stands there scanning the instrument players back-and-forth while animatedly, some more than others, waving a wand in all kinds of directions. It’s a little entertaining, but what does it have to do with the music being played, especially when so much of the time the musicians don’t seem to be even looking at their conductor?

So, for the sake of this dvar Torah, I looked it up. This is what it said. It said that a conductor directs rehearsals and performances by the orchestra, and their primary responsibilities are: accuracy—The conductor must ensure that the composer’s intentions and instructions are faithfully carried out—that is, everybody is playing all of the right notes and rhythms; ensemble—The conductor must make sure musicians play together, in precise rhythmic and musical coordination; tempo and dynamics (speed and volume)—The conductor’s job is to interpret the composer’s—that is, choosing general levels of tempo and volume as well as to ensure the realization of the composer’s intentions, and it least four more other similar aspects of quality of performance. THAT takes a lot of background knowledge, experience, and expertise.

In the end, it is not so much what the conductor does at the performance itself as what they do to prepare for it. By the time over 100 musicians show up to work in amazing synchrony to produce a magnificent rendition of some classical piece of amazingly composed music, the conductor has already made his mark. What they do at the live performance seems to be more symbolic than actual. They may get move frenetically, but that is probably more for them and the audience at that point than anyone else.

It is not unlike how it works for the greatest Conductor of the greatest and largest orchestra there is, mankind. At the performance, He is there as well directing all that is happening, like the way in the Ukraine. But the bulk of His work and expertise is what He did out of the eyeshot of the audience, and well in advance of the actual performance, making sure that each player knows their part just so in order to work in synchrony with the others to properly execute God’s masterpiece called “History.”

Shabbos Day
WHAT DOES THAT mean? To begin with, consider the primary characters playing out history at this time, you know, the people in the news, for good or for bad. They did not just show up on the scene all of a sudden. They were developed over time, they think by themselves or by circumstance, but really by God. He directs and develops all of us, but some people have more pronounced missions than others. Like any conductor, the Conductor of history has been working with everything and everyone since Creation.

This is what the Midrash says:

There was a time for Adam HaRishon to enter Gan Aiden…and a time for him to leave there. There was a time for Noach to enter the ark…and a time for him to leave it. There was a time to give Avraham milah…and a time for his descendants to circumcise themselves in two locations, once in Egypt and once is the desert, as it says, “For all the people that came out were circumcised, etc.” (Yehoshua 3:5). There was a time to give the Torah to the Jewish people, etc. (Koheles Rabbah 3:1)

Of course that always brings up the question about free will, but I have dealt with that in the past and it is not really the point here. The point is that whatever is going on today was planned back at Creation, and the people carrying it out were born to play their parts, small or major. Even the background people in a major motion film didn’t just happen to wander onto the set.

So what? What difference does it make if what is happening today is organic or scripted? Either way it will do what it will do, and affect the people it will affect.

The difference is Purim, which makes the timing of world events quite significant. It is also a Shmittah, adding to the significance of what is happening today. It is significant not just because of what it might lead to, but it is also a form of divine communication, which we so sorely need today.

Purim has come to mean many things to many people, not all of which was what Chazal had in mind when they established it as a yearly holiday. But the one thing it was always meant to be, since the era of prophecy was ending, was a history lesson. It was to leave an impression on the collective mind of the Jewish people about how God runs Jewish history, from exile to redemption. It was meant to teach us that even after God stops talking to us He nevertheless continues the dialogue with us through the events of the day.

But it’s more complicated. It’s in code. The person interpreting the message has to be able to recognize the patterns and references to know what is being communicated. That means knowing the navi, midrashim, and the gemoras and various other sources that have been bequeathed to us specifically to help us navigate the end of days.

It’s funny how these words were so real for Ya’akov Avinu in his time, and his sons too. They lived so long ago, and yet they could imagine history coming to an end, including a War of Gog and Magog. We however live so close to the end of history and yet act as if it could be thousands of years away, not because we can be, but because we never take the time to familiar ourselves with it. Now we have to scramble to deal with it.

Something is very wrong with that.

Shalosh Seudot
THE WORD MISHKAN is mentioned twice at the beginning of the parsha, and Rashi explains that this alludes to the two temples that would eventually be built and destroyed. We’re just building the Mishkan and God has yet to dwell in it, and we’re already alluding to future destroyed temples? How depressing is that?

The Talmud also mentions something similar. For example, it says that when Shlomo HaMelech married the converted daughter of Pharaoh, the seeds of the destruction of the Second Temple were planted. He had just built and inaugurated the First Temple, and we’re already talking about the destruction of the Second Temple! Are we doomed to suffer until Moshiach finally comes?

It depends. If we stay awake, no. But if we sleep, then yes.

When Achashveros worried aloud to Haman that God might to him as He did to the king’s predecessors, Haman answered him, “Not to worry. The Jewish people are asleep, and so their God is as well.”

And when God threatened to sink the ship on which Yonah fled his prophecy, the sailors frantically fought the stormy sea while praying for mercy. As for Yonah, apparently, he was sound asleep. The person whom Eliyahu HaNavi had revived as young boy and who became Moshiach Ben Yosef in his time, somehow was able to sleep soundly while a chaotic sea wanted to drown his ship and everyone on it. It took a bunch of terrified gentile sailors to arouse Yonah to deal with the problem he had himself created.

We read that Maftir on Yom Kippur. A couple reasons are given, but I think the most important one is the most overlooked one. I mean, who can sleep in the hold of a ship that is being tossed around from wave to wave? Likewise, who can go about their normal activities when the rest of the world is worrying about the next world war?

I get it. We don’t want to get all excited for no reason. We don’t want to get all messianic because we worry that it is too early. After waiting for Moshiach for thousands of years now and getting wrong a few times, we’re cautious.

Cautious is good. Ignoring the potential of redemption is not. That’s called sleeping, and we know who usually wakes us up when we do that at the wrong time. Everything that is happening today was prepared long before we even got into bed. But that is no reason to pull the cover over our heads to go back to sleep. Adar Sheini is about to begin, and Purim isn’t far behind, b”H. Is that not enough of a wake-up call?

Three Parts: Unwanted Guests – Jew Be Proud – Eisav vs Eisav

BS”D
Parashat Pekudei 5782
by HaRav Nachman Kahana

A: Unwanted Guests
The Gemara (Megila 14a) quotes a Breita (a ta’annaic halachic work) that Am YIsrael gave forth prophets twice the number of men who left Egypt, bringing the number of prophets to one million two hundred thousand! However, only those prophecies that had implications for future Jewish history were recorded as part of the Tanach’s 24 books.

It is logical to assume that this principle holds true regarding the Judges (Shoftim) who served in the 400-year period from Yehoshua bin Nun until the last judge, Eli, the Kohen Gadol in Shiloh. There must have been hundreds, if not more, judges but only 12 are recorded in the Book of Judges: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Devorah, Gideon, Tola, Yair, Yephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, and Shimshon, because their prophecies were pertinent for the future of our nation.

Of particular interest to me is the episode of the Judge Gideon. HaShem appeared to Gideon with a command to form an army to defeat the Midianites who controlled Eretz Yisrael at the time.

Thirty-two thousand heard the call.

HaShem appeared again to Gideon, stating that an army of 32,000 fighters is far too large for people to internalize that the forthcoming victory would be a miracle, therefore reduce the numbers. Gideon announced to the troops that anyone who is frightened to go to war, or any other reason is requested to return home; 22,000 left, leaving 10,000 troops.

HaShem appeared and said that 10,000 is still too high.

The ten thousand were tested near a stream of water, with only 300 remaining to fight the Midianites and their allies. That night HaShem commanded Gideon to position his 300 men close to the enemies, who are described as Midianites, Amalekites and all their allies “thick as locusts”. The Jewish army attacked and was victorious.

What does this have to do with our present situation?

Answer: There are many people here in Eretz Yisrael whose very presence is delaying the miracles which will usher in the age of the Mashiach; they will have to leave.

There are the 4 million or so Arabs between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. About 400 thousand non-Jews who came here from Europe through the absurd and brainless clause in the Law of Return that a mehadrin goy (both parents are not Jews) but he has one Jewish grandparent, has the right to enter the country and obtain citizenship; they too will have to convert to Judaism or leave.

Then there are the Jews who are frightened “of their shadow,” they will also leave, as I witnessed in the three weeks prior to the outbreak of the Six Day War. We were living in Kiryat Sanz in Netanya. The flow of taxis did not stop taking people to the airport to escape the falling bombs, which never fell. And also, there are some Jews who have little love for the Medina and will move to Germany.

Now how and why will these unwanted people leave the State?

The most elegant way would be for each one to dream that an angel is encouraging their leaving; however, the chances of this happening are quite small. So if the angels will not be involved, HaShem could utilize the good services of the Russian and Iranian devils.

The political and military configurations will create an atmosphere of fear which will convince them to leave. The chosen of HaShem will remain. The small number of Jews who have an ‘“irrational” love for the land will place their lives and future in the hands of HaShem.

Let us pray that we are among them.

B: Jew – Be Proud
Chazal (our rabbis of blessed memory) extol the many great virtues of the sacred land chosen by HaShem for his chosen people. What is the hidden character of the land that is not obvious to every person?

Indeed, there are many virtues to the land, some are stated factually some are implicit. I would like to concentrate on a virtue which is not easily perceived.

What do the following, in descending order of sanctity, have in common?
Eden
The Garden
Eretz Yisrael
The Written Torah
Oral Torah (Mishna)
Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds
Rashi and Tosafot
Mei Menuchot

Answer: every entity on the list is in itself a life’s lesson, but in addition each is an explanation, elucidation, exposition or description of the one preceding it.

1- The Mei Menuchot series is an elucidation (explanation) of the Rashi and Tosafot commentaries to the Talmud.

2- Rashi and Tosafot authored their magnum opus to explain complex issues raised in the Babylonian Talmud.

3- The Yerushalayim Talmud (completed app. 350 C.E.) and the Babylonian Talmud (app. 500 C.E.) are explanations of the Mishna (Oral Torah).

4- The Mishna (app. 200 C.E compiled by Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi and his contemporary Tanaim) serves as an explanation of the mitzvot in the written Torah.

5- The Written Torah explains how a Jew functions and lives in the holy land of Hashem.

6- Eretz Yisrael, its topography, flora and fauna, and all else, is for one who understands its inner codes, an explanation of the intricacies of the “Garden” (of Eden).

7- The “Garden” as the entrance to Eden, explains what Eden itself is.

Eden is the summit of Hashem’s creations, above which there is nothing more to explain.

The first five deal with the requirements of a Jew in this physical world, but do not break the barrier between this world and the next world.

Numbers 6 and 7 go beyond our physical world and illuminate essential precincts of Olam Haba, the Garden and Eden.

Number 6, Eretz Yisrael, breaks through the narrow dimensions of our world, and for those who are erudite in the spiritual codes, guides one to the hidden experiences of the Garden and Eden.

That is the essence of the land that HaShem formed for His chosen people.

Summary:

1- Each level explains a more internal one up to the most inner domain of HaShem’s created worlds – called Eden. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish states in Sanhedrin 99a that no human being, including the prophets has ever seen Eden. The reason could be that Eden is still under construction by the mitzvot that we perform.

2- Eretz Yisrael is the guide for those who merit its virtues to understand and experience if even superficially, the Garden of Eden.

Remember that this sacred hierarchy was presented to us, the Jewish nation, exclusively!

In our time, HaShem, has opened the gates to Eretz Yisrael which were closed while we were in exile in the lands of Ukraine, Russia, Iraq, Yemen, and from Argentina to Zanzibar with all the “righteous gentiles” for 2000 years.

How can a Jew stay away from the ongoing miracle called Medinat Yisrael?

My brother and sister Jews – Be proud. We are Hashem’s chosen people!

C: Eisav vs. Eisav
A curt but mighty statement regarding what is now happening in eastern Europe. There are many lessons to be learned from the Shoah. First and foremost is the principle that when Eisav goes on a murdering spree against another Eisav, it is no place for Ya’akov to be. When the inhibitions of hate and murder are released, then the ever-present hatred toward Jews rises to the fore and both sides of Eisav seek to put an end to Ya’akov.

Shabbat Shalom
Nachman Kahana
Copyright © 5782/2022 Nachman Kahana