In Judaism, everything seems to be based on numbers. You don't have to go far in the prayerbook, starting with the 11 types of incense used in the Temple, the 13 ways that the Torah is able to be interpreted in learning out what the verses of the Torah come to teach us, and...the very name of the main prayer that we say minimally three times a day is called Shemoneh Esrei, which literally means 18 because originally, this prayer consisted of 18 blessings that were recited during the weekdays, and at one point, another blessing was added, but the title called Shemoneh Esrei remained.
And then in Parshat Terumah that was read a few weeks ago, numbers are the star when it comes to describing the various measurements of the Mishkan/Tabernacle. Though they may seem quite irrelevant in terms of day-to-day living, the Torah is full of lessons, even though it may not be obvious on the surface.
And so, the following Parsha called Tetzaveh, while not full of numbers, details the clothing that the Cohanim wore in the Tabernacle/Temple. While clothing itself may not be the main feature of how a person should be labeled in terms of religion, the fact that one wears a particular set of clothing often shows what one's belief system is. And believe it or not, the clothing one wears not only affects the environment where everyone sees him/her, but can also have a major effect on oneself. In the non-Jewish world, perhaps one of the best examples of this is that in the old days in the United States, when wearing uniform was mandatory even in public schools, children for the most part grew up to be respectful to their elders, especially their teachers. After all, if they had respect for themselves looking nice, they felt that they were grownup enough to act accordingly. However, in more recent times when children can dress in most different ways to say the least - let alone getting tattooed, boys wearing earrings, etc., much violence and addiction use have been practiced in the public school system where teachers are afraid of their own students, some of whom have even brought guns to school.
And so, with no further delays here, let's get right to the subject of our post - the Bigdei Kehunah/Priestly Vestments. While I kept having delays writing this post, in this week's Parshat Pekudei, these are mentioned once again, but in concise form.
Before I continue, I want to let you know that I discovered something most fascinating about this 99th Mitzvah of the Torah of the Cohanim wearing their Bigdei Kehunah in the Tabernacle/Temple. It is true that I am writing this in my 99th Post, but the big discovery here is that - the name of this 99th Mitzvah: Bigdei Kehunah - IS the Gematria of 99! And so, there is no doubt that these Bigdei Kehunah had a most significant purpose of being worn.
If this was not enough, on the first day of the week of Parshat Tetzaveh of this year, the worldwide Daf Yomi page of the Talmud (particularly in Zevachim 88b), mentioning what sin each of these garments atoned for, was learned. Amazing once again!
OK, so let me first show you what piece of clothing atoned for what sin. The order that I will write this list is the order in which the Torah details these clothing. To note, only the Cohen Gadol/High Priest wore all eight of these clothing. The rest of the Cohanim wore only the last four of the following eight clothes.
Ephod- Idol worship
Choshen (breastplate)- Corruption of justice
Meil (robe)- Evil speech
Tzitz (forehead plate) - Brazenness
Kutonet (tunic)- Bloodshed
Mitznefet (turban)- Haughtiness
Avnet (sash)- Evil thoughts
Michnasayim (pants)- Lewdness
Now, the Talmud is the original source for which sins these clothing atoned for, but mentions them in a different order. I will explain shortly as to why the Talmud doesn't list them in the same order as the Torah does. Meanwhile, I will list this list in order of the Talmud with the reasons or connections between the piece of clothing and particular sin based on various other verses of the Tanach/Bible. In this order, the four clothes that the regular Cohanim wore are mentioned first:
Kutonet (tunic)- Bloodshed: "They slaughtered a goatling and dipped the TUNIC IN BLOOD" (Genesis 37:31).
Michnasayim (pants)- Lewdness: "You shall make for them linen PANTS TO COVER THE FLESH OF THEIR NAKEDNESS" (Exodus 28:42).
Mitznefet (turban)- Haughtiness: Rabbi Chanina said- "Let something that is worn high on the head come and atone for haughtiness". As we know, wearing something on one's head represents fear of Hashem, as we call a skullcap in Yiddish "yarmulke", a composite of the words "Yerei Elokim"- Fear of G-d.
Avnet (sash)- Evil thoughts: The sash was worn just below the heart which harbors thoughts.
Choshen (breastplate)- Corruption of justice: "You shall make a CHOSHEN OF JUDGEMENT".
Ephod- Idol worship: "Without EPHOD, there are TERAPHIM (one of the many names for idols)".
Meil (robe)- Evil speech: Rabbi Chanina said- "Let something through which there is a sound (there were bells hanging at the bottom of the robe) come and atone for the evil sound of evil speech".
Tzitz (headplate)- Brazenness: It it written about the Tzitz "It shall be on Aaron's FOREHEAD", and it is written about brazenness "You had the FOREHEAD of a prostitute, not wanting to be ashamed".
THE DIFFERENCE OF THE LISTING OF THE BIGDEI KEHUNA BETWEEN THE BIBLE & THE TALMUD
It seems that there is a reason why the Torah/Chumash first lists the Bigdei Kehuna that only the Cohen Gadol wore and then the rest of the garments while the Talmud does the reverse. You see, when it comes to Kriat HaTorah/reading from the Torah scroll, even a Jew who does not even know the first word of Hebrew still fulfills the basic requirement of hearing the Torah as does the greatest Talmid Chacham/Torah scholar of the generation. Hence, the Sefer Torah, the contents of the Chumash, is read even to a Jew ignorant of any Torah learning, and as the Ba'al Koreh - one who reads the Torah - is compared to Hashem giving us the Torah, one technically does not even need to apply himself to understand what is being read. However, when it comes to Talmudic studies, which oftentimes is not understood even if one knows what each word means, is something that one has to spend some serious plowing to understand. Hence, the Torah listing first the vestments exclusive to the Cohen Gadol is showing that it is Hashem reaching to us when the Torah is being read.
However, when it comes to Talmudic studies, which oftentimes is not understood even if one knows what each word means, is something that one has to spend some serious plowing to understand. While in one sense, Hashem is the one who teaches us Torah, while in prayer, it is we who are reaching out to Hashem; the Talmud - the hardcore of Torah studies, is something that we can't expect Hashem just to "give it to us". One does not fulfill the Mitzva of Torah learning simply by chanting the words of the Talmud. One has to make a serious effort for Talmudic learning to be considered learning Torah. This is demonstrated by the Talmud first listing the vestments that all the Cohanim wore followed by the ones that was worn exclusively by the Cohen Gadol. We have to work our way to the top when it comes to the Talmud, as the teachings of the Talmud probes the wisdom of Hashem.
Unlike the words of the Torah/Tanach through which even a simple Jew can fulfill the Mitzva of Torah learning even without knowing the words mean when reciting them though of course he will benefit far more spiritually if he does know what he is reciting and concentrating on them, this is basically Hashem coming from above so to speak and spoon feeding us this part of the Torah. However, the Talmud assumes all of us to first be simple, and only after seriously applying ourselves to understanding what it is saying, do we then ascribe to be on a higher spiritual level of Torah learning. Along these lines, the conclusion of the Mishnayot on Seder Moed states, "When it comes to honor (these words aren't mentioned, but this is the meaning of the context), a Mamzer (mistranslated as bastard) one who is born of an illicit or illegal union according to Halacha/Jewish law - making him unfit to marry most Jewish women having a spiritual blemish - but is a Talmid Chacham, comes before a Cohen Gadol who is an ignoramus in Torah."
TWO GARMENTS LEFT OUT OF THE ORIGINAL LIST MENTIONED & WHY
Now, another question needs to be posed here. Before the Torah details the requirements of the individual Bigdei Kehuna, it gives the immediate list of the Bigdei Kehuna (Exodus 28:4), but leaves out two of them - the Tzitz/headplate & Michnasayim/pants. Obviously, there must be a reason for this.
Before going further on this subject, we notice that when the Torah is addressing the Cohanim, the Torah specifies Aaron and his sons. Yet, we know that Pinchas, the son of Elazar who in turn took over the Kehuna Gedola/High Priesthood from his father Aaron, who was alive at the time of the Priestly consecartion, as we see that his name is listed in Parshat Va'eira among the list of his ancestors, being mentioned next to the events that took place in Egypt before Aaron and his sons became Cohanim.
So, why was he not included in being a Cohen when the Torah made it clear that all future male descendants of Aaron's sons in parental line would be Cohanim?
The answer to this question is not such a secret. We see that nearly 40 years later when Pinchas slew Zimri, the leader of the tribe of Shimon who was having a tryst with the princess of Midian, that he merited at that time to be a Cohen. Apparently, Hashem wanted him to do something special to earn being a Cohen rather than just being a Cohen being a descendant of Aaron.
This is nice and dandy. However, as brave as Pinchas was, so too were there other brave Jews such as Nachshon, whose sister Elisheva was married to Aaron, who was the first to jump into the Reed Sea despite the possibility of drowning in obedience of Hashem's orders to move forward and not be afraid of the Egyptians pursuing the Jews. And then there were outspoken Jews such as Caleb, whose wife Miriam was Aaron's sister, who was not afraid of speaking the truth when the evil Spies were discouraging the Jews from moving to Israel. Yet, neither Nachshon or Caleb, despite their close relative ties to Aaron, merited to be Cohanim. So just because Pinchas was Aaron's grandson, in itself did not merit him to be a Cohen, but only following his brave act of killing the evil Zimri, not fearing that the tribe of Shimon - whose leader was Zimri - would attempt to kill him. So, there must be some type of connection between Pinchas' act of killing Zimri and the Kehuna/Priesthood.
OK, so let's get to the Bigdei Kehuna not immediately mentioned in the Torah - the headplate and pants. As we already learned in this post, the headplate atoned for brazenness and the pants atoned for lewdness. And indeed, it was these very two sins that Zimri performed warranting his death. Unlike the other Jews who fell prey to the sin of lewdness via idolatry as part of the plan that was set up for the Jews to sin was that the goyishe women would sleep with the Jews only if they first worship the idol Peor, Zimri's sin of lewdness did not stem purely from lust but was a brazen act to show Moses that as far as Zimri was concerned, Moses was no better because he himself had married a Midianite woman (who by the way was perfectly Kosher for Moses, who obviously stopped worshipping the idols that her father Jethro used to worship before converting to Judaism), as he told this to Moses brazenly when he was together with the Midianite princess Kozbi. Following his brazen words to the greatest Tzadik of the world, he proceeded to a tent where he started becoming intimate with Kozbi, an act of lewdness, which led to Pinchas to killing the two of them.
Hence, the Torah must be hinting here that while Aaron and his sons would become Cohanim, the final status of Cohanim had yet to be set in place; and hence, hinting to this, the two garments atoning for the very sins that Zimri performed in his final minutes of life were left out, so to speak waiting until the time that Pinchas would kill Zimri who committed the very sins that are atoned for by these two garments, among the Bigdei Kehuna that Pinchas would wear in the future, including the breastplate that is exclusive to the Cohen Gadol, as Pinchas indeed became the Cohen Gadol following the passing of his father Elazar.
TIMING OF THE READING OF THE PRIESTLY GARMENTS
Typically, Parshat Tezave, of which the first half of the Parsha is about the Bigdei Kehuna, is read on the Shabbat before Purim. In this year, as a leap year, this Parsha was read on the Shabbat before Purim Katan, and this week's Parshat Pekudei, which also has mention of the details of the Bigdei Kehuna, falls out in between Purim Katan & the regular Purim.
Some may think that there is a connection between Parshat Tetzave about the Bigdei Kehuna & Purim, since after all, there is a custom to dress in a costume on Purim. Actually, they are not far off. I believe that the real source for this custom of costumes (a nice play on words) is based on the beginning of the Megilla, on which the Talmud in Tractate Megilla explains that King Achashveirosh wore the Bigdei Kehuna that the Babylonians stole when they destroyed the First Temple at the party that he hosted. But why was he interested in dressing up which was for him a real costume, into a set of clothing worn by the one who had the highest spiritual post in the Temple? Achashveirosh certainly did not want to be associated with being Jewish.
As our rabbis tell us in the Talmud, this king was the same rotten individual from beginning to end, even when he seemed to be giving in to Mordechai & Esther in benefit of the Jews at the end of the Megilla. His reison d'etre for having the parties that he hosted was NOT to impress the other nations of the world. His SOLE AND ONLY PURPOSE of these parties was to first of all mock the Jews whom he thought that Hashem deserted as he miscalculated Jeremiah's mention of 70 years ofBabylonian exile for the Jews, thinking that the 70 years were up. He was in fact celebrating of what he thought to be the fact that now, the Jews would no longer be able to have their land once again to be free on their own without serving him. And just like the goyishe women who purposely were set up to make the Jews sin performing idolatry and lewdness; so too here, he was hoping that the Jews would fress at his non-kosher feasts so they would be deserving of punishment from Hashem, G-d forbid, and then be able to be given the green limit to get rid of them.
Perhaps today's Jewish liberal democrats who stoop down to kiss the feet of Christians begging for their love can learn a lesson from here. You see, Achasheveirosh here showed no outwardly Anti-Semitism. He treated everyone the same way at his parties - regardless of religion, race or creed. Almost anyone seeing his demeanor would certainly come to the conclusion that he was on the finest kings that ever lived on this planet. In fact, following his evil wife Vashti's refusal of appearing naked before the king, he asked the Jewish scholars for their scholarly advice on this issue. Yet, his only intention of having his feasts, wearing the Priestly Garments in front of the party crowd, including the Jews who didn't listen to Mordechai when he warned them not to go to Achashveirosh's feats, and who didn't care if this evil king dared to wear the very garments which were worn by the last Cohen Gadol who served in the Temple. Indeed, it was these very Jews who chose to overlook this king's Anti-Semitism who disobeyed Mordechai who blamed him for causing the decree of the destruction of the Jews when in fact, what happened was a punishment for what these fresser and disobedient Jews did here.
ARE THERE JEWISH CLOTHES?
Today, black hats and black clothing is associated with being dressed the most "religious" way, especially worn by those who learn or used to learn in Yeshiva and Hasidic Jews. Perhaps this would not be a problem wearing this types of clothes during the weekday; however, when it comes to Shabbat, when it is custom from the Torah for Jews to dress in white, most unfortunately, this is the very day of the week that so many Jews were the color of mourning. While many may justify wearing such clothes as this was the Jews that they customarily wore as Jewish clothing for hundreds of years in the European exile, this type of dress, especially the Hasidic style of the Hasidic groups who were only black (NOTE: There are some Hasidic groups who wear their special dress in a different color on Shabbat) as in fact being influenced by what the goyishe noblemen wore, which are very similar.
Perhaps I am now aware of the reason as to why the black color became the norm of Jewish dress In Europe instead of the white colo in the context of the siginificance of Jewish customs. But I will admit that in general, the type of clothing that the ones who are more of the religous type wear - can have a positive influence on Jews to behave the Torah way. While clothing is worn for reasons, such as covering nakedness and looking good, clothes also serve as a factor in virtually all religions (even as the goyim copy everything from us). We see from this that indeed, we have to be concerned about how much view us, and some will base their judgements on us, solely on what we wear.
IN CONCLUSION
The name Bigdei Kehuna is indeed the number of this Mitzvah. As mentioned at the beginning of this post, these words, which mean Priestly clothes, have the Gematria of 99, and are indeed the 99th Mitzvah of the Torah, this number is also very significant as it relates to clothes in another way. You see, the number nine, as I had mentioned quite a few times in my blogspot, represents the aspect of darkness, such as the 9th plague of the Egyptians which was darkness, as well as the 9th day of Av (Tisha B'Av), the saddest day of the Jewish calendar when both Temples were destroyed along with other major sad events for Jews that took place on this very date. Hence, the number 99, as associated with clothing, is a double nine being spelled as such. In fact, the word for clothing in singular in Hebrew is Beged, which is the Gematria of nine. Now, taking the same word as being spelled the same way as a verb, it means the cognate of being a traitor. Indeed, being a traitor of an idealism that one is thought to represent or is supposed to represent, is in fact being like a wold in sheep's clothing, such as Jews who turned over other Jews to non-Jewish authorities especially to look good themselves.
Yes, no coincidences here. Clothing indeed covers the body of a person, just as darkness is a cover up for light. For some, the right type of spiritual clothing befits the wearers of these clothing. For others unfortunately though, the clothing is not only a mere physical cover up, but also a spiritual cover up of who they really are inside themselves, showing off that they look so religious but do deeds hurting people in various ways that discourage some Jews from observing Judaism. And so, the number 99 - a number of a double nine, being the Gematria of Priestly Clothing, as well as being the 99th number of the list of the 613 Mitzvot of the Torah, can work both ways. It can indeed be a double darkness - covering up the body as clothes were first worn by Adam & Eve following their sin of eating from the forbidden fruit which resulted of them feeling naked; as well as being worn by people showing off in fancy shmancy stuff making others feel jealous or looking as religious dress, but truly not living a religious life as far as people are concerned when the latter are being cheated monetarily and otherwise by these fakers. Or, while indeed a physical cover up for all as a result of the first sin, they can use their clothing instead to enhance their spiritual status, giving a sense of pride and dignity for Judaism, which is very wanting of more Jews living the Torah way of life.
Now, aside from the color of our clothing, what type of clothing will we wear that will enhance not only ourselves, but enhance the honor and beauty of Judaism, as the Torah states of the Bigdei Kehuna "You shall make clothing for Aaron your brother for honor and beauty" (Exodus 28:2)?
26 Adar I, 5771
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
#98 - The Two Sephirot
In our previous post, I wrote about the importance of time as displayed through animal sacrifices in the Temple. Today, I will write about two different time periods that both compare and contrast with each other, and what we can learn from this. Both of these time periods are mentioned in the Torah and are part of the 613 Mitzvot/Commandments.
The first of these time periods is the yearly Mitzvah of what we call either counting the Sephira counting the Omer. We are required to count seven weeks which each include
seven days, which the Torah calls "seven complete weeks" The following verse continues "Until the day following the seventh week, you shall count 50 days". (Leviticus 23:15-16). Now wait a minute, how many days are we really supposed to count here - 49 or 50?
Well, we do see in all prayerbooks that we are presented with only 49 days to count, so is there something else that we do on the 50th day, which we know as Shavuot, that shows that we are counting this day, though we don't obviously verbalize this count?
Now, in the beginning of the very next Parsha, we are presented with a similar count - seven complete cycles of seven years each of which the last of each seven year period is designated as a year in which the land of Israel is left alone and not worked upon, popularly known as the Shemitta year. Then, there is a special commandment to "sanctify the fiftieth year", called the Jubilee year, and as Rashi explains, that at the beginning of this year, the Beit Din/Jewish court announces that this year is sanctified. Besides this year between another year of rest for the land following the 49th year, land that owners sold under financial stress and Jewish servants returned to being free. (Leviticus 25:1-13)
In any case, there seems to be a fundamental difference between these two sets of counts. The first one that we count annually, in fact we do not count the 50th day from the day that the Omer offering was brought, but we do treat this day as a holiday, the day that we celebrate annually marking the giving of the Torah, though in fact, no mention of this historical moment is in fact mentioned in the section of the Torah when the Sephira/Omer count is mentioned; in fact, the Torah never even mentions the exact date that the Torah was actually given. However, when it comes to the Shemitta cycle & Jubilee year, the Beit Din went out of its way to declare a 50th year, which included blowing the Shofar on Yom Kippur of that year. It was only after the 50th year that the Shmitta cycle began only once again. Though nowadays, we don't have a Jubilee, just a continuous count of six years of working the land and resting on the seventh year, it is only due to technicalities, but in the future when the majority of Jews are living in Israel (this could happen within just a matter of years with Aliyah at an all time rise), this will be applicable once again.
Before proceeding with the comparison/contrast of these two sets of 49 days/years, I would like to point out that today, according to some, marks the birthday and/or Yahrzeit of Moshe Rabbeinu - 7 Adar. The reason I word it as "according to some" "birthday and/or Yahrzeit" instead of being explicit with this is that in this year, we have two months of Adar as this is a leap year. There are discussions as to which Adar we mark such observances of Moses's special day, and in fact, there is an opinion that the year that Moshe was born was such a leap year, and the Jerusalem Talmud notes that according to an opinion, he was in fact born on the first Adar. We do know for a fact that the year that Moses passed away was a regular Adar, based on the verses of the Torah, and the events that followed of Joshua entering the land a month later when the Jews celebrated Passover right afterwards.
In any case, there is a special parallel of 49 in terms of Moses. During his lifetime he was granted 49 levels or gates of understanding. It was only on the last day of his life that he was given a glimpse of the 50th level/gate of understanding, as we learn out from the name of the mountain on which he was buried - Mt. Nebo - the word Neevo in Hebrew is spelled as the letters Noon-Beit/Veit-Vav, explained as Noon Bo, the 50th was "in it".
I would like to point out at this time that 49 times two, as per the above two counts of 49 each of the Sephira period & the Shemitta periods, equals 98, and this is my 98th post.
OK, so getting back to these two Sephirot, two countings of periods of time, they both have a special connection to Mt. Sinai. Following the original count of 49 days following the day of the Exodus, the Torah was given on Mt. Sinai. And interestingly, unlike most other Mitzvot, the Mitzvot related to Shemitah & Jubilee, including the Sephira count of 50 years are preceeded with the statement "Hashem spoke to Moses ON MOUNT SINAI saying". In fact, Parshat Behar in which these Mitzvot began is named after Mt. Sinai, as it means "On Mountain (Sinai)". No doubt then that there is a very good reason these Mitzvot are especially related to Mt. Sinai.
In order to see the connection between the two, we have to know the reason why the Torah was chosen to be given on Mt. Sinai of all places. Actually, Hashem wanted to give the Torah on some mountain, but as the Midrash relates, it was the humble one of all other mountains who felt that the Torah should been given on them. There may be skeptics who will doubt this story as inanimate objects as they are called such as mountains do not speak. However, as we know kabbalistically, ALL forms of creation have an element of life - the only question is to what degree they are able to express themselves. In fact, all other forms of creation besides people know on their own of the existance of Hashem. However, human beings - the very ones who are charged to serve Hashem, are given free choice whether to believe in the existance of Hashem and serve Him or not.
Anyways, Hashem chose Mt. Sinai of all the other mountains because this was the only humble mountain who didn't feel that it deserved to have the Torah being given on it. Accordingly, Moshe Rabbeinu - the star of today (7 Adar) - was the most humble of all people, so it was only fitting for the Torah to be transmitted through him. As noted at the very beginning of Pirkei Avot/Ethics of the Fathers "Moses received the Torah from (Mt.) Sinai". Along these lines, I recently discovered that the first letters of the first six words of Pirkei Avot - Moshe Keebel Torah M'Sinai U'Mesarah Lehoshua "Moses received the Torah from Sinai and handed it over to Joshua" - the letters Mem-Koof-Tav-Mem-Vav-Lamed add up to the Gematria of 616, which in turn is the Gematria of the word HaTorah - The Torah.
As connected to the concept of Shemitta & Jubilee, a Jew lets his land rest on the Shemitta year, and after seven cycles of seven years each, he lets his land rest for one additional year. The spiritual purpose of this is that it reminds a Jew that in fact, the land really belongs to Hashem; it's just that he himself is given the land as a gift from Hashem, and is his to work on it in order to have sufficient livelihood to provide for himself and his family. And so, when it comes to the Shemitta year, he totally relies on Hashem to take care of him, remembering that in fact, he is not the Ba'al HaBayit, the boss over the land, but Hashem. Thus, just like Moses & Mt. Sinai, he is infused with the trait of humbleness, realizing that there is no reason to be proud, and that the results of working the land is only because miracles don't happen and in fact, as a result of Adam's sin of eating the forbidden fruit, he has to work on the land to begin with, which would not be necessary if this was a world free of sin where we would be worthy of miracles of Hashem doing everything for us.
And here lies the difference between the counting of the Sephira from the bringing of the Omer offering & the Sephira of the Shemitta years. When it came to the time of the Exodus, the Jews were basically spoon fed everything since they just became born as a nation, and needed initial love and care from Hashem to be able to spiritually function well. Hence, after counting seven weeks towards the big day of receiving the Torah in their preparations for this momentous day, the rest was up to Hashem as exemplified by the 50th day, which was in fact counted by Hashem Himself. Thus, even though really, we should count this as the 50th day itself like the first 49 days, as hinted as such by the wording of the Torah - "You shall count 50 days"; it is in commeration of what happened the original year of the Sephira from the Exodus to the Giving of the Torah that we still orally count only 49 days.
However, when it comes to the Mitzvot of the Sephira count of the Shemitta years, the concept of working the land to begin with is a primary example of how WE have to make the effort in serving Hashem. Once we arrived in Israel and the barley grain was available and permitted according to the Torah to be eaten when the Omer offering was brought on the 16th of Nissan, the day after we commemorate the annual Exodus date, the manna, the food that Hashem daily fed the Jewish people for 40 years ceased to exist(noting that in fact the last day it stopped falling from Heaven was on this very date of 7 Adar as it was on this day that Moses passed away as the manna was provided to the Jewish people in his merit, but it miraclously still existed through the first day of Passover following the Jews entering Israel), for now, the Jews would have to work it all on their own; however, at the same time, realizing that ultimately, it is not through only their own efforts that they received bountiful produce from their fields, but that they needed to make the effort to be worthy of receiving this from Hashem. Hence, there was no room for being haughty. However, as it is human nature after a while to pat themselves on the back for "doing a good job", forgetting at times that in fact, nothing good would have happened to them if it wasn't Hashem's will, we are commanded to allow the land to rest, when Hashem will prove that if we receive a blessing from the land despite not working it, that it is proof that in fact that it is Hashem Who is running the show, and that our efforts is only to be worthy of receiving anything, not because we are business guinesses. Accordingly, there is a special Mitzvah to sanctify the 50th year as the conclusion of the counting of 50 years, marking this year as the Jubilee year. This was especially significant, because this would be the second year in a row that Jews would not work the land. Hence, it would be crystal clear that indeed, it is only when we receive Hashem's blessing that we receive results; as there is no guarantee by working the land ourselves that automatically, we are supposed to receive results if we don't receive Hashem's blessing. Hashem's blessing is reserved especially for those who have full faith and trust in Hashem.
WHAT HAPPENED TODAY - 7 ADAR I 5771
After the recent turmoil in Egypt - the land of our slavery thousands of years ago, demanding the resignation of president Mubarak, he finally decided to stop his dictatorship after enjoying three decades of eating off the fat of the land while allowing half of his country's citizens to live on less than $100 a month. While he certainly had free choice to do the right thing sooner when he realized that the protestors meant serious business and in the interim caused some bloodshed and injuries, it is still nothing short of Divine Providence that his well wanted resignation took place on this very date of 7 Adar I.
It is true that Moses' birthdate took place on 7 Adar. However, the question may be asked - was it on a plain Adar, or did his birth take place during a Jewish leap year. In fact, according to an opinion in the Jerusalem Talmud, his birth took place particularly on 7 Adar I - today's very date. In fact, there is a difference of opinion in the Babylonian Talmud as to what date Moses was cast into the Nile river, one of these opinions being based on this opinion of him being born on 7 Adar I.
As the Torah mentions that Moses being cast into the Nile river took place after three months since his birth, one opinion mentions that this took place on the future date of receiving the Torah (which actually took place on 7 Sivan - not 6 Sivan, but the explanation for this is beyond the scope of this post) which was exactly three months from his birth on 7 Adar, assuming that year to have been a plain year unless he would have been born on Adar II. According to the other opinion that this took place on the future date that the Jews would cross the Reed Sea on 21 Nissan, it takes into consideration that part of a month is like a full month, and hence, even though the Torah states "three months", it was in fact two and a half months from his birth on 7 Adar I until 21 Nissan.
We are taught by our rabbis that when two Torah sages have a difference an opinion, even when we can only follow one of them; however, "both these and these are the words of the Living G-d". Now, when it comes to Halacha/Jewish Law, this may well make sense; it is just that it is physically possible to follow one of their opinions. However, when it comes to a difference of opinions as to when an event took place, how can we say that both of them are right? Physically to begin with, the event could only have happened on one of these dates?
I will dare to say that in fact, the Torah does not beat around the bush saying that three months after Moses' birth, he was thrown into the Nile river. Hence, this happened really happened on the date that the Jews would receive the Torah in the future, the first of the 40 days that Moses would ascend Mt. Sinai to learn the Torah during this period of time. However, while the other opinion that this took place on the date of the Jews crossing the Reed Sea on 21 Nissan cannot physically be true, the fact that this was suggested may very well have been hinting to THIS VERY DATE OF THIS YEAR - 7 ADAR I 5771. You see, the kabbalistic rabbi known as the Arizal - Rabbi Isaac Luria, states that the generation of the last redemption (which is our generation) have the soul reincarnates of the generation of the Exodus - the first redemption. And while what happened now in Egypt may not seem to have anything to do with Jews or Israel; in fact, it has EVERYTHING to do with us. In fact, as our rabbis tell us, the events that happen around the world is ONLY because of us Jews.
If liberal democratic Jews feel that what I just wrote is racist, then I am proud of being a racist, because in fact, Hashem created the world ONLY for the Jews who agreed to receive the Torah. Hashem is warning us Jews now, giving us a brief respite from the Arab world attacking us, allowing protesters in the various Arab countries to make turmoil for similar reasons, but it was Egypt that got the biggest press. If so, why particularly Egypt?
The Torah in fact forbids us to return to live in Egypt to settle there, as this was the original land that we Jews were slaves, but now, we are servants of Hashem. And while the other countries in the world do not technically share the same status as Egypt, they are all lands that are outside of Israel. And while Moses himself never made it to the Holy Land that he longed for so much, the fact that Mubarak's resignation did occur on this date of 7 Adar I, Moses' birthday according to an opinion which holds that he was thrown to the Nile on the day of the Jews crossing the Reed Sea - 21 Nissan, it should be borne in mind that the miracle of the Jews crossing the sea and the Egyptians drowning in it was the conclusion of the Exodus, as the Egyptians followed in hot pursuit of the Jews only days after the physical Exodus of the Jews from Egypt, but the Egyptian nation did not let go of their mastery over the Jews until they were finished off once and for all.
Kabbalistically, this date of 21 Nissan - called the Seventh Day of Passover, which is in fact the LAST day of Passover (Jews outside of Israel observe another day of Passover but is only observed as such due to a technicality), also marks the concept the redemption of the Jewish people from the LAST exile, which is our exile today, just like the first day of Passover marks the redemption of the Jews from the first exile. Hence, as hinted by this opinion of the Talmud as to Moses' birthday & being thrown into the Nile River, while this didn't actually happen on these dates, but is in fact hinting to OUR TIMES, as dictator Mubarak, who outwardly did not fight us Jews like some of the other Arab nations since the peace treaty farce in which Israel gave up precious Jewish land to our enemy Egypt took place; however, secretly (or not so secretly) he helped arm other Arab countries to fight us (so much for Egypt's "peace" treaty). Thus, his resignation on this very date of 7 Adar (I) signifies that we are very, very close to the redemption when Moshiach will finally reveal himself.
While the Mubarak resignation may also be a cause of celebration for Jews seeing the downfall of one more evil person, this is not to say as to who will be the anti-Semitic ruler of Egypt "in the name of democracy". Right now, we are in a limbo situation, the same way that baby Moses was between his birth and three months later when the Egyptians authorities were ready to come to Moses' parents to take him and drown him in the Nile on orders of Pharaoh drowning all the male children to prevent a future leader who would eventually redeem the Jews according to the Egyptian astrologers; and hence, Moses' family hid him by placing him in a reed basket to be left in the Nile, leaving him up to Hashem to do his part of rescuing him from the Egyptian authorities, only to be picked up by non other than the princess of Pharaoh himself, and raised in the Egyptian palace, who would return to the very home he was raised in close to 80 years later as a messenger of Hashem demanding from Pharaoh to let the Jews leave Egypt.
Now, we have a choice. We can either come to realize that we cannot feel complacent in the exile anymore, as the first exile country of Egypt. OR we can still feel like we are living Judaism in a so called "Torah way of life" outside of the Holy Land that Hashem orders us in the Torah to live in. Right now, we are given a limited period of time to come to our senses and start moving to Israel in big grooves. And as I mentioned earlier in this post, the Jubilee Year starts taking effect once again - WHEN THE MAJORITY OF JEWS LIVE IN ISRAEL. We do not need to wait for Moshiach or the rebuilding of the Third Temple for this. However, if so called observant Jews think that they can serve Hashem pretty well in the "helige" streets of Boro Park while expanding vasts amount of money on weddings (while some of the marriages being celebrated wind up in divorce disaster at the end) while Jews struggling to make ends meet in Israel don't even have enough to pay for all their basic needs, this makes Hashem very angry. It means that these "heimishe" Jews who are insistent on everything being done "just right" for their Simchas forget the suffering of their Jewish brethren in Israel who are the Jews who are living the REAL way of life that Hashem wants us to live. Hence, if G-d forbid, some of these Jews don't start waking up shortly, and repent by moving to Israel, they will soon find themselves in the ultimate predicament along the lines of "being thrown into the Nile river", also as punishment for preventing a Mitzvah of the Torah from being fulfilled - the observance of the Jubilee year.
Hashem is now shaking up the whole world - with an ever increased amount of hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tzunamis, terrorism, etc. - you name it. And yes, all of this is happening BECAUSE OF US JEWS. That's right - U.S. JEWS especially. The United States is today the ultimate exile because this is where Jews of all backgrounds - from the Torah world to the assimilated, intermarried Jew forget about being REALLY Jewish, especially when living in Israel is not an option for them. Speaking of secular Jews, the ones who do in fact move to Israel, declaring Israel as home, are most likely to at least marry someone Jewish; however, the same cannot be said about secular Jews living in other countries.
Ultimately, it is the spiritual exile that we are in (though this is also applicable in Israel, it is one's personal choice as to how Jewish or unJewish one wishes to live). If G-d forbid, Jews do not wake up shortly, even if Israel seems to be in more potential danger than ever, the truth is that at the end, if anyone suffers in Israel, it will be the ones who don't truly serve Hashem; however, certainly the ones outside of Israel will not be spared; because when things could G-d forbid get worse in Israel, no doubt that Jews outside of Israel will not be spared anti-Semitic attacks and dictatorship everywhere around and many if not most may just not be able to escape their particular countries at one point - especially in the United States which houses over 600 empty work detention camps, which are in fact serve the same purpose as the concentration camps in the Holocaust, that have room for many millions of people to be stuffed into, including their ready made coffins (check the internet about this my friends!). To my friends outside of Israel, run to Israel NOW to avoid being thrown "into the Nile River"!
7 Adar I, 5771
MUBARAK-BARAK-BARACK
Coincidence you say? Try this - MOHAMMED Hosni Mubarak, Ehud Barak, & Barack HUSSEIN Obama. You see, while being given the name of the founder of Islam - Mohammed, Hosni Mubarak knew how to correctly play the political game. He knew that using his first name of Mohammed, a name that you would think he would be most proud of, would not be politically correct in a world that thinks of Moslem Arabs as terrorists. He also wanted the world to view him as another "secular" leader, so to speak not shoving religion down the throats of other people, pretending that he was a democratic leader when in fact he was just another dictator, allowing half of the citizens of his country to live a poverty stricken life. And then lo and behold, when he finally made the right decision, all of a sudden, the truth all of a sudden popped up that his first name is in fact not Hosni, but Mohammed.
At this point, I want to point out that the announcement from the Egyptian Vice-President of Mubarak's resignation lasted for exactly 49 seconds - which would forever change the country of Egypt. Forty nine seconds - coincidence? Coincidence NOT! As our rabbis tell us, the Jews while being enslaved right before the Exodus, was submerged in 49 levels of impurity. Had they stayed just a little longer - they never would have been able to spiritually be redeemed from the impurities of Egypt, even if they would have had the physical Exodus. You see, the word for impure in Hebrew is Tamei, which is the Gematria of 50, and so if G-d forbid, the Jews would have reached the 50th level of being impure, it never would have been impossible for them to be a holy nation as separate from the other impure nations.
Speaking of resignation, the way to get rid of spiritual impurity is to RESIGN oneself of continuing doing evil. Even if one has a major struggle stopping doing particular sins, by making at least some effort, there is always hope for a Jew to do complete repentance. However, if one thinks that he/she can be a good Jew living outside of Israel, as compared to someone who verbalizes confession but continues sinning, is compared to one who is in a Mikva/ritualarium to purify oneself of spiritual impurity, but holding in one's hand an impure creature that maintains his impurity.
And so, during the Sephira period between the first day of Passover & Shavuot/Pentacost, we verbally count 49 days to commemorate this concept of getting ourselves out of the context of impurity, to be able to receive the Torah in purity. Then, it is Hashem Who Himself gives us the Torah upon our part of preparing ourselves for it. However, when it comes to the Shemitta count, it is crucial that we especially count the 50th year; because now, we have reached a higher spiritual plateau of not only receiving the Torah as given on Mt. Sinai, but being able to fulfill its commandments (outside the commandments as related to the Holy Temple) as we live on the physical and spiritual land of Israel. In this situation, we are now in the midst of the 50th level of purity; and hence, we have to maintain this level by being aware of the spiritual significance of the Jubilee year that the Jewish court sanctifies.
Egypt has already spoken its message in 49 seconds, reminding us Jews of our 49 spiritual levels. We have to now take responsibility and do what it takes to work on the 50th level of purity. We have to observe the Torah that was given on the 50th day by living and working on the land that is especially sanctified on the 50th year of the agricultural cycle.
Now, a word on Ehud Barak. While he was a past prime minister (I mean monster), he continues living the word monster as found in parenthesis. In fact, when it comes to bulldozing Jewish homes, if you were living in a shell, you really would think that he is the current prime minister. After all, it was his decision to not allow Gabi Ashkenazi, agreed by both religious and secular Jews to be a good leader of the IDF, not to continue with another term. There was in fact no logical reason for Barak to dismiss Ashkenazi; he just called Ashkenazi telling him how so called terrible he was as IDF head which he didn't see in public - BECAUSE HE KNOWS IT ISN'T TRUE! He was ready to install the creep Yoav Galant, one of the ones who threw Jews out of Gush Katif, despite his shady background of illegally acquiring land for himself, just so that Ashkenazi should't continue his post, even if this would mean danger for us Jews not having an army head, leading to G-d forbid being attacked by Arabs.
Barak's old time favorite thing, as I mentioned, is bulldozing Jewish homes, while allowing illegal Arab homes being built and being occupied by them. Bibi Netanyahu remains obviously silent, pretending that he has no awareness of what is happening, not having the power to stop Barak, or wanting this to happen to true Jewish Zionists who are the real one's living Theodore Herzl's dream of settling the land, while having Herzl's picture being hung up on the Knesset wall as a cover up of what this Israeli Knesset dictatorship is REALLY doing. In any case, both dictators Barak and Mubarak shared a period of time when both were leaders of their respective countries. And even as now, both Barack Hussein Obama & Mohammed Hofni Mubarak were leaders of their respective countries for two years, it was also during this very period of time that Barak showed himself more than ever to hurt Jews living in sheds, sending police to throw them out of their homes in the middle of cold winter nights, which of course includes little children who hardly have an clue as to what is really happening around them.
So, what is the signifance of the name Barak anyways? In Hebrew, the word/name Barak means lightning. The Talmud tells us that Hashem brings lightning from the skies to scare to wake up the wicked people to repent. Yes, Hashem wants to wake us up from the exile. As the Rabbis states in the Talmud, Tractate Megillah, Haman's offer to King Achashverosh of 10,000 Shekel to annihilate the Jews did more good to wake the Jews to repent than the 48 major prophets that the Jews had since the days of Moses'.
Very unfortunately, history repeats itself, and Jews have to be reminded time and again through unfortunate ways to do the right thing - often times by evil dictators who have given Jews a hard time. And as I conclude today on 13 Adar I, the technical date that Haman chose to annihilate the Jews (NOTE: The date was 13 Adar, which instead following the Jews' repentance became the day instead that the Jews fought the enemies and won, celebrating the next day or two - 14/15 Adar as day(s) of celebration which became Purim), though in fact, we do not celebrate Purim until a month later, we must bear in mind that now we have a chance to celebrate Hashem's kindness to us until now, but we must seize the moment and not forget the we are still in exile, especially outside of Israel, so long as everything is not yet in place, especially the Holy Temple. More on this concept in my following post, which I hope, G-d willing to write on this following day - Purim Katan - the "small" Purim.
13 Adar I, 5771
The first of these time periods is the yearly Mitzvah of what we call either counting the Sephira counting the Omer. We are required to count seven weeks which each include
seven days, which the Torah calls "seven complete weeks" The following verse continues "Until the day following the seventh week, you shall count 50 days". (Leviticus 23:15-16). Now wait a minute, how many days are we really supposed to count here - 49 or 50?
Well, we do see in all prayerbooks that we are presented with only 49 days to count, so is there something else that we do on the 50th day, which we know as Shavuot, that shows that we are counting this day, though we don't obviously verbalize this count?
Now, in the beginning of the very next Parsha, we are presented with a similar count - seven complete cycles of seven years each of which the last of each seven year period is designated as a year in which the land of Israel is left alone and not worked upon, popularly known as the Shemitta year. Then, there is a special commandment to "sanctify the fiftieth year", called the Jubilee year, and as Rashi explains, that at the beginning of this year, the Beit Din/Jewish court announces that this year is sanctified. Besides this year between another year of rest for the land following the 49th year, land that owners sold under financial stress and Jewish servants returned to being free. (Leviticus 25:1-13)
In any case, there seems to be a fundamental difference between these two sets of counts. The first one that we count annually, in fact we do not count the 50th day from the day that the Omer offering was brought, but we do treat this day as a holiday, the day that we celebrate annually marking the giving of the Torah, though in fact, no mention of this historical moment is in fact mentioned in the section of the Torah when the Sephira/Omer count is mentioned; in fact, the Torah never even mentions the exact date that the Torah was actually given. However, when it comes to the Shemitta cycle & Jubilee year, the Beit Din went out of its way to declare a 50th year, which included blowing the Shofar on Yom Kippur of that year. It was only after the 50th year that the Shmitta cycle began only once again. Though nowadays, we don't have a Jubilee, just a continuous count of six years of working the land and resting on the seventh year, it is only due to technicalities, but in the future when the majority of Jews are living in Israel (this could happen within just a matter of years with Aliyah at an all time rise), this will be applicable once again.
Before proceeding with the comparison/contrast of these two sets of 49 days/years, I would like to point out that today, according to some, marks the birthday and/or Yahrzeit of Moshe Rabbeinu - 7 Adar. The reason I word it as "according to some" "birthday and/or Yahrzeit" instead of being explicit with this is that in this year, we have two months of Adar as this is a leap year. There are discussions as to which Adar we mark such observances of Moses's special day, and in fact, there is an opinion that the year that Moshe was born was such a leap year, and the Jerusalem Talmud notes that according to an opinion, he was in fact born on the first Adar. We do know for a fact that the year that Moses passed away was a regular Adar, based on the verses of the Torah, and the events that followed of Joshua entering the land a month later when the Jews celebrated Passover right afterwards.
In any case, there is a special parallel of 49 in terms of Moses. During his lifetime he was granted 49 levels or gates of understanding. It was only on the last day of his life that he was given a glimpse of the 50th level/gate of understanding, as we learn out from the name of the mountain on which he was buried - Mt. Nebo - the word Neevo in Hebrew is spelled as the letters Noon-Beit/Veit-Vav, explained as Noon Bo, the 50th was "in it".
I would like to point out at this time that 49 times two, as per the above two counts of 49 each of the Sephira period & the Shemitta periods, equals 98, and this is my 98th post.
OK, so getting back to these two Sephirot, two countings of periods of time, they both have a special connection to Mt. Sinai. Following the original count of 49 days following the day of the Exodus, the Torah was given on Mt. Sinai. And interestingly, unlike most other Mitzvot, the Mitzvot related to Shemitah & Jubilee, including the Sephira count of 50 years are preceeded with the statement "Hashem spoke to Moses ON MOUNT SINAI saying". In fact, Parshat Behar in which these Mitzvot began is named after Mt. Sinai, as it means "On Mountain (Sinai)". No doubt then that there is a very good reason these Mitzvot are especially related to Mt. Sinai.
In order to see the connection between the two, we have to know the reason why the Torah was chosen to be given on Mt. Sinai of all places. Actually, Hashem wanted to give the Torah on some mountain, but as the Midrash relates, it was the humble one of all other mountains who felt that the Torah should been given on them. There may be skeptics who will doubt this story as inanimate objects as they are called such as mountains do not speak. However, as we know kabbalistically, ALL forms of creation have an element of life - the only question is to what degree they are able to express themselves. In fact, all other forms of creation besides people know on their own of the existance of Hashem. However, human beings - the very ones who are charged to serve Hashem, are given free choice whether to believe in the existance of Hashem and serve Him or not.
Anyways, Hashem chose Mt. Sinai of all the other mountains because this was the only humble mountain who didn't feel that it deserved to have the Torah being given on it. Accordingly, Moshe Rabbeinu - the star of today (7 Adar) - was the most humble of all people, so it was only fitting for the Torah to be transmitted through him. As noted at the very beginning of Pirkei Avot/Ethics of the Fathers "Moses received the Torah from (Mt.) Sinai". Along these lines, I recently discovered that the first letters of the first six words of Pirkei Avot - Moshe Keebel Torah M'Sinai U'Mesarah Lehoshua "Moses received the Torah from Sinai and handed it over to Joshua" - the letters Mem-Koof-Tav-Mem-Vav-Lamed add up to the Gematria of 616, which in turn is the Gematria of the word HaTorah - The Torah.
As connected to the concept of Shemitta & Jubilee, a Jew lets his land rest on the Shemitta year, and after seven cycles of seven years each, he lets his land rest for one additional year. The spiritual purpose of this is that it reminds a Jew that in fact, the land really belongs to Hashem; it's just that he himself is given the land as a gift from Hashem, and is his to work on it in order to have sufficient livelihood to provide for himself and his family. And so, when it comes to the Shemitta year, he totally relies on Hashem to take care of him, remembering that in fact, he is not the Ba'al HaBayit, the boss over the land, but Hashem. Thus, just like Moses & Mt. Sinai, he is infused with the trait of humbleness, realizing that there is no reason to be proud, and that the results of working the land is only because miracles don't happen and in fact, as a result of Adam's sin of eating the forbidden fruit, he has to work on the land to begin with, which would not be necessary if this was a world free of sin where we would be worthy of miracles of Hashem doing everything for us.
And here lies the difference between the counting of the Sephira from the bringing of the Omer offering & the Sephira of the Shemitta years. When it came to the time of the Exodus, the Jews were basically spoon fed everything since they just became born as a nation, and needed initial love and care from Hashem to be able to spiritually function well. Hence, after counting seven weeks towards the big day of receiving the Torah in their preparations for this momentous day, the rest was up to Hashem as exemplified by the 50th day, which was in fact counted by Hashem Himself. Thus, even though really, we should count this as the 50th day itself like the first 49 days, as hinted as such by the wording of the Torah - "You shall count 50 days"; it is in commeration of what happened the original year of the Sephira from the Exodus to the Giving of the Torah that we still orally count only 49 days.
However, when it comes to the Mitzvot of the Sephira count of the Shemitta years, the concept of working the land to begin with is a primary example of how WE have to make the effort in serving Hashem. Once we arrived in Israel and the barley grain was available and permitted according to the Torah to be eaten when the Omer offering was brought on the 16th of Nissan, the day after we commemorate the annual Exodus date, the manna, the food that Hashem daily fed the Jewish people for 40 years ceased to exist(noting that in fact the last day it stopped falling from Heaven was on this very date of 7 Adar as it was on this day that Moses passed away as the manna was provided to the Jewish people in his merit, but it miraclously still existed through the first day of Passover following the Jews entering Israel), for now, the Jews would have to work it all on their own; however, at the same time, realizing that ultimately, it is not through only their own efforts that they received bountiful produce from their fields, but that they needed to make the effort to be worthy of receiving this from Hashem. Hence, there was no room for being haughty. However, as it is human nature after a while to pat themselves on the back for "doing a good job", forgetting at times that in fact, nothing good would have happened to them if it wasn't Hashem's will, we are commanded to allow the land to rest, when Hashem will prove that if we receive a blessing from the land despite not working it, that it is proof that in fact that it is Hashem Who is running the show, and that our efforts is only to be worthy of receiving anything, not because we are business guinesses. Accordingly, there is a special Mitzvah to sanctify the 50th year as the conclusion of the counting of 50 years, marking this year as the Jubilee year. This was especially significant, because this would be the second year in a row that Jews would not work the land. Hence, it would be crystal clear that indeed, it is only when we receive Hashem's blessing that we receive results; as there is no guarantee by working the land ourselves that automatically, we are supposed to receive results if we don't receive Hashem's blessing. Hashem's blessing is reserved especially for those who have full faith and trust in Hashem.
WHAT HAPPENED TODAY - 7 ADAR I 5771
After the recent turmoil in Egypt - the land of our slavery thousands of years ago, demanding the resignation of president Mubarak, he finally decided to stop his dictatorship after enjoying three decades of eating off the fat of the land while allowing half of his country's citizens to live on less than $100 a month. While he certainly had free choice to do the right thing sooner when he realized that the protestors meant serious business and in the interim caused some bloodshed and injuries, it is still nothing short of Divine Providence that his well wanted resignation took place on this very date of 7 Adar I.
It is true that Moses' birthdate took place on 7 Adar. However, the question may be asked - was it on a plain Adar, or did his birth take place during a Jewish leap year. In fact, according to an opinion in the Jerusalem Talmud, his birth took place particularly on 7 Adar I - today's very date. In fact, there is a difference of opinion in the Babylonian Talmud as to what date Moses was cast into the Nile river, one of these opinions being based on this opinion of him being born on 7 Adar I.
As the Torah mentions that Moses being cast into the Nile river took place after three months since his birth, one opinion mentions that this took place on the future date of receiving the Torah (which actually took place on 7 Sivan - not 6 Sivan, but the explanation for this is beyond the scope of this post) which was exactly three months from his birth on 7 Adar, assuming that year to have been a plain year unless he would have been born on Adar II. According to the other opinion that this took place on the future date that the Jews would cross the Reed Sea on 21 Nissan, it takes into consideration that part of a month is like a full month, and hence, even though the Torah states "three months", it was in fact two and a half months from his birth on 7 Adar I until 21 Nissan.
We are taught by our rabbis that when two Torah sages have a difference an opinion, even when we can only follow one of them; however, "both these and these are the words of the Living G-d". Now, when it comes to Halacha/Jewish Law, this may well make sense; it is just that it is physically possible to follow one of their opinions. However, when it comes to a difference of opinions as to when an event took place, how can we say that both of them are right? Physically to begin with, the event could only have happened on one of these dates?
I will dare to say that in fact, the Torah does not beat around the bush saying that three months after Moses' birth, he was thrown into the Nile river. Hence, this happened really happened on the date that the Jews would receive the Torah in the future, the first of the 40 days that Moses would ascend Mt. Sinai to learn the Torah during this period of time. However, while the other opinion that this took place on the date of the Jews crossing the Reed Sea on 21 Nissan cannot physically be true, the fact that this was suggested may very well have been hinting to THIS VERY DATE OF THIS YEAR - 7 ADAR I 5771. You see, the kabbalistic rabbi known as the Arizal - Rabbi Isaac Luria, states that the generation of the last redemption (which is our generation) have the soul reincarnates of the generation of the Exodus - the first redemption. And while what happened now in Egypt may not seem to have anything to do with Jews or Israel; in fact, it has EVERYTHING to do with us. In fact, as our rabbis tell us, the events that happen around the world is ONLY because of us Jews.
If liberal democratic Jews feel that what I just wrote is racist, then I am proud of being a racist, because in fact, Hashem created the world ONLY for the Jews who agreed to receive the Torah. Hashem is warning us Jews now, giving us a brief respite from the Arab world attacking us, allowing protesters in the various Arab countries to make turmoil for similar reasons, but it was Egypt that got the biggest press. If so, why particularly Egypt?
The Torah in fact forbids us to return to live in Egypt to settle there, as this was the original land that we Jews were slaves, but now, we are servants of Hashem. And while the other countries in the world do not technically share the same status as Egypt, they are all lands that are outside of Israel. And while Moses himself never made it to the Holy Land that he longed for so much, the fact that Mubarak's resignation did occur on this date of 7 Adar I, Moses' birthday according to an opinion which holds that he was thrown to the Nile on the day of the Jews crossing the Reed Sea - 21 Nissan, it should be borne in mind that the miracle of the Jews crossing the sea and the Egyptians drowning in it was the conclusion of the Exodus, as the Egyptians followed in hot pursuit of the Jews only days after the physical Exodus of the Jews from Egypt, but the Egyptian nation did not let go of their mastery over the Jews until they were finished off once and for all.
Kabbalistically, this date of 21 Nissan - called the Seventh Day of Passover, which is in fact the LAST day of Passover (Jews outside of Israel observe another day of Passover but is only observed as such due to a technicality), also marks the concept the redemption of the Jewish people from the LAST exile, which is our exile today, just like the first day of Passover marks the redemption of the Jews from the first exile. Hence, as hinted by this opinion of the Talmud as to Moses' birthday & being thrown into the Nile River, while this didn't actually happen on these dates, but is in fact hinting to OUR TIMES, as dictator Mubarak, who outwardly did not fight us Jews like some of the other Arab nations since the peace treaty farce in which Israel gave up precious Jewish land to our enemy Egypt took place; however, secretly (or not so secretly) he helped arm other Arab countries to fight us (so much for Egypt's "peace" treaty). Thus, his resignation on this very date of 7 Adar (I) signifies that we are very, very close to the redemption when Moshiach will finally reveal himself.
While the Mubarak resignation may also be a cause of celebration for Jews seeing the downfall of one more evil person, this is not to say as to who will be the anti-Semitic ruler of Egypt "in the name of democracy". Right now, we are in a limbo situation, the same way that baby Moses was between his birth and three months later when the Egyptians authorities were ready to come to Moses' parents to take him and drown him in the Nile on orders of Pharaoh drowning all the male children to prevent a future leader who would eventually redeem the Jews according to the Egyptian astrologers; and hence, Moses' family hid him by placing him in a reed basket to be left in the Nile, leaving him up to Hashem to do his part of rescuing him from the Egyptian authorities, only to be picked up by non other than the princess of Pharaoh himself, and raised in the Egyptian palace, who would return to the very home he was raised in close to 80 years later as a messenger of Hashem demanding from Pharaoh to let the Jews leave Egypt.
Now, we have a choice. We can either come to realize that we cannot feel complacent in the exile anymore, as the first exile country of Egypt. OR we can still feel like we are living Judaism in a so called "Torah way of life" outside of the Holy Land that Hashem orders us in the Torah to live in. Right now, we are given a limited period of time to come to our senses and start moving to Israel in big grooves. And as I mentioned earlier in this post, the Jubilee Year starts taking effect once again - WHEN THE MAJORITY OF JEWS LIVE IN ISRAEL. We do not need to wait for Moshiach or the rebuilding of the Third Temple for this. However, if so called observant Jews think that they can serve Hashem pretty well in the "helige" streets of Boro Park while expanding vasts amount of money on weddings (while some of the marriages being celebrated wind up in divorce disaster at the end) while Jews struggling to make ends meet in Israel don't even have enough to pay for all their basic needs, this makes Hashem very angry. It means that these "heimishe" Jews who are insistent on everything being done "just right" for their Simchas forget the suffering of their Jewish brethren in Israel who are the Jews who are living the REAL way of life that Hashem wants us to live. Hence, if G-d forbid, some of these Jews don't start waking up shortly, and repent by moving to Israel, they will soon find themselves in the ultimate predicament along the lines of "being thrown into the Nile river", also as punishment for preventing a Mitzvah of the Torah from being fulfilled - the observance of the Jubilee year.
Hashem is now shaking up the whole world - with an ever increased amount of hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tzunamis, terrorism, etc. - you name it. And yes, all of this is happening BECAUSE OF US JEWS. That's right - U.S. JEWS especially. The United States is today the ultimate exile because this is where Jews of all backgrounds - from the Torah world to the assimilated, intermarried Jew forget about being REALLY Jewish, especially when living in Israel is not an option for them. Speaking of secular Jews, the ones who do in fact move to Israel, declaring Israel as home, are most likely to at least marry someone Jewish; however, the same cannot be said about secular Jews living in other countries.
Ultimately, it is the spiritual exile that we are in (though this is also applicable in Israel, it is one's personal choice as to how Jewish or unJewish one wishes to live). If G-d forbid, Jews do not wake up shortly, even if Israel seems to be in more potential danger than ever, the truth is that at the end, if anyone suffers in Israel, it will be the ones who don't truly serve Hashem; however, certainly the ones outside of Israel will not be spared; because when things could G-d forbid get worse in Israel, no doubt that Jews outside of Israel will not be spared anti-Semitic attacks and dictatorship everywhere around and many if not most may just not be able to escape their particular countries at one point - especially in the United States which houses over 600 empty work detention camps, which are in fact serve the same purpose as the concentration camps in the Holocaust, that have room for many millions of people to be stuffed into, including their ready made coffins (check the internet about this my friends!). To my friends outside of Israel, run to Israel NOW to avoid being thrown "into the Nile River"!
7 Adar I, 5771
MUBARAK-BARAK-BARACK
Coincidence you say? Try this - MOHAMMED Hosni Mubarak, Ehud Barak, & Barack HUSSEIN Obama. You see, while being given the name of the founder of Islam - Mohammed, Hosni Mubarak knew how to correctly play the political game. He knew that using his first name of Mohammed, a name that you would think he would be most proud of, would not be politically correct in a world that thinks of Moslem Arabs as terrorists. He also wanted the world to view him as another "secular" leader, so to speak not shoving religion down the throats of other people, pretending that he was a democratic leader when in fact he was just another dictator, allowing half of the citizens of his country to live a poverty stricken life. And then lo and behold, when he finally made the right decision, all of a sudden, the truth all of a sudden popped up that his first name is in fact not Hosni, but Mohammed.
At this point, I want to point out that the announcement from the Egyptian Vice-President of Mubarak's resignation lasted for exactly 49 seconds - which would forever change the country of Egypt. Forty nine seconds - coincidence? Coincidence NOT! As our rabbis tell us, the Jews while being enslaved right before the Exodus, was submerged in 49 levels of impurity. Had they stayed just a little longer - they never would have been able to spiritually be redeemed from the impurities of Egypt, even if they would have had the physical Exodus. You see, the word for impure in Hebrew is Tamei, which is the Gematria of 50, and so if G-d forbid, the Jews would have reached the 50th level of being impure, it never would have been impossible for them to be a holy nation as separate from the other impure nations.
Speaking of resignation, the way to get rid of spiritual impurity is to RESIGN oneself of continuing doing evil. Even if one has a major struggle stopping doing particular sins, by making at least some effort, there is always hope for a Jew to do complete repentance. However, if one thinks that he/she can be a good Jew living outside of Israel, as compared to someone who verbalizes confession but continues sinning, is compared to one who is in a Mikva/ritualarium to purify oneself of spiritual impurity, but holding in one's hand an impure creature that maintains his impurity.
And so, during the Sephira period between the first day of Passover & Shavuot/Pentacost, we verbally count 49 days to commemorate this concept of getting ourselves out of the context of impurity, to be able to receive the Torah in purity. Then, it is Hashem Who Himself gives us the Torah upon our part of preparing ourselves for it. However, when it comes to the Shemitta count, it is crucial that we especially count the 50th year; because now, we have reached a higher spiritual plateau of not only receiving the Torah as given on Mt. Sinai, but being able to fulfill its commandments (outside the commandments as related to the Holy Temple) as we live on the physical and spiritual land of Israel. In this situation, we are now in the midst of the 50th level of purity; and hence, we have to maintain this level by being aware of the spiritual significance of the Jubilee year that the Jewish court sanctifies.
Egypt has already spoken its message in 49 seconds, reminding us Jews of our 49 spiritual levels. We have to now take responsibility and do what it takes to work on the 50th level of purity. We have to observe the Torah that was given on the 50th day by living and working on the land that is especially sanctified on the 50th year of the agricultural cycle.
Now, a word on Ehud Barak. While he was a past prime minister (I mean monster), he continues living the word monster as found in parenthesis. In fact, when it comes to bulldozing Jewish homes, if you were living in a shell, you really would think that he is the current prime minister. After all, it was his decision to not allow Gabi Ashkenazi, agreed by both religious and secular Jews to be a good leader of the IDF, not to continue with another term. There was in fact no logical reason for Barak to dismiss Ashkenazi; he just called Ashkenazi telling him how so called terrible he was as IDF head which he didn't see in public - BECAUSE HE KNOWS IT ISN'T TRUE! He was ready to install the creep Yoav Galant, one of the ones who threw Jews out of Gush Katif, despite his shady background of illegally acquiring land for himself, just so that Ashkenazi should't continue his post, even if this would mean danger for us Jews not having an army head, leading to G-d forbid being attacked by Arabs.
Barak's old time favorite thing, as I mentioned, is bulldozing Jewish homes, while allowing illegal Arab homes being built and being occupied by them. Bibi Netanyahu remains obviously silent, pretending that he has no awareness of what is happening, not having the power to stop Barak, or wanting this to happen to true Jewish Zionists who are the real one's living Theodore Herzl's dream of settling the land, while having Herzl's picture being hung up on the Knesset wall as a cover up of what this Israeli Knesset dictatorship is REALLY doing. In any case, both dictators Barak and Mubarak shared a period of time when both were leaders of their respective countries. And even as now, both Barack Hussein Obama & Mohammed Hofni Mubarak were leaders of their respective countries for two years, it was also during this very period of time that Barak showed himself more than ever to hurt Jews living in sheds, sending police to throw them out of their homes in the middle of cold winter nights, which of course includes little children who hardly have an clue as to what is really happening around them.
So, what is the signifance of the name Barak anyways? In Hebrew, the word/name Barak means lightning. The Talmud tells us that Hashem brings lightning from the skies to scare to wake up the wicked people to repent. Yes, Hashem wants to wake us up from the exile. As the Rabbis states in the Talmud, Tractate Megillah, Haman's offer to King Achashverosh of 10,000 Shekel to annihilate the Jews did more good to wake the Jews to repent than the 48 major prophets that the Jews had since the days of Moses'.
Very unfortunately, history repeats itself, and Jews have to be reminded time and again through unfortunate ways to do the right thing - often times by evil dictators who have given Jews a hard time. And as I conclude today on 13 Adar I, the technical date that Haman chose to annihilate the Jews (NOTE: The date was 13 Adar, which instead following the Jews' repentance became the day instead that the Jews fought the enemies and won, celebrating the next day or two - 14/15 Adar as day(s) of celebration which became Purim), though in fact, we do not celebrate Purim until a month later, we must bear in mind that now we have a chance to celebrate Hashem's kindness to us until now, but we must seize the moment and not forget the we are still in exile, especially outside of Israel, so long as everything is not yet in place, especially the Holy Temple. More on this concept in my following post, which I hope, G-d willing to write on this following day - Purim Katan - the "small" Purim.
13 Adar I, 5771
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
#97 - TIME 4 the Sacrifice
As we get older, it seems that time runs quicker than we can at one point. We look back at the years we have already lived, thinking about the goals we wanted to accomplish - hopefully including spiritual goals - and we ask ourselves as to how much so far we have accomplished. Of course, things sprang up over the years, including having a family, which no doubt took up a good chunk of spare time we could have used otherwise for other ideals. But then again, we always read or hear about others, who despite having a family or some time of handicap, managed somehow to find the time to accomplish things that most other people only dream about for the most part.
Sometimes, we may not realize until much later in life as to why we didn't quite find the time to do the things we really needed or wanted to do. When it comes to the root of the issue, it usually boils down to one thing - a matter of setting priorities. Perhaps we may not realize this until later in life, but typically, while there are obviously certain things that we do because we must, such as a hard job, because it is inevitable to manage without out as far as we are concerned, people typically spend what they call their spare time on sometimes trivial matters when they could have instead spent at least some of that time on far more useful matters that could have made a difference in this world - for themselves and others.
No doubt, while the internet, for example, has made a very positive impact on some people's lives - both materialistically & spiritually, for others, it is a way of spending time that they so called didn't have before, but now, it is the priority of so many people, some of whom truly spend on absolute nonsense if not forbidden things per se according to the Torah.
Perhaps for some, this post will be a wake up call to change certain things in their lives that will make a much more positive impact on their own lives and others. Indeed, the Gematria of the word Zeman/time is 97, which is the number of this 97th post.
There is one matter which is not bound by time - Hashem. Hashem was always around, something which is beyond human comprehension. Everything else - INCLUDING TIME - was created by Hashem at one point or another. And while in fact, the Torah - Hashem's Wisdom - is timeless like Hashem (Hashem always had wisdom obviously, but the Torah as we know it is also a creation of Hashem) and there is no end to the wisdom of the Torah as Hashem's Wisdom, which is also a Mitzvah/Commandment to learn and teach, applicable for 24 hours a day, some of its Mitzvot are applicable with a time limit. There are obvious ones such as Shabbat & Jewish holidays, and then there are other Mitzvot which have a time limit.
Straight from the very first Mishnah, we see that we don't do Mitzvot when we "feel like it". Everything has its time and place, and in fact, there are times that not only certain Mitzvot are no longer Mitzvot, but in fact they could be Aveirot/sins. A prime example of this is the prohibition of eating certain offerings in the Temple beyond their alloted time for eating them. In fact, the Torah goes so far as to tell us that when the offering was in the midst of being brought, one had an intention to eat it beyond its alloted time, it is forbidden to be eaten - EVEN WITHIN ITS ALLOTED TIME. In fact, the same type of condition is applicable if one had in mind to eat it beyond its alloted place for eating it. However, there is a major difference in the punishment for these two scenarios. Eating the animal sacrifice when it was messed up about thinking about eating it beyond its time or for actually eating it beyond the prescribed time limit deserved the punishement of Karet - spiritual extinction, which was not quite the case for one who ate it due to thinking about eating it beyond its alloted place for eating it or for actually eating it beyond its alloted place.
In any case, one can ask, what's the big deal? As long as one actually ate the sacrifice during its alloted time slot, why fuss about what was thought about it? After all, if we are forbidden to eat it beyond a certain time limit, it doesn't matter what anyone thinks about it, such as thinking about eating it after a certain point forbidden by the Torah, as it is no longer a Mitzvah anyways to eat it then. Or, does it matter, even though one cannot change the Torah mandated conditions for eating the sacrifice?
The Torah wants to teach us something very fundamental as we learn from the animal sacrifices. You see, some of us would like to accomplish certain spiritual goals in life. However, you know how it is, especially to the things that are challenging to us, it is quite easy to procrastinate and say that we will do them another time. However, there are two major problems with this. First, we could have already accomplished something a most important spiritual goal already, which either has a direct or indirect impact on others. Secondly, who knows how long we will be living in this world to accomplish them. We think that when we REALLY have time, after the children are out, when we retire, etc. that THEN, we will fulfill our dreams. While for some, this does in fact become a reality, such as moving to Israel, I think we can agree that the younger we are when we accomplish these important goals, the better we are off in the long run, such as where we raise our children, and whether they will follow in our desired footsteps. You see, when you raise a family outside of Israel, you can't necessarily expect all of your children to rush to live in Israel if they were used to living elsewhere. Few may luck out, but thinking long term of what life will be as retirees, will our children live near us?
And so, it is our THINKING PROCESSES that play the major role here. True, there may be times or factors that are indeed beyond our control, such as aging parents, a health factor that is only treatable in certain places, etc., but clearly a good percentage of observant Jews living outside of Israel, despite other relatives or friends living in the Holy Land, justify where they live so they can make a "good living" for the family. When it boils down to it, most of them are working hard just to maintain their high maintenance homes and cars. Living on a simpler scale, one would not need to work any harder for the same basic things - perhaps a little less fancier, but with a piece of mind that the bills are able to be paid on a monthly basis.
Hence, when one even THINKS about eating a sacrifice beyond the permitted time period for eating it, even if one would wind up eating it during the permitted period - THIS OFFERING IS COMPLETELY FORBIDDEN TO BE EATEN! We see from here that when time is treated as a game, it boomerangs and before one knows it, it is too late for certain things to be accomplished, or will be much harder now to perform, especially when one does not have the strength of his/her youth, assuming that one will even be alive to think back about one has or has not accomplished. Once we leave this world, it is too late to do anything about our lack of spiritual accomplishments. While some may luck out having children who can raise the spiritual level of their parents to a higher plateau in Heaven by doing certain Mitzvot in memory of their parents such as giving Tzedaka/charity, the only way that one can assure for things to be accomplished is if one does them themselves.
We see in the very beginning of the Mishnayot, where the opening statement is "From when do we read the evening Shema?" that from the varied answers provided, while technically, the Mitzvah from the Torah of reading the Shema at night is all throughout the night, the Rabbis declared that one should say this before midnight, in order that one will not delay saying it, and before knowing anything, will fall fast asleep until it is morning.
Noting the various animal sacrifices, there are some that were granted two days and one night, others for one day and one night, and finally - the Pascal sacrifice which had to be finished eaten by midnight following that day that it was slaughtered. Most sacrifices that were considered the holiest sacrifices could be eaten for only one day and one night, while the lesser holy sacrifices could be eaten for two days and one night.
There is one exception to the above besides the Pascal sacrifice which was one of the lesser holy sacrifices. In this category of sacrifices, while the Shelamim/peace offerings were able to be eaten for two days and one night, the Todah/thankgiving offerings, also under the category of Shelmaim, could only be eaten for one day and one night. Why the difference?
In order to answer this question, we have to examine the reason why a person brought the thanksgiving offering to begin with, which is for being saved from dangerous situations, and now he/she wants to thank Hashem for the deliverance or miracle that happened to one. Unlike the Shelamim which was brought as one's free will offering or does so as commanded by Hashem such as pertaining to the holidays, this thanksgiving offering was brought especially by one who presently better sees how life can be gone in a fleeting moment, and it is only due to Hashem's kindness that one lives in this world to have the chance to earn eternal reward.
And so for this, though the thanksgiving offering is not one of the holier sacrifices, it is treated just as the holier sacrifices which were only able to be eaten for one day and one night, with the realization that in fact, time is most sacred, and in this world, the most valuable asset - far more valuable than money and materialistic possessions. One needs to think of only TODAY as the day to accomplish everything necessary as if it were one's last day in this world. If one were to already think in terms of two days, it would defeat the whole purpose of thinking of how fleeting life can be. The timeframe of two days and one night may be good for the regular peace offerings when eaten under happy circumstances rather than bringing the holier sacrifices to atone for one's sins, since one needs to feel relaxed to be in a peaceful mood and not to rush with something; but when it comes to specifically thank Hashem for one's time in this world, it is crucial that this point is driven into oneself to realize that time is not a game or a siesta. This may be good for Spanish countries where they took off in the midst of the afternoon from work as a brake period, but when it comes to serving Hashem in this world - THERE IS NO BRAKE PERIOD, except for the daily routine of sleep, and even at that, only to the extent that one will be able to refresh one's spiritual batteries for a fresh day of serving Hashem.
I named this post - "TIME 4 the Sacrifice". While using the number four in lieu of the word "for" may be a bit cute, the truth is that in this case, the number four is very connected to the concept of thanksgiving and Korban Todah/Thanksgiving Offering.
First, based on Psalm 107, one is supposed to publicly thank Hashem for four particular situations - surviving the wilderness, surviving prison, surviving illness and surviving the seas. While offerings are not brought today, one says the blessing of HaGomel, thanking Hashem for all the good that He has done for himself or herself. And then is what involves the thanksgiving offering, which not only includes an animal, but also a total of 40 loaves of Matza or bread, consisting of four different types - three of Matza & one of bread, which is 10 of each kind. Indeed, the number four is no stranger to thanksgiving. You see, when Leah gave birth to her fourth son Judah, he named him as such saying "This time, I THANK Hashem", the Hebrew word for thank being Odeh, based on which is Judah's Hebrew name Yehudah. (Perhaps it is of no coincidence by Divine Providence that the annual Thanksgiving Day in the United States is celebrated on a Thursday, since with most Christians who treat Sunday as Sabbath, and thus as part of the "weekend", their new week as far as they are concerned begins on Monday. Hence, Thursday is the fourth day of their week.)
Our Rabbis tell us that there will be a time in the future when all offerings in the Temple will no longer be applicable - except for the thanksgiving offering. The reason for this is that while all the other types of offerings - Burnt, Sin & Guilt Offerings were brought due to sins, once the evil inclination for sinning is gone, these other sacrifices will no longer need to be brought. However, we will always have reason to thank Hashem for what He constantly does for us.
Now, here is where the meat of Gematriot comes in. First to note, the thanksgiving offering is actually a type of Korban Shelamim - Peace offering. The reason why this is called a peace offering is that while the other types of offerings were not able to be eaten by everyone, except for the Cohanim if anyone, this type of offering was able to be eaten by everyone. Hence - there was no room for jealousy here coming from other Jews of the Cohanim. As I had mentioned in previous posts, the concept of Shalom/peace is very related to the number three; in fact, the first two letters of these words in Hebrew - Shin & Lamed, are the same. In this case, the Korban Shelamim was shared by three groups - Hashem (in the form of the fire on the altar), the Cohanim, and the rest of the Jews who normally don't eat other types of offerings. Additionally, unless it was a Korban Torah, unlike virtually all other offerings that were only able to be eaten for one day and one night, this type of offering was able to be eaten for two days and one night; hence, three periods of time during which one was able to eat this - one day, one night, and then a second day.
Now, in the chapter of Mishnah that is located in our daily morning prayers - the fifth chapter of Tractate Zevachim, the tractate that is all about animal sacrifices, there are two Mishnayot in a row where one Mishnah begins with the word HaTodah - the thanksgiving offering, and the next Mishnah begins with the word Shelamim - Peace offering. Noting the fact that the word for the thanksgiving offering begins with the letter Hei - which means here "the", we see that both of these words here have the same Gematria - 420. Noting in Post #90 about the 420th Mitzvah of the Torah which is the Mitzvah of learning & teaching Torah, and writing about the uniqueness of this particular peace/thanksgiving offering, there is an obvious connection between these two factors. You see, the ultimate purpose of Torah is the concept of peace, for in the world of eternity, that is what will exist for all the righteous, and as we see, the very end of the Mishnayot ends off with the concept of peace; and needless to say, the righteous will be able to see the full picture and be full of thanksgiving for Hashem. And as mentioned about the thanksgiving offering being the offering that will always remain, the words Todah & Torah are very similar except for the Dalet & Reish respectively.
So, the question begs to be asked. True, aside from the Korban Todah, the holiest sacrifices had a time limit of eating for one day & night, while the letter holier offerings had a longer time frame of two days and one night. But, thinking of the reason for the particular offerings being offered, it seems ironic where one would think that the offerings brought due to one's sins would not be on a high spiritual level as the offerings brought due to love and appreciation of Hashem that the reverse seems to be the case. And as per the above Gematriot of the connection between the Korban Shelamim/Todah to Torah, why is it they as the lesser holier offerings that are the ones who are especially connected to the Torah?
To note, in Parshat Mishpatim that we read a couple of weeks ago, it was particularly the Korban Shelamim that was offered by the Jews on the day before the Torah was given. The Torah, after being in the exclusive domain of the Heavens for nearly 2,450 years of the world's existance (though Adam, Noah, the Patriarchs and the Jews in Egypt learned Torah before it was officially given, but this beyond the scope of this post), was about to be given over to mankind. After all, mankind - and not angels, are the ones to whom the Torah is most applicable, for they are the ones who are fallible and are quite likely to sin. To atone for sin, people need a special high holy power to help atone for their sin and get them back on track. The ultimate level for people is to feel such love and thanksgiving for Hashem, that there is no room to sin to the King of Kings. Hence, just as the Torah was brought down from a higher spiritual source to benefit the Jewish people; so too, the peace and thanksgiving offerings, as lesser holy sacrifices, are so to speak offered on a lower level of holiness, but as it can relate easier to people, so that even those who are not Cohanim can have a chance to relate to holiness without getting harmed.
Thus, it made only sense that right before the Torah was given, the Jews brought Shelamim offerings. By personally experiencing a taste of the holy sacrifices, they would feel a little more closer and ready for the Torah that was just about to be brought down to their level. In fact, the famous line that the Jews proclaimed declaring their acceptance of the Torah - Na'aseh V'Nishma - "We will do and we will listen" began with the doing part, for the Torah has to be experienced, and not thought of merely as an intellectual way of thinking; otherwise, we would be no better than the other nations who also have wisdom, philosophy, etc., but behave as animals, nay, even worse than them. But what I want to especially point out is that this declaration is mentioned specifically in Parshat Mishpatim, and not in Parshat Yitro where the detailed giving of the Torah and the Ten Commandments is written up.
Why is this so?
While the second half of the Ten Commandments does mention Mitzvot/Commandments that relate to human relationships, it is the bulk of Parshat Mishpatim that relate a good number of Mitzvot that relate to this, as well as such issues that are brought in a Beit Din/Jewish court. Rituals themselves don't explain everything about Judaism; Judaism, the Torah, has to be felt also on a very human level, and not merely as a means like a mantra or sitting in silence for many hours at a time. We have to be able to influence other Jews in a loving way, in a peaceful way, that shows that we Jews are one big community who live with love and peace with each other.
Along these lines, I want to mention a few other Gematriot tidbits that relate to the concept of kindness, and how this relates especially to prayers and the Temple service. In Hebrew, we call the prayerbook - Siddur, which is based on the word Seder/order, as the prayers are placed in a certain order. This especially pertains to the blessings of the main prayer recited three times a day - the Shemoneh Esrei, though while this phrase means 18 as originally there were 18 blessings in the Shemoneh Esrei, eventually another blessing was added now making it 19 blessings. But the point here is that the blessings are all placed in a certain order. Accordingly, the final blessing is called the blessing of peace, just as the Mishnayot conclude with the wording of peace.
In the midst of this final blessing, we begin with "Place peace, goodness and blessing, life, grace, kindness, and mercy on us and on all of Israel your people..." In Hebrew, the words for "kindness and mercy" is Chesed V'Rachamim. Now, looking at the final two letters of the first word, and the first two letters of the second word, this spells the word Siddur! This seems to be telling us that ultimately, as we turn to Hashem for all our wants and needs, the formula for making this all happen is kindness and mercy. In fact, in the entire Tanach/Bible, the letters in a row that spell the word Siddur can be found only twice - both times that are in the midst of the words Chesed V'Rachamim.
Now, I had mentioned in the past extensively about the Sephirot - Chesed/Kindness & Hod/Splendor as they relate to Chanuka and to Cohanim who correspond to the Sephira of Chesed in comparison to the rest of the Jewish people, and of the Seven special Heavenly Guests for Succot, it is Aaron the High Priest, parental ancestor of the Cohanim who corresponds to the Sephira of Hod. With this being said, the word Avodah, which normally means work, refers in the spiritual sense to either the prayers, or the Temple service which involved bringing offerings, corrsponding to which today we recite our daily prayers. Now, take the word Avodah with its letters.
The first two letters are Ayin & Beit, which spell the number 72. It is this number which is the Gematria of the word Chesed. Then, looking at the last three letters - Vav, Dalet, Hei, they can be rearranged to spell the word Hod. Hence, the Avoda, the work that the Cohanim had to do in the Temple, is related especially to these two Sephirot of Chesed & Hod. Coincidence?
In life, we want Hashem to do all kinds of things for us. In fact, chances are, most if not all of us probably had one or more things in our lives that Hashem saved us from that we probably aren't aware of until today. Yet, how much do we really show that we love Hashem in return? How much are WE willing to sacrifice? How much do we feel the love for one another and really want to do kindnesses to the next person? In fact, it is largely based on the Mitzvah of giving loans to another Jew, mentioned in Parshat Mishpatim, that the Sefer Ahavat Chesed was composed by the Chofetz Chaim. In every prayer service, we ask Hashem for Tzedaka, as we recite in the final blessing of the Shemoneh Esrei. Do we give sufficient Tzedaka to others? Even if we don't give to every beggar in the street for after all who knows if they are all for real or what they use the money for like for cigarettes when you have babies in Israel who are crying because their mothers add water to the formula because they literally have virtually no money, how much do we attempt at least to find out what are the organizations who help the truly poor in need?
While the animal sacrifices in the Temple that were brought due to sins were supposed to remind a person that in fact, he was supposed to be the one killed, but Hashem in his great kindness and mercy allows him to live so he can repent and get back on the road to serving Hashem, the peace animal sacrifices - though also were killed the same basic way, gave us the same message in a more loving way; meaning that not necessarily we deserve to die because we have sinned but Hashem pitied us, but far more than this, that Hashem WANTS us to live, and to make the spritual best of life in this world, in our community of other Jews, to live in harmony without fighting or saying Lashon Hara/evil talk about others. These animal sacrifices were brought out of a pure love for Hashem. In Hebrew, the word love is Ahava, which is the Gematria of 13; and as we know, the Oral Law, of which the foundation is the teachings of the Mishna and Gemara/Talmud, is based on 13 principles, corresponding to which are the 13 Divine Attributes of Mercy, of which the first one is Hashem's name E-l, the name of Chesed/kindness.
And as I began off a previous post, I wish to conclude the same with the statement from Pirkei Avot/Ethics of the Fathers - "Shimon HaTzadik (the righteous) was from the remaining ones of the Anshei Knesset HaGedolah. He used to say: The world stands on three things - on the Torah, on the Avodah (prayers/Temple offerings) and on granting kindnesses". Yes, the word stands on THREE things, for the number three stands for the quality of peace, as the conclusion of this first chapter of Pirkei Avot notes a similar statement from another Sage who also has the name Shimon, my namesake - "Rabban Shimon Ben Gamliel says: On three things does the world exist - on the truth, on the justice/law, and on the PEACE (the third & last mentioned in this list), as it says: "Truth and justice of peace shall you judge at your gates"".
5 Adar I, 5771
P.S. To note, the time of this post is 6:42 PM. As we know, there are six orders of the Mishnayot, and the Mitzva of learning & teaching Torah, comes from the verse "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and speak of them". The word THEM in Hebrew is Bahm - consisting of the letters Beit & Mem, which in reverse spells the number 42. Indeed, many people have memorized various sections of Mishnayot to "speak of them...when you walk on the road". This verse is also the source of the Mitzvah of reciting the Shema, which is mentioned in the very beginning of the Mishnayot which was mentioned in this post.
Sometimes, we may not realize until much later in life as to why we didn't quite find the time to do the things we really needed or wanted to do. When it comes to the root of the issue, it usually boils down to one thing - a matter of setting priorities. Perhaps we may not realize this until later in life, but typically, while there are obviously certain things that we do because we must, such as a hard job, because it is inevitable to manage without out as far as we are concerned, people typically spend what they call their spare time on sometimes trivial matters when they could have instead spent at least some of that time on far more useful matters that could have made a difference in this world - for themselves and others.
No doubt, while the internet, for example, has made a very positive impact on some people's lives - both materialistically & spiritually, for others, it is a way of spending time that they so called didn't have before, but now, it is the priority of so many people, some of whom truly spend on absolute nonsense if not forbidden things per se according to the Torah.
Perhaps for some, this post will be a wake up call to change certain things in their lives that will make a much more positive impact on their own lives and others. Indeed, the Gematria of the word Zeman/time is 97, which is the number of this 97th post.
There is one matter which is not bound by time - Hashem. Hashem was always around, something which is beyond human comprehension. Everything else - INCLUDING TIME - was created by Hashem at one point or another. And while in fact, the Torah - Hashem's Wisdom - is timeless like Hashem (Hashem always had wisdom obviously, but the Torah as we know it is also a creation of Hashem) and there is no end to the wisdom of the Torah as Hashem's Wisdom, which is also a Mitzvah/Commandment to learn and teach, applicable for 24 hours a day, some of its Mitzvot are applicable with a time limit. There are obvious ones such as Shabbat & Jewish holidays, and then there are other Mitzvot which have a time limit.
Straight from the very first Mishnah, we see that we don't do Mitzvot when we "feel like it". Everything has its time and place, and in fact, there are times that not only certain Mitzvot are no longer Mitzvot, but in fact they could be Aveirot/sins. A prime example of this is the prohibition of eating certain offerings in the Temple beyond their alloted time for eating them. In fact, the Torah goes so far as to tell us that when the offering was in the midst of being brought, one had an intention to eat it beyond its alloted time, it is forbidden to be eaten - EVEN WITHIN ITS ALLOTED TIME. In fact, the same type of condition is applicable if one had in mind to eat it beyond its alloted place for eating it. However, there is a major difference in the punishment for these two scenarios. Eating the animal sacrifice when it was messed up about thinking about eating it beyond its time or for actually eating it beyond the prescribed time limit deserved the punishement of Karet - spiritual extinction, which was not quite the case for one who ate it due to thinking about eating it beyond its alloted place for eating it or for actually eating it beyond its alloted place.
In any case, one can ask, what's the big deal? As long as one actually ate the sacrifice during its alloted time slot, why fuss about what was thought about it? After all, if we are forbidden to eat it beyond a certain time limit, it doesn't matter what anyone thinks about it, such as thinking about eating it after a certain point forbidden by the Torah, as it is no longer a Mitzvah anyways to eat it then. Or, does it matter, even though one cannot change the Torah mandated conditions for eating the sacrifice?
The Torah wants to teach us something very fundamental as we learn from the animal sacrifices. You see, some of us would like to accomplish certain spiritual goals in life. However, you know how it is, especially to the things that are challenging to us, it is quite easy to procrastinate and say that we will do them another time. However, there are two major problems with this. First, we could have already accomplished something a most important spiritual goal already, which either has a direct or indirect impact on others. Secondly, who knows how long we will be living in this world to accomplish them. We think that when we REALLY have time, after the children are out, when we retire, etc. that THEN, we will fulfill our dreams. While for some, this does in fact become a reality, such as moving to Israel, I think we can agree that the younger we are when we accomplish these important goals, the better we are off in the long run, such as where we raise our children, and whether they will follow in our desired footsteps. You see, when you raise a family outside of Israel, you can't necessarily expect all of your children to rush to live in Israel if they were used to living elsewhere. Few may luck out, but thinking long term of what life will be as retirees, will our children live near us?
And so, it is our THINKING PROCESSES that play the major role here. True, there may be times or factors that are indeed beyond our control, such as aging parents, a health factor that is only treatable in certain places, etc., but clearly a good percentage of observant Jews living outside of Israel, despite other relatives or friends living in the Holy Land, justify where they live so they can make a "good living" for the family. When it boils down to it, most of them are working hard just to maintain their high maintenance homes and cars. Living on a simpler scale, one would not need to work any harder for the same basic things - perhaps a little less fancier, but with a piece of mind that the bills are able to be paid on a monthly basis.
Hence, when one even THINKS about eating a sacrifice beyond the permitted time period for eating it, even if one would wind up eating it during the permitted period - THIS OFFERING IS COMPLETELY FORBIDDEN TO BE EATEN! We see from here that when time is treated as a game, it boomerangs and before one knows it, it is too late for certain things to be accomplished, or will be much harder now to perform, especially when one does not have the strength of his/her youth, assuming that one will even be alive to think back about one has or has not accomplished. Once we leave this world, it is too late to do anything about our lack of spiritual accomplishments. While some may luck out having children who can raise the spiritual level of their parents to a higher plateau in Heaven by doing certain Mitzvot in memory of their parents such as giving Tzedaka/charity, the only way that one can assure for things to be accomplished is if one does them themselves.
We see in the very beginning of the Mishnayot, where the opening statement is "From when do we read the evening Shema?" that from the varied answers provided, while technically, the Mitzvah from the Torah of reading the Shema at night is all throughout the night, the Rabbis declared that one should say this before midnight, in order that one will not delay saying it, and before knowing anything, will fall fast asleep until it is morning.
Noting the various animal sacrifices, there are some that were granted two days and one night, others for one day and one night, and finally - the Pascal sacrifice which had to be finished eaten by midnight following that day that it was slaughtered. Most sacrifices that were considered the holiest sacrifices could be eaten for only one day and one night, while the lesser holy sacrifices could be eaten for two days and one night.
There is one exception to the above besides the Pascal sacrifice which was one of the lesser holy sacrifices. In this category of sacrifices, while the Shelamim/peace offerings were able to be eaten for two days and one night, the Todah/thankgiving offerings, also under the category of Shelmaim, could only be eaten for one day and one night. Why the difference?
In order to answer this question, we have to examine the reason why a person brought the thanksgiving offering to begin with, which is for being saved from dangerous situations, and now he/she wants to thank Hashem for the deliverance or miracle that happened to one. Unlike the Shelamim which was brought as one's free will offering or does so as commanded by Hashem such as pertaining to the holidays, this thanksgiving offering was brought especially by one who presently better sees how life can be gone in a fleeting moment, and it is only due to Hashem's kindness that one lives in this world to have the chance to earn eternal reward.
And so for this, though the thanksgiving offering is not one of the holier sacrifices, it is treated just as the holier sacrifices which were only able to be eaten for one day and one night, with the realization that in fact, time is most sacred, and in this world, the most valuable asset - far more valuable than money and materialistic possessions. One needs to think of only TODAY as the day to accomplish everything necessary as if it were one's last day in this world. If one were to already think in terms of two days, it would defeat the whole purpose of thinking of how fleeting life can be. The timeframe of two days and one night may be good for the regular peace offerings when eaten under happy circumstances rather than bringing the holier sacrifices to atone for one's sins, since one needs to feel relaxed to be in a peaceful mood and not to rush with something; but when it comes to specifically thank Hashem for one's time in this world, it is crucial that this point is driven into oneself to realize that time is not a game or a siesta. This may be good for Spanish countries where they took off in the midst of the afternoon from work as a brake period, but when it comes to serving Hashem in this world - THERE IS NO BRAKE PERIOD, except for the daily routine of sleep, and even at that, only to the extent that one will be able to refresh one's spiritual batteries for a fresh day of serving Hashem.
I named this post - "TIME 4 the Sacrifice". While using the number four in lieu of the word "for" may be a bit cute, the truth is that in this case, the number four is very connected to the concept of thanksgiving and Korban Todah/Thanksgiving Offering.
First, based on Psalm 107, one is supposed to publicly thank Hashem for four particular situations - surviving the wilderness, surviving prison, surviving illness and surviving the seas. While offerings are not brought today, one says the blessing of HaGomel, thanking Hashem for all the good that He has done for himself or herself. And then is what involves the thanksgiving offering, which not only includes an animal, but also a total of 40 loaves of Matza or bread, consisting of four different types - three of Matza & one of bread, which is 10 of each kind. Indeed, the number four is no stranger to thanksgiving. You see, when Leah gave birth to her fourth son Judah, he named him as such saying "This time, I THANK Hashem", the Hebrew word for thank being Odeh, based on which is Judah's Hebrew name Yehudah. (Perhaps it is of no coincidence by Divine Providence that the annual Thanksgiving Day in the United States is celebrated on a Thursday, since with most Christians who treat Sunday as Sabbath, and thus as part of the "weekend", their new week as far as they are concerned begins on Monday. Hence, Thursday is the fourth day of their week.)
Our Rabbis tell us that there will be a time in the future when all offerings in the Temple will no longer be applicable - except for the thanksgiving offering. The reason for this is that while all the other types of offerings - Burnt, Sin & Guilt Offerings were brought due to sins, once the evil inclination for sinning is gone, these other sacrifices will no longer need to be brought. However, we will always have reason to thank Hashem for what He constantly does for us.
Now, here is where the meat of Gematriot comes in. First to note, the thanksgiving offering is actually a type of Korban Shelamim - Peace offering. The reason why this is called a peace offering is that while the other types of offerings were not able to be eaten by everyone, except for the Cohanim if anyone, this type of offering was able to be eaten by everyone. Hence - there was no room for jealousy here coming from other Jews of the Cohanim. As I had mentioned in previous posts, the concept of Shalom/peace is very related to the number three; in fact, the first two letters of these words in Hebrew - Shin & Lamed, are the same. In this case, the Korban Shelamim was shared by three groups - Hashem (in the form of the fire on the altar), the Cohanim, and the rest of the Jews who normally don't eat other types of offerings. Additionally, unless it was a Korban Torah, unlike virtually all other offerings that were only able to be eaten for one day and one night, this type of offering was able to be eaten for two days and one night; hence, three periods of time during which one was able to eat this - one day, one night, and then a second day.
Now, in the chapter of Mishnah that is located in our daily morning prayers - the fifth chapter of Tractate Zevachim, the tractate that is all about animal sacrifices, there are two Mishnayot in a row where one Mishnah begins with the word HaTodah - the thanksgiving offering, and the next Mishnah begins with the word Shelamim - Peace offering. Noting the fact that the word for the thanksgiving offering begins with the letter Hei - which means here "the", we see that both of these words here have the same Gematria - 420. Noting in Post #90 about the 420th Mitzvah of the Torah which is the Mitzvah of learning & teaching Torah, and writing about the uniqueness of this particular peace/thanksgiving offering, there is an obvious connection between these two factors. You see, the ultimate purpose of Torah is the concept of peace, for in the world of eternity, that is what will exist for all the righteous, and as we see, the very end of the Mishnayot ends off with the concept of peace; and needless to say, the righteous will be able to see the full picture and be full of thanksgiving for Hashem. And as mentioned about the thanksgiving offering being the offering that will always remain, the words Todah & Torah are very similar except for the Dalet & Reish respectively.
So, the question begs to be asked. True, aside from the Korban Todah, the holiest sacrifices had a time limit of eating for one day & night, while the letter holier offerings had a longer time frame of two days and one night. But, thinking of the reason for the particular offerings being offered, it seems ironic where one would think that the offerings brought due to one's sins would not be on a high spiritual level as the offerings brought due to love and appreciation of Hashem that the reverse seems to be the case. And as per the above Gematriot of the connection between the Korban Shelamim/Todah to Torah, why is it they as the lesser holier offerings that are the ones who are especially connected to the Torah?
To note, in Parshat Mishpatim that we read a couple of weeks ago, it was particularly the Korban Shelamim that was offered by the Jews on the day before the Torah was given. The Torah, after being in the exclusive domain of the Heavens for nearly 2,450 years of the world's existance (though Adam, Noah, the Patriarchs and the Jews in Egypt learned Torah before it was officially given, but this beyond the scope of this post), was about to be given over to mankind. After all, mankind - and not angels, are the ones to whom the Torah is most applicable, for they are the ones who are fallible and are quite likely to sin. To atone for sin, people need a special high holy power to help atone for their sin and get them back on track. The ultimate level for people is to feel such love and thanksgiving for Hashem, that there is no room to sin to the King of Kings. Hence, just as the Torah was brought down from a higher spiritual source to benefit the Jewish people; so too, the peace and thanksgiving offerings, as lesser holy sacrifices, are so to speak offered on a lower level of holiness, but as it can relate easier to people, so that even those who are not Cohanim can have a chance to relate to holiness without getting harmed.
Thus, it made only sense that right before the Torah was given, the Jews brought Shelamim offerings. By personally experiencing a taste of the holy sacrifices, they would feel a little more closer and ready for the Torah that was just about to be brought down to their level. In fact, the famous line that the Jews proclaimed declaring their acceptance of the Torah - Na'aseh V'Nishma - "We will do and we will listen" began with the doing part, for the Torah has to be experienced, and not thought of merely as an intellectual way of thinking; otherwise, we would be no better than the other nations who also have wisdom, philosophy, etc., but behave as animals, nay, even worse than them. But what I want to especially point out is that this declaration is mentioned specifically in Parshat Mishpatim, and not in Parshat Yitro where the detailed giving of the Torah and the Ten Commandments is written up.
Why is this so?
While the second half of the Ten Commandments does mention Mitzvot/Commandments that relate to human relationships, it is the bulk of Parshat Mishpatim that relate a good number of Mitzvot that relate to this, as well as such issues that are brought in a Beit Din/Jewish court. Rituals themselves don't explain everything about Judaism; Judaism, the Torah, has to be felt also on a very human level, and not merely as a means like a mantra or sitting in silence for many hours at a time. We have to be able to influence other Jews in a loving way, in a peaceful way, that shows that we Jews are one big community who live with love and peace with each other.
Along these lines, I want to mention a few other Gematriot tidbits that relate to the concept of kindness, and how this relates especially to prayers and the Temple service. In Hebrew, we call the prayerbook - Siddur, which is based on the word Seder/order, as the prayers are placed in a certain order. This especially pertains to the blessings of the main prayer recited three times a day - the Shemoneh Esrei, though while this phrase means 18 as originally there were 18 blessings in the Shemoneh Esrei, eventually another blessing was added now making it 19 blessings. But the point here is that the blessings are all placed in a certain order. Accordingly, the final blessing is called the blessing of peace, just as the Mishnayot conclude with the wording of peace.
In the midst of this final blessing, we begin with "Place peace, goodness and blessing, life, grace, kindness, and mercy on us and on all of Israel your people..." In Hebrew, the words for "kindness and mercy" is Chesed V'Rachamim. Now, looking at the final two letters of the first word, and the first two letters of the second word, this spells the word Siddur! This seems to be telling us that ultimately, as we turn to Hashem for all our wants and needs, the formula for making this all happen is kindness and mercy. In fact, in the entire Tanach/Bible, the letters in a row that spell the word Siddur can be found only twice - both times that are in the midst of the words Chesed V'Rachamim.
Now, I had mentioned in the past extensively about the Sephirot - Chesed/Kindness & Hod/Splendor as they relate to Chanuka and to Cohanim who correspond to the Sephira of Chesed in comparison to the rest of the Jewish people, and of the Seven special Heavenly Guests for Succot, it is Aaron the High Priest, parental ancestor of the Cohanim who corresponds to the Sephira of Hod. With this being said, the word Avodah, which normally means work, refers in the spiritual sense to either the prayers, or the Temple service which involved bringing offerings, corrsponding to which today we recite our daily prayers. Now, take the word Avodah with its letters.
The first two letters are Ayin & Beit, which spell the number 72. It is this number which is the Gematria of the word Chesed. Then, looking at the last three letters - Vav, Dalet, Hei, they can be rearranged to spell the word Hod. Hence, the Avoda, the work that the Cohanim had to do in the Temple, is related especially to these two Sephirot of Chesed & Hod. Coincidence?
In life, we want Hashem to do all kinds of things for us. In fact, chances are, most if not all of us probably had one or more things in our lives that Hashem saved us from that we probably aren't aware of until today. Yet, how much do we really show that we love Hashem in return? How much are WE willing to sacrifice? How much do we feel the love for one another and really want to do kindnesses to the next person? In fact, it is largely based on the Mitzvah of giving loans to another Jew, mentioned in Parshat Mishpatim, that the Sefer Ahavat Chesed was composed by the Chofetz Chaim. In every prayer service, we ask Hashem for Tzedaka, as we recite in the final blessing of the Shemoneh Esrei. Do we give sufficient Tzedaka to others? Even if we don't give to every beggar in the street for after all who knows if they are all for real or what they use the money for like for cigarettes when you have babies in Israel who are crying because their mothers add water to the formula because they literally have virtually no money, how much do we attempt at least to find out what are the organizations who help the truly poor in need?
While the animal sacrifices in the Temple that were brought due to sins were supposed to remind a person that in fact, he was supposed to be the one killed, but Hashem in his great kindness and mercy allows him to live so he can repent and get back on the road to serving Hashem, the peace animal sacrifices - though also were killed the same basic way, gave us the same message in a more loving way; meaning that not necessarily we deserve to die because we have sinned but Hashem pitied us, but far more than this, that Hashem WANTS us to live, and to make the spritual best of life in this world, in our community of other Jews, to live in harmony without fighting or saying Lashon Hara/evil talk about others. These animal sacrifices were brought out of a pure love for Hashem. In Hebrew, the word love is Ahava, which is the Gematria of 13; and as we know, the Oral Law, of which the foundation is the teachings of the Mishna and Gemara/Talmud, is based on 13 principles, corresponding to which are the 13 Divine Attributes of Mercy, of which the first one is Hashem's name E-l, the name of Chesed/kindness.
And as I began off a previous post, I wish to conclude the same with the statement from Pirkei Avot/Ethics of the Fathers - "Shimon HaTzadik (the righteous) was from the remaining ones of the Anshei Knesset HaGedolah. He used to say: The world stands on three things - on the Torah, on the Avodah (prayers/Temple offerings) and on granting kindnesses". Yes, the word stands on THREE things, for the number three stands for the quality of peace, as the conclusion of this first chapter of Pirkei Avot notes a similar statement from another Sage who also has the name Shimon, my namesake - "Rabban Shimon Ben Gamliel says: On three things does the world exist - on the truth, on the justice/law, and on the PEACE (the third & last mentioned in this list), as it says: "Truth and justice of peace shall you judge at your gates"".
5 Adar I, 5771
P.S. To note, the time of this post is 6:42 PM. As we know, there are six orders of the Mishnayot, and the Mitzva of learning & teaching Torah, comes from the verse "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and speak of them". The word THEM in Hebrew is Bahm - consisting of the letters Beit & Mem, which in reverse spells the number 42. Indeed, many people have memorized various sections of Mishnayot to "speak of them...when you walk on the road". This verse is also the source of the Mitzvah of reciting the Shema, which is mentioned in the very beginning of the Mishnayot which was mentioned in this post.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
#96 - The SHOFAR of Today
Even someone of a limited Jewish background who attends High Holiday services will know what the word Shofar means. Certainly, writing here about the Shofar at this time of year when it's not the High Holiday season may raise eyebrows, just like I wrote about Purim in my previous post, though it is true that Purim is the next major holiday following Tu B'Shevat - the Jewish New Year for trees - in a few days. For those who will be reading the Parsha of this week - Parshat Yitro - will realize before long that the word Shofar is in fact mentioned in this Parsha, but this is not my immediate reason for writing about the Shofar, though it is most connected with my original reason for writing about it today.
But first, I must mention that today - 11 Shevat - is the birthday of one of our most mentioned rabbis of our Gematriot post - known most popularly as the Chofetz Chaim, who hardly needs any introduction here. In fact, I have written in the past two years around the time of his Yahrzeit of 24 Elul of this legendary rabbi. But this year, his birthday of 11 Shevat has an added significance.
It has to do with the the Sefer/Jewish holy book whose title Chofetz Chaim gave him this nickname, for a lack of better wording. As with many works of Jewish learning, there are schedules for learning a piece of such Sefarim/Jewish holy books on any particular day. Among the most popular of these is the daily/weekly learning of the Parsha of the week - which is the Five Books of Moses, and the Daf Yomi schedule of learning a Daf/double sided page of the Babylonian Talmud, instituted by Rabbi Meir Shapiro, a contemporary of the Chofetz Chaim who very much praised Rabbi Shapiro's innovation. And speaking of birthdays, both Moses & Rabbi Shapiro were born on 7 Adar. Coincidence? I hardly doubt that - this is nothing short of Hashem's Hashgacha Peratit/Divine Providence.
O.K., so let me get to the point here, the Sefer Chofetz Chaim, which is a compilation of the laws of forbidden speech, mostly involving speaking badly about another Jew or Jews to others, is also apportioned for daily learning. Unlike most other Jewish works that take a year or longer to learn - the Chumash is a yearly thing and the Daf Yomi takes over seven years - this Sefer is divided up to be learned three times a year.
Now, for a regular Jewish calendar year consisting of 12 months, it is divided up accordingly beginning with the Rosh Chodesh or first of the months of Tishrei, Shevat, and Sivan. However, for a leap year consisting of 13 months, such as this year, it is divided up a little more finely. This means that this year, the second cycle of the year does not begin on Rosh Chodesh Shevat, but on...the 11th of Shevat - the birthday of the Chofetz Chaim!
I would be remiss here if I would not mention who the rabbi behind this institution is. His name is Rabbi Yehudah Zev Segal, may the righteous be for a blessed memory, who passed away on 22 Shevat 5753 (1993). Having met the Chofetz Chaim in his youth, he was most impressed by him, and would later be the cause latter for this rabbi to institute a daily learning session from this Sefer, which began with his students of the Yeshiva that he was the head of. Today, this is a worldwide thing, and one can learn this for free over the internet, including audio and daily E-mails. (Check out www.chofetzchaimusa.org for details on this). He requested that in being buried, that he should be buried with a calendar of the Chofetz Chaim learning schedule, as his ticket to Heaven.
Anyways, I would like to mention the very beginning of this Sefer, which we begin learning anew today on the Chofetz Chaim's birthday. He begins with the words Baruch Hashem Elokei Yisrael - "Blessed is Hashem, the G-d of Israel" (Note: The Chofetz Chaim's Hebrew name is Yisrael Meir), continuing with stating that Hashem separated us from the other nations, gave us His Torah, and entered us into the Holy Land in order to merit to fulfull all His commandments. He then proceeds about our later Jewish history in which the Second Temple was destroyed because of the sin of Sinat Chinam/baseless hatred, which included the sin of Lashon Hara/evil speech about others.
Now, if one were to count the amount of times in the Chumash that the first two words that the Chofetz Chaim writes - Baruch Hashem "Blessed is Hashem" is mentioned, there are exactly five mentions of this phrase. The fifth and final time that this is mentioned in the Chumash is in the first Aliyah of this very week's Parshat Yitro (which is learned by many on the first day of the week), coinciding with 11 Shevat, the very day that we begin learning the Chofetz Chaim's work beginning with these very words! In the context of the Parsha, Yitro/Jethro, Moses' father-in-law who converted to Judaism, thanks Hashem for saving the Jews from Egypt & Pharaoh.
On a personal note, as the first four words of the Chofetz Chaim's work is Baruch Hashem Elokei Yisrael, this phrase can be found in the Tanach/Bible (not mentioned once in the Chumash) eight times. Among these times is the beginning of the final verse of Psalms 41 - Blessed is Hashem, the G-d of Israel, from (this) world to (the next) world, Amen & Amen. The reason why I say on a personal note, is because I am presently in my 41st year, and there is a custom among many Jews to say the number chapter of Psalms corresponding to one's age.
Of course, this should be of no big surprise. The very phrase Chofetz Chaim comes from Psalms 34:13 "Who is the person WHO WANTS LIFE, who loves years to see good" Continuing into the next verse "Guard your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceitfully". In fact, I will dare say that the birthdate of the Chofetz Chaim is hinted in this very verse (34:13) - The Hebrew begins Mi HaIsh HeChofetz Chaim. The letters of the word Ish/person - Aleph, Yud, Shin - begin the words of the date of 11 Shevat like this: Yud Aleph Shevat. Hence, these verses can in fact read something like this - "Who is the Chofetz Chaim who was born on 11 Shevat? He is someone who loved years to see good. His message was "Guard your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceitfully"". Indeed, the Chofetz Chaim lived into his mid nineties. He was born in 5598 (1838) and he passed away on 24 Elul 5693 (1933), who lived as a prime example of someone who was most careful with his speech, and lived a long life. It would not have looked good for the one who lived and preached the laws of the Sefer that he compiled not to have lived a long life, even in this world. As you can see, he lived into his 96th year - and this is my 96th Post!
Also, as per Psalm 41, there seems to be another hint to the Chofetz Chaim as per his birthdate and compositions. Verse three begins - Hashem Yishmerahu Vichayehu VeUshar Ba'aretz "May Hashem protect him (the poor person) and allow him life and be fortunate on earth..." The Hebrew word VeUshar "AND be fortunate" is actually spelled in the text beginning with a Yud instead of a Vav; however, as with many other words in the Tanach, they are written one way and read another. Of course, there is a reason for each one of these. In this case, the reason for this word in this fashion seems to be in order to hint to the Chofetz Chaim. You see, when spelled beginning with a Yud, the first three letters of this word begin the words for the birthdate of the Chofetz Chaim, like this - Yud Alef (the numbers in order to spell the number 11) Shin - Shevat; however, linguistically, it only makes sense to pronounce this word beginning with a Vav instead of a Yud. Now, looking at the previous two words, they are similar to the titles of the Chofetz Chaim's two main words on the prohibition of Lashon Hara - Shemirat HaLashon "Guarding the Tongue" & Chofetz Chaim "Wants life". A mere coincidence here?
At this point, I would like to mention that there is a story about the Chofetz Chaim when he was given his late mother's Tehillim/Book of Psalms. Crying emotionally, he remarked to the one or to those present, "Do you know how many tears my mother shed into this Book of Psalms to have a son who would grow up to be a good Torah Jew?" Her tears and prayers of the Book of Psalms no doubt had a most literal answer from Hashem - her son would write the Sefer Chofetz Chaim named after a phrase from the very book that she prayed from!
O.K., this is all very nice, but what this have to do with a Shofar, other than the fact that the Shofar is also mentioned in this Parshat Yitro?
Ah, so this is where Gematria comes into play here. Indeed, the phrase Sefer Chafetz Chaim has the same Gematria as the word Shofar - 586! Shocking, isn't it? On an incidental note, the first of the three times that the Sefer Chofetz Chayim is learned begins on Rosh Hashanah, the holiday on which we blow the Shofar. Now, think about it for a minute - the sin of Lashon Hara, which involves the mouth, is in the long run the worst sin, as our Rabbis tell us, because first of all, EVERY SINGLE WORD of Lashon Hara is another sin, just like EVERY SINGLE WORD of Torah - the Mitzvah that is equal to all the other Mitzvot of the Torah - is another Mitzvah. Actually to say that every word of Lashon Hora is another sin is an understatement. You see, the Chofetz Chaim mentions that one can violate up to 14 Negative Commandments and 14 Positive Commandments for EVERY SINGLE WORD of Lashon Hara, equaling a total of up to 31 Commandments that could be violated for every single word of Lashon Hara. Imagine how someone who absentmindedly can committ hundreds if not thousands of sins in one short conversation! Quite scary indeed.
Now, there are quite a few commandments that can be performed by mouth besides the Mitzvah of Torah learning. The Mitzvot of reading the Shema, prayer, grace after meals, recounting the story of the Exodus on the Seder night, counting the Omer, etc.
Now, blowing the Shofar, though it does not involve speech, it does involve using the mouth. And this Mitzvah of blowing the Shofar is actually related to another Mitzvah - the commandment of Teshuvah/repentance, as the Shofar is supposed to arouse us to repent.
And so, the Shofar is mentioned in this Parsha in the context of Hashem sounding the Shofar as the signal for the Jews to arrive at Mt. Sinai to receive the Torah. However, if one looks at the three mentions of the word Shofar in this Parsha, it is not in fact spelled as the usual spelling of Shofar with the letters - Shin, Vav, Fei, Reish - because in this Parsha, it is spelled without the letter Vav. So, how come is it spelled without a Vav here, if the usual spelling is with a Vav, or is it?
Actually, there is exactly one place in the Chumash that the word Shofar is spelled in full (spelled twice as such in the same verse). This is located in Leviticus 25:9 "You shall sound the Shofar of Teruah on the seventh month on the 10th of the month, on Yom Kippur, you shall sound the Shofar in all your land". This is the 332nd Mitzvah of the Torah to sound the Shofar on Yom Kippur of the Jubilee year, the 50th year following seven cycles of six years work and one year rest from agricultural work on the land of Israel. I had mentioned this particular Mitzvah in my 83rd Post (Sep '10) as the daily Mitzvah to be learned for this very past Yom Kippur!
Is there in fact a connection between the blowing of the Shofar in this week's Parshat Yitro & the Mitzvah of blowing the Shofar on Yom Kippur of the Jubilee year mentioned in Parshat Behar Sinai (literally means "On Mt. Sinai", though the usual name of the Parsha is just the word Behar, but I mentioned Sinai here because this was the mountain on which we received the Torah as mentioned in our week's Parshat Yitro)?
Besides the fact of the connection about Mt. Sinai as I mentioned in parenthesis, I would like to point out to something that the Chofetz Chaim mentioned in the beginning of his work. As I wrote a few minutes earlier "(Hashem) entered us into the Holy Land in order to merit to fulfull all His commandments." With this being said, though the ultimately stage of spirituality had yet to be fulfilled - the Holy Temple, we did have the Tabernacle which served the same basic functions. However, in terms of the wholeness of the Land of Israel, it was this very act of blowing the Shofar on Yom Kippur of the Jubilee year that was the final Mitzvah relating directly to the Land of Israel that was fulfilled for the first ever since the Torah was given. This took place in the Hebrew year 2552, over a hundred years since the Torah was given (the Torah was given in the year 2448). The point that I want to make here is that even though the Torah, upon which the world's existance depended upon for the Jews to accept for nearly 2,450 years; yet, it is only with the mention of the final Mitzvah that took place relating to the land of Israel that the Jews were commanded to settle in that the word Shofar is spelled with a Vav, and not once, but twice in the same verse - the only such spelling of the word Shofar in the entire Torah - to teach us that we are not complete with learning Torah except in the land of Israel. The repetition of the word Shofar with the full spelling in this verse emphasizes this concept. (NOTE: The Mitzvah of blowing the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah as mentioned in Parshat Pinchas ironically does not even mention the word Shofar!)
Anyone who is honest about what it says in the Torah, it is very clear that not only are we Jews supposed to live in Israel, but that the ultimate purpose of living in Israel is to fulfill ALL the Mitzvot of the Torah, which is not possible outside of Israel, as there are many commandments related not only to the agricultural land, but also all the commandments related to the Temple services and offerings.
And while the Chofetz Chaim never wound up even visiting Israel, though at one point in his life, he attempted to do so, but things happened beyond his control preventing him from traveling, it must be remembered that the Chofetz Chaim, like so many great rabbis before him who never stepped foot in Israel either living in the poor towns of Europe, he accomplished tremendous good for the Jewish people, and much of the results of his righteous life, learning, and writing Sefarim have a tremendous impact in the Holy Land today. However, he was a very strong believer in the possible coming of the Messiah in his days, and towards this, he promoted the learning about the Temple service and offerings, so that if the Messiah were to come anytime soon, the Jewish people, especially the Cohanim such as himself, would be prepared to know all the laws they would need to know once the Messiah would come and the Temple would be rebuilt.
Now, there is in fact another very significant word that has the same Gematria as Sefer Chofetz Chaim & Shofar - Yerushalayim! While in English, Jerusalem is always spelled the same way, except for five places in the Tanach, the Hebrew word Yerushalayim is spelled as such without a second Yud - 664 times - making this word to be the same Gematria of 586.
Well, being that Jerusalem is the capitol of Israel, it should be noted that during Temple times when the Jubilee year was in effect, the Shofar was blown by the great Sanhedrin/Jewish court which was located in a section of the Temple in Jerusalem, noting the same Gematria between the words Shofar & Yerushalayim. And as the Chofetz Chaim notes in today's portion of his work, the Temple - which was in Jerusalem - was
destroyed as a result of Lashon Hara.
I should note that in recent times, though the Temple has yet to be rebuilt, there was a tremendous miracle pertaining to the Temple area - the holiest area in the world. On 28 Iyar, 5727 (1967), the Temple Mount & Western Wall areas became available to Jews once again after 19 years of being in the hands of our Arab enemies. Rabbi Shlomo Goren, former Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Israel, as a paratrooper at the time, blew the Shofar to announce that the "Temple Mount is in our hands". This day, which became Yom Yerushalayim/Jerusalem Day, was a day of great rejoicing among the Jewish people. Even those of the very religious sector of Jews who don't believe in celebrating Yom Ha'Atzmaut "Independence Day" of Israel, do not have an aversion to this day for the most part.
In any case, it should be noted that it was in this very year of 5727 that Rabbi Segal started a learning session of the Sefer Chofetz Chaim among his Yeshiva students (though then, it was arranged to be learned once a year, it would only be official later among worldwide Jewry of learning this three times a year). Also, the portion of learning of the Sefer Chofetz Chaim for Yom Kippur (both in a regular & leap year), the beginning of the Prohibitions violated for speaking Lashon Hora, is the same portion that is learned on 28 Iyar when it falls out on a leap year, the same way that 28 Iyar on which the miracle of the return of the holiest areas in the world to the Jewish people, the owners of this and all of Israel, occured on a leap year, when the Shofar was blown for this announcment; just as the Shofar was blown on Yom Kippur of the Jubilee year which was the offical announcment for land in Israel that was purchased at one point had to be returned to its original owner. Truly amazing!
Now, there is in fact another Sefer that is also the Gematria of Yerushalayim - Sefer Devarim/Deutronomy. Now mind you, I did not say the same Gematria as Shofar or Sefer Chofetz Chaim. In this case, the phrase Sefer Devarim being the Gematria of 596, Yerushalayim is also the Gematria of 596 when there is a second Yud in the word.
So in short, Yerushalayim without a second Yud has the same Gematria as "Sefer Chofetz Chaim", and Yerushalayim with a second Yud has the same Gematria as "Sefer Devarim". So the question can be asked, is there in fact a special connection between the Sefarim of Deutronomy & Chofetz Chaim?
In fact, Sefer Devarim begins with the words Eileh HaDevarim - "These are the words that Moses spoke to all of Israel..." There is in fact mentioned that the first word Eileh - using the letters Aleph, Lamed, Hei - begin the words Avak Lashon Hara - "dust of evil speech" referring to a situation where for example, one says to someone looking for a place to eat that Mr. Fresser always has food to eat, saying it in such a way making the guy look bad for being too much into food. Though one may have accomplished helping someone finding a place to eat, he is spoiling such a Mitzvah by saying something that sounds derogatory about another Jew. Certainly, there is a better way of putting it, by presenting the householder as someone who has guests over (with this also, caution has to be taken for the nice guy not to have countless people showing up at his door at one shot).
Well, I thought of something similar. You see, the Aleph of the first word Eileh can begin a different word Issur/prohibition, that is Issur Lashon Hara - "Prohibition of Lashon Hara". Certainly, this was the number one issue in Moses' mind. The proof, it was thanks to the Lashon Hara of the Spies about the Land of Israel (mentioned in the learning portion of Chofetz Chaim for the following day) that the Jews were delayed in the desert from coming to Israel for almost 40 years. He wasted no time in the very first chapter of Deutromony speaking about this incident.
And so, there is a very strong connection between the Book of Deutronomy and the Jewish holy book called Chofetz Chaim - also having to do with the word Yerushalayim being spelled two different ways in terms of Gematria. But additionally, the date as mentioned in the beginning of Deutronomy that Moses spoke to the Jews as his final round of sermons for the following 36 days until his passing was on Rosh Chodesh Shevat, the very same date that the Sefer Chofetz Chaim is learned anew for the second time in a regular Jewish calendar year of 12 months. Certainly, there is no shortage of Divine revelations here.
And speaking of the letter Aleph, the birthdate of the Chofetz Chaim is 11 (Yud Aleph) Shevat. The Gematria of the name of the month of Shevat is 311, ending with 11 as is the number of the date. And the Book of Deutronomy begins with Moses speaking to the Jews on the "first day of the 11th month", and this final book of the Chumash consists of 11 Parshiyot. Now, just focusing on the last number of 311, as the letters Shin (300), Yud (10), Aleph (1), we also see the date of the month, the 11th of Shevat - as the letters Yud & Aleph. And this Hebrew year is 5771 - which is Hey (5,000), Tav (400), Shin (300), Ayin (70), Aleph (1), hence this year ending with an Aleph. So thus, this year's birthdate of the Chofetz Chaim in essence ends with an Aleph - directly or through Gematria - three times! (Note: This is the very first time since the thrice-a-year worldwide learning of the Sefer Chofetz Chaim that the Hebrew year ending with an Aleph is a leap year in which the learning of this Sefer begins on 11 Shevat - the birthday of the Chofetz Chaim!)
If this was not enough, both Hebrew names of the Chofetz Chaim - Yisrael Meir, as well as the two names of his father - Aryeh Ze'ev - ALL consist of the letter Aleph!
And among the numerous compositions of the Chofetz Chaim, one that begins with the letter Aleph is called Ahavat Chesed "Love of Kindness", this phrase which is also borrowed from the Tanach (Micha 6:8). This other Sefer of the Chofetz Chaim has also been divided up to learn three times yearly; and hence, the portion of learning for today - 11 Shevat, birthday of the Chofetz Chaim - is also the beginning of this Sefer.
And speaking of using Gematriot to include the word Sefer/book as part of the phrase of the name of a Sefer, the following may be even more incredible that want I wrote earlier here. Hold on to your seat for this one - the phrase Sefer Ahavat Chesed shares the same Gematria as a most popular phrase and Mitzvah in the Torah - V'Ahavta L'Reicha Camocha "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18) - 820! What I believe the ultimate punchline here is that it is not merely doing kindness in itself that shows love for another, for even a cold hearted doctor may do a few deeds of "kindness" in a show pretending that he cares for his patients when the only thing that he is thinking of is the big dollar sign. It is LOVING kindness, and if one is doing a favor for another simply due to his love and care for him/her, then it can truly be said that such a person LOVES to do kindness - at least for that individual.
One such person who could be described as a living loving kindness was Bernard Hochstein, may his name be for a blessing, who passed away a couple of years ago at the ripe age of 96 (and this is my 96th Post). He believed what the Torah tells us that if one gives charity, one can get back up to ten times as much as one gives - the one thing that we are permitted to test Hashem on. There are incredible stories of this happening to him, who became quite wealthy from the business that he started and ran until he sold it and moved to Israel where he lived for the last 34 years of his life. But it didn't just stop with his huge contributions to Jewish institutions and poor people. He believed that one should also be involved in the organizations that one supports.
To note, the famous outreach program & Yeshiva Aish HaTorah is only where it is at financially today thanks to this individual, who saw to it that this organization would have a building facing the Kotel/Western Wall. Another significant contribution that he had done during his lifetime, as mentioned in the Sefer Ahavat Chesed, was setting up a loan Gemach, that is, a fund for people to borrow money from (of course interest free as per the Torah's instructions) which is based in Jerusalem, regardless of how "religious" or not any Jew is, and is not asked any questions pertaining to his/her finances, only requiring one to own and bring in his/her credit card. For more on this individual, check this link - http://www.aish.com/jw/s/48939877.html.
And speaking of Aish HaTorah, today would be a prime day to write about the founder of this amazing institution - Rabbi Noah Weinberg, may the name of the righteous be for a blessing. You see, today - 11 Shevat - is his 2nd Yahrzeit, who passed away just a few months after his main philanthropist Mr. Hochstein passed away. Just as the Chofetz Chaim who was born on this date worked on various ways on bringing Jews closer to the Torah/Judaism, so was Rabbi Weinberg intent on doing just this, especially at a time that this was not popular or believed that it could happen that Jews who were totally non-observant and unlearned about Judaism would be willing to make the change. He was truly a pioneer of bringing Jews closer to their heritage in his days when few others cared to do the same. I believe that it is hardly coincidental that he passed away on the same date as the birthdate of the Chofetz Chaim.
Now, before continuing on with a word in this week's Parsha that begins with an Aleph, this is the one letter in the Aleph Beit that is a silent letter - that is, it does not have a sound to it. (NOTE: Though most of us do not have a sound for the letter Ayin either, in fact, this letter has a sounding, which Yemenite Jews seem to have a grasp on, but it had been lost for most Jews due to a change of accent based on the climate of where they were living - probably somewhere outside of Israel). From the fact that the Aleph - the silent letter - is the FIRST of the letters, we can learn a very valuable lesson. BEFORE we begin speaking in a conversation with someone else, FIRST we need to be SILENT and think of what we will say BEFORE saying it. All too often, problems occur when we say something so to speak absentmindedly, while in the meantime, we have either hurt the feelings of the one we are speaking to or have spoken Lashon Hara about someone else, or we may have said something from someone who wanted it to be kept a secret.
Isn't it interesting that the name of Megillat Esther which is read on Purim - which is the name of Esther, based on the word for being hidden, begins with an Aleph? We have to keep our thoughts hidden long enough so that we finally speak, our words will not do damage. And speaking of Purim, there was an incident where in the Yeshiva of the Chofetz Chaim in the town of Radin, his students were having a good time on Purim, but it started leading to saying Lashon Hara. Realizing that the jolly mood of Purim had the students being a little unaware of what they were saying, the Chofetz Chaim calmly told them that even on Purim, one is forbidden to speak Lashon Hara.
Now, in this week's Parshat Yitro, we have a most significant word that begins with the letter Aleph - the very first word of the Aseret HaDibrot/The Ten Commandments - Anochi - "I AM Hashem your G-d who took you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery". The Midrash in the beginning of Yalkut Shimoni tells us that when all the other letters attempted to be the first letter of the Torah, and it was the letter Beit that begin the Torah with the word Bereishit (Note: The Sefer Chofetz Chaim also begins with a Beit beginning the word Baruch/Blessed), the Aleph was silent. When Hashem asked it why it was silent, it replied that it is the only letter without a plurism, as Aleph is one, while Beit is two, etc. Hashem replied that just as He Himself is One, so the Aleph being the numerical value of the number one will begin the Aseret HaDibrot, beginning with the word Anochi, which refers to Hashem.
Yes, we have a new beginning here, beginning with the first letter of the Aleph Beit - from the Aseret HaDibrot, the first words of Torah that we received from Hashem at the Giving of the Torah, which literally (and actually) means The 10 Statements/Words beginning with the first letter Aleph - to the final Book of the Torah, Moses' final set of discourses, starting with Eileh HaDevarim - "These are the Words/Statements" that also begins with the first letter Aleph. Now is the time to begin anew, learning the laws about the prohibition of evil speech about other Jews and putting them into practice - bearing in mind that the final word of the Book of Deutronomy, the final word of the Chumash, is the word Yisrael - the first name of the Chofetz Chaim, referring to the Jewish people. It is the last word of the final Parsha of the Torah - V'Zot HaBeracha - "This is the Blessing", which consists of 41 verses, just like the final verse of Psalms Chapter 41 that reads "Blessed is Hashem, the G-d of Israel, from (this) world, until the (next) world, Amen and Amen." And as far as the name Meir, the second name of the Chofetz Chaim is concerned, his title by whom he is known as "The Chofetz Chaim" - HaChofetz Chaim - the way it is worded in the verse in Tehillim, indeed shares the same Gematria as his second name Meir - 251!
Indeed, the Sefer Chofetz Chaim is THE SHOFAR OF TODAY - the Jewish book that should arouse us to repent of what is in fact the worst of sins. One meaning of the word Shofar is related to "make improvement/make beautiful". Indeed, instead of putting down other Jews because we think less of them for whatever reason, we should look forward to, if anything, making them sound good, especially with all the Anti-Semitism that surrounds us (which would decrease if we were to decrease the amount of Lashon Hara - and not by forming Jewish-Christian alliances, which is forbidden according to the Torah in any event). And then, when we improve ourselves, Hashem will look to improve our living standards - both physical and spiritual - the latter by rebuilding the true Jerusalem, not as the capitol of the "State of Israel", but as the holiest city in the world where we will have the Temple rebuilt, with no more Arab predators on our holiest spot - the Temple Mount - may it happen speedily in our days.
11 Shevat, 5771 - Birthday of the Chofetz Chaim & day of beginning Sefer Chofetz Chaim according to the schedule of learning this Sefer three times a year; 2nd Yahrzeit of Rabbi Noah Weinberg, founder and Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Aish HaTorah.
But first, I must mention that today - 11 Shevat - is the birthday of one of our most mentioned rabbis of our Gematriot post - known most popularly as the Chofetz Chaim, who hardly needs any introduction here. In fact, I have written in the past two years around the time of his Yahrzeit of 24 Elul of this legendary rabbi. But this year, his birthday of 11 Shevat has an added significance.
It has to do with the the Sefer/Jewish holy book whose title Chofetz Chaim gave him this nickname, for a lack of better wording. As with many works of Jewish learning, there are schedules for learning a piece of such Sefarim/Jewish holy books on any particular day. Among the most popular of these is the daily/weekly learning of the Parsha of the week - which is the Five Books of Moses, and the Daf Yomi schedule of learning a Daf/double sided page of the Babylonian Talmud, instituted by Rabbi Meir Shapiro, a contemporary of the Chofetz Chaim who very much praised Rabbi Shapiro's innovation. And speaking of birthdays, both Moses & Rabbi Shapiro were born on 7 Adar. Coincidence? I hardly doubt that - this is nothing short of Hashem's Hashgacha Peratit/Divine Providence.
O.K., so let me get to the point here, the Sefer Chofetz Chaim, which is a compilation of the laws of forbidden speech, mostly involving speaking badly about another Jew or Jews to others, is also apportioned for daily learning. Unlike most other Jewish works that take a year or longer to learn - the Chumash is a yearly thing and the Daf Yomi takes over seven years - this Sefer is divided up to be learned three times a year.
Now, for a regular Jewish calendar year consisting of 12 months, it is divided up accordingly beginning with the Rosh Chodesh or first of the months of Tishrei, Shevat, and Sivan. However, for a leap year consisting of 13 months, such as this year, it is divided up a little more finely. This means that this year, the second cycle of the year does not begin on Rosh Chodesh Shevat, but on...the 11th of Shevat - the birthday of the Chofetz Chaim!
I would be remiss here if I would not mention who the rabbi behind this institution is. His name is Rabbi Yehudah Zev Segal, may the righteous be for a blessed memory, who passed away on 22 Shevat 5753 (1993). Having met the Chofetz Chaim in his youth, he was most impressed by him, and would later be the cause latter for this rabbi to institute a daily learning session from this Sefer, which began with his students of the Yeshiva that he was the head of. Today, this is a worldwide thing, and one can learn this for free over the internet, including audio and daily E-mails. (Check out www.chofetzchaimusa.org for details on this). He requested that in being buried, that he should be buried with a calendar of the Chofetz Chaim learning schedule, as his ticket to Heaven.
Anyways, I would like to mention the very beginning of this Sefer, which we begin learning anew today on the Chofetz Chaim's birthday. He begins with the words Baruch Hashem Elokei Yisrael - "Blessed is Hashem, the G-d of Israel" (Note: The Chofetz Chaim's Hebrew name is Yisrael Meir), continuing with stating that Hashem separated us from the other nations, gave us His Torah, and entered us into the Holy Land in order to merit to fulfull all His commandments. He then proceeds about our later Jewish history in which the Second Temple was destroyed because of the sin of Sinat Chinam/baseless hatred, which included the sin of Lashon Hara/evil speech about others.
Now, if one were to count the amount of times in the Chumash that the first two words that the Chofetz Chaim writes - Baruch Hashem "Blessed is Hashem" is mentioned, there are exactly five mentions of this phrase. The fifth and final time that this is mentioned in the Chumash is in the first Aliyah of this very week's Parshat Yitro (which is learned by many on the first day of the week), coinciding with 11 Shevat, the very day that we begin learning the Chofetz Chaim's work beginning with these very words! In the context of the Parsha, Yitro/Jethro, Moses' father-in-law who converted to Judaism, thanks Hashem for saving the Jews from Egypt & Pharaoh.
On a personal note, as the first four words of the Chofetz Chaim's work is Baruch Hashem Elokei Yisrael, this phrase can be found in the Tanach/Bible (not mentioned once in the Chumash) eight times. Among these times is the beginning of the final verse of Psalms 41 - Blessed is Hashem, the G-d of Israel, from (this) world to (the next) world, Amen & Amen. The reason why I say on a personal note, is because I am presently in my 41st year, and there is a custom among many Jews to say the number chapter of Psalms corresponding to one's age.
Of course, this should be of no big surprise. The very phrase Chofetz Chaim comes from Psalms 34:13 "Who is the person WHO WANTS LIFE, who loves years to see good" Continuing into the next verse "Guard your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceitfully". In fact, I will dare say that the birthdate of the Chofetz Chaim is hinted in this very verse (34:13) - The Hebrew begins Mi HaIsh HeChofetz Chaim. The letters of the word Ish/person - Aleph, Yud, Shin - begin the words of the date of 11 Shevat like this: Yud Aleph Shevat. Hence, these verses can in fact read something like this - "Who is the Chofetz Chaim who was born on 11 Shevat? He is someone who loved years to see good. His message was "Guard your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceitfully"". Indeed, the Chofetz Chaim lived into his mid nineties. He was born in 5598 (1838) and he passed away on 24 Elul 5693 (1933), who lived as a prime example of someone who was most careful with his speech, and lived a long life. It would not have looked good for the one who lived and preached the laws of the Sefer that he compiled not to have lived a long life, even in this world. As you can see, he lived into his 96th year - and this is my 96th Post!
Also, as per Psalm 41, there seems to be another hint to the Chofetz Chaim as per his birthdate and compositions. Verse three begins - Hashem Yishmerahu Vichayehu VeUshar Ba'aretz "May Hashem protect him (the poor person) and allow him life and be fortunate on earth..." The Hebrew word VeUshar "AND be fortunate" is actually spelled in the text beginning with a Yud instead of a Vav; however, as with many other words in the Tanach, they are written one way and read another. Of course, there is a reason for each one of these. In this case, the reason for this word in this fashion seems to be in order to hint to the Chofetz Chaim. You see, when spelled beginning with a Yud, the first three letters of this word begin the words for the birthdate of the Chofetz Chaim, like this - Yud Alef (the numbers in order to spell the number 11) Shin - Shevat; however, linguistically, it only makes sense to pronounce this word beginning with a Vav instead of a Yud. Now, looking at the previous two words, they are similar to the titles of the Chofetz Chaim's two main words on the prohibition of Lashon Hara - Shemirat HaLashon "Guarding the Tongue" & Chofetz Chaim "Wants life". A mere coincidence here?
At this point, I would like to mention that there is a story about the Chofetz Chaim when he was given his late mother's Tehillim/Book of Psalms. Crying emotionally, he remarked to the one or to those present, "Do you know how many tears my mother shed into this Book of Psalms to have a son who would grow up to be a good Torah Jew?" Her tears and prayers of the Book of Psalms no doubt had a most literal answer from Hashem - her son would write the Sefer Chofetz Chaim named after a phrase from the very book that she prayed from!
O.K., this is all very nice, but what this have to do with a Shofar, other than the fact that the Shofar is also mentioned in this Parshat Yitro?
Ah, so this is where Gematria comes into play here. Indeed, the phrase Sefer Chafetz Chaim has the same Gematria as the word Shofar - 586! Shocking, isn't it? On an incidental note, the first of the three times that the Sefer Chofetz Chayim is learned begins on Rosh Hashanah, the holiday on which we blow the Shofar. Now, think about it for a minute - the sin of Lashon Hara, which involves the mouth, is in the long run the worst sin, as our Rabbis tell us, because first of all, EVERY SINGLE WORD of Lashon Hara is another sin, just like EVERY SINGLE WORD of Torah - the Mitzvah that is equal to all the other Mitzvot of the Torah - is another Mitzvah. Actually to say that every word of Lashon Hora is another sin is an understatement. You see, the Chofetz Chaim mentions that one can violate up to 14 Negative Commandments and 14 Positive Commandments for EVERY SINGLE WORD of Lashon Hara, equaling a total of up to 31 Commandments that could be violated for every single word of Lashon Hara. Imagine how someone who absentmindedly can committ hundreds if not thousands of sins in one short conversation! Quite scary indeed.
Now, there are quite a few commandments that can be performed by mouth besides the Mitzvah of Torah learning. The Mitzvot of reading the Shema, prayer, grace after meals, recounting the story of the Exodus on the Seder night, counting the Omer, etc.
Now, blowing the Shofar, though it does not involve speech, it does involve using the mouth. And this Mitzvah of blowing the Shofar is actually related to another Mitzvah - the commandment of Teshuvah/repentance, as the Shofar is supposed to arouse us to repent.
And so, the Shofar is mentioned in this Parsha in the context of Hashem sounding the Shofar as the signal for the Jews to arrive at Mt. Sinai to receive the Torah. However, if one looks at the three mentions of the word Shofar in this Parsha, it is not in fact spelled as the usual spelling of Shofar with the letters - Shin, Vav, Fei, Reish - because in this Parsha, it is spelled without the letter Vav. So, how come is it spelled without a Vav here, if the usual spelling is with a Vav, or is it?
Actually, there is exactly one place in the Chumash that the word Shofar is spelled in full (spelled twice as such in the same verse). This is located in Leviticus 25:9 "You shall sound the Shofar of Teruah on the seventh month on the 10th of the month, on Yom Kippur, you shall sound the Shofar in all your land". This is the 332nd Mitzvah of the Torah to sound the Shofar on Yom Kippur of the Jubilee year, the 50th year following seven cycles of six years work and one year rest from agricultural work on the land of Israel. I had mentioned this particular Mitzvah in my 83rd Post (Sep '10) as the daily Mitzvah to be learned for this very past Yom Kippur!
Is there in fact a connection between the blowing of the Shofar in this week's Parshat Yitro & the Mitzvah of blowing the Shofar on Yom Kippur of the Jubilee year mentioned in Parshat Behar Sinai (literally means "On Mt. Sinai", though the usual name of the Parsha is just the word Behar, but I mentioned Sinai here because this was the mountain on which we received the Torah as mentioned in our week's Parshat Yitro)?
Besides the fact of the connection about Mt. Sinai as I mentioned in parenthesis, I would like to point out to something that the Chofetz Chaim mentioned in the beginning of his work. As I wrote a few minutes earlier "(Hashem) entered us into the Holy Land in order to merit to fulfull all His commandments." With this being said, though the ultimately stage of spirituality had yet to be fulfilled - the Holy Temple, we did have the Tabernacle which served the same basic functions. However, in terms of the wholeness of the Land of Israel, it was this very act of blowing the Shofar on Yom Kippur of the Jubilee year that was the final Mitzvah relating directly to the Land of Israel that was fulfilled for the first ever since the Torah was given. This took place in the Hebrew year 2552, over a hundred years since the Torah was given (the Torah was given in the year 2448). The point that I want to make here is that even though the Torah, upon which the world's existance depended upon for the Jews to accept for nearly 2,450 years; yet, it is only with the mention of the final Mitzvah that took place relating to the land of Israel that the Jews were commanded to settle in that the word Shofar is spelled with a Vav, and not once, but twice in the same verse - the only such spelling of the word Shofar in the entire Torah - to teach us that we are not complete with learning Torah except in the land of Israel. The repetition of the word Shofar with the full spelling in this verse emphasizes this concept. (NOTE: The Mitzvah of blowing the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah as mentioned in Parshat Pinchas ironically does not even mention the word Shofar!)
Anyone who is honest about what it says in the Torah, it is very clear that not only are we Jews supposed to live in Israel, but that the ultimate purpose of living in Israel is to fulfill ALL the Mitzvot of the Torah, which is not possible outside of Israel, as there are many commandments related not only to the agricultural land, but also all the commandments related to the Temple services and offerings.
And while the Chofetz Chaim never wound up even visiting Israel, though at one point in his life, he attempted to do so, but things happened beyond his control preventing him from traveling, it must be remembered that the Chofetz Chaim, like so many great rabbis before him who never stepped foot in Israel either living in the poor towns of Europe, he accomplished tremendous good for the Jewish people, and much of the results of his righteous life, learning, and writing Sefarim have a tremendous impact in the Holy Land today. However, he was a very strong believer in the possible coming of the Messiah in his days, and towards this, he promoted the learning about the Temple service and offerings, so that if the Messiah were to come anytime soon, the Jewish people, especially the Cohanim such as himself, would be prepared to know all the laws they would need to know once the Messiah would come and the Temple would be rebuilt.
Now, there is in fact another very significant word that has the same Gematria as Sefer Chofetz Chaim & Shofar - Yerushalayim! While in English, Jerusalem is always spelled the same way, except for five places in the Tanach, the Hebrew word Yerushalayim is spelled as such without a second Yud - 664 times - making this word to be the same Gematria of 586.
Well, being that Jerusalem is the capitol of Israel, it should be noted that during Temple times when the Jubilee year was in effect, the Shofar was blown by the great Sanhedrin/Jewish court which was located in a section of the Temple in Jerusalem, noting the same Gematria between the words Shofar & Yerushalayim. And as the Chofetz Chaim notes in today's portion of his work, the Temple - which was in Jerusalem - was
destroyed as a result of Lashon Hara.
I should note that in recent times, though the Temple has yet to be rebuilt, there was a tremendous miracle pertaining to the Temple area - the holiest area in the world. On 28 Iyar, 5727 (1967), the Temple Mount & Western Wall areas became available to Jews once again after 19 years of being in the hands of our Arab enemies. Rabbi Shlomo Goren, former Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Israel, as a paratrooper at the time, blew the Shofar to announce that the "Temple Mount is in our hands". This day, which became Yom Yerushalayim/Jerusalem Day, was a day of great rejoicing among the Jewish people. Even those of the very religious sector of Jews who don't believe in celebrating Yom Ha'Atzmaut "Independence Day" of Israel, do not have an aversion to this day for the most part.
In any case, it should be noted that it was in this very year of 5727 that Rabbi Segal started a learning session of the Sefer Chofetz Chaim among his Yeshiva students (though then, it was arranged to be learned once a year, it would only be official later among worldwide Jewry of learning this three times a year). Also, the portion of learning of the Sefer Chofetz Chaim for Yom Kippur (both in a regular & leap year), the beginning of the Prohibitions violated for speaking Lashon Hora, is the same portion that is learned on 28 Iyar when it falls out on a leap year, the same way that 28 Iyar on which the miracle of the return of the holiest areas in the world to the Jewish people, the owners of this and all of Israel, occured on a leap year, when the Shofar was blown for this announcment; just as the Shofar was blown on Yom Kippur of the Jubilee year which was the offical announcment for land in Israel that was purchased at one point had to be returned to its original owner. Truly amazing!
Now, there is in fact another Sefer that is also the Gematria of Yerushalayim - Sefer Devarim/Deutronomy. Now mind you, I did not say the same Gematria as Shofar or Sefer Chofetz Chaim. In this case, the phrase Sefer Devarim being the Gematria of 596, Yerushalayim is also the Gematria of 596 when there is a second Yud in the word.
So in short, Yerushalayim without a second Yud has the same Gematria as "Sefer Chofetz Chaim", and Yerushalayim with a second Yud has the same Gematria as "Sefer Devarim". So the question can be asked, is there in fact a special connection between the Sefarim of Deutronomy & Chofetz Chaim?
In fact, Sefer Devarim begins with the words Eileh HaDevarim - "These are the words that Moses spoke to all of Israel..." There is in fact mentioned that the first word Eileh - using the letters Aleph, Lamed, Hei - begin the words Avak Lashon Hara - "dust of evil speech" referring to a situation where for example, one says to someone looking for a place to eat that Mr. Fresser always has food to eat, saying it in such a way making the guy look bad for being too much into food. Though one may have accomplished helping someone finding a place to eat, he is spoiling such a Mitzvah by saying something that sounds derogatory about another Jew. Certainly, there is a better way of putting it, by presenting the householder as someone who has guests over (with this also, caution has to be taken for the nice guy not to have countless people showing up at his door at one shot).
Well, I thought of something similar. You see, the Aleph of the first word Eileh can begin a different word Issur/prohibition, that is Issur Lashon Hara - "Prohibition of Lashon Hara". Certainly, this was the number one issue in Moses' mind. The proof, it was thanks to the Lashon Hara of the Spies about the Land of Israel (mentioned in the learning portion of Chofetz Chaim for the following day) that the Jews were delayed in the desert from coming to Israel for almost 40 years. He wasted no time in the very first chapter of Deutromony speaking about this incident.
And so, there is a very strong connection between the Book of Deutronomy and the Jewish holy book called Chofetz Chaim - also having to do with the word Yerushalayim being spelled two different ways in terms of Gematria. But additionally, the date as mentioned in the beginning of Deutronomy that Moses spoke to the Jews as his final round of sermons for the following 36 days until his passing was on Rosh Chodesh Shevat, the very same date that the Sefer Chofetz Chaim is learned anew for the second time in a regular Jewish calendar year of 12 months. Certainly, there is no shortage of Divine revelations here.
And speaking of the letter Aleph, the birthdate of the Chofetz Chaim is 11 (Yud Aleph) Shevat. The Gematria of the name of the month of Shevat is 311, ending with 11 as is the number of the date. And the Book of Deutronomy begins with Moses speaking to the Jews on the "first day of the 11th month", and this final book of the Chumash consists of 11 Parshiyot. Now, just focusing on the last number of 311, as the letters Shin (300), Yud (10), Aleph (1), we also see the date of the month, the 11th of Shevat - as the letters Yud & Aleph. And this Hebrew year is 5771 - which is Hey (5,000), Tav (400), Shin (300), Ayin (70), Aleph (1), hence this year ending with an Aleph. So thus, this year's birthdate of the Chofetz Chaim in essence ends with an Aleph - directly or through Gematria - three times! (Note: This is the very first time since the thrice-a-year worldwide learning of the Sefer Chofetz Chaim that the Hebrew year ending with an Aleph is a leap year in which the learning of this Sefer begins on 11 Shevat - the birthday of the Chofetz Chaim!)
If this was not enough, both Hebrew names of the Chofetz Chaim - Yisrael Meir, as well as the two names of his father - Aryeh Ze'ev - ALL consist of the letter Aleph!
And among the numerous compositions of the Chofetz Chaim, one that begins with the letter Aleph is called Ahavat Chesed "Love of Kindness", this phrase which is also borrowed from the Tanach (Micha 6:8). This other Sefer of the Chofetz Chaim has also been divided up to learn three times yearly; and hence, the portion of learning for today - 11 Shevat, birthday of the Chofetz Chaim - is also the beginning of this Sefer.
And speaking of using Gematriot to include the word Sefer/book as part of the phrase of the name of a Sefer, the following may be even more incredible that want I wrote earlier here. Hold on to your seat for this one - the phrase Sefer Ahavat Chesed shares the same Gematria as a most popular phrase and Mitzvah in the Torah - V'Ahavta L'Reicha Camocha "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18) - 820! What I believe the ultimate punchline here is that it is not merely doing kindness in itself that shows love for another, for even a cold hearted doctor may do a few deeds of "kindness" in a show pretending that he cares for his patients when the only thing that he is thinking of is the big dollar sign. It is LOVING kindness, and if one is doing a favor for another simply due to his love and care for him/her, then it can truly be said that such a person LOVES to do kindness - at least for that individual.
One such person who could be described as a living loving kindness was Bernard Hochstein, may his name be for a blessing, who passed away a couple of years ago at the ripe age of 96 (and this is my 96th Post). He believed what the Torah tells us that if one gives charity, one can get back up to ten times as much as one gives - the one thing that we are permitted to test Hashem on. There are incredible stories of this happening to him, who became quite wealthy from the business that he started and ran until he sold it and moved to Israel where he lived for the last 34 years of his life. But it didn't just stop with his huge contributions to Jewish institutions and poor people. He believed that one should also be involved in the organizations that one supports.
To note, the famous outreach program & Yeshiva Aish HaTorah is only where it is at financially today thanks to this individual, who saw to it that this organization would have a building facing the Kotel/Western Wall. Another significant contribution that he had done during his lifetime, as mentioned in the Sefer Ahavat Chesed, was setting up a loan Gemach, that is, a fund for people to borrow money from (of course interest free as per the Torah's instructions) which is based in Jerusalem, regardless of how "religious" or not any Jew is, and is not asked any questions pertaining to his/her finances, only requiring one to own and bring in his/her credit card. For more on this individual, check this link - http://www.aish.com/jw/s/48939877.html.
And speaking of Aish HaTorah, today would be a prime day to write about the founder of this amazing institution - Rabbi Noah Weinberg, may the name of the righteous be for a blessing. You see, today - 11 Shevat - is his 2nd Yahrzeit, who passed away just a few months after his main philanthropist Mr. Hochstein passed away. Just as the Chofetz Chaim who was born on this date worked on various ways on bringing Jews closer to the Torah/Judaism, so was Rabbi Weinberg intent on doing just this, especially at a time that this was not popular or believed that it could happen that Jews who were totally non-observant and unlearned about Judaism would be willing to make the change. He was truly a pioneer of bringing Jews closer to their heritage in his days when few others cared to do the same. I believe that it is hardly coincidental that he passed away on the same date as the birthdate of the Chofetz Chaim.
Now, before continuing on with a word in this week's Parsha that begins with an Aleph, this is the one letter in the Aleph Beit that is a silent letter - that is, it does not have a sound to it. (NOTE: Though most of us do not have a sound for the letter Ayin either, in fact, this letter has a sounding, which Yemenite Jews seem to have a grasp on, but it had been lost for most Jews due to a change of accent based on the climate of where they were living - probably somewhere outside of Israel). From the fact that the Aleph - the silent letter - is the FIRST of the letters, we can learn a very valuable lesson. BEFORE we begin speaking in a conversation with someone else, FIRST we need to be SILENT and think of what we will say BEFORE saying it. All too often, problems occur when we say something so to speak absentmindedly, while in the meantime, we have either hurt the feelings of the one we are speaking to or have spoken Lashon Hara about someone else, or we may have said something from someone who wanted it to be kept a secret.
Isn't it interesting that the name of Megillat Esther which is read on Purim - which is the name of Esther, based on the word for being hidden, begins with an Aleph? We have to keep our thoughts hidden long enough so that we finally speak, our words will not do damage. And speaking of Purim, there was an incident where in the Yeshiva of the Chofetz Chaim in the town of Radin, his students were having a good time on Purim, but it started leading to saying Lashon Hara. Realizing that the jolly mood of Purim had the students being a little unaware of what they were saying, the Chofetz Chaim calmly told them that even on Purim, one is forbidden to speak Lashon Hara.
Now, in this week's Parshat Yitro, we have a most significant word that begins with the letter Aleph - the very first word of the Aseret HaDibrot/The Ten Commandments - Anochi - "I AM Hashem your G-d who took you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery". The Midrash in the beginning of Yalkut Shimoni tells us that when all the other letters attempted to be the first letter of the Torah, and it was the letter Beit that begin the Torah with the word Bereishit (Note: The Sefer Chofetz Chaim also begins with a Beit beginning the word Baruch/Blessed), the Aleph was silent. When Hashem asked it why it was silent, it replied that it is the only letter without a plurism, as Aleph is one, while Beit is two, etc. Hashem replied that just as He Himself is One, so the Aleph being the numerical value of the number one will begin the Aseret HaDibrot, beginning with the word Anochi, which refers to Hashem.
Yes, we have a new beginning here, beginning with the first letter of the Aleph Beit - from the Aseret HaDibrot, the first words of Torah that we received from Hashem at the Giving of the Torah, which literally (and actually) means The 10 Statements/Words beginning with the first letter Aleph - to the final Book of the Torah, Moses' final set of discourses, starting with Eileh HaDevarim - "These are the Words/Statements" that also begins with the first letter Aleph. Now is the time to begin anew, learning the laws about the prohibition of evil speech about other Jews and putting them into practice - bearing in mind that the final word of the Book of Deutronomy, the final word of the Chumash, is the word Yisrael - the first name of the Chofetz Chaim, referring to the Jewish people. It is the last word of the final Parsha of the Torah - V'Zot HaBeracha - "This is the Blessing", which consists of 41 verses, just like the final verse of Psalms Chapter 41 that reads "Blessed is Hashem, the G-d of Israel, from (this) world, until the (next) world, Amen and Amen." And as far as the name Meir, the second name of the Chofetz Chaim is concerned, his title by whom he is known as "The Chofetz Chaim" - HaChofetz Chaim - the way it is worded in the verse in Tehillim, indeed shares the same Gematria as his second name Meir - 251!
Indeed, the Sefer Chofetz Chaim is THE SHOFAR OF TODAY - the Jewish book that should arouse us to repent of what is in fact the worst of sins. One meaning of the word Shofar is related to "make improvement/make beautiful". Indeed, instead of putting down other Jews because we think less of them for whatever reason, we should look forward to, if anything, making them sound good, especially with all the Anti-Semitism that surrounds us (which would decrease if we were to decrease the amount of Lashon Hara - and not by forming Jewish-Christian alliances, which is forbidden according to the Torah in any event). And then, when we improve ourselves, Hashem will look to improve our living standards - both physical and spiritual - the latter by rebuilding the true Jerusalem, not as the capitol of the "State of Israel", but as the holiest city in the world where we will have the Temple rebuilt, with no more Arab predators on our holiest spot - the Temple Mount - may it happen speedily in our days.
11 Shevat, 5771 - Birthday of the Chofetz Chaim & day of beginning Sefer Chofetz Chaim according to the schedule of learning this Sefer three times a year; 2nd Yahrzeit of Rabbi Noah Weinberg, founder and Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Aish HaTorah.
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