Oneg Summer Edition

‫‪Summer‬‬ ‫‪OnegShabbos‬‬

‫‪edition‬‬

‫ואתחנן‬ ‫עקב‬ ‫ראה‬ ‫שופטים‬ ‫כי תצא‬ ‫כי תבוא‬

‫תשע"ז‬

‫‪2017‬‬

ShailaText: RABBI YONASAN ROODYN ONEG, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

O

ur holiday period starts with Parshas Va’eschanan. This sedra, along with many of the others in Sefer Devarim, contains major yesodos in emunah and hashkafa, but

When staying in a rented self-catering cottage or flat or a non-kosher hotel, or even in a selfowned property far from any established Jewish community, many shailos can arise.

The Federation ShailaText team have put together these frequently asked questions.

Please note that the responses are intended to be a guideline and wherever possible one should consult one’s own Rav.

are rarely studied in school, due to them falling during the weeks when school is out.

Perhaps this is actually a blessing in disguise. These summer weeks, with their relaxed, family orientated schedule, provide us with an opportunity to discuss these themes with our children.

This week’s parsha includes the shema, the most fundamental declaration of kabalas ol malchus Shamayim. The shema contains the basic principles of ahavas Hashem¸ love of G-d and Torah study and requires us to teach these to our children, ‫בשבתך‬

‫בביתך ובלכתך בדרך ובשכבך ובקומך‬. The use of the letter ‫ ב‬before these verbs can be interpreted to say that the way that we teach these ideas to our children is davka in the way that we sit in our homes, the way that we travel, the way that we lie down and the way we get up.

Torah living provides us with a rich, vibrant and exciting calendar, each season with its own moods and yamim tovim. The summer weeks between the sadness of the nine days and the ever increasing intensity of Elul, provide us with an opportunity to teach by example how one lives as a Jew. Whether we are sitting, realxing at home or travelling on the motorway, the manner in which we start and end our days with Torah and Tefilla and the enthusiasm with which we do so, will ‫ אי’’ה‬provide our children with wonderful, positive lessons for life.

It is with this in mind that we are proud to offer this publication to the community. It hasn’t been easy to meet the tight deadlines to get this done in time, but the fact that it has been done is testimony to the importance that the entire team attach to this project. We offer our heartfelt thanks to all the contributors, as well as the graphic designers and printer who have worked around the clock to ensure to provide you with material to learn, share and discuss over the holiday period.

Wishing you an enjoyable and relaxing summer break.

PART 1: THE KITCHEN 1. Can I kasher the microwave in a holiday cottage?

How? Many just double wrap all food taking care to ensure that any bags/ wrapping don’t burst. However, if it is necessary to kasher the microwave, follow these steps. A) Ensure it hasn’t been used for 24 hours and that it’s absolutely clean. B) Place a container filled with water inside the microwave and heat it up on high for long enough that it steams out of the oven. Then move the container and steam out the oven again (thereby ensuring that the second time it kashers the area which was under the container the first time around.) The microwave may now be used as normal.

2. Do I need to kasher the sinks in a non-kosher holiday kitchen or is it enough to use a washing up bowl?

You may use washing up bowls in a treif sink. Alternatively, metal sinks can be kashered by ensuring they are clean, leaving for 24 hours and then pouring water from a kettle immediately after it has been boiled, keeping the spout close to the surface and making sure that each part of the sink is completely dry when the water from the kettle comes into contact with it. Ideally you should then run cold water over it.

3. Do I need to cover the counters and the shelves in the fridge and freezer?

The counters will need to be covered if you want to put down anything hot. The shelves of the fridge/freezer do not need to be covered but should be inspected and if necessary cleaned, to ensure they are clean and free from food remnants from previous occupants.

4. How do I kasher an oven in a holiday cottage?

Does it make a difference if it’s gas or electric?

The Federation does not permit the kashering of ovens from nonkosher to kosher. Everything that goes into the oven should be doublewrapped.

5. How do I kasher an electric hob?

It is worth checking before you travel what type of stove there is in your holiday house.

Your pots should not be put down directly on a non-kosher stove top, unless it has been satisfactorily kashered or covered with foil.

DO YOU HAVE A SHAILA? ASK THE federation

SHAILATEXT 07860 017 641

SUMMER HOLIDAY GUIDE For a standard electric ring or electric metal plate on which the pot rests, clean the hob and turn each ring on to full power for 45 minutes. There is no need to wait 24 hours.

However, for electric rings that are embedded into a glass stove top, kashering by heating it up will not suffice. We recommend that one bring along a couple of electric rings as the other option is to cover the stove top with thick silver foil – but this may crack the glass surface.

6. How do I kasher a gas hob?

Clean the hob thoroughly and leave on full flame for 20 minutes.

Ideally, cover the hob with a blech or a simmer ring during this process. If you don’t want to kasher the hob, ensure it is clean and place chicken wire (or the wire grate from a disposable BBQ) between the pot and the hob.

7. How do I kasher an induction hob?

Induction hobs cannot be easily koshered, but they can be used if they are cleaned and covered with induction discs. For purchase follow the link Induction hobs present a similar problem; however, a practical solution is to use induction transfer discs – to purchase follow this link: https://tinyurl.com/yc6sa6yw.

8. Am I allowed to buy pas palter and/or chalav stam when on holiday away from an established Jewish community?

When you are not staying near any shops where kosher food can be purchased, you may eat genuine pas palter products. However, there is no heter to use products with unsupervised milk (cholov stam), both food and drink, in this situation.

9. Can I use the dishes/cutlery/glassware provided by the holiday cottage if it’s just for cold food?

Ideally a person should use kosher crockery, cutlery etc or disposable items. However, if nothing is available, one off use of cups, plates, bowls and spoons for cold foods is permitted. Knives and (and even forks) should not be used due to the pressure involved in their use.

10. Can I use the kettle provided by the cottage?

If the kettle looks normal and has only a white residue inside it, then we do not need to be concerned that it has been used for boiling other things. It can therefore be used. Preferably wipe down the outside first and then boil it up once and discard the water. It can then be used as normal. However, if it has a black residue inside it then you should not use it as this would indicate it has been used to heat something other than water.

11. The property owners have left jars of coffee and sugar, bottles of oil etc for cooking. These are all kosher-certified or approved but have been started by the previous residents and presumably used with non-kosher cutlery, crockery, in non-kosher food products. Can I use these items or do I need to start new jars/ bottles?

You should not use these items but should rather bring your own along.

12. They have also left a welcome bowl of fruit out – no idea if any of it might be from Israel and this a maaser question. Can I eat it?

Yes in this situation you can assume the fruit does not originate from Eretz Yisrael and need not have any concerns about shemitta or maaser.

13. Is it possible to kasher the barbecue in the cottage garden?

It is very difficult to kasher a barbecue from treif, therefore you should rather take along disposable barbecues and use the property’s barbecue as a safe place to rest it.

PART 2: SHABBOS 1. How do I know what time to bring Shabbos in and out?

The simplest way is to enter the postcode of the place you are staying into a website such as myzmanim.com. Remember to write down the time of motsei Shabbos on a piece of paper so you can access it during Shabbos!

2. There is no minyan nearby and I’ll be davening b’yechidus on Shabbos – can I bring in Shabbos early as I do at home if I want to?

Yes, you may bring in Shabbos at any time after Plag Hamincha.

3. How do I know how far I can walk on Shabbos?

Since these halachos do not generally apply in major cities, many people are unaware that walking 2000 amos (approx. 1km) past the last house in the village is not permitted. The calculations of techum Shabbos are very complex and serious – you need to check with your Rav so they can work out the necessary measurements for you.

4. My cottage / hotel room does not allow the lighting of candles indoors – what do I do for candlelighting on Shabbos?

If there is no option to use candles in any part of the building then you should switch on a regular filament light and have in mind the intention to fulfil the mitzvah of Hadlakas Neiros with that. There are differing views regarding whether the brocha should be made, so ideally consult your own Rav on this – but the default position would be that no brocha is made.

5. The cottage has an automatic sensor light in the front /back garden that is activated at dusk and goes on whenever someone walks past it – if I can’t figure out how to disable it, does that mean I can’t leave the house after dark on Friday evening / Shabbos evening?

This is a debated point but there is room to allow going out as long as you don’t actually need or specifically intend to benefit from the light. An important point for consideration is whether the area is lit by other light sources; if it is so dark that it is unusable you should not leave the house in this direction.

6. The property has a cleaning service which comes in every Saturday. Are the cleaners allowed to vacuum and do other melacha seeing as I continued on next page

continued from previous page

haven’t asked them to come and they are really doing this work for the property owners and not for me (but I will of course benefit from the service)?

Even though you will indirectly benefit from the service it is permitted and you do not have to be concerned about this.

7. I’m staying in a non-kosher hotel. If a nonJewish guest is using the lift on Shabbos and pressing all the buttons etc without me asking, would I be able to use the lift with him?

No this would not be permitted.

8. I am in a hotel and the lights in the corridor switch on as you walk in. What do I do regarding Shabbos?

This is a problematic situation and we recommend strongly that before booking one make advance enquiries in order to avoid these situations.

If this is no longer possible, you will need to discuss your options with a Rov who may be advise that you ask a non-Jew to accompany you instead of turning on the light yourself. Based on a knowledge of your situation there may also be room for further leniency and so in advance of asking a Shaila you should investigate if the hallways are lit sufficiently to manage to walk through them without those lights (an outdoor street light, for example, may be sufficient for these purposes.)

9. We are in a non-Jewish hotel. Are you able to ask for a hot coffee on Shabbos either in advance or on the day?

One may not instruct a non-Jew to perform an action prohibited for a Jew. You would need to know what the hotel’s hot water arrangements are.

If they have push button hot water you could not order a coffee or even hot water like you can’t operate the machine yourself. Ordering before shabbos would also be prohibited.

Water already in a dedicated (for kashrus reasons) hot water jug may be used if it was filled for public use. You may find this at a coffee bar table.

If they have pre-heated water in an urn you could ask for some. This is permitted even if the hot water may have been heated on Shabbos as the intention was to serve the general non-Jewish clients and not the Jewish guest specifically. In both of the above cases you can add instant coffee as you do at home. Remember their crockery can’t be used and you would need to use disposable cups etc.

10. What do I do if I come up against issues when I’m on holiday that have not been answered in this guide?

We always recommend asking your local Rov where available but if not feel free to ‘Ask The Federation!’ Our service remains active over the summer – simply text your question to 07860 017 641 for a response within four working hours. Please give as much detail as possible, which will ensure a speedier response to your question.

CHECKLIST OF ITEMS THAT MAY BE USEFUL TO TAKE ON HOLIDAY WITH YOU ÂÂ Sticking tape and strong magnet to prevent the light in the refrigerator door switching on automatically when opened ÂÂ Plug in time-switches ÂÂ Chicken wire or the grate from a disposable barbecue to avoid needing to kasher a gas hob ÂÂ Foil or oven-safe bags for double wrapping in the oven or microwave

OnegShabbos

‫בס"ד‬

North West London’s Weekly Torah & Opinion Sheets A Torah publication that enables local Rabbonim and Avreichim to share their insights and Divrei Torah on a variety of different levels, to provide something for everyone

‫י"ג אב תשע"ז‬

DEVARIM 3:23–7:11 // ‫ שבת נחמו‬// ‫פרשת ואתחנן‬

5TH AUGUST 2017

Shabbos Times

LONDON

MANCHESTER

GATESHEAD

‫הדלקת נרות‬

8:28 PM

8:44 PM

8:47 PM

‫מוצש’’ק‬

9:43 PM

10:03 PM

10:10 PM

K I N D LY S P O N S O R E D

‫לעילוי נשמת הש"ץ שלמה בן אברהם משה ז"ל לעילוי נשמת חנה בת אלעזר ע"ה‬

Harav Tzvi Kushilevsky

Rosh Yeshivas Heichal HaTorah, Yerushalayim

Parshah

Clinging to life

Transcribed by Rabbi Daniel Fine

And you who cling to Hashem your G-d, you are all alive today Devarim 4:4

saw and heard the spectacle, there is no room for doubt.

Ramban ibid.

The above pasuk instructs us to cling to Hashem and assures us that those who do so receive life. But how is this achieved; how does one cling to Hashem?

The above comment of the Ramban is a critical one.

Remembering Mattan Torah at Har Sinai is a mitzvah.

This means that the giving of the Torah was not only a means to performing mitzvos; it achieved something in and of itself. It was a spectacle and experience that produced profound emunah - a relationship with Hashem and an acute sensual awareness of His existence. The Kuzari (3:5) also underlines this point, writing that a true chassid harnesses his intellectual and mental faculties to (also) picture what happened at Har Sinai.

You are all living today - kal va’chomer from the cows donated by the Nesi’im to carry the Aron in the desert; they lived until Shlomo offered them as korbanos Tosafos, Zevachim49b ‘veha’ [Though the Leviim carried the Aron (with no wagon or cows), it seems like when the Leviim were unable to carry the Aron (at night for example), the Aron was placed on wagons, supported by the cows.] We see from our Tosfos that chaim kulchem ha’yom is ascribed to the carrying of the Aron, the home of the Torah. Our pasuk is telling us that to merit real life one has to be connected to the Torah, one has to cherish, value and support the Torah - care for it by studying it.

Every so often, let us picture the scene of Mattan Torah for ourselves; the encampments, how they got up that morning, the feelings of anticipation and trepidation combined, and the awesome experience of Mattan Torah.

Remembering Har Sinai

The Paragraphs of the Shema

But be careful, and guard your selves a lot; lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen - a day which you stood before Hashem your G-d at Chorev Devarim 4:9-10

Why do we say shema (the ve’ahavta... paragraph) before ve’haya im shamo’a? In order to first accept upon ourselves the yolk of Heaven (ol malchus shamayim) and then then ol of mitzvos Gemara Brachos 13b

I am cautioning you to guard this mitzvah and to remember where the mitzvos came from; do not forget Ma’amad Har Sinai, all the things you saw there...

We read shema before ve’haya im shamo’a because it contains yichud Hashem, His love and Torah study...

Rambam hilchos Kriyas Shema 1:2

The benefit of this mitzvah is great. Had the Torah been given by Moshe, this would have created an element of doubt - despite his prophecy having been verified. But since Hashem gave us the Torah, and our eyes and ears

The Rambam writes that three strands combine in the first paragraph of Shema - yichud Hashem, loving Hashem, and learning Torah. But why does the Rambam continued on page 12

For questions on Divrei Torah please contact the Editor in Chief, Rabbi Yonasan Roodyn: rabbiroodyn@jewishfuturestrust.com To receive this via email please email: mc@markittech.com

To Sponsor a Week please email mc@markittech.com

Cost per week: £500 - which covers production costs

‫לרפואת‬

‫אריאל יהודה בן יהודית נ"י‬ ‎'‫חיה רוחמה בת אטא תחי‬

This weeks Oneg Shabbos Publication is sponsored ‫פיה פתחה בחכמה‬ ‫ותורת חסד על לשונה‬

‫לע"נ‬

‫מרת בריינלא‬ ‫בת נפתלי ע"ה‬ Mrs Martha Hofbauer OH ‫נפטרה שבת נחמו‬ ‫י'ג מנחם אב תשע'ג‬

Auntie Martha to so many

‫ה‬.‫ב‬.‫צ‬.‫נ‬.‫ת‬

To sponsor Rav Tzvi Kushelevsky's seforim & books please contact Shmuel Oppenheimer at shmop613@gmail.com

NOW IN THE FOLLOWING PLACES

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, Miami, Milan, New York, Oslo, Paris, Petach Tikva, Philadelphia, Pressburg, Radlett, Ruislip, Santiago, Sao Paulo, Southend, Tallinn, Tarzana, Toronto, Uman, Vienna, Zurich

Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Schechter

6

Parshah

Author of Seforim, Parshah Pshetl

Double Nechama – The Tefilah SEDRA SUMMARY Hashem Wants To Hear Thank you to Chabad.org

‫“ד’ אלקים אתה החלות להראות את עבדך את גדלך‬ ‫ל בשמים ובארץ אשר יעשה‬-‫ אשר מי א‬,‫ואת ידך החזקה‬ ]42:3[ ”‫כמעשיך וכגבורתך‬

M

oses tells the people of Israel how he implored G-d to allow him to enter the Land of Israel, but Hashem refused, instructing him instead to ascend a mountain and see the Promised Land.

“Hashem (the written Shem of Adnus ‫י‬-‫נ‬-‫ד‬-‫)א‬, Elokim (written with the Shem Havayah ‫ה‬-‫ו‬-‫ה‬-‫)י‬, You had begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand, for what power is there in heavens or on earth that can perform according to Your deeds and according to Your mighty acts.” The Shem Havayah pronounced as the Name of Adnus is a Name that represents Rachamim, while the Shem Elokim is a Name that represents Din, judgment. Rashi explains that Moshe was saying that Hashem is merciful in judgment, and that Moshe understood from Hashem that although there had been a decree against Moshe’s entering Eretz Yisroel, nonetheless, he was to Daven to Hashem to have the decree annulled and be allowed to enter. Why does Moshe say these two Names of Hashem when he begins to beseech Hashem to allow him to enter Eretz Yisroel?

Continuing his “review of the Torah,” Moses describes the Exodus from Egypt and the Giving of the Torah, declaring them unprecedented events in human history. “Has there ever occurred this great thing, or has the likes of it ever been heard?

Did ever a people hear the voice of Hashem speaking out of the midst of the fire . . . and live? . . . You were shown, to know, that Hashem is G-d there is none else beside Him.” Moses predicts that in future generations the people will turn away from G-d, worship idols, and be exiled from their land and scattered amongst the nations; but from there they will seek Hashem, and return to obey His commandments.

Our Parshah also includes a repetition of the Ten Commandments, and the verses of the Shema, which declare the fundamentals of the Jewish faith: the unity of Hashem (“Hear O Israel: the Lord our G-d, the Lord is one”); the mitzvos to love G-d, to study His Torah, and to bind “these words” as tefillin on our arms and heads, and inscribe them in the mezuzot affixed on the doorposts of our homes.

THE ABUSE HAPPENED 20 YEARS AGO

The Aderes Eliyahu explains that Moshe used these two Names of Hashem, for he was requesting two things, in the world Above, and in this world.

He therefore was Mispalel with two Names of Hashem. The Netziv explains that it is with these Names which Hashem runs the world. The Shem Havayah is that which Hashem runs the world through “‫ – ”הטבע‬nature (The Shem ‫ם‬-‫י‬-‫ה‬-‫ל‬-‫א‬, and ‫ הטבע‬are the same Gematria). The Shem Adnus is when Hashem shows that He is Master of the world, and breaks nature, like a master does and shows that he can follow his desires no matter what the circumstances. Moshe was beseeching Hashem that he be allowed to enter Eretz Yisroel with any Name of Hashem – be it through the regular means of “nature,” or by Hashem demonstrating that He is Master and allowing him to enter.

Moshe Rabbeinu understood that according to Din he should not be allowed to enter Eretz Yisroel, nonetheless, he was asking for mercy to be allowed to enter (Ohr Hachaim).

The Ben Yehoyada says on the Haftorah - “‫נחמו‬ ‫ יאמר אלקיכם‬,‫ "נחמו עמי‬- “Comfort, Comfort, My

people, says your G-d.” Why is there a double Loshon of “‫ ?”נחמו‬Moshol – A businessman earned much money every day that he worked, and was thrown into prison by the king. After three years of being in prison, he is told that the king is going to release him from prison and allow him to return to his previous job to once again earn the money he used to. This comforts the person for the future, that while he was in prison he could not earn any money, and now would be able to. However, this will not comfort him for the three years he was in prison and could not earn any money. He will still be pained over this loss – that had he never been imprisoned, how much more money he could have. However, if the king were to say that not only is he to return to his position, but he will also be compensated one hundred gold coins for each day that he was in prison, then he will be certainly be comforted even for those days that had passed and that he was in prison. Had he never been in prison, he would not have even earned one hundred gold coins a day, and now he would receive that amount for each and every day for the last three years.

This person has two Nechamos, is comforted twice - once for the past, and once for the future.

The same is with Klal Yisroel. Certainly they are comforted with the knowledge that in the future they will be Zoche to the Geulah Shleima, and will receive great goodness. However, regarding the past (the present), when they are not Zoche to be on their Land, and they are in Golus, they are not comforted. They can’t learn Torah the way they want to; they are influenced by the Tumah of the other lands and nations; and they do not perform the proper Rotzon Hashem. We are being taught here that this is not the case. In fact, the days of Golus are good for them to be Mesaken their souls. continued on page 12

For questions, comments, to purchase the Sefer “Parshah Pshetl”, or to receive a free weekly Dvar Torah on the Parsha, please email: ParshaPshetel@gmail.com.

WHY DOES IT STILL HURT?

For information, support and advice, visit our new website www.shemakoli.org or call the Helpline 020 3670 1818

QUIZ TIME

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1. livingwithmitzvos.com

Why does Parshas Va’eschanon always come after Tisha BeAv, known as “Shabbos Nachamu”?

Rabbi Alan Lewis

Rav of Yeshurun, Edgware; Bein Din Registrar

7

This page is sponsored

by Federation

Parshah

What does it really mean to love G-d with all your might ‫ובכל מאדך‬.... ‫? ואהבת את ה’ אלקיך‬ In this week’s Parsha we have the first paragraph of the Shema and in it we have the famous commandment, “And you shall love your G-d with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might”.

The Baal Haturim writes that if you rearrange the letters of the word ‫( ואהבת‬and you shall love) you can spell out the word ‫ – האבות‬the fathers. He explains that when the verse tells us, “And you shall love Hashem with all your heart, this is referring to the first of the patriarchs, Avrohom, for he was the one to find Hashem in his heart. The words to love Hashem with all your soul is a reference to Yitzchok who gave his soul to the Almighty at the Akaidoh (the binding of Isaac). Finally to love Hashem with all your,‫ מאדך‬is referring to Yaakov who declared to Hashem that whatever physically would be given to him in this world, he would tithe it for Hashem. Hence it is through the forefathers that there are three aspects to loving G-d.

The Gemorah in Brochos gives us two explanations to loving G-d with all your ‫מאדך‬ – your might. The first one, as described above pertaining to Yaakov, is that a person can demonstrate his love for Hashem through the material objects that he acquires, by dedicating part of them to the Master of the world. The second explanation the Gemoroh teaches is that with whatever measure (middoh) He (G-d) metes out to you, then you are to thank Him. The Divrai Yosher asks, who revealed this aspect of love for Hashem that whatever comes the way of a person whether good or bad he should thank G-d?

QUIZ TIME

justice to him for he is then wiping the slate clean of his transgressions.

Rabbi Akiva commented that a person should accustom himself to say whatever the Merciful One does, it is always for the good.

In other words whatever happens to a person he should always feel that G-d is making it happen for his own good and through such an attitude he will be able to joyfully show gratitude to Hashem.

This matter is particularly pertinent to Dovid Hamelech for whatever happened to him even if it appeared really negative, Dovid somehow saw the good in it and therefore gave thanks to Hashem with happiness.

There is a famous story told about Rabbi Akiva that when he was once seeking hospitality in a particular town he found that no one could help him. With his lantern, rooster and donkey in hand he had to find refuge in the forest. During the night a wind blew and extinguished his lantern, a cat came and ate his rooster, followed by a lion that ate his donkey. On each of these unfortunate occurrences Rabbi Akiva declared,” Everything that the Merciful One does is for the good”.

In the morning Rabbi Akiva found out that a marauding army had come and plundered the town during the night, taking many captives on its departure. Rabbi Akiva realised that he could have been captured if he had spent the night in the town. Rashi comments that if his candle would have remained alight the army would have seen him and if the donkey would have brayed or the rooster would have called out, the army would have heard and taken him. Everything that had happened that night to Rabbi Akiva had turned out in the end for the good.

The Rabbainu Yonah writes that one should bless even the bad things that come the way of a person with simcha and accept the instruction of G-d with a pleasant countenance.

He should consider that everything that has happened for what seemingly looks bad as an atonement for his iniquities. Indeed the Yalkut Shimonee explains the verse in Sefer Mishlai (The Book of Proverbs), “joy for the righteous person is doing justice” – the simcha for the righteous human-being is when G-d is doing

It appears that it is Dovid Hamelech (King David) who showed constantly that whatever situation arose in his life he would always give thanks to Hashem. And so we find in the tractate of Brochas that a person is required to accept everything with simcha (joy). Dovid says in Tehillim (Psalms), “Of loving kindness and justice I will sing to you Hashem”meaning if there is kindness I will sing or even

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if there will be exacting justice I will also sing to G-d.

AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS 2. livingwithmitzvos.com

Once again the Gemorah in Brochos comments on the verse,” a Mizmor (song) of David when he fled from his son Avsholom.

Avsholom led an open rebellion against his father and was out to kill him and confiscate his kingdom. The Gemorah asks why is this a Mizmor (a Song) for Dovid? Surely this should be a Kinnoh (a lament)? The Gemoroh explains that since Hashem had said to Dovid Hamelech, “Behold I am going to establish something bad that will emanate from within your house”. Dovid was saddened and thought that maybe there was a servant or a mamzar that he had not shown sufficient sensitivity.

However once he saw that the source to this negativity came from his own son Avsholom, he was happy, for now he realised the source to the catastrophe was literally within his household and as a consequence he composed a Mizmor (a song).

Similarly the Gemorah in Kiddushin asks on the verse, “A Mizmor to Assaff. Hashem, the nations are coming against your inheritance”.

Once again the Rabbis ask, surely this should be a Kinnoh to Assaff not a Mizmor? The Rabbis resolved this problem teaching us that Dovid saw prophetically into the loving kindness from above in that Hashem was going to vent his anger on sticks and stones and not on the nation of Israel. We see that Dovid Hamelech had this special strength to see the good even in the most stressful of situations. So it is no surprise that it is Dovid who demonstrates to us that you can love Hashem with all your ‫מאדך‬- meaning in every aspect of life a person can give thanks to Hashem.

Rabbi Lewis can be contacted at: rabbi.lewis@federation.org.uk

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Rashi (3:23) brings that there are ten expressions of tefilla. Why did Moshe use here the expression of techina, supplication, asking for a matnas chinom, a present as opposed to any other expression or why not ask for permission due to his own merits?

Ronda Robinson

8

by

Rabbi Israel Meir Lau’s Revenge .

A true story from Buchenwald, witnessed by Rabbi Lau when he was a young boy again and again. In a private meeting before the ceremonies, Ben Hiller proudly told of his two sons who are rabbis, along with 15 grandchildren and 40 great-grandchildren.

Rabbi Lau’s eyes danced. “This is the nachas. This is also the greatest victory.

You kept Yiddishkeit, Judaism. The Nazis’ war wasn’t only against Jews. It was also a war against Judaism. They destroyed 1,046 shuls in one night on Kristallnacht. They didn’t take the Jewish banks, clinics, stores – just synagogues. So when you survived and you built a nice family, it’s a double victory, physically and spiritually.”

They sat face to face in the basement of a gracious home in Atlanta, a retiree from Queens meeting the former Chief Rabbi of Israel and both symbolizing the miracle of Jewish renewal. Although strangers, they shared an unfathomable pain seared into their souls by the Holocaust.

“It was hell on earth,” Ben Hiller, in his mid-90s, told Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, 80, who nodded knowingly. “Every day they had selections, killing those people who were weak. They took away a lot of our food. They made us fall out, all the prisoners in a circle. The SS walked the dogs around us and made us suffer more.”

Lau himself miraculously survived concentration camps and grew up to

become Chief Rabbi of Israel, chairman of Yad Vashem – the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, and a renowned international statesman whose son followed him as Chief Rabbi of Israel.

What is our secret of eternity, Rabbi Lau asked rhetorically. “Look at the walls, the ceiling, the ark on the east side. This is the answer. The answer is the shul and tradition.

Jewish heritage keeps us as a nation, in spite of pogroms and the Holocaust.”

“The Nazis knew that the shul is the heart, our heart. If it is alive, we are alive.”

It serves three functions for us: a place of prayer, Torah learning, and gathering.

Hiller said he was the only member of his family and one of 17 Jews who survived from a population of 6,000 in his hometown in Poland.

The Nazis murdered most of Rabbi Lau’s family as well, except for his older brother, his half-brother and his uncle who already had moved to Palestine. Liberated from Buchenwald by Allied forces in 1945 as an 8-year-old boy nicknamed Lulek, Lau kept his 1,000-year lineage of 38 generations of rabbis unbroken.

Embers of Life from the Ashes In Atlanta recently for the dedication of Congregation Beth Jacob’s renovated sanctuary, Rabbi Lau declared triumph

Yisrael Meir Lau (8 years old) in the arms of Elazar Schiff, Buchenwald survivors at their arrival at Haifa on 15 July 1945

Rabbi Lau as a boy, holding the flag

Rachel Charitable Trust QUIZ TIME

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What is so special about Eretz Yisroel that Moshe was so desperate to go there (something that we have found throughout the generations, the desire of great people to embark on difficult journeys to reach Eretz Yisroel)?

9

Rabbi Lau uses his life as a form of revenge. He consoles fellow Holocaust survivors, he uplifts Jews and gentiles alike, and he shares ageless wisdom with the world at large.

Rabbi Lau with Ben Hiller, his son, and grandson

It all began when he was liberated from Buchenwald and given a Hitler Youth uniform to wear because he had no other clothing. To quote from his autobiography, Out of the Depths: “The American soldier asked me what I wanted to do with my life, and I answered, ‘I want to take revenge.’

Hearing this, he gave me his rifle.”

In addition to his brother Naphtali, two fellow prisoners were from Rabbi Lau’s city in Poland: Leibel and his son Moishe.

Leibel was very sick.

Natphtali didn’t want the son to see his father dying, so pretended to take Leibel to a clinic. Meanwhile Leibel died outside. Moishe, upset that there would be no funeral, grave or shiva, insisted on saying kaddish for his father. “I know this is my duty. Give me a siddur (prayer book) for five minutes,” the boy said. The Jewish men replied to him, “Moishe are you crazy? There’s no siddur, it’s forbidden in Buchenwald.”

He carried the rifle with him through Germany, France and Italy, and ultimately into Palestine in 1945. As he grew older he learned there are other ways to defeat enemies who try to extinguish the flame of Jewish tradition.

He tells stories.

Rabbi Lau shared one he didn’t publish in his book because the subject, a modest teacher in Israel, was still alive at the time.

As young “Lulek,” Lau witnessed the events in Buchenwald on Shabbat HaGadol, the Sabbath before Passover:

One of the men whispered in his ear that an old Jew who worked in the laundry might have a siddur hidden somewhere in the concentration camp. Moishe went to the laundry and pleaded with the old man.

“My father died an hour ago. I can’t mourn my father, I don’t know kaddish by heart.

Can you please give me your siddur for five minutes?”

“The last year of the war, 1945, the sixth year already, we didn’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. We saw we were deeper and deeper in the pit. Every hour the train stopped. Hundreds of Jewish prisoners of war were brought to the concentration camp, from Holland, France, Austria, Germany, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary, Greece, North Africa.”

The old man was shocked. “Don’t speak about a siddur. It’s forbidden.” Moishe sensed the man was hiding a siddur, and took 150 grams of bread – his daily

meal in Buchenwald – from his pajama pants pocket.

Moishe extended the bread to the old man. “Please give me your siddur for five minutes. I will fast today but I must say kaddish for my father.” The old man replied, “Take the bread, you are young. I hope you will survive.” He left for a few minutes and returned with a siddur. Moishe said kaddish for his father, counting 10 shirts where Jews had left their imprint as his minyan.

Moishe died an old man himself in May 2016. Rabbi Lau told the above story at his funeral. “Moishe, how lucky you are. Three of your sons are standing here waiting to say kaddish for you; they don’t have to pay with their bread. We aren’t in a concentration camp anymore. We are in Eretz Yisrael.”

Rabbi Lau counts Moishe as another triumph of the Holocaust. “We never forgot: A child was ready to give up his food and starve. This happened in our generation.

It’s not Rabbi Akiva. When you see Jews dancing with the Torah in Atlanta, Georgia, who call themselves Congregation Beth Jacob, the chain is unbroken. We are a nation. We can look to the future with hope.”

In memory of

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Moshe was allowed to see Eretz Yisroel from on top of a mountain. Was this viewing for his benefit or for the benefit of the other Jews?

Rabbi Mordechai Twerski

10

Parshah

The Jerusalem Kollel

As Go(o)d As it Gets If there is one Parsha that celebrates Hashem’s Oneness, it’s Va’eschanan--”Anochi Hashem Elokecha” of the Aseres Hadibros, “Shema Yisrael”, “Ain od milvado” and more.

And if there is one Parsha that celebrates

of them) on there being no separate forces within Him--it’s pure Love.

the love between Hashem and the Jewish People, it’s Va’eschanan--”Ve’ahavta es Hashem Elokecha...”, “Hashem chose you as a treasured nation...He desired you... because of His love for you...”, the numerous underscores of the fact that the Mitzvos are for our good, and more.

And if there is one Parsha that is celebrated and linked together with consolation, it’s Va’eschanan--read

invariably

with

the

Haftorah of ‘Nachamu’, the first and most famous of the seven consoling Haftoras that follow the three weeks of mourning.

‘Yud-keh-vav-keh’--the Name of freeflowing, creative kindness--and ‘Elokim’-the Name of strict, restrictive discipline--are but different forms of the same Infinite Love.

There is nothing about Hashem that is not Love--among His fundamental Traits, His creations and His interactions with them.

“Yud-keh-vav-keh hu ha’Elokim”--they are one and the same: the Chesed and the Din, the sweet and the sorrow, the Lighter and the darker, the easy and the harsh--”ain od milvado”--there is no driving force and value that exists other than the Divine Love.

Once that becomes clear, when the Jewish People hear it well--’Shema Yisrael’-then there is naturally no other way for us to react than to love right back. And this great love fills our thoughts, our speech and our actions (ala the rest of the first paragraph of the Shema). Every single one of our life’s aims and endeavours become but different forms of reflecting this DeLightful Love, of spreading it, developing it and ultimately-engulfing the entire world in its Goodness.

Talk about a Super-Parsha! With all three of these powerhouses of truth and goodness coming together, how are we to make them coalesce, to understand the underlying connections between them?

When it comes to Hashem’s Oneness, it’s more than just a matter of there being no separate powers outside of the Holy One. There’s a recurring emphasis in the pesukim (at least upon a careful reading

The consolation gained from this perspective is now in fact double--’Nachamu Nachamu Ami’. Not only will we engage the rest of our lives infused with the comforting knowledge of Hashem’s singular Love for us, we also turn back towards everything in our past and in retrospect we can comfortably relate to it all with total peace and joy, even laughter. Eureka--every single thing in our lives was coming from the greatest Love, and it’s all leading towards the greatest Good!!

Nothing but Ahava.

but

Nechama.

Nothing

The only catch to seeing it is that one opening clause that we all know: ‘Shema Yisrael’--listen well. Penetrate the outer surfaces of Hashem’s worlds and words to clarify these truths that we already know, and then His DeLightful Love will shine through and glow.

Rabbi Twerski can be contacted at: chernobler@gmail.com Listen to his soulful songs on the Soundcloud page of 'Mordechai Twersky'

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Never ruin an apology with an excuse

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Not only was Moshe not allowed to enter Eretz Yisroel when alive, but also his bones after death were not taken there (unlike Yakov and Yosef’s as well as the other shevotim’s bones). Why not? Was this a punishment for him or was it for the benefit of the Jews?

Rabbi Alan Wilkinson

11

Parshah

Rabbi, Great Ormond Street Hospital

A Personal best Some people utilise the summer months to engage in sporting pursuits. There is often talk of competitions being won, records being set. A few years ago I witnessed one such incident with an individual jubilantly punching the air and announcing that they had just ‘knocked two minutes off my record time- a personal best!’ Whilst he was walking away from the Omud, being congratulated by friends and family, some of us were about to say ‘uvo l’tzion’.

Davening is one of the two primary conduits through which we forge our relationship with Hashem. Not taking every opportunity to develop that relationship properly is a clear mistake. Va’eschanan is one of the parshos that clearly connects to davening. Not only do we have Moshe’s prayer but we also have part of Oleinu (4:39) and the Shema (6:4). What can we learn that will enhance our davening?

Rashi says that ‘va’eschanan’ is one of ten terms for prayer. It is used when requesting an undeserved favour. Although tzaddikim have many merits, they are humble and do not feel that Hashem “owes” them anything so they ask Hashem to answer their tefillos as a “free gift.”

The Chasidim Harishonim used to wait an hour before davening, daven for an hour, and wait for an hour after davening (Brochos 30b).

This was to enable them to prepare mentally for the awesomeness of prayer by allowing themselves time to remove their thoughts from the physicality of this world. They spent that hour davening to Hashem that they should be able to properly direct their hearts to Him when they daven. According to the Divrei Chayim ‘va’eschanan’ indicates that Moshe did the same thing: ‘I begged Hashem that at that time, i.e., the time of davening, I will be able to say to Him all that is in my heart.’

Not something that can be done easily in a working day even without chasing records.

Rashi notes that by using the word ‘va’eschanan’ Moshe’s prayer is identified as a form of request, asking for something regardless of personal merit. Moshe is teaching us that when it comes to davening,

one shouldn’t mention oneself at all. Rather, one should beg for Hashem’s mercy, understanding that He owes us nothing.

Since tefillah is not based on merits, spiritual stature does not affect the effectiveness of one tefillah over another. The Midrash (Shemos Rabbah 21:4) says that Hashem listened to Moshe’s prayer just like anyone else’s. What matters is how sincerely one davens, not who he is.

The Gemara in Sanhedrin 44b says that anyone who exerts himself in prayer, even a person who is lacking merit, will have no enemies from above. Rav Dessler explains that to truly exert yourself while davening, you must really feel that you are begging for something that you don’t deserve. Davening this way protects him from any claim of unworthiness that the Heavenly Court may make, as he is admitting to it himself!

If Moshe’s tefillah was so heartfelt, why wasn’t it accepted? The Steipler answers that every time one davens properly, his tefillah is answered. Not every prayer gets an automatic yes, but a truly sincere prayer does get answered to some degree. The Gemara (Berachos 32b) states that even though Moshe never entered Eretz Yisrael, Hashem showed him the entire land in a prophetic vision. We must appreciate that just because Hashem has deemed it fitting not to answer our prayers in exactly the form that we wanted when we davened, it doesn’t mean that He has rejected them. With thought we may discover that Hashem has answered us in some way.

As Moshe opened his request that he be allowed to enter the Land of Israel, he began

with the words, “My L-rd, Hashem, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand. “ Rav Simla’i (Berachos 32b) derives from this that one should begin with praise of Hashem before one asks that Hashem grant his needs. This is the approach taken in the Shemoneh Esrei.

When we daven, we should realise that we aren’t asking for help from a human, whose ability to help is limited. Only if it is obvious to the supplicant that Hashem can do whatever He chooses to, and that He wants to help, is the prayer proper. We trust in Hashem’s omnipotence and desire to help us, and ask that our words be acceptable before Him. This is why we must start with praise to remind us that only Hashem has the ability to provide our needs, that He wishes to help, and will help if we have some merit. This faith is the basis of prayer, and without this faith fixed and foremost in our minds, our prayers are empty words.

None of this is easy. Rav Mosheh Twersky ztl used to stress the importance of working on our davening: ‘When one approaches another Shacharis, another Mincha…one could feel a sense of dull habit; but if one works on cultivating a sense of newness in it, then he will have simchah.’ He provided practical advice on how to do this, one suggestion being working on saying berachos with greater concentration for a short period of time.

During the holiday period, maybe we should aim for our own ‘personal best’. Our most focused davening.

Rabbi Wilkinson can be contacted at: genesisasw@gmail.com

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6. There is the mitzva of not adding to or detracting from the mitzvos of the Torah. It is easy to understand why we may not detract, but why can we not do more?

Harav Zvi Kushilevsky

12

continued from page 5 seem to veer from the words of the Gemara in explaining why we recite the first paragraph of Shema before the second?

Second, the Gemara (35b) later writes that the Shema paragraph is dealing with when we are performing mitzvos well, whilst the second paragraph is dealing with when we sin. Yet the second paragraph also begins with the words if you listen to My commandments... it is not all about sinning!?

And third, why does the Rambam limit the mention of Talmud Torah to the first paragraph of Shema - learning is also mentioned in the second paragraph?

The Rambam seems to have understood the Gemara to mean that the three strands he lists are all included in the Gemara’s words ol malchus shamayim; a complete commitment and dedication. The first paragraph includes that we are to devote ourselves to Hashem be’chol me’odecha - with all our money: total commitment.

Whilst the second speaks about us collecting and harvesting produce for us; this is commitment to Hashem’s mitzvos, but clearly an injection of our own wants too.

This also explains why the Gemara later (35b) writes that the Shema paragraph is dealing with when we are performing mitzvos well, whilst the second paragraph is dealing with when we sin.

Surely the first paragraph also begins with the

rabbi yaakov yosef schechter continued from page 6

The Ba’al Haturim says that the word “‫ ”ואתחנן‬is the same Gematria as “‫שירה‬.” The Beirach Moshe asks, what does Shira, singing Hashem’s praises mean here, when the point was that Moshe was beseeching Hashem to enter Eretz Yisroel? Ta’anis 25b – Shmuel Hakoton decreed a fast day, and rain came down before the rising of the sun. The nation thought that it was a great praise for the Tzibur that the rain came before they Davened.

Shmuel Hakoton explained with a Moshol why it was in fact not praiseworthy. The king commands that his servant be given food before he asks for it, so that he does not have to hear his servant’s voice. The Nimshol is that Hashem gave them rain before the rising of the sun, for He did not even want to hear their Tefilos. In the Haftorah of this week’s Parshah, why is there a double Loshon of Chet, and of Nechama? Being that Klal Yisroel sinned against Hashem, and they angered

their Master, and then did so again, they were doubly punished. Not only did Hashem not listen to their Tefilos, but He did not give them a Yeshuah before they were Mispalel either, (as opposed to what happened in the Gemara, that while Hashem was angry with them, and did not want their Tefilos, He did give them a Yeshuah). However, in the future, there will be a double Nechama, not only will Hashem fulfil the will of Klal Yisroel, and they will have a Yeshuah, but their Tefilos will also be wanted and desired by Hashem. Moshe was Mispalel that he should be Zoche that Hashem should desire to hear his Tefilos, and he should not be like a servant, where the master says to give him what he wants so that he does not have to hear his servant’s voice. This is the meaning of the Ba’al Haturim, that Moshe sang Shira to Hashem, for his wish was for Hashem to desire his Tefilos.

Moshe Rabbeinu was the quintessential servant of Hashem. Moshe was Mispalel

words if you listen to My commandments... it is not all about sinning!? Again the answer is that the first paragraph deals with fully accepting ol malchus shamayim and total commitment to it; the second paragraph does speak about the performance of mitzvos, but not of the total commitment that the first paragraph details.

Finally, this will also explain the difference in the references to Talmud Torah. The first paragraph is listing a total commitment to learning Torah, one whereby we become owned

by Hashem, as the Mechilta writes. The second paragraph is referring to one who learns, but not on the same level or with the same commitment and dedication.

with both Names of Hashem – but more than anything else, Moshe’s desire was to find favour with his Master. Moshe asked that Hashem be merciful in judgment, meaning that even if Hashem was not going to allow him to enter Eretz Yisroel, Hashem should desire Moshe’s Tefilos. Moshe wanted to enter the Land of Eretz Yisroel with every morsel of his being, but it was not for his own personal desires, rather it was so that he could further serve Hashem. If Hashem did not want him to enter, then his desire was not to enter – but for Hashem to hear and accept his Tefilos, for his ultimate goal was to serve his Master. The Nechama that we yearn for, is one where we will be Zoche to have a complete Yeshuah with the building of the Bais Hamikdash, and even more importantly, that Hashem desire to hear our Tefilos – our ‫ שירות ותשבחות‬to Him. May we be Zoche to see the rebuilding of the Bais Hamikdash, and have our Tefilos “accepted”

by Hashem, ‫!במהרה בימינו אמן‬

ANSWERS 1. Parshas Va’eschanon contains the second Luchos. These express the idea that after the breaking of the first Luchos there is still hope. So too, after the churban there is still hope and we believe in the coming of Moshiach and that the third Beis Hamikdosh will be built. It has a special name of Shabbos Nachamu being the first of the shiva d’nechemta, the seven weeks of comfort that follow Tisha B’Av, with a message from the parsha.

2. Perhaps the idea here is that Moshe as a great person who viewed nothing as coming to him and therefore did not use his merits as a reason to be allowed. He therefore asked for a present as opposed to demanding rights.

3. The Gemora (Sota 14a) says that there are certain mitzvos that can only be done in Eretz Yisroel and it was this that Moshe wanted so much to do.

Additionally, since there is more kedusha there, even the same mitzvos that are done there are changed and are of a higher spiritual quality.

Please could you ensure that there are ample sheets left in shuls for Shabbos before taking one home.

4. Rashi (3:27) implies that it was for Moshe’s benefit, the part of his request that was granted. Alternatively, we find elsewhere the power of seeing can cause goodness to be bestowed and here it was Moshe’s seeing the land that would somehow make it easier for the other Jews when they entered there.

5. Rabbeinu Bechai (3:27) brings that it was for the benefit of all the Jews who are buried outside of Eretz Yisroel – like the generation of the desert and all other Jews in exile throughout the ages. They now can feel “comforted” and honoured that also a great person like Moshe is also buried outside of Eretz Yisroel.

6. We must recognise that Hashem knows everything. If He gives a specific number of mitzvos then there is a reason for this number. Wanting to add mitzvos is like saying that ‘we know better’ and this is obviously wrong.

This newsletter contains Divrei Torah and may contain Sheimos. Please dispose of accordingly.

NISHMAS YISROEL • SINAI •YESHURUN • OHR YISRAEL www.federation.org.uk/sheimos-lgeniza

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DEVARIM 7:12–11:25 // ‫פרשת עקב‬

12TH AUGUST 2017

Shabbos Times

LONDON

MANCHESTER

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‫לעילוי נשמת הש"ץ שלמה בן אברהם משה ז"ל לעילוי נשמת חנה בת אלעזר ע"ה‬

Rabbi Adam Edwards ma

Director of Educational Development When Moshe approached the burning bush he heard the Al-mighty speak to him. “Take off your shoes!” Hashem commanded. “You are standing on holy ground.” Why did Hashem command Moshe to take off his shoes, and not to cover his head or prepare his heart and his head for the encounter?

I heard the following idea from Rabbi Yaakov Haber. He explains that there is a great difference between walking with shoes and walking without them. With shoes one can walk over stones, glass, water, even fire, and not feel a thing. Without shoes, even in the comfort of one’s own home, one can feel everything. Step on the slightest thing, even a small piece of lego, and the pain climbs right up the spine.

Hashem told Moshe that if you want to hear the word of G-d, if you’re going to be a leader of the people, you must take off your shoes. You must remove the insulation that you wear to protect yourself from the environment. It will hurt, but you must be able to feel every bump, every nick; you must be able to feel the pain.

A person who is responsive and vulnerable to external conditions and stimulation, who is quick to take offense or is touchy, is a person who will be susceptible to the attitudes, feelings, and circumstances of others. It is this individual who can develop a meaningful relationship with others.

It is this person who can truly help another Jew. It is this individual who can be endowed with prophecy and holiness.

This Parsha begins with “Eikev” and goes on to describe the most wonderful blessings possible on this earth. Rashi teaches that “Eikev”, which also means heel, refers to the “small” mitzvos, mitzvos that are easy to ignore; mitzvos that we step on with our heel. The major blessings of life, it seems,

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Parshah

depend on the small “insignificant” mitzvos of the Torah.

Yet when we look through the Parsha we don’t find any “small” mitzvos. Rather, what do we find?

1. Remember that Hashem was the one who took you out of Egypt.

2. Don’t forget Hashem.

3. Thank Hashem for your food.

4. Fear Hashem.

5. Pray to Hashem.

6. Love the stranger because you were a stranger.

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These appear to be pretty serious mitzvos! Why Eikev? What makes these mitzvos small?

The answer seems to be that although these mitzvos may not be small, they are easy to ignore.

They are mitzvos that require deep thought and high sensitivity. It is very easy for us to do all the “big” mitzvos while we insulate ourselves completely from showing gratitude, love and feeling the pain of the stranger. To this the Torah says : “Take off your shoes!” The heel is one of the most sensitive parts of our body. Take off your shoes and feel your surroundings, feel where you came from and feel where you are going.

The mitzvah of Eikev is to exercise our sensitivity and keep our feelings healthy and wholesome.

Before Moshe stood on holy ground he took off his shoes. Before the Kohen walks into the Holy of Holies he takes off his shoes. On Yom Kippur and Tisha B’Av we take off our shoes. Before we walk into marriage, parenting or a life of mitzvos, we too must take off our shoes; and we will then be blessed with all the blessings of the Torah.

Rabbi Edwards can be contacted at: rabbi.edwards@seeduk.org

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I

n the Parshah of Eikev (“Because”), Moses continues his closing address to the children of Israel, promising them that if they will fulfill the commandments (mitzvot) of the Torah, they will prosper in the Land they are about to conquer and settle in keeping with Gd’s promise to their forefathers.

Moses also rebukes them for their failings in their first generation as a people, recalling their worship of the Golden Calf, the rebellion of Korach, the sin of the spies, their angering of Gd at Taveirah, Massah and Kivrot Hataavah (“The Graves of Lust”). “You have been rebellious against Gd,” he says to them, “since the day I knew you.” But he also speaks of Gd’s forgiveness of their sins, and the Second Tablets which Gd inscribed and gave to them following their repentance.

Their forty years in the desert, says Moses to the people, during which Gd sustained them with daily manna from heaven, was to teach them “that man does not live on bread alone, but by the utterance of Gd’s mouth does man live.”

Moses describes the land they are about to enter as “flowing with milk and honey,” blessed with the “seven kinds” (wheat, barley, grapevines, figs, pomegranates, olive oil and dates), and as the place that is the focus of Gd’s providence of His world. He commands them to destroy the idols of the land’s former masters, and to beware lest they become haughty and begin to believe that “my power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.”

A key passage in our Parshah is the second chapter of the Shema, which repeats the fundamental mitzvos enumerated in the Shema’s first chapter, and describes the rewards of fulfilling Gd’s commandments and the adverse results (famine and exile) of their neglect. It is also the source of the precept of prayer, and includes a reference to the resurrection of the dead in the messianic age.

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Parshah

The Supernatural Land “A Land that Hashem, your G-d, seeks out; the eyes of Hashem, your G-d, are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to year’s end” (11:12) Not only were they punished for their report, but we continue to suffer as a result of it until today. The Tishah B’Av that we observe is part of the consequence of the Jews believing that report and crying all that night in the Wilderness.

But what, exactly, did the Meraglim do wrong? They honestly believed that it would be impossible to conquer the land. What should they have said?

The Baal HaAkeidah answers through an analogy.

A person sends his friend to the tailor’s shop to check on a garment that is for sale. His mission is to investigate the material, the craftsmanship, dimensions, and price. The messenger does as he was told, checking all the facts and figures. But when he returns, not only does he share the facts with his friend, he adds, “It’s not the right color for you, and it’s too expensive!”

This messenger has overstepped his mandate. He was supposed to deliver the raw facts, and instead he shared his opinion, which no one asked for. The buyer is the one who has to decide whether the colour suits him and whether he can afford the garment.

The Baal HaAkeidah suggests that the Meraglim’s sin was to add editorial observations to the facts. They should just have described the situation, and left it to Moshe to interpret it for the people. They should not have proclaimed that there was no way for the Jews to conquer the land. The Shelah rejects the approach of the Akeidah. After all, he says, Moshe did ask them to share information regarding the strength of people living in Canaan at that point, which requires subjective judgment. One cannot expect a messenger to deliver only the facts on a matter that is so subjective without adding an editorial comment. The Shelah suggests that Moshe was interested in hearing the Meraglim’s opinion, but not one based solely on military projections, but on Torah hashkafah as well. Moshe knew that they would find fortified cities inhabited by powerful giants. But the appropriate response to such findings should have been, “Yes, they are strong, and yes, their cities are protected, and through natural means, we don’t stand a chance. But Hashem has told us that we should go into the land, so we will certainly defeat them.”

Their mission was to present the facts, along with a pep talk based on deep faith in Hashem. They were supposed to remind the people that just as Hashem had saved them miraculously at the Yam Suf, His Presence would negate the military advantage of the inhabitants of Canaan. The Meraglim’s mistake was to present a dispassionate, secular analysis of the military situation without taking Torah hashkafah into account.

Rav Moshe Shapiro asks how the Shelah could suggest an approach that seems to run counter to the principle that one is not supposed to place himself into a situation of temptation.

Not everyone is able to accept a report that the situation seems so bleak just because it comes along with a pep talk.

If they were to say, “We can’t win b’derech hateva (through natural means), but don’t worry — Hashem will help,” many people would question the wisdom of entering a battle with such weak odds. Why put the people into such a nisayon?

Rav Moshe Shapiro zt’’l answers that although in all other areas of life, we should avoid nisyonos as much as possible, when it came to acquiring Eretz Yisrael, there was a need to spell out a precondition: There is no way to live in Eretz Yisrael under natural circumstances. Without Hashem’s Presence, Eretz Yisrael is not inhabitable.

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This lesson is spelled out clearly in Parashas Eikev, in which Moshe informs Klal Yisrael that Eretz Yisrael is, “A Land that Hashem, your G-d, seeks out; the eyes of Hashem, your God, are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to year’s end” (11:12).

Eretz Yisrael has a supernatural existence. Moshe knew that if the Jews did not enter the Land with that attitude, they wouldn’t last there. Rather than try to sweep this unique quality under the rug, Moshe sent the Meraglim to find out for themselves just how unnatural the battle to conquer the Land would have to be. Unfortunately, they didn’t complete their task properly, but delivered an analysis, not just the raw facts that they were meant to deliver.

Over the centuries, this message was delivered again and again to the Jewish people.

As Eretz Yisrael was being destroyed by Nevuchadnezzar and his army, Hashem instructed Yirmiyahu HaNavi (32:9-10) to purchase land and save the deed in a safe place. Who buys real estate when values are plummeting, and in a few short years there would be no Jews left in the Land? It depends which land. That logic would hold true for all other countries in the world. When housing prices go down throughout the “natural” world, there is no reason to purchase real estate until the market bottoms out. But Eretz Yisrael is different. Since Hashem promises the Land to us, we will ultimately have it back. Even at the bleakest moments, it’s worth investing in Eretz Yisrael.

This lesson is one that we saw repeatedly in the last 100 years. Whatever one’s position is on secular Zionism, the fact that the country is inhabited by Jews again after thousands of years of exile is nothing short of miraculous.

To share just one example, when the “desert fox,” Erwin Rommel ym”sh was already deep into Africa and advancing steadily with his German Afrika Corp toward Eretz Yisrael, Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, the Ponovezher Rav, borrowed some money to buy a parcel of land in Bnei Brak.

People thought he had lost his mind. What would be the point of buying land now, when it would fall shortly to the Germans, who would undoubtedly proceed to exterminate all of the Jews in Eretz Yisrael as they did in Europe? If the British running the country under the UN mandate were already burning all their classified documents, who in their right mind would buy land?

The Ponovezher Rav explained that not every prophecy was recorded in Navi. Only those that had some message for the future were recorded. In that case, he said, the prophecy in which Hashem told Yirmiyahu to buy land when the destruction of the country is imminent holds true throughout the generations. As we all know, the Ponovezher Rav was proven correct. In an absolutely shocking campaign, British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery defeated Rommel at El Alamein, a town on Egypt’s northern coastline, several hundred kilometres short of Eretz Yisrael.

This is not the way it works in America or in France or in Brazil. No other country has the promise of being “A Land that Hashem, your G-d, seeks out; the eyes of Hashem, your God, are always upon it” (11:12). But Eretz Yisrael has always been, and will always be, a supernatural country.

This Dvar Torah is reprinted with permission from Mesorah Publications / ArtScroll, from “Rabbi Frand on the Parsha 3”.

Order “Rabbi Frand on the Parsha 3” direct from the publisher at a 10 percent discount, and ArtScroll will donate a portion of your purchase to Torah.org. Please visit http://artscroll.com/linker/ torahorg/link/Books/frp3h.html.

The possuk (7:16) says that Hashem will remove from the Jews every “choli” and all the “madvei” Mitzrayim. What are these things?

Rabbi Yisroel 15 Moshe Guttentag

Rabbinic Coordinator – KF Kosher; Federation Shailatext

This page is sponsored

by Federation

Parshah

A change of scenery [Part 1 of 2]

The principle of ‘shinuy mokom‘ - moving location when eating Whether away from home or just on short day trips, many will be reading this article against the backdrop of their annual summer break. This departure from daily schedules often signals a change in dining habits; from barbecues to picnics, and snacking during a long drive, we invariably find ourselves eating on the go.

If a brochoh is made and one changes location, must a new brochoh be made? Do I need to bentsch in the place where I ate? In the first section of this two-part series we will revise the important laws of ‘shinuy mokom’ – changing one’s location during a brochoh, with a focus on the types of food and scenarios where no new brochoh is required.

Halochoh teaches the need for a new brochoh remains even in cases where one did return to their initial location. There is, however, an exception.

If one is participating in a group meal, and some participants remain around the table, no new brochoh is required on return to the meal.

On rejoining a group meal in the original location, there is no need for a new brochoh rishonoh

What’s on the menu?

“Does it make a difference that I ate bread?”

Not all location changes necessitate a new brochoh. In the coming paragraph, we will learn that the type of food being eaten has great bearing on whether a new brochoh is required.

The principle – why the need for a new brochoh?

Foods whose brochoh acharonoh must be made in the original location of the meal have a more lenient status in this regard. The halochoh which demands that we return to the original location acts to halachically bind a person to his old location and is considered to never have left. His brochoh accompanies him to his new location and no new brochoh is required. In the case of these foods, the law of shinuy mokom does not apply.

“Do I need to make a brochoh acharonoh or only a brochoh rishonoh?”

A meal is generally considered to have reached its conclusion when one resolves to no longer eat any more. From this point on, one becomes obligated to bentsch and needs to make a new brochoh before eating any further foods.

Changing ones’ location – even in the middle of a meal - is mentioned in the gemoroh as a further cause for a new brochoh. But the accepted practice amongst Ashkenazim as established by the Remo is that ‘shinuy mokom’ is to be viewed differently from other conclusions to a meal. The meal in fact continues, but it is the ‘daas’ – mindfulness, which is required for the brochoh to retain its validity which has now been interrupted. As such, in a case of ‘shinuy mokom’, halochoh demands only that one make a new brochoh rishono; the bentsching which will take place when the meal concludes covers the food eaten during both parts of the meal.

On a practical level, even if one does leave their location, when eating bread, biscuits or cake, one would not be required to make a new brochoh rishonoh in the new location.

Someone who ate a kazayis of foods requiring an after-brochoh of al hamichyah or birkas hamoon and moved to a new location can eat there with no need for a new brochoh. They must recite the brochoh acharonoh in the new location.

One who left his place after eating any other foods must recite a new brochoh if he has ‘left’ his original location.

One who has left their place is required to make a new brochoh before eating; a brochoh acharonoh need not be made until the meal reaches its conclusion.

Rejoining the group “My friends are still there” Leaving the initial location causes an interruption to the previous eating session and a new brochoh is required if one eats in the new location, but what if one returns to the original location? Does the brochoh recited initially regain its validity – or is a new brochoh still required?

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Eating on the go Although the rules of shinuy mokom seem to categorically necessitate a new brochoh for all nonal-hamichyah foods eaten in a new location, special status is granted to those who are eating when in transit – holchei derochim.

Halochoh views someone who plans to eat whilst ‘on the go’ as not being fixed to a ‘mokom’ - place.

His brochoh is not tied to the original location of eating but is carried along with him on his journey.

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Someone who buys a snack, takes a bite in the shop and then eats in his car need not recite a new brochoh when eating in the car. Similarly, the constant travelling of the car is not considered to be grounds for requiring a new brochoh, and the brochoh remains valid for the duration of his journey.

Despite the lenient ruling in the case of one who intends to eat on the go, it is important to note – that one who during the initial minutes of his (non-al hamichyah) meal sat down at a table and ate in a fixed manner, needs to make a new brochoh even though he may have intended to subsequently move.

In this case, the lenient holchei derochim status cannot be applied.

One who eats whilst on a journey need not make a new brochoh on changing his location – even for non-al hamichya foods.

One who begins a light meal at home and then leaves recites a new brochoh when he changes location (this is the case even if the change of location was initially planned).

Sweet tooth Whatever one’s opinion on the acceptability of sucking sweets or chewing gum on the go, this popular activity raises fascinating questions regarding brochos. Must a new brochoh be made every time a change of location takes place?

In a responsa to be found in Igros Moshe, Rav Moshe Feinstein zt’’l discussed this point at length and referencing the laws of the brochos on besomim, established a lenient ruling on this matter. Rabbi Feinstein’s conclusion is that if one’s eating has gone on without interruption (gum in mouth when moving rooms), there is no need for a new brochoh.

Can this ruling be stretched to apply similarly to the brochoh made on a pack of crisps as one moves though a park? Rabbi Feinstein writes that though there is doubt on this matter, and this ideal to avoid, there is room for leniency and to rely on the brochoh made at first.

One need not make a new brochoh as location is changed when sucking on a sweet or chewing gum. A brochoh must be recited on the next sweet after one changes location.

Rabbi Guttentag can be contacted at: rabbi.guttentag@federation.org.uk

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‫לע”נ‬ DAYAN GERSHON LOPIAN ‫זצ”ל‬ Wherever possible it is preferable to contact your own Rov

Besides for the fighting of the seven nations, Hashem sent another thing against the enemy called the “Tzera”. What is this and why the need for it?

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A LONE ISRAELI SOLDIER FINDS A FAMILY

by Brocha Miller

Through a series of coincidences, Ari Abramowitz became a beloved member of the Novick family. .

Ari Abramowitz top right in his reserve unit today

The Grand Lone Soldier Menorah Lighting at Mamila Mall

Ari Abramowitz enlisted in the IDF with the sounds of rocket fire echoing in his ears. A native of Monsey, NY, Ari was attending a Chabad yeshiva in Israel when he heard about the rocket attacks in Sderot. He went to the Negev for Shabbos to see for himself.

solitary Shabbos meals. In the grand scheme of things, when Ari considered what he was doing in service of his country and to protect his people, it was worth it. But it was a difficult struggle to maintain his enthusiasm without any support.

Ari was horrified by the sight of his fellow Jews running for cover as rockets exploded around them. Fired up with passion, Ari decided to enlist in the IDF. He was committed to his new mission and threw himself into basic training.

Pushing himself to the limits of physical endurance, and struggling to pick up the new language and culture were all challenges he tackled head on.

A few months into his training, Ari’s unit was taken on a tour of the Madrasa in northern Israel. This water hike is a beautiful journey which leads through the streams of the Kineret. On the way, Ari caught sight of a group of families in bright red T shirts, speaking English.

The one challenge which Ari did not anticipate was loneliness. On the frequent weekend during army training, Ari had nowhere to call home. He had no close family or friends in Israel. He rented a single bedroom in a yeshiva where he stored his belongings and snatched

‫לע”נ ר’ בנימין בן מאיר דוד ז’’ל‬ ‫נפטר בשם טוב‬

MR BENNY MEYER Z”L .‫ה‬.‫ב‬.‫צ‬.‫נ‬.‫ת‬

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Ari splashed through the water towards them, calling out, “Are you American? So am I!” The Novick family and their friends were a group of Anglos who had made Aliyah a few years ago and were living in Bet Shemesh. Ari introduced himself, chatting easily, thrilled to find someone who spoke his native language.

A gentleman who made the Oneg Shabbos integral to his every Shabbos

After the victory the pesukim (7:25-26) describe the need to destroy the avoda zora, idols of the captured nations, and forbids any benefit from them. What is the problem with them after the enemy that had worshipped them had been killed?

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When the Novicks discovered that Ari was all alone, they invited him to their house. “You’ll be our chayal boded,” they said. They were happy to adopt a lone soldier, someone serving in the IDF who has no family in Israel.

The Novicks tried to give Ari their phone number, but since they were standing in the water, no one had a phone or even a pen or pencil to take down the number. Ari went back to his unit, “I need to remember this phone number,” he said. “You guys make up a song to it.”

Ari’s fellow soldiers were bemused that he had connected with a perfect stranger, but they obliged and went wading down the water to the tune of Chamesh, shesh, shesh. Five, Six, Six.

introduced to Ari, “Call us Opa and Grandma.” Ari’s own grandparents had passed away, he was so happy to have an extended family once again. A few years later, at Ari’s wedding in the US, the Novick grandfather stood under the chuppah with him, serving as a witness to the ceremony.

Ari Abramowitz left and Mordy Botnick second from right at a graduation ceremony

By taking him into their family, the Novicks became a crucial support for Ari throughout his stint in the IDF. More than their initial kindness, they also set into motion a valuable resource.

The following day, the Novicks and their friends decided to continue their vacation in Tzefat. They were wandering the streets of the Artist Quarter when they heard the sound of soldiers’ boots marching. Then a song came ringing down the street, a lively chorus of “Chamesh shesh shesh.” “Five, Six, Six.” Mrs. Novick turned to her husband, “They’re singing our phone number!”

Mordy Botnick at a Beret Ceremony

Novicks called Ari, “Do you want to come for Shabbos?”

It was the start of a beautiful friendship.

Every single week, the Novicks reached out to Ari. “Do you want to come for Shabbos?

Will you join us for the holiday? We’re going on a trip, would you like to come?”

Delighted, the group of soldiers rushed up to the gang of red-shirted Anglos. The Novicks threw their arms around Ari like a long lost brother. “We found him! We found our chayel boded, our lone soldier!”

Ari became a fixture in the Novick’s life. He spent Shabbos and holidays with his new family, he even did his laundry in his new “home.” When the Novick’s grandparents came to visit Israel, they were

They exchanged numbers, this time with phones in hand, and the very next week, the

Ari saw how important it is for lone soldiers in the IDF to have emotional support. He understood the vital role of family and community for a chayel boded. A few years later, Ari married and made Aliyah and together with his friend Mordy Botnick, they founded Chayel el Chayel, an organization which provides support for lone soldiers.

They have opened their home to provide emotional support, spiritual nourishment, delicious meals and the warmth of family to lone soldiers. Chayel el Chayel has also expanded to provide support for lone soldiers returning home after their army service.

Today, Chayel el Chayel serves close to one hundred soldiers every Shabbos meal, along with a regular minyan and weekly Torah classes. Thanks to the hard work and heavenly assistance of the Botnicks, the Abramowitzs, and the connection that was ignited through a singing phone number.

‫נא להתפלל עבור‬

‫ שירה תמר בת שושנה דבורה‬- Shira Tamar bas Shoshana Devorah ‫לרפואה שלמה בקרוב בתוך שאר חולי ישראל‬

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The possuk (8:4) describes the special conditions for the the Jews in the desert. One of them was that their feet did not get cracked or swelling, implying that they walked barefoot. However, in Parshas Ki Sovoi (29:4) it says that their shoes did not ware out on their feet implying that they did not go barefoot. How do we reconcile this apparent contradiction?

Rabbi Shauly Strom

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Tu B’Av

The Jerusalem Kollel

The Impending Opportunites of Tu B’Av According to the Talmud, Tu B’Av is the most joyous day in the Jewish calendar. The Talmud illustrated five reasons why Tu B’Av is a celebrated day in the Jewish calendar.

1. The dead bodies left from after the historic battle of Beitar were finally laid to rest.

2. The different tribes of Israel were permitted to intermarry with each other.

3. The wayfarers of the desert that were destined to die in the 40 years preceding coming into Israel ceased to die.

4. The nights, traditionally the ideal time for Torah study, are lengthened again after the summer solstice, permitting more study.

5. The Jews finished preparing the wood for the furnace on the altar in the great temple the Beit Hamikdash The celebration that took place in the times of the Sages was in the form of the eligible Jewish girls, dressed in white, dancing leshem shamayim in the fields, and all the unmarried boys would come, also leshem shamayim and seek their brideto-be. Both the way we commemorate the events that took place and the way they were celebrated, seem to be disjointed and without a clear reason.

It is important to know that the Maharal says that Hashem created the yearly calendar in an almost spiral fashion, oscillating and moving upward with time but returning to the same points every year albeit in a different situation. Unlike secular religions that have festivals celebrated years after the date that they are commemorating, the Jewish calendar, however, is peppered with festive dates around the year. These dates are part and parcel of the make-up of the world, and not only are they there to signify past events but are actual celebrations of current existential phenomena that pre-exists the world. It is for this reason that Avraham Avinu served matzos to the Malachim even though it was years before the events of Yetzias Mitrayim. It is fair to say that although the Talmud says that the 15th of Av is the most joyous day of the yearly calendar, it is not just because we are commemorating the joyous events that occurred, rather we are reliving the day’s innate spiritual qualities.

Let us explore this. The Talmud mentions two possibilities as to when the world was created,

Nissan or Tishrei. Even according to the opinions that the world was created on Tishrei, the actual date of the creation of the world is five days before that. The commentaries say the words in the davening of Rosh Hashana Hayom Haras Olam refer to the creation of mankind on the 6th day.

The day the world was created would, therefore, end up being the 25th of Ellul.

The Torah says 40 days before the creation of each man there is a heavenly voice that “calls out”, this daughter is destined for this son”.

There is a pending soul mate for each person in this world, and this precedes the creation of each person. The Benei Yisaschar says that the same is true about Hashem creating this world.

There was an impending match between Hashem and The World, and the Jews in particular and it was already destined-to-be, 40 days before the creation of the world. This day emerges to be Tu B’Av; the 15th day of Av, 40 days before the creation of the world and six days before Rosh Hashana; the creation of Mankind.

If we follow through with these formulae, it emerges that the earliest pivotal day in the yearly calendar that we celebrate is, in fact, the 15th of Av, since Tu B’Av was when the seminal thought of creating the world was first generated.

Interestingly enough the day that ends up five days before Nissan according to the opinion that the world was created on Nissan, comes out to be the 25th of Adar, and 40 days before that is Tu Bi’Shevat, itself a Rosh Hashana of sorts for vegetation. As you can now see, whichever opinion one chooses, the Jewish calendar has a unique symmetry where everything has its unique reasoning why it is on this particular date.

Upon closer inspection, there seems to be one underlying core theme in the events that transpired on Tu B’Av. The events all illustrate an end to an unfortunate event and a chance for a new era. Whether it is the burying of the dead or a renewed prospectus for a future spouse, there is an undercurrent of fresh budding opportunities.

Tu B’Av is celebrated in its best form by utilizing the spiritual aura for the day to find oneself an eligible spouse; the perfect act to breed endless opportunity through the unity of two people creating a new family in Judaism.

When Hashem created the world he did so because of Yisroel Asher Nikra Reishis. Just as 40 days before the birth of a child, Hashem has his plan mapped out, including his future spouse, this world mimics the same transpiration of events.

The 15th of Av is considered as the beginnings of the betrothal of G-d and Israel. It is the day that He creates a bond of eternity. G-d filtered through the nations until he found a nation that was prepared to keep to the manuscript of the world.

During the marriage ceremony, the Groom asks his Bride to marry him using the formula “with this ring I thee wed”. The final word ‫ לי‬encompasses the beginning and end letter of ‫ישראל‬. Signifying the true ultimate betrothal of the commitment of G-d to his nation. This betrothal is alluded to, by the actual name; ‫ישראל‬, and is mentioned at every Jewish wedding ceremony.

About Hashem’s creating this world, there was an impending match that was already destined 40 days before the creation of the world.

Prior to every action, exists the will to perform that action which is possibly as powerful and real as the action itself. The Sifrei HaChassidus say that the name of the month ‫ אב‬is indicative of the upcoming days of Elul by the acronym “Ellul Boh,” meaning “Ellul is coming.” The days of Ellul are called ‫ ימי רצון‬which translate literally as days of desire. The desire for something is a powerful tool, and it is for that reason why Ellul is such an important time of year.

The Yom Tov of Tu B’Av is strategically situated 40 days before the creation of the world and signifies the premonition, the thought and the plan that Hashem had to build the world for the Jewish people. For this reason, it is brought down as the most joyous day in the Jewish calendar since the day is overfilled with the impetus for opportunities. The chance to start on a fresh, clean slate and to be open to new possibilities that have never been presented before.

May we all utilize all our unique opportunities, and the specific forces of the day to help us become people focused on achieving the most we possibly can.

Rabbi Strom can be contacted at: stromcity@gmail.com

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MY WEEKLY HALACHIC QUESTION

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Rabbi Avi Wiesenfeld

Rosh Yeshiva, Gevuras Yitzchok; Author “Kashrus in the Kitchen” & “The Pocket Halacha Series”

Travelling [Part 1] The Chafetz Chaim once pointed out that when a person is in his usual place, he is able to maintain high standards of halacha and Torah observance with relative ease. When he travels, however, he is faced with numerous tests. In a foreign place, away from his familiar environment, he is faced with new challenges and difficulties which require that he make a special effort to maintain the same Torah values he observes when in the comforts of his own home and within the familiarity of his regular schedule. The Chafetz Chaim noted that this idea is alluded to in the verse, ”‫“ – “על פי ה' יחנו ועל פי ה' יסעו‬According to the word of Hashem they shall encamp, and according to the word of Hashem they shall travel” (Bamidbar 9:23). Everything that a person does should be in accordance with the word of Hashem, both when he is at home and when he travels (‫)חפץ חיים על התורה‬.

It happened that Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky zt”l was about to take his place at the end of a long line waiting to board a bus when someone in the front of the line who knew him called out, “Rebbe, you can come here in front of me!”

“I’m not permitted to do so,” replied Rav Yaakov. “It would be stealing.”

“I give you permission. I don’t mind.”

of principal), one is not obligated to daven with a minyan.1

ÂÂ Additionally, it is problematic to travel to a place where one knows there is no minyan, unless he must travel there for health reasons, his livelihood, or another mitzvah.2

ÂÂ Many Pious individuals would go to great lengths to find a minyan, even if doing so costs them money!

Q. If there is no minyan available in a certain place, should those who are davening there try to daven at the same time?

A. They should daven together, since a group’s davener (even if there is no minyan) is still preferable to davening on one’s own. In addition, one who finds himself without a minyan should daven at the time that he knows a minyan is davening.3

Q. If one finds himself in a place without a Sefer Torah, what should he do on a day on which the Torah is read?

A. He need not read the parshah in a chumash, unless there is a minyan, in which case they should read the parshah from a chumash without a beracha.4

“But what about everybody else behind you?” said the Rosh Yeshiva. “I would be stealing their time and their choice of seat by moving them back one. Who says they don’t mind?” At that, Rav Yaakov took his place at the end of the line.

The Proper Place for Tefillah

When we travel and when we are on vacation, we must be constantly aware of the responsibility of creating a Kiddush Hashem, and the severity of creating, chas v’shalom, a chillul Hashem. The way we act, the way we speak, the way we dress, everything we do is being closely scrutinized by those around us.

A. There are two places where one should not daven:

Tefillah b’Tzibur One should always be careful to daven all tefillos with a minyan of 10 men. Davening with a minyan actually guarantees his daveners will be heard, which is not guaranteed when davening alone. If, however, doing so will result in a loss (not a loss of a potential profit, but an actual loss

Q. Is there any particular place where one should not daven?

1. One should not daven in an open area, such as a large field or open street, unless he has no other choice.5 If one must daven in an open area where there are some trees, it is best to stand between the trees.6 2. One must not daven (nor learn or recite any beracha) in a place that has the smell of excretory waste, such as near excrement or urine until they are covered, or one has distanced himself four amos away from the end of the smell. One may daven near a garbage can/dump provided that no smell emanates from it.7 One may daven next to the

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wall of the airplane toilet (provided that there is no smell emanating from it).8

Proper Attire for Tefillah Q. May one wear sandals or flip flops (without socks) when davening?

A. In a place where people generally do not walk around in such attire, one should not wear them for davening unless there is no other option.9

A Word About Davening While Traveling It is important to stress that there is no justifiable basis to compromise with regard to the halachos of davening simply because one is pressed for time.

There are people who are under the false impression that one who is pressed for time to daven Minchah may daven a “short chazaras ha’shatz” (“hoicha kedushah”). They erroneously assume that it is halachically acceptable since it is done in many yeshivos. (The reason why some yeshivos are lenient was explained by Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky zt”l: The original reason why chazaras ha’shatz was instituted was to enable the amei ha’aretz (the unlearned) – who, in the times of Chazal, were not capable of reciting their own Shemoneh Esreh – to fulfill their obligation to daven. However, since the amei ha’aretz davened in ordinary shuls and not in the yeshivos, the yeshivos were never part of the original enactment of chazaras ha’shatz. This is the reason why yeshivos have the liberty to recite a shortened chazaras ha’shatz. It follows that there is no halachically acceptable basis to be lenient with regard to davening on a trip.

1 Mishnah Berura siman 90, 29.

2 Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach Zt”l brought in Halichos Shlomo Chapter 5:4. Shevet Haleivi 6:21.

3 Shulchan Aruch 90:9.

4 See Mishnah Berurah 143:9.

5 Shulchan Aruch 90:5.

6 Mishna Berurah 11.

7 Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach quoted in Halichos Shlomo 10:1.

8 Chazon ish Siman 17:1.

9 Sefer Ishei Yisroel 10:6.

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SOLUTIONS IN THE SEDRA

Rabbi Yoni Birnbaum

20

Parshah

Hadley Wood Jewish Community

Ekev: Hidden Talent The Academy Award winning documentary film ‘Searching for Sugarman’ tells the story of American musician Sixto Rodriguez. His music never really took off in the United States in the 1970s, but in South Africa it became wildly popular, eventually coming to symbolise the antiapartheid struggle.

The remarkable thing was that Rodriguez himself was totally unaware of his fame on the other side of the world. Instead, he earned a living as a builder in Detroit, and in South Africa, they didn’t even know if he was still alive, let alone where he was.

The film documents the search for him by two South African fans. Eventually they track him down in an impoverished corner of the city and tell him to his utter amazement how famous the music he had disregarded as worthless had become in South Africa.

Just imagine that moment. Rodriguez is working as a builder and two people show up and tell him that music he recorded years ago has sold millions of copies in South Africa.

Suddenly he realises just how vital the talent he had for singing really was – and what an inspirational impact it had made.

A central part of this sidrah involves the retelling by Moshe of the tragic episode of the Golden Calf. But there’s a subtext to this story, and that’s the story of Yehoshua, Moshe’s young disciple.

will be the next leader. That same Yehoshua, who faithfully and devotedly stayed by his side when everyone else failed to do so, is to be the next leader of the Jewish people.

Most of us, like Rodriguez, nurture talents that we consider to have been unrealised in life. But sometimes it is those very talents that have quietly enabled us to truly enhance the lives of others and unwittingly achieve great things.

Yehoshua must have thought he had really drawn the short straw. The Jewish people are celebrating with the Golden Calf. Moshe is on the mountain receiving the Torah from God. But he has to wait on the mountain side – for forty days and nights!

The lesson of Yehoshua’s story – the poignant, hidden subtext to the tragedy of the Golden Calf – is that greatness is often found in the most unexpected of places.

But then, much later on, the end of Moshe’s life draws near. It’s time to appoint a successor, and Hashem tells Moshe unequivocally who

Rabbi Birnbaum can be contacted at: rabbi.birnbaum@gmail.com

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Great opportunities come to those who make the most of small ones ANSWERS 1. The Ibn Ezra says that the first one is a natural illness while the second one is an unnatural illness. Rabbeinu Bechai says that choli is an illness that comes from outside while madvei is an internal illness. The Vilna Gaon says that the first is where the whole body is affected and results in being bedridden while the second is an illness in one particular limb while the rest of the body is healthy. The Netziv says that the first one is an illness that a person brings on himself by not looking after himself while the second are illnesses that come as punishments.

2. Rashi (7:20) brings that it is a type of flying bird that throws poison from a distant (see Rashi Mishpotim 23:28) that it did so from across the Yarden and it resulted in killing the enemies. The Chizkuni learns that it is an illness on their bodies, like the tzoraas. Although the Jews were able to kill the people of the seven nations whom they found, however there were lots of them who fled elsewhere and hid. To this end Hashem sent the Tzera to deal with and kill the hidden enemy so that none survived.

3. There are two problems when entering a foreign land. The first is the enemy nation and their negative influences that go against the Jewish religion. This was dealt with by the battle and killing of the seven nations. The second danger lay in their form of foreign worship that could become an enticement to the Jews by offering an

Please could you ensure that there are ample sheets left in shuls for Shabbos before taking one home.

alternative source of worship. To this end came the command to totally destroy all idols with the addition of being forbidden to have any benefit from them.

4. When it says in Parshas Eikev that their feet did not swell the reason for this is like it says later, that they had shoes on that did not wear away and therefore their feet were protected. (Bartenura) The possuk in Parshas Eikev that implies they went barefoot talks about the Leviyim who carried the Aron barefoot. However, when it talks about having shoes on refers to all the other Jews. (Rabbeinu Bechai) 5. The midda of ga’ava, haughtiness. The Rambam tells us that usually the middle pathway is correct for all middos. However, an exception is haughtiness from which we must be totally distanced.

6. He went up three times. The first time to receive the first Luchos after Shavuos. He came down on the 17th of Tammuz and smashed the Luchos when seeing the egel, golden calf. The second time he went up was to attain forgiveness, and he came back down on the 29th of Av, and the third time he went up on Rosh Chodesh Elul to receive the second Luchos that he came down with on Yom Kippur, the 10th of Tishrei.

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Rabbi Chaim Laizorek

The Jerusalem Kollel

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Parshah

WHAT?! WE CAN ALSO GET REWARDED IN THIS WORLD?!

One of the things that I love about traveling is that I get to socialise with complete strangers. Human beings are interesting.

Each person has a story, joke, insight or a new perspective to offer. A few years ago, I was traveling from Israel to Mexico and my next-seat-neighbour was a very nice secular Jew. As we were conversing he suddenly surprised me with a good question. “You religious people believe in Schar V’oineshreward and punishment-for your good or not so good deeds, correct?” I nodded. He then asked: “Is the Schar V’oinesh reserved for the world to come?” I replied: “It is primarily for Olam Habah but at times it is applicable in Olam Hazzeh too.” He asked: “Can you cash-in Torah, Mitzvos, Chesed or any good deeds for direct recompense in this world?”

I said: Not really (based on the concept of Schar Mitzva Behai Alma Leka). He smiled as he finally hit me with his punchline: “How is it fair that Hashem, who is all good, creates a world where you must follow the Torah, yet He refuses to reward your good deeds in this world? Is it fair to live 90-100 years in this world where your good actions may

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be unrewarded?” What a good question!

But is this true? Can we get rewarded in this world? Can we cash-in Mitzvos with the intent of ‘receiving’ a more comfortable life?

If you cannot, then how is this fair?

In this weeks’ Torah portion we read the following verse: “See, I (Hashem), place in front of you, today, blessings and curses.” There are two words that seem to be redundant. Firstly, what is the word Re’eh-see-doing here? What are you seeing? Secondly, what is the word Hayomtoday-doing here? These two words seem superfluous, the Posuk would read just as fine in the following manner: “I (Hashem), am placing in front of you, blessings and curses.” Why Re’eh? Why Hayom?

The Malbim offers an amazing explanation: “The reward and punishment (blessings and curses)…will be something that you will see with your own eyes…and not in the long term but rather now (today)!” The Malbim is essentially answering our friend-the secular Jew-from the plane: “Your actions are not going to go unnoticed in this world. The continued on next page

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, Miami, Milan, New York, Oslo, Paris, Petach Tikva, Philadelphia, Pressburg, Radlett, Ruislip, Santiago, Sao Paulo, Southend, Tallinn, Tarzana, Toronto, Uman, Vienna, Zurich

22

Rabbi Chaim Laizorek

Parshah

continued from previous page

SEDRA SUMMARY Thank you to Chabad.org

“S

ee,” says Moses to the people of Israel, “I place before you today a blessing and a curse”—the blessing that will come when they fulfill Gd’s commandments, and the curse if they abandon them. These should be proclaimed on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal when the people cross over into the Holy Land.

A Temple should be established in “the place that Gd will choose to make dwell His name there,” where the people should bring their sacrifices to Him; it is forbidden to make offerings to Gd in any other place. It is permitted to slaughter animals elsewhere, not as a sacrifice but to eat their meat; the blood (which in the Temple is poured upon the altar), however, may not be eaten.

reward and punishment system is primarily for this world. You don’t even have to cashin your Mitzvos, you will automatically become either blessed or cursed in this world, instantaneously.”

But is this true? When was the last time that you saw a divine hand come down from Heaven to reward an individual for his good behaviour-Torah, Mitzvos, Chessed?

How about a divine hand coming down from Heaven to punish an individual for misbehaving-not following the Torah? What does the Malbim mean?

ÂÂ Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch and the Ibn Ezra offer us a tremendous insight by redefining the meaning of Brachah and K’lalah in a radical and revolutionary manner. The root for the word K’lalah comes from the word Kal-light. You refer to something being light when it is not carrying significant weight, when the object is not dense enough, when it is lacking. On the contrary, the word Brachah means to overflow. Something overflows when it is full, replete and filled to the top. In short, Brachah means to overflow because you have so much, and K’lala means to be a lightweight because you have so little.

A false prophet, or one who entices others to worship idols, should be put to death; an idolatrous city must be destroyed. The identifying signs for kosher animals and fish, and the list of non-kosher birds (first given in Leviticus 11), are repeated.

A tenth of all produce is to be eaten in Jerusalem, or else exchanged for money with which food is purchased and eaten there. In certain years this tithe is given to the poor instead.

Firstborn cattle and sheep are to be offered in the Temple, and their meat eaten by the kohanim (priests).

The mitzvah of charity obligates a Jew to aid a needy fellow with a gift or loan. On the Sabbatical year (occurring every seventh year), all loans are to be forgiven. All indentured servants are to be set free after six years of service.

Our Parshah concludes with the laws of the three pilgrimage festivals— Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot—when all should go to “see and be seen” before Gd in the Holy Temple.

Rav Hirsch elaborates as follows. When a person embraces and adheres to a Torah lifestyle he becomes blessed tout de suite. Meaning, he automatically becomes content, fulfilled and satisfied because he is constantly living with objective meaning and purpose; he knows what his mission in life is and what is expected from him. His self-esteem increases dramatically. His life transcends to a whole dimension. On the contrary, when a person does not live

according to the Torah he becomes Kal, light, he lacks objective meaning, loses his objective self-image, he lacks a raison d’être.

When the Malbim explains that the reward and punishment is received instantaneously in this world, he means it literally. You can choose to live a life lacking objectivity, real meaning and purpose, and without an objective goal, mission and vision-and this is the biggest curse. Or you can choose a life full of genuine meaning and purpose, a sense of direction, constant motivation and aspiration, and with an objective goal, mission and vision-and this is the biggest blessing.

Hashem loves us. He constantly wants to shower us with blessings. He placed us in this world, and created a perfect systemTorah and Mitzvos-that will make us feel emotionally, physically, psychologically and spiritually fulfilled. We become blessed, by embracing the ethos willed to us by our Father in Heaven, and by internalizing and incorporating the weltanschauung of the Torah, into our daily lives. The biggest reward is, to feel completely satisfied with your own life, knowing that what you do makes a difference, and that your life matters on an existential level. The Torah is inviting you to transform your modus vivendi into a blessing. Re’eh, pay attention, see for yourself, you can choose today, in this world, a life of blessing-purpose, sense of mission, fulfilment-or to the opposite-a life of emptiness, dullness and meaninglessness. The ability to become either a blessing or a curse, is in your own hands. Choose wisely!

Rabbi Laizorek can be contacted at: chaimleizorek@hotmail.com

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When else in the year do we read Parshas Reah?

Rabbi Yisroel 23 Moshe Guttentag

Rabbinic Coordinator, KF Kosher; Federation Shailatext

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Parshah

A change of scenery [Part 2 of 2]

The principle of ‘shinuy mokom‘ - moving location when eating Shinuy mokom – the principle which demands a new brochoh rishonoh when moving location, is as relevant when away from home, as when going about one’s daily life. In this section, we examine aspects of the laws of brochos which are equally relevant when at home.

Quick as a flash Having read the previous sections, the reader should be able to reach his own conclusion with regards many cases of shinuy mokom. Consider the case of a man who is enjoying an apple and on hearing the doorbell ring steps out to welcome a guest. Remembering that fruit is a food which is subject to shinuy mokom, our friend is concerned that on leaving the house he will need to make a new brochoh.

Not going anywhere As discussed in the previous section, the validity of one’s brochoh rishonoh is terminated by a change of location – termed in halochoh as ‘bayis’ - house.

The exact definition of the word is debated for these purposes – does it mean house or room?

Highlighting how a stringent ruling on this matter would impose great limitations on one’s daily eating, Biur Halocho ruled one need not view a move from one room to the other as ‘shinuy mokom’. Biur Halocho did, however, add a stipulation that one rely on his lenient approach only if they intended to move from room to room whilst eating. This too does not pose a serious obstacle as contemporary poskim rule that since we tend to move from our place during eating, it can be assumed that we always intend to do so. Practically speaking, only on leaving the building need one make a new brochoh.

What could save him from the need for a new brochoh if he indeed were to leave the house?

Would the momentary departure be viewed as ‘shinuy mokom’?

A simple reading of the halochos indicates that this is indeed the case – and from the Mishna Berurah it would seem clear that even this brief lapse is sufficient to demand a new brochoh. Some point to the Oruch Hashulchan who took a more lenient view and ruled that momentary shinuy mokom does not require a new brochoh.

To sidestep halachic doubt, momentary shinuy mokom should be avoided. If this is not possible make a brochoh acharonoh before stepping outside.

But even if one were to step out of the building, a new brochoh rishonoh is not necessarily mandated.

Rav Shmuel Wosner zt”l is quoted as having ruled that this would only be necessary for one who moves from their house to the street; one’s own garden, although beyond the roof coverage, would be viewed as being a natural extension of one’s house. And, even if we are not to accept Rav Wosner’s psak, if one can still see their original location, a new brochoh is certainly not mandated.

Where do I bench?

Ideally one should always make a brochoh before leaving the place in which they eat. In the case of birkas hamazon and al hamichya it is especially necessary – for these brochos, a return to the location is necessary if they inadvertently left. According to some, even al hagefen and al hapeiros enjoy this strict status. And although in practice one need make a return for al ho’eitz fruits, we would do well to be even more careful with regards leaving one’s location before bentsching.

The rules of shinuy mokom would however certainly apply when moving from one building to another or from a building to the street. In these cases, it is insufficient that one intended initially to make the move, nor would visibility of the original location be of any significance. Instead, a new brochoh must certainly be made.

Where required to bentsch in their original location, one should ideally be in the same room as they ate or when outdoors within four amos cubits of the original location. However, where this is not possible, benching in a neighbouring room within the same room is also acceptable.

Similarly, when outdoors and not located within the confines of a walled-in location, one’s brochoh rishonoh remains valid only if their original location remains in view. In these cases, intent to eat elsewhere would be insufficient.

When out on the go it is inevitable that at times one forgets to bench for moving on to with their journey. Is one expected to return to their location in these cases? A combination of factors can determine whether this is necessary or not.

One may rely on opinions who do not view a move from one room to the other or from the house to the garden as being subject to shinuy mokom.

If by the time one manages to return to their original location, they will be hungry again, they should certainly bentsch in their new location. Let’s turn to a similar situation.

A move out of the building to the street necessitates a new brochoh.

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Don’t forget to bench “On a picnic and it’s raining – can I go inside to continue the meal?”

“I’m in rushing for a flight, can I leave the lounge and bentsch on the flight” The reader will by now be familiar with the fact that whereas for some foods a change in location will demand a new brochoh, in the case of other foods their brochoh can be transported to the new location.

Nevertheless, halochoh instructs us to avoid a change of location wherever possible.

Even in the case of an al hamichya food where one’s brochoh is still valid in the new location, one should not move from their original location without first bentsching. The primary concern in this matter is that one may get carried away and eventually forget to bentsch. But what should one do when they know that they will need to leave during their meal?

If when commencing the meal it is clear that they will need to move elsewhere, one should intend to eat in both locations. By intending this, one has halachically extended the area where their meal is happening; when he later leaves in accordance with his plans, he is viewed as moving within the same halachic area. Incidentally, this only works for al hamichya foods where the brochoh rishonoh is not lost due to the move.

If due to unforeseen circumstances, the need to move arises only once the meal has begun, one may leave where the intention is to perform a mitzvah. An example would be an impromptu invitation to join a sheva brochos, or where needed to join a minyan for davening. Similarly, if during the meal the need arose to source new foods for the meal - one would be permitted to make a quick visit to a local shop.

One who needs to leave a bread or al hamichya meal should bentsch before doing so.

One may leave a meal if: a. they intended to do so at the time when they washed OR b. a mitzvah need arose during the meal OR c. for a brief moment.

Rabbi Guttentag can be contacted at: rabbi.guttentag@federation.org.uk

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Why does the Torah not name the exact location of the Beis Hamikdosh but calls it as “the place that I will choose” (12:5)? Why not name it simply as Har Hamoiriya?

o t E T How A C I N U M r M u O C o Y h t i w ids K

24

The 5 m ost importa n NONVER t BAL ELEMEN in gettin TS g your kids to listen

part 1 of 2 WORDS ARE NOT ENOUGH

I was once approached by a parent who was having problems with his six-year-old. I asked what he had tried before seeing me. He said that he would lecture his child and tell him in no uncertain terms that what he was doing was wrong. I asked him if this had helped when he, the parent, had been a child, and he said that it hadn’t. He also admitted that this approach wasn’t working with his child either. Why continue to do this? I asked.

He said he didn’t know what else to do.

Rabbi Noach Orlowek Amazing, isn’t it, the number of times we tell kids things and they just don’t seem to get it. They are our children, and therefore they must be brilliant, good-natured, and wonderful – so why don’t they listen?

They seem to be able to listen and “get it” when their friends talk! Is there something wrong?

Yes, there is!

QUIZ TIME

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Of course we need to talk to our children.

We use words all the time, speaking to even very young children, even infants. But we must remember that talking is not the primary way that we communicate our most important messages to our children. Because they are more emotional than adults, children react more readily to nonverbal messages.

This does not mean that we shouldn’t speak to our children. Certainly words are ultimately a primary way of communication, but even verbal communication has strong nonverbal components.

Rav Shlomo Wolbe, z”l, in a remarkable exposition on speech, refers to proper speech as a harp.1 Just as when someone plays a harp, a combination of many factors give the sound its proper resonance, so effective speech is made up of a combination of the words spoken, the emotion behind the words, and the character of the speaker.

The emotions and the character of the speaker are powerful nonverbal components in maximizing the effectiveness of our speech.

If our words carry greater import when the nonverbal parts of speech are utilized in communication between adults, then certainly this is true when we speak to our children. It is important, therefore, to define the nonverbal parts

3. livingwithmitzvos.com

of speech that can give impetus to our words. Let us mention the most important ones.

TONE OF VOICE

The Talmud tells us2 that the members of our household accept authority when words are spoken softly. A soft tone of voice suggests self-control, and people are more likely to follow someone who is in control of himself. A person may shout hysterically that he is in control of himself, but the nonverbal message is far more powerful, and it is the one that will leave its mark.

EYE CONTACT

Rav Yitzchok Hutner, zt”l, tells us that a person’s emotional reality is apparent in his eyes, as the saying goes, “The eyes are the window to the soul.”3 When we make eye contact, we are accessing the deepest recesses of the person. It is for this reason that a look into someone’s eyes is considered an emotional message, whether of love or hatred. Let us make soft, loving eye contact with our children when we speak to them. Not an unrelenting stare, but enough to transmit our nonverbal emotions to them.

TOUCH

The Vilna Gaon teaches us4 that touch is a primary means of transmitting emotion. When touch is coupled with earnest words, it has an enormous effect. Touch is so powerful an emotional tool that the Torah has placed special stress on where and how it can be used. This topic is beyond the scope of this work, but for our purpose, parents certainly need to be aware of the importance of harnessing the power of touch to communicate with their children.

With older children, if there is a strain in the relationship, touch must be used cautiously. It is very personal and could be considered invasive or aggressive if employed by someone to whom the child does not feel close.

Why the need to do so many destructive things to the idols found in Eretz Yisroel?

25 conversations.10 The nonverbal parts of speech that we have mentioned are far more powerful in person than over the phone.

SINCERITY

Before speaking with anyone, take the time to feel deeply what you are about to say. This is doubly true with children. This brings to mind the famous saying “Words that come from the heart enter the heart.”5

OTHER FACTORS

In addition to the five nonverbal elements just mentioned, there are other factors that can affect the success or failure of your communication with your child. They are also nonverbal and deeply influence how your words will be taken. For instance:

Children can sense very quickly how sincere you are. This has to do with your honesty, with how much you believe in what you are saying, and with the degree to which you are prepared to back up your words. The most eloquent words will be ineffectual if the child senses that you are not really ready to stand behind your words and enforce them or that you do not really believe in what you are saying. In either case, your words will be flouted with impunity; worse, you will be considered a hypocrite in the child’s eyes.

1. Be conscious of the setting. Our surroundings deeply affect what goes on in our heads. Just as a child is less likely to open up to a principal when he is seated on the other end of a huge mahogany desk than if the principal takes him out for pizza – or at least sits next to him on the same side of the desk – so would a parent do well to pay heed to the surroundings that he chooses when talking to a child.

Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l,6 explained that we must be sincere and be true models of what we want our children to be based on God’s demand that we be a holy nation since He is holy. God is saying, so to speak, that I can demand holiness from you, because I Myself am holy.

Not only is the child affected by the location where the conversation is taking place – so is the parent. At home the parent is often distracted and can’t give the child full or continuous attention. This lack of attention is a deep nonverbal message. When a person is given full attention, the respect he is accorded encourages him to express his feelings more freely. If I feel respected, I feel hopeful that my words will be respected, and that encourages me to open up.

Yes, sometimes we may fall short from what we aspire to be, but certainly we must be totally in line in our hearts, totally sincere, in what we say to our children. Otherwise, we are teaching them hypocrisy, and we are sure to eventually lose their respect. From there to losing them to the street is but a short step.

Also, the fact that the parent went through the trouble to go to a setting more conducive to communication sends a powerful message to the child. He realizes how important he is to the parent.

FACIAL EXPRESSION

The Prophet tells us that a person’s facial expression is a powerful guide to the emotions that are behind his words. It says, “The face testifies against them.”7 It is no coincidence that the Hebrew word for “face,” panim, is related to the Hebrew word penim, “inside,” for the face tells us what the person is thinking and feeling.

Take a child out when you need to speak about something sensitive. Turn off your cell phone; even better, make sure your child sees you turn it off. He needs to see that you consider the time with him important and you don’t want to be disturbed. Try to make the environment as relaxing and nonthreatening as possible. And remember, don’t save these kinds of encounters only for lectures; otherwise, the child will get uneasy just at the suggestion of a “little talk” outside the home.

The Talmud teaches us that it is better to show another person “the white of your teeth” (i.e., give them a smile) than to give him a drink of milk.8 Rav Avigdor Miller, zt”l, says9 that this means that even when a person has come in from a long walk on a hot day, and he really needs a drink, a smile does more than a cold, refreshing glass of milk.

A nine-year-old stole his aunt’s cell phone and then denied it. His mother, who enjoyed a generally good relationship with her child, drove to a place that was quiet and green. Then she began to cry. When her son asked what was wrong, she said she was hurt he had lied to her. The child, in those calm and beautiful surroundings, apologized and promised never to lie again. There is no question that if there had not been a good relationship in

Young children are especially sensitive to our facial expressions, and they react to what they see on our faces long before they comprehend what we are saying to them.

Children are emotional beings, and the sense of sight touches their emotions before they can even understand the words we're saying to them.

QUIZ TIME

Cultivating calmness and focus also helps you be a better listener, which, ironically, is an enormous factor in good communication. The best way to be a good conversationalist is to be a good listener first! Listening is in itself a powerful, vital element in establishing a good relationship with a child. It is part of the effort that we make to show our children that we are trying to understand them. One of the greatest compliments that we can give our children is to make the sincere effort to understand them.

Then there is a great hope that they will make the same effort.

TURNING IDEAS INTO ACTION

Find ways to show your child – nonverbally – that you have heard and respected what he said.

A couple of examples of nonverbal messages: 1. Ask the child about something she said to you yesterday or, better yet, some time before.

It can be an idea the child stated or a worry or any other emotion that the child shared with you. Your remembering what she said sends a powerful nonverbal message that you hear and respect her.

2. Repeat to the child what he shared with you and how much you enjoyed or found meaningful what he told you.

1. Pelech HaShetikah V’Hahodayah (“The Art of Silence and Praise”), Elul 5739 (1979).

2. Gittin 6b; Shabbos 34a.

3. Rav Hutner cites this well-known aphorism in a letter published in Iggros U’Kesovim 136.

4. Chiddushei Aggados, Berachos 6a.

5. This phrase doesn’t appear in the Talmud but seems to be an application of the gemara in Berachos 6b: “Whoever has yiras Shamayim, his words are heard.” See Michlol HaMa’amarim V’Hapisgamim (Jerusalem: Mossad HaRav Kook, 1961), vol. 1, p. 502; see also Shirah Yisrael by Rav Moshe Ibn Ezra, p. 156, where this saying appears.

6. Derash Moshe, Kedoshim, p. 22.

7. Yeshayahu 3:9.

8. Kesubos 111b.

9. Sha’arei Orah, vol. 2, p. 105.

10. See Guardian of Jerusalem (ArtScroll History Series, 1983).

A respected educator, author and speaker, Rabbi Orlowek taught for 16 years in Aish HaTorah Jerusalem, and is currently mashgiach in Yeshiva Torah Ore, Jerusalem. He is a well-known speaker and counselor, specializing in parenting, personal growth, and interpersonal issues. He is the author of My Child, My Disciple, My Disciple, My Child, Raising Roses among the Thorns, and Turning Ideas into Action.

It is told that Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, zt”l, avoided using a telephone for important 4. livingwithmitzvos.com

2. Be calm, focused – and listen! It is important to put other matters out of your mind when you are talking to your child. This helps the child to relax and open up. It also lets you to see matters with more perspective.

Thinking about stresses at work will not help you be patient as you discuss a behavioral issue with your child.

This has been excerpted from Turning Ideas into Action by Rabbi Noach Orlowek, published by ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications. It is one of 32 “mindsets” – short, Torah-based chapters, each dealing with an important aspect of our lives and self-development. Rabbi Orlowek is famed for his parenting classes, and his “Parenting Mindsets” are critical to anyone raising children in today’s fast-paced, often bewildering world.

All this is a powerful argument for paying special attention to the nonverbal components that come with the words we utter.

??

place, the tears and the environment would not have helped, but there is also no doubt that the serene surroundings contributed to an atmosphere that fostered openness and closeness.

When describing how to destroy with the Asheira tree we find three different descriptions used. In Parshas Re’eh (12:3) it says to burn it in fire. In Parshas Voeschanon (7:5) it says to cut it down and in Parshas Ki Sisa (34:13) it says it should have “kores” done to it. Why the need for all these different descriptions?

MY WEEKLY HALACHIC QUESTION

Rabbi Avi Wiesenfeld

Rosh Yeshiva, Gevuras Yitzchok; Author “Kashrus in the Kitchen” & “The Pocket Halacha Series”

Travelling [Part 2] Upon Seeing Wondrous Sights Chazal instituted several berachos to be recited of Hashem’s works, provided that one has not seen them for 30 days.1 It is commendable to stand while reciting these berachos, but reciting them while sitting is also acceptable (l’chatchilah).2

Oceans, Seas, & Rivers Q. Does one recite a beracha upon seeing oceans, seas, or rivers?

torahanytime.com

A. The basic laws of blessings upon seeing great

Q. May one use a plastic or paper disposable cup to wash netilas yadayim for bread?

A. According to many poskim, a disposable cup is sufficient for netilas yadayim.7 Others, however, disagree and disqualify it from use for netilas yadayim.8 If one has no other choice, it is best to designate the cup from here on as the netilas yadayim cup and use the same one for that purpose.

ÂÂ Drying one’s hands on his clothing causes one to forget his learning.

9

Q. Which water netilas yadayim?

may

be

used

for

or Atlantic Ocean, one says: ‫ עושה‬...‫ברוך אתה‬

A. Only clean water that is fit for a dog to drink may be used for netilas yadayim. Consequently, one may not use the water of a dirty lake for netilas yadayim.10

‫הים הגדול‬.

ÂÂ However, one may use the water of a dirty lake

bodies of water are as follows:

ÂÂ Upon seeing an ocean, such as the Pacific

ÂÂ Upon seeing the Kineret and Dead Sea (Yam Hamelech), one says: ‫ עושה מעשה‬...‫ברוך אתה‬ ‫בראשית‬. Some poskim maintain that one does not recite a beracha in this case.

ÂÂ Upon seeing very high and unusual mountains, such as Mount Everest or the Swiss Alps, one recites:

‫ עושה מעשה בראשית‬...'‫ברוך אתה ה‬.3 (If one is unsure about whether the mountains he is seeing are very high and unusual, one may recite the beracha without mentioning Hashem’s name.4)

ÂÂ Many poskim maintain that one recites a beracha upon seeing Mount Hermon in Eretz Yisrael.

Q. If one sees these oceans or mountains at night, does he still recite the beracha?

A. If one is truly astonished by its beauty, one may recite the beracha.5 Similarly, one who sees them from an airplane window may recite the beracha if he is astonished by its beauty.

Q. Until when may one recite the beracha?

A. If one travels past the sea or mountain and did not recite the beracha when he saw it, he may still recite the beracha as long as he feels amazed by the sight he saw.6

QUIZ TIME

??

to dip his hands and recite the blessing, “Al Tevilas Yadayim”. If the water is clean, and he is dipping his hands because he has not cup, he may still recite the normal blessing, “Al Netilas Yadayim”.11

ÂÂ If one has no other option, he may wash netilas

Mountains

livingwithmitzvos.com

Halachah

Follow Rabbi Wiesenfeld’s shiurim on

Netilas Yadayim

upon seeing sights that show the beauty and power

26

yadayim in the bathroom.12 (In such a case, he should leave the bathroom with wet hands, recite the beracha outside the bathroom, and only then dry his hands.13)

Q. If one is in a place where there is no water, what should he do about netilas yadayim?

A. If one finds himself in a place with no water (if he is traveling, he is obligated to travel up to 72 minutes in the direction he is traveling or 18 minutes out of his way, or if he is not traveling, he must travel up to 18 minutes to get water.), he may eat bread without washing, but only if he is very hungry (and there is no other food to satisfy him), and only if he wraps his hands in a towel or glove and is careful not to touch the food he is eating.

ÂÂ If one has only a small amount of water, it is sufficient to wash his hands until his knuckles.

Feeding Animals Q. Is one allowed to feed animals with food fit for humans?

A. Yes, although many poskim say that bread should not be thrown to animals.14

Q. Must one was his hands with netilas yadayim after touching an impure animal?

A. No, one does not have to wash netilas yadayim.15

Church Q. Is one permitted to enter a church while sightseeing?

A. No, one may not enter a church, even if it is for the purpose of sightseeing. However, one may enter adjacent buildings that are open for the public (e.g., washrooms), even if they are owned by the church.

There is a dispute among the poskim if the same prohibition applies to entering a mosque.16

Q. Is one permitted to look at a church clock to see the time?

A. One may look at such a clock since it was made for passers-by and not specifically for avodah zarah.17

Cutting in Line Q. Is there a real prohibition against cutting in line, such as a line waiting to pay at a supermarket?

A. Yes. According to many poskim, cutting in line is tantamount to stealing.18 Q. Is one permitted to hold a place in the line for a friend?

A. Yes. One may hold a place for a friend, but not for both himself and his friend.19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Gemara Berachos, the beginning of the ninth Perek. Shulchan Aruch 224:13.

Pri Megadim in his Introduction - 17.

Shulchan Aruch 228:1.

Rav Chaim Kanievsky shlit’a quoted in Vezos Habracha.

Rav Shlomo Zalman zt”l quoted in Halichos Shlomo Chapter 23:25.

Ibid.

Rav Wosner zt”l.

Rav Moshe in Iggros Moshe 3:39.

Mogen Avraham 158:13 in the name of a Tashbatz.

See Mishnah Berurah 160:38.

Shulchan Aruch 159:20, Mishnah Berurah 97.

Shut Minchas Yitzchok 4:60.

Chazon Ish Siman 24:25.

Mishnah Berurah 172:2.

Shulchan Aruch Harav 97:3.

See Titz Eliezer 14:91:4.

Shut Minchas Elazar 2:73.

Rav Elyashiv zt”l brought in “Other People’s Money” page 78.

Ibid.

5. Rashi (12:21) brings the source for the mitzva of shechita is seen in Parshas Re’eh. Why is it brought in Sefer Devorim and not already mentioned in the previous Chumoshim?

Rabbi Michoel Fletcher

27

Author of sefarim: Do You Know Hilchos Shabbos? Do You Know Hilchos Brachos? From Strength to Strength, Dancing in our Heart and the soon to be published; The Hidden Light, a New look at the Holocaust and other essays.

Parshah

WHAT I LEARNT FROM THE FLORIST Back in Ramat Beit Shemesh after an enjoyable Pesach in England, I went into our local florist to buy flowers l’kovod Shabbos kodesh. I asked him how Pesach was. “Baruch Hashem, he said, I’m already preparing for Shevuot.” I thanked him for his inadvertent mussar. This week’s sedra included the parsha of the moadim and include ideas that ought to always be on our minds.

We must remember the day we came out of Egypt all the days of our life. We have to remember that Hashem redeemed us from bitter slavery on the condition that we accept His service. It was still a great deal because His service is a pleasant service. We gave our joyous and beautiful Shabbos as one example of the pleasant service we are now committed to.

Perhaps a hint can be found in the words of the Gemoro (Rosh Hashono 11a). “Someone who goes out in the month of Nissan and sees fruit trees beginning to blossom should say the following brocho. “Boruch…shelo chiser me’olomo dovor…lehonos bohem bnei odom.” “Blessed……who did not leave the world lacking and created …beautiful trees to give pleasure to people?” In this brocho we emphasise Hashem’s great kindness. Why did He create peach, plum, cherry and other trees each with beautiful blossom and later with delicious fruit? Only to give us pleasure. When we think about Hashem’s kindness to us, we

are inspired to follow in His ways and show kindness to others. This was Avrohom Ovinu’s leitmotif. He saw Hashem’s great kindness in the creation and followed His example by doing chessed to others.

We all know that during the days of Sefiras Ho’omer the pupils of Rebbe Akiva were punished because they did not show each other enough honour. In Chutz Lo’oretz this week the parshos of Tazria and Metzora will be read which according to Chazal illustrate the severe punishment given to those who speak loshon hora. A thought occurred to me that Tazria and Metzora and all other double parshos hint at the concept of ‘loving our neighbour” because in halocho the two parshos are supposed to ‘share’ the seven obligatory aliyos, three and a half for each parsha. On top of all this the forty-nine sefiros which some people mention immediately after they have counted sefiras ho’omer begin with chesed. The first night is chesed shebechesed.

From all this it would appear that our focus in

these post-Pesach days should be mitzvos bein odom l’chaveiro, showing kindness to each other, giving honour to each other, showing sensitivity to somebody else’s feelings etc.

The Mesilas Yeshorim, (Chapter 19), discussing Chassidus, explains that a vital element in chassidus is the efforts which we have to make on behalf of other people. He says “This is subdivided into three sections; physical, financial and emotional. In terms of physical help a person should try to lighten another person’s load in whatever way he can.

If another person is at risk of being damaged and he can prevent that damage or remove it, he should exert himself to do so. In terms of financial help, chassidus requires one to help someone as much as he can and also he must try his best to prevent someone else from suffering financially. As it says in Pirkei Ovos, (2:12) “Let your fellow’s possessions be as dear to you as your own.” Concerning emotional help, we should do everything we continued on next page

We all are tourists & Hashem is our travel agent who already fixed all our Routes, Reservations & Destinations.

So Trust Him & Enjoy the “Trip” called LIFE...

QUIZ TIME

??

livingwithmitzvos.com

6. What are the different types of blood that come out by shechita, slaughtering, and what are their different punishments?

28

Rabbi Michoel Fletcher continued from previous page

can to boost our fellow man whether in terms of honour or any other matter which affects his emotional well-being. If there is anything he could do for his fellow, which would bring that person a sense of satisfaction, it is the imperative of chassidus to do so. Certainly he should not cause his fellow any form of anguish whatsoever through any possible means.”

We have opportunities to put these concepts into practice in our lives on a daily basis. Take the example of walking down the road when

dog is really blind. She told me that the dog

face lit up at being described so generously

is indeed blind. She explained that as the

by Reb Moishe zt”l. even in front of a young

weather is getting warmer, the dog won’t be

bachur like myself. I learnt from this that when

wearing the coat for much longer. Then she

we introduce two people to each other, it is a

looked at me and said the following words.

wonderful opportunity to honour them in the

“Thank you for greeting me. No Jew has ever

other’s eyes and their own. One quickly thinks

greeted me before.” I said that I was sorry to

of a good characteristic or achievement of the

hear that and continued on my way to shul.

people concerned and mentions it even with

Her words are still reverberating round my

a touch of exaggeration. These people may

mind. Here is a lady who lives in the heart of a

never meet again but their self-respect has

Jewish neighbourhood, in fact very near a big

shot up. They may try to play down what was

shul, and no-one has ever said hello to her?

said but, believe me, they enjoy the kovod they

someone is coming the other way. I’m not

I understand that some men may consider it

talking about a main road where hundreds

were given and live on it in the future. This is

inappropriate and children should not speak

of people are walking in all directions. It is a

a beautiful example of the Mesilas Yeshorim’s

to strangers but none of our ladies has ever

side street and you are approaching this other

words about giving people koras ruach — self-

greeted this poor woman who I surmise is

person. A pleasant “Good Morning” or “Good

satisfaction and honour as a form of bein odom

a widow and all she has to do is dote on her

Afternoon” can be a major boost to the other

l’chaveiro. I have done this many times and it

dog? Of course everyone is very busy thinking

person’s morale and to yours as well when the

has always been a very effective way of giving

of innumerable things they have to do but if

other person responds, as they nearly always

simcha to another person.

we could make just the small effort of smiling

do. How can a Jew pass a fellow Jew in the

and greeting someone else we could be giving

same way he walks past a lamp-post? Greeting

much pleasure to others and ourselves and

a non-Jew is also an easy way to promote good

making a kiddush Hashem at the same time.

relations with our fellow citizens. During my recent visit to London I greeted Jews and non-Jews frequently and invariably received a pleasant response.

I once learnt something important from the late Reb Moishe Schwab zt”l. I was a bachur in Gateshead Yeshiva and after Shacharis went into the small hanhala room at the side

One morning I was walking to shul when a

of the Beis Hamedrash. Men of my age who

middle-aged non-Jewish lady came out of her

learnt in Gateshead yeshiva will remember

gate, leading a little dog which was wearing a

it. He was talking to a baalabos from the

coat. On the coat was written “Blind.” You may

Gateshead kehila and when Reb Moishe

have seen this lady and her dog yourself. I said

zt”l saw me he said to me that he wants to

“Good Morning” to her and she responded

introduce me to one of Gateshead’s choshuva

with a “Good Morning” to me. I asked if the

baalabatim- Mr … I could see how this man’s

There is an enormous amount of chessed done in our communities by men and women.

Nevertheless I wanted to share a couple of areas which we can maybe focus on during these weeks which, as I said above, have the theme of mitzvos bein odom lechaveiro. Isn’t that what the florist said — to start preparing for Shevuos? Have a healthy summer.

Rabbi Fletcher is the mechaber of Do You Know Hilchos Brachos? Do You Know Hilchos Shabbos?

From Strength to Strength and Dancing in our Hearts. His next sefer The Hidden Light will be published ‫ אי”ה‬in a few weeks. It contains a new essay Where was G-d in the Holocaust? and other essays and stories on the themes of emuna and hashgacha.

ANSWERS 1. On the eighth day of Pesach, second day of Shavuos and on Shemini Atzeres.

2. The Rambam (Moreh, 3:45) brings three reasons: If the non Jews would know it’s location as place of shefa they would fight to get it; had the kenani inhabitants known that the Jews would go there, then they would have destroyed and ruined the place; had the shevotim known of this special place then there would have been arguments between them as to whom would get this portion of Eretz Yisroel for their tribe. Perhaps it can be added that even though the Beis Hamikdosh has a physical location, the Torah is telling us that it is really spiritual; above time and space.

3. Perhaps it is coming to tell us the great danger of idols and the great lengths needed to distance ourselves from them. Besides for destroying the idols even after this we are required to make fun of their names. Because of not allowing these forms of worship, the Torah now continues and says what forms of worship are permissible in the form of the korbonous and the Beis Hamikdosh.

4. There are two types of Asheira trees. There is one where the tree is planted originally to serve in this capacity and therefore since the whole tree is bad in Parshas Re’eh (12:3) it says to burn it in fire. The less severe Asheira tree is one that has grown and then people decide to designate it to worship as an Asheira tree. The tree itself is not forbidden only any new additions, like leaves and fruit. It is such a tree that is

Please could you ensure that there are ample sheets left in shuls for Shabbos before taking one home.

described in Parshas Voeschanon (7:5) and we are told to cut it down. In Parshas Ki Sisa (34:13) where it says it should have “kores” done to it this is talking about both types of these Asheira trees and therefore uses the general description of kores that includes being cut down and destroyed.

5. Until now, the Jews were all together around the Mishkon and the shechita was usually done by the kohanim who are zerizim, swift and efficient. However, now in Parshas Re’eh it is talking about the time when the Jews would enter Eretz Yisroel and would spread out over the country. It was now permitted to slaughter away from the mishkon and now even ordinary Jews who are not zerizim would shecht.

Therefore the command to shecht waits to appear in Sefer Devorim in Parshas Re’eh.

6. When an animal is slaughtered the blood comes out in different consistencies, colours and at different speeds. The first blood comes out slowly and starts being black in colour and then changes to red. This is known as ‫דם התמצית‬. Then the blood comes gushing out with force and sprinkles out in different directions. This is called ‫דם הנפש‬. Then the blood returns similar to the previous state of ‫דם התמצית‬ slows down and trickles out. The first and last stage, eating this blood is punished with malkos, lashes. However, the middle stage, the blood that is associated with the animal’s living soul, is punishable with kores.

This newsletter contains Divrei Torah and may contain Sheimos. Please dispose of accordingly.

NISHMAS YISROEL • SINAI •YESHURUN • OHR YISRAEL www.federation.org.uk/sheimos-lgeniza

‫בס"ד‬

OnegShabbos North West London’s Weekly Torah & Opinion Sheets A Torah publication that enables local Rabbonim and Avreichim to share their insights and Divrei Torah on a variety of different levels, to provide something for everyone

‫ד' אלול תשע"ז‬

DEVARIM 16:18–21:9 // ‫פרשת שופטים‬

26TH AUGUST 2017

Shabbos Times

LONDON

MANCHESTER

GATESHEAD

‫הדלקת נרות‬

7:46 PM

8:00 PM

8:00 PM

‫מוצש’’ק‬

8:54 PM

9:10 PM

9:13 PM

K I N D LY S P O N S O R E D

‫לעילוי נשמת הש"ץ שלמה בן אברהם משה ז"ל לעילוי נשמת חנה בת אלעזר ע"ה‬

Rabbi Zvi Teichman Congregation Ohel Moshe, Baltimore, MD

Parshah

Prior to confronting our most dreaded enemies, the Torah instructs us nevertheless to first “call out to it for peace”; to initiate an overture for peace. If our adversary acquiesces and agrees to “pay taxes and obligate themselves to perform national service”, we must recede and allow them to live. This rule applies even to the reviled seven nations that inhabited the land of Canaan. (Maimonides and Nachmanides) Rabbeinu Avigdor of France, one of the later Balei Tosafos, records that this directive is the basis for the popular dictum “One should initiate a greeting to every person” (Avos 4 20).

The Talmud (Berachos 17) relates that based on this principle, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai “would be the first to greet even a gentile in the marketplace”.

This gesture for peace is contingent on the enemy’s acceptance of subservience to the Jewish nation, as the Torah clearly states “to be taxed and to serve you”. (Devarim 20 11) Is this concept then parallel to the noble notion of “greeting people” in general? It was merely a alternative mode of conquering and placing our enemy under our sovereignty.

They were offered one of three choices; to flee, ‘put up their dukes’ and fight, or submit and surrender.

Can this be the source for the general spreading of good cheer in the world?

Rabbeinu Avigdor makes a most fascinating connection in the next paragraph that

NOW IN THE FOLLOWING PLACES

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‫אריאל יהודה בן יהודית נ"י‬ ‎'‫חיה רוחמה בת אטא תחי‬

discusses the prohibition of Baal Tashchis, wanton destruction.

The Torah commands regarding the besieging of a city that we must refrain from destroying fruit bearing trees in the process.

The verse in its literal reading equates the vitality of a tree to that of a human in emphasizing our need to preserve its life of productivity.

“Do not cut down a tree, because like a man is the tree of the field...” (ibid 19) Rabbeinu Avigdor quoting the Dorshei Reshumos, those who interpret the mystical undercurrents in the verse, teaches that this comparison alludes to the very first stifling of productivity that took place when Canaan, the grandson of Noach, emasculated Noach in his drunken stupor, out of fear that another child would be born who he would have to contend with.

In facing these seven nations who are associated with the land of ‘Canaan’, whose continued on next page

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, Miami, Milan, New York, Oslo, Paris, Petach Tikva, Philadelphia, Pressburg, Radlett, Ruislip, Santiago, Sao Paulo, Southend, Tallinn, Tarzana, Toronto, Uman, Vienna, Zurich

Rabbi Zvi Teichman

30

Parshah

continued from previous page

SEDRA SUMMARY Thank you to Chabad.org

M

oses instructs the people of Israel to appoint judges and law enforcement officers in every

city. “Justice, justice shall you pursue,” he commands them, and you must administer it without corruption or favouritism.

Crimes must be meticulously investigated and evidence thoroughly examined—a minimum of two credible witnesses is required for conviction and punishment.

In every generation, says Moses, there will be those entrusted with the task of interpreting and applying the laws of the Torah. “According to the law that they will teach you, and the judgment they will instruct you, you shall do; you shall not turn away from the thing that they say to you, to the right nor to the left.”

Shoftim also includes the prohibitions against idolatry and sorcery; laws governing the appointment and behaviour of a king; and guidelines for the creation of “cities of refuge” for the inadvertent murderer. Also set forth are many of the rules of war: the exemption from battle for one who has just built a home, planted a vineyard, married, or is “afraid and softhearted”; the requirement to offer terms of peace before attacking a city; and the prohibition against wanton destruction of something of value, exemplified by the law that forbids to cut down a fruit tree when laying siege (in this context the Torah makes the famous statement, “For man is a tree of the field”).

The Parshah concludes with the law of the eglah arufah—the special procedure to be followed when a person is killed by an unknown murderer and his body is found in a field—which underscores the responsibility of the community and its leaders not only for what they do, but also for what they might have prevented from being done.

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original callous act of destruction makes him so deserving of eradication, we must be sensitive to the reason for their downfall by extolling the value of preserving life.

It is precisely in the context of Canaan that this mitzvah takes prominence.

The Talmud (Pesachim 50) teaches the name “Canaan” is a contraction of the sentiment, ayn caan ani, “there is no poverty here”. They were an industrious people and keen entrepreneurs whose very title Canaani became an appellation for a successful trader and dealer.

Canaan represented success, but at all costs. If it was necessary to mow down the competition, so be it. He saw the possibility of a fourth son born to Noach as an existential threat and thus allowed himself to ‘secure’ his ‘rights’ by engaging in this destructive act, assuring there would be no one interfering with his goals.

One who lives in a ‘dog eat dog’ world, is liable to exercise his power of destruction to insure his survival. One, who sees oneself as the sole provider of one’s destiny, inevitably will succumb to this poisonous attitude.

When we begin to see ourselves as part of a bigger picture, gaining validation through the eyes of others, conscious of the notion that I am appreciated for who I am independent of my wealth, stature or accomplishments, that is the beginning of the restoration of our nobility. One who senses this will never resort to crushing others who stand in the way of imaginary status or sense of being.

When we give credence to everyone we meet, regardless of who they might be, we assert the inherent value and potential of every human. The Talmud (Berachos 6)

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teaches that one who ignores a person who normally greets you is considered a thief. If someone looks to you for validation and you ignore him, you have taken away his most prized possession, his very being!

Perhaps that is the emphasis Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai placed on greeting even a gentile in the ‘marketplace’. In the markets of competition and financial gain lays the gravest danger of selfish distraction.

Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai sought to restore their true sense of nobility thus saving them from their own self-destruction.

Our reaching out to our enemies with an olive branch of peace is not merely a threatening tactic. It is our belief that even the most depraved of our foes can sense their true essence and purpose. The arousing within them that sense of validation can bring them to realize the privilege that awaits them if they join our mission.

That appreciation extends to every facet of life. One who is wrapped up in oneself will lack regard for even the most magnificent ‘fruits’ of life that await him.

No wonder this portion that deals with the cohorts of Canaan begins with a “greeting of peace”, for in that royal attitude lays the seeds of hope for mankind in avoiding a descent into a pattern of ‘destroy and conquer’.

If this be true regarding our enemies, how much more so must we implement these concepts among those closest to us.

May we instill within ourselves an appreciation of others that will be a source of encouragement to them that will enable us to bring about a world that will be conquered by love.

Rabbi Teichman can be contacted at: ravzt@ohelmoshebaltimore.com

The possuk (16:18) brings the need for judges in each city. We know that there are three types of Beis Din – of three people, twenty-three and seventy-one. Which of these is referred to here as being needed in each city?

Rabbi Chaim 31 Zundel Pearlman Rabbi, Machzikei Hadath Synagogue and Rosh Beit Midrash, Hendon

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Parshah

.‫ וענו ואמרו ידינו לא שפכו את ַהדם הזה ועינינו לא ראו‬:‫שופטים כא ז‬ And all the elders of that city, closest to the corpse, should wash their hands .. and proclaim “our hands did not spill this blood and our eyes did not see”.

Rashi, quoting Chazal1, comments would anybody think that the elders of the Beis Din were murderers! Therefore the interpretation must be that we did not see off this wayfarer without providing him with sustenance and without accompanying him on his journey.

– “may it be the will that I should say something which will be well-received”.

When he arrives in the Beis Hamidrash he finds the great sages, including no less than R. Chanina and R. Yochanon, debating a difficulty in the mishna.

R. Abba proffers a very erudite and reasonable solution to their difficulty. But remarkably they all start laughing at him.

This seems a very strange way of greeting a newcomer to the Yeshiva!

The Sages considered the omission of accompanying a stranger on his journey of such great severity that it is comparable to murder!

The gemoro2 relates that when R. Abba was about to leave Bovel to go to Eretz Yisroel, he tried to avoid his teacher Rav Yehuda, who was wont to say that whoever ascends from Bovel to Eretz Yisroel transgresses.3 Since he could not take formal leave of his teacher, he said to himself, I will at least go to the Beis Hamidrash and take a parting lesson before travelling. So he went to the back of the Beis Hamidrash, out-of-sight, and listened to the lesson being expounded by his Rebbe. The lesson was, that if one is in the middle of tefila and he needs to release some gas, he should wait until the smell (ruach) dissipates, alternatively he should walk back four steps and only then return to his tefila. On hearing this halocho R. Abba ecstatically proclaims if I had only come to learn this lesson, it would have been sufficient!

On learning this gemoro I was puzzled.

What did R. Abba see in this rather mundane halocho that sends him into rhapsody that is a parting lesson for life!

There is a sequel to this event. When he finally completed his journey and is about to enter Eretz Yisroel, R. Abba recites a prayer ‫יהא רעוה דאימא מילתא‬ 4

‫דתתקבל‬

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The Chasam Sofer5 suggests that their response was a punishment for him saying an inappropriate tefila that his words be accepted, which implied an element of insincerity. The difficulty is that the Chasam Sofer, himself uses exactly the same words in a responsum6 - ‫יהא רעוה דאימא מילתא דתתקבל‬. Some suggest, in view of the 30 year span between the two responsa, that the Chasam Sofer re-considered. Perhaps the best answer is, that he was responding to a specific shaaloh, in which case the tefila is appropriate, whereas R. Abba was volunteering an explanation. Thus according to the understanding of the Chasam Sofer his tefila was out of order.

However, I would like to suggest a completely different approach. When R. Abba was about to leave his great Rebbe in Bovel, he desperately yearned for the blessing of approval from his mentor. If a host does not provide accompaniment for a complete stranger it is considered on par with murder, one cannot imagine the disappointment of a talmid on leaving yeshiva and going out into the big wide world, without even a goodbye. Rabbi Abba must have been devastated, so he said to himself at least if I sneak into the

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back of the Beis Hamedrash and hear a good vort from my Rebbe – maybe that will set me up in life. So that is exactly what he did. He received a message which he felt was meant for him personally.

Now that he was leaving the protection of the four walls of the yeshiva he would no doubt be challenged with evil spirits (ruchos). How should he react to these challenges? He felt that R. Yehuda was addressing him not to directly confront these philosophies, but walk back a few steps until the test passes. This for him was a message for life.

When he arrived in Eretz Yisroel, without the approval of his Rebbe, he lacked the confidence to say something in the Beis Hamidrash in front of the gedolei Eretz Yisroel. He therefore uttered this tefila to bolster his nerves but even then, without the brocho from his Rebbe he could not convince the sages. The lack of acceptance, indeed derision, was directly linked to the fact that he did not receive his Rebbe’s blessing.

From the above, we can see the importance of accompanying even a stranger, never mind a talmid, on a physical journey, and how much more so on his spiritual voyage.

1 Sotah 46b 2 Berochos 24b 3 This was not because of any lack of love for Eretz Yisroel, on the part of Rav Yehuda, as can be proven from a number of sources.

4 Beitza 38a 5 Chidushim Beitza 38a and Sh’ut Orach Chaim 208 6 Sh’ut Chasam Sofer Orach Chaim 20

Rabbi Pearlman can be contacted at: czp@mailteq.com

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‫לע”נ‬ DAYAN GERSHON LOPIAN ‫זצ”ל‬ Wherever possible it is preferable to contact your own Rov

What is so bad about taking a bribe? What negative effect does it have on a person?

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g n i n i l p i Disc Kids y l e v i t c Effe

part 2 of 2

Rabbi Noach Orlowek Effective discipline begins long before you need to correct anything.

It depends on the

Shakespeare was being poetic when he asked the Romans and countrymen to lend their ears. No one’s interested in ears -- they want your mind.

If you want your children to heed what you have to say, you have to put in the groundwork beforehand to ensure that they will listen. They must trust that what you have to say is for their benefit.

Give your children your mind: make time for them and listen to them.

When your three-year-old comes home babbling about that day’s kindergarten, you’re tired and thinking, “This is just babble.” Don’t tune your child out. Strive to reach beyond yourself and listen.

Love can be defined as “If it’s important to you, it’s important to me.”

and child.

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This is because effective discipline depends on the relationship between the person disciplining and the person being disciplined.

IF IT’S IMPORTANT TO YOU, IT’S IMPORTANT TO ME

between the parent

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You need to show this to your children -- words are not enough.

That means a strong, trusting, loving relationship has to exist before the first word of rebuke escapes your lips. You need to make your children into your disciples. It’s no wonder that “discipline” is a derivative of “disciple.”

trusting relationship

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The best disciplinarians are the ones most beloved by those they rebuke.

If you convey that what’s important to your children isn’t necessarily important to you, you can be sure that the day will come when your kids will send you a message: what’s important to you isn’t important to them.

Once you’ve built the “disciple foundation,” preserve it and mete out productive discipline by following these principles:

Rashi (16:22) brings the difference between a matzeva, of one stone, is forbidden while a mizbayach, an altar made from many stones is allowed. This is despite the fact that the matzeva was beloved to Hashem during the times of the Avos. It nevertheless became hated afterwards since the idol worshippers did the same. The question is why then is only the matzeva forbidden? The idol worshippers also used the mizbayach in which case it should also be forbidden?

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MAINTAIN YOUR DISTANCE

PROVIDE AN EXAMPLE

Always keep in mind that the punishment is for the benefit of the child, not for you. This requires a healthy dose of emotional objectivity.

It used to be that children saw role models of discipline in their own homes. When several generations lived together, kids saw their parents listen to their grandparents. Today, you need to go out of your way to provide examples of adults listening and following directions.

My teacher, Rabbi Simcha Wasserman, of blessed memory, said that your son or daughter is not yours, but is a trust given to you by God. Raising her well is how you show that God’s trust was well-placed.

When your parents come to your house, be sure your children see you showing honor and deference to them.

My teacher also said that when she misbehaves, she has a problem with discipline, not you. You’re there to help her out. If you view her acting up as your problem, you become subjective, frightened and confused -- and lose the ability to help her improve her behavior (and likely will lose credibility with her as well).

If your parents happen to be difficult, that’s even better! When they mature, your kids will see the difficulties of the relationship. They will have the incredible example of you showing respect even to difficult people, driving home the importance of discipline.

In observant homes, children also see the example of their parents deferring to Jewish law.

BE SPECIFIC When you give directives, be very clear. Telling a child, “cross the street safely” isn’t enough, because “safely” can be interpreted any number of ways.

BE FAIR

You have to be specific: “Look both ways and walk quickly across only if you see no cars in either direction.”

Often it is a good idea to make your child repeat back what you said.

You may not have been as clear as you thought. You also avoid having your child tell you later that they did something other than what you wanted because she “didn’t understand.”

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without undue parental “throwing their weight around.”

BE FIRM Testing limits is a natural human tendency. Your kids automatically want to see how much they can get away with. Once you take a stand, you have to hold it.

This doesn’t mean you should be mindlessly stubborn, but be prepared to stick to your guns. If necessary, take time to determine what an appropriate reaction or punishment is, so you can be sure you can live with what you choose.

BE CONSISTENT Never, ever promise. Few things can wreck your credibility as quickly as an unkept promise. If you renege on a promise, there’s a good chance your child will never forget it, even if it was a promise lightly made. Instead, say, “I will try” or “If I can.” With experience, your child will learn that that’s as good

Ensure that your punishment matches their “crime” and that chastisement is meted out in an evenhanded fashion. The basic function of parents is to prepare their children for life, and therefore a punishment should be, as it often is in life, a natural outgrowth of the “crime”.

as gold.

In addition, this helps mitigate any sense of resentment on the part of the child, as the misbehavior was the natural cause of the consequence,

of time to pass before responding to

BE FRIENDLY If your child perceives that he’s being disciplined because you’re angry, rather than because he did something wrong, he may miss the point. Be calm and friendly. Don’t let an inordinate amount negative behavior, but if you need, wait a period of time until you cool off to mete out discipline.

In (17:7) we are told that the hands of the witnesses must be the first to carry out stoning the sinner. Why?

Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Schechter Author of Seforim, Parshah Pshetl

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Parshah

ADMIT IT – YOU DID IT 16:18 “’‫שפטים ושטרים תתן לך בכל שעריך אשר ד‬ ‫ ושפטו את העם משפט צדק‬,‫”אלקיך נתן לך לשבטיך‬ 16:19 “…‫ לא תכיר פנים‬,‫”לא תטה משפט‬ “You shall appoint judges and officers in all of your cities which Hashem, your G-d, gives you for your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert judgment…” The Torah tells us that the people should be judged with righteous judgment and then says that judgment should not be perverted. Why does the Torah need to tell us that judgment should not be perverted when it just told us that the judgment should be righteous?

The Shemen Aparsomon says that this is a warning to Klal Yisroel that they must appoint judges who will not pervert the true judgment.

For if the judges will pervert the judgment, then that perversion of judgment will be attributed to those who appointed the judges, as if they themselves came forth with the evil judgment.

The one who causes something to happen, even though he himself did not perform the action, is attributed with that action. Sotah 38b – Eglah Arufah – The Zekeinim of Bais Din say, “our hands did not spill his blood, and our eyes did not see anything.” Does anyone think that the Ziknei Bais Din did such atrocities that they must make these statements? The Ziknei Bais Din state that they certainly provided the person with food, and were Melaveh (escorted) him out of the town. Had the Ziknei Bais Din not provided the person with food, and been Melaveh him, then the person’s death would have been attributed to them, for by not giving food and being Melaveh him, they were the cause of his death – though they certainly did not actually kill him with their hands. Rabbeinu Zechariah says that the Torah is telling the judges - “do not pervert judgment for you will be sending yourself to the purgatory.”

to perform Avodas Hashem. After that, the Torah now commands us that we should admit to the Emes, the true judgment, and that we should not be like a relative judging ourselves. A person naturally does not see his own faults, and judges himself favorably even when it is not so. This can cause a person to fall and to lose out on opportunities to better himself. There are times when one can come up with reasoning and logic why his actions were righteous, yet he should not rely upon them. Rather, if there is a chance that he acted incorrectly, he should assume that he acted so, and attempt to rectify his actions.

One who acts in this manner will cause his own judgment in Shomayim to always look for ways to view him favorably. We learn this behavior from Dovid Hamelech. When Shaul Hamelech was chastised by Shmuel Hanavi for his actions regarding Amalek, Shaul advanced an argument to exonerate himself, yet it did not help and he was condemned in Shomayim for his actions. Conversely, although Dovid Hamelech had valid arguments to indemnify himself, when Nosson Hanavi came to rebuke him, he immediately responded, “‫– ”’חטאתי לד‬ “I sinned against Hashem.” In response to the way Dovid Hamelech acted, Nosson Hanavi told Dovid, “‫“ – ”גם ד’ העביר חטאתך‬Hashem has commuted your sin.” “‫ – ”לא תטה משפט‬do not change the judgment against yourself to always find it in your favor, rather admit when you err. Additionally, “‫– ”לא תכיר פנים‬ Do not take your actions only at face value; rather understand what will sprout forth from those actions. There are actions which on the surface do not seem to be bad, yet it will cause other things to happen which will most certainly be bad.

We begin to blow the Shofar on Rosh Chodesh, thirty days before Rosh Hashanah.

This is a resemblance to a Ba’al Chov, one who is in debt, who was given by Bais Din thirty days to repay his debt, and be absolved from the consequences of not repaying his debt.

So too, each Yid is given thirty days before the big judgment, to do Teshuva, Tefilah, and Tzedakah, to be Mesaken what they were Pogem, sullied. Choshen Mishpat 100:1 – Bais Din gives the debtor thirty days to repay what he owes before they begin to repossess from his possessions to repay the debt. So too, the Bais Din Shel Ma’alah gives a person thirty days to repay the debt in this world, before things are seized from him (‫)אלף למגן‬.

How should judges be chosen? One should not choose a judge for the individual needs to earn a livelihood, and by being a judge he will receive compensation, nor should one choose a judge who is nicer to wealthy people, and you are wealthy – or is nicer to the poor and needy, and you are poor and needy.

“You shall not pervert judgment” – The Ben Ish Chai explains that the Torah commanded us that we should all place judges and officers, upon ourselves – meaning that our intellect and our hearts should control our actions

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There are times that the truth is placed before us, and we look for excuses to veer from the truth, and not admit the obvious truth. That is a perversion of judgment which causes great harm. After the grave sin of Kayin killing his brother, Hakodosh Boruch Hu asked him where his brother was. That was the opportunity for Kayin to come clean and admit that he killed him. However, Kayin did not take that opportunity, and perverted the judgment by responding, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” We can go back even further, to the first man created, to Odom Harishon, to see this perversion of judgment. Odom Harishon was given one command, not to eat from the Eitz Hada’as. He sinned and ate from it.

Hakodosh Boruch Hu asked him why he ate from it, violating the explicit command not to?

Instead of admitting his iniquity, Odom tried to put all the blame on Chava and said, “It was the woman that You gave to me who gave me to eat.” Had Odom Harishon owned up to his sin, and immediately admitted to his sin and taken responsibility for his actions, he would have received an immediate pardon. However, when one does not own up to his sins, and perverts Din, by saying that what he did was not so bad, was not his fault, was unavoidable, etc… that is what brings Churban to the world.

We are now in the period of thirty days before the Day of Judgment. We blow the Shofar to remind us that we must prepare. A Shofar is not words, it is just a sound which cannot be misinterpreted. The sound of the Shofar is a resounding cry for us to prepare for the Day of Judgment by owning up to our deeds. We must not allow the Yetzer Hara to color what we see, and convince us that our sins are not our fault, and they are not bad. Conversely, if one takes upon himself responsibility that he will put in his full effort to serve Hakodosh Boruch Hu properly, he will certainly have much Siyata Dishmaya, and will grow in Ruchniyos. We must own up to all of our iniquities, and do Teshuva for them. At the same time, we must make a firm commitment to our service in our Avodas Hashem. If we perform righteous judgment, Hakodosh Boruch Hu will judge us in kind. May we be Zoche to utilize these days of reflection to be Zoche to a Ksiva V’chasima Tovah.

Rabbi Schechter can be contacted at yankieschechter@gmail.com:

The death of the Zoken Mamrei, rebellious elder, is delayed and only carried out by the next festival. (see 17:13 and Rashi). Why is his death pushed off to this time more than the death of other sinners who are killed immediately? Why wait and kill him by the place of the Sanhedrin in Yerushalayim?

Rabbi Yissochor Frand

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Parshah

Rosh Yeshiva, Ner Yisrael Baltimore

Shlomo Knew That the Law Prohibiting Bribes Applied To Him As Well Parshas Shoftim contains the mitzvah of appointing a king. The Torah sets certain restrictions for the Jewish monarch. One of these restrictions is that he may not accumulate too many horses. In those days, the supply of horses came from Egypt and a king who acquired “too many horses” would have to engage in extensive commercial relationships with Egypt. The Torah wanted to avoid that. [Devarim 17:16] A second restriction prohibited the accumulation of too many wives. A king was forbidden to take more than eighteen wives “lest they make his heart turn astray” [Devarim 17:17]. The Talmud teaches [Sanhedrin 21b] that King Shlomo violated both these prohibitions.

He accumulated many horses and many wives. In fact, he took 1000 wives.

Disastrous results ensued. Scripture tells us that at the end of his life, his wives had a deleterious effect on his righteousness.

Why did King Shlomo knowingly violate these commandments? He argued “These laws do not apply to someone with my wisdom. I can take many horses and wives without sinning. I can handle it.

The multitude of wives and horses will not affect me.”

The Talmud observes that there are two places where the Torah tells us the reason for a prohibition. The Torah says (1) do not have too many horses because it will bring you back to Egypt and (2) do not have too many wives because they will make you stray. In these two cases, the Torah uncharacteristically writes the

rationale for a negative commandment.

Look what happened. The wisest of all men felt it did not apply to him. He considered the reasons given and with self-confidence decided that the reasons did not apply to him. In the end he sinned, with grievous consequences.

However, there appears to be a glaring contradiction –- right in our parsha — to this rule that “in only two places the Torah stated a reason for a prohibition”. At the beginning of Shoftim, the Torah says “Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your cities…” In the context of that instruction, the Torah says, “Do not take a bribe, for the bribe will blind the eyes of the wise and make crooked the words of the righteous.” [Devorim 16:18-19]. So what does the Gemara mean that it only states the reasons for prohibitions in two places (regarding too many horses and too many wives)? The Torah also gives a reason regarding the prohibition against taking bribes: “For the bribe will blind the eyes of the wise and make crooked the words of the righteous!” Thus, there appears to be a third place where the

Torah gives a reason for a prohibiton, and it is in our very parsha!

Furthermore, why was it that Shlomo Hamelech’s self-confidence only allowed him to violate the prohibition against acquiring too many horses and too many wives? Why did not he say, “I’m going to take bribes” as well? Why did not he feel “the fear that bribes will blind a person does not apply to me”?

The Chidushei HaRim addresses this question. He answers that the pasuk states specifically “for the bribe will blind the eyes of the WISE and make crooked the words of the righteous.” Shlomo Hamelech’s argument why he thought he was immune from the prohibition of having too many horses and too many wives was “I am the wisest of all men.

These laws were made for kings of average intelligence.” However he knew that the Torah specifically warned that the prohibition to take bribes was aimed even at the wise (“for bribes blind the eyes of the wise”). This warning stopped even King Shlomo in his tracks.

Life is like a book.

Some chapters are sad, some are happy, and some are exciting, but if you never turn the page, you will never know what the next chapter has in store for you.

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6. Why didn’t the Kohanim and Leviyim get a portion in Eretz Yisroel and get to split the booty of war? (18:1) Does this prohibition apply forever?

SOLUTIONS IN THE SEDRA

Rabbi Yoni Birnbaum

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Parshah

Hadley Wood Jewish Community

Shoftim – The Extraordinary Example of the Rambam In a letter to Shmuel ibn Tibbon, translator of his ‘Commentary to the Mishnah’ from its original Arabic, the Rambam (1135 - 1204), describes his gruelling schedule as royal physician to the Egyptian sultan.

‘I dwell at Fostat, and the sultan resides at Cairo [about a mile and a half away].... My duties to the sultan are very heavy. I am obliged to visit him every day, early in the morning….I do not return to Fostat until the afternoon.

Then I am almost dying with hunger. . . I find the antechamber filled with people, both Jews and gentiles, nobles and common people, judges and bailiffs, friends and foes-a mixed multitude who await the time of my return….’

R. David ibn Zimra (known as Radvaz, d. 1573) answers this question by pointing to the story of his life.

Originally from Spain, he escaped persecution by fleeing with his family to Morocco, followed by a brief sojourn in the Land of Israel. He finally reached the relatively safe harbour of Egypt in 1168.

Once there, he was unavoidably drafted into the arduous personal service of the sultan. Thus, he effectively resided in Egypt under duress.

A famous question about the life of the Rambam stems from a verse in this week’s sidrah, which mentions a prohibition against living in Egypt. ‘….. for the Lord said to you, ‘you shall not return that way anymore’. (Devarim 17:16) How, therefore, are we to understand the fact that the Rambam himself resided in Egypt?!

Yet, despite all this, the Rambam’s achievements were simply staggering.

The above account amply illustrates the respect accorded to him by the wider Egyptian society and its elite, and in terms of his literary output, he is considered to this day one of Judaism’s preeminent scholars, both in terms of Jewish law as well as philosophy. He

became one of the greatest Sages and leaders we have ever known.

We all suffer from the perception that our own circumstances in life make it difficult to change, to do things better, or to achieve more.

But the extraordinary example of the Rambam teaches otherwise.

It tells us that greatness lies not in waiting for the optimum circumstances to arrive – but in choosing to make the most of every day – despite those circumstances, and it reminds us that the greatest achievements are often made under what appears to be the most unlikely of circumstances.

Rabbi Birnbaum can be contacted at: rabbi.birnbaum@gmail.com

ANSWERS 1. See Rabbeinu Bechai who seems to say that in Parshas Shoftim it is referring to the need of the Beis Din of twenty-three, known as the Sanhedri Ketana.

They had the power to judge cases with death punishments.

2. A bribe makes its recipient connected to the giver, so that he cannot judge objectively. The Gemora Kesuvos 105b says that ‫שוחד=שהוא חד‬, meaning that the hebrew word for bribe is a contraction of two words meanings that “he becomes one”. A person becomes so connected to the donor that just like a person does not see himself guilty so too he will no longer see the other as guilty. The Chida in Nachal Kedumim gives an allusion to this. The hebrew letters after the letters of ‫ שחד‬are ‫תטה‬, meaning turning aside as this is the effect after accepting a bribe!

3. The Ramban answers that the mazteva was used everywhere while the mizbayach was only used in some places. Therefore only the matzeva was forbidden. Another answer is that the matzeva was situated at the entrance of the place of worship and was the focus of it. However, the mizbayach was just used afterwards as a means to bring up the sacrifices.

4. The Rambam in his commentary to Mishnayos Sanhedrin brings that since our knowledge of the sin is only through these witnesses therefore it is only right that they who saw the sin start carrying out the punishment. The Mincha Belula brings that by getting the witnesses to kill the sinner is a double

Please could you ensure that there are ample sheets left in shuls for Shabbos before taking one home.

insurance that they are saying the truth. Lying is one level of evil but killing an innocent man is a further level that most people would feel repulsed at the mere thought of doing it. Perhaps another idea is that the witnesses who saw the actual sin are now negatively affected at being desensitized to this sin.

Therefore, they need to be the ones to instigate the death of sinner thereby strengthening their sensitivity to this sin by seeing how it results in death.

5. Perhaps the idea is that this sinner is unique in some ways. We are not scared that the average person will do this sin since the criteria for it is to be a wise elder. However, such a person must be influential in imparting his false views to others. Therefore, to show that their views are incorrect and stop them being continued by others, his death is done publically by the festival. It is done by the place of Sanhedrin in Yerushalayim, the place that is the source for the correct Torah views.

6. The Chinuch explains that they were not given a portion so that they could totally devote themselves to serve Hashem without other distractions. Booty was not shared since it would be incorrect for those who serve Hashem to have benefit from things that were extorted and taken unwillingly from others.

Tosfas (Bava Basra 122a) brings that in the future they will get a part in all this. The Rambam (Shemita Viyovel 13:10-12) brings that this prohibition only applies to countries which the Avos did a covenant with. However, from all other lands they can get a portion and divide the booty.

This newsletter contains Divrei Torah and may contain Sheimos. Please dispose of accordingly.

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‫בס"ד‬

OnegShabbos North West London’s Weekly Torah & Opinion Sheets A Torah publication that enables local Rabbonim and Avreichim to share their insights and Divrei Torah on a variety of different levels, to provide something for everyone

‫י"א אלול תשע"ז‬

DEVARIM 21:10–25:19 // ‫פרשת כי תצא‬

2 SEPTEMBER 2017

Shabbos Times

LONDON

MANCHESTER

GATESHEAD

‫הדלקת נרות‬

7:31 PM

7:43 PM

7:43 PM

‫מוצש’’ק‬

8:37 PM

8:52 PM

8:54 PM

K I N D LY S P O N S O R E D

‫לעילוי נשמת הש"ץ שלמה בן אברהם משה ז"ל לעילוי נשמת חנה בת אלעזר ע"ה‬

Rabbi Yoni Golker

Assistant Rabbi, St John's Wood Synagogue; Jewish Studies Teacher, JFS School

Parshah

It takes a village to raise a child “Everybody knows how to raise children, except the people who have them”, famously quipped P.J. O’Rourke, an American political satirist and journalist.

Today is probably the most challenging generation to raise a child. This is of course for a combination of factors, the rampant increase in technology and entertainment, its impact on our attention spans, and the change in how we live, but it is largely due to the new information about growth and development. Not just about how children should grow physically, but how they should grow socially, emotionally, and intellectually. In a relatively short span of time – over the last three decades – there has been an explosion of theories about child psychology, and with this new understanding of how children develop came new stresses and pressures on parents, not just to produce children who are compliant, but ones who are emotionally and socially healthy as well.

will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard. Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.

Our Parsha this week does offer some ancient wisdom though, that may be of help. For anyone who has ever been a parent, reading through Ki Tetze will remind us the challenges of confrontation and communication with our children. Teenagers particularly, really have a reputation to be “challenging” and our Torah portion describes the quintessential oppositional adolescent, the “Ben Sorer u’Morer’” “the Wayward Child” although some may say the Torah’s resolution seems to be somewhat drastic.

There is a further homiletical interpretation of these verses which is most relevant and instructive. The ‘stubborn and rebellious son’ is described in the Torah as ‘einenu shome’a bekol av’iv u’vekol imo’ - ‘who does not listen to the voice of his father and to the voice of his mother’. Chazal query the necessity for repetition of the word ‘bekol’ - it could simply have stated ‘bekol av’iv ve’imo’. They explain that the purpose of the reiteration is to tell us that a child cannot halachically be deemed to be a Ben Sorer u’Morer’’ unless the respective voices of his father and his mother are identical. Now this is extremely hard to understand, since a male’s voice is naturally on a different pitch from a female’s. How, then, can the Torah be legislating something dependent on a condition that is physically impossible to achieve in practice? continued on page 42

The Torah describes a Stubborn and Rebellious Son, and says that: “if a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He

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‫לרפואת‬

‫אריאל יהודה בן יהודית נ"י‬ ‎'‫חיה רוחמה בת אטא תחי‬

In contemporary society, no one is for a moment suggesting we frogmarch our child to the elders at the gates of the city, and stone them, and at first glance, the Torah seems very harsh. In fact this leads Rabbi.

Shimon bar Yochai to conclude that “there never was nor ever will be a stubborn and rebellious son” (Sanhedrin 71a). In other words the awful punishment never practically happened.

Why then was it written? The very fact that the Ben Sorer u’Morer’s case can never happened teaches us there is never really a possibility of a child being so bad that all hope is lost. The Torah gives us this whole involved case with all these prerequisites to show us that it is impossible for a person to be beyond transformation.

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, Miami, Milan, New York, Oslo, Paris, Petach Tikva, Philadelphia, Pressburg, Radlett, Ruislip, Santiago, Sao Paulo, Southend, Tallinn, Tarzana, Toronto, Uman, Vienna, Zurich

Rabbi Yossi Goldberg

38

Parshah

Speeches-by-Design

SEDRA SUMMARY Thank you to Chabad.org

S

eventy-four of the Torah’s 613 commandments (mitzvot) are in the Parshah of Ki Teitzei. These include the laws of the beautiful captive, the inheritance rights of the firstborn, the wayward and rebellious son, burial and dignity of the dead, returning a lost object, sending away the mother bird before taking her young, the duty to erect a safety fence around the roof of one’s home, and the various forms of kilayim (forbidden plant and animal hybrids).

Also recounted are the judicial procedures and penalties for adultery, for the rape or seduction of an unmarried girl, and for a husband who falsely accuses his wife of infidelity. The following cannot marry a person of Jewish lineage: a mamzer (someone born from an adulterous or incestuous relationship); a male of Moabite or Ammonite descent; a first- or second-generation Edomite or Egyptian.

Our Parshah also includes laws governing the purity of the military camp; the prohibition against turning in an escaped slave; the duty to pay a worker on time, and to allow anyone working for you—man or animal—to “eat on the job”; the proper treatment of a debtor, and the prohibition against charging interest on a loan; the laws of divorce (from which are also derived many of the laws of marriage); the penalty of thirty-nine lashes for transgression of a Torah prohibition; and the procedures for yibbum(“levirate marriage”) of the wife of a deceased childless brother, or chalitzah (“removing of the shoe”) in the case that the brother-in-law does not wish to marry her.

Ki Teitzei concludes with the obligation to remember “what Amalek did to you on the road, on your way out of Egypt.”

You just try

‫ת־ׂשיֹו נִ ָּדחים וְ ִה ְת ַעּלַ ְמ ָּת ֵמ ֶהם‬ ֵ ‫ֽא־ת ְר ֶאה ֶאת־ׁשֹור ָא ִחיָך אֹו ֶא‬ ִ ‫ֹל‬ )'‫ (יז' טו‬:‫ָה ֵׁשב ְּת ִׁש ֵיבם לְ ָא ִחֽיָך‬

We learn the Mitzvah of Hashovas Aveida from this Possuk. Simply understood, it is a Mitzvah to return lost articles to their owners. But the Ohr Hachaim learns a deeper meaning to this Mitzvah.

He explains the Possuk as follows:

‫ שור‬- this doesn’t just mean animals. This means Yidden who are wondering like animals. They are lost. ‫אחיך‬- Hakodosh Boruch Hu. These are Yidden who have drifted away from Hashem. ‫ נדחים‬- They have done Averois. ‫השב תשיבם‬- Don’t ignore them; bring them back to Hashem.

The Ohr Hachaim adds, why does the Possuk repeat the instruction of ‫ השב‬in a double expression - ‫?השב תשיבם‬ To teach us that we just have to do ‫ והשב‬- to try and bring them close. Then ‫ תשיבם‬- they will return on their own. Meaning, one should not become discouraged from his efforts to reach out. We just have to try and do our bit; the rest will happen without us.

Rav Fishel Shachter related the following story in connection with this Ohr Hachaim.

A Yid once came crying to the Imrey Emes, “Please Rebbe help me!” The Yid explained that he had always enjoyed a big contract with a certain factory in Austria and this was his main source of Parnasah. But recently, the company had cancelled their contract with him and now he was really stuck. The Rebbe felt bad for the poor Yid but he wondered what he could do to help him.

“Rebbe, you’re going to Marienbad for your summer break soon,” the Yid explained. “Please can you find this Austrian factory owner and convince him to give me back my contract?”

The Imrei Emes thought for a moment and then shared his thoughts with his brother in law (a Choshuve Rebbe in his own right) who was also present. “What chance is there that this is going to work?” he began. “Why on earth should a random Austrian factory owner be interested in what we have to say?”

“But the Torah says, ‫והשב‬. Our job is just to try and help this Yid recover his financial loss.

Everyone has a potential soulmate.

Shidduch.im gives you a better chance to find yours

Hashem will decide if ‫ ;תשיבם‬if we are going to manage to or not.”

With that, the two brothers in law set off to Marienbad and soon found the factory. They walked inside, dressed in their usual garb as Polish Rebbes. When they entered, the owner, a posh Austrian Jew looked up with annoyance at their entry. “Huh? What do you want?”

The politely introduced themselves - “We came in on behalf of this person you stopped ordering from to ask you to reconsider his contract.”

“I don’t even know who you are?” the owner reacted. “Who are you?”

The Imrei Emmes replied, “They call me the Gerrer Rebbe, and this is my brother in law. We happen to also be Mechutonim!”

When he heard that, the Austrian Jew jumped up and called his partner over. “These two are brothers in law and also Mechutonim!” he told him excitedly.

The background to this strange scenario was that these two business partners were in fact also brothers in law. Their children had wanted to get married to each other but their parents were concerned that if they became Mechutonim, it might cause their business relationship to go sour and their business would collapse. This concern caused to them to fight such a lot that they had just decided to break up their partnership because of it.

Recently, they had been sorting out their business and had to cancel some of their contracts. One of them was that Yid from Poland.

When the partners saw these two Rebbes as brothers in law and also Mechutonim and yet they were at peace with each other; this made them realise that they had nothing to worry about. So the Shidduch could go through and the business could resume after all!

And yes, the Yid from Poland got his contract back!

You just have to do ‫והשב‬. Hashem will do the

‫תשיבם‬.

Rabbi Goldberg can be contacted at: yossigol3@gmail.com

o

Rabbi Kimche - Ner Yisrael

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The Torah says that a firstborn gets double inheritance. How can people nowadays go against this commandment and give inheritance equally to all children?

Dayan Yehoshua Posen Director of Beis Din Operations, Federation

39

This page is sponsored

by Federation

Halachah

The Crucial Clause in Every Contract Many people spend time and effort searching for segulos for parnossoh and success. In this week’s Parshah in Perek 23 Posuk 20 and 21 the Posuk tells us of the strict prohibition of charging Ribbis - interest. The Posuk concludes “‫ ”'למען יברכך ה' אלוקיך בכל משלח ידיך וכו‬that if a person refrains from charging interest, Hashem will bentch him and his possessions. In fact, this works both ways. The Gemorah in Boba Mezia tells us that one who charges Ribbis will lose their wealth and assets.

Frequently people enter into contracts and deals without realising that there is a Ribbis concern. If one has the presence of mind to ask a sheila, then this can normally be addressed, however, most people do not think at the time of doing so. In previous articles we have mentioned various Ribbis scenarios which people find themselves in, without having realised initially. There is a simple solution which could rectify most of these problems from the outset. If one would sign a Heter Iska Klali and subsequently insert a clause into all contracts that they enter into, declaring that the contracts are governed by the “Terms and Conditions of the Heter Iska Klali” which they have signed; this would address most scenarios.

Heter Iska There is a fundamental difference between a loan on which one cannot accept interest, and an investment, from which one is entitled to receive profit. A loan, is a transaction in which the “lender” is guaranteed to receive his capital back. An investment is where the investor could make profits or losses. A Heter Iska is an investment in which the investor has tight restrictions on the person/company he is investing with, which reduce the likelihood of him not receiving his capital back, but don’t eliminate the element of risk entirely.

In simple broad terms, when an investor makes an investment, both parties are free to agree between themselves upfront the terms of the investment. With this in mind, the Trumas Hadeshen pointed out, that an investor is entitled to insist when he makes his investment, that he’s not prepared to take the

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recipient’s word that the investment went bad and he’s lost his money. Rather, the recipient would have to bring two witnesses whose testimony would be admissible in Beis Din (not relatives, women or employees) to testify that the funds were lost. In absence of such a testimony, the recipient would be obliged to repay the invested funds. The Levush went one step further and advised that the investor could agree with recipient, that the recipient would not be believed how much profit the investment did or didn’t generate, unless the recipient made a Shvuoh Min HaToiroh -solemn oath – declaring how much profit was generated. If the recipient wished to avoid making the Shevuoh he could pay a pre-agreed amount -which was deemed a realistic margin for this investment, and if the investor received this amount he would waive his rights to any excess profit generated, and to the Shevuoh.

The Heter Iska agreement incorporates these two clauses into the terms of the investment, and states that the recipient won’t be believed that the capital was lost without bringing two Kosher witnesses to corroborate this claim. Without such a testimony, he will have to repay the investor his capital. Similarly, he will only be believed regarding the profit generated if he makes a Shevuoh. If he doesn’t wish to make the Shevuoh he can pay the agreed rate of return, as long as it is reasonable.

There are two main types of Heter Iska; “Palga Milveh Palga Pikodoin” and “Kuloi Pikodoin”. Palga Milveh Palga Pikodoin is an arrangement in which half the funds provided are an investment and half are a loan. Which means that the recipient will be personally liable (if he borrowed in a personal capacity)

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to repay half the capital regardless, whilst the other half is an investment about which, in theory, there is the possibility he could produce witnesses to testify it was lost. Furthermore, the recipient would only be providing a return as a result of the half which is an investment.

For example, if £100,000 was provided under these terms, and the Heter Iska stated that the agreed return required if the recipient does not wish to make a Shevuoh, is 5% per annum, then the £5,000 return, will in actual fact be a return of 10% per annum on the investment, which was only £50,000.

The second type, Kuloi Pikodoin, is entirely an investment; therefore a 5% return, would be a genuine 5% return, but in theory, the recipient could bring witnesses that the capital was “lost”.

There are various restrictions on the use of a Heter Iska, which are beyond writing in this article, however just to name the main ones: 1. The rate of return written on a Heter Iska should not be more than what’s realistic for the recipient to generate with such a sum, over the relevant period of time. For most people this is a maximum of between 10% and 15% on a Palga Milva Palga Pikodoin, and double that for a Kuloi Pikodoin. Many investors have found themselves unable to claim any return after putting too high a percentage on their Heter Iska.

2. The investor cannot have first-hand knowledge of the dealings of the recipient. continued on page 41

Dayan Posen can be contacted at: dayan.posen@federation.org.uk

SHAILATEXT 07860 017 641

‫לע”נ‬ DAYAN GERSHON LOPIAN ‫זצ”ל‬ Wherever possible it is preferable to contact your own Rov

What important halacha do we learn from the parsha regarding how to deal with Jewish burial?

Rabbi Boruch Dov Diskind

40

Parshah

The Jerusalem Kollel

When the Curse is a Blessing ‫ֹלקיָך ּלְ ָך ֶאת ַה ְּקלָ לָ ה לִ ְב ָרכָ ה‬ ֶ ‫ֹלקיָך לִ ְׁשמ ַֹע ֶאל ִּבלְ ָעם וַ ַּי ֲֽהפְֹך ה’ ֱא‬ ֶ ‫וְ ֹלֽא ָא ָבה ה’ ֱא‬)’‫ו‬:‫ּכִ י ֲא ֵה ְֽבָך ה’ ֱאֹלקֽיָך (דברים כ”ג‬ But Hashem, your G-d, did not want to listen to Balaam. So Hashem your G-d, transformed the curse into a blessing for you, because Hashem your G-d, loves you.

In this passuk, Moshe Rebbeinu informs the Jewish nation of Hashem’s great love for them when He turned all Bilam’s curses into blessings. However, the Gemorah1 teaches that due to our rebellious actions, all those original curses eventually returned. That is, all but one. The Gemorah derives this from the “hey-hayediya” prefixed to the word ‫ הקללה‬the “the curse” – one singular curse was turned into a blessing, while the others retuned to the original state.

and thus susceptible to destruction. A house, representing the third temple, has a foundation, and will never be destroyed.

Bilam turned to the great Jewish nation and cursed us that we should have the first Temple be that of Jacob. “How great are your houses of Jacob” – skip the first Temple that was a mountain, skip the second Temple that was a field and rather go directly to the house, have the first Temple be one that is eternal and never able to be razed.

So, which one of those blessing was of such a special quality that it alone remained as a blessing? The Gemorah reveals that it was: ““‫ מה טובו אהליך יעקב‬how great are the dwelling places of Jacob.

If the above is Bilam’s curse, where is the curse. In fact, it is a blessing not a curse.

Would it not have been wonderful if the first Temple would have been the first and only Temple. What would each of us not do to see the Temple in all its glory, to be able to experience Hashem’s presence daily. Why did Hashem reverse the curse and in turn we experienced two destroyed Temple’s and to this day suffer without one.

Why was this the one curse that never came to reality. What was so dangerous specifically about this curse that Hashem could not let it come to fruition.

The Gemorah2 writes that Avroham, Yitzchok and Yaakov each represent one of the three Temples, with each in his own specific way. Avrohom represents the first Temple which he viewed as a mountain, Yitzchok represents the second Temple which he viewed as a field, and Yaakov represents the third temple which he viewed as a house.

Interestingly, the first two Temples where destroyed, but the third will be an eternal edifice never to be destroyed. The Gemorah explains this as follows. The first two Temples where compared to a field and a mountain, each of which lacking a deep foundation,

The Medrash3 tells us that the destruction of the Temple was really our saving grace. “‫”הפיג הקב”ה את חמתו בעצים ואבנים ולא בבניו‬.

Instead of throwing his wrath on the Jewish nation, he turned it towards wood and stone.

The Jewish nation was guilt ridden to the point that it deserved destruction. He destroyed the Holy Temple in place of obliterating the Jewish nation.

The Sefer Ateres Seforim explains, that was the secret that Bilam was aware of. He was cursing the Jewish nation to only have one Temple. A temple of Jacob, one that is

indestructible. If this curse would have taken place, then when the Jewish nation sinned Hashem would have had to destroy us, since the Temple would have been indestructible.

He would of have not been able to destroy the Temple in place of the Jewish nation.

Therefore, Hashem permanently blocked this curse from taking place.

That was the cunning Bilam’s intention.

That was “curse” that was turned permanently into a “blessing” We all experience times that we want a something to work out. Something that we really consider positive and beneficial for ourselves. An example may be someone is looking to be hired for a certain job that he considers an amazing position. When he is not hired for it he might complain and grumble. We then may question the judgment of Hashem.

However, one should know that whatever the reason is, it is only for your good. You may see the good soon, it may take years or you might even never see it. It is at these times that one should take a step back and remember that curses are really blessings, even when the blessing cannot be seen.

1 ‫סנהדרין קה‬: 2 ‫פסחים פח‬.

3 ‫’מדרש תהלים מזמר ע”ט אות ג‬

Rabbi Diskind can be contacted at: bddiskind@gmail.com

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

When Life Shuts a door…Open it again.

It’s a door. That’s how they work.

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Why is it a problem for a man to remove white hairs?

R’ Barry Kagan

41

Parshah

JFS

Despite the hectic lifestyle we all endure on a daily basis one would hope that basic courtesy still exists. Sometimes, however, it may occur that when offering a greeting to somebody, they do not return the greeting in kind. After a few such incidents we may deliberate as to whether we should refuse to initiate the greeting in the first place.

We are told in this week’s sedra of the Mitzvah to “place a fence around our roof” to prevent a person falling off ‫(כי תבנה‬ ‫יפל הנפל‬-‫ כי‬... ‫בית חדש ועשיתה מעקה לגגך‬ )‫ממנו‬. Rashi notes that this person was “deserving” of falling off, yet you should not be the cause of his demise. The Rabbeinu Bechaye refers to the Gemora in Shabbos (‫לב‬.) and adds further that the ‫נפל‬, was destined to fall from the six days of creation. He explains that every person was created with their inherent wants and desires and Hashem determines exactly what will occur in their lifetime.

Hashem foresees their livelihood and level of success or failure, as we say in the Mussaf davening of Rosh Hashonah: ‫“הכל‬ “‫ – גלוי וידוע לפניך‬everything is revealed and known before Hashem.

to fall in any event. It was already determined from the six days of creation.

Yet, the Torah tells us to ensure we are not the root of someone else’s misfortune.

We should make all the effort to do what is correct despite the actions of others.

Just like the Bnei Yisroel were destined to spend 210 years in slavery, that did not mean the Egyptians were not held accountable for their wickedness and enslavement of the Jews.

The Sefer Hachinuch explains that we should take the requisite action to remove obstacles and sources of harm from our property because we cannot rely on miracles to protect us. We must do whatever is expected in the natural realm to ensure our safety.

So, whether it is to protect others or to protect ourselves, we are told to ensure that our property is not a source of mishap and misfortune. Once we fulfil

Therefore, we might make the claim that it does not concern us whether the ‫ נפל‬falls from our roof – he was destined

that precept, we will have the merit of fulfilling continued Mitzvos as Rashi quotes in Pirkei Avos ‫מצווה גוררת מצווה‬.

If we do what is right, even if we cannot determine the outcome, we will have the merit of receiving more opportunities to do the will of Hashem.

When we walk past somebody, give them a smile and extend a warm greeting, we are doing what is correct, even if the recipient does not return the greeting, we are building ourselves and placing a fence around our spiritual roof. Even if the ‫ נפל‬is destined to fall, that does not mean that we should stoop to his level.

In Ellul, let us ensure all stumbling blocks are removed from our “property” as we build a ‫ בית חדש‬to approach Rosh Hashonah with the merit of one Mitzvah leading to another.

R' Kagan can be contacted at: kagans613@googlemail.com

cont. from page 39 : dayan yehoshua posen according to the terms of the Heter Iska Klali; which applies the principles of Heter Iska outlined above, where and how appropriate, to each situation. His intention was that every member of Klal Yisroel would sign one, and this would become the default position. There are numerous discussions in the Poiskim regarding how far reaching a Heter Iska Klali can and can’t be. However lehalocho if a Heter Iska is referenced specifically in a contract,

3. If the recipient intends to use the funds for personal use, rather than to invest, then a different type of Heter Iska needs to be used.

Heter Iska Klali In 1924 Reb Ezriel Meir Eiger, the Rov of Lublin created the concept of a Heter Iska Klali, which is a declaration a person makes that all future financial dealings one makes, are

then it is as good as signing a specific Heter Iska for that deal.

It is our intention at the Federation to iy”H have numerous public shiurim on the subject of Heter Iska, which will conclude with the audience having the opportunity of each signing their own Heter Iska Klali, and receive advice on how to reference it in their contracts. We hope to be able to realise Reb Eiger’s dream across much of London and beyond BS”D.

ANSWERS 1. The Torah’s command is only after death. People draw up wills and give the inheritance as a present whilst still alive and by death they no longer have it.

2. To not delay burial but to do the utmost to bury the dead on the same day (unless a delay is in order to honour the deceased).

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3. It is beautifying himself like a woman which comes under the issur of lo silbush gever simlas ishah.

4. The end of this parsha is read for maftir on Parshas Zochor, the Shabbos before Purim.

When else in the year do we read from Parshas Ki Seitsei?

Rabbi Benyomin Hoffman

42

Ask the Rabbi

Halachah

Animal Experimentation Question: I am working for a medical researcher, and a lot of it includes experimentation on rodents. Let’s just say that these animals’ lives are not always pleasant. Is this permitted, or is it tza’ar baalei chayim (causing pain to animals)? How should I feel about my involvement?

Answer: There is a machloket in the gemara (Bava Metzia 32b) and poskim whether tza’ar baalei chayim is a Torah law or a Rabbinic one, and it is possible that it is a quasi-Torah law (see Encyclopedia HiIchatit Refuit, VI, p. 525).

Many mitzvot in the Torah (at least according to some commentators) and Rabbinic laws are based on concern for animals and are to avoid cruelty to them. When and why can this be waived for human purposes?

The simple reading of Tosafot (Avoda Zara 11a) is that tza’ar baalei chayim can be waived only to facilitate an important mitzva. However, the halachic consensus is along the lines of the following Rama (Even Haezer 5:14, based on the Issur V’heter and Terumat Hadeshen): “Anything that is needed for medicine or for other things does not have a prohibition of tza’ar baalei chayim. Therefore, it is permitted to pluck feathers [for quills] from live geese, but the world is careful about that because of cruelty.”

There are at least two approaches to why the prohibition falls in the face of human need. One is that the prohibition is only for being needlessly insensitive. We find regarding bal tachshit (not destroying things) that “destroying” something for a positive reason is permitted because it is, in context,

not destructive. Indeed the two mitzvot may be connected as the gemara (Chulin 7b) says – killing an animal for no good reason is ba’al tashchit; keeping it alive but in pain is tza’ar baalei chayim. Thus, if done for a good reason, it is not destructive/cruel.

A second, complimentary approach, is that the Torah teaches us, explicitly and implicitly, that animal rights do not compare to human needs. There are several Torah statements along the line of “Have dominion over the fish … birds …” (Bereishit 1:28). Furthermore, we are permitted to take an animal’s life simply because we desire to eat meat. We may enslave animals to do hard labor, with some restrictions (not Shabbat, muzzled).

There are a few important possible distinctions. Permissibility may depend on the level of pain to which the animal is subjected.

Normal agricultural work is not torturous and is permitted. However, the Rama above calls plucking feathers from a live bird cruelty, and says we do not do such things (see Shvut Yaakov III:71). The level of need is also a variable. Some rule that earning extra money is not an excuse (see opinions cited in Minchat Yitzchak VI:145), and while most authorities say that it is a valid reason, it may depend on how painful it will be for the animal (ibid.).

Rav Yaakov Emden (Sheilat Yaavetz I:110) says that tza’ar baalei chayim applies only to animals with which man works (e.g., cattle, horses, donkeys) or perhaps relatively highly cognitive animals (dogs, cats), but not to “lower creatures,” who experience pain differently.

According to these opinions, it does not apply to insects, and likely not to rodents.

Looking for cures and treatments for human illnesses is certainly a very valid reason to allow animal experimentation. As several poskim point out, real efforts should be made to ensure the importance of the experimentation, limit the number of animals used, and minimize pain (including using lower species).

Suffering animals should be euthanized as promptly as possible. Thankfully many countries have rules to monitor such things, and unfortunately few do a good enough job.

Personally, if you are involved for a short time, it is appropriate to feel somewhat uncomfortable, even if the practice is right (see a scary story about Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi – Bava Metzia 85a). A professional researcher can’t be expected to constantly live with guilt, but it is appropriate to seek ways to heighten sensitivity, emulating Hashem, whose mercy is on all of His creations (see Tehillim 145:9).

cont. from page 37 : rabbi yoni golker A compelling resolution of this problem has

messages he is constantly receiving and is thus

reminder to us, as parents of the importance of

been offered by the commentators. When the

hardly to blame if he chooses the wrong path

educating our children with “one unified voice”

sages say that their voices must be identical, this

in life.

and realising that our children are never “too far

is not to be understood literally, that both parents must possess exactly the same vocal pitch and tone, but rather that they should be ‘speaking with one voice’. In other words, if the father and the mother in a parental home are not on the same wavelength, and are at odds with each other, the message they are imparting to their

The Torah is here subtly imparting a vital piece

gone” to cultivate a good relationship with them.

of guidance to ensure the strength and stability of

With patience, and appropriate communication

family life. The parents must invariably conduct

we can hope to generate a meaningful relationship

their mutual relationship in a spirit of unity,

with our teenagers, all the way into adulthood.

amity and mutual respect to set an example to

Let us hope over the holiday period especially, we

their offspring.

can cultivate our relationships with our children.

child will be contradictory. Accordingly, the child

Clearly, the Ben Sorer u’Morer’s case is one of

will inevitably be confused by the conflicting

theory rather than practice, but perhaps a stark

Please could you ensure that there are ample sheets left in shuls for Shabbos before taking one home.

Rabbi Golker can be contacted at: golker@jfs.brent.sch.uk

This newsletter contains Divrei Torah and may contain Sheimos. Please dispose of accordingly.

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‫בס"ד‬

OnegShabbos North West London’s Weekly Torah & Opinion Sheets A Torah publication that enables local Rabbonim and Avreichim to share their insights and Divrei Torah on a variety of different levels, to provide something for everyone

‫י"ח אלול תשע"ז‬

DEVARIM 16:18–21:9 // ‫פרשת כי תבוא‬

9TH SEPTEMBER 2017

Shabbos Times

LONDON

MANCHESTER

GATESHEAD

‫הדלקת נרות‬

7:15 PM

7:26 PM

7:25 PM

‫מוצש’’ק‬

8:20 PM

8:33 PM

8:34 PM

K I N D LY S P O N S O R E D

‫לעילוי נשמת הש"ץ שלמה בן אברהם משה ז"ל לעילוי נשמת חנה בת אלעזר ע"ה‬

Rabbi Dovid Lewis South Manchester Synagogue They may be ubiquitous but they weren’t the first; the Torah was translated into other languages long before Artscroll came along. In fact the first translation is recorded in this week’s Sedra, ‫וכתבת‬ ‫ על האבנים את כל דברי התורה הזאת באר היטב‬- “and you should write upon the stones all the words of this Torah, very clearly.” On those two last words ‫באר‬ ‫היטב‬, Rashi explains that it means to translate it into seventy languages. Rambam goes a stage further and says that not only was the Torah translated into seventy different languages, but they even used the specific script of those languages. Of course there is a Machlokoes if the entire Torah was written (Ramban) or just ‫( ספר דברים‬Metzudot Dovid), just the Mitzvos (Radak) or just the ‫ ברכות וקללות‬mentioned in this Sedra (Ralbag).

What though was the purpose in translating the Torah, especially when according to the Ramban they had to either find extremely large stones or a miracle happened to allow so much text, with all the Tagim as well to fit on normal sized stones?

The Gemarah (Sotah 35b) says that it was for the benefit of the Nations of the world, and to remove their excuse as to why they did not learn the Torah. Whilst it makes sense to translate the Torah for the Nations of the world, we have at least two circumstances where the Torah was given to the Yidden in seventy languages; once is at ‫ מתן תורה‬where according to Rabbi Yochanan (Gemarah Shabbat 88b) the ‫עשרת‬ ‫ הדברות‬split into all 70 languages and then again in ‫דברים‬, when Moshe is giving a speech specifically to the ‫ בנ’’י‬and again ‫ רש’’י‬translates the word ‫ באר‬as translating the speech into the 70 languages of the world. Why though would the ‫ בנ’’י‬need to have the Torah translated, wouldn’t they all understand ‫?לה’’ק‬

NOW IN THE FOLLOWING PLACES

Parshah

Rabbi Mordechai Jaffe in Levush Haorah writes that Moshe was in fact worried that some of the ‫ בנ’’י‬wouldn’t understand ‫ לה’’ק‬and that is why he translated it, although why did he wait for 40 years to do so, whereas Rabbi Noson Shapiro in Imrei Shefer writes that Moshe translated it for the Yidden in the future who might not understand ‫לה’’ק‬. But again, why would he force all the ‫ בנ’’י‬to listen to the entire Torah seventy times just for the one Jew who in the future might only speak Urdu?

The Lubavitcher Rebbe (Likutei Sichos 36) explains that Moshe was taking the unique quality of the Torah and imbuing into every Shiur, Dvar Torah and Sefer that would ever be written. As Ramban tells us ‫ לה’’ק‬is called ‫ קדש‬specifically as that was the language that Hashem uses, both in creating the world and in speaking to the Nevi’im etc. It has an intrinsic quality, it is why there is an advantage to Davening in ‫ לה’’ק‬even when one does not understand the meaning of the words. Therefore, when Moshe translated the Torah he took that unique quality and infused it into our learning today, regardless of which language we use.

This has a practical outcome in Halacha, whereby we are allowed to save Seforim from a fire on Shabbos, regardless of what language they are written in. But it also has a more spiritual outcome, in that we can reliably spread the authentic voice of the Torah everywhere in the world and for it to have the same Kedusha and impact irrespective of its language.

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‫הב' משה‬ ‫יוסף ז"ל‬ ‫ביבלחט"א‬ ‫ר' שלמה‬ ‫טבלי נ"י‬

Rabbi Lewis can be contacted at: rabbidovid@southmanchestersynagogue.org.uk

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, Miami, Milan, New York, Oslo, Paris, Petach Tikva, Philadelphia, Pressburg, Radlett, Ruislip, Santiago, Sao Paulo, Southend, Tallinn, Tarzana, Toronto, Uman, Vienna, Zurich

Rabbi Mashiach Kelaty

44

Rabbi of Stanmore United Synagogue Sephardi Kehilla

SEDRA SUMMARY Thank you to Chabad.org

M

oses instructs the people of Israel: When you enter the land that G-d is giving to you as your eternal heritage, and you settle it and cultivate it, bring the firstripened fruits (bikkurim) of your orchard to the Holy Temple, and declare your gratitude for all that G-d has done for you.

Our Parshah also includes the laws of the tithes given to the Levites and to the poor, and detailed instructions on how to proclaim the blessings and the curses on Mount Gerizim and Mount Eival—as discussed in the beginning of the Parshah of Re’eh. Moses reminds the people that they are G-d’s chosen people, and that they, in turn, have chosen G-d.

The latter part of Ki Tavo consists of the Tochachah (“Rebuke”). After listing the blessings with which G-d will reward the people when they follow the laws of the Torah, Moses gives a long, harsh account of the bad things—illness, famine, poverty and exile—that shall befall them if they abandon G-d’s commandments.

Moses concludes by telling the people that only today, forty years after their birth as a people, have they attained “a heart to know, eyes to see and ears to hear.”

Parshah

Vampire Logic We’ve all heard of vampires. Those mythical creatures that prey on hapless humans and drink their blood. The evil incarnate Dracula with his fangs at the ready. A whole enterprise was created because of these humanoid leeches. One legend about vampires is that they cannot exist in the light [this is probably based on the life of a bat, who only comes out at night]. Vampires have to resign themselves to pottering around in graveyards and sleeping in coffins. But woe is to the one who is caught out in daylight. He will wither and die [at the very least, it’s not good for his complexion].

The verse in this week’s parasha tells us “These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people… and these shall on Mount Eval for the curse” (27:12,13). Six tribes were on one mountain, and six on the other. Rashi brings the Gemara in Sotah 37b which tells us that besides the 12 tribes split between these two mountains, the Cohanim and the Leviim were in the valley between them. They were to utter the curses and the blessings, and the tribes would answer Amen. But why mention the valley between the two mountains?

There is an important lesson to be learnt from here. Just like there is a definitive area between the mountains of blessings and curses, so there is a definite demarcation between good and evil. There are no grey areas. You can’t say ‘this is mostly a mitzvah’ or ‘this is mostly an aveirah’. Either it is 100% mitzvah or 100% aveirah. Whereas a vampire cannot exist in daylight, he thrives in the dark. But there is no twilight for them. It’s either/or.

The danger begins when the boundaries are blurred. And that is where the human being comes in. Humans are very complex creatures. It’s never black or white with us. Nothing is straightforward when it comes to mankind. But that’s not the reality. The reality is that, like the vampires, evil can only exist in the dark. Light will vanquish dark, and kedusha will vanquish tumah. The two can never, and will never, co-exist. Which is the reason why, when a person does a mitzvah, at that moment he is a tzaddik. Nothing else in the world matters at that moment. His integrity cannot

be impugned. He is a full blown, no holds barred, dyed in the wool tzaddik.

Isn’t that in and of itself a tremendous and inspiring thought? Do a mitzvah – be a tzaddik!

Keep doing mitzvot – keep being a tzaddik! What greater incentive does one need for teshuva! Bear this in mind during this virtuous month of Elul.

Seize the opportunity for a mitzvah. And make sure to do it with enthusiasm...

The story is told about John the Russian soldier, who was enlisted by his unit to guard the weapons overnight. He did this with tremendous devotion to duty, in the perishing cold, until, during the middle of the night, he literally froze, and fell to the ground with acute hypothermia. His comrades discovered him, and managed to defrost him (probably with hot towels and plenty of cognac).

You would think that this man would receive a hero’s welcome. But he was in fact arrested for dereliction of duty, and made to stand trial in front of a military court.

John felt, at the very least, peeved and unappreciated. During his defence, he claimed that he had literally put his life on the line guarding the weapons cache, until he could stand no more.

What else was expected of him?

Despite this impassioned plea, he was pronounced guilty. The military council stated that if he had thought about the Czar and mother Russia, the heat would have literally made him sweat.

His crime? He didn’t feel the heat!

It’s not good enough for us to go through the motions and ‘keep what our parents kept’, in a soulless fashion, without any thought about what we are doing...We have to make ourselves sweat when we serve Him! Know your Maker, and know Him well. Feel the fire of Torah within your bones.

Don’t be caught sleeping on duty!

May we all feel the heat, and serve Hashem with a burning passion.

Tizku lshanim rabbot, tovot une’imot.

Rabbi Kelaty can be contacted at: rabbikelaty@gmail.com

Find a Minyan

www.findaminyan.co.uk or send a text to 07553 242 926 Include your dates, full postcode and number of men

QUIZ TIME

??

1. livingwithmitzvos.com

Which is the only letter of the Aleph-Beis missing from Parshas Bikurim?

Rabbi Benji Landau

45

Associate Rabbi, Edgware Yeshurun; Executive Director of Mesila UK

This page is sponsored

by Federation

Parshah

Serving Hashem with Joy In this week’s parasha, Moshe charges his precious nation for instructions for entering Eretz Yisrael. The people must set up stones on crossing the Yarden, build altars and offer sacrifices.

The shlomim as follows:

offerings

are

Yosef says in Bavel coloured clothing and in Eretz Yisroel, linen clothing, which is ironed.

The difficulty of the beraisa is that there seems to be no mention of eating meat! Tosafos answer by saying that of course in times of the Beis Hamikdash, the only way to fulfil the mitzva of Simchas Yom Tov is through eating meat of the korbanos. This beraisa is dealing with post Beis Hamikdash and is teaching us a chiddush that even though there is no Beis Hamikdash, there still exists a mitzva of Simchas Yom Tov.

described

‫לקיך‬-‫וזבחת שלמים ואכלת שם ושמחת לפני ה' א‬ “And you shall sacrifice there, offerings of wellbeing and eat them, rejoicing before the L-RD your G-D.” [Devorim 27:7] The Gemoroh elaborates on this element of Simcha generated by bringing a korbon:

The first question to tackle, is whether this mitzva is d’oraissa or d’rabonon. Tosafos in moed katan 14b state explicitly that it is rabbinic.

However, Rambam in Hilchos YT 6:17 implies the opposite:

Rabbi Yehuda Ben Beseirah said: In the days of the Beis Hamikdash, there was only Simcha through meat, as it says: (Devorim 27:7) “And you shall sacrifice there, offerings of well-being and eat them, rejoicing before the L-RD your G-D”.

Now that the Beis Hamikdash is not in existence, there is only joy through wine, as it says: (Tehillim 1-4:15) “And wine gladdens the heart of man”.

‫וחייב אדם להיות בהן שמח וטוב לב הוא ובניו ואשתו ובני בניו‬ ‫ אף על פי שהשמחה‬.'‫וכל הנלוים עליו שנאמר ושמחת בחגך וגו‬ ‫האמורה כאן היא קרבן שלמים כמו שאנו מבארין בהלכות‬ ‫חגיגה יש בכלל אותה שמחה לשמוח הוא ובניו ובני ביתו כל‬ .‫אחד כראוי לו‬

The concept of Simcha is also mentioned in parshas Re’eh:

A person is required to be joyful on yom tov; he, his family and his wife, and all who are with him, as it says “And you shall rejoice on the festival…”

And even though the joy mentioned in the verse is through the korban shlomim, within that very simcha itself, is an understanding that one must rejoice in whichever way is suitable.

‫ושמחת בחגך אתה ובנך ובתך ועבדך ואמתך והלוי והגר והיתום‬ ‫והאלמנה אשר בשעריך‬ “You shall rejoice in your festival, with your son and daughter, your male and female slave, the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow in your communities.”

In other words, the mitzva of Simchas Yom Tov nowadays is rooted in the Biblical commandment and is therefore Biblical nowadays. The mishna berura in ‫ תקכט‬sides with the Rambam.

This joy is actually the source of the concept of what we call ‫שמחת יום טוב‬, achieving a level of contentment and happiness on Yom Tov through specific measures. In that regard, a further beraisa in the gemoro there in Pesachim states the following:

The next question is how one fulfils this mitzvah nowadays. The Rambam continues and says:

‫תניא רבי יהודה בן בתירא אומר בזמן שבית המקדש קיים אין‬ ‫ ז) וזבחת שלמים ואכלת‬,‫שמחה אלא בבשר שנאמר (דברים כז‬ ‫שם ושמחת לפני ה' אלהיך ועכשיו שאין בית המקדש קיים אין‬ ‫ טו) ויין ישמח לבב אנוש‬,‫שמחה אלא ביין שנאמר (תהלים קד‬

‫ והנשים קונה‬.‫כיצד הקטנים נותן להם קליות ואגוזים ומגדנות‬ ‫ והאנשים אוכלין בשר‬.‫להן בגדים ותכשיטין נאים כפי ממונו‬ .‫ושותין יין שאין שמחה אלא בבשר ואין שמחה אלא ביין‬

Rabbi Chaim said: A man has to make his children and wife happy on Yom Tov, as it says (Devorim 16:14): “And you shall rejoice in your festival” – with what do we rejoice? With wine.

Rabbi Yehuda said men rejoice with what is suitable for them, and women with what is suitable for them. Men – it is fitting to have wine.

And women – what should they have? Rabbi

QUIZ TIME

??

livingwithmitzvos.com

The Beis Yosef doesn’t answer, and in his psak in the Shulchan Oruch, leaves out any mention of eating meat as a way to fulfil the mitzvah of Simchas Yom Tov. However, the Bach offers an answer to the question of Beis Yosef. He explains that eating from meat of a korban carries two levels of simcha. The fact that one has brought a korban to Hashem, and secondly, the pleasurable experience of eating meat.

It is no surprise that the second reason pales into insignificance compared to the first reason, but the novel suggestion of the Bach is that whilst eating meat not from a korban is pleasurable, it is less pleasurable than drinking wine. That is why when the beraisa talked about fulfilment of this mitzvah post-Beis Hamikdash, it mentioned only drinking wine, but for sure, one can fulfil the mitzvah through eating meat as well.

The Biur Halocho mentions the Bach and seems to pasken that consumption of meat is a bona fide means of fulfilling the mitzvah of Simchas Yom Tov nowadays.

The Sha’agas Aryeh has an extensive teshuva about the mitzva of Simchas Yom Tov and learns that the fulfilment of Simchas Yom Tov nowadays is actually subjective. As opposed to other mitzvos, where the Torah commands something universally, regardless of people’s circumstances or dispositions, this mitzvah is meant to be subjective. In other words, adhering to the guidelines provided by the Shulchas Oruch, but whilst also ensuring to do anything else that provides an individual with simcha.

How do you give the little ones Simcha? With popcorn, nuts and delicacies, and the women – buy them clothes and jewellery, according to ones means. Men should eat meat and drink wine, for there is only joy through meat, and there is only joy through wine.

Either way, the poskim mention whilst ensuring strict observance of this mitzvah in its physical form, it is no less important to ensure that one takes advantage of the spiritual opportunities latent within the Yomim Tovim.

The Tur brings this Rambam upon which the Beis Yosef raises an interesting question. The

Rabbi Laundau can be contacted at: blandau@mesilauk.org

AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS 2.

beraisa clearly stated that nowadays, men can only fulfil this mitzvah through wine, and that consumption of meat was only a fulfilment of the mitzvah when the meat in question was meat of a korban. Why then does the Rambam mention eating meat in his list of ways to fulfil the mitzvah?

SHAILATEXT 07860 017 641

‫לע”נ‬ DAYAN GERSHON LOPIAN ‫זצ”ל‬ Wherever possible it is preferable to contact your own Rov

The Mishna in Bikurim notes that there is a difference between a rich and poor man when bringing bikurim. The rich man gets back his basket while the poor man forfeits his to the Kohen. Surely it should be the other way around?

46

Rabbi Noah Weinberg ztl Rabbi Noah Weinberg, of blessed memory, was the dean and founder of Aish HaTorah. For 50 years, his visionary educational programs brought hundreds of thousands of Jews closer to their heritage

Getting Your Tefillos Answered Understanding why and how tefilla works A Jewish perspective

Have you ever had a tefilla answered? Stop for a moment and consider the implications.

You live in a small town in the Midwest. There is an extremely large and unsightly pothole in front of your house. For the last four months the local municipality has ignored your persistent requests to have it fixed.

Finally, in an act of frustration, you call the White House and ask for the president. (Hey, it’s worth a try.)

To your utter amazement, the president himself gets on the phone.

You quickly explain your problem. The president listens for a minute, takes down your address, and then hangs up. You don’t really expect anything to be done about it.

The next morning you look out your window and, lo and behold, an army corps of engineers is busy at work fixing your road. The president of the United States took your request seriously and sent in the troops to fix the pothole.

This is what it means to get your tefilla answered.

Now, we all know this isn’t happening to a regular Joe. But who is the one person who can always get through to the president?

His child, of course.

Hashem is our Father and we are His child. Just as a parent fulfils a child’s request, so, too, Hashem answers our tefillos. But in order to have Hashem answer your tefilla, you need to know He is willing and able to

do so. And you have to be honest, sincere and responsible about what you pray for, as King David wrote, “Hashem is close to all those who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him sincerely” (Psalms 145:18). Tefilla requires accessing your inner core and being real with Hashem. Where are you, and what do you really want? It means dropping all pretences and communicating your genuine thoughts and needs, in the reality of Hashem’s presence.

Why Do We Need To Pray?

Hashem already knows our needs. He certainly does not need us to remind Him of them. So why do we need to pray? Why doesn’t Hashem just give us what we need without our having to ask?

Hashem does not need our tefillos – we do. Tefilla is a reflection of our desires and an extension of our power of free choice. It helps us refine and affirm what it is we want out of life. If a billionaire father handed his child unlimited cash on a silver platter, the child would grow up terribly spoiled and irresponsible. Similarly, if Hashem gave us everything automatically, we would never be forced to work out what it is we really want in life. Life would be comfortable, but we would remain shallow and undeveloped. It is through the challenges we face and the efforts we make as a result of those challenges that we learn to appreciate the value of what we want.

Hashem has our best interests at heart. He wants us to earn our growth because that is how we retain our independence and become real about what it is we want to accomplish.

Calling Rabbonim and Avreichim

Send in Divrei Torah on the following Topics SUCCOS / YOMIM NOROIM / BENCHING / ZEMIROS (700 Words / by the 3rd Sept ): Please send to: JRoodyn@jfutures.org

OnegShabbos

47

Five Aspects to Being Real with Tefilla #1: Get Clear on Your Bottom Line: Is What You Want Good for You?

and I won’t take the dollar from my father.

You can trust me. It's a loan. Okay?"

No dollar.

Finally, I rounded the corner and the school was in sight. It was time to pull out all the stops. “Hashem, give me one dollar, and I’ll never do anything wrong again for the rest of my life!”

To get our tefillos answered, we have to know that what we seek is in our best interests. Will the fulfilment of this request bring us closer to Hashem or push us further away? We can only expect Hashem to answer our tefilla if its attainment will bring us closer to reality, not escapism.

Then I caught myself. “Noach, who are you kidding? If you find the dollar, you’re going to play hooky!”

When I was eight years old, the World’s Fair came to New York. My entire class decided to play hooky one day and go to the World’s Fair. But there was one condition: Everyone had to bring a dollar.

If you did not have a dollar, you could not come.

We cannot expect Hashem to give us a dollar so that we can do the wrong thing. To avoid this mistake, we need to do the work of clarifying our desires.

We need to ask ourselves: Why do we want this? Does the Almighty want us to have this? Hashem’s answer – whether yes or no – always tells us something important about ourselves or will likely give us insight into the validity of what we are seeking.

When I was a child the only way I could get a dollar from my father was to learn a chapter of Mishnah by heart. But there was no way I could memorize a whole chapter on such short notice. So I figured I might as well go to school that day. I would be the only one there – a hero!

Before you ask, make sure what you are praying for is good for you.

#2: Be Responsible, Make an Effort

I started walking to school when it suddenly occurred to me: Keep your eyes on the pavement, Noach, maybe you’ll find a dollar!

Tefilla is not an escape from personal effort and responsibility. It is a tool to help us refine our understanding of what we want and to realize that Hashem is the true source of all that we accomplish.

I started looking. One block. No dollar.

Two blocks. No dollar. I started to pray, “Hashem, a dollar bill... You have them lying around the street sometimes. Just this one time, let me find a dollar bill.”

Tefilla focuses us on reality. If we are serious about what we are praying for, then we first need to be responsible and put in our best efforts to make it happen.

Tefilla is not a wish; it is predicated on working hard and taking responsibility.

Two more blocks, no dollar. I thought maybe Hashem wants something from me. So I started making all kinds of promises. “Hashem, I’ll take out the garbage. And I won’t fight with my sister.”

Ask yourself: Do I really want to accomplish this? Am I willing to take responsibility to do what I can to attain it? How much am I prepared to sacrifice for it?

Still no dollar.

I upped the ante. “Hashem, if You give me a dollar, I’ll learn a chapter of Mishnah

#3: Expect the Good Being real about tefilla means we realize we are praying to our Father in Heaven Who wants only our good and has the power to do anything. Therefore, we should anticipate that Hashem wants to help us. Anything we ask for is infinitesimally less than what Hashem has already given to us.

If we do not expect that Hashem will answer our tefilla, Hashem will not invade our space and shock us with success. He wants us to earn the realization that He is our Father in Heaven and that we can always count on Him. By turning our tefilla down, Hashem is telling us that we have a problem that needs addressing; we need to realign.

To illustrate, imagine a 22-year-old driving through Manhattan during rush hour in the middle of July. Red lights, gridlock, honking, summer heat... aggravation.

If his father was in charge of all the traffic lights in New York City and was able to track his location at any given time, he’d have it made. His father would arrange one green light after another, all the way across town!

The Al-mighty can arrange it for him. He created the universe. Traffic in Manhattan is not overly taxing for Him. So here goes our driver. Green light, green light, green light, green light. He says to himself, This is too good to be true.

I don’t deserve this.

Red light.

If you don’t anticipate Hashem’s help, then you have lost sight of Hashem as your Father. So Hashem breaks the flow in order to realign your focus. continued on next page

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3. livingwithmitzvos.com

The parsha talks about saying two viduyim: for bikurim and for maaser sheini. Why by bikurim does he say it out in a loud voice while by maaser he says it quietly, ‘‫?לפני ה‬

continued from previous page

Focus on the fact that the Almighty wants everything to be good for you.

When you do that, He’ll move mountains to answer a tefilla that is good for you.

#4: Be Shocked if You Don’t Get It Nothing Hashem does is an accident.

If things do not go smoothly for you, your first reaction should be one of shock.

“What’s going on? Why is Hashem doing this? What message does He want me to get?”1 An uncle wrote letters to his nephew at college to find out how he was doing and keep up the relationship. After six months and numerous letters, the nephew hadn’t written back once.

The next time, the uncle wrote his standard letter, but this time, he added a P.S.: “I’ve enclosed a hundred dollar check for you.” Then he deliberately mailed the letter without the check.

The nephew received the letter and could not find the check. As expected, the uncle immediately got a letter in return: “College is great... I like my dorm room...

I’m taking physics. By the way, you forgot to enclose the check. Love, your favourite nephew.”

The Al-mighty knows how to get our attention. When we forget that He loves us, He sends a red light to refocus us.

But there’s one big difference between the uncle and Hashem: Hashem is not hurt when we ignore Him. We are.

Hashem has no needs and doesn’t need a relationship with us. It is we who need a relationship with Him. Our greatest pleasure is being in touch with Hashem.

That’s why He arranges small mishaps to get our attention. It is all for our own benefit.

#5: Listen to Hashem’s Lessons If you are serious about a relationship with Hashem, then you understand that Hashem is always teaching you, even when He does not answer your tefilla in the affirmative.

When life is suddenly full of inconveniences, stop and ask: Why is He trying to get my attention? In some ways this is the most demanding aspect, because it requires us to hold onto the perception that Hashem is our Father in Heaven and that everything He does is for our good, even when we are feeling pain.

Saying with clarity and conviction, “Gam zu l’tovah, this too is for the good,” with no resentment and bitterness, demonstrates the deepest realization that Hashem is our loving Father.

If we are unable to say “Gam zu l’tovah” with a full heart, then it is almost impossible for us to properly hear what Hashem is saying to us. Hashem is very

articulate, but if we lose sight of the fact that He is our Father in Heaven, then our relationship is off kilter and any lesson we derive will necessarily be distorted.

With the awareness that Hashem loves us, we can take stock of this area of our life and try to understand what the Almighty is telling us.

In Summary Tefilla takes real work. It requires getting into your bones that the Almighty is your Father in Heaven Who loves you.

Know what you want and why you want it, and ensure that what you are seeking is in fact good for you. Take responsibility and put in your effort. Expect the good and be shocked if things do not go smoothly.

Ask yourself, why is the Al-mighty trying to get my attention? And lastly, strive to understand the lesson the Al-mighty is sending you. Ask yourself: What is He teaching me?

Applying these tools to the daily tefillos will transform your relationship with Hashem.

Adapted from Wisdom for Living: Rabbi Noah Weinberg on the parasha.

1. The Gemara (Berachos 34a) explains that the structure of Shemoneh Esrei mirrors a servant’s interaction with his master. The servant first praises the master, then asks the master for what he needs, and finally thanks the master for fulfilling his requests. (Maharsha ad loc.) The implication is that immediately after asking Hashem for our needs, we are so confident that they are “in the bag,” we can already thank Him for fulfilling them. (cf. Beis Elokim Tefillah 2, s.v. U’kemo, Vezehu)

Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Schechter Author of Seforim, Parshah Pshetl

49

Parshah

CLOAK OF SECRECY ”‫ וענו כל העם ואמרו אמן‬,‫“ארור האיש אשר יעשה פסל ומסכה תועבת ד’ מעשה ידי חרש ושם בסתר‬ “Accursed is the man who will make a graven or molten image, an abomination of Hashem, a craftsman’s handiwork, and emplace it in secret.

And the entire people shall speak up and say, Amen.”

]51:72[

This Parsha has the Tochacha, when Klal Yisroel are told what will Chas V’sholom happen if they do not adhere to the Mitzvos of the Torah. The Torah tells us here about people who are “cursed.” It does not say that anyone who does not follow the dictates of the Torah will be cursed, rather there are specific cases of those who will be cursed. What is the significance of these specific people that they will be cursed?

All of these sins for which the Torah states that there is a curse, are sins which generally escape people’s attention, and they cannot monitor them. For this reason they are placed here under the rule of Hashem’s dispensation of blessing and curse. In Posuk 15, and 24, the beginning and end of the curses, the Torah says that they are sins which are performed, “‫“ – ”בסתר‬hidden.” This is to tell us that the entire list has this characteristic of being hidden sins. These are sins which remain secret, and it is the secrecy of these sins which deem them to be worthy of a curse. “‫ ”ארור‬is pronounced here upon all those who practice moral and social depravity beneath the cloak of outward respectability. (R’ Shamshon Refoel Hirsh) Cursed is the man who makes a graven or molten image. One who is arrogant is as if he served Avodah Zara. The Malbim explains that there are times that one makes it appear that he is a humble person, and acts in that manner when he is around others. Though, in the depths of his heart, and the privacy of his own home, he is truly arrogant. This person will be lauded in public for his humility, but Hakodosh Boruch Hu knows the truth and he will be cursed.

The people answered Amein. It says in the Yerushalmi in Bikkurim that anytime the Torah uses the Loshon of “‫ – ”עניה‬it means responding to, or answering another person.

If so, who were the Leviyim responding to when the Posuk says, “‫ ?”וענו הלוים‬The Gemara in the seventh Perek of Sotah tells

QUIZ TIME

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us that before every Klalah, curse, there was a Brocha corresponding to the curse. Klal Yisroel answered Amein after the Brocha. The Gemara in Brochos 47 says that it is imperative for one to hear an Amein on his Brocha before proceeding. Rashi explains over there that the Amein is part and parcel of the Brocha, and it is a Mitzvah for the one who makes the Brocha to hear the Amein. Therefore, it was a Mitzvah for the Leviyim to hear the Amein said by Klal Yisroel on the Brochos, which preceded the Klolos. When the Posuk says, “‫”וענו הלוים‬ – they were answering – meaning they were waiting for the Amein of Klal Yisroel on the Brocha, and then they were able to proceed with saying the Klolos. After the Leviyim said the Klolos, Klal Yisroel answered Amein on that as well. (Netziv) Rav Shlomo Kluger explains that when the Posuk says that this was to be said “‫”בקול רם‬ it is a proof to what the Bach says in Yoreh Dei’ah 211 that one who speaks very quietly, that it cannot be heard to one’s own ears, they are called “‫“ – ”דברים שבלב‬words of the heart” and they are not called words. When Klal Yisroel said, “‫ – ”אמן‬it meant that they were accepting upon themselves what was said.

What is one to think about when he says, “‫אמן‬.” The Zohar Hakodosh says that one should have in mind the Names of Hakodosh Boruch Hu: ‫ה‬-‫ו‬-‫ה‬-‫ י‬and ‫י‬-‫נ‬-‫ד‬-‫א‬, which together equal the Gematria of 91 – ‫אמן‬. Tosfos in Meseches Shabbos 119b says that one must have the words, “‫ל מלך נאמן‬-‫ ”א‬in mind at the time he says, “‫ – ”אמן‬which is the Roshei Taivos of the word, “‫אמן‬.”

The Anaf Yosef explains that the words, “‫ל מלך נאמן‬-‫ ”א‬mean that Hakodosh Boruch Hu is “‫ל‬-‫ – ”א‬G-d – the All-powerful source of all mercy. He is “‫“ – ”מלך‬King” – who rules, leads, and supervises all, at all times. He is “‫– ”נאמן‬ “trustworthy” – fair, one never receives more suffering or less good than he deserves.

Gemara in Brochos 53b says, “‫גדול העונה‬ ‫“ – ”אמן יותר מן המברך‬Greater is the one who

4. livingwithmitzvos.com

says ‘‫ ’אמן‬after one’s Brocha, than the one who actually made the Brocha.” The Zohar Hakodosh in Parshas Vayeilech explains that this refers to one who answers ‫ אמן‬with the proper Kavanah, with the Kavanah of being Meyached the two Names of Hakodosh Boruch Hu: The Shem Havayah and the Shem Adnus. This is better than one who actually says the Brocha, who is only saying the Shem Adnus, while having in mind the Shem Havayah (saying “‫ ”אמן‬actually encompasses both Names of Hakodosh Boruch Hu when said with the proper Kavanah).

There are actions which one does in public, where people see what he does. There are ramifications to those actions, both in what people think of that person, and also potential punishment in Bais Din when appropriate.

Then there are actions that one does in private, where people do not only know what he is thinking, but they do not know what he is doing. The Torah tells is that we must know that Hakodosh Boruch Hu knows all. He sees into the depths of our hearts and minds, and knows exactly what we are thinking and what we are doing at all times. The word “‫ ”אמן‬was integral to all of these Brochos and Klolos, for this word was the key how to avoid these curses. It is a word that is often taken for granted, and perhaps because it is said so often, is often devoid of Kavanah. We must strengthen ourselves in this word that could help us in our Ruchniyus. This word tell us that there is a G-d in this world, Who runs and monitors each and every aspect of this world – both what we see in the open, as well as everything that occurs behind closed doors.

May we be Zoche to utilize this holy word in the proper manner, which should bring us to elevated levels of Kedusha in Ruchniyus.

For questions, comments, to purchase the Sefer “Parshah Pshetl”, or to receive a free weekly Dvar Torah on the Parsha, please email: ParshaPshetel@gmail.com.

When and why does the Baal Korei read Parshas Ki Sovoi some pesukim loudly and others quietly?

Rabbi Aryeh Sampson

50

Hashkafah Parshah

Transforming Hate and Anger into Love The Baal Shem Tov explained that ‘the world is a mirror’– the defects we see in others are a reflection of our own.

When Moshe sent spies on a reconnaissance mission to Israel, they returned with an evil report about the land of Israel. The Jewish people then accused Hashem of hating them .The commentator Rashi explained that Hashem loved them – but they hated Hashem, and they projected those feelings onto Hashem.

Projection plays an important role in modern psychology. It is understood to be a defence mechanism that helps us deny seeing our weaknesses. We deny negative traits in ourselves and project them onto others. We therefore may come to hate others as we project our negative feelings about ourselves onto them. It’s also common for bullies and racists to project onto others all the bad that they feel about themselves and don’t want to face.

Another ramification of this desire to deny weakness is anger. It’s common to find that anger arises when a person’s inner insecurities or vulnerabilities are triggered. This can be a cause of much conflict in marriage and relationships.

These insecurities are often described in psychotherapy as ‘the

wounded inner child’ as they may have their origin in painful or traumatic experiences in childhood. This part of a person’s psyche then becomes disowned and denied.

The Gemara tells us that anger can act as an inner teacher, giving us greater self awareness. It reveals to us our own hidden insecurities – the nature of our own wounded child.

Awareness, as Rav Yisrael Salanter explains, is the first step of personal change and leads to control and transformation of these weaknesses.

There are many methods in psychotherapy to deal with overcoming insecurities and our wounded inner child, as it provides a safe place to explore inner feelings.

Often there is unfinished business from the past that needs to be dealt with. The origins of the wounded child need to be understood and painful experiences expressed. This helps us heal and leads to greater self acceptance and love of ourselves. We can drop the desire to project negative feelings and become less angry. This in turn brings love and acceptance

On a spiritual level, accidents or coincidences do not exist. Seeing hatred and anger in others is a call for us to look inside and become more self-aware. To face our inner demons and transform them. In doing so, we become more loving to ourselves and bring more love into the world.

Questions 1) Think of someone you dislike or hate and ask yourself – do you have the same qualities that you dislike in that person?

2) Think of times when people triggered your anger. Is it triggering a feeling of insecurity or personal vulnerability in yourself?

3) What is this insecurity?

the

nature

of

4) Is there a wounded inner child within you that that needs healing?

Reprinted with permission of Jewish tribune.

Rabbi Sampson can be contacted at: aryeh.sampson@gmail.com aryehsampson.com

ANSWERS 1. The letter Samech since the amount to give for bikurim is one sixtieth (Baal Haturim).

2. R’ Leib Lopian zt”l answers that the rich man brings his bikurim in an expensive basket and therefore wants it back. The poor man brings it in an inexpensive basket. However, since he does not have too many fruits to give and does not want it to look miserly therefore he stuffs the bottom with stuffing to look full.

Imagine if the Kohen would need to return his basket and would empty its contents in public how embarrassed the poor man would be? In order to save the poor man from this the Kohen kept his basket.

3. The vidui of bikurim is said aloud because it talks about the greatness of Hashem. However, the vidui of maaser talks about

a person’s actions and therefore is said quietly. (This same idea is seen by the Yomim Noiroim. R’ Shlomo Kluger explains that the reason why during these holy days we can say the davenning out aloud is because they are days of “Hamelech” where Hashem is closer to the world as King. Since these tefillous focus on the greatness of Hashem, therefore they can be said aloud. However, the rest of the year a person must daven quietly since these davenings are full of personal requests.)

4. These curses are read by the Baal Korei quietly while the pesukim that deal with comfort, like those remembering the covenant, is read loudly. The rise and lowering of voice expresses our fear and hope. (See Kitzur Shulchan Oruch 78:4).

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