209. Oneg Shabbos Chukas

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Issue

209

‫בס"ד‬

‫הריני בא ללמוד תורה לשמה לעשות נחת רוח לאבינו שבשמים‬ ‫מוצאי שבת ר"ת‬

‫מוצאי שבת‬

‫פרשת חקת‬

‫י' תמוז תשע"ט‬ 13 July 2019

‫קבלת שבת‬

JLM

MAN

LON

JLM

BMTH

GLSCW

GHD

MAN

LON

JLM

BMTH

GLSCW

GHD

MAN

LON

9.13

10.51

10.33

8.28

10.25

11.27

11.04

10.51

10.25

7.10

9.02

9.41

9.24

9.18

8.59

is the essential ingredient to purify ourselves from tumas mes, spiritual impurity from coming in contact with a human corpse. Rashi comments that this inexplicable law is one that the Satan and the nations of the world deride the Jewish people for keeping, which begs another question- why do they care? Is shaking four plant-like objects fundamentally more reasonable than using the ashes of a red cow to make that special “shpritzing concoction”?

GO TO ZIMBABWE! SCENARIO #1: You are walking Director Project 613 for Young Professionals down the street in Chicago minding your own business when a stranger runs up to you frantically and says, “Sir, please, you’ve got to help me. I can’t explain why, but I need you to go to the airport and take the first flight to Zimbabwe. It’s a matter of life and death so please hurry, I beg you.” It is safe to assume you will quickly move on before Mr. Zimbabwe gets more adamant that you go. Rabbi Shalom Garfinkel

SCENARIO #2: You are walking down the street minding your own business when your mother calls you and says, “Please, my child, you’ve got to help me. I can’t explain why, but I need you to go to the airport and take the first flight to Zimbabwe. It’s a matter of life and death so please hurry, I beg you.” As I have asked this question to dozens (and quite possibly hundreds) of students over the years, almost all of them answer that you get yourself to the airport and go to Zimbabwe! The key question is: Why? What is the essential difference between scenarios 1 and 2? In this week’s parsha, we learn about the parah adumah that

For questions on Divrei Torah, please email the editor Rabbi Yonasan Roodyn at editor@oneg.org.uk

The answer to both questions is the same. The difference between a stranger and our own mother is obvious. The depth of trust our mother warrants us getting ourselves up from our comfortable couch and getting to the airport ASAP! Our relationship with a stranger simply doesn’t have the depth of relationship to warrant anything more than moving on with our lives. Because we have a deep relationship with Mum, we don’t need an explanation. We have enough data points in our relationship to know that if she is asking, then it needs to be done if I understand it or not. Our fulfilment of the mitzvah of the parah adumah demonstrates to the world that we have a supremely close and intimate relationship with Hashem. We don’t need an explanation because we trust the Al-mighty would only ask us if it’s important for us to do. And that is why the Satan and the nations of the world can’t stand this mitzvah. Satan’s job is to prosecute the Jewish people for their shortcomings. But when we serve Hashem with full dedication without an explanation, then what higher level of service could there be? What greater expression of the depth of our relationship with Hashem could there be? So, now we know what to do with the stranger if he asks us to go to Zimbabwe. And now we know what we’ll do when we have the opportunity to perform the mitzvah of the red cow. But in the meantime, as we go about our days as Jews, let this red cow inspire us to rededicate our efforts to serving Hashem if we see the results or not, if the mitzvah is pleasant or not, and if the mitzvah “works for us” or not. And may we all be blessed with a “moo-ving” Shabbos!

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N OW R E AC H I N G

45 0 0 P E O P L E

I N 24 C O U N T R I E S

Yerushalayim, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Baltimore, Beit- Shemesh, Birmingham, Borehamwood, Budapest, Cancun, Detroit, Edgware, Elstree, Gateshead, Gibraltar, Glasgow, Hale, Henderson, Hong Kong, Ilford, Johannesburg, Lakewood, Larnaca, Las Vegas, Leeds, London, Los Angeles, Manchester, Melbourne, Memphis, Miami, Milan, New York, Oslo, Paris, Petach Tikva, Philadelphia, Pressburg, Radlett, Ruislip, Santiago, Sao Paulo, Stanmore, Southend, Tallinn, Tarzana, Toronto, Uman, Vienna, Zurich


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