When did God put the Soul into the Mishkan?

by Rabbi Pinchas Winston

Friday Night
WHEN MOSHE RABBEINU asked to see God’s glory in last week’s parsha (Shemos 33:18), what was he really asking? The answer is easier if you consider the Hebrew: kevodecha, which means your kavod, or honor. Moshe asked to see God’s kavod.

Which means what exactly? Why is the word for honor similar to the word for heavy? Because when a person acts honorable, they gain weight. No, not the kind that shows up on a scale or makes clothing uncomfortably tight. The kind that results from recognizing the seriousness or importance of someone or something. Life is heavy when we feel the seriousness of its consequences. A person has weight in our eyes when we find reason to admire them.

But how does this apply to God? Moshe already knew God is serious business, and he already admired Him as much as is humanly possible. What else was Moshe looking for?

Well, take a look. So many people in the world do not believe in God, either intellectually, emotionally, or both. Why not? Because they can’t see Him? The truth is, God can be seen everywhere if a person just considers what they are looking at. They don’t do that because they do not feel the reality of God. He’s just so abstract and beyond human experience, which is why they built the golden calf. It was a way to make the reality of God more tangible, the wrong way to make the reality of God more tangible.

When someone we admire walks into a room, we feel it. Not from the outside, but from the inside. The respect they command triggers something in us that makes their arrival alone an experience. Rock stars and actors can make people faint just by showing up in person.

The reason for the adulation of the latter may be superficial and even wrong sometimes, but the feeling is real. As much as external stimuli through our five senses plays a role our experience of life, a lot of life experience begins in the mind as well, and maybe even instead. Knowledge has the ability to trigger our brain to send out the necessary chemicals that make us “feel” life.

When it comes to appreciating something that can be taken in with one or more of our physical senses, that it just adds to the experience. When it comes to appreciating something abstract and beyond physical sensation, like God of course, it means everything. If a person only feels lucky when something miraculous happens for them, it lifts their spirits. But when a person “sees” that God was behind the miracle, they feel loved, cared for, special, more divine, inspired, righteous, and the list just goes on and on.

That’s what Moshe Rabbeinu was asking for. He wanted the intellectual key that would unlock the experience of God, first for himself and then for the rest of the nation. The golden calf was proof that they wanted such an experience, and needed one as well. It made spirituality more tangible, as all idol worship does. To rout that holy desire in a kosher direction that would not result in golden calves, Moshe asked for something that would give people the sense that God really dwelled within them.

Shabbos Day
THE RESULT WAS the Mishkan. To us, it just sounds like a religious structure, which it was. But it was made just so, as per divine instruction, just as God formed the body of man. But a body is just a body and a Mishkan is just a Mishkan until it gets a soul. It is the infusion of God into a thing that changes everything. It is the difference between life and death, accomplishment and meaninglessness, even in a person who doesn’t even believe in God.

We know when God put the soul in man. When did He put the soul into the Mishkan? Here:

Moshe and Aharon went into the Tent of Meeting. Then they came out and blessed the people, and the kevod—glory of God appeared to all the people. And fire went forth from before God and consumed the burnt offering and the fats upon the altar. All the people saw, sang praises, and fell upon their faces. (Vayikra 9:23:24)

They saw the glory of God? What does that look like? A fire? A cloud? It’s hard to know exactly, and we tend to just take all of this for granted. We have never really had an experience of this for thousands of years now. But whatever it was, something clicked in their heads, and it made something click in their hearts. And it made them joyous beyond what they were used to, and just as it happened again at the end of last week’s Haftarah.

Last week’s Haftarah ended with Eliyahu HaNavi trying to draw the Jewish people back from the worship of Ba’al to the worship of God. It’s one of my favorite parts of Tanach, and I can just feel Eliyahu’s playful mocking of the priests of Ba’al. It’s classic.

And then after giving the idol worshipping priests plenty of time to humiliate and exhaust themselves, Eliyahu turned his attention to rebuilding an altar to God. And rather than light a fire to burn the offering he put on it, he instead drenched everything in water to maximize the miracle. It was like trying to light a fire with wet twigs in the pouring rain.

Then after a short prayer to God, fire came down from the sky and consumed the sacrifice and the water. The dramatic failure of the Ba’al worshippers only amplified the dramatic success of Eliyahu’s demonstration, and once again the people fell on their faces, this time announcing “Hashem is Elokim!” They could feel the kavod of God, and it humbled them and gave them an experience of the divine that wasn’t quickly forgotten.

If those words sound familiar, it’s because we end off Yom Kippur with them. We say them seven times just before blowing the shofar to announce the end of the fast. And though many people say them with enthusiasm and sincerity, the question is, what is the source of that? That Yom Kippur is finally over and hopefully we have been forgiven for our sins? Or, because we experienced the divine on a higher level than normal, and we have come to feel the “weight” of God?

Time tells all. The success of Yom Kippur is not determined not by what we did on the day itself, but how we live our lives after it is over. What was the long-term impact of the day? Did it carry over into Motzei Yom Kippur…and then Succos…and beyond? On Yom Kippur we go to God. The question is, do we take God with us after Yom Kippur leaves us? And if we do, how do we maintain that God feeling all year round?

Shalosh Seudot
WE LEARN THE melachos of Shabbos from what was done in the Mishkan, something that is alluded to in this week’s parsha. The fact that we had to cease work on such a holy project as the Mishkan for such a holy day as Shabbos tell us what cannot be done on Shabbos, and what is prohibited.

But why would the Mishkan be pushed off for Shabbos? Because Shabbos is only pushed off to save a life. Anything less than pikuach Nefesh does not necessitate the breaking of Shabbos, no matter how holy or important it is.

But why learn the halachos of something as important as Shabbos in such an obscure manner? If the Torah can take such care to describe the construction of the Mishkan, certainly it could have taken the same kind of care to at least the 39 melachos of Shabbos.

It would suggest strongly that the Torah wished to connect Shabbos and the Mishkan. It was as if to say that whatever the Mishkan was going to become, Shabbos already was. The Mishkan was being built to give people a sense of the kavod of God, to have an experience of His Being. Shabbos already did this. Shabbos was, and is, the reality of the Mishkan once every seven days of the week.

This means that entering Shabbos is like entering the Mishkan. Being within Shabbos is like being in the Mishkan. And just as we had to build the Mishkan to divine specification so the Shechinah could dwell within it, likewise a person has to “build” Shabbos to divine specification so the Shechinah can “dwell” within it, and the person can have an experience of the awesome and enlivening kavod of God.

This means that Shabbos is about more than taking a day off work. It is about more than getting dressed up in special Shabbos clothes and have special Shabbos meals. It is about more than just getting together with family and friends and sharing Shabbos together.

For one, you only went to the Mishkan in search of God. We have to go into Shabbos the same way, in search of God. In the Mishkan, that meant reaching the proper level of spiritual purity, and have the correct mindset to enter such a holy place. The same is true of Shabbos, and for some it might mean an overhaul of their entire approach to Shabbos.

But it is well worth it, because the experience of God that is possible is incredible, even today. This kind of Shabbos does not only restore one’s spiritual energy, it enhances it to make possible continuous spiritual growth even during the rest of the week. It is a whole different level of reality, the one we were originally created to live on, called by the Torah, Gan Aiden.

Sanctified Voltage and Russia, Ukraine, Iran

BS”D
Parashat Vayakhel 5782
By HaRav Nachman Kahana

Part 1: Sanctified Voltage

A: Yechezkel 1,4:

וארא והנה רוח סערה באה מן הצפון ענן גדול ואש מתלקחת ונגה לו סביב ומתוכה כעין החשמל מתוך האש
I saw a windstorm coming out of the north. An immense cloud with exploding fire and flashing lightning and the center of the fire looked like “chasmal” (modern Hebrew for electricity) glowing metal.

From the Shacharit (morning) prayers before Shema:

Because, You are the Almighty, Who performs acts of deliverance, and You have chosen us from among all peoples and tongues, and You have brought us near our King to Your great Name, forever in truth; with love, that we may give thanks to You, and proclaim Your Oneness, with love. And love Your Name. Blessed are You HaShem Who chooses His people Israel with love.

B: Midrash Mishlei chap. 31

….ישראל על רמ”ח (248) מצות עשה, כנגד רמ”ח איברים שבאדם, כל אבר ואבר אומר לו לאדם, בבקשה ממך עשה בי מצוה זו, ושס”ה (365) מצות לא תעשה כנגד ימות החמה, וכל יום ויום אומר לאדם אבקש ממך שלא תעשה בי עבירה זו.

Am Yisrael was commanded to observe 248 “mitzvot essay” (initiative mitzvot) paralleling the 248 organs in a human body, (and 365 “mitzvot lo ta’ase” – prohibitive mitzvot paralleling the number of ligaments, muscles etc.). Every organ urges the body to perform the “essay” mitzva inherent in that organ, and each of the other 365 body parts urge the Jew not to use it in violation of the sin which it represents.

Rambam writes (Hilchot Melachim) that Moshe Rabbeinu ascended to Mount Sinai as the agent of all humanity. Forty days later he descended from the mount with two revelations: 1) The 613 mitzvot incumbent on the Jewish nation, 2) the 7 Noachide mitzvot for the rest of humanity, consisting of six prohibitive mitzvot, and one initiative mitzva – the enacting of just and moral laws civil laws.

C: Connections between the spiritual world and our human bodies

Our eldest son, Efraim, has been and is the project manager of some of Yerushalayim’s most imposing building projects. A project manager is, in short, “give me 200 million dollars, come back in 3-5 years and get the keys to your dream project”, he does it all. His most recent projects are the Waldorf Astoria, Israel’s most prestigious and luxurious hotel; stage two of the Nof Tzion project overlooking the Temple Mount, and the high-end residential project in the Geula neighborhood.

While under construction, Efraim gave me a tour of the Waldorf, including areas a guest never sees; even those who pay thousands of shekels a night. I saw the underground kishkes, including the huge heating and cooling systems, communications center, etc. But what impressed me the most was the electrical system’s main circuit board.

There were countless wires descending from every electrical outlet in the building to the main circuit board. It was an avalanche of multicolored wires, each connecting a part of the grid with the main panel of electric circuits. The direction of electrical power comes from the external power lines to the underground main circuit board, then to every outlet in the building through this maze of wires.

While standing there I recalled the above Midrash regarding the connections between the spiritual world and our material bodies. At Mount Sinai, HaShem gave Am Yisrael 613 mitzvot corresponding to our bodies 248 organs and 365 sinews, tendons, veins, nerves, etc. Our bodies are the grandest “hotel” where unperceived spiritual wires reach from the next world to every part of our material self. The energy (voltage) is initiated here on earth by our observance of mitzvot and flows to our respective outlets in Olam Haba (the next world) via our spiritual wires. There the “mitzva power” is converted into entities applicable to the spiritual world.

While on the subject of electricity, there is more we can conclude from this phenomenon of “nature”. Voltage is the pressure from an electrical circuit’s power source (power station or battery) that pushes electrons through a conducting loop (current), enabling them to do work, such as illuminating a light or running a motor. It is measured in volts; the greater the pressure (voltage) the more work can be accomplished.

The kedusha pressure in the galut can achieve a degree of spirituality and understanding of Torah but cannot compete with the kedusha that envelopes a G-d fearing Jew in the holy land.

Indeed, an oleh (one who ascends) from the galut has an advantage as stated in the Gemara (Ketubot 75a):

מר אביי: וחד מינייהו עדיף כתרי מינן. אמר רבא: וחד מינן כי סליק להתם – עדיף כתרי מינייהו, דהא רבי ירמיה דכי הוה הכא, לא הוה ידע מאי קאמרי רבנן, כי סליק להתם, קרי לן בבלאי טפשאי.

The illustrious Amora Abayai stated that a talmid chacham of Eretz Yisrael is equal in understanding and sharpness to two scholars in Bavel (galut). And the equally illustrious Amora Rava added that when one of our Babylonian talmidei chachamim ascends to Eretz Yisrael he receives a gift from HaShem of potentially becoming in Torah understanding equal to two talmidei chachamim of Eretz Yisrael.

This, in itself, should be encouragement enough for torah scholars in chutz la’aretz to return to the holy land.

In conclusion: The events of Mount Sinai were a revelation and a revolution. HaShem’s revelation of Torah created a revolution in HaShem’s relationship with lowly man. At that moment, Hashem chose the Jewish nation and presented us with eternal life. He presented His chosen people with clear and direct lines of communication through prayer and Torah study. All the 613 mitzvot flow with super conductivity with no resistors in the way to reduce our spiritual currents. Unfortunately, our sins at the egel hazahav (Golden Calf) blemished the conductivity. Enter the role of the Mishkan which restored the spiritual flow through sacrifices and the entire Kohanic service, continued by the two holy Temples over a period of 830 years (separated by 70 years of the Babylonian exile). Where does this leave the other nations of the world? Spiritually close to a 20-watt light bulb!

Part Two: Russia, Ukraine and Iran

Although we know nothing about the thought processes of the Almighty, we know that HaShem is the master of cause and effect.

At this point in time, it is feasible that the entire chaos between Russia and the Ukraine is HaShem’s way of disrupting the asinine agreement between the blind western powers and the evil Shia nation of Iran set to be signed shortly.

Instead of sending two B-52 Stratofortress to their nuclear facilities and finishing the Iranian nuclear threat to humanity in five minutes, the wise men of chelem in Washington and other western capitals are prepared to capitulate to the blackmail demands of the Teheran ayatollahs.

Now that Russia has invaded Ukraine, the western nations will have no time or patience to deal with the Iranians!

Remember in HaShem’s “eyes” JLMM – Jewish Lives Matter Most.

Shabbat Shalom
Nachman Kahana
Copyright © 5782/2022 Nachman Kahana

Can Israel Anchor a Defense Alliance of Moderate Arab States?

Or will the balance of Middle East power tip toward Iran?

by Joseph Puder



The Biden administration debacle in Afghanistan has convinced America’s enemies of the administration’s weakness and vulnerability. The timing of Vladimir Putin’s march on Ukraine is undoubtedly connected to the perception in Moscow of Washington’s lack of will to engage in a confrontation. Communist China is astutely waiting for the right time to seize Taiwan. Should Moscow achieve its objectives, Xi Jinping, China’s dictator would follow Putin’s example and act, knowing full well that the Biden administration would pay lip service to the violation of Taiwanese sovereignty, and perhaps demand UN sanctions, but ultimately, Washington would live with the new reality.

The radical and theocratic Ayatollahs also sense an opportunity to take advantage of the Biden administration’s willingness to have a deal at all costs, and thus have been successfully pressing their demands, and it appears that the Biden administration might cave in. Tehran also realized that there will not be military consequences from the US with their continued advancement toward a nuclear bomb. Iran continues to develop its ballistic missiles range and payload, to possibly carry a nuclear device. At the same time, the Iranians have continued their adventurism and terror throughout the region. Tehran also considered the fact that North Korea has never suffered the military consequences of becoming nuclear. Economic boycotts by the West are clearly no longer a deterrent against Iran, North Korea, China, or Russia.

In the Middle East, the Sunni-Arab Gulf states have already perceived the Biden administration’s withdrawal from the region both as a sign of weakness and thus increasingly viewing the US as a questionable protector. On his recent (February 3, 2022) trip to Bahrain, Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with his Bahraini counterpart. It is a Security Cooperation Agreement, an expression of Israel’s interest in forming a NATO-like alliance in the region, meant to be an anti-Iranian regional alliance, in the same way NATO served as an anti-Soviet Union alliance. In both cases, the idea is to forestall Iranian expansionism in the region, to counter its aggressive and maligning force. Bahrain is a small nation with a majority Shiite-Muslim population, but ruled by Sunni-Muslim monarchy that has been under periodic threats from Iran. In the past, Iran claimed Bahrain as part of its Fars Province.

In late November of 2021, Gantz visited Rabat, Morocco, to sign a similar agreement he had signed in Manama, Bahrain. In late January 2022, Gantz traveled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with an Israeli delegation of senior security experts to examine how Israel could help the Emiratis with an advance warning system, and the interception of missiles and drones. The Houthis, Iran’s proxies, had previously attacked the UAE with drones launched from Yemen. It stands to reason that similar visits to Saudi Arabia took place, albeit clandestinely. As the custodians of Islam’s holiest sites of Mecca and Medina, the Saudis are hesitant to establish open diplomatic relations with the Jewish state. Still, their regional rivalry with the radical and revolutionary Iran, and the historical animosity of Sunni-Muslim Arabia toward Shiite Iran, makes an anti-Iranian security cooperation agreement with Israel rather likely. Nevertheless, the Biden administration has initiated a rapprochement between the Saudis and Iran as a way to facilitate the talks with Iran on the renewal of the nuclear deal.

While Israel has proven its military and intelligence capabilities on multiple occasions, Israel does not have the global capabilities and reach that the US possesses as a superpower. But, as the US apparent departure from the Middle East nears, and as it is re-focusing on China and Asia Pacific, a regional Middle Eastern alliance, anchored in Israel and inclusive of the moderate Sunni-Muslim states constitutes a force multiplier, which Iran undoubtedly fears.

Omar Rahman, in a Brookings Report (July 21, 2021) wrote: “The UAE views Israel as a formidable regional power that shares its views (JP- The view is that Iran is the cause of regional instability, and together with Turkey is meddling and intervening in the region. And, Israel also shares with the UAE concerns over the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates, backed by Turkey and Qatar. For Israel, one of these affiliates is Hamas in Gaza) and is willing to act forcibly to counter regional adversaries.”

Iran’s apparent strategy seeks to push the US out of Iraq, and ultimately out of the region. In the Ayatollahs view, the exit of the US from the region is an essential condition for tipping the balance of power in the Middle East in their favor, and it is imperative for Tehran’s quest to impose its hegemony in the region. It is therefore vital for the US to “deputize” Israel as the security anchor for its regional partners, i.e., the Arab Gulf states in particular, while Washington is dealing with its greater challenges, namely China and Russia.

A NATO-like Middle Eastern alliance of Israel and moderate Sunni-Arab states, especially the Gulf states, should also include the US, albeit, without necessarily the commitment embedded in NATO’s Article 5, which calls for collective security. Few Americans would support a US commitment in such a volatile region as the Middle East. The inclusion of the US in such an alliance would strengthen it significantly, and would have a deterrent effect on expansionist and terror-sponsoring states like Iran. Just like NATO served as a deterrent against the Soviet Union and now Russia’s expansionism in Europe, the Middle Eastern alliance would serve the same purpose against Iran.

The Trump administration had planned to establish a Middle East Strategic Alliance – anchored by a united Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), to advance security, prosperity, and stability. Now, however, as the Abraham Accords have brought about close economic and security relations between Bahrain, UAE, Morocco, and Israel, it is essential the Jewish state play a major role in such an alliance. With Israel involved in the alliance, the prospects of materializing such objectives as security, prosperity, and stability are greatly enhanced. Egypt and Jordan might also be included in such a strategic alliance.

Maj. General (Res.) Amos Gilad, executive director of Reichman University Institute for Policy and Strategy-IPS has written under the headline, “The American Withdrawal from Afghanistan: Lessons and Ramifications for Israel,” (August 2021), pointing out that the “American withdrawal from Afghanistan is a formative event whose projection strategically will reverberate for many years to come. Israel must prepare immediately, together with the Biden administration, for challenges that are around the corner – first and foremost, due to the ‘tail wind’ the Afghanistan withdrawal has created for extremist forces in the region; and parallel to this, leveraging opportunities to upgrade relations and cooperation with Arab states.”

Maj. Gen. Gilad’s apparent conclusion confirms the idea that Israel, in coordination with the Biden administration (Ed Note: Not a good idea with this hostile administration), must carry out the vision of a Middle East Strategic Alliance anchored by Israel.

Why Arabs Do Not Trust the Biden Administration

by Khaled Abu Toameh 

• Prominent Arab political analysts, commentators and journalists are continuing to express fear about Iran's "expansionist" schemes in the Arab countries, especially Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. They say that they are worried that a return to the JCPOA would further embolden the mullahs in Tehran and the Iranian-backed terrorist groups.
• To many, the hesitation of the Biden administration is incomprehensible. White House and the National Security Council are apparently open to redesignating the Houthis as a "foreign terrorist organization" while the State Department supports targeting specific Houthi leaders with sanctions. The question is why? One could do both.
• Another question is: Has the Yemen crisis become a political issue rather than a humanitarian one?
• Moreover, why are aid organizations insisting on aid coming through Hodeidah port when there are six ports... plus aerial deliveries via Marib?
• Isn't this a "humanitarian" political position in favor of the terrorists, the Houthis?
• Judging from the Houthis' recent heightened aggression, many in the Arab world are asking: why are the Houthis not immediately being designated as a "foreign terrorist organization" again?
• The Arabs are also warning that Biden's decision last year to delist the Houthis as a "foreign terrorist organization" has only encouraged the militia to pursue its aggression against the Yemeni people -- the very people about whom the Biden administration is claiming to have "humanitarian" concerns – as well as the neighboring countries.
• [T]he failure of the Biden administration to designate the Houthi militia as a terrorist organization poses "a threat to regional peace and security and harms international peace and security." — Dr. Amal Al-Haddabi, Emirati political analyst, Al-Ain, February 8, 2022.
• "The Biden administration has forgotten that militias are an arm of external forces that use them to achieve their own agendas, and they are not concerned with the interests of the Yemeni people...." — Dr. Amal Al-Haddabi, Al-Ain, February 8, 2022.
• "This move [reclassifying the Houthis as a terrorist organization] will not harm efforts for reaching a peaceful settlement in Yemen. On the contrary, it will be a decisive and firm message from the international community that it will not accept this terrorist behavior from the Houthis." — Dr. Amal Al-Haddabi, Al-Ain, February 8, 2022.
• "Tehran views the negotiations only through a unilateral perspective -- to lift the economic sanctions imposed on it without making any serious concessions." — Professor Mohammed Mufti, Saudi communist, Okaz, February 10, 2022.
• "Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has come to consider himself the president of Lebanon, Syria and other Arab countries, and this is because he relies on 90,000 [members of] forces affiliated with Tehran." — Former Jordanian Minister of Culture Saleh Al-Kallab, Asharq Al-Awsat, February 10, 2022.
• If and when the Biden administration signs a new deal with Iran, the sense of betrayal in the Arab world is extremely likely to broaden.
• The US may then find out that it is the Americans who have been delisted as untrustworthy friends and allies by the people of the Middle East.

As the Biden administration and other world powers continue to negotiate with the Iranians about reviving the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), there is growing concern in the Arab world about the destructive actions and policies of Iran and its proxies, especially the Houthi militia in Yemen. Pictured: Houthi forces in Yemen's capital Sanaa on April 8, 2021. (Photo by Mohammed Huwais/AFP via Getty Images)

As the Biden administration and other world powers continue to negotiate with the Iranians about reviving the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), there is growing concern in the Arab world about the destructive actions and policies of Iran and its proxies, especially the Houthi militia in Yemen.

Prominent Arab political analysts, commentators and journalists are continuing to express fear about Iran's "expansionist" schemes in the Arab countries, especially Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. They say they are worried that a return to the JCPOA would further embolden the mullahs in Tehran and the Iranian-backed terrorist groups.

The Arabs are saying that they cannot understand the Biden administration's reluctance to re-designate the Houthi militia as a terrorist organization, particularly after the recent drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

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'Managing' The World's Population and going against God's first instruction

by Rabbi Chananya Weissman



You know those articles from financial planners with their sage advice for people who want to get out of debt, increase their savings, or plan for retirement? Inevitably it boils down to two brilliant tips: Spend less. Earn more.

That's right, folks, if you want to have more money tomorrow than you have today, you will need to bring in more than you spend. There's just no other way.

The financial experts present this information as if it is a revelation, a deep cosmic secret that they achieved after years of study and professional experience. They write columns and books, they run seminars for those who are smart enough, motivated enough, READY to learn their secret to wealth. The teaser is free, but if you want to know the secret you'll have to pay handsomely for it, which is ironic.

(I understand that many people need help with overcoming bad spending habits or otherwise getting on their feet. I'm not making fun of people who need help or those who provide it, just the way “experts” rename, repackage, and complicate basic information to make themselves sound smarter.)

I bring this up because the same brilliant formula applies to “managing” the world's population. We are increasingly warned that there are too many people in the world. The situation is quickly spiraling out of control. The planet is overpopulated! If very rich and powerful people that no one elected to be in charge of the world don't do something about it, we will soon run out of food, water, air, and other essential resources.

They insist that this is true. Since they are rich and powerful, and they can pay for all kinds of studies and charts and graphs to support them, and politicians and media companies to repeat their message constantly, we must believe them.

Well, if there are too many people and not enough resources, we can do one of two things: increase the resources, or decrease the number of people. If there is not enough food, for example, we can either grow more food, or eliminate some people.

The rich and powerful people have uniformly decided on the latter.

Then, to make sure we never have this problem again, we can prevent the survivors of this planetary purge from reproducing in large numbers.

If we just let things run their course, at some point we would presumably run out of food and then some people would die. That would be most unpleasant. To prevent this from happening, we can be proactive and eliminate large numbers of people up front.

If we're already going to manage the situation, we might as well eliminate the most undesirable inhabitants of the world, those who are consuming far more of our precious resources than they are worth. This includes the elderly (the unentitled ones), the sick, the poor, people with dark skin, religious people (they tend to be against culling the population), people who want to have many children (they tend to be religious), and those who are too selfish to allow the rich and powerful to control everything for the greater good.

Of course, this is only a stopgap measure. We need long-term planning to ensure we never have too many people. To this end, for generations the rich and powerful have been promoting various “solutions” to the existential threat of too many people occupying their planet. What they all have in common is preventing children from being born. It's for everyone's good, including the children!

Their war against children is rebranded in sterile terms (pun intended), which often mean the exact opposite of what they are actually doing. Preventing women from becoming pregnant at all is promoted as “birth control”. Encouraging women to murder their unborn children is promoted as “reproductive rights”. Death camps for unborn children are run by “Planned Parenthood”. Planned unparenthood, you mean.

The murder of unborn children is referred to as “abortion”, which is so much more polite. Women are urged to murder their children to promote “female empowerment” and “women's rights”, by performing the least womanly act imaginable, the greatest abuse of power, the most horrific violation of another human being's rights.

To make this even more palatable, the rich and powerful have assured them that this child inside them, this miracle of God's creation, their own progeny, is really none of these things. It is just a clump of cells (unlike the rich and powerful). It is worth more dead than alive, for living babies cost money, and dead babies can be sold.

Relax, it isn't even alive at all, they assure the nervous mother who feels the life inside her. They can change the meaning of a word to solve any problem! The clump of cells isn't really alive until it emerges and can live on its own, they declare. In reality, it isn't dead until they kill it, but we can't concern ourselves with reality when we are running out of food.

The rich and powerful have been aggressively “educating” people to have smaller families, and would love to outlaw having more than one or two children. If people aren't convinced by the “education” to stop having children, we'll just have to force them (reproductive rights, indeed). Who isn't excited about the government controlling how many children people have? Especially dark-skinned people; it's for their own good. And poor people; it's inhumane for them to have children. And religious people; they don't care about the world like the rich and powerful atheists do. And people with imperfect genes; we need to weed them out. Heil you-know-who!

Funny how these same rich and powerful atheists who believe there are too many people in the world, and we have to prevent children from being born, really, really, REALLY want everyone to take lots of injections of interesting things so that we can all be healthy, live longer, and have more children. They are obsessed with educating us about how important this is, and having the government force us if we still don't see the light. You would have to be crazy not to be excited.

You have to give the rich and powerful atheists some credit. All that “education” has really paid off. Even religious people have bought into much of it. They encourage their children to “delay marriage”, further delay having children, and to use “birth control” to prevent having “too many”. After all, we all love children, but children are burdensome and expensive, and pose the greatest threat to humanity's continued existence. We have to be practical on the micro level, like the rich atheists are on the macro level.

Religious women in particular have increasingly embraced this message. They have come to view marriage and motherhood not as the essence of womanhood, but just another item on a to-do list – and nowhere near the top. They need to achieve “fulfillment” (in ways that would have been anathema to our matriarchs) and “independence” (which is code for not needing a man or being devoted to one). This requires ongoing formal education deep into adulthood, followed by climbing the ladder in the corporate world – at least until the twilight of their childbearing years. After achieving these priorities, they will consider getting married and/or becoming a mother (no father necessary).

If they regret putting other things first, they can't have a do-over. Marriage opportunities will be more limited, and lost years are gone forever.

What does the Torah say about all this? God's first instruction to the human race is to be fruitful and multiply, to fill up the earth (Bereishis 1:28). Nowhere does the Torah indicate concern with filling up the earth causing insufficient resources. After all, it is God's role to provide for the life He sends into this world, and God is infinite. The world will never run out of essential resources merely by virtue of human procreation. We are not even allowed to worry about such things; it is blasphemous.

No wonder those who don't believe in God, who wish to control the world instead of Him, promote such blasphemy.

The notion that we must “control” the world's population by murdering people, sterilizing them, and preventing children from being born was always so preposterous that Chazal had little need to discuss it. The “enlightened” notion of worldwide genocide, sanitized as “depopulation”, to save humanity and the planet, seems to be a relatively modern achievement, a new low of moral depravity.

There is, however, one source that is especially relevant. The Chovos Halevavos (Duties of the Heart) was written by Rabbeinu Bachye nearly a thousand years ago. In the section on Cheshbon Hanefesh (taking stock of one's soul), chapter three, he presents a list of thirty points for consideration. In the final note he writes as follows:


After you go out to this world, no person can bring your sustenance to you without God's assistance on your behalf, nor add to your body or take away from it. If only you realized that if the world were entirely for you alone, without any inhabitants, this wouldn't increase the amount of food ultimately coming to you like the size of a mustard seed. Similarly, if the number of people in the world doubled, it would not take away from the food that was decreed for you like a mustard seed, not less than this amount or more.

Similarly, none of the other creations can benefit you or harm you, nor can any of them increase the days or your life or decrease them...

Do you think 8 billion people is too many, that continued population growth is “unsustainable”? Blasphemy! If there were 80 billion people or 800 billion people, God would increase the supply of everything we need to accommodate all of them, each with individual attention. Controlling the population, deciding who shall live and who shall die, who shall be born and who shall be hacked to death in the mother's womb, who shall produce children and how many, is not only a war on humanity, but a war on God Himself.

I have two simple words for these monsters who come dressed as saviors, who claim that many people will need to make “sacrifices” and even be sacrificed for the sake of everyone else.

You first.

Rav Kook on Parashat VaYakhel: Art and Creation

“Moshe informed the Israelites: God has selected Betzalel... and has filled him with a Divine spirit of wisdom, insight, and knowledge in all craftsmanship.” (Shemot 36:30-31)

What exactly were these three gifts of wisdom, insight, and knowledge that God bestowed upon Betzalel? The Sages wrote that the master craftsman was privy to the very secrets of creation. Betzalel knew how to “combine the letters with which the heavens and the earth were created,” and utilized this esoteric knowledge to construct the Tabernacle (Berachot 55a).

We find that Shlomo HaMelech mentioned the same three qualities when describing the creation of the universe:

“God founded the earth with wisdom; He established the heavens with insight. With His knowledge, the depths opened, and the heavens drip dew. (Mishlei 3:19-20)

What is the difference between wisdom, insight, and knowledge? How do they apply both to the Creator of the universe and to the human artist?

Chochmah, Binah, and Da’at
Chochmah (wisdom) is needed to design the fundamental structure. In terms of the creation of the world, this refers to the laws of nature which govern the universe. The intricate balance of natural forces, the finely-tuned ecosystems of life — this is the underlying chochmah of creation.

In art, chochmah fulfills a similar function, determining the work’s underlying structure. Using wisdom, the artist decides on the overall composition, the balance of light and shade, colors, perspective, and so on.

Binah (insight) refers to the future vision, the ultimate goal. The Hebrew word binah is related to the word boneh (‘to build'). The emphasis is not on the current reality, but on the process of gradually building and progressing toward the final, complete form. Therefore, Solomon ascribed chochmah to forming the earth, and binah to establishing the Heavens. The foundation of the earth - its current physical structure — is based on chochmah. Binah, on the other hand, corresponds to the Heavens, the spiritual content that reflects its final form.

What is binah in art? The spiritual aspect of art is the sense of wonder that a great artist can awaken through his work. Betzalel was able to imbue the Tabernacle with magnificent splendor, thus inspiring the observer to feel profound reverence and holiness. The great beauty of his work succeeded in elevating the emotions, as it projected a majestic image of God’s grandeur.

The third attribute, da’at (knowledge), refers to a thorough attention to detail. “With His knowledge... the heavens drip dew.” The rain and dew were created with da’at. They sustain every plant, every blade of grass, every creature. God created the universe not only with its fundamental laws of nature (chochmah) and spiritual direction (binah), but also with meticulous care for its myriad details — da’at.

Attention to detail is also important in art. The artist should make sure that the finest details correspond to the overall composition and heighten the work’s impact.

Betzalel knew the letters of creation, the secret wisdom used to create the universe. With his gifts of chochmah, binah, and da’at, Betzalel was able to ensure perfection in the Tabernacle’s structure, its vision, and its details. His holy sanctuary became a suitable vessel for God’s Presence, completing the sanctity of the Jewish people by facilitating their special closeness to God.

(Sapphire from the Land of Israel. Adapted from Ein Eyah vol. II, pp. 263-264 by Rav Chanan Morrison)

Holy and Mundane

by HaRav Mordechai Greenberg
Nasi HaYeshiva, Kerem B'Yavneh

The ten curtains of the Mishkan were attached in a special manner. They did not sew the ten curtains into one large one, nor did they leave any two curtains separate, as it says (Shemot 36:10-13):

He attached five curtains to one another, and five curtains he attached to one another. He made loops of turquoise wool on the edge of a single curtain at the end of one set; so he did at the edge of the outermost curtain on the second set ... He made fifty clasps of gold and attached the curtains to one another with the clasps -- so the Mishkan became one.

The Sforno explains that when the curtains were spread out on the Mishkan, the place where the two sets of curtains were connected with the clasps was directly above the Parochet, which separated between the holy and holy-of-holies. This manner of attachment -- not through sewing, yet no two separate, but rather connection with clasps -- comes to teach that, on the one hand, the holy connects with the holy-of-holies -- "the Mishkan became one." Yet, on the other hand, they did not spread one curtain on the entire Mishkan, to indicate that the holy and holy-of-holies are not one level, but are distinct.

This idea has a deep meaning. There are those who focus on the spiritual realm alone, disregarding material needs. There are also those who submerse themselves in the pleasures of the physical world, and seek to negate spirituality, which, in their opinion, contradicts materialism. The truth is that G-d is one: "The Creator of all is He." So, too, Israel: "One nation in the land," and unity is the basis of its worldview. Israel knows that the mundane, holy, and holy-of-holies are, indeed, distinct in their levels, but they are not detached one from another. The soul is above the body, but connected to it, and needs it, just as every spiritual matter requires a material container.

It says in the Zohar that the Divine Presence does not dwell in a place that is lacking. Therefore, the Mishkan, the dwelling of the Divine Presence, has to unify all the separate elements. Thus, all the various level of holiness are united in it, yet, at the same time, the different levels are recognizable. "Differentiation is not separation," and the definition of the various levels does not necessarily lead to a separation between them.

The Kabbalists compare this relationship to that of the sanctity of Shabbat and Yom Kippur. Shabbat is more sacred than Yom Kippur, since one who desecrates Shabbat is sentenced with stoning, whereas one who desecrates Yom Kippur is punished with karet. Nonetheless, it is a mitzvah to enjoy the Shabbat with food and material things, and on Yom Kippur, whose sanctity is less, there is a mitzvah of affliction. This teaches that self-affliction is not the ideal, only once a year in order to atone for sins, but rather the primary mitzvah is to sanctify the physical life. Thus it says in Parshat Mishpatim, "You shall be holy people to Me." (Shemot 22:30) The Kotzker Rebbe comments that G-d does not lack angels and seraphim, but rather He wants that there be holy people, who live in a mundane world, but are holy.

Thus, G-d Himself commands, "They shall make a Sanctuary for Me -- so that I may dwell among them." (Shemot 25:8) G-d desired that He have a dwelling specifically in the material world.

The Mishkan vs. Shabbat

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

"Moshe assembled all the congregation … ‘these are the matters … do not burn fire in all your living quarters on the day of Shabbat’" (Shemot 35: 1-3).

The mitzva of Shabbat, which Moshe taught before an assemblage of the people, is connected to and is actually an introduction to and a prerequisite for the building of the Mishkan. Setting the boundaries between these two lofty goals is one of the most difficult things to do correctly. Work on the Mishkan was a mitzva and on Shabbat is an aveira. However, one can still make mistakes in drawing the lines between one sanctity and another. That is why it is necessary to assemble everyone together so that there not be different versions on the matter from different factions in the nation.

The Mishkan represents the sanctity of place, and Shabbat represents the sanctity of time. Which is pushed off in the face of which? On the one hand, the sanctity of the Mishkan is created by man’s work in a manner that draws to it divine sanctity, as commanded: "You shall make for Me a Sanctuary." Moshe blessed the people: "May it be His will that the Divine Presence will dwell in the work of your hands" (Rashi, Shemot 39:43). On the other hand, Shabbat is all decreed and prepared from Above: "Therefore, Hashem blessed the day of Shabbat and sanctified it" (Shemot 20:10).

The ultimate purpose of erecting the Mishkan was to achieve "I shall dwell in their midst." Shabbat as well is intended to be "an eternal sign between Me and Bnei Yisrael" (Shemot 31:17). It is not just a remembrance of the creation of the world but also a time of rest for the ox and the donkey, the maid-servant and the foreigner (ibid. 23:12). The different elements are all interwoven, where one is nourished by the other and germinates it. But one must still note that Shabbat is from above and is unchanging, and the Mishkan is created by human action at a specific time in history. The decision is that the building of the Mishkan does not push off the fulfillment of Shabbat.

Of all the work that is forbidden on Shabbat, the Torah highlights fire (ibid. 35:3). Fire represents the work of man. Chazal tell us that the first productive work man did was to take two rocks, rub them together, and produce fire (Bereishit Rabba 11:2). Since this was done after Shabbat, we make the beracha on fire at that time. There was no fire during creation; man first produced it. It is only possible, hint the Rabbis, to speak about the contribution of man after the divine creation was complete. It cannot take the place of the actions of Hashem, which would destroy the source from which it must emanate, but it continues them. The sanctity of man must be nourished by the divine sanctity.

It is interesting that specifically the prohibition of making fire on Shabbat was the heart of the dispute between the authentic Rabbinic approach and between the Karites. The latter divorced themselves from the continuation of the giving of the Torah, which took place through the Oral Law. The Karites misinterpreted the prohibition of fire on Shabbat and required people to sit in the dark, not realizing how man can continue that which Hashem gave him to work with.

Shabbat: from the time of creation

by Rabbi Dov Berel Wein

One of the main questions that all of the commentators to this week's parsha raise is why the Torah again discusses the prohibitions of Shabbat. The Torah has done so a number of times in the previous parshiyot of Shemot so one might question this seemingly unwarranted repetition. One of the ideas presented in their comments I feel to be especially relevant to our world. We do not find that at the time of creation the Torah sanctified any given place or location on the face of the earth. The entire idea of the uniqueness of the Land of Israel does not appear in the Torah until the time of our father Avraham. And there it appears as a promise of a homeland to Avraham's descendants without any mention of holiness or sanctification.

Holiness only appears regarding a place and location in the story of our father Yaakov and his heavenly dream at Beit El. However, already in the first section of the Bible, in the story of creation itself, we read that the Lord sanctified time. "Therefore did the Lord bless the seventh day and sanctify it." Time is the holiest of all factors in human life. It is the one thing that since creation has been blessed, sanctified and made very special. It is no wonder therefore that the holiness of the Sabbath is emphasized over and over again in the Torah. In human behavior and thought time is not as important as wealth or location or the accomplishment of any human ends. The Torah comes to warn us not to succumb to such a viewpoint or behavior pattern.

The holy Mishkan according to most commentators was ordered and built after Israel sinned in the desert by worshiping a golden calf. These commentators saw this Mishkan as an accommodation, so to speak, of Heaven to the human condition. People somehow require a tangible place of worship, a holiness of space and locality, something solid that can represent to them the invisible and eternal. So the Mishkan in a sense came to replace the necessity for a golden calf created by human beings.

The Lord, gave Israel detailed instructions how this Mishkan and its artifacts should be constructed and designed. Even though holiness of space, location and of actual structure is necessary for human service of God, it must be done solely under God's conditions. There can be many designs to build a golden calf. To build a Tabernacle to God there can only be one ordained and holy design and plan. Even when building a Tabernacle according to God's plan, the Jewish people were instructed and inspired to remember that holiness of time is always greater than holiness of place and of structure.

Shabbat, which has accompanied us from the time of creation, takes precedence over all else except for human life itself. The Mishkan and its succeeding Bati Mikdash were all temporary and subject to the events of time. Even the holy Land of Israel disappeared from Jewish history for millennia. But Shabbat never stopped accompanying the Jews wherever they lived and whatever their circumstances were. And this is why this lesson is drummed into us over and over again in the narrative of the Torah. How pertinent this lesson is in our time and in our environment.

Will there be a Magic Carpet for Ukrainian Jews?

by Victor Rosenthal

This morning’s paper discusses the plans being made for the possible aliya of the roughly 250,000 Ukrainians who are eligible for Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return. Several government ministries and the army are making preparations to bring them to Israel, provide identity documents, places of temporary residence, and financial aid for them, if it should happen that war breaks out in Ukraine and many of them want to come.

This recalled previous mass immigrations to Israel since the founding of the state: the “displaced persons” of Europe, many of them survivors of Nazi concentration camps; the refugees expelled from Arab countries after 1948; the Eastern and Central European Jews who no longer had homes in Europe; the Yemenite Jews brought home in 1949 by Operation Magic Carpet; the Jews from the institutionally anti-Jewish Soviet Union; and the continuing operations to rescue the Jews of Ethiopia.

In addition to those waves of aliya there is a continuous stream of immigrants arriving from various other places such as South America, Western Europe (especially France), and the US and Canada. The flow waxes and wanes along with economic and political changes, and of course antisemitism. In recent years, Ukraine has accounted for the second largest number of olim (after Russia).

Israel’s Law of Return says that any Jew or the child or grandchild of a Jew or their spouses, can come to Israel and be granted Israeli citizenship. Exceptions are made for someone who “is engaged in an activity against the Jewish people,” criminals, those who are a danger to “public health or security of the state,” and “a person who has been a Jew and has voluntarily changed his religion.”

And who is a Jew? The law says one who is “a person who was born of a Jewish mother or has become converted to Judaism and who is not a member of another religion.” As everyone knows, the question of conversion is a hot potato, with the religious establishment insisting that only an Orthodox conversion – and indeed, only some Orthodox conversions – are acceptable, while the Interior Ministry, which controls granting citizenship, accepts non-Orthodox conversions outside of Israel.

Well, sometimes it does. And sometimes not, such as in the case of Jared Armstong, who converted to Judaism in the US with a Conservative rabbi. Armstrong wanted to come to Israel and play basketball for the Hapoel Haifa team, and his application was rejected on the grounds that “he was converting only to play on the team …[and] his conversion classes were held via Zoom.” In general, applicants are required to show that they are part of a recognized Jewish community for some period of time, and have studied Judaism for hundreds of hours in order to establish that their conversion is sincere. The case of Armstrong was notable because the American rabbi who converted him accused the Ministry of rejecting the application because Armstrong is black (which I strongly doubt).

There have been other controversies. The Abayudaya of Uganda are a community of some 2000 people who have practiced some form of Judaism for about 100 years. They observe kashrut, Shabbat, and Jewish holidays; they were converted by Conservative rabbis beginning in 2002, while one small community even underwent Orthodox conversion by Modern Orthodox Rabbi Shlomo Riskin in 2016. One member of the community, Gershom Sizomu, studied at a Conservative seminary in the US and was ordained as a rabbi. But in 2018 the Interior Ministry decided that the Abayudaya are not a “recognized Jewish community” and therefore conversions there are not recognized.

Recently, the Interior Ministry has made new rules that complicate things for Jews who want to make aliya. They are being asked to prove that they actually intend to live in Israel, and not simply get a free flight here, obtain a passport and financial benefits, and then move on. In some cases these are Jews from the former Soviet Union (FSU) who want to move to the US or Europe, Americans who want the passport to enable them to more easily visit family in Israel despite covid restrictions, or even criminals. The phenomenon of “passport aliya” is expensive for Israel – some 40% of immigrants from the FSU in 2018-2019 left “shortly after their arrival” according to an investigation by the Ma’ariv newspaper.

None of this has anything to do with marriage, divorce, and burial for Jews in Israel, which are under the authority of the Haredi-dominated Rabbinate, which only accepts conversions from selected Orthodox rabbis. So it is common, especially after the large aliya from the former Soviet Union, where documentation of Jewish ancestry usually does not exist, that someone is deemed eligible for Israeli citizenship but still cannot be married, divorced, or buried in a Jewish cemetery in Israel.

So what about the Ukrainian Jews? Those that want to do so have the right to make aliya like any other Jew. Is it appropriate for Israel to arrange a mass aliya as was done for Iraqi, Yemenite, and Ethiopian Jews who were in mortal danger because they were Jewish? I think there is no choice but to bring every Jew that asks, even though the time pressure is such that it will be impossible to carry out careful vetting to determine if they are eligible or likely to stay. One can argue that those who truly wanted to live in Israel would have already come, since – unlike the Soviet period – today there are no “prisoners of Zion,” but the law requires that any Jew has a right to become an Israeli with the few exceptions mentioned above.

Mass aliya from Ukraine will undoubtedly be fraught with problems. Even in normal circumstances it’s hard to determine who is eligible for aliya. Some years ago I recall several immigrants from the FSU who were arrested for violent antisemitic acts here in Israel! It won’t surprise me if, after a mass aliyah of Ukrainian Jews, many, if not most, of them either move back to Ukraine after the crisis is over, or move on to other countries.

But we have no choice but to offer refuge to them. It’s both the law and the right thing to do.

The Book “Ve’zeh D’var HaShmita” By Rabbi Yitzchak Yaacov Reines

by HaRav Eliezer Melamed
Rosh HaYeshiva, Har Bracha

After the entire manuscript was burned and only an abbreviated pamphlet remained, Rav Reines’ book on matters of shmita was published this week by the Har Bracha Institute * His worldview, which saw great importance in the Zionist movement, fits well with his halakhic conception in the interpretation of the term “bi’at kulchem” * His method regarding shmita is based on the fact that it is not de’oraita at this time, and even the year it is meant to be observed is uncertain * Rav Reines agreed to pay a high personal price for his belief in the Zionist enterprise, and refused to change his mind about it, even when the Chofetz Chaim tried to dissuade him

Last week, we had the privilege of celebrating at the Har Bracha Yeshiva, the publication of Rav Yitzchak Yaakov Reines’ book on shmita (the Sabbatical year) – ‘Ve’zeh D’var Ha’Shmita’. Approximately 134 years ago, Rav Yitzchak Yaakov Reines ztz”l wrote a detailed halakhic book on how the Moshavot (agricultural colonies) should act in the shmita year. However, the full manuscript was burned, leaving only a pamphlet that was an abbreviation of the book. The pamphlet, like other important writings of the eminent rabbis of the Mizrahi movement, laid abandoned and neglected in the cellars of the Rabbi Kook Institute. About two years ago, under pressure from Rav Reines’ granddaughter, Mrs. Nechama Gordon, a lawyer from the United States, Rabbi Reines’ writings were transferred to the National Library which scanned them, and made them available to the public.

HaRav Dr. Boaz Hutterer
The person who deciphered the manuscript, edited the writings, and wrote a beautiful and important introduction to them, is HaRav Dr. Boaz Hutterer, a rabbi of the Har Bracha Yeshiva, and also a lecturer in the fields of Oral Torah and history. In recent years, as part of the Har Bracha Institute, HaRav Boaz has devoted most of his time to studying and researching the subject of shmita and the heter mechira (the sale of Israeli farmland to a non-Jew to avoid the prohibition of working the land in Israel during the Sabbatical [shmita] year), both from the halakhic and historical sides of the issues. To date, he has published two volumes via the Institute about the first three shmita’s in the days of the First Aliyah 5649-5663 (1888-1902). The third volume will deal with the shmitot for which Rav Kook was responsible during the days of the Second Aliyah, as the Chief Rabbi of Jaffa and the Moshavot, and later as Chief Rabbi of Israel. HaRav Boaz’s books are the most comprehensive in this field, both from a Torah and empirical perspective.

Eve of the Launch of the Book
In honor of the book, Rav Yehoshua Ben Meir shlita, who is one of the most knowledgeable and incisive researcher in this field and in others, happily participated. Rav Doron Peretz, chairman of the Mizrahi World Movement, which was founded by Rav Reines about one hundred and twenty years ago, also participated. It is interesting that in his remarks, HaRav Boaz recalled that when he arrived at the Beit El Yeshiva as a first year student, as he was walking down the path leading to the dormitories, he ran into Rav Doron Peretz, who, at the time, was himself in his first year in Israel and in the yeshiva, and was on his way to the Beit Midrash (study hall). He greeted HaRav Boaz warmly, returned with him to the dormitory, found him a room, and helped him settle in. HaRav Boaz said his beautiful reception was a significant reason for his decision to study at the Beit El Yeshiva. The special point about the story, in my opinion, is that Rav Doron was a new immigrant, did not yet know Hebrew well, and already felt a responsibility to host as a native Israeli.

Also participating by video was the Rosh Yeshivot Bnei Akiva, Rav Chaim Druckman shlita, and the Rav of Jerusalem, Rav Aryeh Stern shlita. In this column, I will present the essence of my remarks.

Rav Reines
Rav Reines was born in 5600 (1839). From an early age, he excelled as a prodigy and a diligent student, and even before he reached the age of twenty, he was well versed in both Bavli and Jerusalem Talmud. At the age of twenty-three, he was appointed his first rabbinate, and at the age of forty-four, he was appointed Rabbi in Lida, where he served until the end of his life. His genius was immense, and he had a tremendous memory and great diligence. In his method of study, he tended to define and analyze the logical elements of each issue.

Summary of His Explanations on Shmita
In the issue of shmita as well, which he dealt with many years before the establishment of the Mizrahi movement – even before reaching the age of fifty – his genius was evident. This issue was not yet familiar, as there had been few Jewish farmers in the country for over a thousand years. From the book that has now been published, it is clear that Rav Reines was one of the only geonim who was knowledgeable in all the issues related to the matter, compared to other rabbis who dealt with only one side of the issue.

The summary of his words: First, he explained that in the opinion of most of the poskim (Jewish law arbitrators), shmita at this time was d’Rabanan (rabbinic), and there is no Rishon who believes that it is from the Torah. Second, some poskim are of the opinion that it is a minhag chassidut (a custom deriving from extreme piety) that is not obligatory at this time. Third, there is controversy among the Rishonim as to when shmita ensues, thus placing its entire obligation in doubt. Consequently, the most appropriate solution for agriculture to exist in the Land of Israel is in the sale of the land in Shevi’it (Sabbatical year) to non-Jews, and thus, to expropriate the obligations of Shevi’it d’Rabanan, which are also disputed.

He further added a chiddush (novel interpretation) that the obligation d’Oraita (Torah ordained) in mitzvot dependent on “bi’at kulchem,” (all Jews residing in the Land of Israel), such as terumot and ma’asrot (tithes), does not depend on a majority, but on sovereignty. This is an understanding I have not seen in other poskim and it is very much in line with his method according to which he joined the Zionist movement which sought to achieve Jewish sovereignty over Eretz Yisrael. Indeed, Shevi’it also depends on Yovel (the Jubilee year) which hinges on the distribution of the Land into tribes and all of Israel, and is a much higher stage in the settlement of the Land.

His Joining the Zionist Movement
His sensitivity and concern for Israel’s suffering was immense. He analyzed the dire plight of the Jews of Eastern Europe, the growing anti-Semitism and persecution, and recognized the danger to their existence.

In his memoirs he said that as he was always accustomed to analyze carefully and calmly every sugiyah gedolah (major halachic issue), so did he regarding his joining the Zionist movement. Thus, it turned out that despite being one of the greatest lovers of Zion, and his friends had already taken part in the First Zionist Congress held in 1897, he further researched and looked into the matter for two years. “And in all these two years I did not take my mind off of it, I researched and looked at all its details, both from a religious and an intellectual perspective. I also investigated and researched the man who heads this movement (Herzl), to know if he is the type of man worthy of leading such a popular movement, how much he could be relied upon, and how talented he is for the task. And after the result of all my research and investigations were positive, then, and only then, was I drawn to it, and also began to take part in it. I travelled to all the Zionist assemblies and congresses.”

He added: “When it became known that I had joined this movement, some of the leaders of the opposition came to me, to speak to my heart, and try and persuade me to distance myself from it because they were afraid that by joining it, I would add strength to the movement, and more people would join… However, not only did they not persuade me with their words, they made me even more willing to join this movement, because I saw how empty their words were, what total lack of knowledge and understanding they had of this entire issue, and just how far they are from it. Some of their claims even made me laugh.”

The Attempt of the Chofetz Chaim
Truth be told, even the Chofetz Chaim tried to dissuade him from joining the Zionist movement. He came to him in Lida, and talked to him for about two hours. In the words of Rav Reines: “At first, he put forward some religious claims he had on this matter. After I showed him that in all his arguments I did not see a single claim of any substance and after debating the issue, he realized he could not change my mind with his claims, and then attempted to persuade me from a completely different angle. He began to explain to me the damage I was doing to myself in this matter, and said that had I not joined, they (the eminent rabbis) would have approached me in every issue [since he was one of the greatest rabbis], and nothing important would have been done without me, or without my consent. However, now that I am taking part in such a movement that many will demonstrate against, they will distance themselves from me. He went to great length to show me the huge loss I was making for myself. I then answered him saying that, concerning myself, I was very aware of the consequences, and knew in advance all that I would suffer, and specifically for that reason, I joined the movement. As long as they cannot clarify for me the moral evil that exists in this movement, I will not change my mind. Because in my opinion, not only should one not distance himself from this movement, rather, each and every Jew has a sacred obligation to join it. I also told him he was wrong especially in thinking that the rabbis are opposed to this idea, for as far as I know, I can say that the majority of the rabbis are very dedicated to this idea. They are only afraid to support it publically after the success of some of the heads of the well-known dissidents, well versed in their craft, who know that the best way to destroy a good endeavor is by spreading slander about religious doubts. For they know that their defamatory words will find pathways to the hearts of the masses who lack the knowledge to examine every enterprise for themselves, and consequently, they will distance themselves from this enterprise, and all those who support it will be chastised, and thus, the rabbis are forced to hide their opinion…”

Establishment of the Mizrahi Movement
About three years later, at the age of sixty-two, this wondrous gaon of the generation, took upon himself the heavy burden of establishing the Mizrahi movement, within the Zionist movement. All the movements and organizations of the National-Religious public grew out of the Mizrahi movement. Incidentally, in recognition of the value of science, Rav Reines also established a large yeshiva high school in Lida.

Our teacher and rabbi, Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook ztz”l, would always point out that the Mizrahi movement was founded by talmidei chachamim geonim (genius Torah scholars), headed by Rav Reines, while Agudat Yisrael was founded by baal ha’batim (laymen).

The Truth of His Path
In those days, the Jewish people numbered approximately eleven million. The Arabs who lived in all areas of the Biblical borders, including Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, numbered a little more than five million, while on both sides of the Jordan, there was just a little more than half a million Arabs. Had Rav Reines’ position been accepted, and had millions of Jews immigrated to Eretz Yisrael and multiplied in it, today there would more than fifty million Jews living in Eretz Yisrael, on both sides of the Jordan.

However, the refusal to fulfill the mitzvah and immigrate to Israel when it was possible, was in the sense of today’s ‘Sin of the Spies’. The price paid for that was dreadful. We suffered the Holocaust, the rule of Communist oppression, and assimilation. Today, there about fifteen million declared Jews throughout the entire world, and in Israel, approximately seven million Jews. In contrast, the Arabs living in the vicinity of Eretz Yisrael have benefited from the fruits of the Industrial Revolution, the expansion of food production, and the improvement of medicine, and they number more than eighty million.

Religiously, too, it turned out that the Haredim were wrong. Among those remaining in the Diaspora assimilation increased, and only ten percent remained religious. While in Israel, the number of religious is close to thirty percent, another forty percent are traditional, and even the majority of the secular are at a level close to that of traditional Jews abroad.

Rav Kook's Igrot Hare’aya: Questions about Torah Accounts of Creation, part II

#91 – part II

Date and Place: 10 Sivan 5665 (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: [Last time we saw Rav Kook’s position that Rabbinic tradition embraced the idea that there were creations of the world well before Adam. He explained that the Torah’s account of creation was just that which Hashem found worthy to share with us at the time, but that the full scope of creation was one of the greatest secrets. This time we will continue seeing why Hashem did not want to write in the Torah explicitly all that had transpired in creation.]

[The idea of not revealing things right away] is also true regarding spirituality. For example, Divine Providence is a foundation of human morality and success. When it will become abundantly clear to the world what the foundation is, we will have the situation the prophets described as a world without destructiveness and with knowledge of Hashem’s ways filling the world (see Yeshayahu 11:9).

The Jewish people had to work very hard in dealing with idol worshippers, to explain that although creation was vast, it is wrong to view man as not significant enough for the morality of his actions to make a difference. Rather, the creation of man, who has the potential for morality, is more significant than that of quantitatively greater creations. It is difficult to engrain this point in the minds of man while at the same time preserving the internal recognition of Hashem’s honor. The latter is the greatest foundation for the completion of the level of mankind and creation in general, in the present and for eternity, in a life of physicality and spirituality. All of this toil was needed to fit within man’s small heart the image of the greatness of creation and lowliness of man along with the greatness of the “Hand of Hashem” and His loftiness above and beyond the value of creations.

What would have been if [thousands of years ago] man would have known about all the worlds that existed? Then man would have seen himself as nothing and would not have taken his moral responsibilities seriously and seek to be a living thing that strives for greatness. Only now that mankind has succeeded in seeing his potential for greatness, it is no longer upsetting for him to understand the sheer numbers of things that were created.

To achieve all of this required time and preparation, with imagery and with stories, whether those that follow from an intellectual view of creation or those that come from the revealing of the providence of Hashem as told by His prophets. They always needed to include the power that gives greatness to life and success in it. It would not have helped man to receive a set of truncated pieces of information to toy with like a young child.

When you contemplate that which I have explained, you will understand the importance of that which was revealed and that which was kept hidden. The means that Hashem employs to hide things are many and great, using the great divine brilliance of the Creator and wonderful advisor of the world.

If you adopt [in your inquiries in the academic world] the approach that I have explained to you, I am sure that, with Hashem’s help, you will not stumble. You will be successful within our nation; you will fear Hashem and fulfill his commandments, which is the purpose of man (see Kohelet 12:13). You will find joy in the greatness of Hashem’s name and in our nation’s great gift – to have a covenant that makes us a light unto the nations. We should merit to rejoice in the joy of the beloved Land and be able to speak about Hashem’s greatness in Zion and Jerusalem as nations gather to serve Hashem, when He brings salvation and grandeur to Israel from Zion. Hashem promised to give light from the secrets of the Torah, as Chazal point out that he already did for great scholars such as Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues (see Bamidbar Rabba 19:6, based on Yeshayahu 42:16).

Rav Kook on Parashat Ki Tissa: The Knot of God's Tefillin

Moshe’s Vision
One of the more enigmatic passages in the Torah describes a mysterious encounter that took place following the Sin of the Golden Calf. After successfully pleading on behalf of the Jewish people, Moshe took advantage of this special time of Divine favor. “Please let me have a vision of Your Glory!”

God replied that it is impossible for mortal man “to have a vision of Me and live.” However, God agreed to protect Moshe in a mountain crevice as He “passed by.”

“You will then have a vision of My back. My face, however, will not be seen.” (Shemot 33:17-23)

This account raises many questions. The most obvious problem concerns the story’s anthropomorphic elements. God has no body; what do the allegorical terms ‘back’ and ‘face’ mean?

The Talmudic commentary for this puzzling incident only adds to our confusion. The Sages explained that God revealed His ‘back’ to Moshe by showing him the knot of God’s tefillah shel rosh. (The tefillah shel rosh, the phylactery worn on the head, is held in place by means of a leather strap tied to the back of the head with a special knot.)

What is the significance of God’s tefillin knot? Why did God choose to reveal that particular part of His tefillin to Moshe?

Knowing God
There are two levels of knowledge. The first is an accurate knowledge of an object’s true nature. The second is a limited knowledge, restricted by our intellectual or physical limitations. Regarding tangible objects, there may not be a significant difference between the two levels of knowledge. But when dealing with abstract concepts, especially with regard to the nature of God, the difference will be great — perhaps infinitely so.

The Torah is based on the second type of knowledge. It presents us with a perception of God according to our limited grasp, since only this type of knowledge can provide ethical guidance. Knowledge of God’s true nature, on the other hand, is not a form of comprehension at all. As God informed Moshe: “Man cannot have a vision of Me and live.”

Bound to the Human Intellect
Now we may begin to understand the metaphor of God’s tefillin. Contained inside tefillin are scrolls with verses declaring God’s unity and Divine nature. These verses signify a comprehension of God’s true reality. This truth, however, is beyond human understanding. How can we relate to this infinite truth? What brings it down to the level of our intellectual capabilities, enabling this knowledge to enlighten us and provide moral direction?

The function of the knot is to bind the tefillah shel rosh to the head — and intellect. The knot symbolizes a level of comprehension that takes into account the abilities of those contemplating, so that they may grasp and utilize this knowledge.

The imagery of God’s ‘face’ and ‘back’ corresponds to these two levels of knowledge. ‘Face’ in Hebrew is panim, similar to the word p'nim, meaning inner essence. True knowledge of God’s infinite reality is God’s ‘face.’

Knowledge of God’s reality according to our limited understanding, on the other hand, is referred to as God’s ‘back.’ Moshe was granted this partial, indirect knowledge — a grasp of the Divine that we are able to appreciate and apply in our finite world.

(Sapphire from the Land of Israel. Adapted from Ein Eyah vol. I, p.33 by Rav Chanan Morrison)

The Yishai Fleisher Israel Podcast: Reading the Broken Tablets

Season 2022 Episode 7: Yishai & Malkah Fleisher ride and demonstrate for greater Israeli liberty and against government overreach - and have fun while doing it! Then, Rabbi Shlomo Katz on the value of the broken tablets and power of seeing Moses' glowing face as he comes down from Mount Sinai. Finally, Yishai discusses his talk with Israeli Arabs about the future of the Jewish State.

Rabbi Ari Kahn on Parshat Ki Tisa: On the Derech

Spectators or Active Participants in Jewish Destiny?

by Rav Binny Freedman

Jerusalem; 722 BCE: the mightiest army on the face of the earth has surrounded the city; bent on conquest and determined to put an end to the Jewish people once and for all.

Approximately 35,000 people, all that remain of the Jewish people after the destruction and conquest of the North and the exile of the ten tribes, are crowded inside the city walls as the Assyrian army lays siege to Jerusalem.

The Assyrian general Saragon, also known as Sanhereb, the Destroyer, has never been defeated, and has amassed the largest army the world has ever known: 185,000 men.

Hizkiahu, the Jewish king, has no army to speak of; it would seem we are in the verge of the final solution to the Jewish people, 2,700 years ago.

And then G-d performs a miracle, and according to the book of Kings, on the first night of Passover, an Angel smites the Assyrian army and all 185,000 Assyrian soldiers die, saving the city of Jerusalem.

And yet, this great miracle does not ultimately save the city, only delaying its eventual destruction by the Babylonians 150 years later.

Gush Etzion; 1948: the Jordanian legion, along with tens of thousands of Arab irregulars has surrounded the village of Kfar Etzion south of Jerusalem. Fighting a pitched battle over three days, on May 14, the beleaguered defenders finally succumb to the Arab hordes, and Kfar Etzion falls, literally as the state of Israel is declared. Only 4 of the 245 defenders survive; the rest are massacred, and the village of Kfar Etzion is completely destroyed. For 19 years the town will lie empty, bereft of her children, until 1968, when, after the re-conquest of the Etzion bloc in 1967, the children of those brave defenders will return and rebuild Kfar Etzion into the beautiful and thriving community it is today.

What hope is there for the future of Kfar Etzion and the rest of the land we have come home to after two millennium of dreaming, if the miracles of the prophets in the Bible did not last?

There is a fascinating question in this week’s portion Ki Tisah that may shed light on this question.

After 40 days on Har Sinai, Moshe comes down off the mountain with the tablets of the law in his arms, only to discover the people engaged in an orgy of idolatry we have come to know as the sin of the Golden calf. Apparently outraged at the sight of the Jewish people, not six weeks after receiving the Ten Commandments, worshipping a golden idol, Moshe, in what seems to be a fit of rage, hurls the tablets off the mountain shattering them to pieces.

We will never again have such a holy possession. Fashioned by no less than G-d Himself, these Tablets would seem to be the holiest object the world has ever seen. So how can Moshe destroy them? Especially in what seems to be a fit of rage?

In truth, a closer look at the story in the Torah suggests we might be missing a pretty important piece of the story. In fact, G-d actually tells Moshe when he is still atop Mount Sinai, that the people have sinned and are worshipping a Golden calf! (Shemot 32;7-8 ) So Moshe cannot be shocked at the sight. And if his intent is to destroy the tablets, why does he bother to carry them all the way down the mountain? (32 15-16). In fact it is actually when Moshe is descending the mountain with the tablets in hand, (already knowing the people are worshipping a Golden calf down below) that the Torah describes them as fashioned by G-d! So how can Moshe take them down to destroy them? If indeed the people are simply not worthy of such a gift, why not simply leave them atop Mount Sinai?

Indeed after destroying the Golden calf and successfully gaining forgiveness for the Jewish people , Moshe will ascend the mountain again this time fashioning a second set of tablets himself (34:1). And these tablets, fashioned by man, will remain intact, constituting the Torah we received at Sinai, while the seemingly more holy tablets, fashioned by G-d, will remain shattered forever.

A paradox, to say the least: why would the less holy tablets seem to be a better choice than the holiest tablets fashioned by G-d Himself?

Perhaps this is the real message behind Moshe’s shattering of the tablets of G-d. Maybe the first tablets represent the initial experience at Sinai: the overwhelming, spectacular experience of G-d. The people are but passive receivers of the Torah, it is G-d, who as it were, comes down to man. We are spectators in the miraculous, even supernatural spectacle of G-d filling the world.

But such supernatural miraculous experiences do not last. And ultimately, they do not change us. When Elijah has his famous encounter with the prophets of Baal in the book of Kings, a great fire comes from the heavens and the entire Jewish people fall to their knees crying out “G-d the true G-d’, but it does not last. The next day they are back to their idolatrous ways leading no less than Elijah the Prophet to despair.

And when G-d splits the sea vanquishing the entire Egyptian army and leading the Jewish people to a moment of mass prophecy in the Song of the Sea, there too, it does not last. The very next day the Jews are back complaining about water.

But later, when the Jews fight Amalek, and are victorious in battle, that actually does seem to last, and we do not see the Jews complain again until much later in the sin of the spies.

One wonders if the entire story of the Sinai experience along with the sin of the Golden calf is designed to teach us that lasting change has to come from us. If G-d is doing all the work, and there is no partnership on our part, we do not really change. Ultimately, we have to be our own agents for change.

Twenty seven hundred years ago G-d performs a great miracle for the Jewish people, but it does not last because it was all G-d; real change has to come from within. And so, in 1948, after two thousand years of exile, the Jewish people finally answered the call and took an active role in shaping our destiny and that is what changed history.

It is the second tablets fashioned by Moshe that will ultimately become the lasting Torah.

And today, surrounded by enemies on every side, the message of those second tablets could not be clearer. Seventy-five years after the Holocaust we have been blessed with a country we can call our own with a Jewish army. It is ultimately G-d who will decide how history unfolds, but our job is to be active partners in seeing that dream become a reality, every day.

And each of us must decide whether we remain spectators to the spectacle of Jewish destiny, or whether we become active participants in helping it unfold, each and every day.

Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem.