Vayikra

B”SD

 

Parshas Vayikra Ch 1 v 1

"Vayikra - And He called to Moshe and Hashem spoke to him from the Ohel Mo'ed (the Tent of Meeting)

Rashi teaches us Vayikra means to be called, but in a loving way, as opposed to the words used when speaking to the prophet Bilaam, that was more impersonal a way of happening on him for a reason, but not a calling with love. This sedra deals with purity, the laws of the Kohanim (Priests) and the offerings, to give of ourselves, something material in doing so we achieve closeness to Hashem.  

Do we hear when G-d calls us, we learn only Moshe heard the calling he had a finely tuned spiritual receptor!

http://ohr.edu/5112

Why Can’t I Hear G-d Talking To Me?

“And He called...”(1:1)

The London Symphony Orchestra takes its place on the podium of the Royal Albert Hall. The large double basses mournfully tune up. The piccolos prance from one octave to another. The dull dooming thud of a muted timpani is heard. Two swift taps of the baton on the lectern. The cacophony ceases, replaced by a mighty chord played by eighty instruments. The chord grows longer and longer and louder and louder. The entire audience is enthralled in rapt attention. The entire audience, that is, except a rather eccentric gentleman leaning over the balcony. He seems somewhat distracted. He keeps looking this way and that. His concentration is anywhere except on the music. It’s not surprising, however, for covering his ears are a large pair of canary yellow plastic sound-excluders. The sort that you see ground crews use when they refuel airplanes.

After a couple of minutes the next-door neighbor to this fellow cannot contain himself any longer. He leans over the balcony and starts gesturing to the fellow, pointing at the sound-excluders and miming “Your ears are blocked! You can’t hear anything because your ears are blocked!” The other fellow scrunches up his brow, cocks his head to one side as if to say, “What are you saying?” So once again the other points to the sound excluders and mimes even more loudly than before, “You can’t hear anything because your ears are blocked!”

The other fellow finally realizes that someone is trying to communicate with him and so he takes off his canary yellow sound-excluders and says blithely to the other, “I’m sorry. I can’t hear you. You see, my ears are blocked.”

Look at the world. It’s not a pretty picture. I don’t want to spoil your Shabbat, but I’m sure it comes as no surprise to you that world-wide poverty is on the increase, that our natural resources are dwindling at an alarming rate and that selfishness, greed and intolerance are as popular as ever.

Where is G-d? Is this a G-dly world?

No. This is not the world that G-d wants. It’s the world that man wants. G-d has created man as the being that chooses. This is man’s unique privilege — and his responsibility. There can be no choice without the potential to choose incorrectly. A world where choice has no consequences is, effectively, a world without choice. The world looks like it does because man chooses it to be this way, and most of the time man’s choices are dominated by his own selfishness.

The spiritual Masters teach that when G-d spoke to Moshe He spoke in voice that was overpoweringly loud, a voice that was vast enough to pulverize mighty trees. Nevertheless, the only one person who heard the voice was our Teacher, Moshe. And when Moshe heard that voice it sounded to him like a loving and gentle summons: “Moshe, Moshe...”

G-d’s voice is the loudest thing in this world. If we can’t hear it that’s because our ears are plugged with the wax of our own selfishness and egos, the detritus of ignoring the Designer and His design for this world.

• Sources: Rashi; Sifra

We are taught this Parsha is a good place to start teaching our kids Chumash Vayikra where the purity of a child meets the laws of purity and achieving closeness in service to Hashem.

http://ohr.edu/2117

Root And Branch

"And he called" (1:1)

If you look at a tree and see healthy branches, you can be sure that its roots are strong.

When a young child takes his first steps in learning Torah, you would think that he starts by learning "In the beginning of G-ds creating the heavens and the earth" and from there he slowly works his way to the end of the Five Books.

However, many Torah education experts start not with the Book of Bereshet but with the volume that we start reading in synagogue this week, the third of the Torahs volumes, Vayikra.

What is the reason to start with Vayikra?

Firstly, its easy to misunderstand the opening chapters of the Torah. They contain many deep mystical ideas which are understood only by the wisest and holiest people in each generation.

However, there is another reason. The Book of Vayikra is principally concerned with sacrifices. By teaching our children the book of Vayikra first, we are inculcating the knowledge that Torah can only thrive in someone who is prepared to sacrifice his time, his ego, and his pursuit of worldly pleasure to achieve its crown.

In a similar vein, Rabbi Meir Shapiro of Lublin (the founder of the Daf Yomi cycle of Torah study that recently completed its 11^th seven-year cycle on March 1^st) explains the saying of our Sages "Be watchful of the children of the poor, for from them the Torah will come forth."A Torah education does not come cheaply. For someone who has trouble making ends meet, the self-sacrifice required to give ones children a good Torah education is considerable. The Torah of these children comes through difficulty, from self-denial. Because the Torah of the "children of the poor" is earned through hardship and self-sacrifice, it has a staying power which lasts for generations.

If the branches look strong, the roots must be stronger.

• Based on the Avnei Ezel in Mayana shel Torah

The small Aleph in VAYIKRa

Many commentators discuss why the first word to call has a small Aleph, many claiming it is indicative of Moshe’s humility, he did not want to show off how lovingly Hashem had approached him, so he wrote the Aleph small.

http://ohr.edu/3429

The Big A

“And He called…” (1:1)

Scene One. The bridge of the USS Lincoln, one stormy night off the coast of Newfoundland; a dim green blip suddenly appears on the radar screen.

USS Lincoln (to Canadian Naval authorities): Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision.

Canadians: Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.

USS Lincoln: This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.

Canadians: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course.

USS Lincoln: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES’ ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH, THAT’S ONE FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER-MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP.

Canadians: This is a lighthouse. Your call…

A little humility goes a long way.

If you look at a Torah Scroll you will see that the first word of the Book of Vayikra (Leviticus) is written in an unusual fashion. The last letter of Vayikra — the aleph — is written much smaller than the rest of the word.

Why is the aleph small?

When G-d told Moshe to write the word Vayikra “And He called”, Moshe didn’t want to write that last aleph.It seemed to Moshe that it gave him too much importance.How could he write that G-d called to him?Who was he, after all? A mere man. Moshe would have preferred to write Vayikar — “And He happened (upon him).”In other words G-d just “came across” Moshe, He didn’t “go out of His way” to appear to him.

In spite of Moshe’s protestations, G-d told him to write Vayikra — “And He called”.Moshe put the aleph at the end of the word as G-d had commanded him — but he wrote it small.

What’s in a small aleph?

The aleph is the letter that represents the will, the ego. It is the first letter of the word for “I” — ‘Ani’. When a person sees himself as the Big A, the Big Aleph, Number One, he is usurping the crown of He who is One.

When a person sees himself as no more than a small aleph, then he makes room for the Divine Presence to dwell in him. His head is not swollen with the cotton candy of self-regard.

Moshe was the humblest of all men. Moshe made himself so little that he was barely in this world at all. He didn’t even want to be a small aleph. He, as no man before or since, saw that there is only one aleph in all of Creation, only one Number One — G-d.

Moshe made his own aleph — his ego — so small, that he merited that the Torah was given through him.

When Moshe had finished writing the Torah, some ink was left in his pen. As he passed the pen across his forehead the drops of ink became beams of light shining from his visage.

That extra ink that was left in Moshe’s pen was the ink that should have gone to write the Big Aleph; instead it became a corona of shining light to adorn the humblest of men.

• Sources: Ba’al Haturim, Midrash Tanchuma Ki Tisa 37, MiTa’amim in Iturei Torah

As stated above Rashi states Vayikra is to call lovingly reflecting the warm relationship Hashem had with Moshe, with Bilaam the encounter with Hashem is not loving a need arose and G-d appeared, – i.e. he happened on him, Rashi Ztl. points out to us that the cold encounter word is the same type of encounter as when Amalek happened upon Israel, but it was not in love and purity, Rashi points out the “Kr” without an Aleph is the same root as for Keri – Keri is a type of impurity!

The Value of an offering according to affordability:

Animals or birds or flour according to what a person could afford, Hashem teaches us that both the bird offerings (offered by poorer man) and the animal offerings (by those who could afford more) are a sweet and savour to him, highlighting the importance is the purity and desire of the giver’s heart – in this case value and size does not matter, you give according to your means.

Despite what you can afford Hashem looks to the hearts intent of an offering:

http://ohr.edu/1519

A LITTLE IS A LOT

"A satisfying aroma to Hashem." (1:9)

The Rema in his gloss to the Shulchan Aruch says that when a person drinks on Purim, he doesn't need to enter a binge that will leave him with fuzzy edges for days afterwards. Quite the reverse: "It is the same whether one does much or whether one does a little, provided the intention of his heart is for our Father who is in Heaven."

There is an interesting parallel to this idea in this week's Parsha: When a person brings an elevation offering, he may bring either cattle, sheep, birds or fine flour. After each of these categories, the Torah uses the phrase "a satisfying aroma to Hashem." Obviously, cattle are more expensive than sheep, which are more expensive than fowl, which are more expensive than flour. If the Torah wanted to tell us that G-d views all these offerings equally, wouldn't it have been enough to say that fine flour is "a satisfying aroma," and we would make the logical inference that fowl, sheep and cattle are certainly "a satisfying aroma?"

The answer is that, had the Torah left this lesson to a fortiori logic, we might have mistakenly assumed that fine flour is "satisfying" and fowl all the more so; sheep are yet more acceptable, and cattle, most of all.

Thus, the Torah writes after each category "a satisfying aroma" to teach that whether our offerings are large or small, G-d looks at them absolutely equally provided our intentions are for the sake of Heaven.

"It is the same whether one does much or whether one does a little, provided the intention of his heart is for our Father who is in Heaven"

Heard from Rabbi Mordechai Perlman

Thoughts and Insights into the Offerings

We learnt in a prior post that Kidney’s and Livers are removed, the Kuzari Yehuda Ha Levi wrote these organs detoxify the body, I read and interesting insight into the blood and fats that were also removed from the Korban:

http://ohr.edu/3060

“…and throw the blood on the Altar…” (1:5)

Of the great battles of history, the struggle to get out of bed in the morning ranks with El Alamein and Gettysburg.

Many early-morning Napoleons have met their Waterloo when faced with the supreme effort of raising themselves from the torpor of slumber into the harsh light of day.

In 1858, the Russian writer Ivan Goncharov published the novel Oblomov . The eponymous central character famously fails to leave his bed for the first 150 pages of the novel, and Oblomov has become a Russian archetype of sloth and inertia.

On the other hand, we need no wake up call on the first day of our vacation. We spring out of bed with all the alacrity and enthusiasm of an athlete. Similarly, our self-sacrifice in being the first in the lunch queue or the opening morning of the spring sales is legion.

Once there was a certain scribe who went off to learn Torah in the Beit HaMidrash. While he was gone, someone came to buy a pair of tefillin from him. His children said that their father wasn’t home, and so the would-be buyer went and bought from someone else. When the scribe returned and found out what had happened he was furious that no one had come to fetch him from the Beit HaMidrash.

A few days later, the scribe was again learning in the Beit HaMidrash when a tax inspector came knocking at the door of his home. Remembering their father’s previous wrath, the children hastened to summon him to the house. His reaction when confronted with this unwelcome visitor needs no description.

“…and throw the blood on the Altar…” (1:5)

In Judaism, we have “do mitzvot” and “don’t-do mitzvot”, and G-d has given us the character traits to accomplish both.

Every korban (offering) required that both the blood and the fat be placed on the altar. Blood represents alacrity, and thus it atones for running to do a “don’t-do”mitzvah — for example when we rush to say a juicy piece of gossip rather than tarry and avoid it.

Fat symbolizes lethargy, and it atones for indolence and non-performance of “do mitzvot” — when we wear the snooze button down on our alarm clock instead of getting out of bed to go to shul.

“Do mitzvot” require alacrity to begin and finish them. “Don’t-do mitzvot” need all the sluggardliness of a bed bug to keep us far from trouble.

Salt – The Lower water’s complaint was appeased by offer to use salt on the Alter!

A few year’s ago it was Seudah Shlishis and during this holy zman after singing beautiful Zmirot Rabbi Aurbach rose and spoke a vort in the name of the late Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky ztl.

Rashi brings down that on the second day of creation, there is no mention of it being Good, we learn out it is because on this day there was a splitting of the waters, an argument occurred that is the lower waters complained that the upper waters in the sky and heavens were close to the heavenly throne, and that it was unfair they would be so far removed from the Heavens and reside in a lowly place, and Hashem appeased them by telling them not to fear, that when the Mishkan and Temple will be built, and the sacrifices will be brought the service would be done with the salt of the lower waters.  This is quite a well-known Rashi, but what is it coming to teach us?!… This is where Rabbi Yaakov of blessed memory opens up our eyes…

The Salt of the lower water’s, was obtained by digging pits near the edge of the ocean, as the tides approached the water filled into the pits, when the tides receded the water in the pits evaporated leaving the salt residue.  The Salt was actually found in the lowest part of the lowest waters, Rav Yaakov ztl is telling us the vort is teaching us that we should not judge other people who appear lowly, because humble lowly people are suitable receptacles, vessels that have the potential to hold and contain or house the holy Shechina, yes Rabbi Yaakov is telling us be very careful not to judge a lowly person as that soul may be unbelievably high up in a spiritual sense!   We see this concept in the Torah where it teaches us to be gentle with widows and orphans, and strangers these are vulnerable people, in their fears they communicate and come close to Hashem – for if they cry out against you I will surely listen to them!  I was thinking Kal ve Chomer what if these souls bless you for your kindness to them, Hashem will heed their calls and what Blessing may come your way - just a thought.

"Rabbi Yochanan said, 'Wherever you find mention of the greatness of the Holy One, Blessed Be He, there you will also find mention of his humility. This phenomenon is written in the Torah, repeated in the Prophets, and stated a third time in the Sacred Writings.'

"It is written in the Torah, 'For Hashem, your G-d, is the G-d of heavenly forces, the Master of masters, the great, mighty and awesome G-d, Who shows no favouritism and accepts no bribe' (Devarim 10:17). "And afterwards it is written, 'He performs justice for the orphan and the widow, and loves the stranger, to give him food and clothing. (Devarim 10:18)…."

Prophets Isaiah 57 v15

“So says the High and Exalted One, who lives for ever and whose name is Holy: I live in a high and holy place, but also with the contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

Writings Psalm 68:4-5

Sing to G-d, sing praises to his name; Lift up a song for Him who rides in the deserts, Whose name is the L-rd, and exult before him; Father of the fatherless and a judge of widows is G-d in his holy habitation.

More on humility and the offerings:

Our sedra teaches us the deep fried offering was not to include Leaven (similar theme to the Chometz we rid of ourselves of as we approach Passover, Chometz represent something inflated and haughty that is why we clean out our houses of Chometz, We are not even seen with it, we disown any semblence of bread and substitute it for the flat uninflated Matzah – the poor man’s bread. 

It is a great Mitzvah to invite those who cannot afford a good passover meal to join our Seder night. This is an opening remark in the Haggadah of Pesach. If there are any poor men let them come in and eat!)

http://ohr.edu/1612

"When a man from among you brings an offering to G-d"

I remember, as a child, walking home one night from the underground station. It was a long twenty-minute walk. The misty night and the yellowish-orange street lamps made those chill London streets a bit like something out of an old Ealing movie.

Over my shoulder, I could see my reflection shorten as I got nearer to each street lamp, and then begin to lengthen in front of me as I moved away from it. At some point in the middle, the competing light from both lamps would extinguish my shadow altogether for a second or two. The sound of my shoes clicking on the concrete echoed through the empty streets. I was quite alone.

I thought to myself the only person who can see me is me. I began to imagine myself in a film. I was the cast, the crew, the writer and the director all rolled into one.

I suppose that most of us at some point have had a similar daydream, the feeling that our existence is perceived by no one but ourselves.

The nature of a child is that he sees himself as the center of existence. The minimum definition of adulthood is that I no longer see myself as the center of all things. I know that G-d is the center. (According to this definition, not too many of us escape puberty.)

At the center of our lives there is a battle, a battle between the ego on the one hand, that sees itself as the essential existence around which all else revolves, and the neshama, the soul, that knows that it is a piece of G-dliness, of holiness from on High.

This is the essential battle of our lives: to wean ourselves away from ourselves and return ourselves to the One, to the true Center of all.

"When a man from among you brings an offering to G-d"

The only true offering that we can bring to G-d is us ourselves, our egos. That is the offering that is truly "from among you".

 

May we get rid of the Ego the Chometz, and use this holy time to come closer and renew with vigour our service and love of Hakodesh Baruch Hu,  Have a peaceful and blessed Shabbos!

Michael

Vayakel and Pekudai

B'SD

 

Insights Parasha Vayakel and Pekudai

Our sedra Exodus 35 v 1 states

And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said unto them, These are the words which the L-RD hath commanded, that ye should do them.

We see from the above a unity, a gathering together, we had just been forgiven, Moses was glowing, spirits were high, we need to hold onto the inspiration the momentum, as it is with the inspiration we draw from Shabbos,

For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the L-RD.

Rabbi Aurbach taught us that we learn from here, i.e. the Vayakel (gathering) followed by the law of keeping the Sabbath is a principle that coming together as a community on Shabbos unified is the correct way.

Extract from Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein

http://www.chiefrabbi.co.za/2013/03/shabbos-part-xx-time-and-space-edited-transcript/

The sanctity of time and space

Friday afternoon, just before the sun sets, is a regular weekday; yet when the sun drops below the horizon, physical time is transformed from mundane to holy, as we enter a new dimension – Shabbat. Shabbat uplifts and infuses the physical property of time with holiness.

In addition to the holiness of time, there is also the concept of sanctity of space. For example, the Torah tells us that the Land of Israel is holy, and the Talmud elaborates on what this holiness means and its practical ramifications. The city of Jerusalem is the holiest city of the Holy Land, and the Temple Mount is the holiest place within Jerusalem. We have a similar concept of holiness of space within our shuls: A shul is holy ground, a sanctified space, which the Prophets and the Talmud refer to as a “mikdash m’at” – a minature tabernacle.

In the same way that Shabbat is the source of the sanctity of time, the Temple is the source of the sanctity of space. The Mishkan, the Tabernacle in the desert, and subsequently the Holy Temple in Jerusalem where we served G-d, was the holiest place and the embodiment of the concept of the sanctity of space.

 

Shabbat is intertwined with the Temple. In the Chumash, Shabbat is often mentioned in the context of the building of the Mishkan, and even more significantly, all the laws of Shabbat are learned from the Mishkan: the Torah commands us not to do any melacha – “work” – on Shabbat, which, The Oral Torah teaches, is defined as the thirty-nine categories of work done in the construction and service of the holy Tabernacle, and later on in the Holy Temple. In other words, Shabbat is the combination of the sanctity of time and the sanctity of space in this world. It is the basis for the sanctity of time and is also bound with the sanctity of space in being linked with the Tabernacle, because all the laws of Shabbat are drawn from the Tabernacle itself.

http://ohr.edu/3049

Shabbat “Upgrade”

“But the seventh day shall be holy for you, a day of complete rest for G-d…” (35:2)

No one ever complained about the hotel that lets you check in to your room at eight in the morning and lets you stay there until nine at night on the day you leave.

No one ever complained about the tailwind that reduced the four and a half hour flight from London to Tel Aviv by half an hour.

Or what about the audience with the Queen of England that starts ten minutes before schedule and goes on half an hour longer than you were told? No one ever said, “Excuse me your Maj., I’m sorry but I’ve got to pop out and do a little shopping. See ya!”

When something is special and important we want it to go on forever, and when it’s a burden, it can never be too brief.

There are two places where the Torah lists the Ten Commandments: in Parshat Yitro and in Parshat Vaetchanan. In Parshat Yitro, the Torah says, “Remember the Shabbat day to make it holy…” whereas in Parshat Va’etchanan, it says, “Guard the Shabbat day to keep it holy…” The Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni, Yitro 295) explains, “’Remember’ it beforehand, and ‘Guard it’ afterwards…” — meaning that Shabbat is so special and important that we should begin it early and finish late.

We find the same idea in this week’s Parsha.

“But the seventh day shall be holy for you, a day of complete rest for G-d…”

In this verse, the word “holy”, kodesh, precedes the word Shabbat; however in Parshat Beshalach (16:23) in a virtually identical expression, the word Shabbat precedes kodesh. In other words, in our Parsha the Torah says the kodesh should come before the Shabbat — the holiness of Shabbat should begin early, whereas in Parshat Beshalach the kodesh comes after the Shabbat, meaning that we should extend our Shabbat well into Saturday night.

It all depends on how you look at Shabbat. Is your Shabbat a 25-hour airline flight in Economy, or is it an uninterrupted audience with the Shabbat Queen?

Torah Portion  Vayakel http://www.shortvort.com/vayakhel-parasha/11779-2-ideas-about-shabbos Written by d fine 1)Fire! The Zohar has a novel understanding/reading of the third pasuk in Vayakhel. The pasuk reads (35:3) ‘do not ignite a fire in your dwellings on the day of Shabbos. But the Zohar understands ‘fire’ here to mean arguments and bickering. This is partly because fire represents passion. Whereas water symbolises a degree of calmness and serenity; water merely takes the shape of its container, fire, on the other hand, is more destructive, it moves, and can consume its container. Thus, according to the Zohar, the pasuk is warning us not to have destructive arguments with each other on Shabbos. In fact, Chazal (see Gemara Gittin 52a) reveal that the yetzer hara/sattan makes a special effort to push us to argue on Erev Shabbos - presumably he realises that an argument on Shabbos eve can spoil the sanctity and serenity of Shabbos. 2)Fire, Fire! The only act singled out by the Torah explicitly as forbidden to do on Shabbos is igniting a fire. The other prohibited activities are learnt via non-explicit references or rules of extrapolation of the Torah. Why is fire-ignition singled out? There is a halachic dispute in the Gemara (Shabbos 70a) as to whether this singling out of fire is to tell us that fire is the exception or the norm in terms of punishment for violation of Shabbos. However, the Da’as Zekeinim here (35:3) gives us another answer. Lighting a fire is singled out as a forbidden activity because it does not seem like such a big act (compare the act of building or weaving), so one might (mistakenly) think that the Torah never prohibited such a thing. So the Torah specifically mentions that even the small act of lighting a fire forms part of the prohibited acts of Shabbos. Indeed, the fact that such ‘minor’ acts are forbidden on Shabbos (and can carry the death penalty) show how spiritually important Shabbos is. For the more important an event is, the less leeway for error there is. Take a heart operation, for example. The smallest act can have the most grave consequences. So too on Shabbos, seemingly ‘small/insignificant’ acts are forbidden as a result of the day’s immense holiness and importance.

 

http://ohr.edu/5101

Insights

Wisdom of the Heart

“Every wise-hearted person among you shall come and make everything that G-d has commanded …” (35:10)

There are two ways a religious person can look at an airplane flight: a series of tiring inconveniences punctuated by the occasional real bummer, or an opportunity to be an ambassador for the Jewish People and G-d.

Assuming that we all want to be in the latter category, here are some “Guidelines for the Ambassador”:

1. When you arrive at the check-in, make sure that you do not push in line. Better, offer to let someone who seems to be in a rush go in front of you. (It always amazes me how people want to jump ahead to get on the plane – but the plane leaves at the same time for everyone.)
2. Smile. You're on Candid Camera!
3. Make sure you say "Have a nice day!" to people with whom you speak: the check-in person; the flight attendants; the security and the immigration personnel.
4. When you board the flight, look for a short non-religious lady/gentleman (elderly is better) struggling to put his/her bag into the overhead locker. Bound over and say, "Excuse me, can I help?" You have sanctified the name of G-d in front of a couple of hundred people.
5. Before reclining your seat, always make sure to ask the person behind if they mind.
6. Usually the "strictly kosher" food arrives before the rest of the plane is served. Better to wait till everyone else is served before starting.
7. In the arrival hall try to help a lady or elderly person remove their heavy case from the carousel.
8. Say "Thanks for looking after us!" to the police who usually supervise the luggage carousel when flights come in from Israel.
9. Never smuggle anything.

When the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem there was a revelation of the Divine Presence in the world that is impossible for us to imagine; it's like trying to describe a sunrise to someone who was born blind.

We live in a world of spiritual blindness where little light reaches our eyes; however, the Jewish People still have the power to reveal the Divine in our midst. The verse says, "And I will dwell in them." G-d says that His Divine Presence will dwell eternally in the Jewish People, even when the wood and stones of the Beit Hamikdash have lain in ruins for millennia.

Just as it took a wise-hearted person to build the Mishkan that revealed G-d's presence on Earth, so each of us can reveal the Divine Name with a little wisdom of the heart.

Parsha Pekudai

http://www.shortvort.com/purim/10160-united-together

Written by Marc Zemmel

It says in Parasha Pekudai the words "vayasu bnei yisrael" which means the "Bnei Yisrael made/built" (the mishkan). Hold on a second we know that isn't true. We know that Betzalel and the chachmey Leyve built it what’s going on here? The or Hachayim asks. He answers saying the Torah teaches us that it is physically impossible for one person to be able to keep all the 613 mitzvot. There are some just for cohanim, leviim, nashim etc. He continues by saying that yes, betzalel and the chachmey leyve PHYSICALLY built the mishkan but this could not have been achieved without some the following 1. the donations of half a shekel given by the other people of bnei yisrael 2. Providing of the raw materials 3. Providing Food 4. Looking after the families of Betzalel and the Chachmey Leyve. This shows that in order for the Mishkan to be built, the whole of Bnei Yisrael were needed which is why the passuk says "Vayasu BNEI YISRAEL" It was recently Parashat Shekalim and the question is asked why half a shekel? There are many answers to this one being as follows. Each person was obligated to give half. This shows that by ourselves we are only half. In order to be complete we need the whole of the jewish people together. On Purim we read Megilat Esther. When Haman demands from Achashverosh that the jews should be wiped out he uses the words (sorry only in english)the jews are "Scattered and dispersed". Why does he say both? To show that even though we are all scattered around the world some in Israel, some america etc. We are dispersed within that as a nation. There are arguments between these sects about that thing. That is a massive weakness. Before Esther comes to the king to plead our innocence. she says to Mordechai gather ALL the jews.......they should fast and I will fast as well. You could ask why does she need to fast being so nervous going to the king...they should fast and she will ask..or you could say why do they have to ask..she is the one asking. They all did both her and them to show in order to be saved we have to be UNITED TOGETHER as a nation and not "DISPERSED" as Haman picked up on.   My concluding words   The first redemption was a gift from Hashem, the final one may come when we unite in righteousness thereby earning it ourselves, this I heard from the Late Rabbi Goldfein of blessed memory!   Have a good week Michael.

The Egyptian suffering was measure for measure

Dvar Torah - The Ten plauges G-d's Measure for Measure

 

BS”D

We first learn the source of the Judgements to be mete out on the Egyptians from Hashem when he is talking to Abram at covenant of the parts:

Genesis ch 15 v 13:

13.  And He said to Abram, "You shall surely know that your seed will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will enslave them and afflict them…

14.  And also the nation that they will serve will I judge, and afterwards they will go forth with great possessions.

SYMBOLISM WE WERE STRANGERS – PESACH OFFERING

The sacrificial lamb was killed and eaten during the days when the Temple stood. A shank bone is used.  We are all strangers longing for the ingathering to our Land Israel (Isaiah 43:5-6) and the fulfillment of the prophecy of the rebuilding of the final Temple as fore told by Ezekiel. (Ch 37:26-28). The bravery of the Israelites in carrying out this request was remarkable the lambs were an Egyptian deity; to sacrifice them was to defy all the Egyptian country believed in to their faces and to oppose their false forms of worship. Rabbi Aurbach told me Pesach means Passover, as Hashem passed over the Israelite homes he had rachamim - compassion on his nation, so we should endear ourselves with this quality to the strangers around us. According to Rabbi Khan who has learnt the details of the preparation of the Pesach offering as per Rabbi Hirsch, the lamb was not put in a pot, it was not cooked and not held within a base setting, it was roasted on a spit,  it spun round and round on a stick, this can be compared to a stranger who is not grounded in the area he resides. Refer to Exodus Parsha Bo Ch12 V 8.

12 The L-rd said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, ² “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. ³ Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. ⁴ If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. ⁵ The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. ⁶ Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. ⁷ Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. ⁸ That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. ⁹ Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. ¹⁰ Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. ¹¹ This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the L-rd’s Passover.

ENSLAVED - MATZAH

Passover is a commemoration of the exodus from Egypt. The biblical narrative relates that the Israelites left Egypt in such haste they could not wait for their dough to rise; the bread, when baked, was matzah. (Exodus 12:39). The other reason for eating matza is symbolic: On the one hand, matza symbolizes redemption and freedom, but it is also lechem oni, "poor man's bread." Thus it serves as a reminder to be humble, and to not forget what life was like in servitude.

AFFLICTION -MAROR

Maror and Chazeret Two types of bitter herbs, symbolizing the bitterness and harshness of the slavery which the Jews endured in Ancient Egypt. For maror, many people use freshly grated horseradish or whole horseradish root. Chazeret is typically romaine lettuce, whose roots are bitter-tasting. Either the horseradish or romaine lettuce may be eaten in fulfillment of the mitzvah of eating bitter herbs during the Seder. The bitterness is symbolic of our Affliction.

When I was in Australia for my niece's Bat mitzvah, I went to a Shiur by a Rabbi Goodheart; his drosh gave me incredible insight into the 10 plagues as documented by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch ztl, in his Chumash describing the order of the plagues.

He worked out the plagues go in sets of three followed by a warning but also that there is a connection between plagues and the wrongs that Egypt did to the Israelites: Plagues 1-4-7 deals with us being strangers; 2-5-8 deals with our enslavement;  3-6-9 deals with our Afflictions. 10 deal a knockout blow to the Egyptians.

We see a parallel in history to these wrongs, the holocaust started with Jewish curfews and wearing yellow stars – you are not part of us you are strangers; We were rounded into areas or ghettos and finally we were exposed to untold suffering and afflictions. Kal ve chomer (how much more so) do we need to learn to be welcoming to those different from us, those who are vulnerable around us;  We need to treat those less fortunate than us with humility and respect and finally to ease the suffering of those around us when we see it. (these are the antithesis of the Egyptian evils)

A good friend of mine who has been in Torah learning for over 30 years, a big Tzaddik who suffers with his health, despite this he regularly visits the elderly in the old age homes, often socialising with old aged parents, lonely so far away from their children who have emigrated overseas, he alleviates their isolation by knowing them well and by name and by listening to their stories and taking an interest in their life experiences, may his deeds be repaid in this world and the next!  He told me, he learnt the antidote to arrogance is to develop a love of creation and our fellow human beings, by doing so we move away from self and into the realm of the other, caring and thus bring a Tikkun Olam – a fixing of the world. But the smiles and blessings these elders shower on him is something to also see!

The Plagues explained

Strangers

1-4-7   Deals with making the Egyptians feel alienated from their land:

 

1. Blood – the Nile was a source of comfort and convenience to Egypt - it was their "god", a source of water for crop growth, they washed and bathed in it, so G-d polluted it to show them only though his blessing however hidden it is could they have settled there!

4. Wild Animals – Normally stay in the wild, but now they came into the cities and caused havoc and fear, so the Egyptians needed to flee and run away.

7. Hail of ice and fire – Rain was uncommon in Egypt, it must have been frightening we recently had a storm in Bedfordview the hail stones, the size of golf balls fell, wreaking havoc on the roads, destroying trees and breaking windows.

We see all the above judgements are measure for measure, you made my people feel unwelcome and unsettled let me show you what that feels like!

Enslaved

Plagues 2-5-8

2. Frogs – The Egyptian masters were arrogant and looked down on the Israelite slaves, so Hashem sent his most timid of creatures, frogs to brazenly harass the Egyptian population.

5. Domestic Animals died of disease– These were luxury items for the Egyptians a means of transport, a form of wealth so Hashem slowly stripped them of the net worth their Assets died off.

8.Locusts – The vegetation a source of food was finally taken away from the Egyptians by the locusts.

Incredible three hits against their being supercilious and thinking they had a right to enslave us – their better than thou attitude; Arrogant from their wealth so he took it all away and finally stripped them of their basic livelihood!

Affliction

Plagues 3-6-9

3. Lice – These were small creatures that caused itchiness and frustration on the outer body of the Egyptian people an external affliction.

6. Boils– These were afflictions on the body of the Egyptian people!

9.   Darkness – Total paralysis, unable to eat or walk, they remained still!

Hashem afflicted them going from outer layers of the body to total paralysis where they could not even move!

Plague 10...!

Now all these judgements are done Hashem’s final message, you tried to destroy my first born the nation of Israel, it is time to attack your foundation, when you hit at the foundation the cookie crumbles, I will destroy all your first born, then you will know Hashem!

LAST WORDS

MORALITY IN THE JUDGEMENTS:

We see the morality in the judgments too, the first plagues, worked in sets of threes as described above were preceded by warnings to the Egyptians and their leader, the fact that Moses knew in advance and controlled the timing of the plagues from start to finish affirmed that prophecy and his connection to Hashem was a reality.

Moses does not take the lead in the plagues that involved the Land that he benefited from, he used it to hide the Egyptian body, or the judgement on the River Nile that protected him as a baby in the basket, these tasks are given to Aharon his brother to initiate, sensitivity and gratitude are so important, how much more so to living human beings. 

I heard on a tape by the late Rabbi Goldfein Ztl that the death of animals through sickness and the death of the first born are carried out by Hashem who is the true judge, these could not be done by fellow creations, a lesson of how we as mere mortals must value life, and especially the lives of our fellow human beings!

 

Have a good week

G-d Bless

Michael

PS I have just seen the pictures of the locust plague in 2013 just near the Suez, uncanny right before Pesach how incredible - there were close on 30million by estimates. Arbeh in Hebrew the word for locust it also means many! But don't worry too much Hashem assured us there will never again be a plague in Egypt like the one he did during the Exodus, i.e. where the locusts totally covered the face of the city so sky could not be seen!