HaMizrachi Weekly (UK Edition) | Parashat Vayikra 5784 by mizrachiuk

VAYIKRA 5784

Captain Daniel Perez zt”l

Rabbi Andrew Shaw

Chief Executive, Mizrachi UK

The rain poured down, harder and harder, as if the heaven’s themselves were crying.

On Monday afternoon at 3pm Israel time, as the winds blew and the rain lashed the thousands who had come, the levayah of Daniel Peretz zt”l took place

It behoves everyone to watch the hespedim delivered that day by Daniel’s family and friends but especially the hesped given by his father, my dear friend, Rav Doron Perez https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRyEkvBs2lw

For 163 days we had been praying for his safe return

For 163 days the family had been in complete torment not knowing the fate of Daniel.

For 163 days the Jewish world came together to hope for good news for the Perez family.

As we know, last Sunday we discovered that Daniel had been murdered on October 7th and his lifeless body taken to Gaza by the barbaric Hamas terrorists.

As Rav Perez said in his incredibly eulogy to Daniel

You didn’t suffer, thank G-d. When we heard the difcult news, and it was so hard to hear but thank G-d you didn’t suffer. And as the Rav said – you inspired the entire world. If we had been told over these 163days that you had been murdered or that your body had been returned to us, you would not have had the merit of fundamentally changing our family and our Yishuv, and so many people all over the world. So many acts of kindness and things that are indescribable.

You saved so many. You saved so many, Daniel. Your unwavering dedication to your mission –former Prime Minister [Naftali] Bennett, spoke to us this morning, sat with us and said he doesn’t know of any similar story of heroism, this is truly one of the most incredible things You saved people in the Nachal Oz army post, you saved people in Kibbutz Nachal Oz, you saved people in Kibbutz Sa’ad, and you know what Daniel? It’s possible that you saved not only generations of people, but it’s possible you saved the life of your brother, Yonatan. Yonatan fought in Nachal Oz and was injured 50 meters from where you were taken If there were more terrorists, it’s impossible to know what would have happened to Yonatan, his friends and the others that you saved. G-d chose you to be a hero of Israel, to do in the name of others.

From within all the pain, Ribono Shel Olam, we thank You that You saved Yonatan on that very day when things could have ended very differently. I don’t know why you chose Daniel for this mission, this mission to save so many people, but we thank You for the incredible zechut, and this kindness

I met Daniel Perez many times over the years. Rav Doron’s family made Aliyah back in 2015 when Daniel was 13, I started with Mizrachi in 2016 and at many Shabbatonim in Israel I would speak with him. He was such a fun, lively teenager. He loved sports, especially his beloved Liverpool. He had such a winning smile and was a real chevraman.

Over the years he became this incredible young man, passionate about Israel and driven to be the best he could be in the army. Ultimately, he gave his life being the best, defending Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael from our enemies in an incredible act of heroism.

It is Shabbat Zachor tonight, the Shabbat, on erev Purim, when we remember what Amalek did to us.

Remember what Amalek did to you when you came out of Egypt. and they happened upon you on the way and they attack the people at the back –all the weaklings at the rear when you were faint and exhausted. (Devarim 25:17)

This year, it will not be difcult to remember, Amalek also attacked on October 7th. Hamas of 2024 posses the same genocidal intent of those who attacked us on our way to Israel thousands of years ago

However, it is also Parshat Vayikra.

Usually Shabbat Zachor is Parshat Tetzaveh, a seemingly much more tting Parsha for erev Purim, dealing with the clothing of the Kohanim. However, this year, being a leap year it is Parshat Vayikra. Vayikra is a very different parsha, dealing with the Korbanot in the Mishkan.

However, I believe this year, it is so relevant to our current situation and of course Captain Daniel Perez zt”l.

Vayikra opens with the concept of Korbanot – translated loosely as sacrices..

Daniel Perez made the ultimate sacrice, as have all those we have lost since Oct 7th , all the brave soldiers of the IDF who died, al kiddush Hashem.

Another idea of Korban comes from the root Kuf, Reish, Bet – Karov – to bring close As Rabbi Sacks comments:

The noun korban, “sacrice,” and the verb lehakriv, “to offer something as a sacrice,” actually mean “that which is brought close” and “the act of bringing close.” The key element is not so much giving something up (the usual meaning of sacrice), but rather bringing something close to God.

All those in history, including Daniel Perez, who were killed for being Jewish have a special place in shamayim, close to Hashem. However, as Rav Yisrael Zev Gustman, a Rav of pre war Europe, explained to Professor Yisrael Auman when he was sitting shiva for his son who had been killed in the Lebanon war in 1982 it is more than that.

Rav Gustman spoke, rst in Yiddish and then in Hebrew, so that all those assembled would understand:

"I am sure that you don't know this, but I had a son named Meir. He was a beautiful child. He was taken from my arms and executed. I escaped. I later bartered my child's shoes so that we would have food, but I was never able to eat the food - I gave it away to others My Meir is a kadosh -- he is holy -- he and all the six million who perished are holy."

Rav Gustman then added:

"I will tell you what is transpiring now in the World of Truth in Gan Eden - in Heaven My Meir is welcoming your Shlomo into the minyan and is saying to him ‘I died because I am a Jew - but I wasn't able to save anyone else. But you - Shlomo, you died defending the Jewish People and the Land of Israel ' My Meir is a kadosh, he is holy -- but your Shlomo is a Shaliach Zibbur – a Cantor in that holy, heavenly minyan."

Daniel Perez zt”l has now joined that minyan, also as a Shaliach Tzibbur.

Tragically, the Perez family still don’t have his body

Even your body is something that we don’t have, and there is still a long journey to return you home But your blood, our son Daniel, we have – a lot of blood And so, we decided to salute you, to bow our heads to you, to appreciate the self-sacrice and strength of our dear son.

Rav Perez spoke for almost twenty minutes. However, for almost ve of those minutes he spoke about one idea only – the fact that they could not bury the body of their beloved son, just his blood.

Blood. What we buried is blood. We do not have the body or most of Daniel, so we buried your blood. The blood which was found inside the tank. The blood which was found outside the tank. The blood which was found on his uniform. We buried the blood. That’s what we buried. Because many times the Torah teaches us “the blood is the soul of a person. ” The sustainer, the energy of life, life itself – it is blood. Therefore, it is forbidden to eat it. And it is most certainly forbidden to spill it. Daniel, your blood has been spilled, and we have buried it. But it was others who murdered you and spilled your blood. But you and your friends fought until your last drops of blood. They called out to murder, and you called out from the blood of your hearts to save, to protect.

Blood is the most essential thing to a person. “Adam, man ” comes from the word “dam, blood,” who is esh and blood. Blood is life. They shed your blood, and the blood of your fellows, which was clean and holy, and they destroyed the human form. And you, you fullled what G-d told Noach, “He who spills the blood of man, on the earth his blood will be spilled. For man was made in G-d’s image ” Those who spilled your blood, destroyed G-d’s image And you formed a covenant of blood. Of protection, of the army of saviours. The covenant of blood of the Jewish nation, the shared covenant.

Daniel Perez was just 22, when he performed the ultimate sacrice, when his blood was spilt, and Hashem’s image was destroyed.

Parshat Vayikra is all about sacrice and all about the shedding of the blood of the korbanot. Twenty-Five times in Parshat Vayikra it is mentioned, the most of any Parsha in the Torah.

Rav Perez stressed blood in his beautiful hesped tohis son.

Parshat Vayikra does the same

So, as we, the Jewish people, approach Purim, we understand, maybe more than ever before that we are in a global battle against those forces that are trying to destroy our land, our people and our Torah.

We must remember what Amalek did, because that ideology is there to destroy who we truly need to be. We need to be people who are maaminim, believing in Hashem, understanding that everything happens for a reason, understand there is a purpose to every single person on this planet, understand that everything is happening in a way to bring Hashem's presence fully into the world. That is what we believe.

Therefore, we also have to remember what brought Amalek to us was our lack of emunah, our lack of understanding of what is our ideology and therefore shabbat Zachor and Purim remind us ‘lo tishcach,’ don't forget who you are, don't forget the ideology you espouse, don't forget what the Torah is, what Eretz Yisrael is, who the Jewish people are, who Hashem is

Daniel Perez never did.

May his memory be a blessing.

And may we hear in the coming days, weeks and months of the return of all of the hostages, all of the bodies of our kedoshim and a complete defeat of our enemies.

To full the verse in Megillat Esther for the Perez family and the entire Jewish people.

The Jews enjoyed relief from their enemies in that same month which had been transformed for them from one of grief and mourning to one of festive joy. (Esther 9:22)

Amen

Shabbat Shalom and Purim Sameach

WATCH: Dvar Torah from Rabbi Benjy Rickman >

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